Sport is made for betting

Sad news today of an Australian sports bookmaker going bust. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) website shows that liquidators have been appointed for SportsAlive. Should SportsAlive have adhered to their licensing conditions, specifically the one below, then all should be fine for punters. However, it sounds like a few guys have been slow paid for a while (this year's not the first time they've had cash flow problems) so it may be that one of them got fed up with it and called in the lawyers. Staff apparently hadn't been paid for a fortnight either. 4. Segregated Bank Accounts 4.1 A sports bookmaker must, for the purposes of the sports bookmaking business, maintain a segregated sports betting bank account for the purpose of betting monies received. For full details of the ACT legislation, where SportsAlive were licensed, click here . This is a critical test of the strength of Australian bookmaking regulations. Hopefully it won't be ...

Irish racing stewards post a strong case for most useless in the world, allowing races to start while jockeys aren't yet on board , suspending a jockey for overuse of the whip despite the fact he dropped it at the start or an on-course bookmaker doing a runner after a history of struggling to pay up. Now we have another dagger in the back of Irish punters, but this isn't one under their direct control - this is a government issue, a government who set a very high standard for financial mismanagement and cluelessness. Irish bookmaking chain Celtic Bookmakers have gone into receivership with debts of over €6m, yet are still allowed to trade, taking money off punters as if everything was OK. If a bookmaker shows the slightest sign of insolvency, they should have their licence suspended immediately to protect the industry and the faith of punters. Yates bookmaking firm in receivership AIB has appointed a receiver to Celtic Bookmakers Ltd. A statement from the directors, f...

The thoroughbred industry in Ireland is worth hundreds of millions to the Irish economy, yet you'd think it was purely for ribbons judging by the regular incompetence of its ruling body, Horse Racing Ireland. The bookie who left Listowel races last weekend owing thousands has missed his monthly fee payment to HRI by direct debit SEVEN months in a row. Dalton: ‘HRI should not have allowed me to stand at Listowel’ . . The Killarney-based bookmaker, however, maintains that HRI and it’s betting division manager, Paul Finegan, should emerge from the debacle with little credit. Explained Dalton: "My direct debit to HRI bounced seven months in-a-row. That direct debit is for pitch fees and levy and would come to approximately €2,000 a month. "I owed HRI €4,500 and they stood me down for two and a half months. I then got a loan for €4,000 and Paul Finegan, on behalf of HRI, took that and told me I could pay the monkey (€500) when I had it. "I returned to bookm...

An Irish bookmaker has done a runner owing thousands after doing his arse at the recent Listowel racing festival. Bookmaker 'on the run' after leaving Listowel owing 1000s of euros Bookmaker Ger ‘Dixie’ Dalton is believed to have left Listowel last Saturday owing punters thousands of euros. Horse Racing Ireland officials have been trying to contact him and have written letters but it seems Dalton is nowhere to be found after ”running out of money and unable to pay out on winning bets”. . . This may not of been a one off incident with sources suggesting that a fellow bookmaker had threatened to object to Dalton’s licence following an incident at a Clonmel coursing meeting were there was a major issue but the matter was later resolved. To the bookie's credit, he did at least report a cashflow problem to the levy office (bookmakers' supervisor) on the course before fleeing. However, the fact this guy has had issues before will leave a very sour taste in the mo...

Hot off the presses this one - a massive bad debt from a huge client is likely to send a few Asian bookmakers to the wall. Asian bookies base the vast majority of their business on credit, and when you bet almost entirely Asian handicaps, you don't have any margin to work with. When big liabilities are taken, these are offset with other bookies. It's the global credit crunch all over again. Word is that the big bookies such as SBO and IBC can handle it, but those lower in the chain will succumb to accumulated bad debts. If you bet into Asia, you have to weigh up the risks against the benefits. Now is not the time to betting into there, you will more of this in the coming days and weeks....

Hardly a surprise really, they came in with ridiculous amounts of money, spent it like a shopping addict on Oxford St and then couldn't develop a client base with any form of loyalty. And their sponsored team Spurs is at rock bootm as well. They closed the exchange over a year ago, now they're realising that the sportsbook doesn't work either. Apparently they're trying to keep it going via another brand Mansion88, but seriously why would you bother?