Sport is made for betting

It's amazing that some people are naive enough to bet or play poker without thinking somebody else has more information than them. For sports betting, it's a fact of life - unless you should actually be banned from betting because of access to insider info, then there will always be somebody who knows more than you, usually because they have done more homework, or have access to wider sources of news. In poker, you are betting against blank faces online. Who knows what they are up to? And, as proven in every form of life where prizes are involved, there will be crooked people out there trying to get ahead by cheating. It's easy enough to track IP addresses, money trails etc, but it will be nigh on impossible to catch players colluding over instant messenger, if they aren't stupid enough to do it again and again. BBC 5 Live radio are on the case... Can the world of online poker chase out the cheats? . . . The problem for the authorities and the gaming companie...

How ridiculous is a ban on online poker and casinos in a country where the law is openly flaunted, play-for-fun (.net) sites are widely promoted and companies like PokerStars have offices set up there? Australia upholds online gaming ban This is the dilemma in Australia where companies such as Betfair, Centrebet and Sportingbet offer licensed and regulated poker and casino services to punters outside Australia, but by law, can't do so to Australian residents. Yet, the likes of Party Poker and PokerStars can openly advertisely their wares around the nation by sponsoring events and TV coverage through their 'free' sites. Only the extremely daft amongt us, namely Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, believes that these companies do not generate any real money business via this advertising. Australia is one of the biggest markets for foreign poker firms, so all the profits from these companies goes offshore and stays there. This is the same daft politician who is hel...