Harry Potter baffles gamblers
Bookies are running scared of taking bets on which major character is killed off in new Harry Potter book in spite of the remarkable security arrangements put in place to keep the plot secret.
Ladbrokes and William Hill are refusing bets and Blue Square, an online bookmaker, turned down a ?0,000 bet earlier this week after it said it had a "hunch" the punter could be linked to the theft of 7,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Blue Square is the only major bookmaker to be accepting bets on which member of the Potter gang would be killed in the upcoming book, which is set for release at midnight on Friday.
JK Rowling, Harry's creator, admitted in an interview that she cried after having to end the life of one of the characters in the novel.
Blue Square on Wednesday said it received a call this week from a man "with a Scouse accent" who wanted to bet ?0,000 that Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and one of the main characters in the third book, would be dead by the end of the newest instalment in the seven-part series.
The bookmaker said it rejected the bid, fearing the punter had exclusive information following the theft of ?30,000 worth of copies from a trailer on Sunday.
The company said it did not contact any authorities following the call.
Blue Square said it has so far received 92 bets that Colin Creevey, a fellow pupil at Hogwarts and admirer of Harry's, would face the Grim Reaper. Hagrid, assistant groundskeeper, was the second-favourite choice, and Professor Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster, was the third.
But the online bookmaker stands apart from its rivals.
Although everyone from die-hard Harry fans to major book reviewers have been kept in the dark about the twists the latest novel takes, most bookmakers said they feared too many people had information about what happened in the book to make betting fair.
Ladbrokes, the largest bookmaker and William Hill, both said there was no betting market for information that was already known, citing not only the person behind the theft of the books, but also people employed by its printers and the publishing houses.
William Hill said it had only agreed one bet. A woman named Sarah bet ?1 on 21:1 odds that the final Potter novel would reveal an alliance between Professor Dumbledore, a protaganist, and Voldemort, the evil wizard.
哈利o波特下赌 博彩公司摇头
为了替新版哈利o波特系列丛书的情节保密，人们对本书的保安设下了层层防护。虽然如此，搏彩公司还是心生畏惧，不敢轻易揽下有关书中哪一位主要人物被杀死的赌注。
立搏公司（Ladbrokes）和威廉o希尔（William Hill）公司都拒绝接受就此下注，而网络搏彩公司蓝色广场（Blue Square）本周早些时候也拒绝承接一笔2万英镑的赌注，并说它 "凭直觉"认为,下注的赌客与7000册《哈利o波特和凤凰令》(Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)的失窃有牵连。
在主要搏彩公司中，唯有蓝色广场（Blue Square）愿意接受赌注，打赌到底哈里波特的哪一位伙伴会在新书中被杀死的。新书定于本周五午夜正式发售。
塑造哈利o波特形象的罗林（JK Rowling）在一次访问中承认，当她不得不要结束小说中一名人物的性命时，禁不住失声痛哭。
蓝色广场周三说，一位带有利物浦口音的男子曾给该公司打来电话，表示要下注2万英镑，赌哈里的教父、第三集的主要人物天狼星o布莱克（Sirius Black）会在最新一集故事的结尾中死去。《哈利o波特》丛书共分七集。
这家搏彩公司说，它拒绝接受下注，原因是担心赌客掌握独家消息。上周日，共有价值13万英镑的新书从一辆拖车中被盗走。
这家公司说，在接到这通电话后，它没有与当局联系。
蓝色广场说，迄今共收到92笔下注。赌注最高者为哈利在霍格华兹魔法与巫术学校的同学，哈利的崇拜者科林o克利维（Colin Creevey），人们认为他会去见阎王。赌注排名第二的是助理管家、巨无霸海格（Hagrid）。第三是霍格华兹魔法与巫术学校校长邓不利多教授（Professor Dumbledore）。
显然，这家网络搏彩公司比他的竞争对手大胆得多。
虽然无论是哈利o波特丛书的铁杆书迷，还是著名图书评论家，大家都对新书的情节发展一无所知，但大部分搏彩公司都担心，有过多的人通过某种渠道了解到书中的故事情节，从而令赌搏失去了公平性。
世界最大的博彩公司立搏和威廉o希尔均说，如果迷底已经泄露的话，那么就没有赌博的市场了。他们指的不仅有这起小说盗窃案的幕后人物，还有印刷厂和出版社的工作人员。
威廉o希尔说，它只接受了一笔赌注。一位名叫萨拉的妇女以21比1的赔率，下注21英镑，赌小说的主人公邓不利多教授和邪恶巫师佛地魔将在最后一集中结成联盟。
