Sport is made for betting

Federico Luzzi has joined the list of Italian tennis players suspended for betting on matches. One of the sacrilegous bets he placed was apparently three euro on himself to win! This continuing story is mostly bizarre because it's the only Italians being caught and punished - there have got to be more. Read the Foxsports article here

And people thought betting on motor racing was dull - I'd much sooner bet on that than the price of wheat! £71m down the drain by a rogue trader The only difference between this and a problem gambler is that he was using someone else's money. The financial markets are just another form of gambling - they just have a much higher reputation because blokes in suits choose that form rather than Walthamstow dogs....

Just a couple of weeks ago, WTA officials in Antwerp ejected three spectators betting on their laptops . Now in Dubai, they've gone another step and removed a spectator who was giving commentary by phone to a colleague who was obviously trying to take advantage of the broadcast delays on Eurosport. Read the article here Kudos to the WTA for doing something about it. At least there are actions behind their words in their vow to keep the sport clean from match-fixing. Whilst there are no allegations that the punter was doing anything illegal, apart from possibly aiding it from Dubai where it would be banned outright, trying to discourage betting on-site is admirable. Not to mention having a spectator in a fairly quiet stadium giving a running commentary throughout the entire match would be distracting to the players themselves.

Now's the time to compare bookies for special offers, particularly non-runner, no bet. Offers differ between firms, so look closely for the best deal!

Watch out for this horse in future - Sun Classique. Scintillating win at Nad Al Sheba (Dubai) tonight. Was in all sorts of trouble down the straight, blocked in, had to check and come out wide to get a clear run, took a few strides to get going then really motored home to get up on the post. Brilliant win in a solid race, only very good horses can overcome that amount of interference and win. Amazing turn of foot (acceleration at key moment). She's a 5yo mare trained by Mike de Kock of South Africa, watch for her chasing international prize races. De Kock won this race a few years ago with Irridescence who went on to win in Hong Kong and also race in Europe.

Oh dear, the ATP have decided to use a sledgehammer to smash a peanut yet again because another Italian tennis player has placed legal bets with legal and licensed bookmakers on tennis matches. A $35k fine and a 100 day suspension on a player who has done sweet FA for a long time.... and the point of this is?? Betting on matches is naughty, and especially if their own match is involved. And these bets stopped back in 2006. Obviously Italian culture involves a lot of betting, particularly on tennis - that's three of them now. But if the ATP can't dig up any evidence to convict the likes of Davydenko or Kafelnikov, then this stinks of a smokescreen and nothing more. Galimberti won THREE matches last year, all at challenger or futures level. His career is over. What a lot of chest-beating about nothing. Official ATP release

Covers.com is a great website if North American sports are your go. Proper stats and previews for the gambler rather than the bland stuff in the papers where pundits aren't gauged on their results. Tonight's the Daytona 500. It's the big one in NASCAR and I'll be trading the Betfair market trying to lay them all low and watch for big prices with a chance back in the pack.

A damning article in the Melbourne newspaper The Age, reporting on the damage caused by poker machines (also known as slots in the US and fruit machines in the UK). These machines are totally pointless and do not have "any real civilised justification for (poker machines) other than a means of indirectly taxing the people who are too stupid to work out what they are doing". Come on governments of Australia - you look down on some societies for their 'problems', well this is yours and it is endemic. You're all too gutless to ban them, so start restricting their numbers and the places they can be operated. Putting them in regions of high unemployment and welfare reliance is simply stealing from the poor. Almost anything is good in moderation - putting them in every pub in every suburb is like giving every citizen free syringes and a bottomless heroin supply. These machines cause far more devastation to society than people smoking.

A very handy newsletter from Betfair, full of interesting and educational material. Betfair InPlay newsletter Oh and did I mention that I help compile it? :)