Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Bookies' Favourite

Bet on opening odds
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Thought it might be interesting to bet on the odds the bookies give a sporting event, rather than the sporting event itself. Probably get longer odds than by betting on the game, as there's more margin for error.

"10 bob on Betfair to give Stoke 10:1 to win against Man U, if you would squire."

"Certainly sir, that's £10 on a 30:1 bet on Betfair's Stoke 10:1 vs Manchester United."

If it comes in, that's £300, rather than betting on Stoke to win (which they won't, but could, I s'pose) and only getting £100.

For really long odds, you could bet on the odds on the odds of a game, but that might be getting a bit silly.

Anyway, this way, you can enjoy the game without worrying about having to live on the streets because of your crippling gambling addiction.

theleopard, Sep 06 2012

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       Or place bets on the gamblers that come in. "I'll put 5 on the tramp with the shakes". "Sir, he's'a long shot from winning". "I like his face."
rcarty, Sep 06 2012
  

       I bet you have 2 croissants before the 3rd annotation...
po, Sep 06 2012
  

       You'd have to bet with a competing bookie of course, but if your new bookie was getting more bets, the first one would have to make his odds better.
4and20, Sep 06 2012
  

       We always thought this was called an IPO, or a flotation, or something like that …
8th of 7, Sep 06 2012
  

       "I'll put 5 on the tramp with the shakes". "Sir, he's'a long shot from winning".   

       Yes, but he's so beautifully marked.   

       Apologies the shade of Bloodnock..
not_morrison_rm, Sep 06 2012
  

       "And here at the announcing of the 12:15 at Ascot, the bookies are preparing their bids for number 14, Gone In A Jiffy. And Ladbrokes have stepped forward! There's really quite some brashnesshere asLadbrokesgoesfor 7:1 straight off the bat, but upstepsBetfair, Betfairtothestand, forthosepeoplewho'vebet onBetfair'sodds, herethey come, and it's 9:1 by a nose! And roundthecornercomes WilliamHill, afinespecimenofabookie ifevertherewasone, andasheapproachesthepodium, ohmyword! He's fallen! WilliamHillhasfallen before the first odds and will he recover fromthatnastyknocktotheknee? No, no, it looks like, yes, here comes the master bookiesman, and, oh dear, that is a shame, it looks like he'll <BANG> Well, it's best the poor thing doesn't suffer."
theleopard, Sep 07 2012
  

       A fine idea, theleopard, but it strikes me that there is some scope for scoundrelly behaviour. You will, after all, have to go to a bookie to lay your bet, so telling them what you think their odds will be before they declare what the odds are is not likely to result in payouts by anyone other than mug punters, I suspect.
DrBob, Sep 07 2012
  

       Two solutions: either this service is set up by a company called "Bookies' Favourite", who have no affiliation with the ordinary bookies and only take bets of this kind; or, less secure but more open, restrict the ability to bet on odds of the bookie at which you're betting.
theleopard, Sep 07 2012
  

       We're getting towards Collateralised Bookie Obligations here.
calum, Sep 07 2012
  

       I'd like to propose a new product I call the 'bookie default swap,' in which I bet that you'll lose but won't be able to pay back the ante, but might pay a bit more than the other loser down the street...
RayfordSteele, Sep 07 2012
  

       Mums the word every time the market system fails, or else people might start to think it doesn't really work. It's ironic that a rational economic system is epitomized by high finance gambling.
rcarty, Sep 07 2012
  

       Over the fences this could be a Hedge Fund.
gnomethang, Sep 07 2012
  

       //restrict the ability to bet on odds of the bookie at which you're betting//

Doesn't matter, theleopard. In order to spread risk, bookies lay off their bets with other bookies, so a careful monitoring of this traffic will reveal all to all bookies. You can't place a bet with a bookie and not have every other bookie know about it as soon as the bets are laid off.
DrBob, Sep 10 2012
  
      
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