Weekend Review: Bookies clean up on England’s shock Six Nations defeat
Scotland’s win in the Calcutta Cup provided the shock of the round during a bumper weekend of sporting action which included football’s first cup final of the season
Scotland scored three tries to earn a first victory over England since 2008 in their Six Nations clash on Saturday, much to the delight of the layers after patriotic punters heavily backed Eddie Jones’ side.
Scotland’s 25-13 victory provided the standout shock in a bumper weekend of sport full of rugby, horseracing, football and the winter Olympics.
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “In the Six Nations there was a mix of professional joy and personal pain for the traders as Scotland shocked England in Murrayfield, ending another year’s hopes of a Grand Slam.
“Patriotic punters had piled into England, leaving us well ahead, more than making up for a small loss as Ireland beat Wales at home.”
It was a similar story for Ladbrokes traders, where Alex Apati said: “We clawed back some money on England’s defeat in the Six Nations- bittersweet I know, but England were well backed a short price of around 2/7.”
The bookies got the better of football’s acca-backers on the Saturday but fortunes were reversed on Sunday after the three favourites in the televised matches all won.
In the Premier League, Harry Kane’s weekly heroics secured a late 1-0 win for Tottenham against Crystal Palace while Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United side beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford.
Manchester City also thrashed Arsenal 3-0 in the EFL Cup final at Wembley, a favourable result for punters, although the majority had backed both teams to score.
Betway’s Alan Alger said: “Sunday wasn’t too kind as United fans were out in force backing their side- we also saw trebles with United as the meat in the sandwich of odds-on sides Tottenham, who grabbed a late winner, and Man City, who weren’t tested by an abysmal Arsenal at Wembley.”
BetVictor’s Charlie McCann added: “It was a good day for football punters yesterday with all three favourites winning in the big games in England, although Arsenal scoring- not that they ever looked likely to- would have hurt even more.”
Ladbrokes was left cursing its pricing in the snooker as Ronnie O’Sullivan secured yet another World Title. “As always Ronnie was the most popular pick with punters so we took quite a hammering from him beating Ding in the final,” said Apati.
“In terms of match betting he was always odds-on to beat his opponents, but he was 3/1 to win before a ball was potted last week – a price that looks far too generous in hindsight,” he added.
The firm’s exchange platform Betdaq said £574k was matched on the Betdaq Chase at Kempton, a highlight for the brand’s return to UK racing sponsorship.