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PrintYou might think oddsmakers don’t have much time to come up with lines for obscure events in the 2012 Summer Olympics, but that’s not necessarily true.
In fact, at sportsbooks in this year’s host country, it’s not even close to the truth.
The Wall Street Journal had a fascinatingly enlightening article over the weekend about bookmakers in the U.K. and how they’re preparing the Games in London, which start later this week.
Among the highlights:
- Charlie Linford, a 26-year-old oddsmaker at Sporting Index Ltd., admitted he’s spent thousands of hours breaking down the modern heptathlon. “I’ve probably simulated this event more than a million times,” he said.
- British bookmakers are anticipating about $80 million in wagering on the Olympics, which would be a record and would smash the roughly $10 million in bets on the 2008 Games in Beijing. (Although it would still only be one-tenth of the handle for Euro 2012 earlier this summer.)
- Bettors will be able to wager on all 302 medal events across 26 different sports.
- Despite oddsmakers’ intense preparation, they still think certain niche bettors “could have real edge” over the house in some of the most random sports offered.
- For that reason, books will limit bets to no more than a few hundred pounds on the more off-the-wall sports to avoid possibly getting crushed by bettors with profound knowledge.
Note: The full article from the Wall Street Journal is definitely worth a read.
