Potter's field-Bookies close the 'Dore on 'Potter' bets

By ELLEN TUMPOSKY
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

LONDON - The British think it's a good bet that Dumbledore is going to die.
As a result, some of Britain's gambling chains have stopped taking bets on which character will die in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." The gaming establishments say a suspicious number of bettors wanted to wager that Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster, would be the character to meet his demise.

Author J.K. Rowling, whose latest book is to be published July 16, has already revealed that there will be a death in her sixth Potter novel.

"We pulled the plug, because we were suspicious" after getting a host of calls from Bungay, Suffolk, where the British printers of the book are located, said a spokesman for Ladbroke's bookmakers.

But the Internet betting company Blue Square is still taking bets on Dumbledore. The odds are 1-5, says spokesman Ed Pownall, meaning a successful $5 bet would return only $6.
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