Bookie Closes Book on The Apprentice After Suspecting Insider Dealing

Filed in archive Betting on December 10, 2004

Bookie Confirms 'Apprentice' Insider BettingOnline bookie, BetWWTS.com, has closed the book on The Apprentice after confirming their suspicions of insider trading.

Stuart Doyle of betwwts.com explains

"When we discovered the unusual betting on 'The Apprentice,' we knew that we were the victim of another insider betting scandal on a reality show and that our suspicions would be proven accurate...It was obvious from the similar geographic location of the accounts, timing of the wagers and nature of the bets that this was more than a simple conspiracy theory, but more likely the by-product of a leak from someone involved with the show."

Apparantly the site received a number of bets on 2 contestants back in september. The new accounts all originated from New Hampshire and amounted to $1,000 in bets for Kelly Perdew and Jennifer Massey at odds of 10/1. Its the fourth time the site has suspended betting on reality-tv shows, but they claim they will honor the bets after the final results.

The popularity in reality-tv and their weekly live result shows have essentially developed a brand new betting market over the last couple of years. But with the sheer number of people involved with the production of the show, stories of 'insider knowledge' should come as no surprise - and if bookies want to take money on the show's outcomes, they'll have to continue to take the risk that SOME results aren't necessarily completely 'live'