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Hamster Races Rise in Popularity
Thursday, March 08, 2001
By BETH GARDINER
Associated Press Writer
LONDON (AP) - Horse racing is barely back after a one-week
suspension, its premier event has been postponed indefinitely, and
major international rugby matches are being called off. With an
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease leaving British sports in
disarray, what's a gambler to do?
Well, at least the hamsters are running.
In this nation of inveterate bettors, the wagering world is
getting creative - or maybe a little desperate - as a severe
outbreak of the livestock ailment has quieted the action at the
gambling parlors that dot the streets of most major British cities.
One Internet betting site is offering hamster races to keep
bettors happy until the schedule of more well-established sports
returns to normal.
``We've been running hamsters in these little dragsters,'' said
Ed Pownall, a spokesman for the online company, Blue Square. ``You
put an exercise wheel in the middle of a 10-inch-long dragster. As
they run in the wheel it moves the thing forward.''
The hamsters race in a small studio in north London, and the
action is broadcast live on the company's Web site.
Blue Square has been taking between 300 and 350 bets for each
contest - compared to several thousand for the average horse race -
but Pownall said about 2,000 people have logged on to view each
race.
``It's just been fun for people, to get them through the day
without the horse racing,'' he said.
The rodents run six at once along a 30-foot track - so far, the
fastest time is 38 seconds. On Friday, the winners of each of the
week's four races will face one another in a tournament showdown.
Horse racing was suspended for a week because of fears that
transporting the animals through the countryside from race to race
could spread the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease.
The suspension ended Wednesday, but many individual events are
still being called off, including the Cheltenham National Hunt
Festival, the most prestigious event in European jump racing. Three
games in the Six Nations rugby tournament have also been postponed.
Fortunately, the British racing drought comes during a busy
soccer week, and foreign horse racing has picked up some of the
wagering slack.
And in a land where people regularly try their luck betting on
everything from politics to literary prizes to plot twists in
popular soap operas, there's no shortage of offbeat gambling
options.
Betting houses are offering 10-1 odds that Prime Minister Tony
Blair's Labor Party will win an upcoming general election, and bets
on a weeklong celebrity edition of the reality television show
``Big Brother'' are also proving popular.
``Betting shop customers generally are a pretty resilient
bunch,'' said Andy Clifton, a spokesman for the bookmaking chain
Ladbrokes. ``If they want to have a bet, they're going to find
something to bet on.''
---
On the Net:
Hamster racing - http://www.bluesq.com
Thursday, March 08, 2001
By BETH GARDINER
Associated Press Writer
LONDON (AP) - Horse racing is barely back after a one-week
suspension, its premier event has been postponed indefinitely, and
major international rugby matches are being called off. With an
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease leaving British sports in
disarray, what's a gambler to do?
Well, at least the hamsters are running.
In this nation of inveterate bettors, the wagering world is
getting creative - or maybe a little desperate - as a severe
outbreak of the livestock ailment has quieted the action at the
gambling parlors that dot the streets of most major British cities.
One Internet betting site is offering hamster races to keep
bettors happy until the schedule of more well-established sports
returns to normal.
``We've been running hamsters in these little dragsters,'' said
Ed Pownall, a spokesman for the online company, Blue Square. ``You
put an exercise wheel in the middle of a 10-inch-long dragster. As
they run in the wheel it moves the thing forward.''
The hamsters race in a small studio in north London, and the
action is broadcast live on the company's Web site.
Blue Square has been taking between 300 and 350 bets for each
contest - compared to several thousand for the average horse race -
but Pownall said about 2,000 people have logged on to view each
race.
``It's just been fun for people, to get them through the day
without the horse racing,'' he said.
The rodents run six at once along a 30-foot track - so far, the
fastest time is 38 seconds. On Friday, the winners of each of the
week's four races will face one another in a tournament showdown.
Horse racing was suspended for a week because of fears that
transporting the animals through the countryside from race to race
could spread the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease.
The suspension ended Wednesday, but many individual events are
still being called off, including the Cheltenham National Hunt
Festival, the most prestigious event in European jump racing. Three
games in the Six Nations rugby tournament have also been postponed.
Fortunately, the British racing drought comes during a busy
soccer week, and foreign horse racing has picked up some of the
wagering slack.
And in a land where people regularly try their luck betting on
everything from politics to literary prizes to plot twists in
popular soap operas, there's no shortage of offbeat gambling
options.
Betting houses are offering 10-1 odds that Prime Minister Tony
Blair's Labor Party will win an upcoming general election, and bets
on a weeklong celebrity edition of the reality television show
``Big Brother'' are also proving popular.
``Betting shop customers generally are a pretty resilient
bunch,'' said Andy Clifton, a spokesman for the bookmaking chain
Ladbrokes. ``If they want to have a bet, they're going to find
something to bet on.''
---
On the Net:
Hamster racing - http://www.bluesq.com