Sport is made for betting

No shock here, another UK-facing bet brokerage has gone under. Customers have complained about withdrawal delays for over 12 months, while the UK Gambling Commission sat there and did nothing. They only appear to be interested in sustaining that overrated, self-perpetuating industry called compliance. Gotta make sure those boxes on the fancy forms are ticked! Earlier in the year, BetButler were even allowed to take over the debts of Bodugi, the failed social gambling site of Dave Nevison, whose customers had already suffered cash flow problems - talk about a double hit! Hat tip to BettingTools.co.uk for the article BetButler ceases trading Remember BetBrokers back in 2008? A very familiar tale. BetBrokers goes broke The concept of a bet brokerage is nothing new - in Australia there have been numerous individuals over the years doing the same thing, we call them commission agents. Either for convenience (don't have the time or energy to chase best price), anonymity (celebrit...

More from the sharp mind of Ian Steven, @deevo82 . ------------------ AFC North Pittsburgh Steelers The AFC North is where things begin to become salacious from a betting standpoint as the bookies are split over who tops this traditionally competitive division. The Steelers are the favourites for the division with Big Ben Roethlisberger once more the face of the franchise. He is not conventional in his play and can throw some ugly looking passes but he has bags of grit and is definitely a playmaker. Roethlisberger will win a couple of games single-handedly if he is fit and he crucially plays well once the weather turns inclement. There has been a strong tradition of running backs in Western Pennsylvania with names like Franco Harris, Barry Foster and Jerome Bettis tripping off the tongue. Since The Bus retired however, the Heinz Field franchise have struggled to find elite talent at the position and this year will try the tandem of Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount as the offe...

Sports betting has evolved in recent years, gut instinct and opinion have mostly been replaced by databases and algorithmic trading models. One of the very best of those is Football Form Labs who have shared their wisdom with a preview of some of this week's action. You can also follow Football Form Labs on Twitter, @footballformlab -------------------------- Football Form Labs provide the most effective football betting software on the market with the ability to analyse games both pre-match and in-play across 50 different leagues. You can also generate your own models and see the statistical impact players have when they are missing. And for the next month, they have a great deal for new subscribers! Take advantage of these huge savings to get Form Lab Black for just £40 per month or as little as £300 per annum. – Try Form Lab Black here with codes FLBMONTHLYPROMO (for a monthly subscription), FLBQUARTERPROMO (quarterly sub discount) or FLBANNUALPROMO (annual sub dis...

Shrewd NFL punter/NFL tragic Ian Steven, @deevo82 returns to the blog with his divisional previews. First up, it's the AFC East.... ------------------- AFC East New England Patriots Let’s start with an easy one. The Patriots are the class of this division and have been since Moses did a David Copperfield at the Red Sea. The partnership of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick is one of the best combinations of quarterback/coach in NFL history. The Pats have never had a losing season since these two great planets aligned with the New England outfit making the playoffs in 10 out of 12 seasons which is ridiculous in a league imbued with the socialist ethics of parity. Brady has enshrined himself in the conversation as one of the all-time greats but it is his supporting cast where the questions lie. The only other real superstar on offense is tight end Rob Gronkowski who is more brittle than a paper girder and cannot be relied upon to finish a season. His talent is unsurpassed but so ...

The Ebor 1m6f, York preview by Chris Day, @chrisday100 Run over 14 furlongs at a searching pace on the last day of York’s Ebor meeting, the Ebor Handicap is doubtless one of the hardest races of the year to win, targeted by every trainer of a 90 plus staying handicapper in the land from the start of the season. One who loves to win these big pots with well handicapped runners is Sir Mark Prescott and his Pallasator ’s odds have done nothing but contract since he dished out a stylish beating to the subsequent Goodwood winner, Opera Buff, at Ascot at the end of July. Carrying a 4lb penalty for that excellent run cannot be considered punitive but the weights have risen, he’s now got joint top weight and the outside draw to contend with. Tough to beat, no doubt, but not as tempting as he may have been had the top weights stood their ground and he been drawn better. The other joint top weight is Andrew Balding’s Whiplash Willie , who you could argue has an equal level of form in th...

Toy Show Quality Handicap 1300m for Fillies and Mares. Group 3. The race will be run at Randwick for the first time since 2009. Red Tracer in 2011 is the only favourite to have won in the last six years. With a deluge in Sydney over the last week the track is currently Heavy and with rain still around I am proceeding on the basis it stays that way. The rail is in the True position. I expect the ground will be best away from the fence and by Race 7 that bias could be more accentuated. You can read more about myself Andrew Capelin and my markets for NSW racing at my website acmarkets.com.au or catch me on twitter @acmarkets . Enjoy the preview. 1 DIAMOND DRILLE Gai Waterhouse -Tommy Berry (2) 59 5yo mare who came of age last time taking out the Queen of the Turf (Group 1) at big odds. Unusually for the stable, she got better deeper into her preparation. First up here and has trialled twice again. Likes the wet. She will probably race midfield or worse near the fence which w...

