Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has announced it is paying out early on all outright bets on the outcome of the British and Irish Lions to win the Test series against the Wallabies - as well as outright bets on the Ashes.
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The controversial betting agency has sent a barb Down Under, saying “Poor Wallabies, you tried your best … We don’t think the Aussies have a Dingo’s chance of winning the Lions series (or the Ashes.)”
“With the tour opposition providing the worst defence since Charles Saatchi, we’re cutting our losses before the second Test.”
The British and Irish Lions edged past the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend, where the match came down to a crucial missed kick after the siren.
The TAB has the Wallabies at $2.40 to square the series in Melbourne on Saturday and prevent the third Test in Sydney on July 6 from being a dead rubber. The Wallabies are currently at $4.50 to win the series, with the Lions in at $1.22.
The move will initially cost the betmaker over £100,000 (AUD 164,500), but could end up setting back the agency a great deal more should the Wallabies win or draw the best of three series.
The company has a history of headline-grabbing publicity stunts, from taking bets on the extinction of the polar bear to the likelihood of US President Barack Obama finishing his first term.
In 2008, the agency paid out on English Premier League side Stoke City getting relegated after the first match of the season. The club ultimately finished safely in 12th, six places above the drop-zone.
A year later, the scheme proved expensive for the agency, who paid out on Tiger Woods to win the 2009 PGA Championship after just two rounds. When Y.E.Yang claimed the tournament, the agency lost a reported £1.25 million (AUD 2.05 million.)
So why would the bookmaker take the risk?
The move is partly a publicity stunt – a simple marketing ploy to stimulate interest and generate goodwill, but that is not the half of it.
The company are toying with the power balance between punter and agency – designed to seduce the gambler into reinvesting into an undercooked market – for example the winning margin - hereby offsetting the losses.
Paddy Power holds a majority stake in Australian bookmaker Sportsbet.com.au, who last week revealed a 170m by 90m sign on a field near Melbourne Airport depicting a Lion in a compromising position with a Wallaby next to the slogan “Rooting for the Wallabies”.
The Lions head to Melbourne having not won a series since 1997.