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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » What’s believed to be the largest political bet ever – £400

SystemSystem Posts: 11,735
edited June 2014 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » What’s believed to be the largest political bet ever – £400k at 1-4 on an #IndyRef NO

The punter, said to be a middle aged man, placed a bet via a banker’s draft 1/4 on an IndyRef NO at a William Hill’s betting shop in SW London. He stands to make a profit of £100,000 if that’s how the referendum goes.

Read the full story here


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Comments

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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    Hmmm, I have my doubts.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    A middle aged man in Surrey placed this bet?

    JohnO, where were you this bet was placed?
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    SpeedySpeedy Posts: 12,100
    Since Salmond made it a referendum about himself, it's probable that he will lose it.
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    "I’m not so sure that I would have risked it."

    Oh come on Mike, with your millions?
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    Where on earth did MrG get that kind of money from ? ; )
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    Great PR for Hills, which puts PP's pathetic staking limits into perspective.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787

    A middle aged man in Surrey placed this bet?

    JohnO, where were you this bet was placed?

    In Bournemouth setting up the Richard Tyndall Fan Club.

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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493
    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,584
    What I am finding interesting about the Indyref is that movement seems pretty much to have stopped. It is like pretty much everyone who is likely to vote has made up their mind already and now just have to wait another 99 days.

    This may be a little deceptive. The recent 2 week gap in polling has reduced the apparent activity. But if you believe that is where we are a bet like this makes a good deal of sense.

    My one remaining reservation would be the effect of a tory lead in the polling. That could have an effect on the key swing group, namely Scottish Labour. I really don't see anything else that could have a major effect now. The campaigns have been as inept as each other but the onus was on Yes and their arguments have been abysmal.
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    SlackbladderSlackbladder Posts: 9,713
    Easiest 100k this guy will have ever made...
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

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    state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,436

    In reply to Charles:-

    Well I think kids who go to a non- faith school would do just as well as going to a faith school. Faith schools only look good because they have good 'raw material'. On an individual level kids should do the same imo. Its also one of the reasons why private schools tend to seem to do really well compared to state schools . I like Mr Gove and appreciate his efforts to improve state schooling despite the sneers from supposed lefties who should applaud this attempt to bring up standards for poorer children.

    As I said yesterday though, it is bloody silly to base a child's education on what fairy tale about God their parent' believe (or pretend to believe) in. If you have to , replace faith schools with another selection criteria be it grammar schools (at least it is fairly logical to base a kid's education on how good at it they are)
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    Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,820
    The most puzzling aspect of the whole thing is why William Hills want publicity for political bets, given that if you try to place any with them you get cut down to tuppence ha'penny.
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    Well we can rule out Financier as the bettor.

    He doesn't play for anything less than £40 million.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

    Oh?
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    LennonLennon Posts: 1,740
    Middle aged man in the South-East who's not afraid of taking an educated punchy gamble? Mike Ashley perchance?
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    SouthamObserverSouthamObserver Posts: 38,994
    He'll rue the day.
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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    Faith schools, and I would guess these "quasi" faith schools as well, have successful students because they are strict on discipline.
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    Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,820

    He'll rue the day.

    LOL!
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,051

    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

    Who the hell is going to back England at Evens ?
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    The APR on the bet is 124% - assuming Scotland doesn't vote YES to spite a rich man in Surrey...
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @Richard - indeed.

    I wonder if the Surrey man is a certain W. Hill.
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    state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,436
    Hills must have had a lob- sided book with big liabilities towards a 'yes' vote to take that bet
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    TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 40,433
    William Hill seems a little mixed up, easy to lose track of all these huge over-the-counter bets they're taking.

    William Hill ‏@sharpeangle 2 hrs
    @guy_wersh @gandhiway @paulwaugh @tnewtondunn Think you'll find June 10,2014 is today-£200,000. No bet last June.

    'Record £200,000 Bet On No Vote In Scottish Indie Referendum
    Published on Monday, 24 June 2013 15:56
    Written by Graham Sharpe
    RECORD £200,000 BET ON SCOTS VOTING AGAINST INDEPENDENCE'
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    state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,436
    edited June 2014

    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

    Go on explain? Do you mean if Italy beat INGERLAND then their odds will drift to 66/1 ish? Actually even that wouldn't do it
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    Lennon said:

    Middle aged man in the South-East who's not afraid of taking an educated punchy gamble? Mike Ashley perchance?

    There's a lot of strong rumours that he's trying to buy Rangers.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,584

    Hills must have had a lob- sided book with big liabilities towards a 'yes' vote to take that bet

    Shadsy said there was a surprising amount of money going on Yes at over 55%. If Hills have had the same then this is one easy way of giving them a balanced and profitable book.

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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    @Pulpstar

    Dan Hodges?

