Betting Zone                                                                                  <<

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Okay, so far in 2004 we've done badly with our 'Pop Idol' betting, then with our 'I'm A Celebrity GMOOH' betting and subsequently with our 'Back To Reality' betting! Oh well, at least we didn't lose much money and remember, we did make quite a few 'quid during BB4 (see below). In fact, we're sticking to BB betting from now on, so make sure you come back during Big Brother 5 to see how we get on.

To check out the latest 'Big Brother' odds during the show, please click here and head for the 'Specials' section. NB. The latest odds may be removed from the Blue Square site some time during the evening - please pop back.

'Back To Reality' Betting:

How could we not take the opportunity to back the ex-BB contestants to win Channel 5's 'Back To Reality' show?

Just one week into the three-week series and with Nasty Nick gone, we placed a £10 bet on Jade Goody at odds of 9/1, standing to return £100 if she'd gone all the way.

At the time, BB1 Winner Craig Phillips was playing a steady game and we commented that Ricardo or James Hewitt could also win. However, their odds weren't really good enough to make it worthwhile, so we stuck with Jade.

James did go on to win, so we lost our stake. Never mind, it was only a bit of fun after all.

'I'm A Celebrity GMOOH' Betting:

One week into Series 3 of this fantastic ITV show and we decided to back ex-punk and seemingly decent bloke Jonny Lydon to win the series, describing him as a legend.

Staking £20 on the former Sex Pistols frontman at 7/4, we would have returned £55 if he'd been crowned King Of The Jungle but he controversially quit before the end, meaning that we lost our stake.

We had also placed a side bet on another surprise contestant (read: okay bloke), Lord Brockett. Backing Charlie with a £10 stake at odds of 5/1 we would have returned £60, but he didn't win, so that was that.

In our defence, and to paraphrase the man himself, everyone knows that Jonny would have eventually won the series had he stayed in the jungle, so we take some comfort in knowing that our judgment was pretty much spot on.

'Pop Idol' Betting:

Half-way through the series we decided to speculate on the possible winner when there was just seven contestants left.

Backing Suzanne to Win with a £20 stake at odds of 5/2, we stood to return £60 if she'd gone all the way. Unfortunately, she went out shortly after and we then decided to root for the eventual runner-up, Mark Rhodes.

Big Brother 4 Betting:

In the bets detailed below we cleared over £400 profit during BB4, which is certainly not to be sniffed at. However, there were a few additional bets that we simply couldn't detail on the site. Why? Because there's no way we wanted to be responsible for encouraging others to bet substantial amounts of money that they couldn't really afford to lose.

Like the bet we placed on Tania at really early odds of about 1/10. Certain that she would go, we staked 'several thousand pounds' just to win a profit of around £300. But what if she'd walked? Well, we'd have lost our stake.... hmmm, in hindsight that was a bit of a crazy bet and the bookies thought we were nuts at the time! Another example is the £2200 stake we placed on a 'Male Winner' half-way through, to win £488 profit when Cameron won - not bad.

A male winner looked likely for ages, but then again, we could easily have lost and been totally gutted. But, that's gambling for 'ya; you take a risk and you either win or lose! We hope that you won during Big Brother 4.

Saturday 19th July 2003
Please see this related article. Note: Odds may have changed since this story was written.

Tuesday 15th July 2003
Please see this related article.

Sunday 13th July 2003
We didn't bother betting in the week that Lisa left as her odds were very low, even before the nominees were announced. But the weekend after her eviction, we tried to predict who the next lot would be and at odds of 9/4, we staked £30 on Steph becoming the 9th evictee. However, as a side bet we also placed £20 on Nush at 6/1, because her odds were so good. We knew that we couldn't win both bets and we lost our stake on Steph when she wasn't announced as a nominee. However, Nush was one of the two nominees and got the boot at the 9th eviction, returning us £160. Result: £140 profit + £30 loss = net profit of £110.

