Sport is made for betting

Here's a heart-warming story from Australian racing - a bunch of pompous prats who want to see the continual decline of racing into a sport of a bygone era have formed an 'alliance' to keep racing in an era where punters wore flares and wide-collared shirts, or worse, safari suits (which until recently, was a requirement during summer at some metropolitan racing clubs). Alliance Lobbies Commission for a Better Deal Wednesday, 23 December 2009: A newly formed body of prominent racing industry participants is calling on the Federal Productivity Commission to support the campaign for racing to receive a better deal from wagering operators. The newly formed National Horse Racing Alliance, representing a large number of owners, trainers, breeders, agents and organisations, has made detailed submissions to the Productivity Commission inquiry into gambling in a bid to secure better returns to the racing industry from corporate bookmakers, parimutual operators and betting exchanges...

If you're going on holidays or booking flights well in advance but worried about whether that airline will still be there months later, then this might be for you... Paddy Power have reopened their next airline to go bankrupt market. I don't see an issue with this, it's the reality of the modern world, and those who criticise it are generally those under the most pressure anyway (see article re Flyglobespan). Of course there's the remote chance of an airline crash causing a bankruptcy, but that's pretty unrealistic, and very unlikely the small stakes you would be allowed to bet on this market would be big enough incentive to do evil... Don't denounce Paddy's powers of deduction Paddy Power looks set to ruffle a few feathers once again, after re-opening its book on which airline will be the next to go bust. The topic was very popular in the wake of the collapse of XL Leisure, the travel company, last year, and the demise of Flyglobespan, the Scottish airline,...

No, it's not Robert Nason, the former CEO of Racing Victoria, who has recently resigned from Tabcorp and moved onto Telstra, oft nominated for the most stubborn company in Australia, it's Dr Friedhelm Repnik claiming that match-fixing would never occur if German citizens were only allowed to bet via his company. Challenge to Baden-Württemberg Monopoly Rejected The Chief Executive of Germany’s Baden-Württemberg Lotto company, Dr. Friedhelm Repnik, has called on the government to close illegal betting shops and step up the fight against European online betting providers, suggesting that the recent match-fixing scandal in German football is the result of such ‘uncontrolled’ betting. Repnik’s comments followed a ruling last week by the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg, in an appeal against a cease and desist order issued against private betting shops which allegedly brokered sports bets for betting companies licensed in Gibraltar and Malta. It's not the European-licen...

Serena Williams says her record fine for her death threat to the lineswoman at the US Open is a sexist vendetta against her. Her argument is based on the "significantly lesser" punishments for John McEnroe (Aus Open, 1990) and Jeff Tarango (Wimbledon, 1995). McEnroe swore at the chair umpire and tournament referee, and was defaulted - the first time that had happened at a Grand Slam in the professional era. He was heavily fined as well, by 1990 standards. Was there a death threat to any official? No. Tarango had an argument with the umpire, called him corrupt, walked off, and later, his batty wife slapped the chair umpire. He was suspended from Wimbledon and another Grand Slam event, plus a US$63k fine. Was there a death threat involved? No. Williams has been fined US$82500 provided she behaves herself at the Grand Slams for two years. Given inflation, that is much less than Tarango's fine! Relative to the prizemoney available on tour then and now, the full fine of $175k ...

At least I think it's the first... No news on the licensing terms, but since they have existing bookmakers, mostly operating on racing, you'd expect the tax rates and regulations are reasonable. Victor Chandler Granted Licence Approval in South Africa Ahead of plans to launch a full range of sports betting services in time for the World Cup next year, Gibraltar-based bookmaker Victor Chandler has announced that its application for a license to operate in South Africa has been approved by the Western Cape Gambling and Betting Board. They won't be the last, numerous other firms including Betfair have been lobbying hard in South Africa for some time.

I reckon every divorce lawyer in the US is getting excited at the moment. Yes, he's been a bad boy but I think a lot of it is down to him missing out on the prime of his social life because of his utter devotion to golf. When you haven't had a chance to 'sow the seeds', especially when you have everything going for you, that itch is always going to be there.... So worst case scenario, he loses half a billion dollars in a divorce settlement. Don't cry too much for him, he'd still have more money left than 99% of sportspeople combined....

Sounds a bit like the UK example I think - the Tasmanian government thought it was time to raise some money by selling off their totalisator cash cow for a large sum. But who ever they used to provide the valuation had also been on the sauce the night before. Consolidated net profit of AU$9.8m in the 2008 financial year, yet the value was supposed to be at least AU$250m, in the poorest state of Australia. Half of that would be more realistic. No takers! Tote Tasmania sale fails No sale 'right move' on Tote Tasmania The second article drops last year's profit to just AU$6.5m, so it might struggle to even reach $100mill.

No surprises here. A Mafia boss sent to jail went back to his old ways when he got out. Nothing too newsworthy there, but the facts of article leave a bit to be desired... Italian police broke up major mafia clan Italian police have broken up a major mafia clan, issuing 83 arrest warrants and seizing businesses, land, race horses and a London-based online betting company, officials said Tuesday. ..... The assets seized included the sporting goods empire "Sport&More" as well as the London-based Paradise Bet, described by police as one of the most important British online betting sites. It would be a mighty long list if Paradise Bet were to ever have featured on a list of important British betting sites, and ignoring that rather large extension of the truth, the company hasn't existed for several years! ParadiseBet ceased operations in 2006 and became the much-disliked Bet1128. If they were referring to 1128, who are believed to be Italian-owned, they are a Maltese min...