Placing a bet...

[apex204]

I want to place a bet that the football team I'm in will win their league in the 2006/2007 season. Where could I go to place a bet, and what sort of odds am I likely to get?

[Buenchico]

You'll need to find a local independent bookie. Check under 'Bookmakers' in your local Yellow Pages. Now, no bookie is ever going to offer odds on anything unless he's got some idea of the likelihood of it happening. If a bookie happens to know about the local football scene he might be prepared to quote some odds. Otherwise, you'll just have to hope to catch him in a good mood when he's got plenty of time to spare. If you can show him the final league tables for the past three seasons to prove that the team has narrowly avoided relegation on every occasion, and also prove that the team is currently near the bottom of the table he might be prepared to offer some sort of odds. Even then, he'll probably assume that you've got some sort of insider information (e.g. a couple of retired professionals have just agreed to play for the side next season) so he'll still not offer anything very generous. (5-1, perhaps?). If the team has consistently finished first or second in the table for the past few seasons, 2-1 would be the best you could hope to get).

Chris

[stevie21]

Bet against one of the players in an opposition team in your league - he'll have a better idea of the likelihood of you winning and he'll be more motivated to accept your bet.

[apex204]

The team has just started up and will be entering the league for the first time next season. There will be between 6 and 8 clubs taking part, and 4 or 5 of these are well established clubs. The league has been running for 3 or 4 seasons but obviously we're not going to be included. Unfortunately it's a national league for gay players and so it'll be difficult to bet against an opposing team player (I'm in Birmingham, the nearest team is Leicester). Is it really that hard to place a bet?

[stevie21]

Well, how much would you bet on Simon Ferry being Man of the Match in Celtic's next U19 game? You're not sure because you've never heard of him, seen him play, know nothing about his team mates or opposition. How can you calculate the probability of such an event and offer odds on it?

Welcome to the situation that you want to put a bookie in.

Also, why is there a "national league for gay players" ? Is there a comparative one exclusively for heterosexuals? Discrimination is discrimination.