Sunday 29th June 2003
On the Sunday before the nominees for the 7th Eviction were announced, we backed Gos be the 'next to go'. This is the way to make money and was going on a combination of gut feeling in respect of how the housemates were feeling and taking into account public opinion Polls. We staked £20 at odds of 3/1, meaning we returned £80 when he left the house on the following Friday. Result: £60 profit.

Tuesday 24th June 2003
Just after the nominees were announced for the 6th Eviction, we backed Tania to go at the 6th Eviction. The odds were a low 1/6 so we placed 2 x £100 stakes, meaning we returned just over £233 when she got the chop on the Friday. Result: £33 profit.

Monday 23rd June 2003
Please see this related article.

Wednesday 18th June 2003
In light of that week's double eviction, we decided to back Scott to win the series as he was quite a steady player who we could go all the way. With a £25 stake at odds of 11/4, we stood to return almost £94 if Scott went-on to win Big Brother 4. Result: £25 loss.

Wednesday 18th June 2003
Just after the nominations had been announced we backed Fed to become the 4th evictee, with two £100 stakes at odds of 4/9. This returned us 2 x almost £145, making for a profit of almost £90. However, we'd also backed Cam to be the 5th evictee with a £100 stake at identical odds. This was the double eviction night when it was expected that Fed followed by Cam would go. However, Jon controversially got evicted meaning we lost our £100 stake. We should have taken our advice to less confident punters, which was to just back Fed! Result: £90 profit + £100 loss = net loss of £10.

Thursday 12th June 2003
On the day before the 3rd Eviction, opinion was all over the place as-to who would go next. However, we decided to take a gamble and back Sissy to be the next to go. At odds of 2/7 we staked £200, returning us £257 when she got the old heave-ho from Big Bro on the Friday. Result: £57 profit.

Tuesday 10th of June 2003
On Day 19 of the game, we backed Gos to win BB4. With a £15 each way bet at odds of 6/1, we stood to return almost £143 if successful; if Gos had made it to the Final 3 but didn't actually win, we'd have seen a return of £37.50, just about covering our stake of £30. In hindsight, it may have been better to just go for it and place a straight £25 'To Win' bet, returning a potential £175, or a straight £30 'To Win' bet, returning a possible £210. Then again, in hindsight it would have been better not to have placed the bet at all, as the big man got booted-out at the 7th Eviction! Result: £30 Loss.

Friday 6th of June 2003
On the day of the 2nd Eviction we backed Justine to leave rather than Jon. At very low odds of 1/6, we had to stake £240 to make it worthwhile, but we were reasonably sure that she'd go and it turned-out to be an easy profit. Quite a gamble though, given that polls indicated approximately a 45/55 split in public opinion. Result: £40 profit.

Monday 2nd June 2003
For our second bet of the series we backed Jon to Win, mainly because he survived against Anouska and looked likely to become a bit of a cult figure. We staked £10 each way at odds of 12/1 (twelve to one), which would have returned us £170 if Jon had gone all the way and £40 if he'd made it to the Final 3, but didn't actually win. However, he was controversially and surprisingly booted-out in Week 4 when it really should have been Cam. Result: £20 loss.

Monday, 26th May 2003
For our first bet of the series we backed Cameron to become the Overall Winner of Big Brother 4. We originally fancied Gos, but went for Cam as early feedback from the fans was good. We placed a £40 bet (£20 each way) at odds of 8/1, which returned us £240 when Cam won the series almost 2 months later. We would have returned £60 if he'd just come in the Final 3. Result: £200 profit.

By the way, it's very quick and easy to place a bet at Blue Square. So, if you want to check-out the latest odds on all sorts of different markets (horses, footy, TV shows etc.) and get yourself a Free £10 bet, click here and head for 'Specials' section.

Please note that Big Brother odds are often taken off the Blue Square site at around 8.30pm and sometimes earlier in the day, according to what's happening in the House. If this is the case, please come back another time.

If you'd like to read BBO's guide to what all the different odds mean etc., please click here.

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