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Bookmakers claim they lost 100k in Brits/Weller sting
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 23 February 2009
Bookmakers say that they are the victims of a music related gambling sting, after losing £100,000 in payouts to people who bet on Paul Weller to win Best Male at the BRITs. It’s thought that the fact Weller had won somehow leaked out before the awards show last week, and gamblers took advantage of that.
As previously reported, gambling outlets closed bets on Paul Weller winning Best Male ahead of the ceremony on Wednesday after a sudden spate of widespread bets on the singer emerging victorious. All the big bookies are said to have been affected, and a spokesman for Coral claims that “eighty per cent of all bets we took [for that Brit award] were on Weller. It cost us a five-figure payout”.
Responding to claims the Weller result was leaked, a Brits spokesman says this: “Every precaution is taken to keep results under lock and key”. Every precaution doesn’t always work, though, as you all surely know.
