Big Brother 9 Betting: Task Review

Big Brother 11 / Mike Norman / 16 June 2008 / 1 Comments

This week, Alexandra was central to the Big Brother house's descent into rage, says Mike Norman

It's no holds barred for the girl from Croydon, who is now the rank outsider to win Big Brother 9 after embarking on a one bitch war against her fellow housemates. Few have been spared the wrath of Alex, but her feeble efforts in the tasks will have had some bearing on her current trading price of [220.0]. Steph, Rachel, Rebecca and Mohamed had all previously been reduced to "losers" before the 'buzz' task had commenced, but it was Alex herself who became a loser after deciding not to continue because she had reached the 'threshold' of her pain.

Rex was excellent in his condemnation of Alex: "A strong woman like you can't take a little shot" he fumed, only to receive a now familiar tirade of abuse from the girl who calls a group meeting only to get aggressive when someone else speaks.

Rex is correct of course. Failing a task is one thing, but failing a task that would have won you a luxury food budget is like missing a penalty in a World Cup final - everyone will tell you it's fine, but inside they want to lynch you. Alex wasn't the sole reason the task failed, but she will be perceived by the public as someone that cuts little ice when the chips are down - but let's not get started on chips.

With the normal eviction process set to start this week (housemates nominating, the most nominees facing a public vote), Alex will have to do more sucking up than an elephant's trunk if she is to gain some popularity. Her current odds of [1.94] in the '2nd Eviction' market look fair to me, while the two people who really committed the cardinal sin of failing the food task, Rachel and Dennis, can be backed at [13.5] and [75] respectively in the same market. The boy Rex did ok last week, and taking over cooking duties will ensure he stays for a while yet - he can be backed at [16.5] to win outright or at [6] to be the top male.

And so to Saturday's music task.... and that's right.... it started with a row! This time it was Mario, and his new found invincibility, in a dispute with Darnell over who got what instrument. Mario needn't worry, after claiming to have a huge network of friends throughout the world, "fan clubs and everything", he will have the chance to play any instrument of his choice sooner rather than later. You can get matched at [3.5] about Mario being the next to be evicted - a decent bet perhaps?

The task was somehow deemed to be a success despite the housemates' rendition of 'When The Saints Go Marching In' resembling a scene from a prison riot. Darnell conducted, Dennis sang hideously, and Luke banged together what appeared to be a pair of flip flops!

Luke seems to have bonded with each and every housemate and doesn't appear to have any enemies within the house. He is having fun, making people smile, and seems to be enjoying the tasks. All this will stand him in good stead when it's comes to nominations and his stay in the house is guaranteed for a good few weeks yet. He is currently the second favourite to win Big Brother at odds of [5.9], favourite in the 'Top Male' market at [2.58], and strongly fancied to finish in the 'Top 4' at [1.94] - check out all these markets for a full range of odds on all the housemates.

Sunday saw the 15 remaining housemates fail a crisp licking task with once again Alex showing her reluctance to give 100%. Regularly losing out on luxury tokens while having to eat basic rations means the 'poo poo' (as Kathreya would say) is going to hit the fan sooner rather than later.

Kathreya is delighting everyone, both in and out of the house, and is a worthy favourite to win outright at [3.85], ahead of Luke ([5.9]) and Michael ([8.2]). Michael is the guy who says he can only eat a sandwich if the bread is separate to the filling - it's comedy moments like this that will see him go a long way in the show. He is available to back at [2.08] to finish in the top four but I'm more interested in backing him at [4.1] to be the top male.

Elsewhere Dale and Jennifer are bonding very well and could become an item very soon. This spells danger however as the public love to separate couples, which is probably the reason why they are available to back at [18.5] and [32] respectively. Dull Dale surely can't survive on looks alone for long - I'd say a drunken romp in the pool and then deny all knowledge of it will do the trick.

Comments (1)

1. Glyn | 18 June 2008

   Who will be evicted do you think? It was pretty certain that alex and mario would be nominated but could alex be saved so that she can cause more trouble?