Quote Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick View Post
if the bookies really did think that say Southampton were more likely candidates but had taken heavy bets on cardiff to go down, I doubt they would be offering 9/2 on the saints.
On the other hand, if they thought Cardiff were likely to go down but had taken heavy bets on, say, Southampton, they couldn't keep offering tempting odds on Southampton. Bookies might gamble on their own hunches but, like you say, they need to balance their books and so, if they had a lot of money put on something, they have to shorten those odds to protect themselves. To not address that could be very costly and bookies don't like risking their own money.