Sport is made for betting

tennis previews

2012-01-24T23:29:00.000Z

In case you have been missing them, the places to go are

The TOTE
and
The Shark

My usual rants at the world of sports and betting probably won't resume until the Australian Open finishes...

tennis trading podcast

2012-01-21T13:01:00.003Z

Some of you might have seen this already via other blogs or my Twitter acct. During the week I was honoured to be the guest pundit on the X Traders weekly podcast with @mattfinnigan. Matt is a former disciple of the Betfair Academy who I trained way back in 2006/07. Since then he has set up his own trading club - the X Traders, covering a variety of sports. On their podcasts, they regularly bring in a guest to add a different perspective about various sports. Tennis being my forte, I was invited on during the Australian Open. Lots of topics discussed - mixture of punting and trading, something for everyone hopefully. It goes for just over an hour, so find some time to listen to it, or download the podcast onto your iPod/phone to listen to on the train or something.

The X-Traders Guide Weekly Podcast featuring Scott Ferguson talking tennis

We have received plenty of positive feedback about it already, so another edition is planned later in the year.

The links I mention during the show:

www.theshark.com.au and onlinebetting.thetote.com.au for my Aus Open previews

www.tennisform.com for injury & news service

www.oncourt.info for the database

www.tennisexplorer.com and www.tennisinsight.com for stats, odds and discussion.

Protectionist bollocks from the ATP

2012-01-17T14:49:00.001Z

Slightly old news now, but I've just found the time to write properly about this. Reports in the press last week of spectators being ejected from the Auckland tournament for 'illegal' betting, which is simply protectionist propaganda from the ATP. There is no 'illegal' betting taking place here - New Zealand has bans on foreign betting firms advertising in NZ but they certainly don't prosecute users of Betfair or Bet365 for example. The courtsiders are simply taking advantage of being ahead of the broadcast back to Europe.

Tennis: Spot-betting spectators ejected

Two spectators have been kicked out of the Heineken Open in Auckland for illegal spot-betting.

Tournament director Richard Palmer confirmed one patron had been removed on Monday at the Heineken Open and another had been evicted during last week's ASB Classic for transmitting scoring information from the stands.

The spectators were spotted in the crowd allegedly using palm-type devices to bet on specific points.

The delay between what happens on court and when it's screened around the world enables people at the stadium to quickly get bets on before those outside know what's happened.

ATP tournament director Tom Barnes said the spectators who were evicted were known to them.

"It is a career opportunity to these people. They show up everywhere."

Mr Barnes said the pair were both using European betting sites.

"On some of these European betting sites, you can bet, for example, on a first serve whether a guy is going to make a fault or not. Somebody sitting in the stands with a cell phone can transmit this information to somebody in Europe and that somebody can bet that the first serve is a fault."

Another piece of utter crap from the ATP spokesman - 'you can bet on a fault'. No, you can't. Certain firms offer betting on each point, but they aren't gullible enough to offer it on the very next point - they know as well as everyone else that broadcast delays exist, so those prices are created for several points ahead, or the next (not current) game. The courtsiders are there to sweep prices, predominantly on Betfair - taking 1.6 before the market moves to 1.5 etc, on the case of a key point like a break point, significantly wider gaps. Then if they want, they can trade straight back and lock in a profit within seconds.

This is not illegal. It is taking advantage of other punters, but it has been going on so long, that anyone betting on tennis should be well aware of it anyway. Are the ATP (and WTA) trying to stop innocent punters from having their unmatched bets hoovered up by courtsiders? Not on your life. Their only interest here is protecting their new live data partners Enetpulse. The subscription price for bookmakers to take this service is massive, so obviously Enetpulse paid a premium for it and the tennis authorities want to protect that revenue stream. Any site not taking data from Enetpulse (or subsidiaries, sub-contracts etc) is supposed to be delayed by 30 seconds, or they are scraping from another site. The only way to get around this is via live pics, where a separate data stream isn't required.

Note, the Grand Slams are ITF events, and will not be covered by the above deal, so scores should be live, assuming the website is working at the optimum level.

Australian Open previews

2012-01-15T18:29:00.001Z

Just a few hours now until the Australian Open begins. My regular previews have been going since 2000, and have found a new home - this year I am writing for The TOTE and theshark.com.au.

Snippets from women's preview:

1. Wozniacki – will be a token no.1 until she breaks that Slam duck. Trying to bring more aggression into her game but still not a patch on the free-swingers like Serena or Kvitova. Had treatment on her left wrist in loss to close buddy A.Radwanska in Sydney, and that injury can be nasty if full blown, even if it only affects her on the backhand side. Draw says Jankovic R4, Clijsters/Li QF, Azarenka/Aggie Rad SF. Odds to win the title show just how much of a token no.1 she is.

2. Kvitova – exciting leftie who is seen as the heir to the no.1 mantle: she has already won a Slam and won the end-of-year WTA Championship. Looked in fine touch at the Hopman Cup, beating Wozniacki and Bartoli despite carrying a little extra condition. That works for her on the power game side but I’m a little concerned about it if Melbourne has a hot spell and she meets a couple of retrievers who won’t stop running. QF here last year, beaten by Zvonareva. Very nice draw – Stosur/Bartoli QF, perhaps Serena/Sharapova in the semi. Worthy favourite.

Read the complete article here

Snippets from men's preview:

There’s nothing like the Aussie Open on the tennis calendar. So early in the season that players are either still hurting from last season or they’ve been busting a gut at a boot camp during the northern winter. This event has a reputation for shock finalists (Clement, Schuettler, Baghdatis, Gonzalez, Tsonga since 2000 plus Tommy Johansson winning in 2002) but at the moment, the top four are almost impenetrable at the biggest events on the tour. Even Murray, supposedly the weaker of the quartet, reached the semis at all four Slam events last season. Let’s run down the field.

1.Djokovic – took the world before him last year, winning three of the four Slam events. Ended the season quite sore and tired, so whether he is in the shape of last January is contentious. Looked good in Abu Dhabi but hasn’t played an event since. Certainly a better player than back then, and he now carries the weight of heavy expectations. Value at 2.25? I doubt it but record in 2011 v Rafa 6-0, v Federer 5-1 (French Open), v Murray 2-1 (loss via retirement).

2.Nadal – injured here last year when losing in the QF to Ferrer. Ended 2011 with a Davis Cup win for Spain, just days after not caring at all at the Tour finale in London. Weird as it seems, he may be flying in under the radar here. If fit (always some concern over his knees and shoulder), he’s right in it. Has drawn the softest quarter, only Berdych to worry about before the semis. Should not be the outsider of the four.

Read the complete article here

Centaur Group goes into administration

2012-01-11T22:03:00.000Z

Last year I wrote with concern about the company setting up what may have been the world's first sports trading investment fund. Those doubts seem to have borne fruit as this week the company have gone into voluntary administration.

Here's the Betfair forum thread which includes details of the letter to clients.

Sounds like a contradictory mix of what they were trying to achieve, combined with high overheads. Why operate in a London office? Why try to train Betfair punters - I can tell you from experience that is very costly with limited return. And they came from a tipping background. Bad, bad mix. You trade or you punt. Mixing a punting mentality with highly-disciplined trading is extremely risky. A select bunch of individuals can do it. People hired off the street to make money for a fund are not going to manage it. And if you get too successful at it on Betfair, you attract the super Premium Charge. My guess is that the Premium Charge was the least of their problems...

Always feel sorry for the staff in circumstances like this, but having worked for a couple of firms who have gone under over the years - there are always signs of trouble.

Ladbrokes talking to Betdaq?

2012-01-08T22:47:00.001Z

Curious one this - apparently it's only about technology sharing. Ladbrokes seemingly don't want to go down the same line as numerous other bookies to come up with an identical product bar the colour scheme. There's some logic in it - exchanges need to have an exceptionally quick bet-matching system, so anything that can help speed up a sportsbook's operation will have some value.

Ladbrokes in talks with billionaire Betdaq owner Dermot Desmond over 'technology' deal

Ladbrokes has started talks with Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond, the owner of the Betdaq betting exchange, over a "technology" deal to revamp the bookmaker's faltering online business.

In the latest attempt by Ladbrokes' embattled chief executive Richard Glynn to gee up its internet betting wing, the bookie is seeking to buy in pricing and trading skills of a peer-to-peer betting exchange – long seen as a main rival to traditional bookmakers.

Mr Desmond, who has a stake of about 2pc in Ladbrokes, set up Betdaq in 2000, though it has been dwarfed by larger rival Betfair.

Mr Glynn has already walked away from four online deals since taking over as chief executive in April 2010. He made highly public takeover approaches to 888 and Sportingbet before backing out, pulled out of the auction for Australia's Centrebet and had a flirtation with Playtech.

A Ladbrokes spokesman denied the bookie might also be interested in buying Betdaq, which is valued at more than £100m. "It's only a discussion about technology supply," he said. "Exchanges have good up-to-the-minute pricing technology."

He said any deal would come from £50m already set aside for investment in online gambling.

£100m price tag for Betdaq seems a little generous in the current climate. Pie in the sky stuff for them to link up with one of the big High St bookmakers, but just imagine if they did - access to a marketing budget and client base to die for. Might get Betfair thinking a bit at least....

how to waste money on the Olympics

2012-01-02T09:46:00.000Z

I absolutely love the Olympics - it is the pinnacle of the sporting world. Naturally the London Games are going to cost more than any previous Olympiad - prices rise, London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and Britain support the US in its military campaigns thus the countries becomes a target for terrorism etc. The original budget from bid time has been blown out of the water, but revised versions seem to be on the right track. Recent added expenses have been even more security to appease the Yanks (if you want to protect your athletes even further Barack, feel free to pick up the bill) and even more on the bloody ceremonies.

Much has been invested in drawing additional tourists to Britain before, during and after the Games, and so should be the case. The non-sporting public have a right to benefit from the Games too, from the improvement of infrastructure to a sharp boost to the economy. But London is already known as one of the premier arts and theatre destinations in the world - so what benefit at all will spending £40 million more on the pointless opening ceremony bring? It can't increase ticket sales - applications for opening ceremony tickets were massively oversubscribed too.

The biggest false headline and waste of money going on at the moment is the fixation with keeping the Olympics free from match-fixing/sporting corruption. It is incredibly naive of officials to think that because they are hosting the biggest sporting extravaganza in the world, that people will suddenly want to bet on it. At a conservative guess, a standard Saturday football round will attract more betting interest than the whole fortnight of the Games. Very few Olympic sports have any history of betting - so if punters have no interest, then neither will be the bookies, specifically, the black market bookies who are the root of all this paranoia. In terms of betting, football is far and above the biggest betting sport at the Games. Beyond that, you have a bit of interest in basketball, followed by handball, with volleyball and water polo trailing a long way behind. Other sports have the very occasional availability for betting - athletics, swimming and cycling. I nearly forgot tennis, which has its own Integrity Unit anyway. Football has had issues at the Games before, most likely as a result of so many meaningless ranking matches at the end - but it is questionable whether it should even be at the Olympics in the first place. It is there to extend the global appeal to South America, who place huge emphasis on team sports, very little on the individual ones like athletics + I am, and many others are, firmly of the belief any sport which does not have the Olympics as the pinnacle of that sport should not be there. The hybrid selection of older players amongst a youth team doesn't really cut it now does it?

Is it cynical to suggest that the Olympics minister knows there is little hope of eradicating doping (the side of evil always has more money to play with, and if tests for new substances take days, weeks or months) then it's a far better idea to throw up a smokescreen and suggest that Britain/LOCOG are doing something right? If they are banking on Britain's great record in convicting match-fixers (eg Salman Butt & co), then perhaps they should remember it wasn't the ICC, Interpol or the Metropolitan Police who caught them red-handed, it was a now defunct newspaper!

the shambles of Sports Alive continues to unravel

2012-01-01T14:48:00.001Z

The only good thing to come out of this utter schemozzle is that laws should be tightened and hopefully enforced in future. But then again, that's what was supposed to happen with the banks....

Tote chief snubs $14m claim

The liquidator of failed sports betting company Sports Alive has demanded $14 million compensation from TOTE Tasmania chief executive Craig Coleman and Victorian directors.

In a letter early this month, liquidator Hamish MacKinnon demanded the money be paid by December 14.

It is understood Mr Coleman has refused to pay and the TOTE Tasmania board has refused to discuss the situation.

...
...

The letter alleged Mr Coleman had a conflict of interest in simultaneously being chairman of Sports Alive and chief executive of TOTE.

In a letter to all Sports Alive directors, Mr MacKinnon alleged: Sports Alive was trading while insolvent from June 2008, including the period under Mr Coleman's chairmanship. Sports Alive was in breach of the Race and Sports Betting Act by failing to keep punters' money separate from administrative funds. Directors had breached their duties and had failed to act in good faith in the best interests of the company.

For allowing this to go on for three years, the ACT Gaming and Racing Commission should be criminally liable... but they'll weasel out of it, like a typical pointless bureaucracy. Any other state or territory in Australia would have flagged this very early and barred them from trading while insolvent. No betting licence in the ACT is worth the paper it is written on anymore.

Friendlies and match-fixing are a match made in heaven

2012-01-01T13:55:00.000Z

Another reason why international friendlies are probably more hassle than they are worth. Clubs hate them for the injury risk, fixers love them for the less than 100% attitude of players & officials. And fans are willing to believe most results as managers experiment with tactics and formations.

Kudos as always to the whistleblowers.

Hong Kong footballer sentenced over match-fixing bid

HONG KONG: A young Hong Kong footballer has been sent to a detention centre after admitting trying to bribe his teammates to throw an international friendly against Russia, court officials said.

A magistrate's court Friday ordered Iu Wai, a 20-year-old defender for Hong Kong's under-21 side, to be held at the detention centre after he pleaded guilty to two counts of bribery, a court spokeswoman said.

Under Hong Kong law, young offenders can be sent to a detention centre for between one and six months as an alternative to prison. The length of their sentence is determined during the course of their incarceration.

Iu promised two teammates -- a defender and a goalkeeper -- tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars if they helped to deliberately lose a friendly against the Russian youth team.

The duo refused and reported him to the anti-corruption authorities, who staged an unprecedented raid during the November game while 5,000 spectators looked on. Iu was arrested later.

a possible answer

2011-12-29T10:56:00.001Z

A possible technical explanation via BetAngel.

I remember several years ago when the site crashed when the bet ID reached an overflow number - worryingly, it was a customer who picked it up rather than any of the techie brains trust. Slightly different here being on the stake, a figure which is input by customers, and concerning too. Best theory I've heard of why it happened. And by christ there are some bloody stupid ones out there!

the verdict - never going to be anything other than void

2011-12-29T02:11:00.001Z

Now that we've all had a little time to sit back and think about what happened at Betfair today, here's why I think it was entirely the right decision for them to void all bets. I did not have a financial interest in the race, and like it says up in the top corner, I am an ex-Betfair employee - but I hope neither have any bearing on my position on this.

The punter's biggest lament with bookies is when they cry 'palpable error'. Having worked both sides of the counter, on the whole, I don't have a problem with this rule - when there is no doubt an error has been made, by whatever reason. Do unto others as they would have do unto you. I have no sympathy at all for punters bitching and moaning on forums when they identified an obvious mistake with a bookmaker, and tried to put their life savings on it. Those guys have the moral code of John Terry or Ryan Giggs, and some might say the gene pool would be better off without them. When it does hit very thin ice is when bookies roll out the palpable error rule when it isn't blatant - when a reasonable person would struggle to differentiate between the right and wrong offers. Online bookies in offshore havens such as Malta or the Caribbean have been known to do this, and put a blight on the industry worldwide. The punter's comeback will be that they have no form of a comeback if they make a mistake - which is untrue. Every betting firm allows the customer to confirm their bet - it's there for a reason. Betfair (and other exchanges) are the only companies I know that allows the punter to switch off this confirmation - but that is not the default setting - if you switch off the option to confirm all bets, then you are stuck with what you enter.

There is no doubt whatsoever that this was a technical glitch of the highest magnitude. Occasionally you see lumpy bets with some joker trying to spoof the market, but nothing of this price or size. This offer was so big, it barely fit on the screen for most people. And the race comments from AtTheRaces tell us that the price was always way out of line as well:

held up towards rear, headway into 3rd before 3 out, travelled best to challenge entering straight, soon led and shaken up to assert before last, kept on well run-in, comfortably

Now it's drawing a long bow to suggest everyone would recognise it was a wrong price, after all, with no bookmakers with automated systems betting in-running, there is no 'right' price - it all comes down to opinions of individual punters. But, this wasn't a 10/1 shot, it was the second favourite which started at a Betfair SP of 2.96. For it to hit 29, it would need to be hard-ridden early and going backwards, with the favourite looking very strong.

In combination with the eight-digit offer, so big that the price never moved despite Voler la Vedette winning by 4 3/4 lengths, even a first-day novice would realise something was seriously wrong in the market.

Betfair's biggest problem in all of this is that the firm, in the UK at least, have sunk to an all-time low in popularity. Everything they do is seen as part of an agenda to screw punters for every penny they can get. Sure, as a start-up evolves into a multi-national corporation, then its values have to change - but it is the relationship with its customers which has faded severely: once regarded as welcome friends joining a cause against those 'evil' bookies, now seen as numbers with wallets which should be drained as efficiently as possible. Back in the old days (circa 2005), a site outage during a key period would result in compensation for everyone, such as a commission-free day. When was the last time you can recall a commission-free market? Such offers these days might cost a lot more... but so is a PR disaster like this one. It was pointed out that the company value of Betfair lost more than the £23m in question between 1400 and 1630 when the stock market closed today. Tech glitches which cause bets to be repeated, or you don't know if they have been matched for several minutes, races not being turned in-play on time, site going down at crucial times.... these are all major issues which piss punters off big time, and it's not as if they are unique. Compensating customers might be costly - but hiding behind the Ts&Cs every time really kills the trust factor from punters. (Yes they often will compensate individuals who complain, but it often seems quite selective on when and to whom).

Cynics will point to this scandal as being an 'obvious' sign that Betfair are trading in their own markets. I don't see that at all. Yes, there is a cross-matching bot involved, that is stated in the market rules, but it could have been any account with a bot (trading programme) which went haywire. To me (a non-techie with a reasonable knowledge of how the system worked a few years ago), it looks as if the liability cap failed in conjunction with the account balance on a single, largely automated, account. You might ask why they both failed - it's possible (in my mind at least) that the liability cap overrides the account balance (if checked elsewhere in the system), in an effort to remove redundant code and reduce transaction time.

Betfair have no bet confirmation option internally, apart from the checks performed on each bet. Of course they can't manually check every bet which goes on the site (nor can a bookie offering 100s of markets in-play) - so the safety net of the option to void has to be there. In an ideal world, that control would be placed in the hands of an independent body - but with financial authorities being shown as being asleep at the wheel before the financial crisis, would that genuinely make us feel any better?

Re why did it take so long to make the void decision if it was so clear-cut? The decision to void bets worth over £20m couldn't be taken lightly, and at this time of year, it is likely that key members of staff weren't in the country, let alone the office. It's not the decision of the graduate in Market Operation to make that decision - senior management would make the call. Also, being a listed company, it was probably deemed necessary/appropriate to wait until after the market closed at 1630 to make the announcement.

To the punters concerned, this void all in-running bets ruling will suck - but let's face it, most of them were well aware of what they were doing - if not initially, then certainly by the end of the race when there was still £20m or so available to back on Voler La Vedette at 29. But if Betfair had enough customers to take all of the offer, leaving someone with a liability of nearly £600m, do they honestly believe forcing them to pay up, effectively sending the company bankrupt, would be the best policy? What if it was another firm which didn't have strict rules on segregating client funds? Would you be happy if a legal challenge forced the company to go bust, taking remaining client funds with it? Thought not. There's no way known a customer would cough up on that debt if it was a technical glitch which caused it, and if it was owned by a billionaire, they'd lock this up in a court case which took years to settle. Remember, if you want all companies to be liable for episodes like this, then expect commission rates/overrounds to increase severely to cover it. You can't have the cake and eat it too.

A legal challenge is expected to be mounted, but I can't see it winning. Betfair might see value in settling out of court, but that would require an attitude change from them.

For Betfair - how do you fix the acidic relationship with customers now?
Invest heavily in solving the tech issues.
Be generous with compensation - no reasonable person expects you to pay the full amount here, but customers and investors need to see you are serious about solving the problems and mending the damaged relationships with customers.
Stop treating your most loyal customers as cashpoints who need to keep paying for the service - if they win, they have to keep paying the premium charge, they shouldn't have to wear avoidable errors through system failures.
Stop trying to be just another bookie - the reason most people joined is because you offered something different.
Put customers before profits for a change - it costs far more to acquire new customers than retain the old ones, if you look after what you have, the profits will take care of themselves.

And as I said in a tweet yesterday - this is about the 17th own goal that Betfair have handed to Betdaq - will they ever cash in on one?

Feel free to make comments below...

UPDATE:

Further Betfair explanations:

In response to a number of customer questions on this matter, we would like to clarify that the account in question has no commercial relationship with Betfair other than being a customer.

Further update to 2pm Leopardstown race

Firstly, we would like to re-iterate that anyone betting in-running in yesterday’s Leopardstown race clearly received a very poor customer service and betting experience. We apologise once again for this.

We have identified the issue and replicated it in a test environment last night. A fix was applied overnight, and is now subject to rigorous testing. A further update on this will be made today.

Contrary to some media speculation, we can confirm that all in-running bets on this market would have been voided, had Voler La Vadette won or lost. There was never any chance of the account in question profiting yesterday. The account in question was also immediately suspended after the Leopardstown race.

There has been some criticism from customers, and in the press, that Betfair took too long to void. Quite simply, we made the decision after we were in full possession of the all the facts and input from the relevant internal departments. A decision was then made to void in accordance with our terms and conditions.

We will update when more information is available.

All bets void

2011-12-28T16:56:00.001Z

No great surprise from Betfair, will analyse further later...
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

2011-12-28T14:33:00.000Z

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down.

Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m.

You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won!

Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk).

There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, naturally) has implied it wasn't a Betfair issue.