    Toby Young?
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    FlightpathFlightpath Posts: 4,012
    It wasn't a portly middle aged man with a receding hairline and a penchant for waving saltires was it?
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    BarnesianBarnesian Posts: 8,021
    Perhaps he is laying his bet in the event of a YES vote - eg shorting the FTSE. Where else is there money to be made in the event of a YES vote?
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    The most puzzling aspect of the whole thing is why William Hills want publicity for political bets, given that if you try to place any with them you get cut down to tuppence ha'penny.

    You know that, I know that, but Sidney would like the Great British public to believe otherwise. Due credit to them however, Hills put up a thumping great £1000 in prize money for PB's competition last year. many times more than any other *cough* bookie I could mention.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493
    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    edited June 2014
    Right, thanks to Redcliffe of this parish

    Graham Sharpe, Media Projects Director at the betting firm, said: "We've had some large four-figure bets from both sides, but this blows them out of the water. It is the largest bet we've taken on the referendum by quite a way.

    "It is unusual to take such a big money bet at this stage, with 100 days to go, usually people will wait to see if somebody says something stupid as campaigns step up before committing to such a large bet.

    http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/278527-glasgow-gambler-puts-200000-on-a-no-vote-on-scottish-independence/

    Must have been a different William Hill who took a 200k bet last year, which is clearly more than a four figure bet

    http://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2013/06/27/suddenly-the-high-rollers-get-attracted-by-the-indyref-betting/

    Edit:
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    state_go_awaystate_go_away Posts: 5,436
    ToryJim said:

    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372

    even older than Mugabe?
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    edited June 2014
    isam said:

    Faith schools, and I would guess these "quasi" faith schools as well, have successful students because they are strict on discipline.

    Going back to our Labour roots are we, Sam? :)

    "One school even banned Christmas" - DM front page today.

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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    DavidL said:

    What I am finding interesting about the Indyref is that movement seems pretty much to have stopped. It is like pretty much everyone who is likely to vote has made up their mind already and now just have to wait another 99 days.

    On February 20th 2011, 74 days before the AV referendum, an ICM Guardian poll had YES and NO level-pegging on 37% each.

    By May 3rd, two days before polling day, the ICM Guardian gave NO a 68-32 lead, which was as close as one could get to the final result when rounding to the nearest percentage point.

    In my view, the only sensible conclusion to take from this is that campaigns can change people's minds if one is notably more inept than the other. It remains to be seen whether this will be the case for the Independence Referendum, but supporters of both campaigns will have reason to hope that the other campaign will prove to be more inept.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    ToryJim said:

    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372

    even older than Mugabe?
    Yes Peres turned 90 last year Mugabe this.
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    Re. the £400K bet - Could it have been SeanT?
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    shadsyshadsy Posts: 289
    @DavidL
    They can probably rely on taking a lot of money on YES at 10/3 or 7/2 now, especially as they have plenty of shops in Scotland. As long as the polls don't suddenly lurch NO-wards, they can be top price on YES for a while and give themselves a nice trading position.

    That's how I'd be thinking, anyway.
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    Tissue_PriceTissue_Price Posts: 9,039
    I don't doubt that Hills have laid this bet. The customer may not even have been known to them previously. However the price is a little surprising and may have been a bit stale given recent movement.

    Limits online on politics (and the restrictions that many of pb's regulars labour under) are a consequence of arbing and betting intelligently into illiquid or one-bookie-only markets, both of which will beat the bookies in the long run. This is not an illiquid market.

    However once you identify yourself as a shrewd punter there's little in it for the bookies to keep laying you, even on the more liquid markets. The likes of OGH, who formulate their own bets, may get "Marker" status where they are restricted but not as severely, to assist the bookie in their pricing. Those who merely follow others' tips or arb are likely to get cut to ribbons.
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    CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 40,184

    Right, thanks to Redcliffe of this parish

    Graham Sharpe, Media Projects Director at the betting firm, said: "We've had some large four-figure bets from both sides, but this blows them out of the water. It is the largest bet we've taken on the referendum by quite a way.

    "It is unusual to take such a big money bet at this stage, with 100 days to go, usually people will wait to see if somebody says something stupid as campaigns step up before committing to such a large bet.

    http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/278527-glasgow-gambler-puts-200000-on-a-no-vote-on-scottish-independence/

    Must have been a different William Hill who took a 200k bet last year, which is clearly more than a four figure bet

    http://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2013/06/27/suddenly-the-high-rollers-get-attracted-by-the-indyref-betting/

    Here's another great mind who thinks alike etc. (with archived press story, now ?pulled):

    http://wingsoverscotland.com/against-all-odds/#more-56747
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    edited June 2014

    ToryJim said:

    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372

    even older than Mugabe?
    The King of Thailand is younger but he's been on the throne since 1946, even longer than HMQ.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    Re. the £400K bet - Could it have been SeanT?

