Bookies try to even the odds odds
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Your support makes all the difference.William Hill have begun a poster campaign in their betting shops to attempt to counteract the effects of the National Lottery on betting turnover. The Levy Board on Monday reported a pounds 2m shortfall in the expected turnover for the last financial year, while an imminent independent report forecasts the closure of 2,000 betting shops with the loss of 6,500 jobs as a direct result of the Lottery.
The posters in William Hill's 1,700 shops warn of the dangers of the scratchcard. "Could it be you?" inquires one before warning: "Not at these odds. The Odds are against you," while another counsels: "The Lottery. Forget it in an Instant."
Each then explains the odds of winning the various scratchcard prizes on offer to those spending a pound, ranging from 10-1 against "winning" that pound back to 2,575,000-1 against winning pounds 50,000.
So it is by mathematical argument that William Hill's public-relations manager, Graham Sharpe, has sought to woo back punters.
"We have put these posters in our shops to point out that in order to win on the National Lottery the punter has to overcome quite spectacular odds," Sharpe said. "We feel that Camelot has been slightly disingenuous regarding the chances of winning when playing scratchcards.
"They give the impression that the chances of winning are about 5-1 or 6-1, but that includes the times when you receive your pound back. To my mind that is stretching the definition of the word "win".
"Through the first 17 weeks of the Lottery there has been a 5 per cent drop in turnover and a 10 per cent drop in the number of betting slips taken.
"We have yet to see the full might of the Lottery. There are plans to double the number of ticket outlets and hold a mid-week draw. Our best hope of competing with the Lottery is with a reduction of betting duty, which we can pass on to our clients."
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