I would be extremely surprised if this race was paid out in full - if it is a massive customer Betfair have offered credit to (has been offered in very selective cases), then the customer is quite likely to argue technical error that Betfair should have blocked and refuse to pay up. As mentioned above, I severely doubt it's a customer/syndicate with that much in cash reserves, and the other point to remember is that Betfair TSE Ltd are now under the regulatory control of Gibraltar authorities, who don't have a history of putting the punter first. Betfair aren't the kind of company who will take the whack on the chin if it was an internal balls-up, and £23m will make a serious dent into their all-important share price.

Almost 40 mins later, and the race hasn't been settled. I doubt it will for a while yet either.

Hmmmm.....

Bravo Italia

2011-12-27T22:55:00.000Z

I am enjoying the arrests and ongoing investigations into Italian football matchfixing - it has been a long time coming, and for a country so entrenched in corruption, organised crime and simple acceptance of both, it has been heart-warming to see they are finally getting the message. If Italy really wants to be regarded as one of the premier football nations of the world, then it's time it cleaned up its act. Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni has admitted betting on fixed matches, only because it was his team set up to win. He is one of 16 players to have been arrested just before Christmas.

But the best gesture of the week goes to Italian national team coach, Cesare Prandelli. He will reward the player who blew the whistle on match-fixing, Gubbio defender Simone Farina, with an invitation to train with the national team. Prandelli is intent on improving the image of Italian football, suspending any player from the national team who has been disciplined for unsportsmanlike conduct at club level, and any player who gets into trouble off the field. I wonder how Fabio Capello feels about that policy....

Match-fixing whistle blower to train with Italy

ROME (AP) -- Italy coach Cesare Prandelli is planning to reward the Italian match-fixing whistle blower by letting the previously little-known Gubbio defender train with the national team.

"It's a way to thank him and underline what he represents,'' Prandelli told Italian daily La Repubblica on Friday. "He didn't just show courage, he also showed extraordinary inner strength.''

Last month, Simone Farina was approached and offered ?200,000 ($260,000) to influence the outcome of an Italian Cup match between Cesena and Gubbio on Nov. 30. The player refused and reported the incident to the police, and when the news broke alongside the arrests of 17 people across Italy on Monday, Farina was hailed as a hero.

Judicial officials said Monday that Farina was approached by his former teammate from Roma's youth system, Alessandro Zamperini, who was among those arrested.

The money Farina might have received would have been more than double his salary.

"Gestures like that don't come easy in the lower divisions,'' Prandelli said. "Now it's up to us not to abandon him.''

additions to Idiots of the Year awards

2011-12-24T23:29:00.000Z

How could I forget some of the bozo government bodies who allegedly police the industry for the protection of punters?

Jobsworths of the Year

Three-way tied effort between the ACT Gaming and Racing Commission, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority and the racing stewards of Western Australia.

The ACT Gaming and Racing Commission awarded a sports and racing betting licence to SportsAlive, and under the terms of the licence, were supposed to monitor them very tightly, to ensure the protection of punters. This blatantly did not occur and like a typically useless government department, they have washed their hands of any blame. As an accountholder of the now defunct bookie, I have received a list of creditors of the company - it is long and ugly. There's sweet FA hope of the serious punters receiving any more than a few cents in the dollar (another bookie has picked up the tab for the little accounts, obviously hoping to pick up a lot of fish on the cheap). Since very few of the firm's clients would have resided in the piss-ant little territory of the ACT, the Commission's obvious first concern was tax revenues and not the sanctity of punter funds.

The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority followed a similar ethos, protecting one of their resident companies (Betfred.com) over the rights of winning punters in this racing sting. Now, I'm not a great fan of racing 'coups' - to get it all together on one day means they must have stopped horses from performing on their merits on previous occasions. How else do you get the odds you need to launch a sting? But, it is not the job of a licensing authority on a tax haven to declare such efforts illegal. The British Horseracing Authority declared no rules of racing had been broken. UK betting shops of BetFred paid out on the races in question, but the online division chose to weasel out of paying, under the protection of the GRA. Despicable.

The racing stewards of Western Australia ruined a great Railway Stakes race this year by taking the race off the Kerrin McEvoy-ridden He's Remarkable and awarding it to the second horse, Luckygray, based on a protest lodged by connections of the runner-up. There is no doubt the winner caused significant interference when leaving the fence on the turn. But the problem is, he interfered with one horse, Waratah's Secret (finished 4th) who then affected Ranger, the favourite, who finished well back. Luckygray, if anything, benefitted from the interference as it created space for him.

You might consider this a bit odd, but I backed the winner and was not that surprised to see him lose on protest. If a horse causes significant interference in order to win a (major) race, I have no issue with the race being taken off them. To only allow horses which finished close to the winner the right to protest actually encourages the rough rider to flatten a rival or two, putting them completely out of the race - winning by cheating. There was a prime example in the 1996 Golden Slipper, when Greg Hall riding Merlene, knocked down half the field in order to win the race. Hall received a massive suspension and fine, one of the biggest ever handed down in Australia, but he was riding for one of the richest men in the country - it didn't cost him a cent.

The problem in the Railway Stakes case is that there is no rule in Australian racing that gives stewards the right to disqualify based on greater interference as I've described above. They can only look at the direct interference between the horses involved in the protest. The NZ horse (the winner) was robbed, the WA racing stewards have invented a rule to award the race to the home town runner, Luckygray.

Also, another prime contender for Hypocrite of the Year award deserves to receive the award in the individual category.

John McCririck.

I really don't understand why this guy is so popular in the UK industry. He is a hideous advertisement for the sport - patronising, sexist, acts like a clown, rants and raves without any facts to his arguments, and sticks his head on TV every time a controversial incident in racing appears. When the whip rule controversy emerged, he well and truly bit the hand that feeds him, calling HIS sport barbaric, and pandering to the tabloid press which loves seeing racing getting kicked. No other sport or industry would put up with a dickhead like this. His pathetic calls of 'they knew' every time a horse wins lead the casual fan to think the game is fixed. There is talk of several racecallers being under pressure to retain their positions. If only the 'pundits' had the same examinations going on...
,br>

Idiots of the year awards

2011-12-23T00:47:00.000Z

Following on from earlier in the week....

Corrupt Bastard of the Year: It can only go to Sepp Blatter.

When faced with allegations of corruption, what do you do?
1. Get the accuser, and main rival, kicked out of FIFA because he is either as rotten to the core, or the only one who isn't, so therefore he must be removed.

2. Sacrifice an entire region (CONMEBOL) because they hold little power and blood must be shed, despite them only following the examples of their peers. CONCACAF is seemingly several times more corrupt but they hold far more power in FIFA voting ranks.

3. Hold an election where the ballot paper has only one name on it. Not even Kim Jong-Il (RIP) was vain enough to do that.

4. Go to the most corrupt country in the world, Zimbabwe, and lecture players about the evils of match-fixing and how any players caught being involved in corruption should be severely punished.

5. Blame every allegation against you on being a fabrication of the British media, who bear a heavy grudge against losing the bid for WC2018.

6. Make a big song and dance about bringing in a corruption investigator...then not allow him to investigate anything in the past.

And then there's the ludicrous 'shake hands and it will all be better' response to racism.

Clueless Sports Body of the Year:

The ICC, for their quest against spot-fixing making headlines around the world with the gaol sentences for Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif, Mohammed Amir and the fixer himself, Mazher Majeed. The only problem was, the ICC had virtually nothing to do with the detection and capture of evidence, it was all done by a now-defunct newspaper! The ICC's response to the verdicts - schedule more meaningless international matches and let the BCCI run the show as usual.

The Hypocratic Oafs:

The English FA. Always trying to take the moral high ground with FIFA and UEFA over issues such as corruption and racism, yet they allow John Terry to play on and keep the captaincy. In any other job, he'd be suspended immediately while under investigation. Destroys their moral arguments vs FIFA and UEFA.

What award do you give British/Irish racing - so many good stories, so many blunders.

The case for good:
- Frankel, Long Run, Kauto Star....
- Mickael Barzalona showboating before the finish line in the Derby
- The stiffness of the race-fixing penalties
- Increased exposure via Willie Carson on I'm A Celebrity and Wayne Rooney buying a horse with Tom Dascombe. Some might class the exposure bit as pointless wank but it gives vital positive exposure to the sport in the non-racing press which has had to endure, and will naturally highlight the section below.

The case for bad:
- The whip rule - the timing of the announcement (days before the new showpiece, QIPCO Champions Day), the severity of the penalties at the minor infringement levels and the refusal to accept that horses/riders which don't cheat are still penalised (winner should be thrown out every time otherwise you are encouraging cheating to win - the rule is inconsistent and toothless without that addition). I'm not against the concept of the change, but the implementation was appalling.
- The BHA wasting yet more hefty legal fees on challenging the ruling on Betfair customers not being bookmakers (pay a lawyer a lot of money and they will happily tell you they can prove the Moon is made of cheese)
- Continued resistance by course managers to use traffic cones/barriers etc to stop jockeys taking the wrong course, Willie Mullins giving a firm 'screw you' to punters by refusing to give news on status on Hurricane Fly for the Istabraq Hurdle (if a horse is nominated, the trainer should be compelled to make all information relating to health of animal public, if penalised if found to be duping the public)
- The inadequate penalty giving to Sam Waley-Cohen for pulling up a horse a lap early then lying through his teeth rather than admitting he fucked up, followed by his penalty only applying to amateur races which he doesn't need to ride in any more given he rides Long Run, is loaded and is far better than anyone else in amateur ranks- Obsession with fixing the SP system when there is one bad race a year against what is a solid system overall while at the same time horses with a run of duck eggs next to their name can miraculously have a major form reversal on the same day as a huge betting plunge but that apparently doesn't cast a bad light on the industry.

- And Paul Roy, most to blame for the top-level incompetence, is still in charge.

Head in the Sand award

The WTA for, like the ATP and ITF, being in denial about how big tennis betting actually is. Betting is evil, we can't be seen to promote it.... Just this week, they have announced a great new broadcast deal with the Perform Group - whose client base is predominantly online bookmakers!

Have I missed any? I haven't got any international names there. Feel free to nominate them in the comments....

my awards of the year

2011-12-19T23:19:00.000Z

Felt like writing some end of year material, and what better way than some made-up awards. I fear this might turn into a few posts and genres, so I'll start with the ones for sporting excellence, before I move onto ranting about numpties and corruption.

Awards of the year:

Sports:
Athletics - Sally Pearson. Outstanding season, acknowledged as the fastest non-juiced women's hurdler in history. Absolute perfection when she won the world title in Daegu. Other nominations - Yohan Blake for winning the men's 100m, albeit without Usain Bolt. He will be a contender in London. Anyone else?
Brickbats to anyone who thought refunding all money bet on Bolt (a 1.05 shot) and taking deductions out of other runners would be a good idea - clueless.

Biathlon - Magdalena Neuner. She's stunning, world champion, German sportswoman of the year again and she will retire at the end of this season aged 25. Huge loss to the sport.
Other nominations: Tarjei Boe, the latest Norwegian superstar in the sport, taking over from where Ole Einar Bjorndalen left off.

Cricket - Alistair Cook. Run machine who broke Aussie hearts in the Ashes and then continued on his merry way throughout 2011. Other names could be slotted in there but he has been brilliant in consecutive seasons whereas some of the others have ebbed & flowed a little. As for bowlers - hands up if you knew the top three Test wicket-takers of the year were Saeed Ajmal, Ishant Sharma and Devendra Bishoo??

Cycling - maybe a slight Aussie bias, but what a win it was for Cadel Evans in the Tour de France. Historic moment for Australian sport, and he joins the elite group of non-European winners (only Greg LeMond and Louis Armstrong had done it before).

Golf - Clarke, Donald and McIlroy fighting it out for BBC Sports Personality of the Year, but my vote goes to Adam Scott - after all, he managed to land Ana Ivanovic again!

Hockey - player award goes to Jamie Dwyer, the Lionel Messi of the sport, for winning the FIH Player of the Year award for the fifth time A phenomenal achievement.

Motor Sport - rather than giving the award to Sebastian Vettel for a year of domination, I shall give it to those who have fallen in 2011 - Dan Wheldon, Marco Simoncelli, and most recently, NZ V8 Supercar driver Jason Richards who succumbed to cancer last week at the age of 35. May they rest in peace...

Racing
Jockey: no rider has dominated like Aussie Craig Williams this season - Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, should have ridden the Melbourne Cup winner (suspended), 2nd in the Japan Cup, won the Hong Kong Vase, and I'm sure I've missed a few other big wins in there too.

Horse: Frankel has been a superstar in the UK this year, however, he hasn't travelled anywhere, hasn't raced outside set weights races and hasn't run time. The greatest accolades go to those horses who will take on anyone, anywhere and smash the clock in doing so. I give you Black Caviar - she takes them on in handicaps, she runs brilliant time and only a minor injury in May stopped her from stepping up in distance which will happen next campaign. And she draws in the non-racegoers in a flood unseen since the days of the mighty Phar Lap. Disappointingly, we are yet to see Frankel's pulling power at the attendance gates, at least at anywhere near the levels of the mighty mare from Melbourne.

Harness horse - the mighty Smoken Up who keeps winning the big races, even as a 9yo, and it shows on the clock too. Outstanding.

Swimming - Ryan Lochte was the outstanding man in the pool in a year where Michael Phelps was returning to the water after a break. Four individual golds plus relays, finally shaking the monkey off his back and taking centre stage. In the women, the emergence of a new star - Missy Franklin. This girl will clean up in London, you heard it here.

Tennis - No doubt Novak Djokovic was the star of the men's tour for 2011, but look at the big movers in the rankings - Dolgopolov 48 to 15, Nishikori 98 to 25, Raonic 156 to 31, Bogomolov 166 to 33, Young 129 to 39, Tomic 208 to 42, all massive leaps.

Amongst the women, it's not so clearcut - Kvitova, Li and Stosur for winning their first majors, Petkovic climbing from 32 to 10, Lisicki bouncing back after injury from 159 to 15, Cetkovska 142 to 31, Begu 214 to 40, McHale 115 to 42. I'll give it to Li for the effect it will have on Asian tennis.

match-fixing in the news in Italy again

2011-12-19T15:37:00.000Z

No great surprise here, although you'd think the games in question could have been a little more obvious. The three Serie A games listed didn't involve draws which traded at 1.55 on Thursday!

Match-fixing arrests reach 17 in Italy

CREMONA, Italy -- Former Atalanta captain Cristiano Doni and 16 other people have been arrested across Italy in an ongoing investigation into soccer match-fixing and illegal betting.

The inquiry is focused on several matches in Serie B over the past two seasons, with Atalanta involved in three matches. Three Serie A matches from last season are also under investigation: Brescia vs. Bari, Brescia vs. Lecce and Napoli vs. Sampdoria.

"This is not the end, but just a starting point," Cremona prosecutor Roberto Di Martino said Monday. "Let's hope it's a starting point in cleaning up the beautiful game that is football. One of the suspects has admitted that these operations have been going on for over 10 years.

"At the top of the organization are men from Singapore, who are those who move the money, but the shareholders are divided from the West, to the Far East, to South America and they manage with their men how to change the outcome of football matches."

Prices and results from BetExplorer:

Brescia v Bari - 2-0, Brescia 2.10. 19th v 20th (on end-of-season table)

Brescia v Lecce - 2-2, draw 3.20. 19th v 17th (on end-of-season table)

Napoli v Sampdoria - 4-0. Napoli 1.55, 3rd v 18th on the table (on end-of-season table)

blast from the past: The Betfair Academy

2011-12-12T22:36:00.000Z

Well after the eventful interview in yesterday's post, I thought it was time to share the last piece of Betfair training material I'd been hanging onto. It's been three years since I left now and the company haven't done anything with it, so it shouldn't be left sitting in my archives any longer.

The Betfair Academy was a training course I devised with the help of a couple of others. Its aim was to create Betfair trainers rather than more advanced punters but it works just as well for both. There were plenty of guys who enrolled in the course just to improve their trading. The vast majority of Betfair users will find something of use in there, even if it's just a keyboard shortcut or an extra trading strategy they'd never considered. The trading techniques aren't necessarily profitable, they are there to make you think about what else you can do on an exchange, rather than just simple backs and lays.

Here's the link - Betfair Academy handbook - it's an 8MB .pdf file and the link will take you the Mac download site (me.com). The link will remain active for 60 days (just email me or comment and I'll reactivate it if necessary).

Bear in mind, this handbook was the accompanying text to an interactive seminar, so it's written to encourage discussion, not as the definitive text. Also, it was originally written in 2006 and then revised for this final 2008 edition - quite a few things have changed on the Betfair site since then, but most of the information is still useful.

And best of all - it's free! Can't guarantee I'll be able to answer everyone's questions promptly or in full detail, but I'll do my best. Ask via the comments or email me via the address on my profile.

in the press this week...

2011-12-11T09:00:00.000Z

I've been pretty popular this week - first being probed by France24 over the Dinamo Zagreb - Lyon match

read it here (best to use Google Translate unless you are fluent in French)

and then asked by another blogger, Tennis Sultan, for a full interview re my time and thoughts on Betfair. If you like controversy and my preference of not holding back, then you'll enjoy it

read it here

Hong Kong International Vase assessment

2011-12-11T00:30:00.000Z

Local runners have a poor record in this race - understandable as they don't really do distance racing - with just two placegetters in the last 10 editions. I think Thumbs Up is pretty exciting, but the rest of them have no hope.

Runners:

Trailblazer: top run in the Japan Cup, finishing 4th and 2.5L behind the mighty mare Buena Vista. He was ahead of Arc winner Danedream and one his main rivals today, Sarah Lynx. Drawn ideally, still a 4yo with steadily improving ratings - he is right in contention for this.

Jakkalberry: wins Group races in Italy, comes up short when he visits the UK. Came fifth in this race last year, can't see him doing any better this time.

Silver Pond: finished midfield in the Arc de Triomphe when he drew the outside and had no alternative but to go back to last. Good form around Bekhabad and Sarafina before that and drawn ideally. French horses have a n exceptional record in this race (8 wins in 17yrs).

Campanologist: won his last two starts, claiming 'softer' Group 1 races in Italy and Germany. Stable won this last year with Mastery. Not a big fan of the horse, but he will be in the mix.

Dunaden: the Melbourne Cup winner who will be at much bigger odds in Europe if you fancy him. Trainer is confident, jockey is in incredible form, big chance.

Mighty High: poor race record for locals and his last two starts have been poor. Would surprise.

Mr Medici: less chance than Mighty High.

Redwood: ran second in this race last year (result and replay). Doesn't appear to be going as well as last year, but has no qualms about travelling. Drawn wide, will get double the UK price in Australia.

Thumbs Up: impressive in his first run over 2000m in almost two years - replay. Flew home down the outside, giving the impression that a further step up in distance won't worry him. Might find it a little harder to flash from the back from gate one, but is a leading contender.

Red Cadeaux: beaten by a pixel in the Melbourne Cup, carrying 1kg less than Dunaden. His trainer knows exactly what he is doing with travelling his horses, back to 2400 won't bother him.

Super Satin: Derby winner of 2010, hasn't run a place in 2011. Nope.

Sarah Lynx: well-travelled French mare, recently running in the Woodbine International (won at 22/1with a dream rails run - check out the awful racecall) and the Japan Cup (12th, never fired). Gets a small weight advantage, not sure she's good enough to win.

Vadamar: quality French 3yo, was fancied in the Epsom Derby but was overshadowed by the other French horse Pour Moi. Had a three month break and was set for this race. Won the Prix De Conseil de Paris at his last start, and with only seven starts under his belt, has plenty of improvement left in him. Versatile, can go forward or back.

VERDICT

Like Trailblazer and Vadamar here, with Silver Pond, Campanologist, Dunaden, Red Cadeaux, Thumbs Up going into the exotics.

Hong Kong International Mile assessment

2011-12-10T22:10:00.000Z

The locals have an impeccable record in this race - winning seven of the last 10 runnings, with two wins from Japan, and one from UAE/Godolphin. Apart from two French placegetters last year, it's not much different on the lower steps of the 'podium'.Best form race is The Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Mile from three weeks ago, here's the result and replay.

Cityscape: Highest-rated horse in the field yet he hasn't won a G1. That rating was achieved in running third to Canford Cliffs and Goldikova at Royal Ascot, and again in a G3 at St Cloud, beating a field who, apart from one runner, I've never heard of. Not convinced on him.

Jimmy Choux: New Zealand's superstar who looked to have the Cox Plate won until Pinker Pinker emerged after the softest run you'd ever find. Then ran a close 4th in the G1 Emirates Stakes (handicap), carrying 58kg giving away at least 4kg to all the placegetters. Boxed on his own at the racetrack, so he's been given a mirro to think there are other horses there and listens to an iPod, I kid you not. Trainer believes he is best at the mile, will go damn close.

Rajsaman: dead-heated for fourh here last year as a 3yo. Has won a couple of G2s in France since, narrowly beating Rio De La Plata last time (who I don't rate that highly) and Byword (who I do rate, but received 3kg that day) back in May. In with a chance, will be much bigger odds with Aussie bookies than in the UK.

Beauty Flash: won this race last year. Best when he gets an easy lead, and doesn't appear to be much pace in this edition. Ran fourth in Champions Mile in April, beaten under a length by Xtension after drawing out in the car park. Strong form through local stars Ambitious Dragon and Destined For Glory, has G.Mosse on board, big chance.

Xtension: Former British horse, was trained by Clive Cox. Ran 4th in the 2000 Guineas last year, just behind Dick Turpin and Canford Cliffs. Won Champions Mile in April, flew home last start for a close-up fifth off a muddling pace. Gets back, needs a genuinely run race.

Able One: 9yo local who won this race in '07 and '10, but was also fav last yr before being scratched at the barrier. Not far away in six runs this year, but hasn't managed a place. Not a winning chance, big unders.

Flying Blue: up and comer who came third to Destined For Glory and Ambitious Dragon recently (see link at the top), beaten 3/4 of a length at odds of 27. Drawn well, needs to step up another level to win, but lightly raced and is capable of doing that.

