Weekend Review: Bookies hit the jackpot with Lions draw
Layers benefit from “perfect storm for profit” in the third Test in Auckland
The bookies satchels were filled for the weekend on Saturday morning after the Lions and the All Blacks battled to a 15-15 stalemate in their series decider.
All firms reported major profits for the match itself and the 3-game set, with patriotic punters piling into the Lions as hefty underdogs.
Betway reported the “perfect storm for profit”, with a drawn game in a high profile encounter, while BetVictor said interest had been “through the roof”, even compared to the first two tests.
“The drawn match and series was welcomed with open arms as you can imagine,” added Ladbrokes’ Jessica Bridge
“Backing the draw in a football game is still relatively unheard of, let alone in rugby, so we were popping the champers and celebrating like the Lions had won it.
“The boys were heavily backed to win the match and series all week after their unexpected win in the second Test, so we’d be lying if we said the satchel wasn’t overflowing with coppers right now.”
Elsewhere, a photo finish in the weekend’s blue-riband racing event also went the layers’ way, with Barney Roy pipped to the Eclipse winning post by 8/1 shot Ulysses.
“That was a huge swing as we took twice as many bets on Barney Roy as the favourite Cliffs Of Moher while the winner Ulysses was largely overlooked by punters,” said BetVictor’s Charlie McCann
Elsewhere, Kindred said its weekend was dominated by the tennis at Wimbledon, adding: “And a very strong couple of days for Kindred it was!”
Kindred’s Alistair Gill said: “Andy Murray’s four set win over Fabio Fognini was a positive result for Kindred across the markets, with a 10+% margin, but the biggest financial result of the weekend was Roberto Bautista Agut upsetting 9th seed Kei Nishikori in four sets, seeing almost a 30% margin.
“Of the top 10 Turnover events this weekend, nine were Wimbledon, with seven seeing wins for Kindred,” Gill added.
Punters found some respite in the cricket, with the well-backed England delivering a Test win over South Africa.