SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betting exchange Matchbook.com reports that UK punters are betting that Reggie ‘N’ Bollie will be the unlucky contestants to be axed before the X-Factor 2015 Final.
Following 4th Impact’s elimination from the show, four acts remain in the running to take home the prize on offer; Ché Chesterman, Lauren Murray, Louisa Johnson and Reggie ‘N’ Bollie will compete in the live semi-finals this weekend. But the lucrative record deal looks out of the reach of the Ghanaian-bord double act Reggie ‘N’ Bollie, as Matchbook.com customers are betting on them being eliminated after the the sixth round of live performances.
Three candidates will battle it out in the live Final and 31 year old Reggie and 29 year old Bollie, along with north Londoner Lauren Murray, are the most bet upon contestants. Matchbook punters are, however, placing the vast majority of their bets on Reggie ‘N’ Bollie not winning.
As a betting exchange, Matchbook provides customers with the ability to ‘lay’ bets [bet against something happening]. Punters are sceptical of Reggie ‘N’ Bollie’s chances as the duo are the highest laid act of the competition, with almost ten times the amount of money laid on them as on Louisa Johnson.
To support these statistics, the pair, mentored by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, are also the least ‘backed’ contestants [money bet on them to win], meaning a staggering 99% of stakes have been laid against them winning versus 1% of bets backed. Lauren Murray’s appearance in the bottom two in Round 5 could also be a sign of things to come as customers of Matchbook believe that she is the second most likely contest to be axed before the final. 91% of bets have been laid against the 25 year old.
This could be no bad thing for Reggie ‘N’ Bollie or Murray if they follow in the footsteps of other acts such as One Direction (third in 2010) and Olly Murs (runner-up in 2009), who didn’t win the competition but went on to achieve successful careers as recording artists.
Conversely, Louisa Johnson is currently trading at the lowest odds, making her the ‘favourite’ but meaning that she is the least bet upon contestant. Matchbook customers do not feel that betting on Johnson is a lucrative market, given she is currently trading at very narrow odds of approximately 1.37.
