Fortean Times – September 2019

In nearly half a century as a bookmakerGRAHAM SHARPEaccepted bets on everything from

proof of Nessie’s existence being discovered to the US President confirming the reality of

extraterrestrial visitors. Now retired, he shares thewackiest wagers of his long career...

COURTESY GRAHAM SHARPE

48 FT383

I

retiredin2017,havingworkedin

thebookmakingbusinessforalmost

halfacentury.IhadjoinedWilliam

Hillin1972andquicklybecame

known foracceptingbetsonvirtually

anythingandeverythingthatcustomers

werepreparedtospeculateon.Inthosedays,

horseandgreyhoundracingaccountedfor

over90percentofthecompany’sbusiness,

withmajorsportsmakinguptherest.My

jobwastogetasmuchpublicityforthe

companyaspossible,andIquicklyidentified

acceptingunusualandbizarrebetsasakey

wayofachievingmediacovera ge.

Betsontheweather–howhotitwouldget

inthesummer?WoulditsnowatChristmas?

–resultedinrichpublicitypickings.In1976’s

scorchingsummerIofferedoddsof10/1for

predictingthedayonwhichitwouldnext

raininLondon,garneringhugecovera ge.

Twoyearslater ,asthe weatherresumedits

defaultsoggypositionIwasabletopersuade

boththeSunandDaily Mirrortorunbanner

frontpageheadlinesof,respectively,‘Betcha

ItWon’tRain!’and‘SoddenAwful’,carrying

thenewsthatHillswerenowbettingon

whenthesummerdelugewouldstop.

LabourleaderJeremyCorbyn’sbrother,

Piers,isaprofessionalphysicistand

meteorologist,andhestartedbetting

heftysumswithme–upto£600amonth

duringthe1990s–onvery specificweather

predictions.Itprovedvery difficulttobeat

him,totheextentthatmybosseseventually

gavehimafrostyreception,ruledhimtoo

hottohandleandcold-shoulderedallfuture

weatherwagersfromhim.

IntroducingbettinginterestintoTV

programmes–whoshotJR?forstarters,

followedbyoddson eventsinthebigsoap

operaslikeCorrieandEast Enders–pr oved

popular.

GAMBLINGONTHE

UNBELIEVABLE

ABOVE:British mountaineer Chris Bonington places a 150/1 £10 bet that he will produce conclusive evidence of theYeti’s existence.