Bookies Pay Big On Kate Pregnancy

Online bookmakers see a portion of their Christmas profits go up in smoke, after Buckingham Palace announces that royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton are due to have a baby in 2013.

British bookmaker William Hill announced that it will pay out a small five-figure sum to brave punters, after customers backed the prospect of a 2013 royal baby from the initial odds of Even all the way in to 1/10.

According to the bookie, which this is the second time it has paid out big on a scenario involving the British royal family. The first time was way back in 1982, when would you believe it, the punters won huge amounts of cash on the wager that Charles and Diana would call their first-born son William.

To those who missed out on the William Hill royal payday, don't despair. Hill and other online sportsbooks are offering odds on whether the baby will be a boy or a girl (10/11 for each), and what its name will be: Frances and John are the leaders at 9/1, and Charles, Victoria and George follow at 10/1.

Hill says it fully expects that the betting public will get involved in speculation about the baby, and that is why it has released odds on a number of related topics - including speculation about the child's hair color (brown, blonde, black or ginger).

Ladbrokes, another British bookmaker with a soft spot for the royals, is also offering daring naming odds, installing the name Elizabeth (after the baby's great-grandmother, the Queen), as 8/1 favorite, followed by Frances, John and Charles on 10/1.