Paddy Power Takes Bets on Volcano Eruption

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power - well known for its creative novelty bets - is taking a different angle on the volcanic eruption in Iceland by offering bets on when it will stop.

The unpronounceable Eyjafjallaj'kull volcano erupted for the second time in a month on April 14, leading to widespread disruption air travel in Europe that left millions of travellers worldwide stranded and disrupted major economies.

With the eruption still continuing and no end in site, Paddy Power is challenging punters to place their bet on when it will all end, with the eruption deemed to have stopped when confirmed by the Icelandic government.

The most likely scenario is for the eruption to end before the beginning of May, at odds of 1/2. The odds then get longer as time goes on, with May 2010 paying 4/1, June 2010 paying 8/1, July 2010 paying 10/1. However, the odds of the eruption stopping at any stage in 2011 are 8/1, while the horrible scenario of 2013 or later is paying 25/1.

Bets are also being taken on the next volcano to erupt, with a choice of 22 volcanoes, including Eyjafjallaj'kull, which is 5/1 to erupt again before another volcano erupts.

Ahead of the now famous Icelandic glacier are Mt Unzen in Japan, 3/1, and Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mt Unzen's last major eruption in 1991 killed 43 people, while Nyiragongo seems a likely choice given that it and neighboring Nyamuragira are together responsible for some 40% of the volcanic eruptions in Africa over the course of history.