Sport is made for betting

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....

What a weekend for the bookies! Chelsea - LOST Arsenal - LOST Liverpool - Drew Man Utd - Drew Real Madrid - Drew Bayern Munich - LOST Racing bookmakers mightn't have been too happy with Frankie Dettori riding four winners in a row at Ascot, but their football profits, particularly from accumulators and coupons, would more than make up for that. It's always worth taking on the big names on the weekends before European action, there's regularly at least one big name which goes down, not so often a bonanza weekend like this one.

It's not just England, Australia, Spain and Italy with numerous teams wanting to wear betting company logos as their shirt sponsors this year. The French government had promised reform under the threat of sanctions from the EU, and they will... when they get around to it! Meanwhile Lyon, Marseille, Paris St-Germain and Bordeaux will be losing out financially while the government twiddles its thumbs.... Betting Sponsorship Row kicks off Meanwhile Betfair have signed a deal as the betting partner for Man Utd . Peculiar deal that - no signage as yet, no logo on the website, it would have cost a packet and a huge percentage of United fans are in banned territories such as China and Thailand.

A great weekend of sport and more evidence that there is no such thing as a certainty in sports betting. The Superbowl - New England were undefeated all season, going for history trying to emulate the 1972 Dolphins etc, and were strong 12.5pt favourites. The Pats took the lead inside the last two minutes and looked set to win by just a few points... and then along came Eli Manning who threw the Giants to a shock victory. Six Nations rugby - England, supposedly the second best team in the world after losing in the final of the World Cup last October, were strong favourites against Wales, and led 19-3 early in the second half. Tens of thousands were wagered on them at the lowest Betfair price possible, 1.01 (risking £100 to win a single pound), but it was the punters laying that price who were celebrating. A remarkable Welsh comeback saw them triumph 26-19 and the England backers (1.24 before the start of the match) feeling very sick. Tottenham v Man Utd - with the last kick of the matc...