Sport is made for betting

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 ...

Charles Barkley and other American sports stars not doing much to help the image of sports betting in North America...

Check out Betfair's farm ad for Euro2008

All hell has broken out this morning on French Open tennis markets - rumours emanating from Belgium suggest Justine Henin is about to announce her immediate retirement from the game. The tournament becomes wide open if this is true - several of the big names (Sharapova, Serena, Venus) struggle on clay, Kuznetsova can't win a final these days if her life depended on it and the new breed of Ivanovic and Jankovic still haven't made that step up.....

Betfair Education site A vast resource of how to improve your Betfair experience!

Belgian court tells French Tennis Federation to move into the 21st century and accept the fact that 99.9% of gambling is perfectly legitimate. In what has to go down as one of the most ridiculous court cases in modern times, a Belgian court has thrown out the FTF's claims that betting was bringing down the reputation of tennis, and in particular, the French Open. The FTF had sought to ban Betfair, Bwin and Ladbrokes from betting on this year's tournament. Shame the FTF couldn't work out that having players such as Sesil Karatantcheva and Mariano Puerta fail dope tests, and having the ignorant local crowd jeer most players who aren't French does a lot more damage to the tournament's reputation that a recreational pastime that makes claycourt tennis a lot more exciting for a very significant portion of the viewing audience. Read the Guardian article here .

Three Premier League teams today threw away 2-0 leads.... Man City, 2-0 up v Fulham, matched for plenty at 1.05 or shorter (low of 1.02) and lost 3-2. Birmingham led Liverpool 2-0, matched at 1.09 and drew 2-2. West Ham led Newcastle 2-0 early on, matched at 1.13 and drew 2-2. Never be afraid to lay a short price when a team is ahead - you're not risking much and the potential reward is great!

Some sports want to bury their head in the sand when it comes to betting but forward-thinking Indian cricket officials are keen to legalise sports betting in an effort clean up the game and get rid of match-fixing. Cricinfo article This is potentially bigger than legalising sports wagering in the USA. Sure there are plenty of poor people in India, but there are plenty of people with wealth as well. And they bet on cricket whether it is legal or not. The Indian Premier League is only going to increase that - it's India's version of the NBA or NFL - the razzle-dazzle, cheerleaders and the media hype. The locals can't get enough of it. Good to see Betfair in there (who have an information-sharing agreement with the ICC and Cricket Australia) as well as Ladbrokes.

Sydney's big raceday was rather wet, a heavy track made it less of a spectacle and harder to find a winner as everyone was concerned if the rail was off or whether there was a bias to backmarkers. But it didn't really matter as class prevailed in the two big races. Sebring, one of the favourites, went into the race undefeated and came out with his record in tact. Settling slightly further back than expected in the field, he accelerated well when it really mattered and won narrowly from VRC Sires' Produce winner Von Costa de Hero who stormed down the outside. Portillo was the first filly home, finishing a gallant third. A reversal of second and third would have landed me a very substantial trifecta, but c'est la vie. The best part about this colt is he is owned by a public syndicate who are rejecting multi-million dollar offers from the big studs. The joy of racing is what it's all about, not locking him in for a stud career at the first sign of losing form. Bravo to...