Chapter 46

On March 20, 2003, the US and UK coalition launched an attack on Iraq. In less than a month, they controlled most of the country. In July 2003, an interim government was established in Iraq. In December 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured, but the shadow of war still loomed over Iraq. Car bombs and suicide bombings continued, and apart from the Green Zone established by the Americans, there was no safe place in Iraq.

Under these conditions, the Iraqi football team's ability to qualify for the Athens Olympics was itself a miracle. They had endured over two decades of economic sanctions, war, a lack of equipment, funding, and training facilities, and had moved forward solely through sheer willpower.

Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) always claimed that the Olympics were not political, the political significance of Iraq's participation in the Olympics was indeed greater than the participants or the competition itself. Therefore, the IOC gave Iraq a green light to participate in the Olympics, welcoming the Iraqi delegation that had just regained its Olympic status.

The story of the Iraqi football team was touching, and the Iraqi athletes were worthy of respect. However, touching and respect do not bring money. European bookmakers firmly believed that the Iraqi team, which had just experienced war, was the weakest in the football competition of this Olympics, and the odds they offered for the Iraqi team were the highest.

"The odds for Iraq to reach the semi-finals are 50 to 1 with Ladbrokes, 60 to 1 with William Hill, 80 to 1 with Bet365... These odds are really good. If you bet, you'll make a profit." Zhang Guan noted down the relevant odds and then opened the odds for the first group match of the Iraqi team.

"The first match of the Iraqi football team is against Portugal. Let me see, the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of Portugal's victory! As for the score... What high odds! 100 to 1, 180 to 1, 220 to 1, and even 500 to 1!"

Zhang Guan was looking at the odds for Iraq's 4-2 victory over Portugal. The odds offered by various companies were undoubtedly the highest, with some even offering 500 to 1.

"Profit, this time I'm really going to get rich!" Zhang Guan thought to himself.

Zhang Guan knew that in this Olympics, the Iraqi team was the biggest underdog. They not only advanced from the group stage but also reached the semi-finals. In their first match against Portugal, Iraq won 4-2.

...

Zhang Guan wrote down the project numbers, details, and the amount he intended to bet on a piece of paper and walked to one of the betting counters.

Seeing an East Asian face, the counter clerk knew it was a foreign tourist and asked in English, "Sir, what service do you need?"

"I want to place these bets." Zhang Guan handed the paper to the clerk.

Zhang Guan's mother was a high school English teacher, so his English was not bad compared to other high school students of his age. Most Chinese people learned "mute English," and Zhang Guan's English was only good enough for daily life. However, foreigners listening to Chinese people speak English and Chinese people listening to foreigners speak Chinese were similar; even with grammatical errors, word choice errors, poor pronunciation, and lack of fluency, the general meaning could still be understood.

The clerk took the paper and confirmed, "You want to bet on Iraq reaching the semi-finals in football?"

"Yes!" Zhang Guan replied.

"5000 euros with OPAP, 2000 euros with Ladbrokes, 2000 euros with William Hill, and 2000 euros with Bet365..." The clerk confirmed all of Zhang Guan's bets and said, "So the total amount for all bets is 30,000 euros. Do you confirm?"

The clerk wrote down 30,000 on the paper, fearing that Zhang Guan might not understand, so he used written numbers to express it.

"Yes." Zhang Guan confirmed.

A single bet of 30,000 euros was a significant amount, even for European tourists. The clerk did not expect an Asian tourist to be so wealthy. More importantly, Zhang Guan was betting on Iraq reaching the semi-finals, with extremely high odds. The clerk naturally assumed that Zhang Guan was the type of gambler who only bets on high odds.

"Sir, due to the amount exceeding the limit, the 5000 euro bet with OPAP requires company confirmation. You can reduce the bet amount or wait in the VIP customer lounge. The confirmation will not take too much of your time," the clerk said.

Zhang Guan frowned slightly. European legitimate bookmakers all had limits on bet amounts, and large bets required review and confirmation. In simple terms, the bookmakers needed to assess whether to accept the bet and also to prevent malicious betting from competitors. Many novels feature protagonists placing bets of hundreds of thousands, but legitimate companies would not accept such bets; only the black market would.

Zhang Guan had already inquired about this from the Greeks in the Olympic Village, so he divided his funds and placed bets of only two to three thousand euros with each company to avoid large bet reviews. He bet the most with OPAP because it was a Greek company and accepted higher bet amounts within Greece.

A bet with 80 to 1 odds, with a 2000 euro investment, would require the bookmaker to pay out 160,000 euros. Zhang Guan believed that the large European bookmakers would not review a bet of just 160,000 euros. Indeed, the bets of two to three thousand euros were all approved without review.