    No gambling that sort of money is something you do if your definitely single or happily married for some years.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    Carnyx said:

    Right, thanks to Redcliffe of this parish

    Graham Sharpe, Media Projects Director at the betting firm, said: "We've had some large four-figure bets from both sides, but this blows them out of the water. It is the largest bet we've taken on the referendum by quite a way.

    "It is unusual to take such a big money bet at this stage, with 100 days to go, usually people will wait to see if somebody says something stupid as campaigns step up before committing to such a large bet.

    http://news.stv.tv/scotland-decides/278527-glasgow-gambler-puts-200000-on-a-no-vote-on-scottish-independence/

    Must have been a different William Hill who took a 200k bet last year, which is clearly more than a four figure bet

    http://www1.politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2013/06/27/suddenly-the-high-rollers-get-attracted-by-the-indyref-betting/

    Here's another great mind who thinks alike etc. (with archived press story, now ?pulled):

    http://wingsoverscotland.com/against-all-odds/#more-56747
    The date of that STV article keeps on changing, something odd is going on.
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    Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,820
    edited June 2014

    In my view, the only sensible conclusion to take from this is that campaigns can change people's minds if one is notably more inept than the other. It remains to be seen whether this will be the case for the Independence Referendum, but supporters of both campaigns will have reason to hope that the other campaign will prove to be more inept.

    There's a dfferent sensible conclusion which fits the facts just as well, if not better: as people pay more attention, the more rational argument predominates. My hunch - and I accept it is just a hunch, or judgement, call it what you will - is that the total failure of the Yes side to address even the most basic questions of currency and EU membership will ultimately prove to have been diasastrous for their case, and that it is too late for them to address that problem. I expect the final result to be either much as the polls are currently showing, or, if there is a movement, to end up with an even bigger No majority.
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    Re. the £400K bet - Could it have been SeanT?

    No - SeanT never bets ..... just occasionally he likes to pretend he does but then thinks better of it.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788

    Re. the £400K bet - Could it have been SeanT?

    No - SeanT never bets ..... just occasionally he likes to pretend he does but then thinks better of it.
    He did offer a fantastic tip on Borussia Dortmund to win the champs league, which was very profitable trading bet.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    ToryJim said:

    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372

    even older than Mugabe?
    The King of Thailand is younger but he's been on the throne since 1946, even longer than HMQ.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej
    HMQ isn't even the oldest crowned head of state.
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143

    In my view, the only sensible conclusion to take from this is that campaigns can change people's minds if one is notably more inept than the other. It remains to be seen whether this will be the case for the Independence Referendum, but supporters of both campaigns will have reason to hope that the other campaign will prove to be more inept.

    There's a dfferent sensible conclusion which fits the facts just as well, if not better: as people pay more attention, the more rational argument predominates. My hunch - and I accept it is just a hunch, or judgement, call it what you will - is that the total failure of the Yes side to address even the most basic questions of currency and EU membership will ultimately prove to have been diasastrous for their case, and that it is too late for them to address that problem. I expect the final result to be either much as the polls are currently showing, or, if there is a movement, to end up with an even bigger No majority.
    The problem with your conclusion is that it requires a subjective judgement on which argument is more rational - which is weak for many reasons* previously discussed on pb.com.

    My explanation is superior because it relies on the subjective judgement that the Yes to AV campaign was fantastically inept, a judgement that so few people would dispute that it borders on being objective

    * Mainly that I disagree with you.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,051
    edited June 2014

    Re. the £400K bet - Could it have been SeanT?

    No - SeanT never bets ..... just occasionally he likes to pretend he does but then thinks better of it.
    He does bet occasionally and he has bet on this very referendum:

    No @ Even Money for £100.
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    edited June 2014
    ToryJim said:

    ToryJim said:

    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372

    even older than Mugabe?
    The King of Thailand is younger but he's been on the throne since 1946, even longer than HMQ.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej
    HMQ isn't even the oldest crowned head of state.
    But Bhumibol is currently the longest serving Head of State.
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    Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,820

    My explanation is superior because it relies on the subjective judgement that the Yes to AV campaign was fantastically inept, a judgement that so few people would dispute that it borders on being objective

    Fair point - but perhaps that was a consequence, not a cause.
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    Gloomy on PB today: time for some good news

    The ONS released its Index of Production bulletin for April 2014 this morning.

    The IoP is one of the earliest indicators of growth and it measures output in the manufacturing (the largest component of production), mining & quarrying, energy supply and water supply & waste management industries. The production industries account for 15.2% of the output approach to the measurement of gross domestic product.

    The Production Index shows the manufacturing sector growing at an annual rate of 4.4%, more than enough to compensate for falls in North Sea Oil & Gas extraction, and a sign that the government's rebalancing strategy is returning dividends.

