Sport is made for betting

So the Aussies have been pounded in two tests, their bowling has moments of brilliance but mostly holds no fears at all to the tourists, the batting apart from Ponting is mediocre (although Hussey is due a change of luck after that shocking decision by Aleem Dar in Melb) and they've reacted with three changes for Sydney. But none of the new guys are going to make an ounce of difference and South Africa will want to go home on a roll. They want to pound Australia into the ground, so they take the momentum back to the three-match series in Sth Africa, and so they can take over the no.1 mantle. How about the draw? Sydney is a lifeless pitch for the spinners isn't it? Maybe 20 years ago, but there has only been one draw in the past 15 Tests and the forecast only shows sporadic showers. The Ashes in 2005 was profitable for me because I abandoned Australia when they were obviously off-colour, and now it's time to do it again. There's no room for national allegiances when it c...

Ok people, so what do we want to sort out in 2009? Let's start with the logical ones for betting: - Make more money - Have better discipline - Stick to a plan (have bigger balls rather than losing faith) - No betting without proper research Any other suggestions?

It pains me to say it but the dynasty is over. It had to happen with the retirement in recent years of McGrath and Warne, but this series against South Africa is confirming it. Hayden is past it, Ponting doesn't have any rabbits to pull out of the hat as captain, Mike Hussey is out of form (but will be back), Brett Lee is injured and on his last legs, Stuart Clark is injured and has been found out on flat pitches, and there is no sign of a wrist-spinner anywhere. The Ashes next year might be quite a tight one. Not sure if I could jump ship to back England, but I'd certainly be wanting to lay Australia at this stage. They could quite easily go to South Africa and lose three series in a row...

Then you should enter this Champions Race competition. It's essentially a Fantasy Tennis comp based on the ATP Champions Race for 2009, but you only get one chance at selecting your players. It has been going for years, I've never done better than one place off the money, but I'm determined to win it eventually! There are some pretty sharp guys entering the comp, but over the course of the year, who knows what might happen! £50 to enter, prizes down to 6th. First prize at least £1k, depending on the number of entries, all entry fees go into the pot. Further details - click here Plenty of side betting going on as well, just to keep it interesting until the last event.

You'd probably not notice unless you were focused on US sports markets, but TradeSports has closed down. A message on their site essentially says they've given up as they were never going to make any money out of it. Go back five years, there were probably about 40 betting exchanges out there including several white-labels. Without the liquidity, they will all fall over. Betdaq and WBX have been around for a few years now and still can't make much of a dent on Betfair, despite Betfair scoring a few own goals this year. Matchbook in the US is obviously proprietary backed in-running (prices set in-house, might as well be a bookmaker) much like Mansion tried to be. And there's a new joke-looking one advertising on Livescore at the moment - BetCruise, advertising no commission! Anyone offering odds on them going broke by the end of 09?

Ah, you gotta love this sport! Too bad I was watching the exciting Aus v Sth Africa cricket test instead! Norwegian Alexander Os skied brilliantly to take the lead, despite missing one of his shots (which means he has to ski a 25second penalty loop). But then one of his teammates, a late starter Lars Berger, who only got a start when the top Norwegians Emil Hegle Svendsen and Ole Einar Bjorndalen pulled out to go home and train instead, shot clear (10 from 10), very rare from him, and took the win at any old price (was part of 'Any Other'). Usually the short prices getting beaten come from bad shooting, but this time it was simply there was a dark horse left in the field who is a very fast skier.

Did anyone notice? If you thought BetBrokers had a poor business plan, then it amazes how anyone thought this one might work. A sports betting news service on a Sky channel so far up the scale (ch456) that nobody would find it and only with rights to obscure sport like Brazilian football. Since Tuesday there has been a message on the screen saying SportsXchangeTV had been credit crunched. Seriously, there's an idiot born everyday, where do you find people with money to throw away like that??

Pretty dopey to get caught out by this when the agreements between Betfair and sporting authorities are very public. The player caught for betting against his own team, Grant Brebner, was lucky not to have copped a much harsher suspension.... Read the FoxSports article here Players shouldn't be betting on their own leagues... and if they must have a bet, don't do it in your own name!

Not a new story this, but one I haven't covered. Not a betting scandal as such, just where two teams thought it convenient to arrange a result to let one team go up. Full article You'd have thought this sort of stuff was confined to dodgy countries and lower leagues, but no, even the good ones in Europe has these 'relationships of convenience'...