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"Who Will Be the Next Pope"

Want to know who the next Pope will be? Take a look at the online betting sites for accurate information!

When we are curious about the outcome of the next elections or who the next pontiff will be, we traditionally look to the opinion polls, the journalists and the pundits to predict such historical events. A better and more accurate place may be to look are the online betting sites. Do you want proof of their accuracy? Take another look at the online betting that took place during the Bush-Kerry presidential race. The wagers showed Bush way out in front all the way – an accurate sign of the predictive power of the online betting sites when it comes to “novelties” wagering events.

BetFair and some other similar sites operate as “betting exchanges” where players can bet against each other. Most of their business is horseracing but there is also betting on the outcome special events such as the papacy. Pinnaclesports.com, for example, allowed players to bet on not only who would be the next pope but also on his age, nationality, and the number of days it would take to pick him.

U.S. bookmakers at casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City did not place wagers on who would be the next pontiff, perhaps reflecting the fact that virtually no American Cardinals were in the running. Ireland’s Cardinal, Dougal Maguire, however, didn’t have a chance either, but that didn’t stop the Irish from placing their wagers on who they thought would be the next Pope. At Paddypwer.com, Italy’s Dionigi Tettamanzi was the favored Cardinal, corresponding with most polls which said that Tettamanzi was anywhere from a 9 to 2 to an 11 to 4 odds on favorite to win. The next Cardinals, in order of betting were Francis Arinze of Nigeria with a 15 to 2 rating, O. Rodiguez Maradiaga of Honduras with an 8 to 1 rating, Claudio Hummes of Brazil also with an 8 to 1 rating, and J. Ratizinger of Germany with a 29 to 1 rating.

With so many Cardinals in the running, betting on who the next pontiff would be quickly gained ground. While BetFair accepted wagers on the next Pope for the last 18 months, only recently has there been serious activity. BetFair estimates approximately $70,000 was wagered.

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