BETTING ODDITIES: My two cents worth …
2/2/22 seemed an appropriate date to resume Betting Oddities….. and American readers please note it’s 2/2/22 and not 2/2/22.
Talking of 2’s how about the two horse race at Wolverhampton last night where Golden Sands (1/6 FAV) and Havana Goldrush (4/1) couldn’t be split by the judge after a lap of Dunstall Park.
Golden Sands has surely set some kind of record by trading odds on before, during, and after the race in both the photo and then the subsequent stewards’ enquiry market – only for it not to win – at least outright.
As if the race didn’t have enough drama, Havana Goldrush gave Liam Keniry his 1,000th career win or 999 1/2 depending on what counting system you deploy.
Plenty of after-timers claiming the odds should have been closer between the pair as it was a handicap after all. I couldn’t possibly comment after the race but it’s another example of a race market being very binary – by that, I mean punters piling onto one horse almost irrelevant of price.
I bet there’s a huge smile on the handicapper’s face after that (former colleague Adam Barnes I believe in this case) – one to be framed in the front room.
It got me thinking what the true odds were on it finishing a dead-heat? Hypothetical of course, but I asked Star Sports’ maestro of odds and head trader Dave Jolly who said if a punter had approached him before the race asking for odds on it finishing a dead heat he would have said: “name your price, and we’ll add a zero.”
Lead picture (c) RaceTech
WALKING IN A WORDLE WONDERLAND
Good luck to Wordle inventor Josh Wardle who has sold out to the New York Times for an undisclosed seven figure sum.
When the sum is ‘seven figures’, I guess it doesn’t really matter whether it’s disclosed or not – it’s a hell of a windfall.
I did my first Wordle today and got it in three which I suspect was beginners luck.
My first thoughts were it’s not completely dissimilar from the old Mastermind game I used to play as a kid – and secondly how simple it was. Even my old Sinclair Spectrum could have coped with that level of coding. And that’s refreshing in an era of high tech, graphics heavy games which take loads of man hours to learn.
The beauty is in its simplicity. Just one thing irks though. Wordle selects five letter words yet Wordle itself is a six letter word? That’s triggered some OCD reaction in me.
I’M INSECURE AND AT THE CROSSWALK
I know internet security is all down to protect the user and get that but it does drive me mad at times. Logging into bank account, waiting for text message codes, wondering if the 1 is an L or an l etc etc.
Nothing drives me more mad though than these pictures which ascertain whether you are a human or robot.
I nearly always get them wrong on first attempt. Mainly down to deciphering whether the crosswalk straddles two squares or not. It can often be 10/11 each of two!
Oh, and by the way. We don’t have crosswalks in the UK. Grrrrrrrrrrr.
David
DAVID STEWART is a freelance digital betting producer and journalist. His CV includes: The Sun, The Sporting Life, Racing Post, At The Races, The Sportsman, lead feature writer for Sky’s Betview magazine and senior producer Timeform Radio.
Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.