It’s not just cricket and horses that excite punters. Rains, too, are an invitation to them. Bookies are accepting bets on the monsoon. This year’s betting is expected to be worth at least Rs4,000 crore.
And, the interest is not restricted to Mumbai alone. Bookies from Sharjah and Pakistan, too, are accepting most of the bets. Punters rely on the Colaba Met department’s forecast before placing bets.
A group of bookies met at a central Mumbai Hotel last week to work on the odds. The betting odds depend on quantity of monthly rainfall calibrated in millimetres. Earlier, they were measured in centimetres. Payments are made after one month; that is, bets for June are cleared in July.
Money for the entire season is cleared in October. Bookies from Jaipur, Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Jodhpur, Bhopal and Indore are also keenly watching the Mumbai monsoons. In city, film people and politicians place most of the bets.
