American Idol Betting Hits Fever Pitch: Online Bookmakers Report Results  5/25/05

The final installment of the American Idol Season four competition concludes Wednesday night with announcement of winner while bookmakers and gamblers hope to cash in.

Miami Beach, FL (PRWEB) May 25, 2005 -- Regardless of the outcome, one thing is for sure. American Idol Season Four will go down as the biggest single entertainment prop betting event and the excitement continued following a final showdown between hopefuls Bo Bice and Carrie Underwood.

"Sports911.com was recording between three and seven searches for American Idol betting odds per minute after the Tuesday night airing," commented www.Sports911.com founder and President Christopher Costigan.

Following the final performances, www.PinnacleSports.com continued to offer odds on American Idol. That sportsbook upped its wagering limits on this event to an unprecedented $10,000, the first time such an event has ever been offered for these high limits. Of course minimum wagers are just $10 at PinnacleSports.com. A typical bet on American Idol or other similar type wagers usually sits somewhere between $5 and $65.

Commenting on behalf of PinnacleSports.com, that company's head of Media Affairs, Kyle Fratini, elaborated on just how big a betting event American Idol had become at his online gambling firm.

"Pinnacle’s policy not to disclose any turnover numbers for any events," Fratini informed Sports911.com. "What I can tell you is that this American Idol is easily the most popular entertainment event the company has ever accepted wagers on."

Likewise, www.Bodog.com continued to offer betting odds on American Idol after the Tuesday night episode concluded. That company featured odds of eight to five for Carrie Underwood and one to five for Bo Bice, even after judge Simon Cowell expressed that Underwood could win this competition. She pays $8 for every $5 bet while Bice pays $1 for every $5 bet.

For much of the season, Underwood was listed as the favorite to win the competition. Bo Bice has slowly crept up from behind over the weeks. A first ever American Idol a cappella performance by Bice last week helped catapult him to "favored" status.

Going into Tuesday evening, Bodog.com had 2460 bets placed on Underwood for a total amount of $82,520. Bice had 2880 bets for a total of $96,730. Vonzell Solomon, the last contestant to be knocked out of the competition, had $14,750 in wagers placed on her from 610 Bodog.com customers. Interestingly enough, Constantine Maroulis, a favorite among the judges, had nearly the same amount of money wagered on him as Solomon - $14,240 - but with nearly 300 more people betting than Solomon - a total of 930.

Even www.BetRoyal.com, which has not heavily promoted it American Idol betting odds, reported to Sports911.com 130 bets for a grand total of $26,000. The last three days brought in just over $3000 with the adjusted odds.

A handful of other bookmakers offered betting odds on American Idol Season Four.

"We had almost double the action on American Idol as we did on Survivor," Bodog.com founder and CEO Calvin Ayre related to Sports911 from Cannes, France.

Easily there will be over a million dollars wagered on American Idol Season 4, especially with PinnacleSports.com offering maximum limits of $10,000.

It was not known how long Bodog.com would continue offering odds on American Idol since voting only took place the four hours immediately following the show. PinnacleSports.com had removed odds by 10:30 pm EST, though they continued to appear intermittently.

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