What Do the Bookmakers Say Now About Euro 2008?

Before Euros started, I posted about some of the things people could bet on and the pre-tournament odds they could get. (Fernando Torres was the favorite for top goalscorer, with Cristiano Ronaldo right behind. I suppose Torres could still happen. If you toss in a miracle or two.)

Germany was the pre-tournament favorite team, with odds of about 4:1. And Turkey were a longshot. Maybe 70:1-ish or so.

So where do things stand now?

Germany are still the favorites. Actually, they’re even more favorite than they were before. Current odds are about 3:2. Spain is close behind with odds of about 7:4. Russia are a little more of a longshot at 7:2. But the interesting thing is that Turkey is being given about 14:1 odds. They’re the longshots, sure, by far. But considering that they’ll only have maybe fourteen players able to play, and that I read that their third-string goalkeeper may be put on the field as a striker, those seem like pretty low odds. After three late-game shock wins, nobody wants to write the Turks off.

A few other interesting updates on the betting front:

• If you want to bet on their being a whole slew of red cards in the final three games, you can get 29:1 odds that there will be 8 or more, total. The odds for 0-5 are a minuscule .12:1. (Off the top of my head, I’m remembering three up to this point: Schweinsteiger, Demirel and Abidal. Correct me if you remember more.)
• You can still bet on Germany’s Mario Gomez being the top scorer. Odds range from 125:1 to 539:1. Since I don’t think we’ll see much of Gomez on the field from here on out, I don’t think I’d personally venture more than a buck on this one.
• You can get as high as 11:1 odds on a Russia-Turkey final. Germany-Spain, though? Only about 4:5.
• Favorite for top tournament player is Michael Ballack at 11:4. Longshots are Philip Lahm, 33:1; Sergio Ramos, 40:1, and Andres Iniesta at 50:1.
• You can also bet on total corners in the tournament. Odds for over and under 315.5 are the same: 5:6.

(Because I know I personally woke up this morning and thought, “I am absolutely certain that there will be more than 315.5 corners in this tournament. I need to make a bet.”)

I’m curious, readers. Have you ever made an odd football-related bet? Tell us about it in the comments.

Click here to bet on Euro 2008