    The impact of Oil & Gas extraction is described as follows:

    Recent divergences between manufacturing and total production can be primarily attributed to movements within the sub-industry groupings that make up total production, namely the mining and quarrying industries. Despite the industry only comprising approximately 15.1% to total production, its volatility and the overall downward trend (the industry has contracted in 13 out of the past 14 years) has provided downward pressure on total production, which can be predominantly attributed to North Sea oil and gas reserves becoming increasingly challenging to extract and ageing extraction equipment requiring extensive repairs and maintenance.
    =================================================================
    ONS: Index of Production - April 2014
    Table 1: Percentage changes
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    | | (Percentage change)
    | Index | Most Most Most Most
    | number | recent recent 3 recent recent 3
    | | month on months month on months on
    |2010=100| a year on a year previous previous
    | | earlier earlier month 3 months
    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    Production | 98.2 | 3.0 2.6 0.4 1.1
    Manufacturing | 103.0 | 4.4 4.0 0.4 2.0
    =================================================================
    [to be continued]
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    AveryLPAveryLP Posts: 7,815
    edited June 2014
    Index of Production [continued]

    Now before the Midlands' Malcontents start posting statistics which claim Osborne has presided over countless manufacturing recessions since 2010, some pertinent economic context is needed:

    Globally, the performance of manufacturing has varied across G7 nations since the economic downturn of 2008; Japan experienced the largest initial fall in output (32%), in contrast the shallowest decline was in the UK (13%).

    Following the 2008/09 economic downturn, all G7 nations’ manufacturing industries returned to growth. However, with the exception of the USA, all members experienced further declines between the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013, particularly in Italy. More recently, all members (excluding Germany as data unavailable at time of writing) saw growth in manufacturing output in Q1 2014, however, output remained below their respective pre-downturn peaks, with Italy, France and Japan remaining more than 10% below, whereas the UK remained 7.6% below. The USA was the closest member to its pre-downturn peak at just 2.6% below.


    So the real story is that UK maufacturing has performed better than all its G7 competitors except the US, although the gap with Germany is insignificant. It should also be noted that both the fall and subsequent recovery in manufacturing output has been more gradual in the UK than in competitor countries.

    Go George, GO!
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    Bond_James_BondBond_James_Bond Posts: 1,939

    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

    I have little to no interest in football although I have been known to watch the odd WC match. With that caveat, I went through the Labourgraph's thingy where you forecast the result and it seems to me to be obvious, looking at their path to the final, that Brazil will win it, and that England cannot qualify from that group. To do so they would have to beat two of the other three, right?

    What happens if all three games in a group happen to be draws?

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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,051
    @The_Screaming_Eagles

    Where is this 100% return on England winning the world cup ?
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    On topic, when do we anticipate crossover in the Indy polling?

    Unionists should get worried if Compouter says it won't happen.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,052
    Good afternoon, everyone.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    ToryJim said:

    ToryJim said:

    Israel has elected a new President Reuven Rivlin, to replace Shimon Peres who is currently the oldest head of state in the world apparently.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-27778372

    even older than Mugabe?
    The King of Thailand is younger but he's been on the throne since 1946, even longer than HMQ.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej
    HMQ isn't even the oldest crowned head of state.
    But Bhumibol is currently the longest serving Head of State.
    Indeed.
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    HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    FPT

    "HurstLlama said:

    The new voter registration system will see the number of people on the register fall and I suspect by quite large amounts. I spent a month last winter trudging the street of Hurstpierpoint and district knocking on doors and trying to get people who had not responded to the councils invitation to register as a voter. Of nearly 400 households on my list I managed to get just under 200 to sign up. If I had had to get the National Insurance Number for each voter I doubt I would have got into double figures. That is in nice, comfortable, law-abiding (it is an offence not to fill in voter registration forms) rural Sussex. What it will be like in inner city areas I dread to think."

    Lennon said:

    "Presumably, that will make Turnout 'appear' to be up, and possibly quite dramatically, as those people that can't be bothered to register are unlikely to have been bothered to vote previously, and so the numerator will not have changed much, but the denominator fallen quite considerably. Worth bearing in mind when considering 'Turnout' bets."

    A very good point. There will be all sorts of screwy statistical effects from the new system but the biggest real effect will be I think that the number of Labour supporters on the register will go down. Whether that will actually mean anything in terms of seats I am not sure.
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    Tissue_PriceTissue_Price Posts: 9,039

    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

    I have little to no interest in football although I have been known to watch the odd WC match. With that caveat, I went through the Labourgraph's thingy where you forecast the result and it seems to me to be obvious, looking at their path to the final, that Brazil will win it, and that England cannot qualify from that group. To do so they would have to beat two of the other three, right?

    What happens if all three games in a group happen to be draws?

    Every chance that Italy, England & Uruguay all beat Costa Rica and all draw with each other.


