Weekend Review: Bookies thrilled by dead rubber World Cup qualifiers

The bookies came out on top this weekend as international qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia drew to a close, with England labouring to victory over Lithuania yesterday.

“There were a few dead rubber World Cup qualifiers that ended in some layer friendly results as England crawled over the line against Lithuania, while Brazil’s 0-0 draw with Bolivia was a bookmaker’s dream,” said Kindred Group’s Ali Gill.

Alex Apati revealed that Ladbrokes also enjoyed a solid weekend on the international football front.

“Scotland and Denmark winning would have put us in a completely different position but plenty backed England on minus handicaps, so their 1-0 win against Lithuania was great for us,” he said.

BetVictor’s Charlie McCann said Belgium’s 4-3 win over Bosnia made painful viewing for the operator, but the biggest swing in their favour came in the weekend’s domestic football action.

“League Two side Notts County appeared in almost every 3pm accumulator so the fact they could only manage a draw against lowly Forest Green Rovers was a hugely significant result for us,” added McCann.

A lack of winning favourites in the weekend’s horseracing ensured further disappointment for a large number of punters.

Apati said: “It was a good weekend on the whole across the board, but horseracing especially. Roly Poly overturning Persuasive in the Sun Chariot Stakes was a huge one for us as we’d have faced a massive pay-out if the forecast was the other way around.”

It was a similar story for BetVictor, according to McCann: “Saturday saw a number of odds on shots chinned with jockey Victor Cheminaud arguably giving the French trained odds on favourite Waldgeist far too much to do in the Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot, which was typical of punters’ luck on the day.”

Away from horseracing, Kindred’s best result of the weekend came courtesy of the Super League Grand Final, where Leeds Rhinos thrashed pre-match favourites Castleford, 24-6.