Sport is made for betting

As I discussed in the previous post about the Levy Board and too many racing fixtures in the UK, when too much of a sport is on offer, the quality suffers. And when the quality suffers, often so does the integrity. This week we have the ATP event in Newport, a really poor standard tournament, the only one on grass after Wimbledon and it clashes with Davis Cup as well, so few decent players bother and most European challengers would have better R1 matches. So far this week, we've had Richard Bloomfield, a British qualifier ranked outside the top 500, with a 1-10 record in ATP events backed off the map yesterday against Christophe Rochus, a veteran who has been losing R1 of Challenger level events lately. (Forum extract) "Rochus topping up the pension fund yet again. Bloomfield odds plummeted from evens to 1.25 before the match. $1.4 million matched on betfair, and nearly every bookie pulled the market. Was funny inplay, Bloomfield was something like 1.20 to win 2-0 even while i...

Oscar Hernandez v Janko Tipsarevic in Stuttgart today. Pick the injured player. Actually, that's not quite so easy, as Hernandez with injured with a minor thigh muscle tear last week in Schenevingen, but Tipsarevic has something seriously wrong with him here. Tipsarevic was injured at Wimbledon but has since played (poorly) in German Bundesliga, a pro club tennis event, and pulled out of the doubles the last time he played in that (July 5). For the best live injury and betting news, subscribe to the tennis ticker on Tennisform .

Crivoi vs Istomin in Bastad, Sweden! Victor Crivoi, a journeyman from Romania was backed from 1.81 into 1.06 on Betfair before the match, and the 2-0 sets betting from 2.74 to as low as 1.09. Denis Istomin had retired at Wimbledon with a back injury and it appears as if he wasn't fit to be resuming on the tour. You can't blame the bloke for trying when points and prizemoney is at stake, but obviously people knew he wasn't ready to play. Every cynic is gonig to jump on this and scream fix. Personally I'd rather give the benefit of the doubt to the player, making every attempt to play despite not being fit. We've all seen footballers in various codes take the field when they shouldn't have. Men are stubborn beasts, and we will try to play through pain, especially when money, and in this case, ranking points (he'd get neither and probably a fine if he pulled out and was replaced by a lucky loser) are at stake. His ranking of 68 means he gets into some ATP event...

Blue Square and William Hill are reporting suspicious betting patterns on yesterday's Grays Athletic v Forest Green match in the Blue Square Premier League (Conference). According to Sky Sports News, one-sided betting action came for Grays to win the match after trailing at half-time. They trailed 0-1 at the break. The spokesman for William Hill the firm doesn't have a problem taking strong business on one outcome, when it is to exclusion of all others, then something is a bit suspicious. The story of the match was a penalty conceded jsut before half-time, then two goals in a minute after the break, and 'not one shot shot on goal in the final twenty minutes'. A little suspicious.... Further details here from SportingLife Neither firm has settled bets on the match yet, pending further investigation. Betting on end-of-season matches is always fraught with danger for bookies - look at the Accrington Stanley v Bury match last year or the plethora of matches with odds-on dra...

from OnThePunt.com The annual State of Origin rugby league series always proves a hit with punters - but the winner of Game One's "Channel Nine Man of the Match" had some punters and bookies scratching their heads. NSW five-eighth Greg Bird (10/1) got the nod ahead of the likes of Gasnier, Wallace, Cooper and Fitzgibbon. The Australian selectors vote for the man of the match award. Fair enough some might say, its the opinion of four blokes who have had a bit to do with Rugby League over their time and it is just that - an opinion. But here's the stinger. Within the betting industry, the Channel Nine Man of Match award has a bit of a reputation for being a touch on "dodgy" side over the years. And now we find out that several bookies laid three players before the jump - all to significantly high wagers. The players were Buderus, Hodges and Greg Bird. At least one bookmaker is believed to be seeking clarification from authorities citing integrity concerns and ...