There's been a bit of wheeling and dealing gone wrong in Europe as betting outfit Paddy Power held a game letting bettors stake bids on what the price scheme for the European Sony PlayStation 3 will be following the US price drop.

Paddy Power representative Sharon McHugh said in an earlier statement "We can only apologise and maybe we should have made it clearer in the press release."

GamesIndustry.biz reveals that the firm cancelled all the bets placed on the stakes and instead are offering patrons a free novelty betting option for the same amount in place of the cancelled contest.

The cancellation is a result of Sony announcing that prices will stay as they are, at least for the time being in the market, prompting Paddy Power to do its move despite having the scenario as one of the options.

The European version of the PS3 console arrived in the European market earlier this year and carries a different set of specs from its American and Japanese counterparts. A markdown in retail cost was earlier announced in the US but no official word is out for Europe.

Famous Irish bookie Paddy Power has a little betting competition for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) community and enthusiasts while the European console launch is well underway. Before we get on the betting game itself, maybe you'd like to know that Paddy Power is banking that all of the units will be sold out just 60 seconds after retail doors open. Woohoo!

Erm, anyway, Paddy Power is offering fans the chance to win some cold hard cash and a PS3 by guessing which launch title is going to be the most popular. Sharon McHugh, a spokesperson for the company, mentioned,

Betting gets very busy around the launches of new console. The PS3 is the Aston Martin of computer consoles, so as launches go it doesn't get much bigger than this. Everyone will be rushing to get their hands on one, and to celebrate the launch we plan on giving a couple away to our punters.

To help you out with your decision, provided that you're joining this, we've posted Paddy Power's odds for some of the titles. Resistance: Fall of Man is standing tall with 6/4 while Sonic the Hedgehog is a bit lonely down below with 100/1.

• 6/4 Resistance: Fall of Man
• 15/8 MotorStorm
• 5/1 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• 8/1 Ridge Racer 7
• 10/1 Call of Duty 3
• 10/1 Formula One Championship Edition
• 12/1 Virtua Fighter 5
• 14/1 Splinter Cell: Double Agent
• 16/1 Virtua Tennis 3
• 18/1 Need for Speed Carbon
• 25/1 Def Jam: ICON
• 33/1 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007
• 33/1 Tony Hawk's Project 8
• 40/1 Mobile Suit Gundam: Target In Sight
• 40/1 F.E.A.R.
• 66/1 Marvel Ultimate Alliance
• 80/1 Fight Night Round 3
• 80/1 Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
• 100/1 Sonic the Hedgehog

Admit it, you have the feeling that business analysts make their numbers up. But nobody doubts an Irish bookie, so we'll look at Paddy Power's numbers instead. Yup, bookmaker Paddy Power (PaddyPower.com) has predictions for which games will sell well this Christmas:

• Need for Speed: Carbon 8 - 13
• FIFA 07 4 - 1
• Gears of War 10 - 1
• Eragon 10 - 1
• Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 10 - 1
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 11 - 1
• Tony Hawk Project 8 14 - 1
• Superman Returns 16 - 1
• WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2007 16 - 1
• Call of Duty 3 20 - 1
• Pro Evolution Soccer 6 20 - 1
• The Sims 2: Pets 20 - 1
• Happy Feet 22 - 1
• Guitar Hero 2 25 - 1
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories 33 - 1
• Bratz: Forever Diamonds 80 - 1
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Party Edition 250 - 1

It's another NFS year. Need for Speed: Carbon is the favourite with odds of 8/13. NFS: Most Wanted took the number one spot last year, while NFS: Underground 2 was the favorite the year before that. Then again, cross-platform games would tend to sell more titles than the single-platform games. (Does that explain why Eragon is up there - we don't know; only a few of us bought the book, and quite a number of us did not buy the game.)

Twilight Princess is up there duking it out with the Xbox 360's Gears of War. Oh. That's a tough one to call right now. If you're a gambling man, you might wanna make a bet, but we won't just yet.