Sport is made for betting

No dodgy betting plunges here, but how on earth anyone could tip this as a winner other than using the theory of complete randomness in juvenile hurdles is beyond me. Usually horses matched at 1000 that win get matched for pennies in-running, this was a Betfair SP of 1000 (vs bookies SP of 200/1). Trained by Jennie Candlish, ridden by A O'Keefe. Sorry, never heard of either of them... until now. Bolted in by nine lengths as well. Cue Betfair sending out a press release to boast about 400% better odds on a horse which probably five people backed in the entire country......

There's no denying that Australia is a nanny state now. Political correctness, occupational health & safety and ambulance-chasing lawyers have changed the fabric of society, almost entirely for the poorer. A couple of years ago, a constitutional challenge by corporate bookmakers and Betfair threw out the age-old ban on bookmakers advertising in states other than the one they were licensed in. It defied the constitutional notion of free trade across state borders which every other industry had benefitted from since federation in 1901. But the nanny state mentality fought back in order to protect their once state-owned monopoly TABs, with the banning of incentives for free bets - standard marketing practice anywhere else in the world. Bookies charged for bet offers CHARGES have been laid against three bookmakers just four days out from the biggest event of the Spring Carnival. The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulaion has laid charges against three bookmaker firms ove...

Stop playing tournaments in Russia - it's that simple. No respect for authority and importantly, no prosecutable laws for sporting corruption. The latest fix, which was actually a spoof manoeuvre, designed purely to gain better odds for the syndicate pulling all the strings. Tursunov was never going to lose this one but he's obviously been approached to tank the first set so the syndicate could get far better odds on the victory... From Tennisform again: 26 October 2010 17:14 Tursunov has been heavily opposed on Betfair from 1.23 to 1.9 (345K matched). 19:25 Tursunov came through in three sets against Michal Przysiezny in what appeared to be yet another predetermined outcome. The Russian rolled over for the first set before Przysiezny stopped trying in sets two and three. Tursunov won 82% of his service points but the stats are totally irrelevant. The Russian drifted hugely just prior to the off, to suggest that he wasn't going to win the first set, before the ...

Poor website, poor offering and overvalued - no surprises that Betshop didn't achieve the €5m asking price as their owners, Leisure & Gaming (LNG), are stone broke and desperate for a sale. LNG forced into administration and cut price Betshop sale Embattled Leisure & Gaming (LNG) has been placed into administration with its principal asset, Betshop Group (Europe) Ltd (BSG) sold as a going concern to Honeymead Services for €1m, less than a fifth of the price it had previously agreed with Pefaco earlier this month. Administration statement On 12 October 2010 specialist restructuring, recovery and insolvency firm, FRP Advisory LLP ("FRP"), on behalf of the Company, contacted 13 potentially interested parties with a deadline to receive indicative funded offers for BSG by 14 October 2010 with a view to completing both due diligence and a transaction during week commencing 18 October 2010. Separately, five turnaround funds were also contacted. The short timesc...

Ladbrokes have joined the list of UK firms avoiding setting up in France under the current unviable licensing structure. Several firms have simply decided not to waste their time and money in a market which will deliver nothing for several years, and only if/after the French government water down the current prohibitive licensing and taxation structure. The last straw for Ladbrokes was when the French govt decided on top of extortionate turnover tax and sports rights levies, they would also have to pay VAT as well. Unibet however, who have a similar model to Bwin, of taking vast numbers of low-stake bets, are pressing on. The Betfair IPO is off to a good start. Conditional trading has the shares trading at around £15.30, after the initial valuation of £13. Tomorrow is the acid test for them though, when they become available to the public. Betsson is going from strength to strength as live betting pushes their revenues higher. Bwin, Hills and Sportingbet have released similarly h...

The gambling world often gets criticised for encouraging the vulnerable to waste their money with not much given back to society. Most charitable efforts by the firms aren't reported, and Betfair and Sportingbet are just two of the firms with quite substantial charitable contributions on their books each year. But the biggest donations you ever see from punters usually comes from the media when they hire some 'experts' to make a few bets with the winnings (which are definitely not guaranteed!) going to a nominated charity. There may be others I've missed but there is rarely a co-ordinated charity betting campaign of any substance. Until now..... PuntingAce , a website and forum I write for regularly, have been running a charity challenge for quite a while. They started with a bank of AU$125k two years ago, and are now over AU$55k in profit . And that doesn't include the annual Charity Swim one of the owners does each year to benefit a local school for children w...

