Sport is made for betting

I toyed with doing something like this a few years ago but never took it any further. It was always going to need the backing of a financial group to get it off the ground. Regulated sports betting fund unveiled Investors seeking uncorrelated, “economy-proof” returns are being offered a new asset class – trading on sports betting exchanges. The Galileo Fund, which will be launched this week by London-based Centaur Corporate, claims to be the world’s first regulated such vehicle. It will trade in sports such as football, racing and tennis on Betfair and other online exchanges that facilitate so-called in-running betting, hosting markets on events already in progress. Good luck to them, I'd much prefer to invest my money in a fund like that, than one susceptible to major crashes in the economy. ADDENDUM But are they the right company to launch such a fund? I believe this is the same firm that dabbles in teaching people to trade. Having done that for a few years with Betfair, that...

Greek lottery giant Intralot have signed a deal to operate lottery and sports betting in Morocco via two state-owned companies. Intralot to run lotteries and sports betting in Morocco Greece’s Intralot said Monday that following an international procurement process, it has signed a five-year contract to undertake the technical and commercial operation of the two state-owned Moroccan lotteries, Societe de Gestion de la Loterie Nationale and La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports. ... The Societe de Gestion de la Loterie Nationale operates national lottery games in Morocco with a core focus on draw and instant games, while La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports holds the concession to organise sports betting games in the country. Last year gross sales reached approximately €50 million and €70 million respectively for the two lotteries. That sounds like a very good deal for Intralot. Morocco has betting shops all over the country, mostly focused on French racing when I was there several years a...

Too many tidbits, not enough time for full-length articles... The mystery in the Betfair/Danny Nikolic/Neville Clements inquiry in Australian racing gets deepers with professional punter Neville Clements being warned off all Australian racecourses indefinitely , no doubt as a refusal to share phone records which will incriminate him. There is plenty more to come in this story. Let's hope if a conviction is warranted, then it is reached, unlike the farcical scenes of the Fallon case in the UK a few years back. It's March, so Italian football is looking dodgy again. On the weekend we had the Chievo-Cagliari boat race which went as planned, but last night a Serie B match was taken off the board by all and sundry but then didn't go as planned. All the money was for a draw between Vicenza and Crotone, but the away team won 2-0, even with 10 men! Did the authorities tell them they were being watched very closely, or was it the case of a few punters trying to spoof the market and ...

It's nothing new but it's amazing how these things get swept under the carpet because "it's the Italian way". Peter Webb pointed out on his blog today, the Chievo vs Catania result was known before the match began. The majority of bookmakers took the match off the board, and those who did keep it up, had the draw odds-on which is ridiculous. The 1-1 draw traded as low as evens pre-match on Betfair, when it should usually trade around 7. The Italian culture is that friends should always help each other, and that there's no point in one party beating the other when they have nothing to gain from it. That's admirable with your mates, but it has no place in professional sport. If the sporting authorities had any balls at all, they would come down on it like a house of bricks. We're talking about a first-world country with a third-world set of ethics. Take a look at the two teams. Chievo were almost certainly clear of relegation, Catania could do with a fe...

Ok, there are now only 90mins until the first race of this year's Festival. The roar from the crowd when the Supreme Novices' Hurdle starts the four-day festival is one of racing's great thrills. Have I got any winners lined up? Not a clue. Can't remember ever not copping a battering during Cheltenham, so I'll take it fairly easy I think.... but that's easier said than done and I'm sure I've said that before. It's the old saying, bet within your means, and make sure it's still fun. You're allowed to enjoy the moment rather than take it completely seriously once in a while. Whatever you do this week, good luck and make sure you shop around for the best prices and offers!

Doubt this will agree with too many directives from the EU, but they are going to do it anyway. I wonder how this will affect BetRadar and Bet Genius, two of the online bookmaker's essential right-hand-man services, which have some of their technical teams based in Tallinn..... Estonian online gaming blacklist ISP blocks start Monday Internet Service Providers in Estonia have begun to implement measures to block citizens' access to illegal online gambling sites following the release of the first blacklist by the country's Tax and Customs Administration. Included in the preliminary list seen by Gaming Intelligence are 175 international sites, including some of the best known brands in the market. There could be chaos amongst bookies on Monday if some of them have to go back to doing the work themselves!!

