Germany's stunning 7-1 World Cup semifinal victory over hosts Brazil left British bookmakers reeling Wednesday as some punters lined their ­pockets ­betting on the freak ­result.

Of the major betting chains, Paddy Power and William Hill priced the astonishing result at 500/1, while Ladbrokes had it at 1,000/1.

While nobody predicted the 7-1 thrashing at Ladbrokes or William Hill, four Paddy Power punters predicted the scoreline. One from Essex in southeast England had 5 pounds ($8.50) riding on it, and is now 2,500 pounds richer.

"If you think it was a tough night for [Brazil striker] Fred, you haven't seen the state of Paddy's book," spokesman Josh Powell said in a blog.

"There were some stupid-looking punts that look like a stroke of genius now," he said, elevating some of the bets into the "Punting Hall of Fame."

Some 82 punters correctly backed Germany midfielder Toni Kroos to score two or more goals at 80/1, with one from Shropshire in western England staking 20 pounds.

"If someone in the pub had told you they had backed one of those other bets before kickoff you'd suspect that the real ale had sent them crazier than a bag of raccoons," said Powell. "They don't look so silly now."

At William Hill, while one customer bet on the Germans to score six, no bets were placed on a 7-0, 7-1 or 8-0 result.

That said, one punter from Altrincham - home to a string of footballers from teams in nearby Manchester - did correctly back a halftime score of 5-0 to Germany.

Their 80 pence bet at odds of 300/1 means they can walk back into the shop to collect 240 pounds plus their 80 pence stake.

"That's the only correct score bet that we had," spokesman Joe Crilly told AFP.

"All in all, it was a pretty bad night for us. Germany were incredibly well-backed," he said, saying more than 65 percent of all bets were placed on the ­European side.

"Also, the injury-time consolation goal for Brazil sparked a million pound payout on both teams to score, which, more than the correct score or the first goals corer, is our second most popular market after the match result."

He said it could be the most expensive consolation goal ever - and not just for the book­makers.

One Ladbrokes customer's 2 pound bet on Germany to win 7-0 at odds of 1,000/1 was ­ruined by Oscar's late strike.

Paddy Power spokesman Rory Scott told AFP the chain was left feeling Wednesday "much like [Brazil coach] Phil Scolari: with a bit of a sore head."