Put your money up....bet on Hurricanes

[hiflyer]

Ok...I have seen it all....

UPFRONT HURRICANE SEASON
Gamblers put bucks on big storms
South Florida, get ready to groan. Hurricane betting has become the latest trend in online gambling.
BY NIKKI WALLER
nwaller@MiamiHerald.com

While you, the ever-diligent South Floridian, stockpile hurricane supplies and prepare your shutters for this year's storm season, strange forces speculate on your misery.

Online and around the world, people are betting on the Atlantic hurricane season, wagering on how many strong storms will make landfall this year, and at what strength.

At Internet gambling sites where users plunk down $25 to bet on anything from whether J.Lo is pregnant to who will be the first human on Mars, there's a simmering market in whether a category 3, 4 or 5 hurricane will hit Florida.

Rest of the article at

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14692598.htm

[rjgator]

IT is my bet that since everyone is so prepared we will not see a storm in South Florida for ten years. (however I never win on anything I bet on)

[hurricanefreak1988]

I'm betting that the Hurricanes will win the Stanley Cup. Oh, wait... you're talking about something else.

The 2005 season certainly got people interested in hurricanes that might not have been before, and this is a prime example. I don't think this is something that should be bet on, though. Imagine if a Category 5 hits Florida this season... "Woohoo! I won a load of money off that one!" That's messed up.

[CrazyC83]

They need to ban any kind of betting on hurricanes or weather activity involving money.

[hurricanefloyd5]

i bet $5 bucks a hurricane or two will hit florida this year!!!!!!!

just kidding!!!!!!!

[Evil Jeremy]

is this even legal?

[Hybridstorm_November2001]

Seem distasteful to me.

[southerngale]

Just doesn't seem right to me either...

U.S. Hurricane Outlook Draws Betting Surge
( Air Date: 6/1/2006 )

Odds are Florida will be struck by a big hurricane during the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season-- that`s according to the multi-billion-dollar Internet betting industry.

The severity of the last two Atlantic hurricane seasons has triggered a mini-frenzy of storm-related bets online, where gamblers can make so-called "proposition wagers."

WagerWeb.com chief executive Dave Johnson says "betting is funny. If there are enough things in the news, people want to bet on them."

Christopher Costigan, from Gambling911.com, says if he believed the smart money, he would move out of his oceanfront pad in Miami Beach right now.

Costigan says if you want to win the big money you should bet on the U.S. escaping a major hurricane strike over the next six months. He adds the last time he checked, the odds were six-to-one against a Category 3 hurricane hitting the U.S.

In the past 16 years, a Category 3 storm has struck the U.S. in six of those years.

http://www.kbtv4.tv/news/default.asp?mo ... s&id=11559

[coriolis]

betting on death and destruction is immoral

[bigmike]

Can someone close this thread? After Katrina this is distasteful and downright disrespectful to some of our users

[southerngale]

Can someone close this thread? After Katrina this is distasteful and downright disrespectful to some of our users

Not just Katrina. It's distasteful to everyone affected by other hurricanes as well.

Nobody is condoning betting on them though. It seems we're in agreement that it's wrong. I don't think the thread needs to be locked...members are free to make comments or ignore it.

[Extremeweatherguy]

To me, it does not look as though people are betting on death or destruction. It looks like this is actually just betting on where a storm will go...no different really than a game like Roulette. The problem begins when they start betting on things like total damages or death tolls, but so far (I hope), these things are not happening.

[mempho]

Well, I think that most people just have fun trying to see how good they are at forecasting where the storms go and the intensity. I really don't think people are really wishing for death and destruction. A lot of people have made a lot of hurricane futures and lost a lot; including insurance companies, commodoties traders, and construction people. I guess I'm just saying there are a lot worse things that people can do. Everything in a capitalistic society has its ugly side; banks prey on the poor, ignorant, and undisciplined; insurance companies jack up the rates even though the true risk hasn't changed at all (in addition to trying to jack people out of their money by saying..."hey, this was flood damage, not a hurricane").

There was a lot of trading on the stock market with the speculation on what would happen with Katrina. I made money by purchasing America West Airlines stock after 9/11 knowing that a panic had set in and that the government would subsidize the carrier. The stock doubled within six weeks and I sold. In a way, I profited off of 9/11 but I truly wished it had never happened. I did not feel guilty about it.

I take a different view on those who lie, cheat, and steal. I would not feel good about myself if I was an insurance company refusing claims. Just my two cents and I don't really mean to stir the pot. I understand where both viewpoints come from.