HANA pool party tonight at Mountaineer Park

The Horseplayers Association of North America are staging another of their Pool Parties tonight. The idea of this concept is to promote specific races so their members and racing fans who want to see a better deal for punters can show the weight of their money. Let's face it, a boycott is never going to work, there are too many punters who will bet on anything.

Tonight's race is Mountaineer Park Race 2, which runs at around 00.25 UK time. Use UK bookmakers who bet directly into the pools so your bets will count - for free formsheets, visit here

The Open Championship

Lots of great offers from bookmakers around for the ultimate test in golf, The Open Championship. Boylesports paying EIGHT places each-way at 1/4 the odds, Sportsbet Australia paying money back if your player misses the cut, and numerous more.

The market is remarkable - on Betfair it's Tiger at 3.5, and next best is Lee Westwood at 30, with 10 players in all between 30 and 50. So essentially, it comes to one question - do you back Tiger or lay him? I've got to oppose him on this track. His form has been good since his return from injury but not invincible, and there's a quality chasing pack.

My glory story of trading occurred in this evnt back in 2003 when I backed a handful of players at big prices on the first morning. One of them was Ben Curtis at 1000 for £5. Only expecting him to stay on the leaderboard for a few hours on day one, I traded out at 550, then some more at 210 and then finally at 1.7 on the final day for a lovely green book.

This year, Tiger at 3.5 represents 28.57% of the market. If he suddenly starts with a shocker and blows out to 10, his % share of the market decreases to 10%, meaning that difference (18.57%) has to be redistributed amongst the rest of the field. The market will weaken a bit (105% out to 125% or so while play is underway, overnight is when it will tighten up each day) and other players have to trade shorter - in fact when the market is weaker is when they are more likely to trade short - as there will be gaps between prices - eg back 100, lay 140.

Good luck with your trading.

another match going off today

Oscar Hernandez v Janko Tipsarevic in Stuttgart today. Pick the injured player. Actually, that's not quite so easy, as Hernandez with injured with a minor thigh muscle tear last week in Schenevingen, but Tipsarevic has something seriously wrong with him here.

Tipsarevic was injured at Wimbledon but has since played (poorly) in German Bundesliga, a pro club tennis event, and pulled out of the doubles the last time he played in that (July 5).

For the best live injury and betting news, subscribe to the tennis ticker on Tennisform.

and this week's suspicious tennis match is....

Crivoi vs Istomin in Bastad, Sweden!

Victor Crivoi, a journeyman from Romania was backed from 1.81 into 1.06 on Betfair before the match, and the 2-0 sets betting from 2.74 to as low as 1.09. Denis Istomin had retired at Wimbledon with a back injury and it appears as if he wasn't fit to be resuming on the tour. You can't blame the bloke for trying when points and prizemoney is at stake, but obviously people knew he wasn't ready to play.

Every cynic is gonig to jump on this and scream fix. Personally I'd rather give the benefit of the doubt to the player, making every attempt to play despite not being fit. We've all seen footballers in various codes take the field when they shouldn't have. Men are stubborn beasts, and we will try to play through pain, especially when money, and in this case, ranking points (he'd get neither and probably a fine if he pulled out and was replaced by a lucky loser) are at stake. His ranking of 68 means he gets into some ATP events in the main draw, but has to qualify for many others, or play challengers, like he has for most of his career, often competing in challenger finals for as much as the R1 or R2 loser's cheque here. He turned up, hoped to be fit and pride got the better of him. Or sheer stubbornness because it had already cost him a bundle to get here so he might as well cover his expenses. You can't hide as an injured player in an individual sport.

Let me stress this is just a personal opinion, and if this is discovered to be a crooked match, then throw the book at him. But I just can't stand forumites who instantly declare a match has to be fixed simply because a major plunge was landed. An understanding of psychology and human emotion makes it much more complicated than that....

Bwin to bid for Newcastle?

I thought Bwin had become a billion-pound business by making shrewd business decisions - I doubt buying Newcastle United FC would ever fit into that category!

