Sport is made for betting

In a move which blatantly only serves to protect the incumbent land-based operators rather than act as social policy, the Gauteng Gambling Board has banned all online gambling (defined as casino operations) throughout South Africa. Note the name of the spokeperson quoted below.... Online gambling banned in South Africa It is now illegal to gamble using digital products in South Africa, the Gauteng Gambling Board said after a Friday court ruling. The judgement on the jurisdiction of online gambling transactions in the country was handed down by the North Gauteng High Court on August 20. This means that online gambling operators in South Africa and players will be in contravention of the law, and according to Business Day , could face a fine of R10-million or 10 years in jail, or both. According to the Gauteng Gambling Board's head of legal services, Lucky Lukhwareni, online casinos are now liable for prosecution. How could anyone take a person named Lu...

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.

Like most countries, South Africa are concerned about their citizens spending their money offshore, particularly on gambling sites. It's not as if they are against gambling, after all, the horse racing industry is quite strong there, there are numerous sports and racing bookmakers and they have some massive casinos there. But of course, it's evil if the tax revenue is going abroad. I assume the licensing is meant for online casinos, this snippet from the article certainly makes it seem that way. Pointless having these restrictions for a sports or racing betting operation. South Africa: Authorities to Regulate Online Gambling Under the proposed regulations South Africans wanting to play online will have to open a nominated account with any South African bank which will be used solely for online gaming. Only credit cards can be used to make payments and the accounts will have to adhere to normal banking and Financial Intelligence Centre Act requirements. "We will work togeth...

The Twenty20 series starts in the morning UK time with Australia hosting South Africa at the magnificent Melbourne Cricket Ground. Both sides have shuffled the deckchairs a little to rest players with many more matches left in the back-to-back home and away series. I find Twenty20 hard to trade on personally, much prefer Test matches where things take time develop, and importantly, you don't have to be glued to the box every second as the game continually ebbs and flows. But, each to their own. Australia is trading at 1.61 currently on Betfair, looks a bit on the short side to me.

So the Aussies have been pounded in two tests, their bowling has moments of brilliance but mostly holds no fears at all to the tourists, the batting apart from Ponting is mediocre (although Hussey is due a change of luck after that shocking decision by Aleem Dar in Melb) and they've reacted with three changes for Sydney. But none of the new guys are going to make an ounce of difference and South Africa will want to go home on a roll. They want to pound Australia into the ground, so they take the momentum back to the three-match series in Sth Africa, and so they can take over the no.1 mantle. How about the draw? Sydney is a lifeless pitch for the spinners isn't it? Maybe 20 years ago, but there has only been one draw in the past 15 Tests and the forecast only shows sporadic showers. The Ashes in 2005 was profitable for me because I abandoned Australia when they were obviously off-colour, and now it's time to do it again. There's no room for national allegiances when it c...

It pains me to say it but the dynasty is over. It had to happen with the retirement in recent years of McGrath and Warne, but this series against South Africa is confirming it. Hayden is past it, Ponting doesn't have any rabbits to pull out of the hat as captain, Mike Hussey is out of form (but will be back), Brett Lee is injured and on his last legs, Stuart Clark is injured and has been found out on flat pitches, and there is no sign of a wrist-spinner anywhere. The Ashes next year might be quite a tight one. Not sure if I could jump ship to back England, but I'd certainly be wanting to lay Australia at this stage. They could quite easily go to South Africa and lose three series in a row...

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.