Chapter 476: It's all caused by anger

William Hill bookmaker headquarters in the United Kingdom.

The betting department manager hurriedly knocked on the door of CEO Ralph Toppin's office.

Ten minutes later, all the senior executives including the group chairman Gareth Davis appeared in the senior conference room.

It looked like a major emergency had occurred and the atmosphere was very tense.

"What's going on?" Gareth Davis asked nervously.

Just ten minutes ago, a call from Ralph Toppin made him drop everything and show up here.

But he had no idea what had happened.

Ralph Toppin nodded to the betting department manager beside him, who stood up.

"Everyone, we just received a betting slip ten minutes ago."

As soon as he opened his mouth, everyone in the conference room fell silent and listened attentively.

Everyone knew that there must be something wrong with this betting slip, otherwise why would they call all the senior executives to a meeting for no reason? Could it be that they were just sitting around doing nothing and planned to treat everyone to afternoon tea?

"This bet slip was received by us at the betting station outside Wembley Stadium, and the amount was as high as one million pounds."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the audience was in an uproar.

"What? A million pounds?"

"Is this true? Who is so crazy?"

"The stakes are too high, aren't they? Who is this?"

"Is this probably the largest bet order William Hill has ever received?"

“Absolutely”

Gareth Davis' eyelids also jumped. This executive, who was parachuted into William Hill as chairman two years ago and had previously served as CEO of Imperial Tobacco for fourteen years, was also shocked by this betting slip.

One million pounds

What kind of person can make this investment?

"Tell me the details," Gareth Davis suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart and asked patiently.

The betting department manager nodded, "The one who placed the bet was none other than Southampton's behind-the-scenes boss, Yang Huan."

"Is it him?"

"Yes, he is the only one who would act like this."

"He made a big bet on Southampton's games last year and won a lot of money. I heard that he gave all the money to the players as bonuses. I didn't expect him to come again this year."

"It doesn't matter if he still comes. The most important thing is that he is gambling more and more."

Everyone in the conference room was talking about it, and the scene was very noisy.

Seeing the situation was a bit chaotic, Ralph Toppin had to cough twice, "Everyone"

He waited until everyone was quiet again before continuing.

"A bet of one million pounds is indeed quite large and is the largest bet amount we have received at William Hill so far, so we must take it very seriously. The incident two years ago was a warning."

The larger the bet amount, the greater the risk for the bookmaker.

Two years ago, William Hill suffered heavy losses due to a miscalculation in the betting project of the Royal Ascot Jockey Club in the UK. If it had not made a lot of money from the World Cup, William Hill would have suffered huge losses.

It was because of this incident that the former chairman of the company, Charles St, resigned.

"As far as I know, Yang Huan not only placed bets at William Hill this time, but also at Ladbrokes and B136, and the stakes placed at each bookmaker were one million pounds."

"What?" Everyone was shocked again.

Oh my god, one million per family, that’s three million pounds in total?

Yaya Gope, they don’t print pounds, do they?

How can you spend money like this?

Everyone started talking again.

"Why?" Gareth Davis seemed very calm.

At this time, there is no point in being shocked or arguing. The most important thing is to solve the problem.

"I heard it was because of anger." Ralph Toppin smiled bitterly.

"Out of spite?" Gareth Davis was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

There were also one or two people present, and the expressions on their faces were very interesting.

Because of anger, every bookmaker bet one million pounds?

My goodness, my Master Huan, do you think this is a joke?

That's one million pounds in real money.

"Someone heard some words in the royal box. It seems that Yang Huan felt that the odds we offered to Southampton were too low, so he was dissatisfied."

Gareth Davis flipped open an internal document in front of him and frowned when he saw that Southampton's odds were 150, ranking seventh among the Premier League teams this season.

"What's up with these odds? Southampton's odds of winning the championship are indeed a bit low."

This also exposed his unfamiliarity with the gaming industry. After all, he was parachuted in two years ago.

On the contrary, Ralph Toppin has been working at William Hill for more than 30 years, starting from the grassroots and working his way up to where he is today.

Strictly speaking, the CEO is the real power in the company.

"When we calculate the odds, we not only consider the overall strength of the team, but the most important thing for us is to control the risk."

Everyone present nodded continuously, as this involved very complicated calculations.

"Southampton is undoubtedly very strong, but this is their first season in the Premier League. Fans are generally not optimistic about this team because in the more than 100-year history of the English top league, there has never been a precedent of a newly promoted team winning the championship."

Everyone nodded again after hearing this.

"Also, Southampton is very popular in the underground black market. Everyone knows that this team never fixes matches, but in the eyes of regular bookmakers, it is still too unfamiliar. Who knows how their first Premier League season will go?"

"How many teams were so successful in the lower leagues, even defeating Premier League giants in cup competitions, but in their first season in the Premier League, they failed miserably to avoid relegation and returned to the lower leagues? It's not uncommon."

