SBC News Pinnacle preparations for the World Cup

Pinnacle preparations for the World Cup

In an interview with bettingexpert’s Andrew Brocker, Phillip Hudson of Pinnacle Sports explains how the bookmaker is approaching the World Cup.

World Cup betting is very different to a typical league or cup tournament. What are the key considerations in framing World Cup match odds?

Qualification provides important data but doesn’t relate to the situational aspect unique to Brazil 2014, such as where and when each fixture will be played, the expected conditions, distance of travel and context.

In common with any regular soccer game our odds are reflecting our sharp bettors and their perspective on the influence of such factors.

Pinnacle is widely praised for offering the best odds and highest limits. What commission margins and limits are Pinnacle offering on match odds, handicaps and goal total markets for the World Cup?

We are offering handicaps to 1.5% margins, 1×2 and Goals Totals at 2%.

Group Stage limits will be at least:

  • Handicaps – $100k increasing to $250k for higher profile games.
  • 1×2 – $30k.
  • Goal Totals – $50k.

Limits will be higher for the knockout rounds but we have something very special planned for the limits on the final, which this video outlines….

What other sporting events would Pinnacle’s overall take for the World Cup compare with? Is it by far the biggest betting event in the world?

Brazil 2014 will easily be the biggest event ever by volume for Pinnacle Sports, and should eclipse both Euro 2012 and World Cup 2010 combined. The live and mobile component of that volume is where we expect to see the largest growth.

Which players are seeing the bulk of betting for Golden Boot and Player of the Tournament betting? Any surprises?

Unsurprisingly we opened with Messi as favourite and the diminutive Argentine has attracted a lot of support, however his compatriot, Sergio Aguero, has also received a surprisingly large volume of bets to lift the Golden Boot.

 Where is the bulk of World Cup futures money going? Any nations receiving more interest than anticipated?

The money is clearly concentrated on the Big 4 – Hosts Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and holders Spain. Among those Brazil is attracting the most attention.

The surprise move has been for France – for whom the 2010 World Cup was such a catastrophe. In the last few months there has been significant drop in the odds on Les Bleus repeating their 1998 success, though this has corrected a little in recent days.

The interview was original published on bettingexpert’s blog here

bettingexpert is multilingual community for igaming and sports betting enthusiasts, where users can share market knowledge to gain best insight. Run by Danish technology developers Better Collective, bettingexpert leads the way in igaming media portals, with thousands of members contributing daily betting tips and advice.

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