    The ranking of each team in each group shall be determined as follows:

    a) greatest number of points obtained in all the group matches;

    b) goal difference in the group matches;

    c) greatest number of goals scored in the group matches.

    d) greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;

    e) goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;

    f) greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned;

    g) drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788

    ToryJim said:

    That's either a sign of confidence or someone with an awful lot of money to lose. Although I guess you aren't getting a 25% return in 3 months anywhere else.

    You can get a 100% return less commission by as early as next Thursday if you lay England for the world cup.

    I have little to no interest in football although I have been known to watch the odd WC match. With that caveat, I went through the Labourgraph's thingy where you forecast the result and it seems to me to be obvious, looking at their path to the final, that Brazil will win it, and that England cannot qualify from that group. To do so they would have to beat two of the other three, right?

    What happens if all three games in a group happen to be draws?

    Is settled on goals scored, if that can't split the teams, then lots are drawn.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    Pulpstar said:

    @The_Screaming_Eagles

    Where is this 100% return on England winning the world cup ?

    I said lay England, not on them winning the world cup.

    England won't win the world cup, because we're not that good, the heat, and there's a few better teams in the tournament.

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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,052
    Mr. Eagles, I have it on good authority that Uruguay will win the World Cup.
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    anotherDaveanotherDave Posts: 6,746
    "The narrowing in Labour’s lead over the past year is entirely the result of Labour losing support, not of the Conservatives gaining it."

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jameskirkup/100275660/memo-to-tory-optimists-labour-is-losing-support-but-youre-not-gaining-it/
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    AveryLP said:

    Index of Production [continued]

    Now before the Midlands' Malcontents start posting statistics which claim Osborne has presided over countless manufacturing recessions since 2010, some pertinent economic context is needed:

    Globally, the performance of manufacturing has varied across G7 nations since the economic downturn of 2008; Japan experienced the largest initial fall in output (32%), in contrast the shallowest decline was in the UK (13%).

    Following the 2008/09 economic downturn, all G7 nations’ manufacturing industries returned to growth. However, with the exception of the USA, all members experienced further declines between the second half of 2012 and the first half of 2013, particularly in Italy. More recently, all members (excluding Germany as data unavailable at time of writing) saw growth in manufacturing output in Q1 2014, however, output remained below their respective pre-downturn peaks, with Italy, France and Japan remaining more than 10% below, whereas the UK remained 7.6% below. The USA was the closest member to its pre-downturn peak at just 2.6% below.


    So the real story is that UK maufacturing has performed better than all its G7 competitors except the US, although the gap with Germany is insignificant. It should also be noted that both the fall and subsequent recovery in manufacturing output has been more gradual in the UK than in competitor countries.

    Go George, GO!

    Fantastic tractor stats, Comrade Chancellor! You'll receive the Order of Lenin Miliband for this!
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    MattWMattW Posts: 18,992


    In reply to Charles:-

    Well I think kids who go to a non- faith school would do just as well as going to a faith school. Faith schools only look good because they have good 'raw material'. On an individual level kids should do the same imo. Its also one of the reasons why private schools tend to seem to do really well compared to state schools . I like Mr Gove and appreciate his efforts to improve state schooling despite the sneers from supposed lefties who should applaud this attempt to bring up standards for poorer children.

    As I said yesterday though, it is bloody silly to base a child's education on what fairy tale about God their parent' believe (or pretend to believe) in. If you have to , replace faith schools with another selection criteria be it grammar schools (at least it is fairly logical to base a kid's education on how good at it they are)

    Loving it.

    There's a problem in a series of 'secular' schools and not in a faith school, so lets solve it by turning all the faith-based schools into the sort that had the problem...

    I have an idea. Let's solve all the postal voting problems by banning hamsters :-).

    Logic might say to give these schools to the CofE to run if you want Muslim majority schools run in an inclusive manner.
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    BobaFettBobaFett Posts: 2,789
    For once I agree with Dan Hodges.

    The idea that you spend public money indoctrinating children with your favourite superstition is scandalous.
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    Bond_James_BondBond_James_Bond Posts: 1,939
    Thanks all.

    @Tissue Price - I can't see England beating Costa Rica (or the other two either). I can see England coming home without winning a game. I'd like to be wrong, but defeat at the hands of Italy and Uruguay seems nailed on. If at that point England are already eliminated, then they might scrape a win against whomever they play last, although if they play Italy or Uruguay last, even then I doubt it.

    My guess would be Brazil versus Argentina in the final with Germany and Italy playing off for third.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788

    Mr. Eagles, I have it on good authority that Uruguay will win the World Cup.

    Me too, I believe it was from the chap that tipped Austria to win the Eurovision, and Maria Miller as next out of the cabinet at 14/1.
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,051

    Pulpstar said:

    @The_Screaming_Eagles

    Where is this 100% return on England winning the world cup ?

    I said lay England, not on them winning the world cup.

    England won't win the world cup, because we're not that good, the heat, and there's a few better teams in the tournament.

    Errm thats what I mean, but laying a 30-1 shot gives ~ 3.% return, not 100 !

