If Ireland win, it will be our biggest payout in Eurovision history

Ireland have shot to third favourite in the betting to win the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest after a mammoth swoop by punters this afternoon.

The surge in activity caused Ryan O’Shaughnessy’s odds to tumble from an initial price of 20/1 this morning, which put Ireland in sixth position in the betting, into 10/1 by lunchtime. We are now priced at 9/1.

Given that Ireland was considered to have a 0.5% chance of winning a few weeks ago according to our number crunchers, they’ve been forced to change their tune significantly today as patriotic punters displayed a huge show of support for Ireland’s entry.

“Ireland has made a spectacular leap into third favourite in the betting to win,” spokesperson Rachael Kane revealed.

“A staggering 43% of all bets being placed on the Eurovision by Irish customers are going directly on Ryan O’Shaughnessy right now. What we are seeing is unprecedented stuff and at this rate there’s a very real possibility that he will be favourite by tomorrow night,” she added.

We face coughing up well over €1 million to Irish punters if Ryan O’Shaughnessy wins the Eurovision – making it our biggest payout in Eurovision history.

Ireland have come in for unprecedented support this week and now sit in sixth position in the betting, available at odds of 20/1 to win the competition outright.

“An Irish win would be truly historic, but for all the wrong reasons as far as we’re concerned. If Ryan O’Shaughnessy pulls it off, it will trigger the biggest payout the company has ever witnessed in terms of the Eurovision”

The Irish entry was available at odds of 200/1 with us just a few days ago, and our entry was priced at 100/1 immediately before the semi-finals to win the entire contest. Ryan exceeded all expectations by qualifying from the semi-final stages and the Dublin-based betting firm has witnessed a relentless flood of bets since then.

One Dubliner has placed a €200 each-way bet on Ireland to win at odds of 66/1, which would mean a payout of €16, 500 if it clicks. And a Cork customer placed €200 on Ryan at odds of 50/1 to win outright, which could potentially cost us €10,000.

“In short, our traders will be spending their Saturday night hiding under a desk saying a few Hail Mary’s,” she added.

THE MAIN CONTENDERS

• Cyprus – Cyprus are now the red hot favourites after a favourable second-half draw. Ten days ago they were 100/1, seven days ago 66/1 but they have been the huge movers all week in the betting and have now shot to 11/10 favourites. And if we are honest it’s hard to see past the Cypriot’s – it’s a Eurovision belter.

• Israel – Israel have been the favourites from the outset, and in January they were priced at around 7/4. However their rehearsals didn’t go so smoothly and they drifted to 5/1 in the past week. But again, a favourable second-half draw means they’ve come in for support again and are now 3/1 second favourites

• Lithuania – Another outsider that’s been up and down all week. They were considered a 150/1 shot couple of weeks ago, but Paddy Power has seen consistent support for them after strong rehearsals (bringing their price in to 8/1) but an awful draw in the finals mean they are now 22/1.

• Norway – Alexander Rybak (Previous winner) performs a super cheesy song that’s poor by all accounts. But that hasn’t put off his backers and they have been huge market movers with Paddy Power, who slashed their odds from 33/1 last week into 5/2 second favourite at one stage. But now it would appear that this act is finally getting the non-recognition it deserves and has seen a huge drift overnight, meaning it’s now available at 50/1.

• UK – The UK entry isn’t great this year and we’ve not seen much support at all for it. Our neighbours are priced as 200/1 shots, and we are quite Surie it won’t be storming anywhere near the top come Saturday night. We make UK favourite to finish last at 2/1, and it’s hard to see UK beating anything home, they have a poor draw in the first half and the UK never seem to receive much support on the televote……

• Australia – Australia who have been the biggest rollercoaster so far in terms of the betting. Paddy Power were top price at 14/1 before last week, after consistent support was shown for them throughout April. But after awful rehearsals they drifted out to 100/1. Plenty of support since following a good draw and improved vocals mean they are now priced at odds of 30/1.

WORTH MENTIONING

• We have the earplugs ready for Hungary’s heavy metal entry which is currently at 50/1. The bookies have seen some support for them after a strong semi-final performance, so wouldn’t be the biggest surprise to see them scrape a place

• Moldova is a strange one. They have gone for a comic performance including body doubles which gained some pretty strong reviews and caused their price to shorten to 12/1 at one stage. However, the entry didn’t come out of yesterday’s semi-final well and is now trading at 50/1.

Odds correct at time of posting