Destined For Glory: impressive horse who raced in Ireland as Wade Giles. I was keen on the horse before he went to HK, and he has made the steps forward expected of him, most recently defeating local superstar Ambitious Dragon in the Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Mile, carrying 5lbs less than him and having the easier run. Drawn one which could be a negative off a slow pace, but overcame that hurdle last time. Trainer claims that he is now a specialist miler after sending a blood sample off to a genome testing unit. Took a big step forward last time, capable of doing it again.

Outdoor Pegasus: gets a run after the withdrawal of Fair Trade. A long way off this lot.

Sichuan Success: has been progressing through the ranks in HK but has drawn wide. Top run last start when blocked for most of the straight in the Sha Tin Trophy. Had the weight advantage that day and started favourite, so obviously held in very high regard. The John Size/Douglas Whyte combination has been deadly in HK for many years. Has won six of his 12 career starts, by boom Australian sire Fastnet Rock - underestimate at your peril. Note - Aussie firms, who bet on HK regularly, much shorter (8) than most UK firms (13), who probably haven't watched the tapes...

Fat Choy Oolala: 100/1 with some bookies and for good reason. Rated more than a stone lower than the benchmarks of this field. Best thing going for him is that Maxime Guyon is aboard.

Dubawi Gold: 3yo British colt trained by Richard Hannon, best known for running second to Frankel in that Guineas win. Not the biggest horse in training, nor the soundest - has apparently failed a vet test to be sold to HK this year. I just don't think he's a winner at the top level, he keeps finding better opposition on a regular basis. Drawn 14, needs plenty of luck.

Sahpresa: French mare not afraid to travel. Huge run to finish third in the Japan Autumn International Mile Championship last start. watch her flashing down the outside. Multiple G1 winner, but only against the girls. Keeps running third or fourth when the boys join in. That makes her too short in the betting for me.

Apapane: very good Japanese mare who beat Buena Vista in the G1 Victoria Mile in May. Like Sahpresa in that she has won several G1 races for fillies and mares, but yet to break the duck against the boys. Seems to prefer racing wide or with plenty of room (last three wins from barriers 17, 15 and 16). In the mix.

VERDICT

This is a very even race with only two horses you can rule a line through. It's the strong local record which steers me away from the Europeans. Hard to split several of them here and I'll be going wide in the exotics.

Extension
Sichuan Success
Jimmy Choux
Flying Blue
Apapane
Destined For Glory

Hong Kong International Day races

2011-12-09T17:34:00.001Z

They bill it as the World Turf Championships, and while the standard is pretty good, I think that's a little bit rich this year. But, despite not having a Black Caviar or Frankel on the card, it's still a great day of racing. I intend to hit the big four races heavily on the exotics so will run through the runners in the big four races like I did for the Melbourne Cup later this evening. That's if my five-week old son will let me do some form study and typing tonight!

Tune in again tomorrow.....

Betfair getting ready for California launch

2011-12-06T08:33:00.001Z

With the law permitting exchange-base wagering on horse racing taking effect in May 2012, Betfair/TVG are getting everything ready to go. Coming up this week is the first public test of the model at an annual racing industry event.

TVG Betfair to Demonstrate Exchange-Bet Model

A test model of the first exchange wagering system proposed for the United States will be demonstrated at the University of Arizona Symposium on Racing & Gaming in Tucson beginning Dec. 6.

The system, developed by TVG Betfair, is a “first stage application,” the company said Dec. 5. The racing network TVG is based in California and owned by Great Britain-based Betfair, which operates the largest exchange wagering platform in the world.

......

A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle said TVG Betfair is proposing a 10% commission, two-thirds of which would go to racing and one-third to Betfair. Racetracks, horsemen, and others would then split the two-thirds according to regulations and contracts.

Firstly, there is still a long way to go in negotiations with racetracks and horsemen. The latter are renowned as some of the most stubborn bastards on Earth and their support for wagering matters only seems to be gained when the % takeout increases - despite all forms of economics showing that volume, and thus income, decreases when takeout percentages rise. Contrast the wagering figures between Tampa Bay Downs and any Californian track for evidence.

The SF Chronicle said the commission would be 10% on stakes, which seemed a little odd, although being an American paper not fully au fait with the workings of exchange betting, they can be excused if it was in fact in error - but with tote takeouts coming via stakes, perhaps it is a plan to compare like-for-like. That figure appears high for regular BF punters, but let's not forget, this is something completely new for Californian punters, and it's still a big improvement on their only current option - the tote.

No mention yet of whether any cross-border action will be permitted - tough to get the market moving without people who understand the product properly, particularly layers. Without any fixed-odds alternatives, it's gonna be slow out of the blocks unless they can tap into some experience.

Tattsbet buys the TOTE

2011-12-01T12:22:00.001Z

Tasmania's wagering service, the TOTE, has been sold this week to Tattsbet, which currently runs the state TABs of Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. The TOTE holds the exclusive off-course betting rights in Tasmania, namely betting shops and hotel outlets plus racecourse operations. They also supply all the Australian tote betting services to Betfair, and are currently linked into the SuperTAB pools for selected markets, something which will surely change.

TOTE sold to Tatts group

TOTE Tasmania has been sold to Tattsbet Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tatts Group Limited.Premier Lara Giddings made the announcement at a hastily convened press conference at Hobart Airport this afternoon before leaving the state for the national Labor Conference.

TOTE was sold for approximately $103 million.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year nominations

2011-11-30T00:30:00.000Z

Lots of moaning on Twitter etc about the nominated group, particularly re no women being in the mix. But let's have a look at the list and see who might have genuinely been robbed of a spot on the list.

Mark Cavendish - incredible year and worthy favourite.

Luke Donald - number one golfer in the world, huge achievement despite not winning a major.

Rory McIlroy - bagged Caroline Wozniacki, that's worth being on the list in itself! But seriously, won the US Open and has an amazing career ahead of him.

Darren Clarke - won the Open Championship despite his career starting to wain. A real personality of professional golf, so depending on which quality you think defines this award...

Mo Farah - outstanding year on the track. No longer the best of the non-Africans, he is now world champion at 5000m and world silver medallist in the 10000m.

Dai Greene - world champion at the 400 sticks. Doubt it puts him above Farah, but popular guy, Welsh support etc..

Andrew Strauss - led England to a decisive Ashes victory in Australia, and onto no.1 in the world.

Alistair Cook - his unstoppable form in that Ashes series was a key ingredient of that success. (Several others in the team - Anderson, Trott, Swann, Prior - could have been named but always tough with a champion team)

Andy Murray - many will be critical but this has actually been his best year on the circuit. Reaching the semis of all four Slams is a huge feat, especially in an era where each of the top three have genuine reasons for being mentioned in greatest of all time discussions.

Amir Khan - the one query for me, named British Boxer of the Year and won two fights during the period in question.

Seems quite a valid list to me, glad to see there are no footballers or rugby players on there, purely for the sake of it. Who has missed out then? A few names being mentioned:

Nick Matthew - dual world squash champion. Unfortunately a largely anonymous sport in the UK now.

Alistair Brownlee - world champion triathlete for the second time. Again, very little coverage here, but at least he will have a chance at the spotlight in 2012 with the Olympics.

Keri-Ann Payne - world open water champion for the second time. But with the World Swimming Championships being held in Asia this year (wrong timezone) and open water being the lesser known sibling of pool racing, her achievements are largely unknown.

Chrissie Wellington - I had to look this one up. World women's ironman champion. Obviously a fantastic achievement but how can she be SPOTY in a sport which is completely anonymous in the UK??

Helen Jenkins - star triathlete. See Alistair Brownlee re lack of coverage.

Kath Grainger - world champion rower. Largely anonymous sport outside of Olympic years. Male rowers who won gold at the World titles didn't get a mention either.

Sarah Stevenson - taekwondo champion. Largely anonymous sport outside of Olympic years.

Rebecca Adlington - world champion swimmer at 800m. Has been here before. Probably the only one on the 'not nominated' list that the average punter would recognise. In a non-Olympic year, the only way a swimmer could win this award is with a Michael Phelps-like performance. A distance swimmer is never going to do that.

The Independent explains it well in this article.

It's a pretty simple equation - women's sports generally have a fairly narrow range of popularity. Those in the window this year, most notably Jessica Ennis, didn't take their chances. Those who did shine are largely anonymous - did any of their achievements make mention on Sky Sports or BBC News?

Contrast this to Australia where Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker has just declared Sally Pearson, world 100m hurdles champion in a time widely recognised as the fastest ever by a clean athlete, as the greatest current Australian athlete in any sport right now (and wouldn't be far off the mark either).

British women will get their chance next year when they will win more gold medals than the men. Any mandatory inclusion of a woman in the field reeks of tokenism. The sports they currently achieve highly in simply aren't in the public eye - that's the root of the problem. Bravo to Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson for facing the reality of the situation:

"I wouldn't want tokenism and I wouldn't want a woman to be on the list just because she was a woman," she said.

"But I think you just look at where the nominations have come from and that highlights another problem really - only 2% of media coverage in sport goes to women."

Thompson added that women "just aren't on the minds" of editors or producers.

"You're fighting against the system all the time," she said. "It's the big sports all the time that get the recognition."

For me the bigger issue is why lads' magazines like Zoo and Nuts are asked to vote (no women's equivalent is on the list), while the only specialist daily sports newspaper in the country, the Racing Post, isn't? It's far more than just racing. And the Manchester Evening News should be banned forever for ardent parochialism, to the extent of selecting foreign footballers playing for Manchester teams (Berbatov, Toure and Vieira). Idiots.

And let's be realistic about who is capable of winning anyway - the last few years have shown it comes down to the best coordinated social media campaign. Sporting achievements merely qualify them for the shortlist..

industry update

2011-11-21T10:57:00.001Z

Ok, plenty been happening lately, here's some of the news in brief.

Betfair - have announced the new CEO, Breon Corcoran from Paddy Power, will take over in August 2012 after a lengthy stint of enforced gardening. The company still need to find a new Chairman with Ed Wray intending to stand down. Last week, Chief Commercial Officer Niall Wass announced he was leaving the firm after missing out on the CEO job. He's off to an even bigger money-grubber firm in the short-term loaners Wonga. No great loss there, he has been high up the company through a lot of their woes. It is expected that Corcoran will bring in several people to take key posts. Andrew Black sold off around £1.5m of shares, apparently for a new tech firm investment he's involved with. It's not as if he's cashing out just out yet, his stake in Betfair is still valued at around £75m.

Denmark and Spain are ready to open up for licensing, with several international firms lining up to apply. Meanwhile in Greece, why would you bother when the economy is such a basket case? In France, the government have achieved their objective of expanding the business of the local former monopolies at the same time as pissing off all the foreign firms who are rightfully pissed off at the ridiculous taxation regime in place. Similarly, other firms who haven't restricted French customers and aren't blocked are enjoying additional business as the French punters who get wise about the ridiculous margins forced upon locally-licensed operators force them to be uncompetitive. Unibet will be handing in their French licence and cashing in on the marketing expenditure of EurosportBet whose owners they have just purchased. Why waste money on advertising heavily, when you can get someone else to do it for you, then only pay €5m for the firm? Sounds like smart business to me....

In Australia, the hopes of anyone getting any money back from SportsAlive are very slim. The appeal decision in the race fields legislation case between Racing NSW and Sportsbet & Betfair is getting closer, and the national racing industry might finally be able to set a consistent policy nationwide in relation to betting operators. Sportingbet management have taken over at Centrebet with mass redundancies being made.

And in the States, they're still bumbling around trying to get sports betting legalised. I reckon I'll have grandkids first....

Sorry about the quiet period folks, have been off on paternity leave :)

corrupt Italian football execs and officials heading to jail

2011-11-08T22:15:00.001Z

Glad to see Italian courts have the laws to send corrupt sports official to jail. The people behind the Calciopoli scandal have been handed harsh sentences, hopefully sending a strong precedent in Italian football. This might be the biggest scandal they've had, but it's really the tip of the iceberg. Other incidents are often individual favours between clubs rather than being coordinated by an external syndicate. Note in this case, and nearly all the suspicious Italian matches, it's not about match-fixing for betting, but to win titles or avoid relegation.

Moggi gets 5 years in fix scandal

Former Juventus executive Luciano Moggi was sentenced to five years and four months in prison by a Naples court Tuesday for his role in the 2006 Italian match-fixing scandal.

Prosecutors were seeking a sentence of five years and eight months for Moggi on charges of criminal association aimed at committing sports fraud.

Another former Juventus executive, Antonio Giraudo, already received a three-year sentence and has appealed.

The scandal - the biggest corruption case in the history of Italian football - left Juventus stripped of the 2005 and 2006 Serie A titles and relegated to Serie B by a sports court.

Three other top clubs - AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina - were also penalised, as were Reggina and Arezzo.

Also, former referee selector Paolo Bergamo was sentenced to three years and eight months and colleague Pierluigi Pairetto was handed a 16-month sentence, according to the ANSA news agency.

Fiorentina owners Andrea and Diego Della Valle and Lazio president Claudio Lotito received 15-month sentences for lesser charges.

It's time other countries ensured they have the laws in place to deal with sports corruption. Nations that bury their heads in the sand and insist 'it won't happen here' are prime candidates for endemic corruption.

Betfair new CEO expected to be announced on Monday

2011-11-06T22:35:00.001Z

Sky News broke the story on Saturday night that Paddy Power Chief Operating Officer Breon Corcoran will replace David Yu as Betfair CEO. The outgoing CEO David Yu announced earlier in the year that he wouldn't be seeking an extension of his contract from October 2012, and would even be prepared to leave earlier should a replacement be found. The official announcement to the stock exchange is expected on Monday morning, it will be interesting to see how it responds. When you compare the rapid growth of Paddy Power in recent years, and the dismal share price of Betfair since the float, you would think the market will react positively. All I know is, the new guy will have a lot of work to do to restore the confidence of the punters that got them to where they are today, and the financial market...

Betfair poaches Paddy Power exec for CEO - report

Nov 6 (Reuters) - Online betting group Betfair will announce the appointment of Paddy Power's Breon Corcoran as its new chief executive this week according to media reports.

Corcoran, who is chief operating officer at the Irish bookmaker, will succeed David Yu and end Betfair's five-month search for a replacement.

chalk up one for the good guys

2011-11-01T13:40:00.000Z

News today that the spot-fixing corruption case in London has returned guilty verdicts on the first charges against Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and leading pace bowler Mohammed Asif. Butt has been found guilty of accepting money for corruption, and both players found guilty of conspiracy to cheat. (Asif's charge of accepting money for corruption is still to reach a verdict). The third player in the trial, Mohammed Amir, is believed to have pleaded guilty in advance. This is a great step forward in the fight against corruption in all sports, not just cricket. It shows convictions can be secured, but it also shows just how difficult they are to achieve.

Lots of finger-pointing at the ICC and their anti-corruption unit today for their poor performance. After all, it was journalists from the now-defunct News of the World tabloid paper that captured all the evidence and then handed a gift-wrapped file to British police. The ICC are caught between a rock and a hard place here. You cannot have a sport's ruling body sending its own people in undercover to do the dirty work - imagine the cries of bias, hidden agendas, racism and anything else if certain players or countries were targetted. The press and the legal system would have a field day. And therein lies the problem. Without concrete evidence, a legal case against crooked players will never hold water. Unless the crime takes place within the jurisdiction of a country which specifically has strict laws regarding corruption in sport, then the investigation is up shit creek before it even starts. Few countries have such laws - it's only new in the UK.

Consider tennis and the infamous Davydenko match a few years ago now in Sopot, Poland. A player using a Russian telephone (access required to get list of phone calls etc) in a country without significant penalties against sporting/betting fraud with the crime allegedly being against customers of UK betting companies, and potentially ten spectators. It's all hearsay and circumstantial evidence unless there is indisputable evidence. Rarely will a player confess to it unless they know the game is up. The Tennis Integrity Unit has penalised a couple of players this year themselves, but will have to defend themselves in a sporting court as well. It's notable that the two players named were low-ranked and known troublemakers - certainly in the Koellerer case, everyone bar the player himself has said 'good riddance' to him.

So how can sporting authorities gather the evidence they need without crossing the line? Without cooperation from local police and Interpol, it becomes incredibly difficult. Is there a case for sporting authorities to unite and hire a specialist investigation unit, created at arm's length from each sport's rulers?

It's easy to jump to conclusions and think this is the beginning of cleaning up all sporting corruption. But we are a long, long way from that. Are we going to see players avoid touring England because it's the only country with laws capable of catching and penalising match/spot-fixers? And will they conveniently use the tax excuse that discourages the likes of Usain Bolt and Rafael Nadal from competing in all bar the premier events?

The ICC have to find a way to back these convictions up with heavy presence at matches. Is the Indian-controlled ICC prepared to admit that the IPL has probably been tainted as well and have henchmen looking over the players everywhere they go? I very much doubt it...

Melbourne Cup - pace assessment and tips

2011-10-31T11:16:00.001Z

Pace assessment:

Americain - gets caught wide midfield or has to drop further back. Sat 3W with cover from 11 last year with moderate pace to first turn. Probably needs them to go harder to enable him to get cover.

Jukebox Jury - will press forward but will he be quick enough to do so? The likes of Mourayan, Older Than Time and Glass Harmonium will come across from wide, taking their time and will press on. If he gets stretched to hold the lead, the 57kg will hurt towards the end. If something crosses him, then puts the brakes on, it will also go against him. Can't see him holding the lead.

Dunaden - Lemaire to ride now, can see him sitting midfield, three wide with cover. Just about perfect.

Drunken Sailor - slightly worse than midfield with plenty of cover. Can track the good horses through, just needs a little luck avoiding tired horses.

Glass Harmonium - can only go forward, assuming he doesn't get too stirred up in the pre-race activity. No need to cross early, can stay wide and then cross close to the winning post. Leads or sits outside the leader.

Manighar - can only go back from the draw, doesn't have the speed to go forward.

Unusual Suspect - see Drunken Sailor, but not sure he is quite as good.

Fox Hunt - de Sousa hasn't ridden here before and Johnston hasn't gone close in previous visits. Does he try to go forward and take a position? I think he will try, but then get caught wide without cover.

Lucas Cranach - three wide midfield, plenty of cover. That's where Americain was last year…

Mourayan - pushing forward, will take the lead then hand it over near the winning post the first time. Adaptable enough now to Aus conditions to handle the stop start. **LATE NEWS** Rumours of a vet inspection being required on race morning....

Precedence - midfield or slightly worse on the rail.

Red Cadeaux - will need the pace on early so he can get into a decent position midfield. Doesn't have the turn of foot to win from the back.

Hawk Island - mid-back wide, getting in the way of better chances.

Illo - better than midfield on the rail, big danger of getting caught behind tiring leaders.

Lost In The Moment - rail or just off, midfield. Needs to get off the rail at the 800 or will be copping backsides in the face.

Modun - if he can stay off the rail outside Lost In The Moment, then he is right in there with a chance. Needs luck to get clear tucked away like that.

At First Sight - maps beautifully behind Mourayan about three back, one off the rail.

Moyenne Corniche - can only see him going back, probably sits wide with cover.

Saptapadi - trainer says he'll go back which makes it very tough for him. Back wide, hoping for something to drag him into the race.

Shamrocker - drops back to last and prays for carnage up front.

The Verminator - in behind Jukebox Jury, inside At First Sight. Not good enough to win from perfect posse, could be the donkey hanging on to throw enormous value into First Fours.

Tullamore - right behind At First Sight, probably with horses outside him.

Niwot - toward the back with cover, will be able to make the early move with his light weight and ability to accelerate.

Older Than Time - reckon she crosses to lead, but again, taking plenty of time to do so.

Betting:

My main play is exotics (mostly trifecta) on this race every year. You have to take some risks and leave some good horses out. No point spending $100, taking selections only from the top of the market and getting a return of $500. I'm chasing one that pays several grand. This usually means something like1st - two horses, 2nd - nine horses, 3rd - 12 horses.

Americain - obvious class, will go close but prepared to risk - short price and poor record of topweights.

Jukebox Jury - will be laying for the top 10.

Dunaden - no Craig Williams will be a blow, but in my exotics for the place at least.

Drunken Sailor - knockout pick for the placings, will squeeze him in as high as I can.

Glass Harmonium - prepared to risk, just don't see him hanging on for a place.

Manighar - 3rd at best, but will probably leave out. The blinkers on move give me something to think about.

Unusual Suspect - 3rd at best.

Fox Hunt - 2nd and 3rd, for sure.

Lucas Cranach - definite chance of winning, will take him all the way through.

Mourayan - Lloyd Williams absolutely singing his praises about how he has improved this campaign. But the 'mildly lame' report from Saturday….. um?!?! Dunno.

Precedence - no chance, and mug money pushing him way below his genuine price.

Red Cadeaux - had forgotten about Ed Dunlop's excellent travel record (Snow Fairy winning G1s in Japan and HK). Must go in for place, will keep running on despite being caught wide.

Hawk Island - no chance

Illo - don't think he's up to it, see Precedence re his price.

Lost In The Moment - in for the placings, Godolphin keep racking them up without winning.

Modun - see stablemate above. Might throw in a cheap separate ticket with him as the winner just in case..

At First Sight - has to go in from the top (i.e. for the win).

Moyenne Corniche - place best, maybe just third

Saptapadi - dropping back now puts a dampener on his chances. Way over the odds though, so mad to leave him out totally. Will pay for a new car if he runs third…

Shamrocker - no chance

The Verminator - might fluke third with perfect run, only goes in if I can afford him.

Tullamore - will be around there somewhere, in for the placings.

Niwot - getting short now but in the last 15 yrs, any Hotham/Saab/Lexus winner that is well backed for the Cup invariably runs well (Maluckyday - 2nd, Shocking - won, Maybe Better - 3rd, Brew - won, Maythehorsebewithu - 5th). Probably my third pick now, but can I afford to throw him in for the win? The other two have had interruptions to their campaigns, perhaps it's worth having the safe option.

Older Than Time - no chance.

-----

So there we have it. I line them up like this

Lucas Cranach
At First Sight
Niwot
Modun
Dunaden
Mourayan
Fox Hunt
Saptapadi
Tullamore
and to round off the top 10, Americain.

Exactly how I'll stretch them, and others I've named, into the trifectas is the task of the next 16hrs.

