Spoiler Alert: Game of Thrones Leaks Kill Entertainment Betting Markets

Posted on: August 15, 2017, 01:00h. 

Last updated on: August 15, 2017, 10:38h.

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Expertise: Commercial Gaming.

Game of Thrones Season 7 has suffered more leaks than Stannis Baratheon’s fleet at the Battle of the Blackwater, thanks to unknown hackers only too willing to spill the beans. If you’re just dying to know this season’s plot in advance, countless forums can provide the information you crave.

Game of Thrones leaks ruin betting markets
Last month’s cyberattack on HBO has blown the Game of Thrones Season 7 plot wide open, making predictive betting lines on “who will die next,” for example, impossible to offer. (Image: HBO)

This is, of course, agonizing for devoted “Thronies” who are desperate to avoid spoilers. But it also has been a painful blow for the bookies who have been running thriving betting markets on the show.

A cyberattack on HBO in late July led to the script of the fourth episode, “The Spoils of War” being uploaded to several internet forums.  Subsequently, the entire episode became available to view online. Several days later, the script of the fifth episode “Eastwatch,” which aired on HBO this week, appeared on the web too.

Bovada’s Death Pools

Because of the episode leakage, most bookies have pulled their imaginative wagers on the show’s more immediate twists and turns.

But you can still put your money on the “outright winner,” betting on who will sit on the Iron Throne when the bloody saga comes to an end? 

Jon Snow is the current bookies’ favorite, at 5/2, with Daenerys Targaryan breathing fire down his neck at 7/2.

But until recently you could have had a bet on fun propositions, such as “who will die next?” or “who will kill Cercei?” Bovada, which has run betting lines on the show since 2015 and used to offer special Game of Thrones “death pools,” told Business Insider this week that those days are over, at least for this season.

Betting Line Spoilers

Self-professed Thrones-nut Pat Morrow, Bovada’s chief oddsmaker, said that one YouTube Channel in particular has revealed so many accurate predictions of the first four episodes that betting lines were no longer viable.

“He’s not revealing his sources, but as a result, based on his YouTube channel, the entire season has kind of been spoiled, so it’s forced us to pull everything down for the remainder of the season,” Morrow said.

“Last season, we put Hodor up on the Iron Throne at 5,000/1, and took a few bets for that because we thought we’d have a laugh,” he added. “And I guess it was worth it for the pay out as well. We tried to post more serious stuff this year. But unfortunately those leaks have hampered us a little bit.”