As promised here is the second part of our round-up of the top bets of the year according to those that matter in the sports betting industry. Although most companies saw the World Cup dominate their markets, other matches were actually played.
Sky Bet’s Top 5 football matches of 2010 were as follows
England v Algeria
England vs USA
Slovenia vs England
Holland vs Spain
Chelsea vs Wigan, a game that Chelsea win 8-0 on May 9. Drogba scored a hat trick, and there were a record number of multiples for Chelsea.
Last but by no means least, Ladbrokes were the last to send us through details of how they fared on football this year.
Their top three games this year in order of turnover were:
1. Spain vs Holland, World Cup Final
2. England vs Algeria
3. England vs USA
The best results for Ladbrokes themselves were
1. England vs Algeria
2. Spain vs Holland, World Cup Final
3. England vs USA
And the worst results for the company were:
1. Manchester United vs Aston Villa (Carling Cup Final)
2. Argentina vs Mexico (World Cup 2nd round)
3. Rangers vs Manchester United (Champions League)
Ladbrokes spokesman Alex Donohue also added: “We have enjoyed a bumper year of turnover as our football book goes from strength to strength. We now offer an exceptionally wide range of markets and options within those markets allowing Ladbrokes punters to take a position on almost any aspect of a game. In terms of turnover, its no surprise that in a World Cup year it was the final followed by England’s first two group stages games. The poor results for the three lions coupled with a typical patriotic surge meant that those games were by far the best result for us. The Carling Cup final proved to be our worst result and Manchester United continued to be a thorn in our side as Rooney’s late penalty meant that the best backed scorecast (Rooney 1-0) of the entire season romped home at the death.”
So there concludes our bumper two-part extravaganza on the top bets of the year, and we’ll see you in the betting shops in the New Year.