Here's what Tennisform had to say about the match yesterday. 24/10 2100 - Volandri hasn't played since retiring with a right forearm injury in the Palermo challenger earlier this month. Volandri's last match off the dirt was in this event 2 years ago, where he lost 6-4 6-4 to the Russian wild card Mikhail Elgin. It goes wthout saying that close attention should be paid to the market in his match against Gabashvili. 25/10 13:52 Gabashvili will have a 2-1 win over Volandri today if the set betting is to be believed. Nearly 60K has been matched on set betting on Betfair with plenty under 3.5 on the 2-1 option. The outright market has had plenty of interest too with the price on Gabashvili yo-yoing between 1.21 and 1.52. 18:52 Gabashvili advanced to the second round at the expense of Filippo Volandri, who didn't appear to have any intention of winning this match and acted out his part of the script well. Gabashvili was heavily supported throughout the one hour...

The ATP have been getting slack on fixed matches this year so it's only fitting that after last week's Janko Tipsarevic fix, we've got another one going on right now in St Petersburg, in front of a huge crowd of about 20 spectators. Filippo Volandri is obviously supposed to lose and is doing his level best to make sure that happens. He won the first set, yet Gabashvili's price to win the match shortened. Gabashvili then goes down a break in the 2nd set, takes an injury timeout for treatment on his right knee which is now strapped heavily. Volandri makes sure he can't go further ahead by throwing in two timely double-faults to lose his serve. Gabashvili wins the second set, then Volandri hands him a very soft break in the opening game of the third. At 2-1 in the third set, the Italian conveniently calls out the trainer for treatment on his right arm and pops a pill to make it look like there are reasons for his pathetic tanking. He is now doing everything he can ...

Ouch, this is messy. Peter Webb from BetAngel detailing a bizarre trading move yesterday at Newbury races. A 400/1 shot backed down to 1.08 (1/12) in pre-race betting , with no logic behind it whatsoever, it could only be a mistake. Fat fingers crucify punter £27k alone backing the 400/1 shot at 1.08 - you can't get that back! And it wasn't an omen either - the horse ran third last, beaten over 20 lengths. Bots can be brilliant when they have been properly tested and work perfectly, but by golly, they can be expensive when they go wrong. 

Unfortunately it always seems that the positive tests don't seem to come out until AFTER their careers are finished. In the 80s it was still a Cold War thing and positive tests were swept under the carpet. It has only been the last 20 years that American athletes, the really good American athletes not just lower-ranked scapegoats, have started being busted for steroid abuse (or other banned substances). Yet the hysteria and suspicion still lies with the 'unknown' or the evil enemy, namely Russia or China. Former US Champion Clay banned for doping violations (Reuters) - Former U.S. 200 meters champion Ramon Clay has been suspended for two years for using steroids and other banned substances from 2000-04, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said Friday. So in recent years from the US, we've had Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Antonio Pettigrew, C.J. Hunter, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, Jerome Young.... For a full list of doping cases in athletics, visit Wikipedia ...

Bookies in the NorthWest are going into panic mode (or is it that media stir-up mode) with news that there has been strong support for Wayne Rooney to stay at Man Utd this morning. Hills reported 7/4 into 4/9 before suspending the market, several others have followed suit. Not much money on Betfair for it, but after a high of 4.0, the Yes to Stay option is now into 1.08! UPDATE - Two mins later, the announcement that a new five-year contract has been signed. Ho-hum....

There's nothing like an end-of-season ATP event to bring out the crooked betting patterns. Throw in an Argentinian facing an eastern European and you have a recipe for disaster... or a perfect set-up, depending on which side of legality you are cheering for. From the highly valuable subscription service, Tennisform Zeballos came through in a highly suspicious 3 sets against Janko Tipsarevic, who judging by the pre match and in play betting on Betfair had no intention of winning. Tipsarevic drifted markedly in the Betfair market in the hour before the match started eventually going off the underdog and despite winning the opening set and appearing to be the better player in the second set he was still odds against with Zeballos trading at 1.25 prior to the start of the final set. Some bookies have reportedly voided the match. Tipsarevic said afterwards that he felt a pain in his back in yesterday’s doubles match and today things only worsened. "My opponent was trying to mak...

