BloggingStocks's Tom Barlow is pretty sure that Harry Potter isn't about to meet his untimely demise, but a lof of gamblers aren't so sure: According to Bloomberg, "William Hill Plc, a London-based bookmaker, closed bets on Harry sacrificing himself at 2/5 odds on July 17, cut from an original quote of 33/1 in early July. Lord Voldemort, who murdered Potter's parents, is at 9/4 to kill Harry, and Professor Severus Snape is at 4/1 odds to murder him. The bookmaker took more than 50,000 pounds ($100,000) in bets on Harry's fate, the first time in the company's history it had ever bet on a book."
This seems kind of inane: People are gambling about what will happen in a fictional story that they haven't read yet, and only the author and a few insiders know what's going to happen in the latest Harry Potter, set to be released tomorrow.
But maybe others really do know? There have been reports of pirated copies showing up on the internet and The New York Times and Baltimore Sun have already gotten copies, reportedly through bookstores.
The strong odds that gamblers are assigning to the death of Harry combined with a general belief in the wisdom of crowds lead me to a conclusion: By this time tomorrow, millions of bookworms will be mourning Harry's passing.
More Harry Potter newsTom Barlow: The Harry Potter Finance Quiz
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Tom Barlow: Harry Potter and the Pots of Gold
Barry Summerlin: Harry Potter doesn't even need Muggle marketing
Julie Tilsner: Not even Harry can save bookstores from their fate
Peter Cohan: Harry Potter and the Pot of Gold
Tom Barlow: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Will Rowling kill off Harry?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-20-2007 @ 10:51PM
Nate said...
He lives, so everyone who bet lost.
Moral: Don't Gamble
7-21-2007 @ 12:03AM
Kelly said...
Actually he dies, but comes back to life...so perhaps the gamblers will be at odds over who owes who?
7-21-2007 @ 7:55AM
Michael Schneider said...
Some arre placing bets on stocks- regardless of the Harry potter outcome.
List of 3 stocks likely to benefit from harry potter from James Altucher CNBC comments yesterday plus one of our choices are available free at http://www.Barrelomedia.com.