Betting on royal baby name
Royal baby

Alexandra and Diana among the most favorite names.

As we all know, betting is not always about football, tennis, horses and other noble pursuits. Bookies often offer “novelty bets” as a side dish, like guessing the name of the next Pope.

Speaking of noble pursuits, some novelty bets focus on aristocracy in a very literal sense. The latest such wagering opportunity has been presented by the birth of a new baby into the House of Windsor, due in mid-July.

Prince William and Princess Catherine are expecting their first child at that time, and punters can place bets on a whole range of events, circumstances and decisions, depending on the particular sportsbook. Betfair, BetFred, BetVictor, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, SkyBet, William Hill are known to offer odds to bettors.

While players may place bets at high street betting shops, shopping around online for the best bets or resorting to mobile sportsbooks is probably a better option.

Nowadays mobile betting is available on a range of platforms (e.g. Coral has both iOS and Android, William Hill is sticking to iPhone and iPad gambling, and Ladbrokes also offers a Windows Phone app), so customers are unlikely to run into difficulties in placing their wagers.

Punters who wish to play it safe can bet on Elizabeth, Alexandra (Queen Elizabeth’s middle name) or Diana for the baby’s name. In fact, Alexandra has climbed the chart at such speed in April that bookmakers have been suspecting an inside tip, changing the odds to between 6/4 and 29/12. The highest paying option is Brooklyn (1000/1 at BetVictor), but several of the bookies have a wide selection of 500/1 names, such as Olympia, Tulisa and even Fergie.

Although the high odds may be mouth-watering, no one seriously expects any extraordinary choices with regards to the name. William Hill PR Manager Rupert Adams has been quoted in the British press saying that “if we get a fruit or vegetable name, I will jump off a cliff.”

Some places also accept bets on birthdates, with the days around the middle of July paying the least, while a July 31st birth could see a lucky player get between 33 and 66 times his money back. Coral, the only bookie to do so, also offers the chance to bet on the exact hour of delivery.

As far as hair color expectations go, brown appears to be the most widely expected outcome (between 6/4 and 2/1), and ginger the least likely – and thus best paying – option (between 11/4 and 8/1).

Of course since the bulk of these bets are really small size, casual wagers, players who decided to take risks betting on the more unlikely scenarios don’t actually risk a fortune. It’s all fun and games, with the level of interest actually motivated by affection towards the young princely couple.