Fortean Times – September 2019

Lettingpeoplebeton
themselvesturnedouttobe
irresistible.Forty-year-old
DeborahDalefromNewcastle-
under-Lymebet£50onherself
losing12stoneinweightfrom
astartingweightof31stone
during2001;shedulycollected
£1,000whensheshed168lb.
Othersbetonhowoldthey’d
livetobeandpregnantwomen
onwhentheirbabieswould
putinanappearance;onelady
evenbetthatshe’dappearon
theco verofVogue.
Iencouragedbetsfrom
proudparentsontheirchildren
growinguptoachievegreat
feats,sportingandotherwise.
In2000, PeteEd ward stook
meuponitandrisked£50
at2,500/1oddsthathisthree
yearold grandson,Harry
Wilson,wouldgrowuptoplay
footballatseniorlevelfor
Wales.Thirteenyearslater ,
Harrybecametheyoungest
playerevertowinasenior
capforhiscountry,coming
onassubstituteinamatch
againstBelgiumandclinching
a£125,000pay-outforgrandad
Pete,whoimmediatelyquit
work–asIalmostdidwhen
oneof mybossestoldme
heregardeditasasacking
offencetohaveacceptedsuchabet.This
despitethepositivemediacovera geit
secured forthecompanybeingestimatedat
around£10million!
AndrewWrightgainedAgradesin11
subjectsin1996–goodnewsforhis father,
David,whohadbet£50at20/1onhimdoing
soand won£1,000.Ihadrealisedtheodds
mighthavebeenalittleonthegenerousside
whentheboy’sheadmasterplacedhisown
betof£10,whichwonhim£200.

MONSTER STAKES
Isoonstartedtoreceivere questsforman y
fortean-stylewagers,initiallyalongthe
linesof“WhatoddsagainstproofofUFOs/
extraterrestriallife/ghostswillyouoffer?”
Thefi rsttwo werequitesimpletodeal
withandthestandardofferbecame100/1
thateitherthecurrentPresidentoftheUSA
orthecurrentUKPrimeMinisterwould
officiallyconfirmthecurrentexistenceof
intelligentextraterrestriallifewithin10
yearsofthebetbeingplaced.
Butin2010Itookasinglebetof£1,000
atoddsof1,000/1fromaclientinWiltshire
(home,ofcourse,totheUFOhotspotof
Warminster)thatwithinayearconclusive
proofofintelligentextraterrestriallife
wouldbe forthcoming.Theclienthopedto
be£1millionbetteroffasaresult.He wasn’t.
Despiteacceptingthesebets,I’mafraid
aworthwhiledefinitionofconclusiveproof
ofthe existenceofghostsconsistently
eludedme.However,Ididcomeacrosssome

hauntedbettingshops.One,inBirmingham,

wasrun byPeterCasson,whorecalledtwo

membersofstafflockingupandwaitingat

thebusstopoverthe roadwhentheyspotted

aladstillinsidetheshop.They rushedback

over,openeduptheshopandsearchedit,

fi ndingnoone.

StaffatashopinRhyl,NorthWales,

namedtheirin-shopspectre‘LittleSue’,

aftera formermemberofstaffwastragically

killednearby,andcustomersandcleaners

begantoreportghostlygoings-onattributed

toher .WhenstaffinaLaunceston,Cornwall,

bettingofficehada‘team’photographtaken,

accordingtomanagerJaneWhitaker ,“there

wasaghostlyapparitioninthebackground”.

AroundthistimeIalsobegantotakebets

onproofoftheexistenceofapreviously

unknowncreatureinLochNessresponsible

forallorsomeoftheconfirmedsightingsof

ofthe‘Monster’,withsimilaroddsattached.

Ievensponsoredandorganiseda‘Monster

HuntWeekend’attheLochinthelate

1980s,witha£1millionprize

onoffer foran yonepr ovingthe

existenceofNessie.Asmall

fl otillaofsearchersappeared

onthe water,someutilising

thelatestsonarscanning

techniques,butthemedia

focusedoneccentricpolitician

ScreamingLordSutch,who

arrivedarmedwithsome

BritishRailsandwicheshe’d

acquiredonhistripup,which

heusedasNessiebaitwhile

paddlingintheshallowsofthe

Loch.

However,thisbetdidland

mein fi nancialmeltdownat

onepointwhensomecunning

customersseizedonthe

discovery intheLochNess

areaofpreviouslyunknown

nematodesanddemanded

payment–which,inorderto

avoidad versepublicity,my

bossinsistedthatweshould

coughup.Iwasnotamused.

Onasimilartheme,in1988

IsponsoredaYetiHuntled

byrenownedBritishclimber

ChrisBonington,whowas

alsoattemptingtoscaleapreviously

unconqueredpeakintheHimalayas.As

hisgroupleft,theyplaceda500/1betthat

they wouldbringbackproofoftheYeti’s

existence.Inablazeofpublicity,Bonington

returnedtotheUK,carryingwithhimwhat

heconsideredconclusiveproofthattheYeti/

AbominableSnowmanwasreal–onlyto

haveitconfiscatedatcustomsanddestroyed

bytheDepartmentofAgriculturebeforeit

couldevenbe checkedout.

BETTING ON THE END

Thiswasallalittlefar-out,butthenMatthew

DumbrellwrotetomefromHampstead

GardenSuburb.WouldI,heasked,accept

abetfromhimthat:“Thisworldwillend

withaBigBangatexactly12.50pmGMTon

Wednesday11August,1999AD.”

ItoldhimIwould,andthathecould

choosehis ownodds;hesettledfor

1,000,000/1,staking£1–buthowmight

webeabletopayoutintheeventthathis

predictioncametrue?

“Wecansettleupineternitylaterthat

day,”hesuggested,“whereIamsureGod

willbe welladvisedbythefounderofyour

company.”(TheeponymousWilliamHillhad

diedin1971.)

Havinglostoutonce,MrDumbrelltried

againinMay2000withasimilarwager,

“thattheendoftimewillnotbelaterthan

midnight,Saturday,31December,2000AD”.

Nothingifnotpersistent,hekeptcoming

back,tellingmecomfortingly:“Whenever

FT383 49

COURTESY GRAHAM SHARPE

I organiseda

‘Monster Hunt

Weekend’ witha

£1 million prize

LEFT:The author with Screaming

Lord Sutch and some of the other

Nessieexpedition leaders at the

1980s‘Monster HuntWeekend’.