Monday, October 13, 2008

More Nobel Controversy

As reported in USA Today, the Nobel Prize literary jury suspects an insider may have leaked the identity of the winner because in the final days before the announcement "an unusual number of bets were made predicting [Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio] would win."

Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, remarks, "I have a strong suspicion that there has been a leak in the system this time. … I don't want to say more."

After betting activity caused Le Clézio's odds to drop suddenly, the bookmaker Ladbrokes suspended betting. Lass Dilschman, head of Ladbrokes’ Nordic division comments, “Suddenly, there were more and more bets on him. … The odds went from 15-to-1 to below 2-1. That's when we decided to close."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Organized gambling on potential literary Nobel Prize laureates....who would have thought? "I'll take the Cowboys to cover the spread and Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio at 5 to 2 for $100".....