The British 'bet' on Parolin: bookmakers say he will be Pope at 34%.
The bookmakers are wild about the future Conclave: William Hill pays only '15 to 8' for the Italian candidate. Great haul, on the other hand, the remote election of the Brazilian Steiner: 100 to 1.
3' min read
3' min read
Along the interminable King's Road, the London street that starts from Sloane Square, the heart of Chelsea, the city's most elegant district, at a certain point the area changes its name to 'World's End': at the intersection of World's End is the sign of William Hill, the UK's most famous b>betting chain. Opposite, that of its competitor: Paddy Power, owned by the Irish company Flutter (which in Italy controls the Sisal group).
Bookmakers bet on the new Pope
.Entering William Hill, there has been a new and unusual entry on the betting hall screens since yesterday: Next Pope. The betting is open on the future pontiff who is to succeed Pope Bergoglio, who died on Easter Monday after spending Easter Sunday in the midst of the crowds in St. Peter's Square, as the "Pope of the People" as he had always presented himself.
With the Ascot horse races still a long way off (mid-June) and the Premier League now in its twilight years and de facto won by Liverpool, English bookmakers have gone wild on something more exciting than football & horses, the two most popular sports for gamblers: guessing the name of the new Pope. The favourite, in the former province of Britannia, is Cardinal Pietro Parolin: he is given at 15/8. A bet of £8 cashes in at £15, and equates to a possibility of around 35% of being elected, the highest of all the papabili. Next comes the Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, with odds of 10/3, and a chance of winning more than three times the bet.
The buffs, or speculators, would be better off betting on the semi-unknown Leonardo Steiner: he is the Brazilian archbishop of Manaus, the city in the Amazon: he is paid 100/1. If one were to bet £100, one could win £10,000. But it is indeed a gamble: because the chances that after the Argentine Bergoglio, another South American Pope will be chosen are very low.
Parolin is the favourite, Steiner the gamble
The odds of English bookmakers, however, are not only British culture, steeped in an inordinate passion for betting, the vicious side of their mercantilist spirit. They are also a very sensitive, often reliable barometer: their predictions almost always turn out to be right.
