Weekend Review: World Cup and Wimbledon conclude in betting bonanza
Bookies enjoy the biggest betting event in history despite losses in the final as France beat Croatia
France triumphed in the 2018 World Cup last night, beating Croatia 4-2 in Moscow to give punters a much need victory after a torrid tournament.
A high-scoring affair saw both teams find the net and the favourites win in 90 minutes, with Pogba, Griezmann and Mbappe all popular goal-scorer bets.
Kindred Group’s Jonas Kobberholm said: “Les Bleus to win in a goal-fest was precisely what our customers had hoped for and as the final came in as our biggest event ever, it was also able to provide us with a significant loss.
“Overall, we can look back at an amazing World Cup. We have a healthy margin for the tournament due to many upsets in the group stage and draws the knockouts stage,” he added.
Betway’s Alan Alger admitted the World Cup has been a resounding success for the operator.
He said: “The World Cup had been great for us so I guess we really can’t complain about a final where everything went against us.
“All the recent history of these matches points to a low scoring affair, but the punters pay no attention to that and always want to back goals, goalscorers and wincasts.
“Our special Betway Boost on Mbappe to score in a France victory was particularly costly, but overall it’s been a great tournament.”
Away from the World Cup, Wimbledon also concluded yesterday. Novak Djokovic beat South African Kevin Anderson in three sets to secure his fourth Wimbledon title.
On Saturday, Angelique Kerber beat seven-time champion Serena Williams to win her first Wimbledon title.
@Wimbledon 2018 pic.twitter.com/ghtv8zGTQz
— Angelique Kerber (@AngeliqueKerber) July 15, 2018
BetVictor’s Charlie McCann likened Kerber’s win to England’s 2-0 defeat in the World Cup’s third-place playoff.
He said: “We wanted to take on both Serena Williams and Roger Federer in the outright markets throughout the tournament at Wimbledon and Angelique Kerber’s straight sets win allied to Belgium’s own straight sets 2-0 win over England made sure Saturday was a cracking day for the layers.”
Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati said of the tennis tournament: “As for Wimbledon, Federer was the best-backed player in Murray’s absence so his shock exit was a good one for us.
“In the final, all the money was on Djokovic meaning we lost that battle; even more so given that he won in straight sets, something else which was well-backed.”
Betway’s Alger added: “Djokovic was a bad result at Wimbledon, but overall interest was down as it often is in even numbered years, up against the World Cup Final too.”