Is anyone actually surprised that there are stories in the press today about FIFA Executive Committee members, the guys who vote on the venues for the World Cup, are taking bribes to secure their votes for World Cup bids? Two members, named as a member from Nigeria and the President of Oceania Football Federation, have been caught out by a newspaper investigation. Of course the money wasn't 'supposed' to be going directly to them, but to fund some domestic football project they'd take a nice fat bung out of along the way. Newspaper investigation reveals FIFA officials offered to sell World Cup votes Two FIFA officials have offered to sell their votes on which country will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, according to a newspaper report. The Sunday Times newspaper alleged that Amos Adamu, a Nigerian member of the world football governing body's executive committee, asked for $US800,000 ($A807,007) to endorse one of the bid candidates. It filmed him meeting with ...

How nice is it to have the world united and excited behind the successful rescue efforts in Chile? So rare to see good news stories these days, particularly on such a global scale. Every other 'good' story seems to have a negative side - people complaining about the cost of the Olympics in London, or the people who were trodden on along the way when one person (or company) makes it big. Even when it's a massive sporting success, such as winning the World Cup or something, there always seems to be an idiot element that ruin things for others. And let's not forget, there are people out there who bizarrely don't like sport. Nice to have a reality check occasionally and to applaud the brilliant engineering behind the rescue mission. And great to see that it's not just the big Western nations who are capable of doing it. Just imagine how much different the rescue scenes would be if it was in the UK or America. The media circus would be on a ridiculous scale and the...

Complaints this week in Monaco at the first gaming industry conference centred upon France with Mangas (BetClic, Expect, bet-at-home) CEO Nicolas Beraud claiming the anti-problem gambling directives from the French government are actually having the reverse effect - players lose their money quicker with higher margins and thus want to bet more as they chase their losses.... French player returns uncompetitive says Mangas boss Mangas Gaming chief executive Nicolas Beraud has called for the French authorities to increase what it currently allows to pay back to players, as the current 85% limit is failing in its publicly declared aim of protecting the consumer. Speaking yesterday on the Online Sports & Horse Betting Markets panel at France’s first ever egaming conference, Monaco iGaming Exchanges, Beraud said: “Today, we cannot give better than an 85% return to the player, which means the odds are not competitive compared to other markets. It is an incentive for players to try ...

Racing NSW, the administrators of what should be the strongest racing in Australia, have shot themselves in the foot yet again as they desperately try to patch up the damage they have caused through pigheadedness and sheer incompetence over the past couple of decades. Merging racing clubs is the latest buzz strategy in Australian racing - the two metropolitan race clubs in Brisbane were able to do it (purely logical considering the two racecourses were literally across the road from each other), so NSW thought they should follow suit. It gets complicated though because the AJC (Australian Jockey Club) think their shit doesn't stink and any form of 'merger' with the STC (Sydney Turf Club) would reek of a takeover. Amazingly, the AJC members all voted for the merger, as all the benefits would go to them, a $150m grandstand at Randwick. No surprise when the STC voted against the move because of concerns about one of their tracks, Canterbury, being sold off, and worries about...

Spain leading Scotland 2-0 after 55mins, you'd think there was no chance of the best team in the world giving up that lead against a relative minnow like the Scots.... £166k matched at 1.01 is a lot of money sweating a result now that Scotland have scored two goals to equalise. And just as I post this, Spain have again taken the lead, but there's still plenty of time on the clock. Belgium scored twice in the closing minutes to come from behind against 10-men Austria, and looked like they pinched the game 4-3... but someone forgot to tell Austria, who scored in injury time to level it up at 4-4. That's a lot of cash at short odds down the drain. Short-odds layers are grinners once again.

