Weekend Review: Bookies rocked by Joshua upset and Liverpool triumph on Super Saturday
Anthony Van Dyck’s victory in the Epsom Derby proves the saving grace for layers
Betfred paid out £1.5m on the Champions League final this weekend after offering best price on Liverpool to beat Tottenham and 4/1 on Mohamed Salah to open the scoring.
The Egyptian duly obliged by netting a penalty that was awarded after just 25 seconds, before Divock Origi made it 2-0 on 87 minutes.
Betfred’s Fred Done said: “What a nightmare. As a big Manchester United fan, I had to watch Liverpool win the Champions League and match United’s 42 major titles.”
Unbelievable, thank you Reds! #YNWA 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Y2Q5iuRJjR
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) June 2, 2019
Betway rued its Betway Boost on Salah to score first and Liverpool to win, although the operator was aided by there being no cards in the final for the first time in Champions League history.
“With the favourites Liverpool winning the Champions League, it wasn’t the best result for us,” said Betway spokesperson Chad Yeomans. “Being an all English final really drew the punters in and they really got off to a flying start,” he added.
Bet365’s Steve Freeth was more positive about the result however. He said: “We had a good result in the Champions League both in-play and pre-game with the Unders and BTTS No result helping.”
Freeth was also pleased to dodge the Virgil van Dijk/Anthony Van Dyck football horseracing crossover double, with liabilities running over £1m on that potential outcome.
The Derby was indeed the highlight of the weekend for several books, with Anthony Van Dyck the least fancied of seven Ballydoyle runners.
William Hill’s Rupert Adams said: “Of all the Aidan O’Brien runners Anthony Van Dyck was our best result. Although the places could have been better it was a great race for us.”
The other major sporting event this weekend was the boxing, where Andy Ruiz Jr produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of heavyweight boxing to defeat Anthony Joshua.
This is Andy’s night, congratulations Champ 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/5gE8uFx4MG
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyjoshua) June 2, 2019
William Hill brand ambassador Joshua lost his IBF, WBO and WBA world heavyweight titles after the bout at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
“The boxing was our second worst result of the weekend [after the CL final] as our ambassador got beaten and Ruiz was well-supported at a big price,” said Hills’ Rupert Adams.
One Everton-supporting Betfred punter wagered £200 with a friend on Liverpool to win in 90 minutes and Ruiz to beat Joshua, paying out £5,200 in winnings.
The Ruiz result cost Betfred another £100,000 after several punters back AJ to lose in the seventh round at a price of 250/1, with a Joshua victory priced at 1/18 before the fight.
Bet365’s Freeth said of the result: “A huge odds-on favourite gets chinned – a good result for the bookies I hear you say?
“Well, the outsider can attract interest in the big bouts and Ruiz was no different,” he added.