Hasting鈥檚 pier attracts lion鈥檚 share of bets
Bookies have slashed the odds on dRMM鈥檚 Hastings Pier winning the Stirling Prize a month before the winner is announced.
The community-driven project has been the favourite from the day the shortlist was unveiled but the odds have more than halved from 3:1 to 5:4, reflecting the public鈥檚 enthusiasm for the scheme.
More than 60% of the 130-odd bets placed so far have been on the pier.
Amin Taha鈥檚 flats at Barrett鈥檚 Grove in north London slipped from joint favourite to joint third behind 6a鈥檚 studio for photographer Juergen Teller. It shares third place with Reiach & Hall and Michael Laird鈥檚 City of Glasgow College.
Rogers Stirk Harbour鈥檚 British Museum conservation centre is being offered at 6:1 and Baynes & Mitchells鈥� Command of the Oceans trails at 7:1.
But all that could change, said Rupert Adams of William Hill, in an expected last-minute flurry of bets in the days before October 31鈥檚 Stirling ceremony at the Roundhouse.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be unduly worried if I was one of the other architects,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he simple reality is the turnover in this particular market is such that it doesn鈥檛 take that much money to change the prices. A 拢100 bet could be enough 鈥� whereas in football it would take 拢100,000 to change the prices.鈥�
The single biggest bet so far has been 拢250, placed on the pier.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 pretend to be experts in this particular area,鈥� said Adams. 鈥淚t鈥檚 three or four of us reading the critics and saying, 鈥榃hat do you think?鈥� We put the prices quite close together and then let the market see what it thinks. We thought the pier would do well and that鈥檚 been backed up with cash.鈥�
The original odds in July placed the pier and Barrett鈥檚 Grove at 3:1, City of Glasgow College at 7:2, the photography studio at 4:1 and the British Museum and Command of the Oceans at 6:1.
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