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According to research, carried out by a major bookmakers, there is no such thing as the 'Luck of the Irish'.
Ladbrokes bookmakers and lovetheraces.com, racing website, studied the data accumulated over 12 months and found that the Irish are no luckier than their British counterparts.
There has long been a belief in the betting community that punters in the Emerald Isle have a knack for picking the winners but it would seem that this is not so. Ladbrokes' researchers looked at 28,123 punters on each side of the Irish Sea. They found that Brits win more than 40 percent of the time. That's 5,902 British wins versus 3,471 Irish.
However when the Irish do win they tend to win an average of 167 percent more money than the British.
"The results of the survey are staggering and have exposed as a myth one of the most widely-accepted sayings in betting history," said David Williams, from Ladbrokes.
"The Irish are certainly fearless punters but it's the Brits who seem to enjoy the luck. No doubt the Irish will look to correct the injustice at the Cheltenham Festival."
The Cheltenham Festival will take place this week.
He added "It's the biggest betting week of the year and the euros that flood over from Ireland are enough to make any bookie go weak at the knees. We've always kept our ear to the ground for whispers from the Irish but perhaps we should have a re-think."
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