World Cup rush for local gamblers

André Lowe, Senior Staff Reporter

The opening game of the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup in South Africa is still a few weeks away, but local punters are already placing their wagers on their favourite teams through the odds released by local bookmaking companies Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) and the United Bookmakers Association (UBA)

Both entities have reported impressive responses to their largely identical World Cup odds, with gamblers trying to take advantage of the early offerings of SVL's JustBet odds and those of the UBA - a consortium of Jamaica's leading bookmakers, Track Price Plus, Markham and Champion betting companies.

Spain are the big favourites for both bookies, with the European champions enjoying odds of 4/1 on UBA's World Cup programme and 4.75/1 on the latest release from JustBet.

UBA, which uses the references of reputed European bookies such as BET365 and Coral Bookmakers, believes that five-time world champions Brazil are second best and have offered odds of 5/1 for the South Americans, with Fabio Capello's England rounding out the top three with a 11/2 probability.

JustBet, banking on the reference of leading British bookmakers BetCo, have things slightly differently, with England and Brazil swapping placing with odds of 6/1 and 5.5/1; not much to choose from between those two.

UBA representative Wilbert Witter is happy with the reaction from the public so far to the wagers being offered and spoke to the credibility of the odds.

"We have been having good response from the public," said Witter. "Betting has started, and from we first put out those odds in April people have been placing their bets at the betting shops.

"As it relates to the odds, we can make our independent odds but for the time being we are using some of the most reputable bookmaking companies in Europe because they offer online betting, so the whole world basically uses those odds," Witter continued.

JustBet's Carlene Edwards was equally pleased with the response that her company has been getting since first coming public with their odds for the June 11-July 11 tournament.

"It (response) has been great," Edwards beamed. "People have been betting already on those odds, and I should point out that in the market we are offering some of the best odds, so people are coming forward to place bets early to make the most of these."

JustBet will be releasing new odds twice a week during the tournament and Edwards noted that several things are taken into consideration where arriving at the odds are concerned. These can change, she said, so punters should take advantage of the offerings that are available now.

"These odds are out of England - we work closely with a British company named BetCo," Edwards explained. "They (BetCo) come up with the odds while looking at different variations, such as players available to each team, the climate, the time of the matches, injuries and so on."

Edwards said odds published can change but bets purchased at any given odds will be paid at that rate.

"We have not released the other bets but our programmes come out twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, so what will happen during the World Cup, our programme comes out on Friday and all our odds will be listed through to the following Tuesday, and so on."

betting options

It should be noted that there are several other options available to gamblers, such as the opportunity to bet on the tournament's top goalscorer, individual games, which team will win their respective groups, teams that will qualify from each group, among other things.

UBA have released their odds in these areas but JustBet is expecting to follow suit in subsequent releases closer to the tournament date.

The Spanish duo of David Villa and Fernando Torres (8/1) is expected to top the goalscoring pile, according to UBA's odds, with Argentina's Lionel Messi (9/1), Brazil's Luis Fabiano (10/1), and another Argentine, Gonzalo Higuain (16/1), following.

UBA bets will be accepted at all Track Price Plus, Markham and Champion betting shops, while JustBet for the time being is available at several locations across the island, such as the Sagicor Centre in New Kingston Young Street, Spanish Town, May Pen, Clarendon, and Savanna-la-Mar; Westmoreland. They will also be available at several Track Price Plus and Markham betting parlours, while discussions continue with the regulators for the use of their Barbican offices.