Best of luck everyone!

the Melbourne Cup - the preview

2011-10-31T00:00:00.000Z

The Melbourne Cup, the race that stops the nation. Here's my runner-by-runner look at the field.

For a formguide, look here

UPDATED for Lost In The Moment, At First Sight and direct link to the Ebor.

Americain - looking at least as good as last year when he won the race. 3.5kg more to carry, but is this a weaker or stronger race? I rate it slightly weaker, so he's right in this up to his ears. Won the Moonee Valley Cup in a canter, against the strong formalise of Tullamore. The record of topweights in this race though is terrible in recent times - the last five have been unplaced, and the only one to win in the last 30yrs was the supermare Makybe Diva. When you restrict it to foreign horses who were topweight, of the 14 who have tried since 1993 when Vintage Crop started the travelling trend, just one horse - Vinnie Roe, has been placed (2004) - although importantly, I don't think any of those visitors had a lead-up run as Americain has this year. Last race link, Moonee Valley Cup

Jukebox Jury - highly talented visitor from Johnston stable. I am concerned about his supposed pace. He leads in most of his European races and then grinds away, outstaying his rivals. Euro staying races start slow then build up, exposing the poor stayers. The Melbourne Cup is a mad charge to the first turn to take position, then it slows right down, then a charge home. You need tactical speed, and even the grumpy Yorkshire trainer has expressed concern about this. As a high quality horse, his exposure to big field racing has been limited. I doubt he will lead going past the post the first time, and if he does, something will try to take him on. I also think this race has been tacked onto his programme, rather than being set for it. Last race link, Prix Kergolay

Dunaden - another high quality French stayer who followed Americain's trend from last year of winning the Geelong Cup, a more relaxed 2400m race on a more spacious track than the far richer Caulfield Cup. Form of that race has stacked up well with Tanby winning the Bendigo Cup. Has been aimed at this race, so with that in mind, am prepared to discount the Prix Kergolay (won by Jukebox Jury at WFA) as it was after a 91 day break. His other two runs over 3000m+ have reaped a win and a second. Drama over who will ride with Craig Williams launching a desperate legal challenge to ride after his appeal against a 10-day suspension was dismissed on Friday. Gets 3.5kg off Americain, a big advantage over two miles. Christoph Lemaire on standby. Last run, Geelong Cup

Drunken Sailor - was a popular chance last year on his first visit, but was desperately unlucky in the Geelong Cup and didn't get in. This year he didn't have much luck in the Caulfield Cup after drawing wide. He has drawn perfectly in 8. Is he good enough? He beat Jukebox Jury and Redwood at Glorious Goodwood this year at level weights. Don't rule him out of contention. For the Goodwood replay - click here, search for Drunken Sailor and select the July 29 race.

Glass Harmonium - impressive win on Saturday after getting fired up in the mounting yard pre-race. Cup Day is like no other - 110 thousand people on course. Last week in the Cox Plate he went crazy in the gates, in front of the big crowd, but apparently more due to the actions of a horse next to him in the barriers, after his hood was removed. Do you take this risk again? Never run this far before, only runs past 2000m landed a win (2200m) and a second to Tullamore (Brisbane Cup, 2400m). Drawn 23, so should enter the gates late. Plenty of time to go forward and cross, it's the only way this horse runs. Mackinnon replay

Manighar - genuine horse who won six of his first seven starts, and lots of 'nice' runs since then without the winners' cheque. Ran 7th last year, and then fourth in the Caulfield Cup. Has drawn the car park here in 21, will either be stuck wide or pulled back to last. Does have the services of top jockey Damien Oliver who is back in golden form, riding three winners on Derby Day. Last run - Caulfield Cup

Unusual Suspect - veteran of the field at eight (7yo by northern hemisphere time though). Ran home strongly in the Caulfield Cup, catching people's eye. Has won just once in his last 20 starts though, and was 10/1 in an eight-runner field that day at Hollywood Park. Drawn ideally, will be throwing him in the exotics for the placings. Winning the Hollywood Park Turf Cup

Fox Hunt - conundrum runner for me. I like the profile of this horse, has been carrying higher weights in the UK, 6.5kg more than Moyenne Corniche in the Ebor, beaten 3.5L after being stopped in his tracks in the straight, and beaten 0.6L in the Goodwood Cup (G2 WFA) against Opinion Poll. Then won the German St Leger easily and the German form is strong this year. But, trained by Mark Johnston who has failed numerous times in Australia and refuses to run in leadup races (only the freak Vintage Crop has won this race on more than a 20 day break since 1985). Also drawn 19 with a jockey who has never been here, so will probably ride him the UK way, four wide and comfortable rather than working hard to get cover. Winning the German St Leger

Lucas Cranach - got within five lengths of Arc winner Danedream in the Grosser Preis von Berlin, the strongest form around, and was much shorter in the betting that day. Had issues with a cracked heel in the lead-up to the Caulfield Cup, ran enormous coming 10-wide around the turn, and couldn't quite outrun those with easier runs. Balance that up with the Caulfield Cup supposedly being one of the weakest in recent memory. If he is 100% fit, he has a massive chance from gate 11. Winning the G2 Hansa Preis in June.

Mourayan - imported stayer now fully acclimatised. Class doubt but won the Bart Cummings in early October beating Niwot comfortably, and then a slashing run in the Mackinnon Stakes on Saturday. Drops from 59kg at WFA to 53.5kg. Hugh Bowman will ride at his lightest weight in ages, big plus. Will race forward, and from the draw, should be able to take his time to move across before the first bend. Late information that he will wear a pair of bar plates in front - related to pulling up 'mildly lame' on Saturday. Last run replay

Precedence - ran eighth last year, awful this time in. If he wasn't trained by Bart Cummings, he'd be 100/1 at least. No hope. See Manighar and Mourayan for recent runs.

Red Cadeaux - beaten only 1L in the Irish St Leger behind Jukebox Jury at level weights. But that was a field of six, nothing like this style of racing. Would need to put the pressure on from about the 1000m if his stamina was to prove superior. Has led before in races, but not regularly. Local jockey with previous success in the race will help. No race for more than 50 days will not. Irish St Leger replay

Hawk Island - Sydney-trained horse who fell at only previous attempt at the distance in the Sydney Cup. Should have no issue with the distance, just isn't up to this class. Would shorten up dramatically if it bucketed down, but no hope on the dry. Needs a lot of luck from 18. Metropolitan replay (ran 2nd)

Illo - mystery German horse trained by the master Bart Cummings. But he hanse;t had long enough to make his stamp on this horse and it has done nowhere near the miles he claims are vital to have a winning chance. Can't see any overlap in the form with either Lucas Cranach, Fox Hunt or Danedream so have to think he's not in the same class. The horse he beat by a short head in his last race, Oriental Fox, is still a maiden after four starts and Elle Thunder who beat him at his previous start hasn't won in three starts since, and was well back in the Prix de L'Opera in 2010. Barrier 1 is extremely difficult to win from. Should improve from first run in Australia but can't see him getting into the placings. See Americain for a replay of his last run.

Lost In The Moment - Godolphin runner who drops markedly in weight from his races in the UK, usually at set weights. He was beaten a head one of Europe's best stayers Opinion Poll in the Goodwood Cup (just ahead of Fox Hunt) but then was 3/4 of a length behind the same horse in the Ebor, receiving 5 lb (also 1.5L behind Modun, 1L behind Saptapadi). Drawn 3, will get back, to be ridden by William Buick, a top jockey who rode a double on Arc Day at Longchamp, but won't have seen Flemington before. Can only think he will be locked away and get caught behind tiring horses - they don't fan out here like they do at York. Up to it with a bit of luck but won't have raced for a month. Ebor replay here or click here, search for Lost In The Moment for other runs.

Modun - my preference of the foreign raiders. Just the eight starts with only one bad run (soft track at Royal Ascot). Has big field form - 2nd in the John Smith's Cup at York, 2nd in a big handicap at Goodwood, then 4th in the Ebor, all fields of 18+ runners - vital for this race. Still improving, showed a great turn of foot in his last race at Kempton. Has the important jockey appointment of Kerrin McEvoy. Should get a nice sit one-off the rail back in the field. For most of his replays - click here, search by horse for Modun, or see Lost In The Moment for the Ebor.

At First Sight - second in the Epsom Derby as pacemaker, then bought by Lloyd Williams. Impressed in his two runs in September over shorter distances, then had a minor hoof injury, putting a cloud on his campaign. Last week he went to Bendigo for the Cup and stormed home late from last to run second, proving his fitness for this race. Ignore the fact this race has never been a pointer to the Melb Cup, it has always been scheduled later in November, this is the first time it has ever been staged as a lead-up race. Just one win from 11 starts is a concern but he was raced by Coolmore and they regularly sacrifice very good horses for those they think are potential champions. Has shown enough in Australia to see he is genuine. Can a horse with an interrupted campaign win the Cup? Bendigo Cup replay.

Moyenne Corniche - two wins from 26 starts but gets in having won the Ebor Handicap at York, surging through late to win with a light weight. Formline through Tanby is similar to At First Sight comparing distances beaten, luck and relative weights. Will prefer bigger track, drops back from the draw and then runs on late. Must have a chance but trainer still prefers the stablemate. Last run replay.

Saptapadi - trainer was very dirty on Caulfield Cup ride, wanted him to go forward instead of lost in the pack. Three wide no cover all the way in the Herbert Power before that. Symons takes the ride, doesn't mind a bit of aggression and will have no choice but to go forward from gate 22. Three time the price of Moyenne Corniche whereas in the Ebor, this one started 15/2, Moyenne 25/1. One to throw in the exotics. Ebor replay

Shamrocker - AJC Derby and Australian Guineas winner (beating the boys both times) who is lucky to be in this field. Has done nothing this time in, drawn the extreme outside. Here's what she can do at her best - AJC Derby win back in April

The Verminator - questionable whether he should be in the field, but has won several races this year including the Wyong Cup (Listed) and the Metropolitan, a (questionable) Group 1 in Sydney. Worst run of his career on Saturday when beaten 14 lengths in the Mackinnon. Not a WFA horse so can forgive him a few lengths, but not that many - he was 13L behind Mourayan who gives him only 1.5kg here. Metropolitan replay

Tullamore - will perch in the front half of the field and keep on running. Failed in the Metrop but then third in the Caulfield Cup and second in the Moonee Valley Cup. Had plenty of racing lately but will be running on at the end. Likely to be unders because he is trained by Gai Waterhouse. Gets 5kg advantage from Americain after being beaten 2.3L at Moonee Valley, although the winner looked to have a bit in hand. See Americain or Manighar for replays.

Niwot - not one of my favoured horses but an objective look at his form puts him right in the race. On Saturday, he flogged them (3L, but rider sat up with 100m to go) in the Lexus Stks, and drops 4kg here. Maluckyday won that race last year (ran 2nd in Cup), Shocking the year before (won), then nothing of note until Brew (won Cup) back in 2000. His Flemington record is outstanding : five runs for three wins, a second and a close-up fourth over 1400m when first-up after 600 days. Not much luck at other runs this campaign either. Rider Dean Yendall is not a Group 1 jockey by any stretch of the imagination but he has an affinity with the horse, being on board for seven of his past eight runs, including all Flemington wins. Lexus replay

Older Than Time - beaten out of sight in the race that Niwot won on Saturday and simply shouldn't be here. Ran 2nd in the Sydney Cup, a much, much weaker race on a swamp track. Waterhouse factor only thing preventing her from being the rank outsider of the world. Previous run replay

On the big races, I'm mostly an exotics punter, chasing the big pools with so much money invested from the once-a-year punters. I'll be back tomorrow with my final assessment...

greatest raceday in the world

2011-10-26T12:07:00.001+01:00

I'll qualify that statement by adding the word 'domestic' to it - meetings like Arc Day, the new British Champions Day, Hong Kong International Day etc are all set up to welcome the best in the world. Victoria Derby Day at Flemington isn't programmed for that, but a few will arrive anyway with the vast riches available.

UK punters will be amazed to learn that fields and barriers for Saturday's racing is available already, as are full formguides from various outlets, including important information such as running position and sectional times - information dismissed as worthless in the UK. When you have a spectacle meeting, give punters every opportunity to do the form properly so they can spend their money! 24hr declarations for Cheltenham for example are an utter joke.

Fields link

Full form link

There's a guaranteed $4 million pool for the Quaddie (pick winner of last four races), so time to do my homework......

the secret list of suspicious tennis players

2011-10-20T10:24:00.000+01:00

According to Swedish website, svd.se, this is the list of players the Tennis Integrity Unit keep a close eye on, due to previous matches of interest....

The Black List
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Potito Starace
Andreas Seppi
Fabio Fognini
Janko Tipsarevic
Michael Llodra
Nikolay Davydenko
Teymuraz Gabashvili
Victor Crivoi
Christophe Rochus
Oscar Hernandez
Yevgeny Korolev
Filippo Volandri
Wayne Odesnik
Victoria Azarenka
Agnieszka Radwanska
Francesca Schiavone
Sara Errani
Maria Kirilenko
Kateryna Bondarenko

... And 21 on the warning list: Brian Dabul, Eduardo Scwhank, Jeremy Chardy, Simone Bolelli, Lukasz Kubot *, Carlos Berlocq, Igor Kunitsyn, Andrei Golubev *, Alex Bogomolov, Somdev Devvar-man *, Steve Darcis, Marin Cilic, Flavio Cipolla, Ivo Karlovic, Viktor Troicki, Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci, Virginie Razzano, Romina Oprandi, Dominika Cibulkova, Eleni Daniilidou. * Participating in this year's Stockholm Open

For the full article, run this link through Google Translate - 41 tennis names on blacklist

The explanation of match-fixing is rather simplistic, and doesn't include the far more common habit of sharing sets in order to capitalise on in-play betting fluctuations.

I'm surprised at most of the female names up there, and suspect they are missing several more names on the men's side....

With thanks to @ne0genic and @tenniscrocks for the link.

Dig deep and strike hard when corruption's around

2011-10-13T15:05:00.001+01:00

A couple of big cases in racing around the world this week.Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Richard Dutrow Jr has received a 10 year ban in the state of New York for repeated drug offences. It sounds harsh, but this is a trainer who has moved from state to state over the years, copping a lot of positive drug tests.

Dutrow receives ten-year suspension in New York

by Frank Angst

New York regulators have had it with trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.

After determining two violations occurred late last year and citing a long list of previous violations, the New York State Racing and Wagering Board (NYSRWB) suspended Dutrow’s license for ten years at its meeting on Wednesday.

“As far as I’m concerned, game over,” said NYSRWB Chairman John Sabini. “Let this be a lesson to other people in the business who have had repeated, repeated violations.”

Dutrow’s most recent problems followed a positive drug test for the pain-killing drug butorphanol in Fastus Cactus after he won the third race on November 20 at Aqueduct and the November 3 discovery of three syringes containing Xylazine, an analgesic and tranquilizer, in his desk drawer. He was fined $25,000 for each of those infractions.

While the board determined Dutrow had violated rules in both of the November 2010 incidents, it also considered Dutrow’s past violations before determining sanctions. Board member Charles Diamond said those past violations included infractions that resulted in 64 sanctions in nine states at 50 racetracks.

There is no room in the racing industry for crooks like this. It's only ever about winning, not the welfare of horses. His supporters can moan all they like about the process and his image for the sport... blah, blah, blah. Whether this process was not perfect is barely relevant - the guy should have been given the boot long ago, the message that he was breaking the rules obviously hasn't sunk in. The fact he has been able to continue training after so many infractions just shows how divided and dysfunctional US racing can be. Penalties should add up - every repeat offence gets slightly more severe, so that by the time they are looking at infringement no. 10, the penalty is getting very harsh, and penalties should be nationwide. There is no rule that other US states have to comply with the New York ruling, although it is believed that some will.

In Australia, the corruption in NSW harness racing case just keeps getting bigger and bigger.....For those unaware of Fine Cotton, read the Wikipedia page, it's an interesting tale of rank amateurism and corruption in racing. For background on the case, read an older blog post.

Corruption probe to dwarf Fine Cotton

THE ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in harness racing is set to dwarf the scale of the Fine Cotton affair of the 1980s, involving hundreds of races going back years.

Reid Sanders, the regulatory boss of Harness Racing NSW and the man in charge of a new three-man industry panel investigating the allegations, has told The Daily Telegraph the scale of the investigation was "unprecedented" in racing history.

"In my knowledge, there has never been an investigation of this nature and scale in any racing code in Australia and the world," he said.

"Fine Cotton was one race. We are dealing with allegations that some stewards were corrupt, and as a result of that there are an infinite number of people that could have been involved."

Sanders said the panel was investigating multiple races, but it was not yet aware of the full magnitude of the alleged corruption: "I can't tell you if it's one race or 500 races."

He admitted that the sheer weight of documents gathered had taken him by surprise. "I always knew it wasn't going to be small," he said. "(But) the volume of evidence we're collecting is huge. The paperwork alone would stand two filing cabinets high."

Meanwhile In the UK, the latest investigation into jockeys linked with people laying slow horses is scheduled this month but all that has been forgotten amongst all the hyperbole about the new whip rules. Spare me, it has been three days and it is not the end of the bloody world....

clanger from Australian bookmaker

2011-10-12T21:54:00.001+01:00

I reckon they might declare 'palpable error' on this one. It (Facile Tigre) won the last race at Caulfield overnight.

Cheers to @atthepicnics for sending that one through.

Quest for legality

2011-10-12T12:54:00.000+01:00

Even more Sportingbet activity in the news since my recent post. Seems I put the mockers on the deal with Ladbrokes, that collapsed the next day. Meanwhile, Sportingbet are ditching their Greek activity, at least via Centrebet, with notices to affiliates of upcoming blocks on players residing in Europe's most broken economy. And then today, news on the wires that Sportingbet is back in acquisition mode, buying two small Danish sportsbooks ahead of the introduction of a regulated sports betting industry in the country.

The lawyers and finance chiefs are being kept very busy....

Match-fixing update

2011-10-10T23:22:00.000+01:00

You'd have to have been living in a cave for the past week not to have heard about the Scottish football betting scam involving some of Wayne Rooney's family. This game was suspicious from the outset and was highlighted here back in December.

The match-fixing investigation into Turkish football is experiencing some resistance. The 'holier than thou' officials implicated in the scandal want the prosecutor removed from the case because he doesn't believe their lame excuses! Typical reaction of remorseless, self-indulgent megalomaniacs who believe they are above the law.

(Note, this section has been edited since original post to correct a few things)

In cricket this week, the big story has been the trial of the Pakistan spot-fixing handler, Mazhar Majeed. The accused is wrapped up in his own ego, continually dropping names of his supposed friends and contacts, and raving on about how much power he holds over certain players. The evidence against him is damning, there is no doubting that, so he is going down grabbing as many headlines as he can. Today's highlight from the secret recordings - accusing Australian cricketers of being heavily involved in spot-fixing. Does he have any facts to back up his accusations or just spinning bullshit in private to suck someone into paying for his next Ferrari? Dustbin Cricket posted an article about the unlikelihood of it, but one can't be totally naive about it. I think the guy is just a Grade 1 bullshit artist with a major grudge against Australia (and England - he has stated he had several English players in his pocket as well), but I'm not that one-eyed to believe it is completely impossible. He won't be held accountable for his outlandish statements, he is only answering to the charges at hand - so expect to hear loads more bullshit from his fantasy world. He has complete freedom to make up as much baseless crap as he likes with no fear of retribution.

Sportingbet in the news

2011-10-09T21:14:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy year for Sportingbet - purchasing Australian online betting pioneer Centrebet, sponsoring the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham and hunting for a merger/buyer to expand the business.

With keen interest from the extra cautious Ladbrokes, Sportingbet have sought to offload a key part of their business which operates on shaky legal ground - Turkey. A buyer appears to have been found, with GVC ready to complete the paperwork after a few months of negotiations.

Meanwhile, with the Ladbrokes deal still progressing, Sportingbet have made moves back into America with a casino deal ahead of forecasted relaxation of sports betting bans.

And the Aussie site, sportingbet.com.au, has yet another new look, abandoning the black which was despised in the UK office, and falling more into line with the company colour scheme.

Rugby league sting has day in court

2011-10-09T00:47:00.000+01:00

Ryan Tandy gets a mere slap on the wrist for his part in the NRL betting scandal of 2010, with the brains behind the rort yet to face the music.

Leading Sydney rugby league writer, Peter Fitzsimons has a well-deserved attack on the NRL for its reliance on gambling to survive.

Tandy's behaviour odds-on in sport that thrives on gambling

REPORTING live from the Centrebet Stadium at Penrith, we'll get back to you shortly about how wrong it is to bring in legislation to protect problem gamblers from themselves … as right now, in news brought to you by SportsTAB - wall to wall on your TV and radio coverage and even in your newspapers - we have to leave the Centrebet Panthers and Centrebet Sea Eagles, to deliver some breaking news.

Canterbury forward Ryan Tandy has been found guilty of conspiring to gain a financial advantage for others by manipulating the first scoring play in a rugby league match last year between the Bulldogs and the North Queensland Cowboys.

I KNOW, I know, horrifying! And so unexpected!

Who would have thought that in a game where every moving part is covered in the names of gambling companies, where from sun-up to sundown and on into the night - just one more press on this Queen of the Nile pokie and I'll be done - gambling money flows into its coffers, an individual rugby league player would get it into his head to try to get some of the action for himself?

The AFL have told firms they want to roll back the live advertising on its games while the AFL and NRL are fighting hard against the Federal Government's plans to limit access to poker machines - something NRL clubs in particular have relied upon for income for decades. These sports take a heavy stance when it comes to morality of players in the public eye - so why won't they do the same when it comes to money?

No-name tennis player banned for attempted match-fixing

2011-10-04T22:36:00.001+01:00

Anyone ever heard of David Savic? Must admit I hadn't, he was a player who plied his trade almost exclusively in the bottom tiers of the professional circuit in Futures and Challenger events, with a career-best ranking of 363.

The Tennis Integrity Unit found him guilty of trying to fix matches, being the link man between the betting syndicate and players. They must have had some pretty damning evidence to suspend him for life with a fine on top of US$100k - more money than he'd have made in his entire career.

