Weekend Review: Bookies suffer winter blues with heavy losses
Sky Bet records one of its worst Boxing Day’s ever, while bet365 endures “horrendous” results at the PDC World Darts Championships
Bookies endured a torrid set of results on Boxing Day with little to cheer about heading into the New Year, with bet365 and Sky Bet among those reporting heavy losses during the period.
Bet365 said it had shipped around £25m during the three rounds of Premier League fixtures up to and including Boxing Day.
“West Bromwich Albion winning at Southampton on New Year’s Day and Sunderland holding Liverpool yesterday, plus some favourable Championship results has seen us claw back the deficit, but we still finished the period a long way behind,” spokesman Steve Freeth said.
Sky Bet said it experienced some of the heaviest losses in the company’s history on Boxing Day, with 14 of the 15 most popular teams on the day all winning.
“December has been a great month for punters and they received even more festive cheer with [Boxing Day’s] incredible results,” Sandro Di Michele said.
Ladbrokes also endured a costly Boxing Day, with Newcastle’s defeat to Sheffield Wednesday saving it from one of its heaviest losses of the year.
And the bookie said the punter-friendly results heading into the New Year showed no signs of stopping. “The big favourites, especially in the Premier League, have delivered time and time again. Liverpool drawing saved it from being another disaster of Boxing Day proportions,” said Ladbrokes’ Alex Donohue.
However, there were was better news for the firm at the PDC World Darts Championship, with in-play betting proving particularly popular with punters.
On the other hand, bet365 said it recorded a “horrendous” set of results at Alexandra Palace. “Favourite after favourite copping – since the third round only Phil Taylor tasted defeat. And it wasn’t just the match results, props were awful and we took a beating from every angle,” said Freeth.
BetVictor has already priced new world champion Michael van Gerwen as 4/7 favourite to win the Premier League and said the Dutchman was a popular choice for punters.
“We tried to keep MvG on side in the World Championships for the last 12 months but he was and is still in a number of lumpy accas,” said BetVictor’s Charlie McCann.
In horseracing, Ladbrokes said results went broadly in its favour and turnover on the opening day of ITV’s broadcast was “healthy”.