WARWICK STAKES 1400m, Group 2 WFA RANDWICK Preview by @PremiumPunting www.premiumpunting.com.au Expect the speed to be quite sluggish. Five of the 10 in the field are returning from a spell and, most importantly, are targetting races deeper into their campaign – so they will not go at a good speed or imply pressure on the front runners as their physical condition won’t allow them to. This is crucial to the likely outcome of the race. TIGER TEES Ran as well as could be expected of him. He is a super 1st up horse and again proved that when winning G3 1200m up the Flemington straight. Lugged 59.5KGs and ran in an OK time. He has at times been over ridden when second up and his gas has bunt prior to the turn. He is going to have a relatively easy time leading this, but he will need to rising to 1400m second-up. That is his only knock, but provided they let him be up front, he will give a powerful kick alongside Messene. MESSENE Excellent return from his spell. Did have fa...

Nunthorpe Stakes 5f G1 York by Adam Webb, @adamwebb121 The Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes is Friday’s main event on the third day of York’s Ebor meeting which has had a reputation of throwing up some unexpected results including twelve months ago when the ill-fated Jwala won at odds of 33/1 and this year’s favourite Sole Power who won back in 2010 when a three year old at the almost unbelievable odds of 100/1. The best place to start is with Edward Lynam’s sprinter who has looked better than ever on his last two starts with victories in the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket and in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot under the coolest of rides from Richard Hughes who keeps the ride here. He is definitely worth his place at the head of the market however the vibes from his trainer seem to suggest he isn’t in as good form as he was earlier in the season plus the threat of rain at York is enough to put me off. His old rival Shea Shea re-opposes and must bounce back from his disappointin...

Returning after tipping up Blaine to win the Festival opener at double figure odds, it's @chrisday100 .... Clipper Logistics Handicap 15.05 York Class 2 For many, myself included, the real betting races of the Ebor meeting are the handicaps. A winner in one of these can pay for a nice half term break with the kids in October or a trip to the Arc. The Clipper Logistics Handicap at 3.05 on Thursday is such a contest with the race being analysed by many with a view to finding the Cambridgeshire in early October. A win prize of almost £50000 ensures that entrants will be taking Thursday’s race seriously though and you can bet there’ll be at least 6 fighting it out at the furlong marker, meaning you’ll need a few pounds in hand to land it. In predicted order of SP, Sir Michael Stoute fields favourite Russian Realm , who was made favourite for the Royal Hunt Cup, a race I’m sure he’d have gone very well in after scooting up at Goodwood in May but inexplicably he went for the w...

Juddmonte International Group 1, 10.5f, York by Jon da Silva, @creamontop This is a level weights race supposedly but weight is the starting point here. Weight for Age (WFA) will mean Australia gets 8 pounds off the older fellas. However that is less than he would have got last month - WFA will mean that he is expected to keep improving and when RPR has him 2nd top rated that assumes he has made several pounds of improvement since Epsom where his rating comes from. Of course he could have made more or less. There is talk of getting rid of WFA but what do we then do have a separate program for three year olds? Make the Voltigeur a Group 1 and make this race if it happened this year a match between Mukhadram and Telescope? WFA not ideal but neither are the alternatives. Also listed in weighty matters Joseph O'Brien has to get down to his lowest weight of the year at 8st12. Now that might seem only a pound below his lowest weight this last year but given the height of him at ~6...

Symphony Group Handicap by Chris Day, @chrisday100 Volunteering to preview the opening race of this year’s Ebor Festival, the 5f 89 yards (Ed. - why not a standard distance so times are relevant and comparable ffs?!?!) Symphony Group Handicap, when I could have chosen the smaller fields of the International or Great Voltigeur, probably says more about my own form this flat season. A visit to the last chance saloon or just the kick up the backside I need to get back to making some extra income at the sport I love? York, especially over sprint distances, is a specialists’ track and often the previous year’s race can have a major bearing on the outcome. Interestingly, Kevin Ryan, who has such a great record at this meeting and with sprinters in general, won last year’s contest with Bogart , now 14lbs better off with the paper favourite, Goldream having beaten him ¾ length but his form since has been dire (10th his best effort since) and he’s passed over for that reason. Gold...

Back after a short break, time to resume normal service. It's the historic Ebor Festival at York this week, and delighted to say I'll finally be attending for the first time! If anyone fancies their hand at writing a preview for any of the feature races during the week, please drop me a line - via the comments, by the email address on the right or on Twitter. I can't pay you but am happy to plug your blog/website/service in return. Use it as an opportunity to do the form a bit deeper, or to be seen by a wider audience if you are keen to become a writer.

The big news is betting circles lately is the Racing NSW decision to force all wagering organisations licensed to bet on NSW racing to lay a decent bet! This is to be enforced via the racefields legislation which allows the governing body of NSW Racing to control who bets on their product. The debate has gotten louder over recent years as traditional bookmaking has gone out the window, replaced by European corporate beancounters who only want to lay bets to people who lose money hand over fist, aka mugs. RacingNSW set new minimum bet guidelines for corporate bookmakers from September 1 AUSTRALIA’S biggest corporate bookmakers will be made to stand to lose a minimum of $2000 in a single wager on a NSW metropolitan thoroughbred race, RacingNSW has announced. In response to claims corporate bookmakers are refusing to accept bets from successful punters, RacingNSW will impose a minimum bet limit from September 1. Wagering operators with turnover of more than $5 million will have to be...