Sport is made for betting

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...

At least I think it's the first... No news on the licensing terms, but since they have existing bookmakers, mostly operating on racing, you'd expect the tax rates and regulations are reasonable. Victor Chandler Granted Licence Approval in South Africa Ahead of plans to launch a full range of sports betting services in time for the World Cup next year, Gibraltar-based bookmaker Victor Chandler has announced that its application for a license to operate in South Africa has been approved by the Western Cape Gambling and Betting Board. They won't be the last, numerous other firms including Betfair have been lobbying hard in South Africa for some time.

In Australia, the three main zones for corporate bookmakers are the Northern Territory (home of Centrebet, Sportsbet, Sportingbet, IASBet and numerous others), Tasmania (home of Betfair Aus) and the ACT (home of Sportsalive). When I say home, it's at least where their servers are based and a handful of staff - most have marketing and other departments based in Melbourne or Sydney. These three regions, two territories and Australia's smallest state, have little industry to speak of and need businesses in their region for employment, taxes etc. And they also have no deep-seated allegiance to TABs like the bigger states such as Victoria and New South Wales. Internet bookmakers in NT welcome tax change Tasmania recently threw the cat amongst the pigeons by scrapping the local tax on corporate bookmakers and adopting a $250k annual flat fee, a very attractive prospect for major firms turning over hundreds of millions per year. This was brought on by Betfair's five-year licence b...

It's a natural fit for Betfair to get into India. Cricket betting is enormous and local bookies are mostly traders, offering a buy and sell price with each quote. Legalising betting in the country is the next step, and the most logical way to crack down on illegal, unlicensed betting, the most common route for corruption. Indian law means foreign companies must partner with local firms to do business there, in any industry. Betfair and William Hill target India Britain's biggest betting companies are bidding for the first online gambling licence in India to gain a slice of the country's $60bn (£37bn) betting market. The high-street bookie William Hill, along with internet players Betfair and Bwin, are bidding for the internet licence in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in early September. A decision is expected in the next two weeks. Some 13 betting companies, including local Indian operators, are battling it out for at least three licences in Sikkim. Sources said they want th...

Rumours abound about the South African market opening with Sportingbet publicly declaring an interest in it. Sportingbet is now looking to build upon its Latin American business, while a licence is pending for its launch into South Africa in early 2009... Article here You can be sure they're not the only ones lobbying hard down there.