Sport is made for betting

Daniel Koellerer, widely regarded as the biggest @£%& in professional tennis, has received his just desserts today with a life ban from professional tennis and a fine of $100k. The Tennis Integrity Unit works under a shroud of secrecy so there are no official details of which matches were bent (although you could probably from a substantial list from Koellerer's schedule). From the press release : Mr Koellerer was found guilty of three charges under Article D of the 2010 Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, namely: • Contriving or attempting to contrive the outcome of an Event; • Soliciting or facilitating a Player not to use his or her best efforts in an Event; and; • Soliciting, offering or providing money, benefit or Consideration to any other covered person with the intention of negatively influencing a Player’s best efforts in any Event So the Tennis Integrity Unit has found a spine, that's great news for the game. Although, let's be honest, Dan...

Betfair's share price is up 35p this morning, including a recovery from a 20p drop after a climb of 40p in the first two hours of trading, after it fell to a new low of 752p last week. Here's one for you - how would you price up "First to leave their post - David Yu or Sepp Blatter?" The Czech lottery company Sazka has been declared bankrupt by the Prague Municipal Court . Surely there is something seriously wrong here - perhaps they should have spoken to FIFA about to keep a corrupt organisation in operation?? Centrebet shareholders are expected to support the Sportingbet buyout bid afte the Kafataris family and the board put their weight behind it. Spain’s new gaming law has been officially published in the country’s State Gazette and will be enforced subject to European Commission approval. In case you've missed it, the US Department of Justice is going after more than just the biggest US-facing poker rooms , with some sportsbooks in its sights as wel...

I didn't watch the Indy 500 live nor see the market so far all I know there could have been £50k+ matched on the market, but since it's on a par with the Daytona 500, chances are it only traded £5k. Rookie J.R Hildebrand is a long way clear, comes into the last turn just needing to get around it safely to win the race, the biggest open wheel race in America, in front of 250,000+ fans. Watch for yourself .... An absolute 1.01 gubbed!

As mentioned here several weeks ago , the amount of betting editorial and odds plugging during live broadcasts of Australian sport is over the top. Public sentiment was turning against it and it was inevitable that something would have to be done. Now the Australian Federal Govt has gotten involved, essentially telling broadcasters and sports bodies to sort it out within the next 12 months, or we will do it for you.. Live broadcasts of betting odds to be phased out by June, Stephen Conroy says "INSIDIOUS" live broadcasts of betting odds will be phased out to prevent gambling becoming embedded in football, cricket and other sports, the state and the federal government agreed today. But the Federal Government's bid to introduce mandatory wager limits on poker machines was rejected by the states and a constitutional battle is now likely. A meeting of state and federal ministers in Canberra agreed that the promotion of live odds during the broadcast of sport events...

Workforce makes his seasonal debut tonight in the Group III Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown, over 1m 2f, or 2000m for those of us who aren't stuck in the 50s. This is a horse who last year claimed the self-proclaimed 'biggest race in the world', the Derby, and the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe. In theory he should be the world's best horse, yet his trainer is moaning about having to carry 7lb more than a bunch of G3/Listed horses tonight.... Workforce will really need comeback - Stoute WORKFORCE will "really need" his comeback run at Sandown on Thursday night, trainer Sir Michael Stoute has warned. Stoute admitted to concerns over last year's Derby and Arc winner, who will be having his first run since October... FFS, a horse with his G1 wins under his belt should be able to carry at least a stone (6.5kg for those not stuck in the dark ages) more than his rivals and still win. And as for the distance being short of his best, class should get...

OK, so Kim Clijsters was in control of the match and a set and 5-2 up, but she did come into this match under a major injury cloud and is scratchy on clay. Huge effort from Arantxa Rus, finally starting to realise some of that potential she showed as a top junior several years ago. Trying to 'buy money' by backing at 1.01 can only end in tears.....

Biggest 1.01 of the French Open so far goes to Nicolas Almagro, who should have put away Lukas Kubot in straight sets, but alas, he did not.... And yesterday, we had another one, OK for pennies at 1.01, but plenty fairly close to it, with Christina McHale holding two match points vs Sara Errani, on serve at 5-1 in the final set. Oops... Rafa Nadal had a bit of scare today - 1.01 for over £1m, then out to 1.43 when 2-1 down, then pulling up his socks and winning comfortably in the final set.

Gee, never would have seen this coming - the Irish government wants to introduce a 2% tax on all wagers with firms licensed in Ireland. Very few of their competitors will have to pay it, so why should they for their online and telephone operations? So off to Gibraltar they will probably go.... Paddy Power considers moving operations abroad Paddy Power will consider moving its internet and phone betting operations abroad if the government goes ahead with plans for a 2 per cent tax on all bets, according to the company’s chief executive. Patrick Kennedy said that a new tax regime would unfairly disadvantage Paddy Power, which employs around 800 people in its internet and phone operations in Tallaght in Dublin. Most of its online competitors did not have a significant presence in Ireland and took a ‘‘catch-me-if-you-can approach’’ to regulation, so they would be difficult to tax, he said. ‘‘If we face a substantial tax, my board would - and should - turn around and say: at what s...

Not a glowing article about them in the Guardian today, just backing up the anecdotal stories heard elsewhere. The problem for them is that many of those staff listed as leaving are the 'good eggs', frustrated as hell by the impenetrable cliques and bone-headed decision making going on elsewhere. The firm has lost nearly half its paper value since it floated - surely it's time for blood at the top? Going looks hard for Betfair as managers quit and shares fall Wave of middle-management departures rocks betting exchange already reeling from shares selloff Betfair, the embattled betting exchange, has been rocked by a fresh crisis following a wave of middle-management departures. The defections come as the company digests the results of a private poll of staff revealing that employees believe their company lacks direction. This year's departures include: Mathias Entenmann, chief product and services officer; Charlie Palmer, head of mobile; and Robin Osmond, chief e...