Archive for December, 2006

UK Bookmaker BetFred goes Asian

Leading UK bookmaker BetFred has just extended its sports betting lines to include Asian handicap offers.

Fred Done, founder of BetFred, is a long standing member of the betting industry having launched (Fred) Done bookmakers in 1967. The online sportsbook side of the business, betfred.com, launched in 2004 and has grown to complement the 500+ physical betting outlets across the UK.
 
A BetFred spokesperson stated today that “after analysis of the market the introduction of Asian Handicap odds is a move that reflects the company’s direction into broader online betting markets”.

Top online gambing authority GoonersGuide.com has long rated BetFred amoung its top 5 bookmakers and when asked how BetFred’s move to include Asian Handicap odds would change the Bookmaker’s overall ranking The Gooner commented “it’s great to see Fred moving to meet market demand”.

“I’ll reserve judgement at this stage however as we need to see how the Handicap Odds at BetFred stack up against other top Asian Handicap bookmakers like Curacao-based Pinnacle Sports or UK’s Premierbet. Fred’s team need to realise that the Asian Handicap market is not really a UK style of betting and that online punters have access to a wide range of sports books for Asian value betting”. 

An introduction to Asian Handicap betting is currently onsite at GoonersGuide.com for those new to this popular betting style. 

At present Handicap Odds are not easy to find onsite at BetFred.com and we are predicting  a web site redesign will proceed any major promotion. 

The BookieLabRat.com team will release new bookmaker reviews, including a full update on BetFred, in mid January.

Add comment December 29th, 2006

Feeling lucky? Want to win a £100 free bet?

The odds are not great on you winning this one – but it is potentially £100 for free! No cost and no hassle to enter. 

BetFred bookmaker is running a GOLDEN GOAL COMPETITION and if you can predict the time of the first goal in the Newcastle v Manchester United on Monday, 1st January you can win a £100 free bet.

You need to pick the exact time of first goal (minutes & seconds e.g. 17:22) 

As I said, it’s free to enter and Bet Fred will be offering the same deal on a couple of other selected matches during the rest of the season. 

Last week’s Golden Goal was scored at 18:12. No one predicted it exactly right. Russ was closest and won a £25 consolation prize. Top job Russ!
Some Ts and Cs:

– Only one entry per person will be permitted
– Competition closes 5 minutes before kick – off
– In the result of a tie (where multiple entries are correct) the prize will be split between all correct entries
– The £100 bet will be credited to your Bet Fred account

Good luck,
Mike

PS: You can find this offer under the PROMOTIONS tab at BetFred.com

Add comment December 29th, 2006

Fancy those novelty bets?

X-Factor winner costs bookies £1 million

A spokesperson for Ladbrokes bookmakers says that the UK betting industry has lost close to £1 million on X-Factor winner Leona after she gained the Christmas number one.

William Hill Bookmaker also called the result a ‘disaster’ and said that it would not be taking bets on the chart number one next year.

I personally have a pet peeve regarding fake, “media construct” performers and cannot blame Will Hill taking this stance and I am confident others will follow suit.

Get a life guys – bet on something REALLY entertaining like Pinnacle Sports’ great line on the burning of Sweden’s Gavle Goat (now closed – the goat survived)

…or Paddy Power’s line on Chocolate giant Cadbury’s launch of a new brand of chewing gum in the UK next year (Trident). Wrigley’s currently hold 98% of the UK market – you get to bet on Trident’s % market share by YE 2007. (15%+ has odds of 9/4)

Now that’s what I call novelty betting.

Mike 

 

Add comment December 28th, 2006

CHELSEA to spend £18m for defender

After yesterday’s announcement from Roman Abramovich that Chelsea would be spending less money in the market … it appears that Chelsea are ready to table an £18m bid for Manchester City defender Micah Richards.

According to the Daily Star, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will move quickly to sign the young defender to solve his growing defensive crisis.

With John Terry out for up to six weeks with a back injury, and Khalid Boulahrouz yet to convince, Chelsea have shipped six goals in their last four matches, form that is not acceptable for a team that has built their title successes on a solid defence.

