by Renee Israel
As Greece enters yet another day of political upheaval, UK sports betting
giant, Ladbrokes, has been forced to suspend one of its markets pertaining to
Greece and the Eurozone.
Ladbrokes has continuously been slashing odds that Greece will be forced to
leave the currency before the end of the year, but it has now made the strategic
decision to suspend the market altogether, as things heat up in the struggling
country.
Safer to Suspend Betting than to Cut Odds
"It is safer for us to suspend betting than to keep cutting the odds," said a
spokesman for Ladbrokes. "We have been slashing the odds repeatedly over the
last few days."
The spokesman promised that should the gambling group "get some positive
news" in the coming days, it would reopen its Greek currency betting line.
Ladbrokes hasn't closed betting markets on Greece altogether. It is still
offering odds that the country's stock market will lose more than 25% of its
value in a single day's trading by the end of the year.
According to Ladbrokes, there was also" plenty of support for the 33/1 on
offer" that the Euro will cease to exist altogether by the end of 2012.
Punters can also wager 5/6 that the Euro will dissipate by the end of 2015,
while odds of 4/1 are being offered that one or two more countries will leave
the Euro by the end of 2012.
William Hill Also Suspends Greek Betting
After Ladbrokes suspended its Greek currency betting line, close
rival, William Hill followed suit and opted to suspend its own market on
Greece's prospects in the Eurozone this year.
A spokesman for the giant UK betting group said: "We've had Greece as hot
favourites for some time but increasingly it was becoming the only one that
people wanted to bet on."
"It wasn't a healthy situation for bookmakers," he admitted. "We found it was
virtually impossible to make a book."
At one point, odds were pushed right down to 1/4 at William Hill, forcing the
group to close the market.
William Hill also suspended its market that the Euro will still be in
existence by the end of 2015 after odds reached 4/6 that the Euro will be in
existence, and 11/10 that it won't.
