UNITED STATES
Enterprise News
By Michael Kryzanek
GateHouse News Service
Posted Mar 02, 2013
COMMENTARY —
As a practicing Catholic, I find it a bit tawdry – but certainly not surprising in our world where making a buck is paramount – that there are now betting lines on who will be the next pope. Our own Sean Cardinal O’Malley has a 40/1 chance, according to an Irish outfit called PaddyPower.com. No matter what proud Catholics in the Boston Archdiocese are saying, Cardinal Sean is a long shot as the money heads elsewhere.
Las Vegas odds makers are not taking any wagers on the next pope but foreign gaming companies are alive with betting action. Most of the money wagered is not from the United States, since technically Americans are denied the opportunity to place Internet bets through foreign gaming firms. This regulatory roadblock has not stopped bettors here in the states from dropping a twenty or fifty on Cardinal O’Malley using “back channels.”
By the way, if you’re interested, the “smart money” is on Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson at 11/4 with Milan’s prelate Angelo Scola on the rise at 7/1.
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