SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The BBC has aired just one episode of its popular Great British Bake Off (GBBO), however Ladbrokes today has announced that it has suspended its TV betting market to “assess the situation”, following a flurry of bets placed on one contestant.
Ladbrokes trading team noticed suspicious play on one contestant, whose odds started at 12/1 and were reduced to 6/1, 3/1 and then evens. Ladbrokes further detailed that the bets had all been placed in shops around Ipswich, although the contestant is not known to have links to the town
A company spokesman commented on the activity: “When you see a run of bets like this for one contestant at the expense of everyone else, that can be a sign to suspend betting for a bit to assess the situation, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Several of the wagers were the maximum the bookies would take for the show, and 90% were placed on one contestant.
Ladbrokes said several customers came in and asked to place the highest amount possible on one contestant which raised suspicion. Ladbrokes has informed the UK media that the suspension of the GBBO market will not affect bets already placed.
