In the beginning
13 May update: Lucky Lennie
22 May update: The final hurdle
3 June update: Game over, man
Breakdown of bets
Andy
Mat
Pete
Si
2002-03 season index
|
| |
Will it pay off?
Simon Wilson
9 May 2003
A month ago some of the Cod Almighty team pondered whether there was too much of a betting influence in their lives. Our betting 'expert' Mat was scribbling his weekly tips (and placing the odd flutter here and there). Andy was writing the commentary on Mat's battle royale with Coco and being lured in by the sin of gambling. And I was in a weekly racing bet-off with my mate Gobes – with the odd additional sneaky bet on the side, still buoyed by an unexpected bumper Grand National weekend return.
So it wasn't doing us any favours when I suggested that we enter into an end-of-season 'pay off' (yes, yes, it's a crap name, but could you have thought of anything better?). The footie season was as good as over for us, with the only things left to watch being the play-offs, the end of that Premiership thing, a bit of Serie A and La Liga on Eurosport and Sky, and that Amstel/Playstation Cup thing that Man United didn't seem too arsed about winning. And no summer football tournament to look forward to either...
Given that none of us are really arsed why Terry Cooke has been absent from the Town team over the past season, and hence not inclined to debate the reasons, we needed something to do. All that free internet access, all that employer-funded time waiting to be abused. What could we do?
One day in the shower – the place where all the best ideas form, I find – I decided to try and coax or possibly goad (or failing that, blackmail) some of my chums into a bit of a 'bet-off'. With the play-offs coming up there was a perfect chance for us to show off how we could fritter away a few quid. And hopefully make Mat look really rubbish in the process.
A quick think and the rules were formed. Each contestant would be given £10. They had to get as much back from this tenner as possible by the end of the football play-offs. By betting.
The rules are simple:
- Each contestant starts with £10
- Any number of play-off related bets can be made from this initial ten quid over the play-off period
- Money won goes back into the contestant's pool
- If a balance reaches zero the contestant is out
- Deadlines for bets are 4pm Friday for weekend games, and by 2pm on the day of evening games
- Bets and odds can be taken from any site or bookies
So, using the strip on the left you can access all four contestants' betting records. This will be updated with their bets before every bout of play-off games. And after each set of games we'll update you on who's our king of punts (as well as who is our king of runts).
If you want to suggest any juicy – or even comedic – bets then drop us a line through the feedback page. Or you could even consider taunting our contestants. Which, come to think about it, might not be a bad idea...!
|
