Bookmakers feel the pain as ‘Special K’ double pays off

CORK aren’t the only ones counting the cost of Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final defeat to Kerry.

The wallets of the nation’s bookmakers are substantially lighter after the Kingdom’s victory, a fortnight after Kilkenny’s hurling success.

Crucially, thousands of punters had the two ‘Special K’s’ backed for the double and the 0-16 to 1-9 win by Jack O’Connor’s men on Sunday signalled heartbreak for the bookies.

Leon Blanche of Boylesports admitted: “This result cost us a substantial six figure sum. It is probably the most popular double in terms of Irish sports over the last five or six years. It blows anything from rugby or soccer out of the water. It is tough, we had hoped that Tipperary or Cork would get us out of jam but it was not to be.”

And the hype has started again. “We’ve taken a good few bets on Kilkenny for the five-in-a-row and now that Kerry won, a lot of punters will look at the double. We’re offering Kerry at 9/4 for Sam next year – joint favourites with Cork.”

The results of yesterday, and a fortnight ago, cost Ladbrokes in the region of €100,000 according to spokesman Donal McCarthy.

McCarthy said: “We had huge interest at the start of the year for a Kilkenny/Kerry double but no one wanted to know anything about Kerry after their Munster semi-final replay defeat to Cork or their form in the qualifiers. We had huge money on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning for Cork.

“It was incredible. Thanks to that flow, it has taken the sting out of the tail of the Kerry win.”

There’s no prices for guessing who the market leaders for next season are.

“We have had a few calls this morning about a Kerry/Kilkenny double. We are offering it at 11/2 but we might give you 6/1 if you talk nicely to us,” he laughed.

“Outright we are going Kerry 9/4 and Cork 11/4 for Sam in 2010.”