Outside In | Australians have become the world’s biggest losers thanks to this one addiction
Slot machines, along with other forms of wagering, have made Australians the world’s biggest gambling losers, costing an average US$1,000 per person per year
In the UK this week there was timely relief from the ridiculous debate over whether or not to stay in the European Union, and the surreal civil war in the opposition Labour Party over the eccentric leadership of Jeremy Corbin. It was called Leicester.
The Foxes – Leicester City football club – made football and betting history by winning the Premier League for the first time in their 132-year history. As 5000 to 1 outsiders, Leicester’s victory has created the most massive loss ever in Britain’s gambling industry – an estimated 50 million pounds (HK$561.77 million)
And across this mid sized Midland city of 300,000, at the Crucible, the world Mecca for snooker, Leicester-born Mark Selby battled Jiangsu-born Ding Junhui to become World Snooker Champion. Ding was the first Asian ever to reach the World Snooker Championship final, and was being followed live, deep into the night, by an estimated 100 million snooker fans in China.
As the city of Leicester celebrated this sudden and unfamiliar world attention, a combination of elation and incredulity had locals turning to supernatural influences for the Foxes’ and Mark Selby’s victories: everything in the city has gone miraculously well since the remains of Richard III, King of England from 1483-85 were unearthed in 2012 after being lost for five centuries. Richard was the last British king to die in battle – at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire – and his defeat ended the Plantagenet dynasty, and brought Henry Tudor to the English throne.
Supernatural or not, Britain’s bookies were not amused, calling the Leicester victory “a black armband day”. British media talked of the biggest upset in British betting history. The betting industry has reported big losses before: in January and March 2014 the top five bookies lost 20-25 million pounds, and in January 2015 they lost 40 million pounds. But these losses were on big “accumulator” bets in which individuals managed to pick virtually all of the soccer match winners over a weekend. To lose so much on a single team is without precedent. In offering the 5000 to 1 odds on a Leicester victory, they had said it was as likely as Justin Bieber becoming US President, or Elvis Presley being found alive. They have agreed no longer to offer 5000 to 1 odds. The best odds will in future be 1000 to 1.
