If you’re the type of person who watches the Eurovision Song Contest and bets with your loved ones on the final ranking, know that others do the same, but in a professional way – often playing very big. This is the case of Daniel Gould, interviewed by the BBCand who was particularly scared in 2018, since he almost lost his house there.
For ten years, Daniel Gould has been a professional bettor specializing in the Eurovision Song Contest. It was in 2004 that he had the idea to take a close interest in this annual high mass and to sharpen his knowledge of its principles, its challenges, and its geopolitical dimension as well. And after a few years of scouting, the Briton started.
He then began to place large sums on low-risk bets, such as “this country will not qualify for the final”. Little risky but nevertheless distressing: betting 100,000 euros on odds of 1.03 means ending up with a profit of 3,000 euros in the event of victory – but losing everything in the event of bad inspiration. Besides, Daniel Gould couldn’t watch the results directly on television. Too stressed. “I stared at the wall biting my fist.”
Having ended up quitting his job as a history teacher, Daniel Gould has truly become a professional in the field. Each year, he mortgaged his home in order to have the necessary sums. With great success. His annual earnings are estimated at 50,000 pounds on average, or about 57,000 euros. Enough to enjoy life and travel around the world, its main objective.
Cyprus-like problem
But probabilities are only probabilities, and the finest analyzes do not prevent errors in judgment or unexpected events. This is how in 2018, convinced that the Cypriot song «Fuego» d’Eleni Foureira had no chance, he bet for months on the fact that she would not pass the qualifying phases of the competition. At the same time, he placed all his hopes – or rather all his expertise – on the piece «Toy»sung by Netta for Israel.
But in the semi-finals that year, Gould belatedly realized that the public was madly in love with the Cyprus song, and hadn’t seen it happen. Having bet six figures that Cyprus would not win the contest, he realized he was about to lose big. Especially since betting on Cyprus would not make it possible to compensate for the previous bet: in the meantime, the growing popularity of the Cypriot piece had considerably changed the odds.
The night of the final was torture for Daniel Gould. The rumor of a possible Cypriot victory rose little by little. And it was only after an interminable evening that the Netta’s victory, relegating Eleni Foureira to second place, allowed him to regain his senses and realize that he was now far from bankruptcy. Till next time.
2023-05-13 08:16:49
#year #Eurovision #gambler #mortgages #house
