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Why bookies close books on book awards

By Matt | July 23, 2008

A UK BOOKMAKER has confirmed what many of us suspected about literary award ceremonies (well, all kind of award ceremonies): the award winners are known well before they’re announced.

You’ve got to get your bets in quick, says William Hill – because as soon as the winner is known, they’re likely to stop betting on the award.

One report reads into Hills’ admission that “the winners of events [like] the Oscars and the Booker Prize … are often decided days in advance”.

Spokeswoman Jennie Prest said, “If a market is decided by a judging panel somewhere then they could have decided four or five days before the award is presented”.

Hills recently carried on accepting bets on the “Best of the Booker Awards” up to the day of the presentation event – even though Salman Rushdie, the eventual winner, was trading at odds of up to 1/30 (30-1 on) on betting exchange Betfair.

However, they have previously had to close the book on Booker Award betting because a surge in relatively big-money bets has suggested the eventual winner has become known.

In 2002 they had to stop taking bets after the Booker winner was inadvertently announced on the organisation’s website a day before the literary prize was awarded.

Topics: Books and literature