The Man Booker Prize 2009

[stereoman]

Longlist of thirteen out. Will be reduced to the usual six. Bookies haven't put up odds yet. One of these thirten will win it!

AS Byatt - The Children's Book
JM Coetzee - Summertime
Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze
Sarah Hall - How to paint a dead man
Samantha Harvey - The Wilderness
James Lever - Me Cheeta
Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
Simon Mawer - The Glass Room
Ed O'Loughlin - Not Untrue & Not Unkind
James Scudamore - Heliopolis
Colm Toibin - Brooklyn
William Trevor - Love and Summer
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts & Culture | Booker Prize longlist is revealed

Christ! I haven't been following the book scene since last year. Seems underwhelming on first impression. Haven't formed much of an opinion as to what the six books might be bu tit'll probably be dominated by the more established authors such as Byatt, Coetzee and Toibin.

Last year's winner The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga fooled almost everybody apart from those in the know.

[stereoman]

Didn't notice Paddy Power's odds because Oddschecker has no odds to compare with:

3/1 JM Coetzee - Summertime
5/1 William Trevor - Love and Summer
6/1 AS Byatt - The Children's Book
8/1 Samantha Harvey - The Wilderness
8/1 Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
9/1 Colm Toibin - Brooklyn
11/1 Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger
12/1 Sarah Hall - How to paint a dead man
12/1 James Scudamore - Heliopolis
14/1 Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze
14/1 Simon Mawer - The Glass Room
16/1 Ed O'Loughlin - Not Untrue & Not Unkind
18/1 James Lever - Me Cheeta

[gaillimh]

9/1 Colm Toibin - Brooklyn !!

[stereoman]

Sue Perkins is one of the panel of five!? WTF!?

Historical Fiction on 2009 Booker Longlist A World of Words

[stereoman]

Saturday afternoon's Bettingzone Market Moves:

1530: William Hill have been forced to slash the odds of Man Booker Prize contender Hilary Mantel from 12/1 to clear 2/1 favourite to lift the prestigious literary prize after 95% of all bets placed on the award following this week's announcement of the long list, were for her book, Wolf Hall, set during Henry VIII's reign.

"The gamble has taken us by surprise," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

"Fortunately, no one has staked more than £50 in one go but this is definitely the biggest Booker gamble since Life of Pi was backed as though defeat was out of the question a few years ago and duly obliged.

"We'll lose a five-figure sum if the support continues. It is as though a tip has gone around the literary world telling everyone that Mantel is a certainty, I've never seen a betting pattern like it on a literary prize - and I've been taking bets on them for quarter of a century!" added Sharpe

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The Mark Haddon gamble was foiled when he didn't even get onto the shortlist (like he's bothered!) back in 2003 and last year's Lloyd Jones gamble one was as well. Most infamously, the Yann Martel one back in 2002 wasn't though as bookies were right kippered up and stung by an accidental website leak of who won even though awards organisers had denied that Yann Martel had won and the panel had yet to make their decision yet. There was an unusual amount of very late money over at Betfair on Kiran Desai back in 2006.

Will Hilary Mantel win? I dunno but I think she'll be in the shortlist of six.

My six? The ones I think will make it are: AS Byatt, JM Coetzee, James Lever, Hilary Mantel, James Scudamore and Colm Toibin.

Updated odds from William Hill:

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall 2/1
Colm Toibin - Brooklyn 4/1
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger 4/1
J M Coetzee - Summertime 6/1
James Lever - Me Cheeta 8/1
AS Byatt - The Children's Book 10/1
William Trevor - Love and Summer 12/1
Ed O'Loughlin - Not Untrue and Not Unkind 14/1
Simon Mawer - The Glass Room 14/1
James Scudamore - Heliopolis 16/1
Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze 16/1
Sarah Hall - How to Paint a Dead Man 16/1
Samantha Harvey - The Wilderness Room 16/1

[stereoman]

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts & Culture | Man Booker shortlist is announced

Shortlist of six has just been announced and here are Ladbrokes' odds:

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall 10/11
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger 5/1
J M Coetzee - Summertime| 5/1
A S Byatt - The Children's Book 6/1
Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze 10/1
Simon Mawer - The Glass Room 10/1

Will the Hilary Mantel gamble be landed!?

[stereoman]

Betfair say no.

The Betfair Contrarian: Why Hilary Mantel won't win the Booker Prize : Booker Prize : Specials

Ladbrokes' odds as of right now:

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall 8/13
J M Coetzee - Summertime 5/1
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger 5/1
Simon Mawer - The Glass Room 6/1
A S Byatt - The Children's Book 8/1
Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze 10/1

William Hill's current odds:

Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall 10/11
Simon Mawer - The Glass Room 7/2
Sarah Waters - The Little Stranger 6/1
J M Coetzee - Summertime 6/1
AS Byatt - The Children's Book 8/1
Adam Foulds - The Quickening Maze 12/1

The ceremony's tomorrow night.

Interesting move on Simon Mawer but no, I don't really care who wins.

[stereoman]

No idea why that Betfair opinion piece didn't link properly.

Today's Bettingzone Market News:

1215: A late gamble on Simon Mawer to win the Man Booker Prize has seen his book 'The Glass Room' backed from 14/1 outsider to 7/2 second favourite with William Hill.

Hills make Hilary Mantel the first odds-on favourite to win the award at 10/11 - the shortest odds a book has ever been to win the prize.

"All the early money was for Hilary Mantel and after the short-list was announced over 75% of the bets placed had been for her to win," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

"But over the weekend there was significant support for Simon Mawer, forcing his odds right down from being the complete outsider to become clear second favourite."

[stereoman]

More Bettingzone Market News:

1420: If odds-on favourite Hilary Mantel wins the Man Booker Prize with 'Wolf Hall' on Tuesday night, it will be the first time in ten years that the market leader has won the prestigious literary prize, say bookmakers William Hill.

"Since J.M.Coetzee won with 'Disgrace' in 1999 the Booker has produced a string of beaten, gambled-on favourites," explained Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

"Hilary Mantel is the hottest favourite ever but she has to overcome the curse of the market leaders which has seen several strongly fancied contenders like David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Ian McEwen's Atonement fall by the wayside in recent years.

"The last two winners - Aravand Adiga's White Tiger and Anne Enright's The Gathering were both the complete outsiders, so for bookmakers the Booker has been very profitable for the last decade - and long may that continue!" added Sharpe.

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*COUGH, COUGH* The Life of Pi in 2002 but yeah, generally favourites have been nobbled though. I've been following it for around a decade and rarely manage to pick a winner hence my disinterest other than for information purposes only.

[gaillimh]

the fav is on the drift !!
6/5 is now the best price for Hilary Mantel having this award for here own Mantel-piece!
The Glass Room is well backed into "clear" second favourite, with the others mostly on the slide. Would love to have a bet but this would be based on nothing whatsoever!
Could go for an "M" multiple tonight Mantel, Man City and Minnesota (NFL).
6/5, 6/4, 1/2 for a 7/1 treble !!

[stereoman]

Understandably bookies have suspended betting overnight but over at Betfair Simon Mawer is now 5/11 and Hilary Mantel 3/1.

Hmmm. I say it almost every year but this is rigged beyond belief.

[stereoman]

Hilary Mantel won. James Naughtie must have had a few quid on as it wasn't unanimous (presumably a 3-2 Mantel-Mawer vote).

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Mantel named Booker Prize winner

'Wolf Hall' is probably one of the worst sounding titles to win the Booker Prize for quite a while. *YAWN*