Five rings good for sports betting

The London Olympics has turned into a bonanza for Brit bookies, it appears, as top betting firms report a surge in action with football, tennis and swimming the most favoured sports.

The Guardian newspaper reported Monday that Olympic business has doubled at betting exchange Betfair, while William Hill said a record GBP 30 million will be staked across the industry over the two weeks of sporting competition.

“While that only equates to an average Saturday during the Premier League football season, it is far in excess of levels during previous Olympics and most predictions made before the Games,” the Guardian observes.

Mark Maydon, speaking for spread betting firm Sporting Index, said: “London 2012 levels of business, measured by number of bets we’ve taken, is up by a factor of nine versus Beijing. Indeed, just as the Olympics has dominated the media, so it has also dominated the minds of our customers: 70 percent of our clients who have been active betting with us in the past two weeks have had at least one bet on the Olympics”.

Betting on the number of gold medals won by the British team has proved popular; Sporting Index is currently predicting 27, up from 24 at the beginning of the Games

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