3560...Luck Of The Irish

Myth.

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Luck of the Irish is a myth, study shows
Monday, March 14, 2011
AFP


A man holds a St. Patrick's Day flag, during Munich's St. Patrick's Day parade on March 14, 2010 in Munich, southern Germany. St. Patrick's Day, the festival which commemorates the Irish patron saint, takes place on March 17, 2010.
A man holds a St. Patrick's Day flag, during Munich's St. Patrick's Day parade on March 14, 2010 in Munich, southern Germany. St. Patrick's Day, the festival which commemorates the Irish patron saint, takes place on March 17, 2010.

Photographed by:
OLIVER LANG, AFP/Getty Images

There is no such thing as the "Luck of the Irish", according to research by a major bookmaker published ahead of St Patrick's Day, Thursday's anniversary of Ireland's patron saint.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes and racing website lovetheraces.com studied 12 months of Ladbrokes' betting data and found that there are more lucky Brits than Irish.

There is a traditional belief in the betting community that Emerald Isle punters have the uncanny knack of being able to find more winners.

However the researchers looked at 28,123 punters each side of the Irish Sea - a total of 56,246 - and found that 5,902 Brits win more than 40% of the time, compared with 3,471 Irish.

It is not all bad news for the Irish, though. When Irish punters do win, they scoop an average of 167% more than the Brits.

The average amount won per bet in Ireland is £40.16 whereas conservative U.K. punters pocket an average of just £15.04.

David Williams, from Ladbrokes, said: "The results of the survey are staggering and have exposed as a myth one of the most widely-accepted sayings in betting history.

"The Irish are certainly fearless punters but it's the Brits who seem to enjoy the luck. No doubt the Irish will look to correct the injustice at the Cheltenham Festival."

The annual Cheltenham Festival horse racing event is taking place this week.

"It's the biggest betting week of the year and the euros that flood over from Ireland are enough to make any bookie go weak at the knees. We've always kept our ear to the ground for whispers from the Irish but perhaps we should have a re-think," Williams said.

© Copyright (c) AFP

I think they are just jealous of us.

WFDS