Booker prize betting suspended after 'inexplicable' run on Tom McCarthy

Ladbrokes yesterday suspended betting on the Man Booker prize after a flurry of bets supporting Tom McCarthy's novel C.

The bookmaker's spokesperson David Williams said £15,000-worth of bets were placed on C on Wednesday morning, completely outstripping all earlier betting on the prize, which had previously totalled just £10,000 since the announcement of the longlist in July.

C explores the life of Serge Carrefax, a man obsessed by the burgeoning technologies of the early 20th century. It joins novels from Emma Donoghue, Damon Galgut, Andrea Levy, Peter Carey and Howard Jacobson on the shortlist.

"This year there wasn't really a standout name among the six shortlisted candidates, no Rushdie or Banville, so you'd expect to see a good spread of business, with a few people having a £10 bet on him or her," Williams said. "That's what we saw up until yesterday. But on Wednesday morning five of the candidates were absolutely friendless and every single bet started striking on one man. It wouldn't be so surprising if there were a Rushdie in the race, but with respect, in this case it was borderline inexplicable and we decided to pull the plug."

When Ladbrokes suspended betting, McCarthy's novel was at "prohibitive" odds of 4-6, but punters were still trying to place bets, Williams said. Donoghue's Room was Ladbroke's second favourite at 5-1, with Galgut's In a Strange Room in third place at 7-1.

William Hill was still betting on the Man Booker this morning, with McCarthy's novel the favourite at even shorter odds of 10-11. Media spokesperson Graham Sharpe said he was "not saying we didn't" see the same late surge on C, but was taking a more phlegmatic approach. "I didn't see anything suspicious enough to make me close the betting," he said.

"I'm confident the judges don't meet till next week, and unless three of the judges had leaked their preferences to the same person, I don't see how anyone could predict the result of their meeting." Sharpe suggested the betting surge might be a publicity ploy. "Any shrewd observer of the betting scene would know you can manipulate the market for a relatively modest amount," he said, adding that "in a good year" a six-figure sum would be gambled on the Man Booker.

But Chloe Johnson-Hill, publicist for McCarthy's publisher Jonathan Cape, said that the betting surge had not come from them. "Jonathan Cape are delighted by the faith the betting public have been showing in Tom McCarthy's brilliant novel C," she added.

William Hill has Galgut in second place at 5-2 and Donoghue in third at 3-1. The winner of the prize will be announced on 12 October.