On March 20, 2003, the US-British coalition launched an attack on Iraq. In less than a month, they took control of most of Iraq. In July 2003, an interim government was established in Iraq. In December 2003, Saddam was arrested. But the shadow of war still hangs over Iraq, with car bombs and suicide bombings continuing to attack. Apart from the Green Zone established by the Americans, there is no safe place in Iraq.
It is a miracle in itself that the Iraqi football team can enter the Athens Olympics under such conditions. They have experienced more than 20 years of economic sanctions and wars. They have no equipment, no funds, and no training venues. They have continued to move forward completely relying on a willpower.
Although the International Olympic Organizing Committee has always claimed that the Olympic Games does not involve politics, Iraq's participation in the Olympic Games does represent a political significance greater than the contestants or the competition itself. Therefore, the International Olympic Organizing Committee has given the green light to Iraq's participation in the Olympic Games and will have just restored its Olympic seats. The Iraqi delegation entered the Olympic Games.
The story of the Iraqi football team is very touching, and the Iraqi athletes are also worthy of respect, but touching and respecting cannot bring money. Major European bookmakers firmly believe that the Iraqi team, which has just experienced the war, is the best football team in this Olympic Games. The weaker one offers the highest odds to the Iraqi team.
"The odds of Iraq entering the semi-finals are 50 to 1 for Ladbrokes, 60 to 1 for William Hill, 80 to 1 for Ribbon... These odds are very good. If you buy it, you will make money." Zhang Guan took notes and wrote down the relevant odds. , and then clicked on the odds of the Iraqi team in the first game of the Olympic group stage.
"The Iraqi football team played against Portugal in the first game. Let me see, the odds are one-sided and Portugal wins! As for the score... the odds are so high! 100 for 1, 180 for 1, and 1 Pay 220, and there’s another one that pays 500!”
Zhang Guan was looking at the odds of Iraq's 4:2 victory over Portugal. The odds offered by various companies were undoubtedly the highest, and one company even offered odds of 500 to 1.
"You've made a profit, you're really going to get rich this time!" Zhang Guan secretly cheered.
Zhang Guan knows that the Iraqi team is the biggest dark horse in the football competition of this Olympic Games. Not only did they qualify from the group, but they also made it to the semi-finals. In the Iraqi team's first game against Portugal, Iraq defeated Portugal 4:2.
…
Zhang Guan wrote down the number and situation of the item he wanted to buy, as well as the amount of money he was going to buy, and walked to one of the betting counters.
The clerk at the counter saw that he had an oriental face and knew he was a foreign tourist, so he asked in English: "Hello, sir, do you need any service?"
"I want to bet on these." Zhang Guan handed the note to the clerk.
Zhang Guan’s mother is a high school English teacher after all, so Zhang Guan’s English proficiency is not bad among high school students of the same age. Most Chinese people learn dumb English. Zhang Guan’s current English level can only cope with daily life. , but foreigners listening to Chinese people speaking English is similar to Chinese people listening to foreigners speaking Chinese. Even if there are grammatical errors, wrong word usage, non-standard pronunciation, not speaking fluently, half-sentences, etc., they can still listen. Understand the general meaning.
The clerk picked up the note and confirmed, "Are you going to buy a football project about Iraq entering the semi-finals?"
"Yes!" Zhang Guan replied.
"OPAP bets 5,000 euros, Ladbrokes bets 2,000 euros, William Hill bets 2,000 euros, Ribo bets 2,000 euros..." The clerk confirmed all Zhang Guan's bets and said, "In this way, all bets will cost a total of 30,000 euros. .Are you sure?"
As the clerk spoke, he wrote the number 30,000 on the paper. He was afraid that Zhang Guan would not understand, so he expressed it in written numbers.
"Yes." Zhang Guan confirmed.
With a one-time bet of 30,000 euros, even European tourists are wealthy. The clerk did not expect Asian tourists to be so rich. More importantly, Zhang Guan was betting on Iraq entering the semi-finals, and the odds were extremely high. The clerk naturally thought that Zhang Guan was the kind of gambler who only bought high odds.
"Sir, because the amount exceeds the limit, the OPAP bet of 5,000 euros needs to be confirmed by the company. You can reduce the bet amount, or you can go to the VIP customer lounge over there to wait. The confirmation will not waste too much of your time." The clerk said said.
Zhang Guan frowned slightly. Regular betting companies in Europe will limit the amount of bets. For some large-amount bets, the betting company will also conduct review and confirmation. To put it simply, the betting company needs to evaluate whether to accept the business. At the same time, it also avoids malicious betting by business opponents. For example, in many novels, regular companies will not accept bets made by the protagonists of hundreds of thousands at once. Only black market transactions will be accepted.
Zhang Guan had already inquired about this situation from the Greeks in the Olympic Village, so he divided the funds into separate bets. The amount bet by each company was only two to three thousand euros. The purpose was to avoid the gambling company's review of large-amount bets. The reason why OPAP places the most bets is because OPAP is a Greek company and the amount of bets accepted in Greece is higher than other companies.
For an 80-for-1 bet, if you invest 2,000 euros, the gambling company will have to pay 160,000 euros. Zhang Guan feels that the big gambling companies in Europe will not conduct review and confirmation just for a mere 160,000 euros. And this is also true. Those bets of two to three thousand yuan were passed directly without review.
