"You'd have to be dead to be more stiff!"

That's all that was left for Nick Rippon to say when a 51-leg multi bet fell short on Thursday.

Somehow, the monster play was only an NBA three-pointer away from getting up and turning $20 into an astonishing $51,553.80 win.

Rippon, a plumber by trade and formerly a VFL footballer for North Melbourne, shared his heartbreak a couple of hours after Kendrick Nunn finished the Miami Heat's loss to the Houston Rockets with nine points.

Rippon needed Nunn to score 12 – nearly a full five below his season average of 16.9 heading into the game.

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When the 24-year-old Nunn scored his ninth point, seven minutes were left in the third quarter.

He had shot 11 times in his 22 minutes to that point but never put another up.

Kendrick Nunn scored nine points in the loss to Houston. Credit: AP

Without the 12 points that Nippon required it was the only leg of his 51 that failed, costing him a major payday.

Rippon couldn't resist having a cheeky attempt at contacting Nunn later that night.

Nick Rippon, a plumber and VFL footballer, was held up just one leg away from $50,000. Credit: Getty

"Hey legend! Bad luck on the L today against the Rockets. You wouldn’t have a spare $51,000 lying around anywhere????" he said.

But it wasn't all bad news for the 2015 JJ Liston Trophy winner.

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Nippon was offered a trip to an NBA game by the betting company, and there was only one answer for that.

"That sounds like a deal I'm happy to make! Would help ease the pain a lot!" he wrote.

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