David Savic Anti-Corruption Disciplinary Hearing

Player banned for life and fined US$100,000 for three violations under the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program

Serbian tennis player David Savic has been banned from the sport for life and fined US$100,000 after being found guilty of offenses under the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program.

Mr Savic was found guilty of three charges under Article D of the 2010 Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, namely:

Contriving or attempting to contrive the outcome of an Event;Soliciting or facilitating a Player not to use his or her best efforts in an Event; and;Soliciting, offering or providing money, benefit or Consideration to any other covered person with the intention of negatively influencing a Player’s best efforts in any Event

The three violations of the Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program for which he has been disciplined occurred in October 2010.

If you are 26 years old and still hacking around on the Futures circuit, then you've probably found a source of income from somewhere else to keep you going. ost players will be taking buses wherever they can go, sharing hotel rooms etc. Question is - where did the corruption actually take place? It couldn't have been at one of the crappy events he was playing in, the potential to earn from a fixed match at that level isn't worth it. The player denies the charges and will appeal.

Aidan O'Brien - genius or fool?

2011-10-04T00:09:00.000+01:00

There’s no denying that champion Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien is good at his trade, you only have to look at his record to recognise that. But then again, if you were looking after a never-ending production line of bluebloods bought or bred by some of the wealthiest men in Europe, wouldn’t you fancy yourself to win a few decent races?

This is a guy who never has to worry about grinding out winners in the bottom tier of racing, just to put food on the table or hang onto some owners. He never has to fight against owners who want to move to a bigger stable promising fame and fortune, or don’t agree with his methods. Just imagine how long O’Brien would last if he was trainer for Nathan Tinkler and Patinack Farm?

He has a bottomless pit of resources, and it matters little if one of his promising horses doesn’t quite measure up – they’ll just be lined as pacemaking fodder for the next potential superstar in the stable. It’s all about producing stallions for them – a friend of mine bought a close relation to one of their stallion prospects last year at auction, with the intention to go jumping with it and win a race at Cheltenham. Any mention of jumping on the family tree is deemed to slash millions from potential earnings in a stud career. The Coolmore production line couldn’t allow that to happen and made the syndicate an offer they couldn’t refuse, within hours of the auction.

O’Brien has waxed lyrical about So You Think throughout the year, possibly the best he’s ever had, nothing can keep up with him at home, what a beast of a horse etc.. But for two poor sets of tactics, he should probably be undefeated in Europe. In the Prince of Wales at Royal Ascot, he was slaughtered by Ryan Moore by a stupid pacemaker which went way too far in front, causing Moore to fire the champ up way too early in pursuit and get nabbed on the line by the ill-fated Rewilding.

I travelled over to Paris for the world’s finest race, the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, with an Aussie flag in my backpack ready to fly it proudly when he streeted clear in the final 200m. Hell, the nude run up the straight wearing the flag as a cape was not a million to one if the dream came true. With any decent luck, I had him coming out on top after crossing to take a sit near the pace – the way he always races!
..

For the full article, visit Tote Tasmania's blog.

Betfair copping a hiding in the news this week

2011-09-30T23:52:00.000+01:00

First there was Betfair taking money from punters' accounts, thinking they had successfully placed their bets on the huge Tote jackpot day last week, only to find out when they went to check their winnings, that the bets never went through. There is nothing more frustrating for a punter than not knowing whether your bets are on or not. Betfair's policy on tech glitches like this is all about covering their arse, and not compensating customers. Betfair punters rarely place just one bet - often it is a series of bets and trading positions which change frequently, so knowing exactly what your position is at all times is critical. Otherwise, punters might as well just use a regular bookmaker....

Today news broke that Betfair had a customer data breach just before the float and conveniently kept it quiet. However minor it was, if police all over the world were involved, then customers deserve to know. Another bad PR story further eroding Betfair's once pristine, now terminally stained, image.

And yet more high-ranking execs leaving, including the Head of Security who took over just before the data breach occurred.

Working in PR for Betfair at the moment would be like working for the power & gas companies who post massive profits then immediately increase their customer bills. And they will keep copping it until they start focusing on the punter again, like they did when it all began....

(Sorry for infrequent postings, hectic time with work at the moment. Doing a lot of driving commuting rather than by train which would allow me to post by email....)

Ed Wray the latest to bid farewell to Betfair

2011-09-22T23:08:00.000+01:00

There's a time at most big companies when the last of the original founders move on - sometimes it is by choice, other times they are usurped by investors or an involuntary departure in a wooden box was the only way they'd leave.

Ed Wray, Andrew Black, Mark Davies, David Williams (legal) and Jon Cumberlege (operations) were the main five guys at Betfair when I joined way back in 2002 and what a great time it was. An exciting new company putting a rocket up the tired old UK betting industry and wanting to take on the world. The latter quartet have long moved on to enjoy the riches of their involvement, Ed has just announced he will be stepping down as company chairman.

The company is a long way from where it was in those days, some for the good, some for the bad, but you can't argue it has changed the betting industry forever.

I remember first meeting Ed in the old Parsons Green office after an hour chatting to David Williams, the head legal guy for several years, who had been 'interviewing' me with his bare feet up on the desk on a warm London day. Yes, there was once warm weather in London - I believe it was about August 25, 2002!

Ed and I had a great chat about the company, the betting industry and the world - it was easy to work out this was going to be a fantastic firm to work for.

A couple of months later, after finishing a stint of travelling, I became a consultant for Betfair, working on the Australian market, travelling to racecourses around the nation, being dragged into the stewards' room at Northam races in country Western Australia, slandered in the press by one of the most clueless racing adminstrators ever seen - Robert Nason - for making the perfectly valid statement that Australia has too many races and a fair chunk of them are contested by animals not fit to be on a racecourse (got a deserved dressing down from Ed for that), and many more good times....

It was all about working for Ed and Bert, and their dream. A dream that turned into something huge, and naturally, as it became a big corporate entity the fun slowly disappeared. It was no longer building someone's dream with an ethos of being the punter's best mate but turning into a soulless place desperate to float and with its heart set on screwing punters for every penny they can get.

After a strong revival in the past fortnight, taking the share price from £6 to around £8, Betfair's share price dropped over 50p today after the announcement. Part of it would be due to Ed's impending departure, but overall it was a bad day for the markets where most copped it. Times have changed at Betfair, the last real link to its exciting beginning is about to leave the building.

Enjoy your time on the golf course Ed, or wherever you choose to spend your time now, you've earned it.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Clean up the rorts by merging the steward panels

2011-09-22T00:08:00.000+01:00

NSW harness racing has had an image problem for a while and the lid has recently been blown off a massive integrity scandal within the sport. Faced with a sport potentially going down the tube, how do you fix it? The NSW Minister for Racing has proposed merging the stewards' panels for thoroughbred and harness racing to clean up the sport. There are probably many flaws in the proposal but they should be able to be resolved. There is plenty of crossover between the two sports at steward levels, many regularly make the switch.

The NSW harness racing industry needs a massive broom to go through to clean it up, and if Ray Murrihy is involved, it's far more likely to happen than by leaving them to sort it out themselves.

Betfair in the news

2011-09-13T08:04:00.000+01:00

Some recent press snippets to cover...The Australian reports that BF Australia chief exec Andrew Twaits has announced his intention to move on next year.

As mentioned in the previous post, the BHA is determined to waste more money on forcing the higher-profiting Betfair users to pay levy. Two obvious issues with that:
- why is the BHA getting into bed with one levy-dodging company, William Hill, to chase another one it believes isn't paying its share?, and
- if bookmakers can move their servers to Gibraltar to avoid paying tax or levy, then why can't an individual punter? Would love to see that one challenged in court.

One of the original Betfair founders, Mark Davies, is suing his legal firm for £4m because they screwed up his share registration, costing him a packet when the BF share price collapsed. The share price has improved a bit in recent weeks (although let's face it, there wasn't much further down it could go!). It has now broken back through the 700p mark.

Paul Roy wouldn't last five minutes at a listed company

2011-09-12T22:45:00.000+01:00

When a publicly-listed company's CEO is stuck in the past and continually pisses money up against the wall, major investors waste no time in demanding a leadership change. The racing industry however, has no such structure, no such powerful stakeholders within, and no such chance of getting rid of a complete clod at the helm....

We've been here before:

How many fuckups is Paul Roy entitled to?

There's also a great article from ATR presenter Sean Boyce on one of his earlier blunders, but his site is giving a malware warning, so I'll pass on that for the moment.

Now Roy wants to blow the rest of the racing's rent money on a 100/1 shot with a formline of being flogged at every start.

Racing the loser as Paul Roy links with William Hill to fight Betfair

There is no prospect of success for the British Horseracing Authority as it seeks a judicial review of how the Levy Board handles betting exchanges.

Anyone who walked down High Holborn last Thursday ran the risk of being hit by a flying champagne cork. The source of danger was not the offices of the British Horseracing Authority at 75 but the building that houses their lawyers, Olswang, at No90. The cause for celebration was the news that, in an unlikely alliance with the bookmaker William Hill, the BHA has decided to take the Levy Board to court.

The board decided earlier this year that it would not pursue some users of betting exchanges – ie Betfair – for levy payments, having taken advice from two QCs who reached "materially identical" conclusions that it was not within the board's power to do so. The BHA and Hill's have now decided to subject this decision to a judicial review and, if the learned friends cannot squeeze a seven-figure sum from that, they are not trying hard enough.

The eventual outcome can scarcely be in doubt. The Levy Board's advisers, Michael Fordham QC and Lord Pannick QC, are the top people in the field. The chance that the BHA/bookie team will find a judge prepared to disagree with them is as remote as the offshore servers that Hill's exploit in order to dodge their own levy obligations. Yet still Paul Roy, the BHA chairman, and Ralph Topping, the bellicose chief executive of William Hill, seem intent on pressing on. It is at once fascinating, baffling, stupid and pointless.

...
...

The BHA was supposed to be a new, inclusive governing body that would put a stop to the continuous skirmishing. Instead it has decided to join in. That suggests that either Paul Roy or the authority he leads is not fit for purpose. Then again, it could be both.

Worse than a nagging wife at letting something go, and with completely the opposite chance of winning the argument. Racing is having a brilliant flat season yet the BHA cannot stop itself from making monumental blunders. That the racing industry allows this muppet to continue in his post only highlights how divided and outdated it is.

Sky Sports News match-fixing report

2011-09-12T19:24:00.000+01:00

Tune in at 1930 for this special investigation - I'm one of the experts they interview.... At least I will be if my bit made the cut!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Corruption can occur from within

2011-09-03T00:06:00.000+01:00

Eye-opening story of the depth of corruption in NSW harness racing from Brent Zerafa. There have been rotten eggs in NSW harness racing for years, and for a sport which isn't as well funded as their thoroughbred counterparts, it was often ignored, put down to coincidence or consigned to the 'too hard' basket. Harness racing, or trotting as it is often known, is often called the 'red hots', signifying regular short-priced favourites and that all is not necessarily above board. Add to that the level of dodgy characters involved, particularly using the sport as a legitimate way to launder money, and you soon see why the image of the sport suffers.

When punters whose golden goose is being killed off start firebombing stewards' cars, you know they've found something serious.

Probe into alleged trots misconduct

AN ANONYMOUS phone call to Harness Racing NSW was all it took to set in place a chain of events that threatened to expose a rampant underbelly.

Nestled right in the heart of its integrity system, the anonymous caller claimed, was an expanding cancer. A growth, it was alleged, that was feasting on its very core.

The caller had information that a young steward, nominated by name, was involved in an elaborate scam. He or she didn't say how or why, just that something wasn't right.

Amazing story, about time this cancer on the sport was completely removed rather than given lip service.

ACT Gambling and Racing Commission are as bad as the shysters they 'regulate'

2011-08-30T22:14:00.000+01:00

Scathing, and perfectly accurate, article about the Sports Alive debacle from a former colleague Matt Fisk. The licensing authority's lame reaction to this has been nothing short of pathetic. The rest of Australia has built up rigid standards in the protection of punters, the monitoring of licensed persons and companies etc and the ACT has let Sports Alive go down the drain with, it is believed, over $1m of punters' funds. This isn't the first firm in the ACT to go down, but it is definitely the biggest. A proper regulatory body would have seen the writing on the wall and found the evidence they needed to suspend the betting licence. Rumours of a class action have been mooted. The ACT GRC really should be held accountable for this debacle - their stamp of approval was on the licence and they ballsed it up big time....

Punter Protection (or lack thereof) in the ACT

As a member of the Australian fixed odds betting fraternity I have always been one to take pride in the way responsible wagering has added colour to our sports and racing industries. I believe the highly regulated nature of the industry has made it is socially acceptable to have a flutter on the Melbourne Cup or back your favourite player to score the first try in the NRL Grand Final. There is nothing wrong with either however the events of the past week have left me absolutely flabbergasted with how punters are treated by the ACT Government.

If you are unaware, a corporate bookmaker by the name of Sports Alive went into voluntary liquidation last Thursday. Sports Alive, licensed in the ACT, was well down the pecking order when it came to Australian bookmakers but just like TAB SportsBet, SportingBet, CentreBet or even SportsBet.com.au it was a 24-hour online bookie who accepted bets on sports and racing. However, they were a big enough organisation to leave thousands of customers out of pocket to the tune of $1m+.

I am aware that companies of all types fail on a consistent basis so I will not shine the torch on the collapse of Sports Alive. Sure, its experienced bookmakers were shrewd enough to win $4m and $5m from customers in the past two financial years. Sure, it received a windfall of $5m from TOTE Tas for a 25% share in the business. Sure, it had a lucrative deal with BetFair.

However, without knowing most of the facts I will refrain from saying anything more than the fact Sports Alive was reportedly let down by shady practices from senior management and owners. It was a good company making decent returns in a competitive and growing industry but I will allow the staff and investors they left out of pocket to tug the coat tails of the administrators. I will focus on the clear-cut issues of punter protection.

Sports Alive was licensed with the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission (GRC). Neither Sports Alive nor the GRC has contacted punters as to the whereabouts of their funds. Sports Alive have shut down their website and phonelines while the GRC are not replying to emails or phone calls. While I can understand that the Sports Alive owners are on their proverbial way to Brazil with suitcases of cash, I am disappointed with the actions of a supposedly reputable Government agency.

Read the rest...

I have harped and harped about the need for proper punter protection to build an industry, and have lampooned any regulatory body without it. I am deeply ashamed that the modern business attitude of 'ah, fuck it' has spread to Australian bookmaking regulators. Other states should come down on them like a ton of bricks - this will hurt all of them.

tide turning back against Australian bookie advertising

2011-08-30T12:38:00.002+01:00

As mentioned on this blog earlier in the year, Australian sports fans have been overwhelmed this year by betting advertising. That's fine if you love a punt, but if you have to avoid it for various reasons, there really was nowhere to turn. Live odds updates on scoreboards, official websites carrying live prices, and most annoying of all, the repeated paid plugs with live odds read out by the commentators. There has to be a happy medium - enough to interest potential punters but also allow those with no interest to tune out.

MCG Trust tackles sports gambling head-on

A significant blow against the pervasive advertising of sports betting at main venues has been struck.

As Fairfax reported yesterday, the Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust will not renew an agreement with Betfair, which displays updated odds on scoreboards during AFL games. The MCG Trust, which controls a stadium where crowds of up to 100,000 gather, imposed the ban on live odds updates after complaints from members.

It is uncertain whether the MCG decision will have a knock-on effect at Sydney's main venues. A spokesman for the SCG Trust said the content of scoreboard advertising was controlled by its tenants. The Sydney Swans no longer show live odds because they do not have a contract with a betting agency. Cricket Australia does not allow scoreboard odds updates - understandable given the game's well known problems with match-fixing.

Sports betting has a place in Australian society, but the industry has to be careful it doesn't get into the despised, plague-like state of poker machines. Deregulation let them into nearly every pub in the country and the number of problem gamblers in the country rose exponentially. Morons like Senator Nick Xenophon cannot be allowed to dictate government policy with a mandate from the public who are fed up with proceedings.

Moderation is all we ask for.

football authorities finally taking their heads out of the sand

2011-08-29T19:27:00.001+01:00

Good article from CNN about match-fixing and how stubborn football authorities are finally starting to realise just how big and how widespread the problem is.

Football's match-fixing problem

(CNN) -- It was the highest profile, and most embarrassing, sanction imaginable.

The decision by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) to withdraw champions Fenerbahce from this season's Champions League on Wednesday, due to allegations of endemic match fixing and bribery, shocked the football world far outside arguably Europe's most passionate footballing nation.

For Turkish football fans, it's the equivalent of Manchester United being stripped of the English Premier League title; or of the New York Yankees losing the World Series over corruption charges. Last year's runners up, Trabzonspor, will take Fenerbahce's place, but the shock waves remain...

US Open Round 1

2011-08-29T10:41:00.000+01:00

Had written this for a client but it wasn't used for some reason...

In Round 1 matches, the Aussie focus will be on Bernard Tomic against qualifier Michael Yani, and wildcard Marinko Matosevic opposing Juan Ignacio Chela again, in a repeat of their Wimbledon R1 clash. Tomic actually trails 1-2 on the h2h, losing both on clay, while his success came in Wimbledon qualifying on the grass. Yani is no slouch, he grinds his way through the challenger circuit with occasional ventures to the higher grade. If Tomic brings his big stage attitude onto court he'll be fine, but I foresee a longer than necessary match. Lay Tomic 3-0 at around 2.6.

The latest young American hope, Ryan Harrison, opens proceedings in Louis Armstrong Stadium against Marin Cilic. This will be an out-and-out slugfest. Harrison is the highest-ranked teenager on the tour, and typical of emerging Americans, relies heavily on his serve. Semi-final appearances in Atlanta and LA early in the North American swing boosted his ranking, and he meets a former quarter-finalist whose game is noted mostly for its inconsistency this year. Like any teenager, there has to be doubts over his ability to go five sets, but at around 3.0, a back-to-lay trade is advised.

The top seeds should all have comfortable 3-0 victories (watch that simplistic prediction go pear-shaped!) but the one seed in action on Tuesday I fancy is Mikhail Youzhny. The two-time semi-finalist here faces the enigmatic Latvian, Ernests Gulbis. Gulbis has a huge amount of hype around him, and has for a few years. But when you line up his Grand Slam form, it is simply atrocious - seven straight R1 losses! Youzhny has come out on the wrong side of this result twice, but on the big stage, he is a class above. Can't believe the price - back confidently at 1.8 and above.

Outsiders with a chance:

Stakhovsky 4.7 v Gasquet. The Frenchman has a poor record here and could face a struggle against a player well suited to the faster courts.

Johnson 9.0 vs Bogomolov Jr. I've not heard of this US wildcard before, but I do know one thing - Bogomolov just isn't that good! He should never be 1.11 against anyone.

Darcis 2.4 v Tursunov - the Belgian won this clash just last week in Winston-Salem and is on a strong run of form, mostly in challenger events. Meanwhile Tursunov has lost four of his past five and only broke his run of nine straight R1 Grand Slam losses with a win over Gulbis (seven straight) at Wimbledon!

Switching to the women, Sam Stosur flies the flag for Australia, hoping to at least repeat last year's quarter-final effort, which was a vast improvement on her previously poor record here. She starts her campaign against Sofia Arvidsson who is generally happy to receive the R1 loser's cheque at each Slam. A straight sets victory should be a safe bet.

Adopted Aussie Anastasia Rodionova is favoured against former compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva, but trails 0-3 on the h2h. Rodionova has the better recent form but a trio of three-set losses to today's opponent suggests it is more than just ability which decides these results. Rodionova is a renowned hothead and if a rival can get into her head, that spells trouble. Kudryavtseva worth a bet at around 2.5.

Outsider with a chance:

Barrois 4.0 vs Goerges. The 19th seed is on a horror run since Wimbledon with just two wins in eight. Barrois is capable on her day.

US Open preview - women

2011-08-29T08:48:00.000+01:00

Women's draw

Are we back to Serena domination of the WTA Tour or she is the best one left in a bad bunch? Clijsters is injured again, Wozniacki is proving a dud at number one and every other player on the women's tour seems to have issues. It seems there has never been a more urgent need for some fresh young faces to step forward and really upset the applecart.
With Hurricane Irene surging up the east coast of the US, it's hard to know at this stage just how disrupted the tournament will be, but it's a long, long odds-on that critics will be calling for a roof to be built over the show courts yet again….

Working down the draw this time.

1 - Wozniacki. In the papers more for her lovelife now than her tennis. Is that first Grand Slam win ever going to emerge? Losing first-up to McHale in Cincinnati isn't the way to suggest it will be this time, although she did reverse that result in New Haven, a tournament she always plays well in. Has form here but backing her to win the final is worse than backing Murray in the men. Shouldn't have too many worries through the first week, Petkovic/Li in the quarters will turn up the heat.

29. Gajdosova - has lost six matches in a row. Serious danger of losing R1 to Benesova. 1000

21. Hantuchova - usually a safe bet through the first week, then it all goes downhill. 1000

15. Kuznetsova - has lost three out of five since Wimbledon, gone off the boil. Leads R1 opponent Errani 3-0. 500

10. Petkovic - flying this year. If you drop the grass events out of her results, she has reached at least the QFs of her last five tournaments. Complained of a minor knee injury in Cincinnati but assured fans she will be fine in time. Has beaten Wozniacki, Jankovic, Sharapova and Kvitova on hardcore this year. 40

18. Vinci - the non-conventional player on the WTA Tour, using a lot of slice, attacking the net and confusing many of the robotic players on the circuit these days. Can't see her making an impact here, but she did beat Ivanovic, Wickmayer and Wozniacki in Toronto. 200

31. Kanepi - has been hampered by an achilles injury for months. Won't last long. 1000

6. Li - had two wins in a row this week in New Haven for the first time since Paris. Match vs Petkovic in R4 could be a cracker. Can beat them all when she clicks. Might be slightly off-form but at least you know she can do it at the business end. 20

4. Azarenka - edging her way closer to the top but needs to start racking up the big titles. Has a habit of getting injured at the wrong times, needs to break that spell to claim a Slam. Worst draw possible - meets Serena in R3. Also has Ivanovic and Jankovic in her half. 16

28. Serena W - clearcut favourite and hard to argue with that. 16-2 for the year, but did pull out of Cincinnati with a toe injury. At the time she claimed to be resting it for New York. Won 2008, missed 2010, so her last match was that controversial semi against Clijsters where she copped a point penalty on match point for threatening to kill a line judge. Has won five of the last nine Slams she has turned up to....