At this point even Gareth Davis nodded in agreement.

"Also, if you look at the schedule for the new season, the first few rounds are simply a devil's schedule for Southampton, but if you look at the next page, a total of 10 Southampton players have been selected to play in the London Olympics."

"So many?" Gareth Davis was a little surprised.

I opened it and saw that it really was there.

The British Olympic team includes Sturridge, Gareth Bale and Ravelle Morrison, which is also the front trident attack combination that the British Olympic team coach Pearce trusts the most.

Spain has Xavi Martinez, Azpilicueta, Isco and Koke.

These four players are also the main players of the Spanish Olympic team, and Spain is also the favorite team to win the Olympics.

The other three internationals competing in the Olympics are Brazil's Neymar, Danilo and Alex Sandro.

Among them, Neymar is the main player, while Danilo and Alex Sandro are substitutes for Rafael and Marcelo respectively.

"I really can't believe that Southampton not only has so many stars, but also has such strong young players"

"Yes, with ten players from the National Olympic Team, this lineup is strong enough."

"But it's also tragic. Is there anyone in the Premier League like Southampton?"

"Ten of the 25 players on the roster left, and we can't even get a complete squad for the expedition."

Looking at the schedule again, they are facing strong opponents such as Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton, and they also have to play in the Europa League and there will be a European Super Cup at the end of August.

It's really sad when I think about it.

Even though Gareth Davis is not a professional, after reading so much information, he more or less understands why William Hill and other bookmakers offer such low odds for Southampton.

After all, as a newly promoted team, Southampton is too unfamiliar.

Especially considering that if the start is not good, the whole season will be ruined.

Thinking of this, Gareth Davis nodded and looked at Ralph Toppin, "What do you think?"

"Take it," Ralph Toppin said almost without hesitation.

"Not only do we accept it, but if other bookmakers want to transfer risk, we will also accept it."

It seems that after internal evaluation, William Hill is very pessimistic about Southampton winning the championship.

Even thought it was impossible

Gareth Davis thought about it and nodded, "Okay, then take it."

William Hill, Ladbrokes and B136 each took a Premier League betting order of one million pounds. Although it caused an uproar within the three companies, it did not attract much attention from the outside world.

On the one hand, due to a confidentiality agreement, the news of Yang Huan’s betting cannot be leaked.

But more importantly, the much-anticipated London Olympics has begun.

During the entire Olympic Games, Yang Huan took Zhuang Ziqing to travel between various major venues of the Olympic Games.

Table tennis, swimming, diving, gymnastics, badminton...

As long as they can make it in time, Yang Huan and Zhuang Ziqing can be seen in almost all competitions where Chinese athletes participate. They have been photographed by Capital Television several times, but Yang Huan declined to be interviewed.

Yang Huan was so excited to experience the Olympics in person that he was completely excited.

In addition to watching the Chinese delegation's games, Yang Huan will also take time to watch Olympic football matches whenever he has time.

What is different from the previous life is that perhaps due to the strong support of Southampton, the British team can be said to have fielded all its main players this time.

In addition to Southampton's Gareth Bale, Sturridge and Ravel Morrison, there are also Arsenal's Walcott, Manchester United's Welbeck and others in the frontcourt.

The midfield is home to Ramsey, Henderson, Wilshere, Cleverley and other stars, while the defence also features Phil Jones, Evans, Micah Richards, Neil Taylor and other stars.

With a star-studded team, outstanding strength, and thorough preparation, plus playing at home, the British team seemed unstoppable from the start of the group stage, winning three games in a row and qualifying as group leader.

The team's top star Gareth Bale shined with dazzling performance.

Later in the knockout round, the British team eliminated South Korea and Mexico successively and successfully entered the final.

Another team that made it to the final was the Brazilian Olympic team led by Neymar.

This is also a team full of stars, including Neymar, Lucas Moura, Thiago Silva, Marcelo, Oscar, Pato and Hulk.

As a result, the two sides had a fierce confrontation at Wembley Stadium. In the end, the British team, playing at home, defeated the Brazilian team 2-1 and successfully won the men's football championship medal in the local Olympics.

The Brazilian team tragically reached the finals three times and won three silver medals, which is really sad.

Although he missed the championship, Neymar won the top scorer with six goals.

After two years of experience in England, the Brazilian striker treats England as his home game and is in very good form.

In second place is England's top scorer Gareth Bale, who scored five goals and tied for second with Senegal's Konate.

Sturridge scored four goals and ranked fourth.

The outstanding performances of several Southampton stars in the Olympic Games have drawn unanimous praise from the outside media.

Especially Neymar and Gareth Bale, who led their teams to the finals respectively, showed convincing strength and made people see their outstanding potential.

But behind the glory of the Olympics, Southampton did not have an ideal start in its first season back in the Premier League after many years.