For some players, sports interest brings a good income
THE NUMBER OF BOOKMAKERS AND LIVE SPORTS BETS ONLINE IN RUSSIA IN 2014 SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED
A full review of online bookmakers on the internet shows that one cannot fail to note the trend of growth in bookmakers and live sports betting points in the Russian Federation. This is due, on the one hand, to the legalization of the bookmaking business on the Internet. On the other hand, events of the past year, 2014, increased the popularity of this type of activity – both among clients and companies. In particular, this refers to the past Olympics, the Formula-1 race stage in Sochi, and the Brazilian World Cup in football.
Thus, over the past year, the number of new PPS (betting shops) increased by 405 units. Note that according to official data, about 29 bookmaking companies have a license to operate from the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. However, there are actually many more such firms, specifically those offering their services under well-known brands. Some foreign online bookmakers, as it turned out, registered in Russia to operate, which they only found out after the fact. Thus, some small bookmakers use well-known brands to attract clients.
But other online bookmakers do not need to flaunt famous brands. They attract clients with favorable offers. And this works, because there is benefit not only for bookmakers but also for some lucky individuals. In particular, many players win large sums on accumulators. Among the biggest wins of the last year, 2014, one can note an accumulator bet on golf.
In January of last year, an ordinary player bet two pounds sterling on the victory of Patrick Reed and Pablo Larrazábal in various world golf tournaments. The odds on this accumulator were 10201.00. This shows incredible luck for this player on sports bets. Guessing one winner of a golf tournament, for which online bookmakers give odds of 101.00, is very difficult, and guessing two such winners is almost impossible. Nevertheless, it happened, and for two pounds the lucky person received 20 thousand.
In this tournament, Patrick Reed set a record of sorts – in California, he won at every stage. At the same time, Larrazábal followed a more thorny path to victory in this tournament. His opponent in the final round had a three-round lead with only eight holes left. However, Phil Mickelson made a mistake, which his opponent did not forgive. As a result, many players who placed live bets during the match online at bookmakers won large sums of money in this tournament.
In the same year, but in February, a series of horse races took place at various racetracks. Another lucky person selected ten successful horses, making live sports bets on win-place in certain tournaments. Of the ten sports bets, the highest odds were 6.00 points, and the total accumulator odds were 9229.00. As a result, the player received a sum of money equal to 92,290 British pounds sterling. Note that these races took place in Kempton, Newcastle, Fairyhouse, and Lingfield.
Not everyone is lucky enough to win big money on small live sports bets. Sometimes you need to take risks, as one player from Ireland did. He placed a bookmaker sports bet on accumulators within the matches of the English Premier League. Specifically, the player selected nine matches, including victories for the football teams Chelsea, Stoke City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Manchester City, and Tottenham, as well as draws in the Premier League matches: Manchester United – Everton, Fulham – Crystal Palace. As the player predicted, so the indicated football matches ended. FC Stoke City snatched victory in their meeting three minutes before the final whistle, while Fulham equalized the match in the last minute thanks to a goal by Chris David. The bet was placed for a thousand euros.
Note that the online bookmaker at that time was running a promotion, according to which, a bonus of one hundred thousand euros in winnings was added to accumulators of the English Premier League. The final winning amount was 477 thousand euros. It is later noted that this bookmaker subsequently withdrew from this promotion. This is quite logical – after paying out such a large win, some bookmakers risk losing their business altogether.
In 2013, at Christmas, one client of an online bookmaker bet 200 pounds sterling on a long-term accumulator. He selected eight events in eight different leagues on specific team positions at the end of the season. In particular, the player chose the English and Scottish leagues, the Conference, and the Conference South. The live sports bet was placed at Christmas, while the player received his winnings only five months later. The sum amounted to about 200 thousand pounds sterling.
Relatively recently, in 2014, a player from Monaghan bet on odds of 245669.00 with just one euro. He placed a live sports bet on an accumulator within football competitions. Ten selections on outcome and "both teams to score". The player endured these ten matches with valerian and nerves, as some teams did not want to please their fan until the last five minutes. The win from one euro amounted to almost 250 million. About a thousand minutes of playing time and tons of nerves are worth it to become a millionaire.
And some, already being millionaires, play sports live bets. In particular, the famous actor Charlie Sheen is literally addicted to online sports betting. There is a known case when he was taking his wife to the maternity hospital, even during the trip he made a bet by phone with a bookmaker he knew. That happened in 2006. Even when his daughter was being born, he did not miss the opportunity to check whether his bet had won or not.
There is also a known case when the actor was expecting a fourth child from another wife, he assessed the chances of the child being born a boy like a bookmaker. As the actor himself put it, the odds for this event were quite high, since he could not 'screw up'. By that time, he was already the father of three daughters, so the birth of a boy was a matter of principle for him.
In 2011, he announced publicly that he had quit sports live betting. However, a year later in June, he stated in an interview that online bookmaker betting still interested him. He called himself a retired player. He himself does not bet, but follows the bookmaker lines. Charlie noted that there is a big difference between him and players who are trying to fight addiction. Charlie's largest sport bet was made for one million dollars on Manny Pacquiao winning a boxing match against Oscar De La Hoya.