You can read the remainder of the preview here

US Open preview - men

2011-08-29T08:45:00.000+01:00

It's Slam time again which means I've been busy with betting previews. I've been writing these for all the Slams since 2000 with some tasty winners along the way...

Men's draw

Changing of the guard with Djokovic holding the no.1 seed mantle for the first time at a Slam. If his shoulder ailment has gone, then the title is his to lose. But if he isn't full strength, it's wide open. Expect severe disruption to the schedule for the first couple of days until the after-effects of Hurricane Irene peter out completely.

1. Djokovic - his form this year makes him the most dominant man I have seen across all surfaces. 57-2 is incredible, particularly with the most recent defeat being a precautionary retirement due to an ailing shoulder (Cincinnati final). Early rounds should be a breeze, gets harder in week two - Gasquet, followed by Berdych or Monfils. 2.3
32. Dodig - first time seed facing former world #3 in R1. Tough initiation. Beat Nadal in Montreal so can pull a shock result out from time to time. 1000
22. Dolgopolov - yet to make an impact at the Slams, has the talent to mix it with the best. Nishikori R2, Gasquet R3 will be intriguing clashes for him - can with both of those, but no chance of getting past Djokovic soon after. 400
13. Gasquet - never past the fourth round here, the talent is there but the application always suffers. Opens up against big-server Stakhovsky, followed by Karlovic or Gonzalez. Has to be on the ball just to meet another seed in R3. 250
9. Berdych - after beating Federer in Cincinnati, he retired in the semi-final with a shoulder injury. Not an ailment you want to suffer just before a Grand Slam on a quick surface. Has bombed in R1 twice in last three years, yet to get past R4. 80
20. Tipsarevic - awful Slam record, just two Wimbledon R4s to show from 30 events. That said, he has changed focus this season with two titles won. 1000
31. Granollers - 16 Slam main draws, never past R2! Ranking obviously based on winning a lot of matches in weak tournaments. 1000
7. Monfils - Rasheed seems to have improved him. Finalist Washington, beaten by Djokovic in the quarters at Montreal and Cincinnati, but his wins over top 10 players are few and far between. Tricky opener against Dimitrov, could face Djokovic again in the QF. 150
3. Federer - still capable of brilliance, but tellingly, now more capable of average days when those he once dominated can beat him. Inflicted the only full match defeat of Djokovic this year at Roland Garros, but then threw away a two-set lead against Tsonga at Wimbledon. Beaten by Tsonga again in Montreal and then by an ailing Berdych in Cincinnati. Tsonga/Fish in the quarters will be a real test for him. I still maintain my view that he will not win another major tournament (and nor will his mate Tiger for that matter). 12

Read the rest at PuntingAce

SportsAlive? Not any more!

2011-08-26T08:57:00.001+01:00

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 long before all punters are paid out in full.

Betfair customers in Australia used SportsAlive for their fixed-odds multiples on Aus sports. No liability is on Betfair as their client funds were always separate, but whether their reputation by association takes a hit is another matter.

Sports Alive previously traded as Sports Acumen and Global SportsBet before various ownership and name changes.

Update - 3pm:

Apparently the business was worth $20m and had made profits of $4-5m over the past two years. That doesn't correlate to the fact they were slow-paying punters late last year as well...

Pair hit as Sports Alive dies

MICK Malthouse's manager, Peter Sidwell, will be one of the biggest losers from the collapse of corporate betting shop Sports Alive.

Sidwell is one of a number of private investors, also including well-known Warrnambool bookmaker Gary Walsh, anxiously awaiting a report from a liquidator appointed to Sports Alive late on Thursday.

The Herald Sun learned Mr Walsh stands to lose more than $500,000 and Mr Sidwell at least as much. Mr Sidwell did not return calls from the Herald Sun and Mr Walsh did not comment.

Tasmania's TAB - Tote Tasmania - has lost a $5 million investment for a 25 per cent share in Sports Alive.

Punters also stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Although the company's licence with the Australian Capital Territory Government required a security bond of $250,000, that amount is expected to fall well short of what is owed to account holders.

Considering the number of UK bookies sniffing around Australian operators over the last few years, the situation must have been desperate if none were prepared to purchase this firm. It was rumoured that 888Sport looked at a joint venture a few years ago but it didn't go ahead due to 888's gaming ventures and conflict with Australian law.

Centrebet takeover approved by Australian Federal Court

2011-08-26T03:29:00.000+01:00

The Sportingbet bid for Centrebet looks to be signed and sealed now with Australian courts giving approval that it doesn't breach any anti-competition laws. So Ladbrokes choose not to bid on Australia's first online bookie, letting Sportingbet buy them out, so they can then take them over....

Interesting concept - surely someone's paying too much along the line?

Centrebet takeover approved by Australian court

Sportingbet’s takeover of Centrebet has edged closer after receiving the approval of the Federal Court of Australia. The news follows last week’s announcement that the takeover had received the backing of Centrebet shareholders. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning, London-listed Sportingbet confirmed that the schemes pertaining to the takeover will “become effective” upon the lodging of relevant court orders to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission tomorrow. The suspension of Centrebet shares will follow, with the Australian company set to be officially delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange on 31 August, at which point it will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sportingbet.

possibly the most pathetic excuse for steroid use

2011-08-25T22:28:00.000+01:00

The North Korean women's football team has been kicked out of the next World Cup (2015) and all the qualifying events after five players tested positive for steroids at the recent women's World Cup in Germany.

The team doctor, Jong Ae Nam, who claimed that she had used a "Chinese remedy" based on musk deer glands to aid players who had been struck by lightning, was handed a six-year ban from the game as the five players all tested positive for steroids.

It really is la-la land over there....

latest match-fixing developments

2011-08-23T22:33:00.000+01:00

Greece, Italy and Turkey are making strides in rooting out match-fixing in their football leagues - there's a long way to go though. Don't believe for a moment that these are isolated cases...

Riots follow ban for 2 clubs in Greek league

Italian authorities rush to end match-fixing scandal

Turkish league endorses play-offs amid match-fixing allegations

Spot-fixing slips into society very easily

2011-08-21T22:02:00.000+01:00

A disturbing, but unsurprising, report from Pakistan about the infiltration of spot-fixing into the fabric of cricket at all levels. For all the posturing and anti-gambling hysteria from idiot politicians such as Senator Nick Xenophon in Australia, one thing is crystal clear - the more you drive gambling underground, the more crooked it becomes. Simple comparison - how often do you see betting scandals in the UK and Australia as against any part of Asia? Which one of those societies tries to force betting underground? Eastern Europe can also be considered closer to Asia than the UK/Australia because the only form of legalised betting is often via state monopolies with extortionate take-out/tax rates.

Competition, licensing, regulation and education is THE ONLY WAY to handle it. Make all companies operate on normal business principles - look after the customer or they will attempt to screw you over. Keep a tight rein over companies so they always have their finances in order. Condition them to look out for activity such as money laundering and ensure they promote responsible gambling. Society should teach kids the maths of gambling so they don't get hooked. Teach kids the ethics of always doing their best, but do not under any circumstances ban it outright and make it harder to police....

Spot-fixing: Youngsters following their idols’ footsteps

There was a time, not long ago, when youngsters idolised and tried to emulate Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, or more recently Shoaib Akhtar and Shahid Afridi, as they honed their cricketing skills playing on the streets.

It seems, however, that things have changed drastically, for the worse, because teenage cricket lovers are now following in the footsteps of tainted fast-bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the disgraced duo currently serving a ban from all types of cricket for their involvement in the spot-fixing saga.

Fixing matches, or at least placing bets on them as a series of festival tournaments take place across the country, is not new but the act being carried out on the streets has become a favourite pastime for many. While betting – placing money on their predicted winner – is common, cash for underperformance has now hit the streets.

Geoff Lawson once said when he was coach of Pakistan briefly that when rookie kids joined the national training squads from remote areas, they often had to be taught basic things that we in the West take for granted, like brushing their teeth. It's not difficult to extend that into a reasonable assumption that matters like integrity and always giving your best on the sporting field were part of their upbringing. Corruption in most countries is simply part of life. Western society works differently, that is plain to see. Ridding cricket of match- and spot-fixing is a much deeper issue than simply bringing in laws and harsh penalties against it. The good ol' sledgehammer to crack a nut approach will not work.

With thanks to @pier0 for the link.

Federer and Nadal looking lacklustre

2011-08-20T09:02:00.001+01:00

Poor performances overnight from Nadal and Federer in the Cincinnati Masters. Nadal was beaten in straight sets by Mardy Fish, the most improved player on the tour in the past 18 months since he shed a bit of muscle and improved his court movement, and soon after Federer was comfortably beaten by Tomas Berdych.

With the US Open coming up in just over a week's time, neither player is in great form - do they have it in them to bounce back for the big event, or is this the beginning of the end? I've said before I can't see Federer winning another Grand Slam singles titles, while Nadal started his senior career so early, his body will burn out quicker. Nadal did have massive blisters on his left hand, which can heal at least.

Novak Djokovic just continues on his merry way at the moment, the value might be to find someone each-way on the other side of the draw. I will definitely be opposing the 'top 4 seeds all to make the semis' option - only one of them is any sort of form at the moment....

Czech team nabbed for match-fixing

2011-08-19T09:08:00.000+01:00

Amid all the headlines for Greek and Turkish football, I hadn't seen this one before...

Czech team Olomouc sanctioned for match-fixing

The Czech football association said Thursday it had sanctioned Czech top-flight side Sigma Olomouc with a loss of nine points and a €164,000 for a 2009 match-fixing scandal.

The association's disciplinary committee fined Olomouc for an attempt to bribe Bohemians Prague players with 300,000 koruna ahead of their league game in May 2009 to secure a place in the Europa League.

Sigma's keeper Petr Drobisz, accused of having delivered the money, was handed an 18-month ban and a fine worth 200,000 koruna.

Soft penalty in my opinion - where's the punishment for those in charge of the club who were behind it? Shooting the messenger (or courier in this case) is pathetic.

Has the rogue German state turned chicken?

2011-08-18T23:02:00.000+01:00

One German state looked like being the thorn in the foot of the German government and their farcical plans for a online gambling regulatory model. 15 of the 16 states voted for the most uncompetitive licensing system in Europe, but Schleswig-Holstein looked to be the one standing up for German punters, and/or the protocols of the European Union.

But alas, at the last minute, they've not gone through with the decision. Is it to work on a compromise with other German states? Is it because they are scared of intra-German political sanctions? Have they just gone soft? Who knows....

Schleswig-Holstein delays egaming vote at 11th hour

Schleswig-Holstein will decide by September "at the earliest" on whether or not to pass its egaming law, ahead of further negotiations with the other 15 German federal states or Länder over the new State Gambling Treaty.

latest editorial work

2011-08-17T03:24:00.001+01:00

Another site taking my rants, raves, expertise and tips - the sports blog for The Tote in Tasmania.

Total Domination

The WTA has been criticised over the years for being dominated by one or two players, and rightly so. Now it’s the men’s turn and it’s very difficult to fathom.

Victory in Montreal left Novak Djokovic with a 53-1 win-loss run for the year and he became the first player to win five Masters Series events in a calendar year, remarkably with three still to play. Ponder that for a moment – one loss in over 50 matches in an era containing two rivals regularly mentioned in GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) discussions. Federer and Nadal haven’t been injured, there hasn’t been a disease epidemic weakening his opponents, players haven’t been on strike – this is a guy fed up with life at number three and laying it all on the line......

Read more at The Tote SportsHub

Coral to finally have a proper crack at the online market

2011-08-16T23:20:00.000+01:00

For years Coral have been a lame duck for online betting - average website, mediocre offers, very little promotion etc. Now it sounds like they've finally worked out the High Street is dying and they'd better catch up to their rivals! Judging by the gaming industry job boards, they are have a decent warchest to hire a lot of new people. Although, if Ladbrokes were never that great online, you have to query why they'd hire their former head of online to lead the way...

football sponsorship England v Germany

2011-08-08T16:19:00.000+01:00

Bayer Leverkusen announce a shirt sponsorship deal with solar developer Sunpower, one of several deals with renewable energy firms in German football. Bayern Munich have a deal with Yingli, Hoffenheim have one with Wirsol and I've probably missed one or two more...

Meanwhile in England, we have clubs wearing sponsorship logos from 188Bet, 10Bet, 12Bet, 888, 32Red, Bodog, Fun88, Genting Casino, SBOBet, Sportingbet plus other deals with firms like Betfair, Blue Square and others I'm sure I've missed.

German legislation re gambling aside, it says a lot about the state of the respective economies and their outlook for the future doesn't it?

evolution of gambling in Australia

2011-08-04T22:08:00.000+01:00

Interesting article here from the Sydney Morning Herald, illustrating the different betting characteristics on racing by state, and on particular sports. This highlights why betting sites need to know their punters and customise their product accordingly. The live betting figures are interesting - I'd have to see figures on how many games are shown live in each code to make a fair comparison. Australian terrestrial TV networks love showing matches on 30min delay so they can squeeze in as many ads as they can. From next year in the AFL at least, all games will be shown live, even in the home city. And about bloody time too!

Brash gamblers still think inside the box

..
Nicholas Tzaferis, general manager of Tabcorp's corporate affairs, says, "In terms of race betting, NSW punters have a clear preference for win betting, which accounts for more than half of all money wagered on NSW racing. In Victoria, win betting accounts for 42 per cent of turnover."

Multiple betting, popular with small punters taking a range of combinations, is common in Victoria, with Tzaferis saying, "The quaddie [picking winners in four consecutive races] is king in Victoria. Forty-four per cent of our Victorian account customers placed a quaddie bet last year, compared with 26 per cent in NSW."

The listed corporate bookmaker Centrebet says recent trends in the most popular football codes in both states also support this. NSW punters are opting for live gambling on NRL, the "in the run" type gambling when the game is in progress, while the big increase in AFL wagering is on pre-game bets, the fixed-price action before kick-off.

Food for thought for any of these UK firms wanting to set up in Australia....

Greece - money please, screw the EU rules

2011-08-03T12:57:00.000+01:00

Hardly surprising that the Greek government are desperate to earn more tax revenue via gaming licensing, but with shambolic regulations, it's hard to imagine many firms wanting to get involved!

Greece pushes for fast-track regulation

Greek politicians could agree to regulate the country’s online gambling market as soon as Thursday, despite its existing proposals continuing to contravene EU laws.

..
..
..

It is now thought the government is considering charging operators around €10m for a five-year licence.

An RGA spokesman told eGaming Review the body and its members within the licensed private gambling industry had broadly welcomed the opening of the market but that it was concerned with “the apparent disregard” of the EC’s notification process and standstill period by the Greek authorities. “The disregard for those protocols and the acceleration of this legislation comes at a time when Greece is receiving significant financial support from the EU,” he said.

..
..

The Remote Gambling Association has been lobbying Greek ministers and decision makers and the organisation’s main issues surround:

Taxation
A 30% Gross Profits Tax (GPT) on operators, higher than any of the other current regulated markets in France, Italy and the proposed new markets in Spain (20-25%) and Denmark (20%). Despite the RGA lobbying successfully to achieve a change in taxation to GPT it still views the rate as prohibitive.

A 10% “players’ tax” on winnings seen by the body as a further disincentive to gamble with a Greek licensed operator.

Ban on bets
A blackout period of up to six months proposing a ban on all operators offering gambling services to Greek consumers before obtaining a licence. OPAP would be exempt. It suggests this is impractical and will have an adverse impact.

Forced use of Greek financial institutions
Compelling licensed operators to only use Greek financial institutions appears to be a restriction which breaches EU law, notably the free movement of capital.

Different age limits for on and offline gambling
Participation in online gambling is limited to a minimum of 21 years of age, however, the offline gambling activities of OPAP are restricted to a minimum age of 18 years.

Requirement to have a permanent establishment in Greece
The requirement that operators must have a registered office or permanent place of establishment in Greece runs directly counter to the freedom to provide services.

News summary

2011-08-02T15:12:00.001+01:00

Lots going on, but very short of time lately, here's a quick look at what has been going on...

Sportingbet are keen to be acquired by Ladbrokes, but the 'Magic Sign' are nervous about SB's activity in Turkey, one of the strongest regions of their business. If Sportingbet are serious about the sale going through, looks like they will have to sell that part of the company.

The Betfair share price keeps on tumbling, not even the internal buyback scheme can stop the price sliding, sliding away...

The Gold Coast Turf Club is targetting night racing as a way to move themselves up the ladder of Australian racing. Sounds like a positive move, the weather's great up there but when they run their feature Magic Millions Day in January when it is approaching 40C, that's ridiculous. The racecourse does need a serious upgrade to its facilities if they want to become a bigger club, getting into the Friday night rotation of meetings would probably serve them better than being the sixth-ranked meeting on a Saturday, ignored by the majority of punters.

Veteran American tennis player Robbie Kendrick has been banned for 12 months after traces of MHA were found in his system when tested at the French Open. Kendrick claims to have checked online about the ingredients of the tablets he was given by a friend, but didn't spot obvious errors on the company website, and wasn't able to provide the investigation panel with a list of websites he visited because 'he was in the habit of clearing his browser history regularly'. Hmm, a man travelling the world on his own, spending a lot of time in hotel rooms.... why would he need to do that? Lol. On the face of it, it's a fair penalty, but it is unjust when you compare it to confessed HGH trafficker Wayne Odesnik who only received an eight-month ban and is back playing in this week's Washington event.

Questions have to be raised about the value of gaming licences in certain jurisdictions with the Full Tilt Poker/Alderney scandal. How valuable is a licence in one of these territories when they have no local consumers to protect, and thus are more inclined to care about the tax money arriving instead...

Bet24 have informed their clients about a security breach. That's all very nice, you know it can happen, but I'm sure they're working hard to stop it ever happening again, we can forgive them for that. It's not until you dig closer that you learn these events happened between 2007 and 2009! So it wasn't until the story was in the public domain by going to court that customers learned of it. Disgraceful. No surprise that these clowns are licensed in Malta, a jurisdiction with an ever-withering quality of gaming licence.

Trending hits the track

2011-07-29T14:04:00.000+01:00

A big day for Social Media Racing and more specifically, the Twitterati, as this syndicate is known. The world's first racehorse ownership syndicate put together on Twitter makes his debut tonight at Beth in the 5.05.

Trending is his name, I'm one of the 60 part-owners involved and will be hoping for a promising start to his career. Unfortunately it's a chaotic time at work at the moment (hence lack of posting lately) so being on course to be part of the action will have to wait until one of his later starts. Jeremy Gask landed a winner last night at Ffos Las, let's hope the form continues....

US-facing sportsbook range is fast diminishing

2011-07-23T23:46:00.000+01:00

We've heard about poker sites being targetted by the US Dept of Justice - sportsbooks are fearing the same attention. One of the biggest, The Greek (formerly called Olympic), has decided to stop taking bets from US residents effective immediately. They avoided the attention when Pinnacle stopped taking US bets several years ago, now they feel time is right to distance themselves from the US totally. US players are being transferred over to Heritage Sports.

Another book under the same ownership, BetJamaica, has closed its door entirely. All accounts transferred to The Greek, with the US accts then transferred to Heritage.

See this thread on Covers.com for details. They won't be the last sportsbook to make/be forced into this decision.

AFL sets the standard on player betting investigations

2011-07-16T21:08:00.000+01:00

Australian football has become the benchmark for sporting bodies policing betting by players. Integrity agreements with betting firms allow them to monitor betting activity, particularly when it comes to names on their special list. Of course, it is never going to stop it completely if the players have half a brain (read further to see how clueless some of them are), but it gives the league great power to detect and investigate suspicious betting activity.

Heath Shaw suspended for eight weeks for betting on Collingwood game

SHAMED Collingwood premiership stars Heath Shaw and Nick Maxwell have expressed regret over a betting scandal that has rocked the AFL ladder leader.

The pair copped heavy punishments for breaking the AFL's strict anti-gambling rules after an investigation found they shared inside information with friends and family.

..
..

The betting scam involved the information that Maxwell was to play in the forward line against Adelaide and not in his usual backline position.

Shaw, who was betting at a TAB on the day before the match, passed the information to his friend and gave him $10 to bet on Maxwell to kick the first goal at 100-1.

His friend added his own $10 to the bet, and placed other bets, with another friend, totalling $15.

Maxwell told his family he would start in the forward line. This information was used by his brother and his wife's mother to place bets totalling $85.

..
..

AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson said an "extensive investigation" uncovered the betting offences.

"As a result of our routine checks and liaison with bookmakers, we became aware there had been a plunge on Nick Maxwell and he had come in from 100-1 to 25-1," he said.

"As a result of the information-sharing agreements and the power of investigation, our investigators were able to follow the money trail.

"It's very important to note that nothing that any player has done here has been with the intent to influence any outcome within the contest."

A Tabcorp source said the betting giant helped the AFL investigation with information that included CCTV footage of Shaw at the TAB when the bets were placed.

In reality, it was all fairly innocent, but Shaw being on camera demonstrates that some of thee blokes aren't too bright. Since then, the wowsers have come out calling for a ban on exotic bets on games - an argument which was dismissed out of hand by league officials - a rare bunch of sporting officials who actually understand the gambling business.

League won't ban exotic bets

THE AFL would be courting "a disaster" if it banned exotic bets such as the punts that plunged Collingwood into a firestorm this week.

General manager football operations Adrian Anderson said the AFL had considered banning exotic bets - such as who kicks the first goal of a match - but added: "It would be a disaster. It would push betting underground".

Of course, any betting integrity arrangement is only as strong as its weakest link, which is usually cash wagering. But if players want to show their faces, or people want to have abnormally large cash bets under a CCTV camera, then the task of investigating is easier than it should be.

