Horse Racing
Given that we now live in an age of real-time sports updates and constant odds adjustments, it’s interesting to see that an old fashioned gambling coup in the Republic of Ireland has paid off for the masterminds behind it. The Belfast Telegraph has reported that a “clockwork” like operation took place on Monday, which saw 200 people placing bets across Ireland on just one horse in a particular race. The odds offered by each bookmaker ranged 5/1 to 14/1, but with each member of the team placing bets of €200, the individuals behind the coup managed to win big.
It’s believed that Douglas Taylor, the co-owner of the horse which the team wagered on, used his contacts at his recruitment company, MCR, to bring together enough people to pull off the plan. At 6.55pm, up to 200 agency workers visited bookmakers in both Dublin and Kildare to place bets on D Four Dave, telling bookmakers they would take the odds on offer. If the team had placed the bets earlier on in the day, it’s likely that bookmakers would have become suspicious and slashed the odds on the horse. However, by placing the wagers all at once, the bookies could do very little, apart from accept the bets. A spokesperson for the Irish Bookmakers Association has admitted that the coup was a "classic" and that those involved "did nothing illegal".
