Britons , it appear , will bet on anything , from whether it ’ll lead by the nose on Christmas to the termination of the American presidential election , to not only whether Kate Winslet would win an Oscar this class , but also whether she ’d cry out during her acceptance speech ( odds were 8 to 15 that she would ) .
The gambling industry in the UK is massive : According to the UK Gambling Commission , play mathematical operation turned over £84.2 billion in 2006 to 2007 . stark gaming yield ( that is , what operators make after ante up out , but before deducting operational cost ) was reckon at roughly £9.9 billion during that same time period . More than 3400 betting and gambling operator are licensed by the Commission and it shows " “ in almost every township center , there is an off - track betting storefront , including the appropriately named Ladbrokes .
And they are busy . A 2007 Gambling Commission write up also found that around 68 pct of the adult population of Britain reported participating in some form of gambling in the retiring year , including people who had only enter in the National Lottery Draw . Among the most popular shape of gambling , after the National Lottery , were count on horse backwash and playing the one-armed bandit machines . ( The written report also see that only about 0.6 percent of the universe could be turn over problem gambler . )
Off - track and off - course play " “ the kinds of lieu that take bet and fix betting odds on thing like Kate Winslet ’s snag " “ has only been allowed since 1961 , when British government essentially legalized all of the already be illegal bookmaking shop engage around the country . But well before that , Britons were reckon on well-nigh anything that moved : In the 19th C , for deterrent example , new men of leisure time would bet which fall of piddle on a window would reach the bottom the fastest .
And that barely scrap the surface of the weird and wonderful bet British people have made " “ here are few of the strange , most outrageous bet to come out of Britain in the last few hundred years :
According to lore , man about townsfolk and consummate showman Harry Bensley hear about the bet and determine to take it on , for the princely sum of £21,000 ( $ 100,000 then ) . By the start of 1908 , the bet had change . The stake allegedly qualify that Bensley would walk around the globe with only one set of underwear , push a pram , and wearing a metallic element helmet . Along the way , he was theorise to find oneself a married woman , never divulge his identity , and , in fiat to finance the journey , sell mailing-card of himself in his suit of armour . vast crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square on New Year ’s Day , 1908 , to cheer Bensley on his way , as he shuffle out of town pushing his go-cart and endure his visored alloy mask . A few news report of his exploits trickled back : He was turn back in Bexleyheath , southwesterly London , for deal postcards without a license . The local magistrate there , however , honour the formula of the stake , permit Bensley to be stress as " the serviceman in the atomic number 26 mask" and he get off with a mulct . But after that , little of the gentleman in the branding iron masquerade and his adventures made the news .
Bensley refund to England after six years and , he say , make it mostly around the world , strike Ireland , Canada , America , Japan , China , India , Turkey , Italy . It was only the start of World War I that stopped him , forcing him to return to England . Morgan , he said , had abandoned the bet because of the eruption of war , and had award him £4000 for his troubles .
It ’s a good history " “ but is it true?There is no evidence that Bensley ever actually leave England , despite his claim , and even now , his kinsperson question if the taradiddle wasanything more than fancy.*In 2005 , a 91 - year - old former solicitor from Devon placed £500 on 6 - to-1 odds that he would be dead by the closing of the year . Arthur King - Robinson ’s morbid stake , which was accepted by bookmaker William Hill , was an drive to sidestep a £3000 inheritance taxation that his estate would have been liable for should he have give-up the ghost by December 6 , 2005 . fortuitously , King - Robinson did n’t exit , the dying revenue enhancement was keep off , and the bookmaker took home £500.*Horatio Bottomley , a Liberal MP who was also a less than honest businessman , had the perfect scheme for prepare a cavalry race . In 1914 , Bottomley bought all six horses running in a special race in Belgium , then bribed the jockeys to finish in a sealed order and pose massive bets on the race . Fool proof , good ? Not so much . The racecourse was a seaside track and the Clarence Shepard Day Jr. of the race bear witness exceptionally brumous : Not only could the jockeys not play out who was where , but neither could the judges . Bottomley lose a vast amount of money on the race.Before off - track betting was legalized , many of these variety of weird wager were made within in the confines of gentlemen ’s clubs ( not those kinds of gentlemen ’s nine ) . Whites , which at more than 300 years older is one of London ’s oldest such guild , kept records of colorful stake made by society phallus . Some are morbid : In 1817 , Whites ' ledgers reveal , one phallus bet 10 dago that six other Whites frequenter would die within a twelvemonth . Others were a bit whimsical : In 1812 , the book record that oneMr . Talbot bet Sir J. Copley five guineas that " he does not make a stake with him during the next three years . “Still others worry matters of state : A Mr. Bouverie bet Lord Yarmouth £150 that theDuke Clarence , who would become King William IV , would generate no legitimate children in the next two years . And some were just crass : In 1819 , " Mr. Raikes bets Mr. Greveill one guinea the Empress Marie Louise is in Paris before Emperor Napoleon is in her person . “Honorable mention go to professional risk taker Brian Zembic , a Canadian , who in 1998 accepted a $ 100,000 betto get and know with chest implants for a year . The weird part ? He still has them . * * * What ’s the weird thing you ’ve ever wager on ?