OPAP offered 100 to 1 odds for Iraq to reach the semi-finals. A 5000 euro bet would require the bookmaker to pay out 500,000 euros, which reached OPAP's review threshold. Therefore, OPAP needed to review this bet to decide whether to accept it.

Zhang Guan did not go to the lounge but took out another piece of paper and handed it to the clerk.

"I also want to place these bets, which may also require review by the bookmakers," Zhang Guan said.

"Sure, sir." The clerk took the paper and then widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

"Sir, you want to bet on Iraq winning 4-2 against Portugal? Are you sure you didn't write the teams in reverse?" the clerk asked.

"No, I didn't write them in reverse," Zhang Guan nodded. The clerk's reaction did not surprise him.

"Okay, sir." The clerk calculated, and this time, Zhang Guan's bets were the same as the previous one, with two to three thousand euros per bookmaker, but the odds were much higher.

"These add up to 28,000 euros. Sir, I need to confirm again. You want to bet on Iraq winning 4-2 against Portugal. Are you sure you didn't write the teams in reverse?" the clerk asked.

"No, I'm sure. I believe Iraq will win," Zhang Guan replied.

"Alright." The clerk began processing the bet.

At this moment, a middle-aged man who had just finished betting passed by Zhang Guan. He was wearing a khaki suit and carrying a black briefcase. Hearing Zhang Guan's conversation with the clerk, he immediately approached.

"Sorry, mate, if I heard correctly, you just bet on Iraq winning 4-2 against Portugal?" the middle-aged man said.

"Yes," Zhang Guan replied.

"Oh, my God, you shouldn't have done that. How can Iraq possibly beat Portugal? I don't know much about the Iraqi team, but they are likely to be the weakest in the Olympics. Portugal, on the other hand, is one of the favorites to win the tournament," the middle-aged man said, counting on his fingers. "The Portuguese team has Costa, Almeida, Ribeiro, Bosingwa, Almout, and Alves, all top young talents in Europe. Perhaps you don't know them, but the Portuguese team also has Cristiano Ronaldo! He is the most talented young footballer in Europe, no, in the world. With such a strong team, how can Iraq possibly beat Portugal, and by a score of 4-2, which is an exaggerated result..."

The middle-aged man's English became faster, and Zhang Guan could hardly understand him, but he did catch the name "Cristiano Ronaldo."

Zhang Guan smiled and said, "I bet on Iraq because the odds are very high."

"High odds? Oh, God! I don't know what you're thinking. You're just throwing money into the fire. Well, I have nothing more to say, except to thank you for contributing to the Greek economy." The middle-aged man shook his head and walked away.

At this moment, the clerk had finished processing the bet.

"Sir, multiple bets require review and confirmation by the bookmakers. Since they involve foreign companies, the review process may take longer, so you might have to wait one to two hours," the clerk said.

Zhang Guan nodded. This time, he reduced the bet amount, but because the odds were higher, the potential returns were greater, so more bookmakers needed to review the bets.

"I still need to place some other bets, this time on athletics." Zhang Guan handed the third piece of paper to the clerk.

The clerk took the paper, read it, and said, "You want to bet on the men's 100-meter sprint, with the Chinese athlete Guan-Zhang winning the gold medal?"

The clerk clearly did not know that Chinese people put their surnames first, so he read Zhang Guan's name as "Guan-Zhang."

"Yes," Zhang Guan nodded again.

"How much do you want to bet?" the clerk asked.

This time, Zhang Guan did not write the bet amount on the paper.

"500 euros with each bookmaker. If it's not confirmed, I'll keep betting 500 euros until I run out of money in my bank account," Zhang Guan replied.

...

At the OPAP headquarters.

The phone rang, and the manager picked it up. The caller said, "Boss, there's a bet that needs confirmation."

"Understood." The manager hung up, picked up the mouse, and clicked a few times on the computer to see the bet information.

"5000 euros on Iraq reaching the semi-finals! If Iraq really reaches the semi-finals, we'll have to pay out 500,000 euros." The manager chuckled to himself, thinking, "What lunatic is this? How can Iraq possibly reach the semi-finals! This is just a way to throw money away!"

The manager moved the mouse and lightly clicked to confirm. Returning to the previous interface, he saw another bet that needed review.

"Huh, Iraq again. Iraq winning 4-2 against Portugal in the group stage! Goodness, how many lunatics are there today? Did the lunatic asylum close?"

---

Chapter 2 is here. I just checked, and it seems that the book has been pushed to the front page of the new book list by the readers. This book has only received a minor recommendation without a cover, and the number of collections is a hard injury compared to other new books. This week, it's running naked, and being on the front page is all thanks to everyone's support. Thank you very much! I won't say much more, but I'll add an extra update tonight. If you still have recommendation tickets, please use them!

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