Can Dundee Upset Bookies and Please Punters: Latest Scottish Premiership Betting Odds

Newly promoted to Scottish Premiership, Dundee could provide huge payouts for punters and headaches for bookies.

The Scottish Premiership kicks off this weekend, one week ahead of the British Premier League, and football fans and punters under British gambling laws can’t wait until the first matches. Celtic were the crowned champions last year taking their total tally to 45 wins only 9 victories behind Rangers who are yet to return to the top division following financial problems.

However, Celtic failed to qualify for the European competitions for the upcoming season, suffering a 1-6 defeat on aggregate from Legia Warsaw. Now all the attention of the champions will be turned to the domestic league and cups.

Another prospect team to watch and bet on at online sportsbooks in the United Kingdom this season is Dundee. Before the start of the new season Dundee have already emerged as one of the betting sensations at land-based and online bookies. This will be the first season Dundee are back to the top flight.

Dundee are not to be confused with Dundee United, another team from the same city, which has been playing in the Scottish top football flight for quite some time now and placed fourth last season. Both teams have won the Premiership ones and are very much looking to add another win to their tally.

Betting on Dundee

Scottish Premiership kicks off this weekend and Dundee is the team to watch out for

• Newly promoted Dundee could be a nightmare for the bookies should they produce good results

• Betting on the Scottish Premiership is a popular pastime under British gambling laws

• Celtic are the current champions winning their 45th title last season

In case Paul Hertley’s boys live up to at least half of their fans’ expectations, they could really make the bookmakers suffer, providing nice payouts for those who bet on sports in the United Kingdom. Dundee are currently one of the bottom teams to win the season with amazing 500/1 odds. Compared to 66/1 odds for Motherwell, a line of 40/1 for Aberdeen, and 1/66 for champions Celtic, betting on Dundee to win can really bring a handsome payout.

However, outright Premiership winner bet is not the only form of wagering, which could be attractive to punters. Besides the individual matches, there are also markets as top six placement, which will also be a great achievement for a newly promoted team.

According to one of the local bookies, Paul Petrie, it’s a good thing that there are now two clubs in the Premiership from one city. He said: “Dundee and Aberdeen fans seem to be the ones who are most optimistic about how their teams are going to do this season.”

Paul went on to add: “We’ve had a lot of bets on Dundee to make the top six and we’ve cut their odds from 4/1 to 3/1. When you see United are 1/9 for the top six, that’s still a decent price — but it is very unusual to have the number of bets we’ve had on the team that’s coming up to do so well.”

The bookmaker warns about the fans: “If the fans are right, we are looking at a five-figure hit just for us — and, across the industry, it will be considerably higher because it’s a popular bet. We’ve even had bets from Dundee fans, who believe they can finish above United (5/1) — that’s great to see because it creates interest in the city. It’s all very different from when Dundee came up two years ago because the only bet we had then was to finish bottom. It was a popular bet as well and, in the end, we had to cut the odds.”

The dangers for the bookies

Most of the industry experts agree that having two teams from one city in the small league as Scottish Premiership could be very costly for the bookies, provided both of them finish in the top half. But the overall interest from fans will certainly drive demand for betting up, providing a nice payday for the bookies.

Paul continues: “It’s fantastic they are both in the Premiership and Dundee versus Dundee United will be the biggest game in the league this season. For us that means increased interest and more fans betting on it. That’s a good thing.”

Busy betting days

Paul Petrie went on to speak about the pre-season betting patterns: “We are very busy when the season is about to start but we take bets on finishing places right up until the last game, or when the market is settled. Usually a few weeks into the season and around Christmas, once form has settled, there’s another influx and, if United are doing well, we’ll be doing business on them.”

When speaking about the punters themselves, the local bookmaker praised the newest generation of bettors saying: “We’ve been internet bookies for five years and in that time I’ve seen a difference in punters. They know their stuff and, with so much information at their fingertips because of the internet, they put on some clever bets. Of course, it’s still hard to win — you see that when you fill out your coupon on a Saturday. If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be bookies.”