Local bettors may be hoping for a midnight baby at NRGH, in order to cash in on 26-to-1 odds. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

baby bet

Nanaimo hospital at 26-1 odds to welcome B.C.’s first baby of 2025

Dec 31, 2024 | 9:51 AM

NANAIMO — Those looking for an additional layer of excitement or intrigue this New Year can keep an eye out for where the first baby of the year is born.

The B.C. Lottery Corporation offered odds again this year for which hospital would welcome the first newborn of the year, with Nanaimo Regional General Hospital given 26-to-1 odds, meaning a $10 bet would yield a $260 payout.

Corporation spokesperson Matt Lee said B.C. Women’s Hospital has the shortest odds at 3.5-to-1, followed by Royal Columbian and Surrey Memorial at 5-to-1.

“This is probably one of our fun novelty bets we offer on PlayNow.com every year, we’ve been doing it for about five or six years now and it seems to get a lot of traction and a lot of discussion in the public sphere.”

Twenty-two hospitals were included in the wager, with a 23rd option of ‘Any other hospital’ given 6-to-1 odds.

wet-ish

'Exiting a long term drought:' slightly above average Nanaimo rainfall helping ease water concerns

5m ago

huge loss

Museum of whale skeletons, painstakingly rebuilt over years, consumed by Telegraph Cove fire

3h ago

serious incident

Police investigate fatal highway collision in Nanoose Bay

6h ago

Victoria General was 11-to-1, while Cowichan District was considered a longshot at 50-to-1.

As for what happens in the event there are two babies born at the exact same time?

“I don’t want to speak out of turn, but I do believe if there is a tie, we would pay out both hospitals or multiple hospitals as winners,” Lee said.

BCLC odds for which hospital will welcome the first baby of 2025. (BCLC)

While betting closed on the New Year’s baby at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, action is still available on the most popular names of the year.

Lee said they’ll take wagers on most popular boy’s and girl’s names, until the end of January.

“These two bets are something we offered for the first time last year…which names will be the most popular in the province. Certainly a lot of people having babies and there are names that are more popular than others.”

Olivia, Emma, Sophia and Charlotte are considered the bookie’s favourites for 2025, while Noah and Oliver are leading contenders for the boys.

The BC Government released the list of most popular baby names in 2024 on Dec. 31 with Oliver topping the list, followed by Olivia, Liam, Noah, and Theodore out of the 38,103 babies registered as born in B.C. as of Dec. 16.

— with files from Jon de Roo, 97.3 The Eagle

Subscribe to our daily news wrap. Local news delivered to your email inbox every evening. Stay up to date on everything Nanaimo and Oceanside.

info@nanaimonewsnow.com

Follow us on: Twitter (X) | Bluesky | Facebook