Harry Potter Scandal
Spotted this on the Guardian website. Quite amusing, though also a tad sad to be betting on something like this, but then nothing would surprise me anymore after a couple of years part-time in Ladbrokes - best one I heard was on Grand National Day: "So, are you taking bets on who'll be the new Pope?" Some people will bet on anything... Anyhow, the story:
Betting patterns point to Potter leak
Michelle Pauli
Tuesday May 24, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
Ever since JK Rowling hinted that a major character would meet their death in the latest Harry Potter chronicle, speculation on the subject of where the axe will fall has been rife.
Fans were expecting to have to wait until the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is published on July 16 to find out. However, a Sun newspaper investigation into odd betting patterns at the market town of Bungay in Suffolk may have unearthed the secret a month early. And the future, it seems, is not looking bright for Albus Dumbledore.
According to reports in the Sun, the betting website Blue Square, which is running a book on the question of which character will be bumped off, has recently been inundated with punters wishing to place bets on the demise of the Hogwarts headmaster. But eyebrows were only raised when it transpired that most of the bets originated from Bungay - the town which is coincidentally home to the printers, Clays, who produced the previous five books in the Potter series.
A spokesperson for the internet betting told the Sun, "We have taken nearly £6,000 worth of bets on Dumbledore in the past seven days. All have been played in Bungay or nearby Beccles. A lot of punters have opened new accounts and placed a maximum bet of £50 each on what is an obscure market. That made us sit up and take note."
The site last week cut the odds on Dumbledore from 2:1 to 4:6, while Ladbroke's are now refusing to take bets any more bets on the death of Dumbledore, on the basis that some people have obviously read the book. Meanwhile, William Hill have noticed a surge of punters trying to place bets on the character Dean Thomas being the half-blood prince of the title.
It is thought that much of the latest Harry Potter book is being printed in Germany, following security leaks at Clays during the publication of the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. A forklift truck driver at the printing plant pleaded guilty in May 2003 to stealing pages from the book and attempting to sell them to the Sun.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
Betting patterns point to Potter leak
Michelle Pauli
Tuesday May 24, 2005
Guardian Unlimited
Ever since JK Rowling hinted that a major character would meet their death in the latest Harry Potter chronicle, speculation on the subject of where the axe will fall has been rife.
Fans were expecting to have to wait until the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is published on July 16 to find out. However, a Sun newspaper investigation into odd betting patterns at the market town of Bungay in Suffolk may have unearthed the secret a month early. And the future, it seems, is not looking bright for Albus Dumbledore.
According to reports in the Sun, the betting website Blue Square, which is running a book on the question of which character will be bumped off, has recently been inundated with punters wishing to place bets on the demise of the Hogwarts headmaster. But eyebrows were only raised when it transpired that most of the bets originated from Bungay - the town which is coincidentally home to the printers, Clays, who produced the previous five books in the Potter series.
A spokesperson for the internet betting told the Sun, "We have taken nearly £6,000 worth of bets on Dumbledore in the past seven days. All have been played in Bungay or nearby Beccles. A lot of punters have opened new accounts and placed a maximum bet of £50 each on what is an obscure market. That made us sit up and take note."
The site last week cut the odds on Dumbledore from 2:1 to 4:6, while Ladbroke's are now refusing to take bets any more bets on the death of Dumbledore, on the basis that some people have obviously read the book. Meanwhile, William Hill have noticed a surge of punters trying to place bets on the character Dean Thomas being the half-blood prince of the title.
It is thought that much of the latest Harry Potter book is being printed in Germany, following security leaks at Clays during the publication of the fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. A forklift truck driver at the printing plant pleaded guilty in May 2003 to stealing pages from the book and attempting to sell them to the Sun.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
posted by CXW @ 2:46 pm
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