Place your bets ... BETTING plays an
important part in sport with the horses and greyhound racing being the most traditional. In more recent years it has become possible to bet on pretty much anything, from the outcome of sporting fixtures to which player will cover the most ground in the FA Cup final.
Many bets are placed as a result of dreams. For example, there are many lottery winners who have dreamt their winning numbers (I wish).
One such lucky dreamer was Brett Allen who had a dream that Liverpool midfielder, Xabi Alonso, would score a goal from inside his own half during the 2005-2006 season. So vivid was his dream that he placed a £200 bet at 125/1. Xabi duly scored the goal in that season’s FA Cup Final against West Ham,
Liverpool’s last match of the season... and Allen won £25,000.
There is no such thing as a safe bet. Spurs were 3-0 up, at half-time, at home to Man United on 29th September 2001. In a bid to impress his girlfriend, one unfortunate Tottenham fan staked his entire mortgage on his boys to win the game. United go on to maul Spurs 5-3 and a very embarrassed punter goes home to an empty house.
The bookies will take your money for most bets - usually they win!
A law student who fancied himself also fancied his chances with Kylie Minogue.
Brett Allen bet £25 at odds of 100-1 that he could
persuade the pop princess to go on a date with him within 12 months. Perhaps, not surprisingly, he failed!
91-year-old Arthur King- Robinson had an original idea for his local bookies to offer odds upon - Arthur bet £500 that he would be dead by the end of the year. His reasoning? If he did croak it that year, his wife Cynthia would face a nasty inheritance tax bill that could lead to her losing their house. William Hill offered him 6-1 - then pocketed Arthur’s stake when he survived the 12 months.
But sometimes they lose. Alec Holden celebrated his 100th birthday with £25,000 in winnings after he beat the bookmakers with a wager that he would live for a century.
Alec, from Epsom, had placed a £100 pound bet with bookmaker William Hill almost ten years previously that he would live to be 100 years old.
“When we started taking these bets we were prepared to offer massive odds,” said Rupert Adams of William Hill. “But these ‘age wagers’ are starting to cost us a fortune as people live longer!”
A Russian man lost his wife in a game of cards after putting her up as a stake instead of cash. Andrei Karpov from Murmansk had run out of money in a game of poker and offered his opponent his wife, instead of cash, to stay in the game. When he lost the game his opponent, Sergey Brodov, turned up to claim his winnings. Karpov’s wife Tatiana was so angry she
Quote me happy!
“It’s a one-off game...home and away.” George Burley on the
Championship play-off between Southampton and Derby.
A missed opportunity for Miss Minogue?
divorced him and started a relationship with Brodov.
If you fancy a flutter here are a few current opportunities for your consideration:
250/1 - Estranged couple Sir Paul McCartney and Lady Heather Mills McCartney to re-marry.
350/1 - Elvis to perfom live at the new Wembley Stadium.
375/1 - UFO to land in Trafalgar Square.
750/1 - The moon is made of cheese.
Perhaps the strangest bet is “I’ll bet you £10 I lose this bet.” The bookies will take your money but no one wins!
But a word of caution - betting can cost you more than you savings, your house or, indeed, your wife.
In 1960, David Threlfall put on £10 at odds of 1000/1 that a man would walk on the moon before the end of the decade. While the bookies clearly thought he was a complete numpty, Threlfall, of course, had the last laugh, picking up a cool £10,000 nine years later when Neil Armstrong stepped on to the lunar surface. Sadly Threlfall killed himself in the sports car he bought with his winnings!
Forward THINKING JULY
25th June to 8th July - The Championships, All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon (
www.wimbledon.org)
1st - Natwest ODI, England v West Indies, Lord’s (www
cricketworld.com)
3rd to 8th - Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, London (
www.rhs.org.uk)
4th - What Kit? Live, Reaseheath College (
www.whatkitlive.co.uk)
7th - Natwest ODI, England v West Indies, Trent Bridge (
www.cricketworld.com)
19th to 22nd - The Open Golf Championship, Carnoustie (
www.opengolf.com)
19th to 22nd - England v India, 1st npower Test, Lord’s (
www.cricketworld.com)
27th to 31st - England v India, 2nd npower Test, Trent Bridge (
www.cricketworld.com)
AUGUST
4th - Twenty20 Final, Edgbaston (
www.cricketworld.com)
9th to 13th - England v India, 3rd npower Test, Brit Oval (
www.cricketworld.com)
SEPTEMBER
4th and 5th - Four Oaks Trade Show, Cheshire (
www.fouroaks-tradeshow.com)
4th to 6th - IOG SALTEX, Windsor Racecourse (
www.iogsaltex.co.uk)
7th to 10th - ExpoGreen, Bologna (
www.expogreen.it)
8th to 9th - The Walker Cup, Royal County Down Golf Club (
www.walkercup.org)
“The first thing that strikes you about the new Wembley is it’s a football stadium.” Mark ‘Sparky’ Hughes confirming what we had all suspected.
Henry
Stewart: “It would either be a long life or a slow death.” Test Match Special banter
Blofeld to Alec Stewart: “You would want Geoffrey Boycott to bat for your life.”
Good spot Sparky!
“To succeed you need success.” Another pearl of wisdom on TMS from Blowers.
“There was no pressure on the players today. I said to them go out and show us what you can do, and they did, we lost 3-1.” Lawrie Sanchez after Fulham lost to Middlesbrough.
John Motson: “Oh that’s asking too much of Robben.” Mark Lawrenson: “That’s asking too much of Batman, never mind Robben.” After a wayward pass by Didier Drogba in the FA Cup final.
“£800m and we can’t grow grass!” Lawrenson is not happy with the state of the Wembley pitch.
“How long will this four minutes last?” BBC Radio Leeds commentator at the end of the Conference North play-off final
More pearls of wisdom available at
www.bbc.co.uk/sport
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
25th - The Carnegie Challenge Cup Final, Wembley Stadium (
www.wembleystadium.com)
16th to 18th - GLEE, NEC Birmingham (
www.gleebirmingham.com)
20th to 23rd - British Masters Golf, The Belfry (www.quinndirectbritishmasters .com)
To add your event to Forward Thinking please email details to
ellie@pitchcare.com and don’t forget that you can add it to Pitchcare’s online calendar yourself! Simply log on to
www.pitchcare.com, select ‘Calendar’ in the Home drop down button on the top banner and click on “Add event’ at the top of the page.
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