Cash punters real test in Dumb & Dumber sequel

IT seemed such a slick operation at first glance. The full force of the AFL integrity department stalked the money trail and was able to draw to a conclusion a three-month forensic investigation of extraordinary meticulousness.

The AFL's general manager of football operations, Adrian Anderson, said his team had hunted down the money droppings Hansel and Gretel-like, talked to suspects and associates, perhaps even lay in wait, camouflaged and hidden, luring their suspects to a grisly end.

Then the final piece, so intricately traced, fell into place. Heath Shaw was so bloody dumb he was in the TAB when his mate placed the bet on his behalf.

Sporting bodies around the world would love to have as much transparency as the AFL with wagering.

Where's the diplomatic immunity?

2011-07-14T00:05:00.000+01:00

London papers regularly run stories of many crimes in the city being simply ignored because they are committed by foreign diplomats, often far more serious than shoplifting or a traffic infringement. So I'm surprised there hasn't been an attempt to wipe this gambling debt under similar outdated protocol...

Sheikh loses Bahraini palace to bookmaker Spreadex after racking up gambling debts

Bookmaker Spreadex is in line to receive a share in a Bahraini palace part-owned by royal family member Sheikh Hamad Al Khalifa after he racked up a quarter of a million pounds in gambling debts.

And I thought the Arabs weren't allowed to gamble...

the answer to match-fixing in Korea - double the minimum salary...

2011-07-11T17:24:00.000+01:00

... and bring in a lie detector. Well, it's a start at least, but the problem goes much deeper than that. If players are disenchanted with their clubs or the wrong type of people are involved with the club, then their heads can easily be turned. The new rules need to encourage whistle-blowers, to keep the wrong people out of the locker rooms, provide players with a long-term future in the sport rather than making them survive on a low base wage and to see the K-League share information with the betting firms. Simply removing the option to bet locally, only makes it easier for match-fixers. Every bet then goes via illegal channels, mostly outside South Korea, and without any chance of tracing it.

Regulation and establishing an audit trail is the best way forward.....

K-League ups base salary after match-fixing stain

The top local professional football league said Monday it will improve the welfare of its players and hand out severe punishments for corruption in response to a recent match-fixing scandal.

As part of restructuring measures, the K-League said it will raise players’ minimum salary and that clubs whose players are involved in match rigging will suffer tough penalties.

..
..
..

“We will introduce a pension plan for players and strive to improve rights and welfare for players,” the league said in a statement. “The minimum wage will be doubled from the current 12 million won ($11,350) to 24 million won starting next year.”

The indicted players included some high-profile names, but most of them were little-known, middling players with low salaries. Investigators have said these players might have been more tempted to take a lump sum of cash from brokers to engage in match-fixing schemes. Some players allegedly took or were offered more money than their annual salary.

The league said it will continue to work with related agencies to establish cooperative relations with FIFA and Interpol. To prevent further match fixing, the K-League will also adopt a polygraph testing system, currently in use in the Singaporean league, on those suspected of match fixing.

football corruption in a land of corruption - and they are surprised?

2011-07-08T16:10:00.000+01:00

This is utterly ridiculous. In a land where opponents of the self-appointed President simply disappear off the streets, and the police regularly get a slice off proceedings from armed robberies, the head muppet of FIFA has joined with Robert Mugabe in declaring match-fixing to be evil and that all people found to be involved in football corruption will be banned for life.

FIFA Join Hands With Interpol On Match Fixing Investigations: Blatter

Harare, July 05, 2011 - FIFA president, Sepp Blatter has hinted on a possible life ban on all those implicated in match-fixing scandals in Zimbabwe if found guilty.

“We will ban all those involved in shady deals in this country if they are found guilty. This is a country that has talent which no administrator would want to see going to waste. You have work to develop that talent and not to kill it through things such as match-fixing,” Blatter told administrators during a press conference organized for him by Zifa.

The press conference was held after he toured the Zifa Village in Mount Hampden, visited President Robert Mugabe at State House and Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai in the capital.

Blatter told the gathering that FIFA would not hesitate to punish those involved in shady deals in Zimbabwean football including match fixing.

“We have instruments in place that we can use to deal with those elements that are fond of bad behaviour in football. These instruments are there and they shall be used against all those found on the wrong side of the law,” he said.

A corrupt man meets another corrupt man then declares that every other corrupt person in the country who isn't as good as covering their tracks as they are, or as above the law as they are, will be severely punished.

The sums of money needed to fix a game of football in Zimbabwe might just buy a round of drinks in London. Is it any wonder that footballers battling to earn a living in a society full of corruption have little fear of breaking these rules?

and you thought match-fixing was about big bucks...

2011-07-08T13:24:00.000+01:00

You would be wrong. There are all sorts of reasons why players would agree to throw a match, or part of a match. If you go back to the famous 1919 Chicago Blacksox baseball scandal, the players involved agreed to throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds because they felt they were grossly underpaid by the team owner. The opportunity was there, and in came the underworld connection who liked a bet.

The name Wilson Raj Perumal is infamous in match-fixing circles and if you google search him, you'll find people blaming his ego for getting caught. He borrowed money from people to start fixing matches, didn't pay them all back despite having a lavish lifestyle and posting photos on Facebook of him travelling the world... people he owed money to naturally started getting a bit pissed off.

In this article, you'll read a story of how one low-level cup match in Malaysia was thrown for as little as RM200 (£42) each to six players, from an accomplice of Raj Perumal. The cost of living in Malaysia is low, but it's not that low. It's more than just money - it's a cultural thing too. Different cultures don't have the same rule of law system that we do in the supposedly superior western world. Corruption is a part of life in most parts of the world. You only have to look at FIFA and how bent they are to see that.

So why should players have any higher moral standards than Sepp Blatter or Jack Warner???

Greek and Turkish football in crisis

2011-07-04T23:04:00.001+01:00

UEFA's anti-corruption team has been busy, handing over vast amounts of evidence to the Greek and Turkish prosecutors over local match-fixing.

Police announce arrests in Greek match-fixing probe

Turkish football in crisis after match-fixing investigation

Until big names and big clubs are brought down in these cases, it will continue on. Perhaps that won't even stop it - it hasn't stopped dodgy late-season results in Italy, but the Juventus scandal wasn't over betting, just presidential egos and putting pressure on referees...

And there's plenty more on the story from Declan Hill

70,000 Copies of the ‘The Fix’ and the Prosecutor Who is Cleaning the Stables

Korean football faces shutdown over match-fixing

2011-06-30T14:04:00.000+01:00

It's getting rather messy in South Korea, the imaginatively named K-League has been infested with match-fixing and now the government is getting involved.

K-League faces shutdown threat over match-fixing scandal

SEOUL, Jun 30 (Reuters) - South Korea's government has threatened to "shut down" the country's professional soccer league after losing patience with an embarrassing match-fixing scandal, which is in danger of spiralling out of control.

Clubs whose players are found guilty of being involved in match-fixing have been warned they face expulsion from Korea's domestic competition, local media reported on Thursday.

"If K-League players are caught trying to throw matches from this July, their teams will be forced out of the league," Park Sun-kyoo, Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism told South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

"We will also consider shutting down the K-League in the worst-case scenario."

I was quoted in an AFP article recently on this very subject...

Asia: Every match-fixer's dream destination

The players are short of money and unhappy. Perhaps they have big debts. Perhaps their careers, which once promised so much, are petering out into nothing.

Whatever the reason, they are easy prey for match-fixers, who are now so rampant they are believed to operate in nearly every Asian football league, from Singapore to South Korea and most countries in between.

"We're not talking about [Uefa] Champions League or the World Cup finals or anything like that," said Britain-based Scott Ferguson, a consultant to the betting industry.

"We're talking domestic-level games where they're on a fairly mediocre wage. When someone comes up and offers a couple of grand [thousand dollars] to do this, their ears prick up."

around the traps

2011-06-29T14:54:00.000+01:00

A lot to catch up on after my recent time away, here are some of the stories making the news:

The Australian Federal Government has promised a review of online gambling and might finally do away with the ridiculous ban on in-play betting online. But then again, they might not... Note the incorrect linking of Serie A matches with match-fixing for betting by the Australian Crime Commission.

Full Tilt Poker's licence has been suspended with immediate effect by Alderney regulators. Was it their decision or did the Yanks have a word in their ear?

Betfair are searching for a new CEO and analysts admit it is a "potential opportunity for improvement".

Financial results for Betfair show profits up but revenue down.

Punters are rallying against Betfair's decision to heftily increase the Premium Charge. Check out the Facebook group here.

Poland has signed in their draconian gambling legislation banning all firms without a local licence. As a result, some firms, including Ladbrokes, have started blocking bets from that country.

Speaking of Ladbrokes, they've been sniffing around Sportingbet for a prospective acquisition, just days after some 'expert' analyst thought Betfair might be the right suitor for SB, who have recently purchased Centrebet.

Betfair to screw biggest winners for more cash

2011-06-29T00:12:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time, Betfair's best marketing line was 'Winners Are Welcome'. Not any more. In a desperate move to show the shaer market they have more options to increase their revenues, Betfair's biggest winners will be hit with an even higher Premium Charge rate.

For full details, read here - Betfair Premium Charge Hike details

Realistically, how many people will it affect? A very small number. You've got to have done very well to win £250k after commission over the years. But what will it do to liquidity? Well, the people it will hurt are the elite level traders such as Mr Bet Angel. Peter Webb and the best of his genre. Traders lose infrequently, so thus are destined to pay less commission than your average winning punter. The big liquidity providers who market-make across the board will be hit - 40% commission on your gross profits is a stiff ask, you'd need some heavy losses mixed in there to sweeten them up.

This comes on top of their less-publicised efforts to squeeze huge fees out of bookmakers using their commercial API service - over £1m/yr for the bigger firms!

Will 99.95% of us punters ever get near paying that level of Premium Charge? No. But at a time when their PR can't get much worse, is it really a great time to come out with this? Perhaps it is - Wimbledon's almost over, there's no major football tournament for European nations this year, Royal Ascot is done and dusted so maybe it was the best time to sneak it in. They'll be hoping it disappears into the dust by the time their next big football season campaign comes along....

Company figures are published next week I hear - profits are obviously stagnating so they are desperate to show the stock market they have other options to raise revenue.

The stock market liked the announcement today, climbing back towards 800p, or was that just a positive reaction to the news David Yu is finally on the way out?

Centre Court, here I come!

2011-06-27T08:31:00.001+01:00

Off to the tennis today, got Centre Court tickets via the ballot for the best day of action at any Grand Slam tournament. You will find my preview of all today's action linked below....

Wimbledon action aplenty

back in action this week

2011-06-26T20:02:00.002+01:00

I'm back after a refreshing break away after Royal Ascot, normal service will resume shortly.....

Royal Ascot Saturday

2011-06-18T10:31:00.000+01:00

Unlikely to have time to do any form today, focusing on the Wimbledon previews instead. Having a 2yo race 'for progeny of stallions who have won over at least 1m2f' to open the day doesn't inspire betting - why not just say 'for horses bound to end up jumping'? Crap race to include in a what is generally a fantastic week of racing.

Rain and the vagaries of the track make it prudent to bet late as the day unravels.

In the Golden Jubilee, I'll be looking at Hooray and Amico Fritz. As a son of Aussie super sire Redoute's Choice, I like Elzaam, but it has Richard Hills aboard. Might as well just add another 10lbs to its weight!

Hope Anne of Kiev goes well for Jeremy Gask in the Wokingham. The only mare in the race, she's a quality sprinter but this is tough.

Who knows in the last two races - don't rule out Life And Soul in the Duke of Edinburgh.

Royal Ascot - Friday

2011-06-17T11:31:00.001+01:00

Got killed by the rain yesterday, changed plans considerably and consequently had a poor day. Ignored all the hype about Brown Panther which turned out to be more than justified. He looks a very good type!

Today is tough once again, but that's the beauty of the Royal meeting....

ALBANY STAKES

With Judy The Beauty out, the clear favourite is Teolane. She has won her last two starts well in Ireland but I'm not convinced of her brilliance. Prepared to take her on at the price.

The one I was most impressed with off the tapes was Inetrobil. Really nice turn of foot in a weak Redcar maiden. Highclere Thoroughbreds recognised the potential and bought into a share soon after. Ryan 2yos going well and Makin delivered a winner yesterday.

Hidden Passion might go around at a big price. She was heavily backed on debut but didn't get out of the gates, and then ran on well at Haydock next time. Could be more to come from her. (NON-RUNNER)

Ilaunglauss beat rubbish on debut at Lingfield, big step up here but in good hands.

Lily's Angel has been the best of the Dark Angel progeny so far and went close to Dozy in the Hilary Needler. If you forgive Dozy a little for missing the start on Wednesday, then she's right in this.

Sajwah won well on debut but has R.Hills aboard - instant black mark.

Switcher is a half-sister to Marine Boy who looked a superstar on debut, but then went backwards quickly. Won well on debut, but wasn't explosive.

Keen on Inetrobil but unsure about the ground. I think Bertolini's go ok on it but won't be going in hard. Hidden Passion to be included in the exotics (nope, it's not running now!).

KING EDWARD VII STAKES

Love this race, reckon it's a better field than the Derby - zero no-hopers, everything has a chance, plus it's not on the awful downhill switchback course in the hills!

Nathaniel is the obvious favourite - he has come closer to Frankel (beaten half a length on debut) than any other horse. Big strider, not suited by Chester last start, absolute blue blood on breeding. But - four starts, three seconds - can you really lump on with confidence?

World Domination - high in the market because of the Cecil factor. Well beaten in the Dante when favoured to run well, although the strenth of that form was franked yesterday by Pisco Sour. More experience, more distance to suit, but can't be on him against such a decent field.

Mijhaar - beaten on 2yo debut by Fulgur, then re-emerged this season by absolutely smashing a field at Haydock. Placegetters in that race have since won, backing up the form. Looked a bit green but also untapped. Should handle the ground without any concerns.

Glen's Diamond - won well at Chester and Richard Fahey rates this as his best chance for the week. As a gelding, he hasn't been allowed to run in the classics (stupid rule IMO, as outdated as not letting divorcees into the Royal Enclosure, which was rescinded in 1955) so it's hard to line up the form. Has won his last four,trainer says extra distance will suit - I just don't know.

Genius Beast - impressed by this one at Sandown, though he might have had a chance in the Derby. Since disappointed at Longchamp in a small field, perhaps forgiveable although the RP Trading Post column has made him the lay of the day, for a place.

Fiorente - really impressed with the way he kicked clear at Newbury last start. Distance and rain can only help him.

Fulgur - like the breeding of this chap, a High Chaparral, whose progeny are flying in Aus. Beat Mijhaar in October, wet ground will suit as will stepping up in trip. Pricewise has taken the price though!

Dordogne - liked him earlier in the season but had a shocker at Sandown, probably due to damp ground. If that was the reason, then chances here have to be slim.

Alexander Pope - only Ballydoyle runner, always a chance in these races no matter who they turn up with, but surely improvement is needed to be up to his rivals, and that's without allowing for their improvement.

Glencadam Gold - decent win last time over this distance, not sure that class is up to these, but trained by Sir Henry Cecil, can't rule out completely.

Tough, tough race and won't play my hand until quite late I think because of the weather. Would rank them Mijhaar, Fiorente, Nathaniel, Fulgur, Genius Beast, Glen's Diamond, World Domination at this stage. Probably going with the front two in that, maybe even look at opposing World Domination in the plaec market.

CORONATION STAKES

This is tough and we don't know what the weather is going to do in the next three hours.

Have always liked Memory (backed her here last year) but now she comes with a major query as to whether she feels like jumping from the gates. If you want to back her - do it in-running, the price will be shorter, but at least you'll know... Hannon not keen on the rain for her.

The French horses Immortal Verse and Nova Hawk are very interesting in the wet. This race is on the round mile course, and the track is softer around the back. Both have won in the wet and have shown they are in the mix for a race like this.

More Than Real won the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf on a firm track, beating Together. US horses rarely see wet turf tracks - because they race so regularly at a circuit (several times per week for several months), they don't risk damaging the ground as their turf courses are very narrow - so as soon as it rains, they move them onto the dirt. Hence most US horses won't have wet track form. We are guessing but she is definitely a G1 filly. Pletcher has stated her preparation hasn't been ideal but no comment on handling the wet.

Theysken's Theory is the main danger to the favourite, she has won on the soft. Won easily last start in a Listed race at York.

Together is the form runner, bridesmaid in both the English and Irish 1000 Guineas, and ran a close 2nd to White Moonstone in a G1 here on good-soft last September. Hasn't won over the mile yet (three placings from four attempts - BC Juv Turf 5th was the other). Certainty for a place at least. Can't imagine gate 13 will be a concern if the rain has gotten further into the track.

Might play exotics around Together running a place, several winning chances.

WOLFERTON HANDICAP

Every man and his dog is tipping Green Destiny here. Scratched earlier in the week wanting a softer surface, he's got it today. Curious to see that he will start shorter here than in any of his three latest wins, and this is his biggest test. Not sure they know just how good he is.

The stablemate Shamali has a record of two wins and a second from three Ascot runs (his best turf runs), and has the services of Ryan Moore on top. Might be worth a place-weighted EW bet.

Otherwise staying out of this one.

QUEEN'S VASE

Not overly keen on this one, a lot of unknowns with distance and weather.

Regent Street is favourite but wasn't he a pacemaker for Recital recently? Can't be backing him as favourite.

Solar Sky was lucky to beat Sunday Bess at Haydock when he started at 2/13. Bred to stay all day but can't have him with any confidence either.

Mark Johnston is mob-handed with Eternal Heart, Halifax and Namibian - is it possible to pick between them? The market is struggling to.

Borug hasn't done a lot as yet, but is bred to stay and has the services of Mickael Barzalona aboard - he has to win a race here this week surely?

A couple of Encosta de Lagos in the race too which is a little surprising - he was a miler and his Aussie progeny have followed those traits. Perhaps they're stoutly bred on the dam side.

The one I like a bit in this is Ittirad. Well bred, upward curve, I rate the stable highly, worth a bet eachway.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE STAKES

Not a clue.

Royal Ascot form - Thursday

2011-06-15T23:59:00.002+01:00

Fantastic results on Wednesday with winners in the opening two races at 11/1 SP, with better prices available earlier or on Betfair. But absolutely gutted that So You Think was beaten, without even a penny on him. Awful tactics from Aiden O'Brien, employing a completely unnecessary pacemaker who then went too hard, got So You Think fired up and went for home on the turn. Backmakers need pacemakers, horses who sit up on the pace don't. I hate the concept of pacemakers with a passion, being able to determine the pace of a race sorts out the great jockeys from the good ones. There's nothing wrong at all with a horse like Dancing Rain winning the Oaks because her jockey did his homework and controlled the race from the front. Pacemakers do more harm than good. A great horse that needs everything served up on a plate for it isn't truly great....

NORFOLK STAKES

Tough race here, big field of 2yos with plenty of scope for improvement.

Bapak Chinta - won very easily at Hamilton, defeating Fredrick Engels who won here on Tuesday. Started odds-on that day and smashed the field of four. Kevin Ryan is very good with 2yos but I wasn't impressed with Phillip Makin's ride on Dozy today. There's a big gap between him and some of his rival jockeys. Can't be supporting him as favourite in a Royal Ascot race.

Everyday Dave - American flying machine, but the visitors from the States haven't been performing this week, so can't support this one at the price.

Crown Dependency - won very easily on debut at Goodwood, has the lethal Hannon and Hughes combination behind him. Must go close.

Pyman's Theory - won impressively at Sandown last start, defeating Bannock. Named after Racing Post expert James Pyman's theory about Exceed and Excel progeny performing better at Ascot. Here's her chance to prove it!

Silverheels - the oldest horse in the field, being a January foal. Brilliant win on debut back in April, hasn't raced since. Booking of Ryan Moore should be a plus but he's not at the top of my jocks list after today's effort on SYT!

Sans Loi - destroyed a field at Nottingham on debut last week. Standard of his opposition was weak, but did it very easily. Could be a silly price.

There are a few others in contention who ran on Tuesday, no idea if they will back up or not. It's the last four horses above I've named I'll be looking at most closely and linking up in the exotics.

RIBBLESDALE STAKES

Not getting far on replay form tonight, but don't let Dorcas Lane get under your guard.

(Midday update - Bert Black is hopeful about Sunday Bess in this race. She'll improve with a visor on first time, but still think she has a lot to find. Good luck with her Bert!)

GOLD CUP

Fame and Glory goes around quite short in this but Holberg's record on firm tracks is very strong. Plus he won the Queen's Vase here two seasons ago. 8/1 each-way is a great deal, Hills are paying 1/3 1,2,3 as well.

(Midday update - not so keen on Holberg now, reckon this rain reduces his chances. Makes it very tough now)

BRITANNIA STAKES

Trying to avoid the handicaps but did read somewhere the other day Capaill Laith has been laid out for this by Michael Bell, and I did rate him as a 2yo. Worth a nibble at 40s.

TERCENTENARY STAKES

Will put more work into this race tomorrow, but I'll be closely watching Alkimos.

KING GEORGE V STAKES

Too hard, will pass.

Good luck!

Royal Ascot form - Wednesday

2011-06-15T00:18:00.000+01:00

A nice start to the week with Sweet Sanette running well for a gallant third at 16/1. Had the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th horses for the trifecta which paid a few grand, unfortunately Prohibit spoiled the party!

JERSEY STAKES

Tricky race this. The favourite Codemaster is very good, if not a little green still. Definitely enjoyed the step up to 7f last start, but does wobble around a bit.

Fury drops back in trip after the Guineas and a run at Sandown where they walked for much of the race. Would rather be against him at the price.

Havane Smoker ran 2nd in the French 2000 Guineas but had every chance in that race. Does now have Soumillon aboard though.

Oracle has the AOB/Ryan Moore combination behind him. Ran 3rd in the Irish 2000 Guineas, was 25/1 that day and beat the fourth horse clearly. But he has won one race from nine starts, and funnily enough, his last race was his first in Group company. AOB may have finally found the key to him, but not for mine.

Western Aristocrat - very impressive on the videos in lesser races, travels really well so he might be a back-to-lay proposition. Win wouldn't surprise but I don't think he's quite up to some of these yet.