Austrian firm Bwin makes Toon takeover enquiry

It's one thing sponsoring successful clubs like AC Milan and Real Madrid, but owning an under-performing money-guzzler like Newcastle? And how would the Football League look at a club being owned by a betting firm?

journalists with no clue or credibility

24yo French tennis player Mathieu Montcourt was found dead this week, on the day he was to begin his five-week suspension for betting on tennis. The poor bloke wagered a grand sum of $192 across 36 matches - three bucks on each game, back in 2005 - yet was hammered with a way out-of-proportion $12,000 fine and five-week suspension. Yet according to the Metro, he's a match-fixer.

BT issues still prevalent

Not much time to update the blog at the moment with continuing BT and house move issues, plus I was in Cardiff for the opening day of the Ashes with the Fanatics. It should be a great series to trade, with hopefully the right result at the end.

Meanswhile back in Australia, Racing NSW are still convinced they can win the unwinnable court case. Bill Saunders from the Virtual Formguide details how badly deluded they are in NSW racing circles...

The Dogs want their bone

The AJC should blame Tabcorp

Meanwhile the Australian Racing Board chairman shows who butters his bread by showing how far out of touch he is with reality too

Bentley hits back at Gai's call

Wimbledon finals

Sorry for not posting for the last couple of days, didn't have a lot to say and have been moving house and suffering with the incompetence of BT re house moves...

In my outright tips, I took the unoriginal angle of backing Venus and Federer, and I'm sticking by them. The match prices are very close to how I marked them so I don't see any point in hedging (which should always be a value proposition), but that's an individual decision.

I rarely like to get involved in betting/trading on finals because the markets are usually correct and I prefer to watch and enjoy the great matches rather than fuss about my position. During last year's men's final, I just closed out at the end of the first set and sat back and watched one of the greatest matches of all time.

Good luck with your bets.

Wimbledon - men's quarters

After all the favourites winning today in the women's quarters, there's a big poosibility of this happening again tomorrow.

Hewitt has done a great job to get this far but he's got a massive test ahead of him. Once upon a time, Lleyton owned Roddick. but those days are long gone. A-Rod has won four in a row, including both matches this year, so the ledger now stands at 6-5 to the Aussie. I'll get lynched by my mates in the Fanatics who are queueing up overnight to be courtside again, but I struggle to see him getting any further. Roddick has been in tremendous form this year while all the attention has been on Federer, Murray or Nadal. Larry Stefanki has him in his best form for several years. Roddick 3-1.

Tommy Haas is in his best form for years and beat Djokovic just a few weeks ago in the Halle final (grass). His serve-volley game is working a treat and the relaxed veteran's attitude is working wonders. Djokovic has looked good in the last couple of rds, he's hitting the ball far better than that match in Germany. I think he wins, but not in straight.

Karlovic is blasting everyone off the court and if all the planets are in alignment, he could do that to Federer as well. Poor old Verdasco has one of the best serves on the tour and a solid returning game, but he couldn't conjure up a single break pt in 23 Karlovic service games in the last round. Federer should be too classy, but knows full well that against someone like Karlovic, he might only get one chance to get a look at a break point.

I didn't think Murray was at his best under the roof the other night, but he got there. Ferrero is playing his best ever tennis on grass, but I doubt that can stop the great British hope.

Roddick 3-1
Djokovic 3-1
Federer 3-1
Murray 3-0

I'll also lay Federer for a trade and insurance against my outrights bet.

Victorian racing industry booming - because they negotiated with bookies and Betfair

Some Australian states and other racing jurisdictions around the world are going backwards because of the pig-headed stubbornness of crusty old farts in charge of racing. Faction fighting over exclusive TV rights, trying to protect the totes from outside competition via unconstitutional laws or anti-competitive product fees etc. Victoria opened itself up to corporate bookmakers and Betfair betting on their high-quality racing with product fees based on profits rather than turnover (like every other business in the world), and suddenly a flood of money is coming in. This previously untapped resource is now bringing in the bucks and the same companies are investing plenty to sponsor races throughout the state.

Racing Victoria details growth

Meanwhile in NSW, head muppet Peter V'Landys is bleeding the state's racing industry dry, taking the corporate bookmakers and Betfair on in court, in a case he simply cannot win, based on any reasonable understanding of business law in the 21st century.

Any business which cannot and will not move with the times deserves to go bust. Ego is the biggest problem facing the racing industry, more specifically, the egos of racing industry figures who refuse to let go of the 'good old days' and their self-indulgent empire of power.