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Final ball gives bettors a kick!
THE BETTING genie is out of the bottle again with Zinedine Zidane?s France and Alessandro Del Piero?s Italy making it to the FIFA World Cup final in Germany. City punters have swung into action for the July 9 summit clash in Berlin. Though the Special Task Force has no report about World Cup betting in any part of the State, soccer fans and punters alike have reportedly staked huge money on the mega final.
THE BETTING genie is out of the bottle again with Zinedine Zidane’s France and Alessandro Del Piero’s Italy making it to the FIFA World Cup final in Germany.
City punters have swung into action for the July 9 summit clash in Berlin.
Though the Special Task Force has no report about World Cup betting in any part of the State, soccer fans and punters alike have reportedly staked huge money on the mega final.
“Right now, we have no information about football betting,” said STF SSP SK Bhagat on Thursday evening.
But, in the 1998 World Cup final, Lucknowites had a major share in countrywide betting. This correspondent had visited a five-star hotel in the city to catch the betting game.
Many Lucknowites lost their money, as they betted on Brazil, who lost to the hosts France 0-3. “I lost Rs 50,000 in the final itself, as I was sure about a Brazil win,” said NK Sharma (name changed), adding, “But this time I have put a handsome amount on Italy.”
He said this time he had gone in for online betting on the official website , launched by the FIFA World Cup Committee. The site carries all information about previous World Cups, betting during the tournament in Korea/Japan 2002 and the odds.
Those who staked their money on Germany this time ended up counting their losses. Many of them were sure Germany would make it to the final just as they did in 1974, the last time they hosted the tournament. That year, Germany won the Jules Rimet Trophy, defeating The Netherlands 2-1 in the final. But, there are some who have learnt their lesson.
“This time I am not betting on the final. I lost Rs 20,000 on the Germany-Italy semi-final,” said an Indira Nagar businessman. Nevertheless, some are confident of France lifting the trophy. “I have staked a few thousand rupees on France,” said Abhay Kumar (changed name).
“This is the first time I am putting money on a soccer game. Cricket is my first love and you can stake money at the local level.” A bookmaker said since online betting was in vogue, taking local bets, that too for a few thousand rupees, was a risky affair.