Yesterday it was Racing NSW expecting punters to allow them to install monitoring software on their laptops if they take them on-course to trade. Today it's British racing's representatives on the Levy Board asking bookmakers to pay up to 76% more to cover racing. Betting companies should be paying for the right to field on British racing, I do not dispute that, but let's be practical about it. The biggest names in the industry are doing all they can to avoid tax and levy, so the industry decides to ask for nearly double the current amount? They have rocks in their heads. Sure you need to start with a big 'offer' as a starting point for negotiation, but it's rather obvious there is no wish for negotiation here, just a demand. Racing betting turnover, as a percentage of business for bookmakers is going one way - DOWN. Betting companies (if I say bookmakers out of habit, I do mean for the term to cover exchanges, totes and bookies) are making bigger profits, but o...

Two high-quality former European horses, with high hopes of success, have had to be put down in the last 24 hrs. Aqaleem (running in Aus as Our Aqaleem) and Changingoftheguard have both had to be put down, robbing the David Hayes stable of two very good horses. Aqaleem broke a shoulder in trackwork and Changingoftheguard suffered complications during a gelding operation. A real shame, they looked like two of the best imports brought to Australia for several years. Read more details at Racenet .

Racing NSW and the antiquated blokes in pork pie hats who think they run the show have introduced some great 'new' ideas into NSW racing. Internet Betting Approved for NSW bookmakers Racing NSW bowed to mounting pressure from the local bookmaking ranks by finally approving their long standing appllication to take bets via the internet on NSW racecourses or from an approved bookmaking office. Too little, too late say the bagmen as other states still have a massive advantage over them with the range of markets they can offer. And the best of all... Racing NSW has also agreed to allow punters to bring laptop computers onto NSW racecourses subject to similar terms and conditions imposed on bookmakers. These conditions, which must be agreed to by the racecourse and auditorium patrons, include the pre-requisite that such computers are dedicated units and must have Racing NSW monitoring software installed. Punters may access only approved websites and only after making application to ...

No surprise really, a sporting authority meddling in team affairs for the sake of it... Betclic hits out at UEFA shirt ban: 'no legal basis' BETCLIC chief executive Nicolas Béraud has hit out at UEFA’s refusal to let French football team Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) wear his company’s logo for tonight’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid, saying it has “no legal basis”. UEFA have banned Lyon from wearing shirts depicting BetClic as their sponsor, a deal they signed many months ago, because the French government are taking as long as physically possible to delay the enactment of local gambling regulations which are supposed to comply with European Union directives. Rather a big free kick for Bwin, sponsor of Real Madrid, tonight then....

It may not be Bwin after all, as I predicted a few weeks ago, but the news is out in Australia that several different UK suitors are sniffing around the pioneer of online sports betting, Centrebet. Centrebet rockets on takeover talks SHARE investors piled into Centrebet yesterday as three British gaming companies loomed as potential bidders to take over the listed online wagering and gaming company. ... Analysts said Centrebet -- which is 60 per cent owned by the family of its chief executive, Con Kafataris -- was a good fit for foreign companies wanting to get a stake in the Australian market ahead of expected deregulation. British operators Ladbrokes, William Hill and Sportingbet are the reported overseas suitors for Centrebet and some analysts believe the takeover price could reach $2 a share. The Productivity Commission recently recommended a swag of reforms thought to be favourable for growth in online sportsbooks and casinos in Australia. The Australian market is undergoing major...

A costly lesson yesterday for a Betfair in-running layer at Lingfield, where the winner in one race was matched at 1000 for £66. A late change in colours made it difficult, but as I used to stress to people in BF Education classes, use the period just before the race to confirm the colours, as often the shades in the paper or online guide are out, or there could be a late change of ownership, a damaged set of silks needed replacing or the owner has managed to leave that at home. But the killer in this case was in the detail, as written in the Racing Post..... The winning horse was the only grey in the event, undoubtedly the most distinguishing factor in a race!

Is there any other sport ruled by a bunch of more overpaid, self-righteous pompous gits out of touch with the modern day? We see cheating pricks like Thierry Henry cost the Republic of Ireland tens of millions of pounds because the referees couldn't see what every person and every camera in the stadium could. We see Birmingham today beaten in an FA Cup quarter-final because the blind bastard posing as assistant referee couldn't spot what was blatantly obvious from the same position - daylight between the goalpost and the ball as it crossed the line. If it was Pompey in the same position, it could have spelt the end of the club. In amateur days, it mightn't have made much of a difference. This is when what happened on the field, stayed on the field, all the players shook hands and had a drink together after the game. The game is a long, long way from that in 2010. Poor decisions can cost players, teams and countries millions, and hoping the guilty player will hold his hand u...