The odds given by the OPAP company for Iraq to enter the semi-finals are 100 to 1. If you bet 5,000 euros, the betting company will pay 500,000. This has reached the standard of OPAP's review and confirmation, so OPAP needs to review this bet and consider it. Decide whether to do this business.
Zhang Guan did not go to the rest room, but took out another piece of paper and handed it to the clerk again.
"If I want to buy these, I may need approval from the gambling company." Zhang Guan said.
"Okay, sir." The clerk took the piece of paper, then his eyes widened with an incredible expression on his face.
"Sir, do you want to buy Iraq's 4:2 victory over Portugal? Are you sure you didn't write the opposite number?" the clerk asked.
"It's not written backwards." Zhang Guan nodded. The clerk's reaction did not surprise Zhang Guan.
"Okay, sir." The clerk calculated. Zhang Guan's bet this time was the same as the previous one, two to three thousand euros per betting company, but the odds were much higher than the previous one.
"The total of these is 28,000 euros. Sir, I need to confirm with you again. What you want to buy is Iraq's 4:2 victory over Portugal. Are you sure you did not write down the positions of the two teams incorrectly?" the clerk asked.
"That's right, I think Iraq will win." Zhang Guan replied.
"Okay then." The clerk began to place bets for Zhang Guan.
At this time, a middle-aged man who had just finished placing bets happened to pass behind Zhang Guan. This man was wearing a khaki suit and carrying a black briefcase. He heard the conversation between Zhang Guan and the clerk and walked over immediately. .
"Sorry, man, if I heard correctly, you just bought Iraq's victory over Portugal 4:2?" the middle-aged man said.
"Yes." Zhang Guan replied.
"Oh my god, you shouldn't buy it. How could Iraq beat Portugal? I don't know the Iraqi football team. Maybe they are very strong in Asia, but when it comes to the Olympics, they will definitely be at the bottom, and Portugal, this is The favorites to win the Olympic Games." The middle-aged man stretched out his finger and counted while saying: "The Portuguese team has Costa, Almeida, Ribeiro, Bosingwa, Almotte, and Alves. These are all They are the best young men in Europe. Maybe you may not be familiar with these people, but the Portuguese team also has Cristiano Ronaldo! He is the most talented football player among young people in Europe, no, in the world. Portugal is so strong So powerful, how could Iraq defeat Portugal? And it was still 4:2, such an exaggerated score... "
This middle-aged man spoke English faster and faster, and later Zhang Guan didn't understand much at all. However, when he finally mentioned Ronaldo's name, Zhang Guan still understood him.
Zhang Guan smiled slightly and said, "I thought the odds were very high, so I bought Iraq."
"High odds? Oh God! I don't know what you think, you are just throwing money into the fire. Well, I have nothing to say except thank you for your contribution to the Greek economy ." The middle-aged man shook his head, turned and left.
At this time, the clerk also completed the betting process.
"Sir, there are many bets that need to be reviewed and confirmed by the gambling company. Because foreign companies are involved, the review and confirmation time may be slightly longer, so you may have to wait one to two hours." The clerk said.
Zhang Guan nodded. This time he reduced the amount of bets, but because the odds of bets were higher, the final return was more, so there were more gambling companies to review.
"I need to buy something else, this time for track and field events." Zhang Guan handed the third piece of paper to the clerk.
The clerk looked at the result sheet and said, "Are you going to bet on the men's 100-meter dash event in track and field, which Chinese athlete Guan-Zhang will win?"
The clerk obviously didn't know that Chinese people put their surname at the end, so he just pronounced Zhang Guan's name as "Guan-Zhang".
"Yes." Zhang Guan nodded again to confirm.
"So how much are you going to buy?" the clerk asked.
This time Zhang Guan did not write down the amount of the bet on the paper.
"Each gambling company pays 500 euros. If it is not reviewed and confirmed, then I will buy another 500 euros until all the money in my bank card is spent." Zhang Guan replied.
…
OPAP corporate headquarters.
The phone rang, the supervisor picked up the receiver, and the other party said: "Boss, there is a bet that needs to be confirmed and reviewed."
"Got it." The supervisor put down the phone, picked up the mouse and clicked on the computer a few times, and saw the information about the bet.
"Bet 5,000 euros on the Iraqi football team to enter the semi-finals! According to the odds, if Iraq really enters the semi-finals, it will cost 500,000." The manager smiled self-deprecatingly and thought to himself: "Where did this come from? A lunatic, how can Iraq enter the semi-finals! This is simply a gift of money!"
The supervisor moved the mouse and clicked lightly to confirm his agreement. Then I returned to the previous interface, only to find that there was a new bet that needed to be reviewed and confirmed.
"Hey, it's Iraq again. Iraq defeated Portugal 4:2 in the group stage! Oh my god, why are there so many lunatics today? Has the lunatic asylum closed down?"
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The second chapter has been delivered. I just took a look and it was pushed to the first page of the new book list by readers. This book has only been recommended in the Mosquito Legs category without even a cover. The number of collections is a flaw compared to other new books. , it’s streaking again this week, I’m on the home page thanks to everyone’s compliments and support, I’m really grateful! Not much else to say, there will be an update in the evening. If you still have recommendation votes, come over!
(End of chapter)