Spectacular Society continues to toy with the aftermath of the Barcelona match against Liverpool in the Champions League. We pointed out in a previous post that there was rampant media disinformation on this event (see: http://footballisfixed.blogspot.com/2007/02/spectacular-society-and-market.html).
William Hill's are claiming that they lost £50,000 after a client placed £500 at 100/1 that Bellamy would score and perform a fake golf swing in celebration which, of course, the cheeky little chappy did.
This is a standard piece of marketing by the Leeds-based bookmaker OR a slick piece of trading by Bellamy or those close to him. Personally, I would prefer to think it was the latter option as nobody of consequence lost anything on a nice little scam.
Unfortunately, experience suggests the former to be the most likely reality. Most leading bookmakers put out press releases "celebrating" the occasions where, allegedly, they have been fleeced or outmanoeuvred by punters. These same bookmakers do not mention the major losses experienced by leisure punters in their marketing/PR stunts and, for good measure, do not allow winning accounts.
So even if it is true that Mr X from Malta won $22,000 playing blackjack, you can guarantee that Mr X is losing similar amounts on a regular basis...
