With 2023 just around the corner, B.C. bettors will be ringing in the New Year and heading to PlayNow.com to place their bets on which hospital — including Kelowna General Hospital — will welcome the first baby once the clock strikes midnight.
This year’s odds-on favourite comes as no surprise with B.C. Women’s Hospital (3.50) sitting as the current favourite on PlayNow.com once again, as it’s one of the busiest maternity care centres in the province. A successful $10 wager on B.C. Women’s Hospital would pay out a total of $35. Prior to 2021, the last time B.C. Women’s welcomed the year’s first bundle of joy was in 2017.
Current odds on Kelowna General Hospital are 18.00.
Other favourites include Surrey Memorial (5.00), which last delivered the first baby of the New Year in 2018, and New Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital (8.00) which held the honour in both 2019 and 2020.
The competition is rattled this year to swaddle in the glory of welcoming the first baby of 2023, including a few B.C. hospitals from outside of the Lower Mainland which could get the first visit from the stork. Other betting options include Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops (28.00), Vernon Jubilee Hospital (42.00) and Penticton Regional Hospital (50.00).
Wagering on which of 23 B.C. hospitals will welcome the first B.C. baby of 2023 will be available on PlayNow.com until 6:00 a.m. (PST) on December 31, 2022.
PlayNow.com is B.C.’s only legal, regulated online gambling website and the only whose revenue goes back to the Province of B.C. to support important societal investments like healthcare, education, and community programs.PlayNow.com prioritizes player health with robust safeguards, such as session reminders, time and weekly deposit limits. Visit PlayNow.com to learn more about these online tools and how BCLC encourages healthy play. For further information, visit GameSense.com.
*Odds listed are correct at time of posting but are subject to change at any time.