Oh Brother! Day 51
ANOTHER week, another eviction and yet another dead rubber. As Nicky will doubtless receive her marching orders on Friday, the big picture in this year's Big Brother house will change little. A chance for our resident odds-meister Rob The Bet to address that age-old gambling dilemma: Do you go with your head or your heart?...
I miss BB6. Not for the housemates, nor the tasks, nor particularly for the dramas. No, I miss it for the fact that every week set up an eviction night which could and most often did throw up big surprises.
Week after week, as nominations were announced, the bookies went one way, then around Thursday night/Friday morning, there'd be what they call in the trade a 'flip flop'.
Suddenly the odds-on chance to get the boot would start to drift, bookies would panic, and odds would fluctuate with more random whimsy than a coop of headless chickens.
Those were the days! Evictions were ridiculously hard to call and BB veterans revelled in the air of opportunity which surrounded Friday nights.
It couldn’t be more different this time round.
This season, each and every eviction has been sewn up around 30 minutes after the noms have been announced. Once again, in Nicky v Gerry, we have a turkey shoot! Nicky will probably be 1/200 by Friday, she'll pack her bags and head back home to Grumpsville and the good ship BB will cruise on for yet another week without a major sting in its tail.
Remember in BB3 when Spencer was evicted when up against wee-in-the-shower hating Alex? No one saw that coming. At the start of the week Spence was 66/1 to go. I remember because I'd backed him (heavily!) to win the whole thing. Ouch! The memory still hearts. Questions were asked in Parliament, such was the nation’s shock. Yep, those were the days.
So with no movers or shakers in the major markets (Brian’s still around even-money favourite, Liam’s at 4s, 11/1 bar, yadda yadda), I thought I'd take the opportunity to share with you my personal faves of BBs past, the odds I backed them at, and how they ultimately fared.
Unlike my usual suggestions to you, these were all housemates I liked the most, irrespective of whether I thought they'd win and not based at all on how I thought they'd fare in the eyes of the great putting public. I do it every series. One heart-before-head bet. Usually a tenner, early to mid series, made on a purely personal gut reaction based on the question, “Who could I share an enjoyable cuppa with?”:
BB1 Anna backed at 6/1 finished 2nd to Craig
BB2 Brian backed at 4/1 finished 1st
BB3 Spencer backed at 7/2 4th evictee
BB4 Scott backed at 9/2 finished 3rd to Cameron
BB5 none of them! (kinda liked Shell but couldn't bring myself to back her!)
BB6 Eugene backed at 20/1 finished 2nd to Anthony
BB7 Pete backed at 8/1 finished 1st
Well there you have it! Two out of seven ain’t exactly gonna win me honours at the Pundits Ball, but these were all on a whim, so there! And this year?? I'll tell you at the wrap party!
My prediction for next week is that the game's up for Mr Try-Too-Hard. Taxi for the Zigmeister!
Rob's Bet Of Next Week: Ziggy to be evicted @ anything over 3/1!