Strong Suit - was a very good 2yo last season and has had a wind operation since being beaten out of sight by Frankel in the Greenham. Double figure odds for a very good horse if he can return to his peak.

Splash Point - UAE Guineas winner at Meydan, flopped in the Derby there, freshened up, drops back in distance. 40 on Betfair underestimates him.

Majestic Myles - great last couple of runs at Newmarket and Haydock, not convinced though that he needs to step up another furlong. Tough as nails though, huge price for gun trainer/jockey combination.

Will be backing Strong Suit at the price, throwing in the favourite at the head of trifectas, then making sure Splash Point and Majestic Myles are included in the placings for the tri, leaving out a few at the top of the market.

WINDSOR FOREST STAKES

Some big spruiks out there for I'm A Dreamer but....

6 starts for 4 wins. Guess where her two defeats have been?

Lolly for Dolly has run second at her latest two starts on hard tracks, with all four of her wins being on softer ground. Watch out for the rain...

PRINCE OF WALES' STAKES

Only one horse in this - the Australasian superstar So You Think.

ROYAL HUNT CUP

Not touching the handicaps.

QUEEN MARY

Shumoos will come up short, was very impressive on debut but will find this harder.

Fire Lily has a formline through Tuesday's 2yo winner Power, while the American horses didn't do a lot on day 1 - Gypsy Robin may be better than them.

The one I give a decent chance to at odds is Dozy. Kevin Ryan knows his 2yos better than all but a couple of stables and she was impressive last start at Beverley.

SANDRINGHAM

Handicap, pass.

Royal Ascot form - Tuesday

2011-06-13T23:42:00.002+01:00

Take this with a grain of salt as I've had a few shockers with my last big UK racedays (with mates at Cheltenham and Epsom), but hopefully there'll be some info in here worth noting.

QUEEN ANNE STAKES

Great match race between Canford Cliffs and Goldikova, don't see anyone else upstaging them. Goldikova has been there done that so many times, why would you oppose her? 13 Group 1s amongst her 16 wins - wow. The formline behind her was backed up today with Cirrus Des Aigles winning a G3 at Longchamp, beating Stacelita. Canford Cliffs is damn good though. Will sit back and watch.

KING'S STAND STAKES

Have been surprised how short Star Witness has traded over the past week or so - I just don't think he's that great. He won his first three starts, including the Blue Diamond, Melbourne's biggest 2yo race, but his only win since (in seven starts) was the Coolmore Stakes at Flemington last October. It was a G1 but I'm not that convinced how strong it was. 4/1 is unders for me.

Working down the market - the trainer of Sole Power is worried about how soft the track is

Kingsgate Native has been here before and come up short - has been unplaced at his last seven G1 starts.

Overdose is the Budapest Bullet who flopped at his first run in the UK, complaining that Haydock was like concrete. He'll get some cut in the ground tomorrow.

Bridgetown is getting plenty of love from folks who follow American racing. Ran 54.03 for 5f at Gulfstream in March, darn quick but don't know how that compares with regular times there, or if the track is sloped etc. Will go like the clappers, is drawn the middle of the track.

Prohibit - best win of his seven has been a Listed race. Will run a good, honest race but can't see him stepping up.

Astrophysical Jet - impressive last year, could be good enough to win this if she kept improving at the rate she did last season. Found track too hard at Newmarket on her return - EDIT reason given for Newmarket failure was a virus.

War Artist - 8yo who equalled the best run of his career in Dubai last start, beaten a head by JJ The Jet Plane who would start a clear favourite in this race. If in the same form, he'll be close but probably just a length or two short of winning.

Sweet Sanette - the flying female from Hong Kong. Brilliant record over 1000m (8 wins, 2 seconds). Beat Sacred Kingdom last start (with 16lb advantage) but had been within a length of him at two previous starts at set weights. Loves a straight track, and is drawn next to Bridgetown so should get a gun run.

Tangerine Trees - great win at Newmarket beating several of these rivalsthen failed at Haydock, perhaps due to hardness of the track like Overdose?

Keen on Sweet Sanette each-way, and will be including Tangerine Trees in the exotics.

ST JAMES' PALACE STAKES

How do they beat the superstar Frankel? Was the Guineas win a revelation or just his true form? Sir Henry Cecil has said they'll try to run him a little more restrained this time - will Tom Queally be able to restrain him? He should win and win well, but believe it or not, I had a dream last week he got rolled - but I don't know who by!

I always like Japanese horses abroad and Grand Prix Boss will be a great price each-way here. Excelebration was outstanding in the German Guineas apparently and Dream Ahead shared top 2yo rating with Frankel last season. Don't forget Dubawi Gold beat everything but Frankel in the 2000 Guineas and Wootton Bassett has never lost in the UK.

Smaller field than the 2000 Guineas but probably hotter opposition. I'll lay Frankel if he ets too short, otherwise just back Grand Prix Boss each-way.

COVENTRY STAKES

Very tough but impressed with Trumpet Major in his two starts. Unlucky on debut, got crowded up for a long way before being beaten a nose and short head. Absolutely pissed in at Goodwood. Gatepost looked a bit green with more improvement to come at York, and who knows how good Italo could be? Will oppose Mezmaar as I just don't rate Richard Hills as a jockey.

ASCOT STAKES

I'm making a concerted effort to stay out of the handicaps this week.

WINDSOR CASTLE STAKES

Not sure I'll get time to do all the tapes for this one, so important to watch the replays with 2yo races. No idea at this stage....

tennis rort exposed on Challenger Tour

2011-06-10T23:09:00.000+01:00

With thanks to ShankTennis for this article.....

The Romanian media picked this one up last week - an attempted sting at the Rijeka challenger event, but with plenty of matches involved.

Today, the company Advanced Betting System, Super Bet operator, was the victim of massive fraud attempts through the rigging of matches at the Challenger tournament in Rijeka (Croatia). Here are the details of this unpleasant event.

It goes on to claim the following:

A series of identical 12-leg parlays were placed at Super Bet outlets in Bucharest and Drobetu Turnu Severin.
The amount wagered was on each parlay was €1000, with a potential pay-out of €147, 000 on each.
Of the twelve legs, eleven were Challenger tennis matches with ten of those from Rijeka.
Of the tennis bets, all players either won in straight sets or lost via retirement (thus voiding those legs of the parlay).

It could be classed as an attempt to fix a series of matches, or alternatively, one big punter really having a big bet, but spreading out his wager across several tickets because of limits placed upon him or all tickets in general in Romania. I tend to think it's probably one or a few big punters using a bit of information, perhaps someone at the event, noticing a few players were enjoying the nightlife or not 100% fit and coupling them all up for a rather big wager. After all, it doesn't make any sense for an attempt to fix matches to only be punted with one betting outlet - there are enough around these days betting on challengers to get a few bets on.

But that could just be an opinion from someone who wants to see tennis be as clean as possible. Certainly having a couple of matches which involved retirements raises suspicions but it's not concrete evidence of a fix. A punter/syndicate behind a sting of this level cannot hope to have EVERY match under control, but he certainly wager with confidence if he had a few players in his pocket and was getting 147/1 for what he considered to be a 20/1 shot.

And if you want to read some comical responses from people who don't have the slightest idea how the betting industry works, this thread is worth reading.

Greek licensing plan is just a tad ambitious

2011-06-10T14:38:00.000+01:00

The basket case of the EU, Greece, has decided to move with the times and licence other gambling operators in the country in order to clear some of its monumental debts. Greeks are renowned for their love of betting but they've mostly had to do it through the local monopoly charging extortionate margins. But the government's attempt at coming up with a licensing regime is very ambitious in terms of the revenue it will bring in, and flawed in terms of how its regulations fit with EU law. Not only have they tried to block betting exchanges, but some of their other plans are just a wee bit extreme...

Betfair files complaint with EC over Greek draft law

Betfair has filed a complaint with the European Commission over the ban on betting exchanges contained within the Greek draft egaming law.

Martin Cruddace, Betfair’s chief legal and regulatory officer, said: “Having played a constructive role in the preparatory phase of the draft Greek gaming law, we were disappointed with the inclusion of elements within it which unfairly discriminate against Betfair and are clearly incompatible with EU law.

“We have therefore asked the Commission to review the matter and engage with the Greek authorities, with the aim of addressing the concerns raised in our complaint."

In addition to challenging the blanket ban on betting exchanges, Betfair is seeking to address several other components within the draft law which it argues are in breach of EU law. These include the obligation to establish a Greek legal entity, locate servers and process gambling transactions exclusively within Greece, and also the requirement for online customers to obtain a special players ID card.

..
..

The Greek government originally presented its bill aimed at raising around €700m this year from the issue of 15-55 new licences to its parliament in March, by which time it had undergone several important changes since appearing in its initial form in January. These included the dropping a proposed “black period”, requiring applicant operators to cease activity in the market until licensed, and opting for a 30% gross profit tax (GPT) instead of the 6% turnover levy originally proposed.

Up to 55 new licences with a 30% GPT to deliver them €700m within a year? Dreamin'!

How many fuckups is Paul Roy entitled to?

2011-06-09T19:28:00.002+01:00

I'm sick of this bullshit of the 'age of forgiveness'. Not that long ago, people had honour - when they laid their cards on the table and screwed up royally, they packed their bags and left. These days it's like the Aussie cricket team - harder to leave than it is to get in, no matter how shit you are at what you do. Ricky Ponting was allowed to lose the Ashes three times before being forced to walk the plank as captain. If you can bullshit with the best of them, you've got a job for life apparently.

BHA Chief Exec Paul Roy has made at least three absolute blunders whilst at the helm which should have sent him to the dole queue a long time ago. But it seems he is impossible to sack and won't walk because he has less class than a Premier League footballer with a superinjunction.

Blunder 1 - in his other role as big cheese of an investment firm, he recommended buying a big chunk of shares in Betfair.

The fact he didn't notice they were massively overvalued is bad enough but the conflict of interest with his role at the BHA was extraordinary considering he is always at loggerheads with the exchange and bookmakers. A politician wouldn't be allowed to get away with that, why did Roy escape the noose?

Blunder 2 - being part of the BHA team who publicly declared that the Sir Martin Broughton-led syndicate, SIP, was the best fit for racing and the only possible winner in the Tote bidding process.

No independence, no keeping at arm's length until the Govt had made their decision, just blurting out their allegiance with blatant disregard for process or fairness. Betfair had the sense to stop Andrew 'Bert' Black from answering media questions when he answered 'Ooh, that looks a bit dodgy doesn't it?' to allegations a race was fixed back in the early days - you'd think an organisation like the BHA would have some idea how to manage media and industry relations by now. And for someone so well connected in the financial world, you'd have thought he'd check the sums all added up. Sports Investment Partners was a bid from an ex-BHB chairman with senior executives coming from bookmaking backgrounds - apparently the very thing they wanted to avoid with Fred Done.

Blunder 3 - the daddy of them all. Once again, this muppet has wasted racing industry money on investigating whether winning Betfair users should be taxed/forced to pay levy.

Amazingly, the legal verdict from EVERY OTHER legal advisor bar his own was that they were wasting their time yet again. I can make a profit via William Hill, Ladbrokes, the Tote, BetFred (if they bothered to pay out) or any combination of firms in a variety of bets which form exactly the same function as laying on Betfair. A professional backer pays no levy to the industry, why should anyone else who does not stand on course, set their own payout terms and hold punters' money? This argument from the top of the racing industry has been tried again and again, there was absolutely no reason to think anything would change. No legal precedent elsewhere, no legislative change, no EU directive, nada. So the BHA has pissed another couple of million up the wall which should have gone to prizemoney, facilities, improved stewarding, better data such as sectional timing.... but instead it went to scratch this fool's ego. If it really was a board decision, then the rest of the incompetent fools should go to. WAKE UP, IT IS 2011, NOT 1962!!!

In Thursday's Racing Post, Roy defiantly says he has a job to do and will continue to do so. Meanwhile racing continues to flounder because the industry is being run like an old boys' club rather than an industry worth billions. Great leaders say 'the buck stops here', they hold their hand up and admit they screwed up, they fall on their sword when the blunder has been huge. They inspire the people around them to improve and put the cause far and above their personal vendettas and egos.... racing is in desperate need for a great leader.

media and politicians love a beat-up

2011-06-09T17:40:00.001+01:00

After a few attempted rorts in rugby league and a few plunges based on leaked team information, the major Australian sports, backed by a few clueless politicians and media desperate for a story, have proposed clampdowns on exotic bet types. Now we all hate match-fixing in sport, don't get me wrong there, but invariably these shenanigans are restricted to betting via illegal bookies, where there is no audit trail for investigators to pick up.

Legal betting outlets don't drop the ball very often. At the first sign of suspicious betting, alarm bells go off and word spreads like wildfire. The accounts in question are marked forever and the total exposure involved is usually only a few grand - less than they'll get out of the PR value of the ensuing story!

Andrew Twaits says tighter controls on online poker is necessary

*snipped*

Sportingbet Australia chief executive, Michael Sullivan, called yesterday on professional sports under the Coalition of Major Professional and Participation Sports umbrella to employ full-time supervisors to scrutinise betting trends. The AFL employs an integrity officer.

The coalition represents the AFL, ARU, NRL, Cricket Australia, FFA, Netball and Tennis.

"The NRL could take a leaf out of the AFL's book on this issue. They seem to be dragging the chain a little," Sullivan told The Australian.

"We've seen on the issue arising from the North Queensland investigation that the checks and balances we as an industry already have in place actually do work.

"As for the NRL asking for an industry-wide ban on exotic bets, that's fine, but our figures show that the average bet on the first and last tryscorer is just $9.

"That wouldn't buy you a schooner of beer in some pubs in Fremantle.

"Betting on cricket matches in this country isn't a problem. The trouble starts with the sheer weight of money bet on games in India and Pakistan where the industry is either illegal or nowhere near as regulated as you find it here in Australia.

"All we are asking for as a collective is a level playing field."

Common sense from Michael Sullivan there, however we are talking about Australia here, where the fun police think having a beachball or a trumpet at the cricket should get you kicked out of the ground and heaven help you if you wanted a full-strength beer at an evening sporting event.

Spot-fixing is very different to match-fixing from a legal viewpoint and the attitude of individuals towards it. The penalty for paying players to fix a match result (potentially 10yrs in gaol if Australian legislation goes ahead) does not correlate with encouraging everyone to throw the ball to the winger so he can score the first try for a few grand in the end-of-season trip fund.

Online betting firms have the audit trail required to track all the bets - most of the suspicious bets placed in the rugby league attempted stings have been in cash at TAB outlets. Sort that issue out and much of the problem disappears....

Extrabet not worth tuppence

2011-06-09T12:47:00.001+01:00

No surprise to learn today that IG Index are writing off the value of Extrabet and starting on redundancy deals for their staff. As predicted here 10 months ago, the £20m they were hoping for was simply ridiculous.

£7.75m being written off including that highly measurable asset 'goodwill'. No loss to the industry at all, very few people will even notice they are gone.

Fred wins the Tote sale

2011-06-03T12:20:00.000+01:00

It wasn't much of a secret after rumours broke last night but BetFred have today been named as the successful bidder for the UK Tote. Traditionalists will have a bit of a moan but one bid was based on cold, hard cash; the other was based on a lot of hope which ultimately could have seen racing sink even further into the mire. It still puzzles me why people were so wholeheartedly in favour of a bid team which included the likes of Chris 'one race is fixed in Britain every day' Bell who had no problem with his former firm Ladbrokes operating its phone and online operations offshore to dodge tax and levy. Fred's no saint but he has to be admired for the empire he has built.

Betfred named new owners of the Tote

BOOKMAKERS Betfred have won the race to buy the Tote and on Friday morning signed a contract with the government to buy the state-owned betting operator for a total of £265 million.

Net proceeds will be £180m, which will be split 50-50 between the government and racing.

Betfred, led by executive chairman Fred Done, beat off competition from former BHB chairman Sir Martin Broughton's Sports Investment Partners (SIP).

There's a big lump sum of cash upfront for the industry, let's hope this time they spend it prudently rather than spending it all once leaving nothing behind when the economy slows again.

Match-fixing makes it into Korea

2011-06-02T15:06:00.000+01:00

A source tipped me off about this several months ago. A major Asian betting monopoly would take certain Korean football matches off the board without making a big deal about them, knowing that they were likely to be fixed. Now the stories are breaking into the world press....

K-League's Pohang Steelers fire midfielder Kim amid widening match-fixing scandal

SEOUL, South Korea — The Pohang Steelers have fired midfielder Kim Jung-kyum for allegedly betting on one of his own games in a match-fixing scandal that is widening in South Korea.

The Yonhap news agency reported Thursday that the K-League club terminated Kim's contract because he allegedly bet on the outcome of one of the Steeler's matches two months ago.

Five players from different clubs have been arrested and charged with taking money from gambling brokers and allegedly making deliberate mistakes that led to their teams losing, according to domestic media.

Jeong Jong-kwan, a former K-League player, was found dead this week in an apparent suicide. He left a note claiming his involvement in match-fixing schemes, Yonhap reported.

The net widens. Again - the best way to prevent fraud is through regulation. When gambling is fully licensed and regulated with firms prepared to share betting details with sporting authorities, then there is a strong deterrent against fraudsters. When cash betting goes unmonitored via licensed and unlicensed firms, fixing a result is much easier to achieve....

Time for a new tack perhaps...

2011-06-02T11:38:00.000+01:00

So once again England are ridiculed and isolated for making a stand against the self-righteous clowndom that is the Federation of International Football Associations. Pillars of the international anti-corruption community like Benin, Congo and Fiji yesterday stood up to reject the English FA's claims of corruption in FIFA. Of course, the representatives from these economic basket-case nations fly business class, live in mansions and drive Rolls-Royces because of their own individual business prowess rather than any untraceable cash which has fallen into their hands....

It's obvious continuing to complain and target FIFA with accusations and investigations isn't going to get anywhere. Blood is thicker than water, these guys work together to keep people they don't like on the outside and see themselves as above western ethical standards of business. So now it is time to try to a significantly different approach. Do things for the benefit of the sport, regardless of whether FIFA endorse them or not, such as:

- Introduce goal-line technology

- Introduce video referees

- Introduce post-match video reviews of incidents, whether or not the referee has seen them and dealt with them, to deal with diving, vicious tackles, Rooney's elbows etc.

There are numerous stages on which these can be tested, it doesn't have to only be on the Premier League if the argument there is it will change the game too much. After all there is no let-up from televised football in Britain, so just get on with it and leave FIFA to keep fannying about it and patting their own backs about how good a job they are doing.

Finger pointing will keep England on the outer for a long time to come, so what exactly have England got to lose anyway?

Serie A rife with match-fixing and FIFA is still bent

2011-06-01T13:50:00.000+01:00

Nothing new here, but glad to see the Italians are actually doing something about it!

Ex-Italy striker arrested for match-fixing

ROME (AFP) - Former Italy striker Giuseppe Signori was among 16 people arrested for match-fixing in a co-ordinated sting by Italian police on Wednesday.

Amongst those targeted were ex Serie A players and current players from both Serie B and Serie C as well as club directors from the lower leagues, all suspected of being part of an organisation that rigged games to fix bets.

Perhaps the tide will turn in Italy and this stuff might start disappearing, but I reckon we are still a long way from that. It's a cultural thing, just like the endemic levels of corruption within FIFA. It is an old boys' club where everything is about greasing palms.

Football is a dirty game run by dirty people. Its simplicity leads to its popularity and its popularity reels in the dodgy characters plaguing the game. The more we realise it is just one sport, rather than the only sport in existence, the better...

Koellerer given life ban for match-fixing

2011-05-31T16:57:00.000+01:00

Daniel Koellerer, widely regarded as the biggest @£%& in professional tennis, has received his just desserts today with a life ban from professional tennis and a fine of $100k.

The Tennis Integrity Unit works under a shroud of secrecy so there are no official details of which matches were bent (although you could probably from a substantial list from Koellerer's schedule).

From the press release:

Mr Koellerer was found guilty of three charges under Article D of the 2010 Uniform
Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, namely:
• Contriving or attempting to contrive the outcome of an Event;
• Soliciting or facilitating a Player not to use his or her best efforts in an Event; and;
• Soliciting, offering or providing money, benefit or Consideration to any other
covered person with the intention of negatively influencing a Player’s best efforts
in any Event

So the Tennis Integrity Unit has found a spine, that's great news for the game. Although, let's be honest, Dani K would never make it as a spy. Catching and prosecuting some of the other crooks in the game might just be a tad harder...

industry news round-up

2011-05-31T13:27:00.000+01:00

Betfair's share price is up 35p this morning, including a recovery from a 20p drop after a climb of 40p in the first two hours of trading, after it fell to a new low of 752p last week. Here's one for you - how would you price up "First to leave their post - David Yu or Sepp Blatter?"

The Czech lottery company Sazka has been declared bankrupt by the Prague Municipal Court. Surely there is something seriously wrong here - perhaps they should have spoken to FIFA about to keep a corrupt organisation in operation??

Centrebet shareholders are expected to support the Sportingbet buyout bid afte the Kafataris family and the board put their weight behind it.

Spain’s new gaming law has been officially published in the country’s State Gazette and will be enforced subject to European Commission approval.

In case you've missed it, the US Department of Justice is going after more than just the biggest US-facing poker rooms, with some sportsbooks in its sights as well..

The Tote sale in the UK is dragging on and it looks like racing will get a fairly average deal whichever way they go. The BHA have declared their hand towards a bid which allegedly supports racing, but will give it far less cash, but promises plenty of equity. Hmm, don't these guys watch those BBC reports on shonky real estate deals in Mediterranean beachfront estate?

if only this was a big betting event in the UK...

2011-05-29T21:37:00.000+01:00

I didn't watch the Indy 500 live nor see the market so far all I know there could have been £50k+ matched on the market, but since it's on a par with the Daytona 500, chances are it only traded £5k.

Rookie J.R Hildebrand is a long way clear, comes into the last turn just needing to get around it safely to win the race, the biggest open wheel race in America, in front of 250,000+ fans. Watch for yourself....

An absolute 1.01 gubbed!