    I've got £20 on England at 33-1. I could actually lay at 30.5-1 right now to gain a green/free bet on England winning so to speak.
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    isamisam Posts: 41,118
    edited June 2014

    isam said:

    Faith schools, and I would guess these "quasi" faith schools as well, have successful students because they are strict on discipline.

    Going back to our Labour roots are we, Sam? :)

    "One school even banned Christmas" - DM front page today.

    Seems like a lot of faux outrage about it, but are people really surprised? If you create a population where large parts of major cities are almost exclusively muslim, can anyone really be surprised when the schools in those areas teach the children as if they were in an Islamic state?

    I am sure the same would happen in other countries were there mass immigration of Christians while the locals were banned from complaining about it/not listened to

    Millions of people in the UK live in a segregated society, it was entirely predictable, and nothing can be done about it.

    Thats the problem with progressive politicians, they give everything a try without thinking it through, call anyone who warns of future problems names to silence them, then find they cant clean up the mess when it all goes wrong
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    Mr. Eagles, I have it on good authority that Uruguay will win the World Cup.

    Do they have any good players?
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,052
    Mr. Eagles, if only I'd followed those tips as well.

    Oh well.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    Pulpstar said:

    Pulpstar said:

    @The_Screaming_Eagles

    Where is this 100% return on England winning the world cup ?

    I said lay England, not on them winning the world cup.

    England won't win the world cup, because we're not that good, the heat, and there's a few better teams in the tournament.

    Errm thats what I mean, but laying a 30-1 shot gives ~ 3.% return, not 100 !

    I've got £20 on England at 33-1. I could actually lay at 30.5-1 right now to gain a green/free bet on England winning so to speak.
    Yeah, that's what I meant as well.
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    HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    edited June 2014
    BobaFett said:

    For once I agree with Dan Hodges.

    The idea that you spend public money indoctrinating children with your favourite superstition is scandalous.

    Even if your favourite superstition is aetheism?
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    ToryJim said:

    Mr. Eagles, I have it on good authority that Uruguay will win the World Cup.

    Do they have any good players?
    They have the world's greatest player, Luis Suarez.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,052
    Mr. Llama, atheism*, old bean.

    Mr. Jim, they have a bitey bucktoothed fellow who apparently is skilled at the important and civilised art of kicking a ball.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788

    Mr. Eagles, if only I'd followed those tips as well.

    Oh well.

    When it comes to betting tips, like classical history, you should always listen to me, I'm always right.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,052
    edited June 2014
    Mr. Eagles, in both spheres my dominance is quite assured.

    Edited extra bit: on a semi-serious note, I wonder about more tennis betting and/or trying to bet on football. I really like F1, as people may have noticed, but it's not nearly as frequent as other sporting events, limiting betting possibilities.
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    Anyway, SeanT is very definitely a North London boy, snobbishly so in fact, and is always very disparaging about those, like yours truly, who live south of the river.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493
    BobaFett said:

    For once I agree with Dan Hodges.

    The idea that you spend public money indoctrinating children with your favourite superstition is scandalous.

    Having been to two primary schools one a CofE and the other a secular I found there was zero difference between the two. My sisters went to an RC Primary school run by a lovely nun. There were thematically religious assemblies at all. At my secular secondary there were two assemblies a week one more religious one more humanist. I just didn't see any vast issues albeit some of this is heading towards 30 years ago so faith schools now may all be dens of indoctrination, but I doubt it.
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    LennonLennon Posts: 1,740

    Thanks all.

    @Tissue Price - I can't see England beating Costa Rica (or the other two either). I can see England coming home without winning a game. I'd like to be wrong, but defeat at the hands of Italy and Uruguay seems nailed on. If at that point England are already eliminated, then they might scrape a win against whomever they play last, although if they play Italy or Uruguay last, even then I doubt it.

    My guess would be Brazil versus Argentina in the final with Germany and Italy playing off for third.

    England's playing order is Italy, Uruguay and then Costa Rica. Means that the final game could easily be meaningless for both sides.
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651

    BobaFett said:

    For once I agree with Dan Hodges.

    The idea that you spend public money indoctrinating children with your favourite superstition is scandalous.

    Even if your favourite superstition is aetheism?
    Avast Mr Llama! How is atheism a superstition? Surely belief in the supernatural is superstition. Belike and all that!
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    SocratesSocrates Posts: 10,322
    isam said:

    isam said:

    Faith schools, and I would guess these "quasi" faith schools as well, have successful students because they are strict on discipline.

    Going back to our Labour roots are we, Sam? :)

    "One school even banned Christmas" - DM front page today.

    Seems like a lot of faux outrage about it, but are people really surprised? If you create a population where large parts are almost exclusively muslim, can anyone really be surprised when the schools in those areas teach the children as if they were in an Islamic state?

