Weekend Review: Bookies suffer Euro 2016 Sunday blues
Punters enjoy "cracking weekend" despite layers cheering last-minute England heartache
Bookies suffered big losses on the opening weekend of Euro 2016 with results largely favouring the punters, although Russia’s last-minute equaliser against England provided the layers with some respite.
Bet365 said Sunday was a painful day with all three favourites obliging, but it was “too early to be getting out the violins”.
“Croatia, Poland and Germany were all well-backed, costing the firm in advance of ?6m on the day,” said bet365’s Steve Freeth.
“Tournament wise, Dimitri Payet’s late wonder strike got punters off to a flyer, but Vasili Berezutski’s late equaliser against England was more to our liking, a cracking result, and our only one to date,” Freeth added.
Betfred said Sunday’s results cost the firm more than half-a-million pounds.
“The three results on Sunday cost us a fortune,” Betfred’s Peter Spencer said. “Germany to win 2-0 was the most popular bet of the day, and with Croatia and Poland also winning, it cost us around ?600,000.”
Ladbrokes described the opening weekend as “very poor” despite Russia’s equaliser against the Three Lions ensuring a ?2m swing in its favour. “Every favourite bar England won, and the Wales result also ticked a lot of boxes for customers,” said Ladbrokes’ Alex Donohue.
There was still some joy for England fans who backed their side in the opening match, with the result triggering Lads’ “money back if it’s a draw” promotion.
“At the moment we are looking at the biggest free bet refund of this kind to date, totalling over ?300,000,” Donohue said. “Correct scores, first goals and HT-FT bets were all refunded as free bets.”
Meanwhile, Betway said it needed results to change “quickly” while Unibet said it preferred to see its customers “happier at the beginning than the end” of the tournament.
One saving grace for bookmakers was the lack of goals and unfancied goalscorers so far in the tournament. Betway said England scorer Eric Dier was “almost unbacked”, while Sky Bet said it had helped keep losses to a minimum.
“It was a tough weekend for the layers, but we feel somehow we’ve got out with our heads above water,” said Sky Bet’s Sandro Di Michele.