Also from the Hettinga lists. These bookies have always fascinated me (and I've always wanted them to accept e-gold for strange bets!). Interesting that a bet is a "punt," too! I'm getting this visual of Xodds offering a punt on the Second Coming among its financial bets... ;^) JMR PS Apologies for the double-post earlier, I'm still learning the quirks of "mail."
http://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0218/019.html Oddities Richard C. Morais, Forbes Global, 02.18.02 Worried about extraterrestrials taking over the planet? Hedge away the risk by placing a bet in London. Punters (British slang for bettors) are generally known to be avid sport fans. But in fact the Brits can make almost any kind of bet, provided it is "in good taste" (translation: no "dead or alive" bin Laden bets or anything else involving corpses). The result is a small but vibrant business in "novelty" bets, with such big betting shops as William Hill (willhill.com) offering political, cultural and weird takes on the future. Smaller specialists, such as Blue Square (bluesquare.com) and IG Index Financial, (igindex.co.uk) run finance-related books. We've rounded up a few of the year's more interesting bets that are floating around London. If any of these odds take your fancy, and your country's laws don't prohibit you from betting in a foreign jurisdiction, these websites and your credit card are all you need to place your bets. What U.S. company will have the largest market capitalization on Dec. 31, 2002? In this horse race Blue Square says that GE is the favorite at 8-13 (a $13 bet will return the original stake plus $8). Runners-up: Microsoft (3-2), Exxon Mobil (10-1) and Citigroup (16-1). Pretty stable odds. More excitement in the U.K. where the local giants bp (1-1) and Vodafone (11-8) keep trading the top spot. President Bush is unlikely to resign this year, but William Hill is offering 25-1 for bets on that happening. The odds against Hillary Clinton's becoming the next president are 16-1. The hot action, however, is on actor Will Smith, who suggested in an interview that he would like to run for political office. The 1,000-1 presidential long shot is now, with the release of the movie Ali, down to 50-1. If you think that Nicole Kidman will remarry this year, William Hill will give you $4 for every $1 you put up. Big money is riding on when and whether Britain will join the euro. William Hill say that the odds against Tony Blair's holding a euro referendum this year are 8-1; the odds that Britain will join the euro in the next five years are "evens" (1-1.) Eurosceptics will be heartened to learn that Blue Square is largely ruling out the possibility that a euro will be worth more than a pound in 2002 (50-1). William Hill says that it's more likely (66-1) that the existence of extraterrestrials will be confirmed in 2002 than that the Archbishop of Canterbury will declare the Second Coming (500-1). You can't make the reverse bets (no aliens, you win). Bookies are not quoting the other side. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
