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Monday news

Haven't got the motivation for a long post, so here are some brief items about what's going on in the world....

Much of my traffic comes from other bloggers - do you fancy getting a free makeover for your blog? Most of us don't have the design skills to do it, but this guy does, and he has some brilliant culinary tips as well - ZestyCook

Mark Davies, MD and one of the originals at Betfair, has a laugh about how bookie CEOs just don't get it and keep on giving Betfair free publicity at every opportunity.

The Tasmanian government have reacted to Betfair Aus's idle threats about moving interstate (or was it rumours of other govts luring them) by offering more tax breaks to sustain employment in the Apple Isle.

Leading Australian jockey Danny Nikolic could be deep in the brown stuff if the latest stewards investigation into suspicious betting activities on Betfair uncovers any concrete evidence. I'm a big fan of Nikolic, there is no Australian jockey I'd rather be on one of my horses if it was leading the race, but it is high time that a scandal in Australian racing uncovered and punished the perpetrators. No idea if Danny is involved or not, but for the good of the industry, it needs to show that it can identify crooked activity (which happened long before the arrival of Betfair, it's not a new thing) and prosecute a case against it.

The scandals in Chinese football continue as two clubs face relegation for match-fixing. This comes after recent news of players gaining national caps via bribing selectors.

Canny Irish trainer Gordon Elliot landed a 20/1 into 2/1 plunge at Punchestown last week by perfectly working around the 90 days rule. If the horse had run any sooner than the 91 days since its last start, the stewards would have called connections in to explain the sudden improvement in performance.

The UK went EastEnders crazy last week with bookies reaping the benefits of the 25yr anniversary live episode. Kudos to Bodog I believe for being the initiator of the market, which every other firm seemed to follow like sheep.

Leading Australian bookmaker Con Kafataris will be sadly missed in the Sydney betting ring, but don't cry for him not being able to make it pay anymore, he's loaded as the main shareholder of Centrebet.

Ladbrokes are following Victor Chandler into South Africa via a partnership deal with an African casino group.

and I'm getting quite frustrated with the Olympics after backing/tipping two biathletes only to have them win gold in a different event....

Comments

  1. How long until the News Ltd papers, in particular the Daily Telegraph, blame the Nikolic scandal solely on Betfair? I expect Tabcorps NSW spokesperson, Ray Thomas, to lead the charge.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Herald-Sun won't, well maybe Tabcorp mouthpiece Rod Nicholson, but the rest of them are relatively young and embrace competition and new technology. If you live NSW though, that's almost against the law!

    ReplyDelete

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