An appalling situation in Australia showing a clear abuse of power by a major TV network. The Bathurst 1000 is a hugely popular motor racing event which has been broadcast live around the nation since it began in the 1960s. As a kid I used to park myself in front of the TV at 7.30am when the coverage started and not move until 5pm after the chequered flag had been waved. Only several beers on Saturday night stopped me from watching the live coverage in the UK in the early hours of Sunday morning. The host broadcaster decided that making money from advertisers was more important than showing the race live, so what began as a live event, ended up nearly 30 minutes behind by the end of the race. Channel Seven broadcasts finish of Bathurst 1000 30 minutes after race actually ended THE Bathurst 1000 became the race that delayed a nation after Channel 7 put the advertising dollar before its audience. Channel 7's "live" coverage of the Bathurst 1000 was so significantly...

Hardly a surprise here as Betfair draw up contingency plans to move offshore if the UK Govt doesn't change tax laws. Every other UK firm has done it in some form or another to avoid/minimise paying tax and levy, but I doubt they'd go ahead with it anytime soon. Who'd be a politician? The economy is screwed because of the previous government and the greed of the banks, if you even attempt to introduce any measures to increase tax revenues or rein in the lavish rewards of that industry, they all threaten to head abroad, and now the gambling industry wants to pay even less tax. Ask not what your country can do for you, but how you can screw it up even further.... Betfair considers offshore move

It really isn't rocket science - when the rewards for competing are poor, then corrupt influences are more likely to be listened to. Sport at the biggest level - the Premier League, NFL, the Olympics, Group I races etc, has little problem from corrupt gambling influences. The incentive to win is so great that competitors are more likely to cheat to win, via performance-enhancing substances or illegal equipment. But when a sport is specifically run for betting and the prizes for competitors are so poor, then can you really blame someone for being tempted by corrupt influences? Harry Findlay reckons horse racing's 'poverty' prize money could lead to corruption Professional gambler Harry Findlay warned on Friday that "poverty" prize money could lead to an increase in corruption in racing. Findlay said that a drop in prize money is likely to lead jockeys, trainers and other racing professionals to be more likely to bend the rules, or susceptible to approach...

The most ardent opponent to online betting in recent years, the Netherlands, looks like finally dropping its resistance to the industry and introducing legislation to regulate it. In recent years Ladbrokes and Betfair have spent a lot of time pursuing court cases in the Netherlands and at the EU to force the Dutch to drop their hypocritical stance, banning foreign operators but allowing a state monopoly to extort criminal margins from local residents. A new government has just been elected and with it comes sweeping changes. Internet gambling released THE HAGUE - Gambling on the Internet is released. The government thinks so, Rutte eventually hundreds of millions of dollars per year to get. Reported that sources in The Hague. The right-wing government wants licenses to sell or auction among interested companies. The revenues of 100 million euros on per year, but were up to 270 million euros per year increase. Translate the article in Google Chrome if you want to read the ful...

As Racing NSW fights desperately to hang onto its ridiculous racefields legislation based on turnover tax and discriminating against competitive operators, Racing Queensland have seen common sense and elected to follow the Victorian model. One-horse maiden against corporate bookies RACING NSW, the men and women who would run racing in Australia (and thank God they don't), has been further marginalised in the battle of philosophies on how best to make all the sport's stakeholders pay their way. The new ruling body of greyhounds, trots and thoroughbred racing in Queensland has struck an important agreement with corporate bookmakers on how to collect fees for using the state's race fields. And it is not the one that Racing NSW has spent a fortune in court fees to establish and defend. Racing Queensland has fallen into line with Victoria and other racing jurisdictions which use a gross revenue formula to collect product fees. The Racing NSW v Betfair and Sportsbet app...

Global gaming giant Bwin have finally decided to have a serious crack at the UK market. After years of ignoring the UK because of the maturity of the local market, they have hired several experienced UK folk to bring them into the fold. Earlier this year Bwin bought into the Oddschecker listings, but haven't covered horse racing.... until now. How popular that will be in the UK, where punters expect to be allowed a decent bet is unknown. Bwin is a firm which in the past has banned all customers who were employed by other gambling firms, campaigned the Greek government to set a pitiful MAXIMUM stake in order to block competition, pathetically tried to welsh on paying out an Aussie client because he was beating them betting in-play, and numerous other controversial or even indefensible actions - search any betting forum for their previous black marks. They might have a massive advertising budget, but they have a lot of work to do to gain market share in a mature UK market which...