I saw Dunph’s post in the bookies section about The Big Dance and so I decided to start the countdown in earnest on this thread. I’ve also contacted support@paddypower.com to try to get them to open a book on the event. My initial contact email is detailed below:
To whom it may concern,
I’m emailing in connection with the greatest sports entertainment extravaganza there is. Yes, Wrestlemania XXIV is a mere 3 weeks away and I’ve yet to see any prices listed on your website despite the fact I’m eager to avail of some ante-post value. Last year I made a similar request and was refused prices by an employee who disgracefully insinuated that wrestling was a mere soap opera with ‘storylines’ decided in advance. Even if this shockingly distasteful accusation had any grain of truth in it then that shouldn’t preclude you from offering odds given the fact you had markets on Coronation Street and Eastenders storylines in the not too distant past.
But there’s also a point of principle at stake here - do you honestly think a grown adult like myself would stay up all night to watch wrestling if it was fake? One cursory glance at last year’s Big Dance DVD and the sight of Jeff Hardy leaping off the top of a ladder from 25 feet in the air onto the prone body of Edge - himself lying across another ladder that was suspended about 4 feet in the air and held up by the ring itself on one side and a barrier on the other - and then for both of them to crash through the second suspended ladder with such fantastic and phenomenal force that neither competitor could continue proves the amazing authenticity of wrestling.
In short, it was off the cuff, off the hook and off the chain and I expect / demand to have a market opened for this spectacular event.
I look forward to a favourable response to my request.
Yours in high-flying capers from the top ropes,
Bandage
Bandage - tell them that Boyles or Ladbrokes or someone will give you prices but as your account is with Powers you would prefer to bet with them. Should keep us entertained for a Friday afternoon if nothing else.
Thanks for your rather curt reply. May I enquire as to why you don’t offer prices on wrestling please? I’m aware you offer prices on UFC which is a close relation to WWE so I don’t understand how those of us loyal to Vince McMahon’s brand should be singled out and discriminated against. Is it because of his Irish ancestry? I would hope this isn’t the case but I thought I better seek clarification. I’m loathe to move my betting account to an alternative operator who treats us wrestling aficionados with the respect we’re entitled to but I feel I’m being backed into a corner much like Triple H was in Wrestlemania XXII when he tapped out to John Cena’s STFU and relinquished his WWE title.
I await further reasoning and clarification on your wrestling policy.
Yours in doggedly refusing to submit or accept defeat,
Bandage
Please forgive the error in my previous correspondence. Of course John Cena was actually the defending champion at Wrestlemania XXII, however Triple H did in fact submit to the STFU and failed to regain the title he had previously held on multiple occasions. I thought it best to clarify for the sake of accuracy and good housekeeping.
Yours in responding quickly to mistakes made inside the squared-circle,
Bandage
It seems like Jason has roped in Conor to taky my query. I’m not going to give up yet:
Dear Bandage,
Thank you for contacting Paddy Power Customer Support.
I have spoken to our events and sports department and explained your situation to them. They have informed me that our traders are of the opinion that the results of the matches of WWE are pre-determined, therefore not suitable for betting on.
As regards to betting on TV soaps, these are offered as novelty bets as most main storylines are a closely guarded secrets.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.
[quote=“Bandage”]It seems like Jason has roped in Conor to taky my query. I’m not going to give up yet:
Dear Bandage,
Thank you for contacting Paddy Power Customer Support.
I have spoken to our events and sports department and explained your situation to them. They have informed me that our traders are of the opinion that the results of the matches of WWE are pre-determined, therefore not suitable for betting on.
As regards to betting on TV soaps, these are offered as novelty bets as most main storylines are a closely guarded secrets.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards,
Conor[/quote]
You could definitely use Survivor Series 97 in your reply. Keep at em I say.
To say I’m dumbfounded is quite an understatement, especially the part that states ‘our traders are of the opinion that the results of the matches of WWE are pre-determined, therefore not suitable for betting on.’
This hasn’t prevented Paddy Power from taking bets on Serie A football games in the wake of a well documented match-fixing scandal where match results were pre-determined or Formula One races where teams often order their drivers to move aside and let their team-mates win. Or what about cricket and the Hansie Cronje match-fixing scandal? Or horse racing and various stories of illegal fixing? Clearly there’s strong and irrefutable evidence to suggest these sports have been ‘pre-determined’ in the past though they haven’t been singled out at all and are openly available to bet on.
Instead it’s left to us wrestling enthusiasts to suffer and I’m frankly disgusted. Even if wrestling was fake or pre-determined (which it’s not) then the ‘plots’ are surely as closely guarded as those of English soap operas. I, for one, would be lost to accurately predict what way the bouts at The Big Dance will go. There’s so many permutations that it’s almost mind-blowing, especially the Triple Threat match for the WWE title between Randy Orton (11/10), John Cena (4/6 F) and Triple H (7/4)*.
I appreciate your timely response but what I can’t fathom, nor accept, is why wrestling receives this inconsistent treatment compared to other sports and events.
Regards,
Bandage
Note: These are my suggested prices - please pass them on to the trading team for review and discussion.
This time it appears that Conor has passed it on to Daniel:
Dear Bandage,
Thank you for contacting Paddy Power Customer Support.
I’m sorry but as said in the previous email we will not be offering prices on wwe events as they are predetermined.
Sorry for any inconvenience please enjoy wrestlemania IV.
If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards,
Daniel
My response:
Daniel,
Thank you for your reply but again I fail to see why you’re distinguishing between an alleged ‘pre-determined’ sport like wrestling yet offer odds on other actual ‘pre-determined’ spectacles.
I will indeed enjoy Wrestlemania but one point of order - Wrestlemania IV was 20 years ago and it’s XXIV that has me giddy like a fat kid in Burger King.
I’m trying to hold the laughter in and I’ve work colleagues all around me wondering what the fuck Im laughing so hard at. I can only imagine the scenes in Paddy Power this afternoon!
Ask for novelty bets rather than betting on actual results of the matches. Thats the only way that any kind of market will be opened for wrestling related events.
Decided to make one final push for normal odds before I change tactics and go down the novelty bet route:
Daniel,
I’m just making one final push to try to get odds for Wrestlemania XXIV. Is it possible that yourself and your events and sports department wrestled with your collective conscience over the weekend and have changed your minds?
Good work Bandage we’re right behind you keep it up…
[quote=“Bandage”]Decided to make one final push for normal odds before I change tactics and go down the novelty bet route:
Daniel,
I’m just making one final push to try to get odds for Wrestlemania XXIV. Is it possible that yourself and your events and sports department wrestled with your collective conscience over the weekend and have changed your minds?