Euro 2020 | Page 2 | Vital Football

Euro 2020

I'm no real gambler but understand that the odds set by the bookies have very little to do with who is actually going to win, but the odds are set to ensure that they do not lose money. There is of course an element of the odds that are an enticement to encourage you to bet. I proper gambler will probably explain better.

Asked in my local bookies what the odds on England winning the tournament were, and they offered 9/2. No chance, if it had been 10/1 I might have stuck a few bob on.
 
I'm no real gambler but understand that the odds set by the bookies have very little to do with who is actually going to win, but the odds are set to ensure that they do not lose money. There is of course an element of the odds that are an enticement to encourage you to bet. I proper gambler will probably explain better.

Asked in my local bookies what the odds on England winning the tournament were, and they offered 9/2. No chance, if it had been 10/1 I might have stuck a few bob on.

I am the first to admit that I know buggerall about odds, bookies and betting in general. Maybe someone can explain...

Does 9/2 actually warrant a favourites tag? How is that supposed to entice people to bet? If I’ve understood correctly then £20 stake would return 90 quid plus the stake back. Not bad but hardly groundbreaking for a side that usually caves in. Or do the bookies know that come tournament time then the fans will bet on good old en-ger-land whatever price they give?
 
Or do the bookies know that come tournament time then the fans will bet on good old en-ger-land whatever price they give?

This. With a competition like this, there's always a flurry of patriotic bets from people who aren't normally gamblers, but will stick a tenner on England regardless of the price (hence the ridiculously short price the bookies are offering).

As Rotherhithe says above, the bookies' odds aren't necessarily a reflection of who they think's going to win, it's a reflection of where the money is. They need to try to balance their books to ensure that whoever wins, their (the bookies') profit is more or less the same. If they're getting lots of bets on one particular outcome, they'll need to reduce the price on that outcome to encourage fewer people to bet on that outcome, and more on one of the others.