United’s foregone title
conclusion and more heroic tales of sports betting
Following Manchester United’s routine 2-0 win over Everton at the
weekend, Betfred have announced they’re already paying out on bets for the Red
Devils to be Premier League champions this season.
The wife of Fred Done, owner of Betfred, must be tearing her curlers
out. A United fan, Done has pulled this
stunt a few times over the years and had his fingers burnt not once but twice,
in 1998 and again last year when that
Sergio Agüero goal handed Manchester City the title and cost Betfred a reported
£1m in the process. Can you imagine
anything worse? Your beloved team has
the title snatched away with the last kick of the season; not only that, the
winners are your ‘noisy neighbours’ from across the city; oh, and by the way,
you’re a million smackers down on the deal.
Ouch! That apparently prompted
Done to promise his good lady never to be such a silly boy again; except he
obviously had his charred fingers crossed.
In fact, Betfred is not even the first firm to make the early pay-out
this season, rivals Paddy Power doing so before United’s game. If you’re someone who likes a punt, I can
highly recommend Power. Their innovative
money-back offers are second to none and they’re known to give their regular
customers – or at least those who lose more than they win – a free bet once in
a while. And, no, I’m not on commission
(although I do get the odd free bet).
What are the best bets in sporting history?
Rodney Marsh and Dennis Lillee
– 1981
This could never happen today.
Not without the mother of all outcries, an ICC investigation and player
bans as hefty as Mark Cosgrove.
It was the Headingley Test of the 1981 Ashes series, and Australia had England
in all sorts of bother. The hosts had followed
on and, with seven second-innings wickets down, were still almost a hundred
runs behind their opponents. At about
this time, in-play match odds were flashed on the scoreboard: Ladbrokes made England
500/1 to win the Test.
Rod Marsh, the Aussie wicketkeeper, and fast bowler Dennis Lillee
clocked the price and raised eyebrows at each other. 500/1?
In a two-horse race? Even with
the match situation as it was, they reasoned, that was ludicrous. They arranged, via a third party (their team
coach driver, apparently), to place £15 on England.
What happened next? Ian Botham
149 not out and Bob Willis 8-43, that’s what.
Astonishingly, England had won the match and Lillee and Marsh their bet.
Darren Yates – Frankie’s Magnificent
Seven
Frankie Dettori made history on 28th September 1996 by riding
the winners of all seven races at Ascot.
For one punter, a joiner from Morecambe, it was a day that changed his
life. Darren Yates had staked £69.76
including betting tax (a concept as out-of-date as smallpox today) on multiples
made up of Dettori’s rides, adding in the seven-horse accumulator for good
measure. He pocketed over £550,000.
For every winner, of course, there’s a loser. One of the biggest on that day was bookmaker
Gary Wiltshire. By the time Dettori rode
Fujiyama Crest to victory to complete the seven-timer – the horse had been a
general 12/1 in the morning but returned at 2/1 – the larger-than-life bookie
was down by at least £800,000, possibly upwards of £1m. Even worse, Wiltshire was only at Ascot
because he’d run into traffic on his way to Worcester. How’s your luck, Gary?
It was much the same when I backed winners at 33/1 and 14/1 with the
same bookie on the rails at Windsor in 2005.
The hapless layer dismantled his board and trudged off before the
penultimate race.
These dog days are rare for punters, though, and it’s usually the turf
accountants who win. As my old man is
fond of saying, “You never see a bookie on a bike.”
Kerry Packer – heads I win
(your estate)
Not strictly a sports wager, this one, but since Kerry Packer brought us
World Series Cricket, I’m allowing him in.
Which is more than can be said for one particular individual in the
high-stakes room of a casino. The story
goes that Packer walked into the exclusive private area and this chap told him
it was “for high rollers only.” When
Packer told him that was fine by him, the man said, “No, you need to go and
play out there. This is out of your
league.” “What’s your league?” Packer asked. “I’m worth 60 mill,” said the chap. “Toss you for it,” Packer replied.
The man, we hear, demurred.
No comments:
Post a Comment