by Ryan D. Jaeger
British bookmakers may personally hope that England wins the World Cup, but when it comes to what's good for their business, a UK victory could be their worst case scenario.
Bookies say that more than £1 billion will be wagered on this year's World Cup tournament in South Africa and they stand to make a very slim profit margin .
A British victory would bring with it a double edged problem. On the one side, British soccer fans tend to go slightly overboard when backing their team. "England attracts an extremely patriotic bet," according to one analyst. "Which Englishman's going to bet against England?"
And on the other side, there is a greater chance of favourites winning their games.
Take all of that, and it is understandable when a spokesman for Paddy Power says that "we're basically stuffed" if Capello's team wins the tournament.
According to the spokesman, if Spain loses to England "we've have lost money every step of the way."
Nevertheless, bookies are viewing the World Cup as the perfect opportunity to showcase their products and attract new players. "It's not the end of the world if the bookies get caught with their pants down," said Paddy Power.
So is it worth voting for England?
Patriotism aside, analysts believe that there is probably no other wager (besides Spain and Brazil) that comes with less value than backing the English team. This is because bookmakers need to cover themselves for losses.
Odds of 7-1 are offered by Ladbrokes on an English victory, as an example.
On the other hand, France is considered a great value bet, since it has better chances of beating England to the title, yet comes with odds of 20-1 for winning the World Cup.
At the end of the day, the choice is yours.
