Sports Trading Fund exposed as a scam

This one had all the signs of an utter scam. Unfortunately, the persons behind the fund are incredibly shady people and others who tried to expose them were threatened with violence and law suits, in no specific order, so it had go unchecked for a while.

With thanks to The Age...

Peter Foster implicated in international betting scandal

Hundreds of investors in an international gambling syndicate run by notorious conman Peter Foster could lose millions of dollars following his dramatic arrest at a luxury property near Byron Bay on Tuesday morning.

Foster is believed to have operated the Sports Trading Club while hiding from the Australian Crime Commission and other law enforcement agencies on the NSW north coast since September last year.

...

"It doesn't matter what they claim on their website, Fosters' home in Byron Bay was the headquarters. This is another massive scam that is only coming to light now. It will collapse like a house of cards," the source said.

Foster's role with Sports Trading Club is expected to trigger an investigation into the structure of the highly secretive business, which uses a Panama-based "privacy protection service" to conceal the identity of the company behind the online gambling scheme.

Sports Trading Club, also known as STC Sports Trading Club and The Sports Trading Club Partnership, takes investments between $50,000 and $250,000, which is punted on international sporting events.

The company's UK communication manager, Patrick McMahon, claimed in June that Australian investors had received a 1900 per cent return since January 2013.

"We don't gamble, we trade. We make money out of other people's mistakes. When one side gambles and the other trades, it is like owning the casino," Mr McMahon said in a media statement.

In July, Sports Trading Club claimed to have reaped $150 million by backing Germany to win the World Cup in Brazil, while betting against favourites Serena Williams and Novac Djokovic at the 2014 Australian Open also earned a "multi-million-dollar win".

A source said the company had received more than $10 million from private investors over the past month alone.

Want to read just how ridiculous their claims were - click here to download the prospectus and ask yourself why everything is focused on the legal status and nothing is mentioned about what they actually do. Why are they focusing on completely irrelevant people (who have since sued them in order to distance themselves from such 'endorsements'), why do they highlight two female lawyers as being behind the fund (women are obviously more trustworthy). Type 'Sports Trading Club' into Google and see what you find on their website. I'm not going to give them the honour of a link.

The Moral of the Story - if you expect to get rich quickly via a miracle, then it had better be with a lottery ticket. There are some genuine sports investment funds out there (get in touch if you would like to know more), but like any successful pro punter, their long-term yield will be single digits. Anyone can fluke a couple of wins for a great week or great month, but long term, those figures are pure fantasy. It's a hard grind and that's the reason most people won't do it - it is a very hard grind, no shortcuts, and definitely not a champagne, caviar and fast cars lifestyle.

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also, ...

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur...

Sport is made for betting

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