Outside of Tottenham fans and Nottingham Forest supporters, surely nobody wants Leicester City to pull off the impossible less than the bookies.
The turf accountants of the UK and Ireland were offering punters odds of 5,000/1 on the Foxes winning the Premier League at the start of the season, and you can’t imagine it was an assessment that kept them awake at night.
They were probably delighted that some poor misguided fools actually took the bet. They’re laughing on the other side of their faces now and those poor misguided fools are four games away from laughing all the way to the bank.
An industry insider has told SportsJOE that Irish and British bookies are facing losses off up to €20 million if Claudio Ranieri’s men hold off the Spurs challenge over the last six games.
In his first column for SportsJOE @dionfanning looks at how Leicester have shamed the Premier League's big clubs https://t.co/nOUjEwjuBo
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 21, 2016
We’ve already had a number of Leicester fans cashing out their bets as they lost their nerve and decided that the return on offer meant hanging in was no longer worth the risk.
After all, how many placing the bets actually thought the team who were bottom for three-quarters of last season were going to lead the other 19 top flights clubs a merry dance?
Many were placing the bet for a laugh or out of loyalty for the club they support. The club who are now seven points clear of second with only six games remaining. The club who are four wins from heaven.
Not that the bookies are resting on their laurels. They are still desperately seeking out those in possession of the magic 5,000/1 slips and offering them 66 percent of the total payout.
Tempting, no doubt. But after four 1-0 wins in a row surely you have to believe that fate is on your side.
