The Euro 2012 betting scene
ESPN INSIDER
This past week marked the Diamond Jubilee for Her Majesty, the Queen of England, celebrating her 60th year on the throne. If you don't watch morning shows, which treat all things British with as much breathlessness as they do men suing ex-girlfriends for custody of their dogs, you may not have known this.
It certainly slipped my mind. On Tuesday morning, with Euro 2012 a few days away, I dialed up David Williams, a PR rep with Ladbrokes, the UK bookmaker. Because everything we do stateside as far as betting seems quaint compared to what's happening across the pond, I wanted to get a sense of just how big the action would be. Too bad I called him on his cell at 4 in the afternoon his time, as he was celebrating the Jubilee. It reminded of the day two years earlier, when I called him with questions about the World Cup betting handle. As I peppered him he finally said, "Can you call me back? Today are the UK elections and we have a lot of money at stake right now." I felt like the ugly American. This was the sequel.
Williams passed me off to his colleague, Alex Donohue. He was at his Ladbrokes office in northwest London, about 30 minutes from the center of the city. For the next few weeks this is where he will spend most of his time, sweating the games on what Ladbrokes calls its trading floor. "There are lots of screens all over," he said. "This is where all the liability management goes on. It can be very high-octane, and when the games aren't going well, there are a lot of fraught people."
There will be a lot of fraught people all over the world, not just in betting shops. Interpol, the international crime busters, estimates that the yearly global sports betting market reaches $1 trillion a year. Of that, the group reports that 70 percent is bet on soccer. And that is when there isn't a big tournament taking place. Two years ago, for the World Cup, nearly $700 million was wagered in England. Worldwide, it was the most-bet sporting event in history. Or consider this little bit of perspective if you have trouble seeing beyond our borders: At the most, U.S. government estimates of how much Americans bet on sports every year is $380 billion. I repeat, that is the high end of what they believe to be true. The reality is, with only $2 billion or so bet legally in Nevada, it's impossible to guess how much is in this particular bucket.
(With New Jersey still banging the boardwalk for legalized betting, this is a good time to point out how, when I asked Donohue what people in England think of Americans not being able to bet legally he answered, "I don't know that anyone thinks about it, because I don't know anyone can imagine that. When you ask them about gambling in the U.S. they all talk about Vegas because people here love it so much.")
<offer>But there are some ways in which the gambling world overseas is remarkably like what we are seeing in the United States. And both of them have to do with how technology is changing the game. I have long discussed, in the column and with industry folks on the podcast, how the gap between sharps and squares is shrinking. The democratization of information has given everyone the power to be an expert; it just depends on how much time bettors want to commit. The pros do this job 24/7. The middle-earth wannabes are finance geeks who wish they had the nerve to bet sports full-time. Instead they steal a few minutes at work or on the weekends or after the kids go to sleep combing the Internet for edges and building their own spreadsheets. Ultimately, everyone is dipping into the same pond. Lines get tighter more quickly; advantages disappear with algorithmic speed. "The recreational bettors here are getting lots more switched on to stats and certain markets, like number of corners in a match," Donohue said. "Things that appear quite more detailed are drawing more people in, and those would have been reserved for the best bettors in the past."
The other advance: mobile and in-running betting. Places in Nevada, especially the seven sports books operated by Cantor Gaming, are experimenting with mobile betting. But in-running, which Cantor books as well most of the major online books also feature, are driving the most innovations in terms of offerings, creativity and, well, enticement. Naturally, in a country like England, where sports betting is legal, the advances are happening in hypertime. Donohue predicts that, if England falls behind in a match, up to $230 a second will be bet, willing the Brits to come back. "In-running will no doubt be our biggest market," he said. "People do it from their smartphone at a pub." Just what the every bettor needs: a phone with access to gambling and a pub on every corner. No one will go broke under those circumstances. Long live the freakin' queen, because she is running things right.
Interestingly, where Americans might be able to add a dose of perspective is in how to bet the Euros. Britons are, well, homers. Even the sharpest players will eventually, Donohue says, succumb to passion and think, "Forget it, I want England to win so I am just going to bet them to do that."
But hacks stateside take a more calculating, reasoned approach. Jeff Sherman from the Las Vegas Hotel has been booking all kinds of soccer as long as anyone on The Strip. He says the pros betting at his place have taken France to win it all, forcing him to move their odds from 12-1 to 8-1. He also says they are consistently playing the under in many matches. But his biggest futures liabilities: The Netherlands and Croatia.
Clearly the British Invasion has yet to hit Vegas. Maybe after the Jubilee.
