Fancy an insurance bet against an airline going bust?

If you're going on holidays or booking flights well in advance but worried about whether that airline will still be there months later, then this might be for you...

Paddy Power have reopened their next airline to go bankrupt market. I don't see an issue with this, it's the reality of the modern world, and those who criticise it are generally those under the most pressure anyway (see article re Flyglobespan). Of course there's the remote chance of an airline crash causing a bankruptcy, but that's pretty unrealistic, and very unlikely the small stakes you would be allowed to bet on this market would be big enough incentive to do evil...

Don't denounce Paddy's powers of deduction

Paddy Power looks set to ruffle a few feathers once again, after re-opening its book on which airline will be the next to go bust. The topic was very popular in the wake of the collapse of XL Leisure, the travel company, last year, and the demise of Flyglobespan, the Scottish airline, has apparently led to a renewed interest.

Wizz Air, the Hungarian airline, is the current favourite at 4/1, with Finnair close behind at 9/2. In at 10/1 is our very own British Airways, although this is probably not surprising, given the current climate.

Comments

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also,

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

Sport is made for betting

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