    I am sure the same would happen in other countries were there mass immigration of Christians while the locals were banned from complaining about it/not listened to

    Millions of people in the UK live in a segregated society, it was entirely predictable, and nothing can be done about it.

    Thats the problem with progressive politicians, they give everything a try without thinking it through, call anyone who warns of future problems names to silence them, then find they cant clean up the mess when it all goes wrong
    And let's remember how this happened:

    http://www.standard.co.uk/news/dont-listen-to-the-whingers--london-needs-immigrants-6786170.html

    "What's missing is not only a sense of the benefits of immigration but also of where it came from. It didn't just happen: the deliberate policy of ministers from late 2000 until at least February last year, when the Government introduced a points-based system, was to open up the UK to mass migration....

    ...London's role as a magnet for immigration busted wide open the stale 1990s clichés about multiculturalism: it's a question of genuine diversity now, not just tacking a few Afro-Caribbean and Bengali events on to a white British mainstream....

    ...Eventually published in January 2001, the innocuously labelled "RDS Occasional Paper no. 67", "Migration: an economic and social analysis" focused heavily on the labour market case.

    But the earlier drafts I saw also included a driving political purpose: that mass immigration was the way that the Government was going to make the UK truly multicultural.

    I remember coming away from some discussions with the clear sense that the policy was intended - even if this wasn't its main purpose - to rub the Right's nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date."


    The Labour Party deliberately wanted to move away from what they regarded as "a white British mainstream" to make the UK "truly multicultural" and "rub the Right's nose in diversity". Well here we have an alternative culture - bigoted, sexist and autocratic. They have reaped a whirlwind on this country, and Theresa May and the Conservatives have failed to even get immigration back to pre-97 levels, let alone deal with Labour's toxic legacy.

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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    edited June 2014

    Thanks all.

    @Tissue Price - I can't see England beating Costa Rica (or the other two either). I can see England coming home without winning a game. I'd like to be wrong, but defeat at the hands of Italy and Uruguay seems nailed on. If at that point England are already eliminated, then they might scrape a win against whomever they play last, although if they play Italy or Uruguay last, even then I doubt it.

    My guess would be Brazil versus Argentina in the final with Germany and Italy playing off for third.

    We play Italy on Saturday then Uruguay (19th June) and Costa Rica last (24th).
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788
    Tories plotting to form a coalition with Northern Ireland MPs to avoid sharing power again with Clegg

    EXCLUSIVE: Senior Tories examining plan to form a government with DUP

    David Cameron needs to win more than 316 seats to secure outright majority

    If he falls just short, could rely on 8 Democratic Unionist MPs to take power

    Polls suggest a narrow result is possible at the 2015 general election

    Around 40 Tory MPs are ready to block a second coalition with Lib Dems

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2653992/Tories-plotting-form-coalition-Northern-Ireland-MPs-avoid-sharing-power-Clegg.html
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    HurstLlamaHurstLlama Posts: 9,098
    O/T

    Charles Clark puts the boot in to his own side:

    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2014/06/charles-clarke-labour-has-no-credible-economic-plan-and-voters-dont-see-miliband-as-pm/

    Mind you I'd take the old goat more seriously if he could afford to buy a razor - either grow a proper set or shave off, appearing with two day stubble just makes people look like losers
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    Tissue_PriceTissue_Price Posts: 9,039

    Thanks all.

    @Tissue Price - I can't see England beating Costa Rica (or the other two either). I can see England coming home without winning a game. I'd like to be wrong, but defeat at the hands of Italy and Uruguay seems nailed on. If at that point England are already eliminated, then they might scrape a win against whomever they play last, although if they play Italy or Uruguay last, even then I doubt it.

    My guess would be Brazil versus Argentina in the final with Germany and Italy playing off for third.

    I think that's unduly pessimistic. England are traditionally very hard to beat in these tournaments (hence all the exits on penalties), and both Uruguay & Italy are probably past their best, whilst England are improving. For once they go into the tournament at realistic, if not overly attractive, odds (28/1). I have £1 @ 1966/1 and a larger each-way bet at 33/1 that I struck before the unfortunate draw.

    Argentina look the value amongst the favourites, although I've seen plenty of respected judges tipping up Spain for one last hurrah. I've already tipped Switzerland @ 160 on betfair as a live outsider. I wouldn't get hung up on the "never won in South America" stat; that dates back to the days of boat travel, and it only held true by the width of an Argentinian post struck (by the Dutch) in the last minute of normal time in 1978, with the score 1-1.
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    SpeedySpeedy Posts: 12,100
    This will impact western foreign and defence policy a bit.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/insurgents-seize-iraqi-city-of-mosul-as-troops-flee/2014/06/10/21061e87-8fcd-4ed3-bc94-0e309af0a674_story.html

    So the west once more has supported a group that has turned into a frankenstein monster, al qaeda now has a proper airforce since they captured an iraqi air base with 26 fighter jets intact, the oil fields and the oil pipeline that leads to Turkey.
    Time for a war in the middle east to get rid of the syrian islamic rebels before they conquer Iraq?
    Because at this rate they will reach the US embassy in Baghdad by the end of the month and the US will be forced to defend it's embassy, effectively restarting the Iraq war.

