[Hoshtaylor]

sorry...but I had to post this...LOL...!!!!!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ope_betting_dc


Punters Bet on Old, European, Conservative Pope

1 hour, 2 minutes ago World - Reuters


By Paul Hoskins

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Gamblers are betting on two elderly cardinals from France and Germany to be the next pope, according to Irish bookmaker Paddy Power.


Reuters Photo


AP Graphics
Slideshow: Possible Papal Candidates




Odds on Germany's Joseph Ratzinger, who prior to Pope John Paul's death was the number four choice, have shortened to 4-1 and France's Jean-Marie Lustiger has come from nowhere to join him at the top of the list.


"Lustiger was at 20-1 two weeks ago but they've started betting for him in just the last three or four days," a spokesman at Paddy Power said.


He said a bet of 1,500 euros ($1,931) on Lustiger at 10-1 was one of the biggest so far. To date, the company has taken 7,000 bets worth a total of 150,000 euros on the next pontiff.


Lustiger, like Ratzinger a favorite of the late pope and sharing his conservative views, is the Archbishop Emeritus of Paris and the only Jewish born Catholic prelate of modern times.


A flurry of bets on Thursday helped boost Ratzinger, who turns 78 this week, after Italian media reported he had initial support of 40 to 50 cardinals and a church official told Reuters on Wednesday that support for him looked strong.


POLITICAL MANEUVERING


The conclave to elect a pope, where early favorites often lose out in later rounds, begins on Monday with a two-thirds majority -- 77 out if 115 voting cardinals -- needed to win.


Feedback on Paddy Power's Web Site showed those having a flutter expect the next pope to be older, ensuring a shorter papacy that could allow a current cardinal to succeed him.


"People think there's a bit of political maneuvering going on among some cardinals in order to give themselves a fighting chance next time round," the Paddy Power spokesman said.


Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, 78, is the ailing former archbishop of Milan who is said to be winning symbolic support from moderates. He is the third choice at 9-2 followed by the Brazilian archbishop of Sao Paulo, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, 70.


Among the relative youngsters to lose ground, Martini's successor as archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, 71, has sunk from poll position on April 3 to number six while Nigeria's Cardinal France Arinze, 72, dropped from two to five.


Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, at 62 one of the youngest men voting for the pope, has also fallen from grace among punters slipping from third to eighth at 14-1.


That puts him level with the relatively unknown Chilean archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, 71, whose odds shortened from 50-1 after a good few bets.


($1=.7767 Euro)

[Tommy]

Punting on the Pope, now thats funny , thanks for the article Josh.

[naught33]

haha, yeah i had heard of that, one of my buddies did a prop bet that the new pope would be over 70, hehe