The Olympics are full of uncertain events, from shaky opening ceremonies to medal-winning teenagers. For the participants and organizers, it’s stressful to be sure. But that’s all the better for London’s betting houses, which — along with legal and illegal online gambling sites everywhere — are willing to offer odds on just about anything.

The most eye-catching bets, of course, are also the strangest. You could put down money on a specific athlete being photographed with a Big Mac, the Olympic Village running out of condoms or mayor Boris Johnson lighting his hair on fire with the Olympic torch. With the folks at William Hill, you could even score big by betting that a flying saucer would appear over Olympic Stadium. The odds on that one? A tempting 1,000-to-1. But for many authorities in Britain and elsewhere, the story is far from fun and games.