Irish Rugby Punter is Backing Brazil to Win the World Cup

A renowned Irish punter is backing Brazil to win the home World Cup, and the odds are very attractive.

A renowned gambler from the Irish town of Doon, John Anderson, continues to have a pretty successful 2014 year betting under Irish gambling laws. His latest win allowed him to boost his account by over EUR 90,000. The punter may be having a good year now, but 2012 was less than successful for him. His most renowned loss that year was the cool sum of EUR 56,000 when Leinster failed to win the RaboDirect final.

While he still prefers to wager on rugby to football, he couldn’t miss putting his money on the current World Cup in Brazil. And like many punters out there he is backing the Selecao to win. Here’s what he had to share with the media: “I prefer rugby because soccer is harder to predict but it is very hard to look beyond the home team.” Brazil are 3.75 favorites to lift the trophy and at this price it’s hard to not back them.

Winning bets from Anderson

One of the biggest wagers Anderson made during the rugby season was the EUR 20,000 on Ireland to beat France in the Six Nations at 1.83. And he also had around EUR 2,500 on Ireland to win the tournament outright at 3.00, which was a popular bet at both land-based and online sportsbooks in Ireland.

Renowned Irish punter John Anderson backs Brazil to win the World Cup

• The punter is well-known for his rugby bets at land-based and online sportsbooks in Ireland
• He is backing the host nation to lift the trophy
• The odds at Brazil are pretty generous, providing a hefty payout should they win

When the French went over for a try around 80th minute, the 73-year-old punter must’ve added a couple of grey hairs to his head. However, Pascal Pape’s pass was ruled forward. Anderson recalls: “It has to be up there with some of the luckiest bets I’ve ever won.”

John has accumulated a whopping 260,456 loyalty points on his Ladbrokes card alone. And this gives an idea of how much the punter actually bets. Anderson explains:

“You get one point for every EUR 2 you put on so that’s over EUR 500,000 in the last two years alone and that’s just Ladbrokes - I bet with them all. At the start it used be a point for every EUR 1 you put on but one of the staff members told me they changed it to EUR 2 because of me.” Moreover, the amount of his wagers has already allowed him to rack up over EUR 2,500 in free bets.

Anderson have always favored Munster in his bets on rugby. He once bet over EUR 7,500 on them finishing above the Scarlets, and of course they did. Other examples included a EUR 1,000 bet on Munster to beat Connacht, and contrary to his heart’s desires, EUR 6,100 on them to lose to Toulon in the Heineken Cup.

A wide variety of other accumulator bets has helped Anderson to rack up a nice chunk of cash in winnings. And while some of the odds there were pretty short, they are still better than putting money at low interest rates in the bank.

World Cup prospects for Anderson

When he famously lost that EUR 56,000 on Leinster, there were a number of rumors that his gambling career is over. He had an interesting way to answer the rumors in Irish gambling news: “I hope the poor tortured souls will find peace but not before they eat lots more humble pie!”

Given Anderson’s winning run at the bookies, it’s hard not to follow his advice on backing the hosts to win the tournament. And because the odds on them lifting the trophy are pretty long compared to their status as favorites, it seems to be a pretty smart bet.

However, Brazil’s opener against Croatia has revealed several fundamental problems with the team, lowering their chances somewhat. Let’s hope that Luiz Felipe Scolari has made the necessary adjustments, and we will see a much better play from the Selecao tomorrow, in their second game of the tournament – against Mexico.