Game of Thrones season 7 leak causing huge problems for bookies

So far, the script for episodes 4 and 5 have leaked

Jack Shepherd
Sunday 13 August 2017 10:58 BST
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Game of Thrones - Season 7 Episode 5 Preview

Season seven of Game of Thrones has been a fiery, dragon-filled affair, featuring reunions, death, and cliffhangers. However, the current season has also been notable for the sheer number of leaks that have reached the Internet.

Following a cyber attack on HBO, the script for the fourth episode, ‘The Spoils of War’, was uploaded onto various forums, detailing the Loot Train battle.

Then, from a separate source unrelated to the hack, the entire episode was leaked online for pirates to watch at their leisure. Days later, the fifth episode’s script, ‘Eastwatch’, was uploaded online, detailing what’s to come in the following week.

HBO hasn’t been the only one to suffer because of the leaks; bookies have had to pull down betting odds. Various gambling websites were hosting odds on who would die, who would sit atop the Iron Throne, etc.

"Last season, we put Hodor up on the Iron Throne at 5,000 to one, and took a few bets for that because we thought we'd have a laugh,” Pat Morrow, Head Oddsman at the online gambling site Bovada, told Business Insider.

“And I guess it was worth it for the pay out as well. We tried to post more serious stuff this year. But unfortunately those leaks have hampered us a little bit.”

Along with the aforementioned leaks, Morrow has also had to take comments made on various forums seriously, including one YouTuber who gave away so many details regarding the first four episodes all betting on them was suspended.

Meanwhile, Jerome Flynn has spoken about the impact the most recent episode of Game of Thrones has had on his life, saying: "Since the day the battle aired, I’ve been a little unpopular, I have to say. My postman won’t speak to me because I shot the dragon.”

Fans believe they glimpsed an eerie “shout-out” to fallen character Lady Catelyn Stark during one of the episode's key scenes while this week's emerging theories include Tyrion's heritage, a betrayal within Daenerys' council and the secret group that may help Cersei Lannister win the oncoming battle for the Iron Throne.

Game of Thrones airs in the US on HBO every Sunday where it is simulcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic at 2am. It is repeated that same evening on both Sky Atlantic and NOW TV.

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