</offer>
ESPN INSIDER
This past week marked the Diamond Jubilee for Her Majesty, the Queen of England, celebrating her 60th year on the throne. If you don't watch morning shows, which treat all things British with as much breathlessness as they do men suing ex-girlfriends for custody of their dogs, you may not have known this.
It certainly slipped my mind. On Tuesday morning, with Euro 2012 a few days away, I dialed up David Williams, a PR rep with Ladbrokes, the UK bookmaker. Because everything we do stateside as far as betting seems quaint compared to what's happening across the pond, I wanted to get a sense of just how big the action would be. Too bad I called him on his cell at 4 in the afternoon his time, as he was celebrating the Jubilee. It reminded of the day two years earlier, when I called him with questions about the World Cup betting handle. As I peppered him he finally said, "Can you call me back? Today are the UK elections and we have a lot of money at stake right now." I felt like the ugly American. This was the sequel.
Williams passed me off to his colleague, Alex Donohue. He was at his Ladbrokes office in northwest London, about 30 minutes from the center of the city. For the next few weeks this is where he will spend most of his time, sweating the games on what Ladbrokes calls its trading floor. "There are lots of screens all over," he said. "This is where all the liability management goes on. It can be very high-octane, and when the games aren't going well, there are a lot of fraught people."
There will be a lot of fraught people all over the world, not just in betting shops. Interpol, the international crime busters, estimates that the yearly global sports betting market reaches $1 trillion a year. Of that, the group reports that 70 percent is bet on soccer. And that is when there isn't a big tournament taking place. Two years ago, for the World Cup, nearly $700 million was wagered in England. Worldwide, it was the most-bet sporting event in history. Or consider this little bit of perspective if you have trouble seeing beyond our borders: At the most, U.S. government estimates of how much Americans bet on sports every year is $380 billion. I repeat, that is the high end of what they believe to be true. The reality is, with only $2 billion or so bet legally in Nevada, it's impossible to guess how much is in this particular bucket.
(With New Jersey still banging the boardwalk for legalized betting, this is a good time to point out how, when I asked Donohue what people in England think of Americans not being able to bet legally he answered, "I don't know that anyone thinks about it, because I don't know anyone can imagine that. When you ask them about gambling in the U.S. they all talk about Vegas because people here love it so much.")
<offer>But there are some ways in which the gambling world overseas is remarkably like what we are seeing in the United States. And both of them have to do with how technology is changing the game. I have long discussed, in the column and with industry folks on the podcast, how the gap between sharps and squares is shrinking. The democratization of information has given everyone the power to be an expert; it just depends on how much time bettors want to commit. The pros do this job 24/7. The middle-earth wannabes are finance geeks who wish they had the nerve to bet sports full-time. Instead they steal a few minutes at work or on the weekends or after the kids go to sleep combing the Internet for edges and building their own spreadsheets. Ultimately, everyone is dipping into the same pond. Lines get tighter more quickly; advantages disappear with algorithmic speed. "The recreational bettors here are getting lots more switched on to stats and certain markets, like number of corners in a match," Donohue said. "Things that appear quite more detailed are drawing more people in, and those would have been reserved for the best bettors in the past."
The other advance: mobile and in-running betting. Places in Nevada, especially the seven sports books operated by Cantor Gaming, are experimenting with mobile betting. But in-running, which Cantor books as well most of the major online books also feature, are driving the most innovations in terms of offerings, creativity and, well, enticement. Naturally, in a country like England, where sports betting is legal, the advances are happening in hypertime. Donohue predicts that, if England falls behind in a match, up to $230 a second will be bet, willing the Brits to come back. "In-running will no doubt be our biggest market," he said. "People do it from their smartphone at a pub." Just what the every bettor needs: a phone with access to gambling and a pub on every corner. No one will go broke under those circumstances. Long live the freakin' queen, because she is running things right.
Interestingly, where Americans might be able to add a dose of perspective is in how to bet the Euros. Britons are, well, homers. Even the sharpest players will eventually, Donohue says, succumb to passion and think, "Forget it, I want England to win so I am just going to bet them to do that."
But hacks stateside take a more calculating, reasoned approach. Jeff Sherman from the Las Vegas Hotel has been booking all kinds of soccer as long as anyone on The Strip. He says the pros betting at his place have taken France to win it all, forcing him to move their odds from 12-1 to 8-1. He also says they are consistently playing the under in many matches. But his biggest futures liabilities: The Netherlands and Croatia.
Clearly the British Invasion has yet to hit Vegas. Maybe after the Jubilee.
</offer>
