BetWWTS.com, a leading offshore gaming company for over 10 years, announced today that it has suspended betting on the latest installment of "Survivor" before the first episode will even air this evening. The company claims that its suspicions arose when BetWWTS.com received a number of wagers all placed on the same "Survivor: Pearl Islands" contestant from newly opened accounts originating from Vancouver, British Columbia.
ADVERTISEMENT
Company officials indicated that in the past, betting on reality shows like "Survivor" is extremely light before the first episode airs, but on this occasion, BetWWTS.com has seen a deluge of bets on the show. Of all of the money wagered on "Survivor" to date, nearly 95% originated from new accounts in the Vancouver area and all was placed on the same castaway -- leaving the company with a liability in excess of $30,000 on one contestant. Management investigated the origin of the betting yesterday and decided the risk was too great to continue offering "Survivor" betting.
"In the past few days we have received an abnormally high amount of maximum limit wagers on the same contestant from new customers in the Vancouver area, which has forced us to suspend betting on "Survivor"," said Simon Noble, CEO of BetWWTS.com. "Whether this is a case of one of the contestants or someone involved with the show accidentally exposing the identity of one of the two finalists, or simply the by-product of rumor, it is still a highly unusual betting pattern and we felt we must react accordingly."
This marks the third time that an online wagering site has suspended wagering on a reality television show because of unusual betting patterns. In November 2002, BetWWTS.com halted betting on "The Bachelor" when it was discovered that a number of new accounts originating from Springfield, Missouri -- hometown of bachelor Aaron Buerge -- had all wagered on eventual winning bachelorette, Helene. At the time, ABC strongly denied that word of Buerge's final pick had leaked out.
Earlier this year, the online BoDog Sportsbook & Casino suspended betting on "Survivor: The Amazon" when it appeared that CBS employees had been placing wagers on Jenna and Matt, who were ultimately the final two contestants vying for the $1 million grand prize.
"Although CBS may say this is simply another conspiracy theory about the show, we've followed betting patterns on shows like this before and discovered that in each instance, there were indeed people with inside knowledge wagering on the outcome," concluded Mr. Noble.