Bookmaker may suspend betting on 'dead rubbers'

A leading bookmaker will consider abandoning betting on certain football matches next season if it is alerted to suspicious betting patterns, a spokesman said today.

William Hill will be “looking much more closely” at games towards the end of next season where a large amount of money is placed on “dead rubbers” – games where the teams effectively have nothing to play for.

Spokesman Graham Sharpe said: “When you are taking a lot of money for a game of that nature your first thought is why?”

A number of suspicious cases have been referred to the Gambling Commission in recent years.

Mr Sharpe highlighted Weymouth’s 9-0 home defeat to Rushden & Diamonds in February. News spread before the match that Weymouth’s senior players would not be turning out, allowing some punters to cash in on a Rushden win.

Mr Sharpe said suspending betting would be a “last resort”.

“We have no plans to implement that situation but we couldn’t rule it out.

“At the end of next season we will be looking much more closely at games.

“If we identify any unusual or suspicious betting patterns we would reserve the right to take the ultimate action. I can see us reacting much more quickly.”

An individual suspicious high stakes bet was likely to be turned down, he said. If a particular game was then targeted with more unusual bets there was a possibility all bets on that game could be abandoned.

Mr Sharpe said William Hill did not want to undermine faith in the game, adding: “Over the years only a tiny percentage of games have caused any problems.

“But we would decline a bet if it was very unusual and we couldn’t make a book on it.”