Sport is made for betting

No great surprises here as the Betfair share price continued to slide, they needed to do something. Sources told me that a Gibraltar office was being fitted out several weeks ago in preparation for the move, which shocked nobody. Do Betfair deserve to be singled out for criticism in moving their betting operations (but very few of their staff) to Gibraltar? No, they're not the first grandmother-selling company to do it, but hopefully they'll be the last. Word is that the DCMS are close to announcing new regulations for gambling operators targetting the UK - pay the full amount of tax (and hopefully levy) that a fully UK-based firm pays or you will not be allowed to advertise within the UK. In theory, this should raise questions re European law, but other countries such as France and Italy have managed it, so now is the time for the UK government to show their muscle (though hopefully not William Hague - he couldn't scare a kitten). And after that, it wouldn't be suc...

Idiot politicians are born everyday. Now it's Ireland's turn.... Ireland's Sports Minister Threatens Online Betting Ban Free trade, EU laws and an ever-growing preference for sports betting rather than racing are just some of the reasons this will never work. Irish bookies are already looking at sending their non-shop operations offshore because of the harsh tax regime. Threatening people with a big stick and trying to makes thnigs illegal only makes people more inclined to do it, especially with Ireland's broadband penetration growing.

Yesterday's Racing Post had a two-page spread about how British bookmakers are handling the economic downturn, in particular, if they are looking to minimise tax and levy by heading abroad. Naturally they can't move their shops abroad, but other functions such as internet and sportsbook operations could head to Gibraltar or other territories with much lower tax burdens. - BetFred recently transferred its internet sportsbook to Gibraltar, where it already based its casino operation. - Victor Chandler has been in Gibraltar for a decade and hasn't changed. - Stan James recently shut down a UK call centre and transferred operations to Gibraltar, where much of their business had operated before the abolition of betting duty. - Betfair have had major operations in Malta for several years, and all exchange bets placed by non-UK and non-Aus/NZ residents are processed via those servers, as well as multiple bets and all poker, casino and gaming transactions. - Hills and Corals are no...