    Where is yokel when you need an explanation?
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    PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 76,051
    Hmm that £5 E/W I put on Falcao Golden boot looks like a write off.

    Injured I assume.
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    shadsyshadsy Posts: 289
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    Sunil_PrasannanSunil_Prasannan Posts: 49,651
    edited June 2014

    Tories plotting to form a coalition with Northern Ireland MPs to avoid sharing power again with Clegg

    EXCLUSIVE: Senior Tories examining plan to form a government with DUP

    David Cameron needs to win more than 316 seats to secure outright majority

    If he falls just short, could rely on 8 Democratic Unionist MPs to take power

    Polls suggest a narrow result is possible at the 2015 general election

    Around 40 Tory MPs are ready to block a second coalition with Lib Dems

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2653992/Tories-plotting-form-coalition-Northern-Ireland-MPs-avoid-sharing-power-Clegg.html

    More UDUMP than UCUNF this time around?
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,493

    ToryJim said:

    Mr. Eagles, I have it on good authority that Uruguay will win the World Cup.

    Do they have any good players?
    They have the world's greatest player, Luis Suarez.
    Isn't he a cheating racist? Also I had been informed that Messi was the greatest player who'd ever donned studs but I pay little attention.

    Mr Dancer doesn't the craft of football require that a further 10 such players be on the pitch to help with some others to replace them if things aren't working?
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    Richard_NabaviRichard_Nabavi Posts: 30,820

    Polls suggest a narrow result is possible at the 2015 general election

    Looks like they've been sniffing around JackW's ARSE.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,788

    Anyway, SeanT is very definitely a North London boy, snobbishly so in fact, and is always very disparaging about those, like yours truly, who live south of the river.

    Was it thee who was asking for the Con and Lab seat bands market?

    http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/next-uk-general-election/total-seats-labour

    and here

    http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/british-politics/next-uk-general-election/total-seats-conservative
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143
    edited June 2014

    Lennon said:

    FPT
    "HurstLlama said:

    The new voter registration system will see the number of people on the register fall and I suspect by quite large amounts. I spent a month last winter trudging the street of Hurstpierpoint and district knocking on doors and trying to get people who had not responded to the councils invitation to register as a voter. Of nearly 400 households on my list I managed to get just under 200 to sign up. If I had had to get the National Insurance Number for each voter I doubt I would have got into double figures. That is in nice, comfortable, law-abiding (it is an offence not to fill in voter registration forms) rural Sussex. What it will be like in inner city areas I dread to think."

    Lennon said:

    "Presumably, that will make Turnout 'appear' to be up, and possibly quite dramatically, as those people that can't be bothered to register are unlikely to have been bothered to vote previously, and so the numerator will not have changed much, but the denominator fallen quite considerably. Worth bearing in mind when considering 'Turnout' bets."
    A very good point. There will be all sorts of screwy statistical effects from the new system but the biggest real effect will be I think that the number of Labour supporters on the register will go down. Whether that will actually mean anything in terms of seats I am not sure.
    It would have an effect in terms of seats when the boundaries are redrawn, regardless of whether they are withdrawn on the stricter method legislated for by the Coalition or the previous method.

    This is where Labour's famed focus on the marginals could come back to haunt them, as if they don't put the effort in to have their supporters registered to vote in their safe seats then their safe seats will expand geographically and they will have fewer of them.

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    dyedwooliedyedwoolie Posts: 7,786

    BobaFett said:

    For once I agree with Dan Hodges.

    The idea that you spend public money indoctrinating children with your favourite superstition is scandalous.

    Even if your favourite superstition is aetheism?
    Atheism is a broad based term for not believing there to be a God or Gods, it is stretching credibility to refer to that as superstition, which reduces it to the level of those who do believe such nonsense.
    It is better to start from a position of empirical evidence - that being the accidental or random creation of our universe and cast doubt upon anyone trying to dress that up with a pretty back story, than pseudo-validate faith by naming anti-faith.

    Man is the measure of all things. Of the reality of those things which are, and the unreality of those things which are not.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,052
    Mr. Llama, a day or two of stubble suits some chaps...

    Mr. Speedy, cheers for that post. We will not support Assad. The Government's said too much about him and his regime to perform a volte-face.

    Blair was a ****ing disaster. Worth mentioning that when some attack UKIP for their views, or the Conservatives for alleged Islamophobia for not shrugging when white women are described as prostitutes in schools, that it was the right-on, politically correct, mainstream Tony Blair who was a lying, incompetent, cretinous ****.
This discussion has been closed.