So … Chelsea’s responsible money management approach lasted about 48 hours … as they are quickly back-tracking on their youth policy and appear to be using Russian owner Roman Abramovich’s Platinum credit card to buy their way out of an injury crisis ..
 🙂

Add comment December 28th, 2006

Vietnam to Legalise Football Betting

Vietnamese authorities are set to seek government approval for a regulation to legalize previously-banned football betting next year, under which gamblers could place a maximum stake of VND450,00 (US$28).

Nguyen Trong Hy, deputy head of the National Sports Committee said that the draft was to be submitted to government in Q1 next year. The regulation also restricts punters to a certain number of bets per month.

He said his committee was considering partnering with UK-based betting firm Ladbrokes to form a Vietnam state-run 51:49 joint venture company headed by a Vietnamese national.

Regulations could be modeled after those in the UK, in that companies offering gambling services are required to advise punters against betting if they lose more than they win in a certain month.

Hy quoted police sources as saying billions of US dollars were drained away from Vietnam per year to betting centers in Hong Kong, Macao and others.

Source : Thanhnien News

Add comment December 27th, 2006

ABRAMOVICH says CHELSEA will reduce spending

Does UEFA’s proposed plan to limited European Club spending to a percentage of football related income actually have enough teeth to be scaring the Russian Money man ?

Roman Abramovich claims Chelsea’s spending in the transfer market will soon be reduced as he expects investment in the club’s academy to start bearing fruit.

Since the Russian’s £140million takeover of the Stamford Bridge club in 2003 the Blues have won two Premiership titles thanks largely to their new-found financial muscle.

But Abramovich believes the expected results of significant investment in the club’s youth system will reduce the need to speculate so lavishly in the transfer market.

He told The Observer: “Our strategy is to bring up our own players through the academy, which we have invested a lot in, and we hope that will give results. “We will be spending less in the transfer market in future years.”

So why has he jumped into this stance – after spending GBP 350 million over the last 2 seasons ? Could it be that the new plans would work – and limit Chelsea too much ?

Interesting …

Add comment December 27th, 2006

BSKyB spends £96m to buy betting sites

BSKyB – the UK satellite broadcaster – will pay £96 million for 365Media (formerly known as UKbetting plc).

365Media operate online betting sites UKbetting, Totalbet, Goldbet and Club On The Park as well as odds comparison website OddsChecker and a portfolio of sports content sites, including SportingLife, TEAMtalk, BettingZone, Rivals and Football365.

Sky’s CFO Jeremy Darroch said : “The acquisition of 365 Media will contribute to Sky’s aim of being a leading provider of online sports and gaming services.  Bringing together 365 Media’s extensive network of sports and gaming websites with our own Sky Sports and SkyBet businesses will allow us to reach a broader audience.”  

365 Media’s Chief Executive Eric Semel said: “365 Media has grown from a small online sports book into a substantial online presence across Europe, with a broad reach of online gaming and betting products together with a network of leading online sports brands.”

—–

We say …. £96 million !! We’ll sell BookieLabRat.com for half of that !!

😉

Add comment December 19th, 2006

Sportingbet announces big losses

Online gaming firm Sportingbet has announced a first quarter loss of £241 million, largely due to a one off £252 million exceptional charge for halting its US operations.

OPERATIONAL PROFIT :
A report from the company said that its current trading was in line with market expectations and announced an increase in gross profit from usual operations of 48 per cent, to £31.7 million, in the three months to October.

The group added that gross profit in Europe had risen 55 per cent in the wake of the US legislation, while its Australian profits increased by 33 per cent, leading to Sportingbet reporting that it had £52 million on its balance sheet.

US CLOSURE COSTS :
The £252 million exceptional charge included a £133 million write down of investments, a £106 million loss on disposal of investment and a restructuring charge of over £13 million.

NO US TRAVEL :
Speaking after the announcement chief executive Andy McIver warned that Sportingbet still had a travel ban on any director going to the US, as they feared further arrests. “It’s very hard to find out what issues individual states have with you,” he commented.

Add comment December 18th, 2006

US Gambling keeps on rising.

Americans gambled more money last year than ever before.

In 2005, wagering in the U.S. topped $83.6 billion dollars, a 6.1 percent over 2004, according to an industry report.

Some sectors of the gambling economy are doing better than others …

Commercial and tribal casino revenues rose a combined 6.8% last year to $53.5 billion, almost 64% of the nation’s total gambling dollars. While commercial gambling was up a modest 4%, the still-expanding tribal casino industry grew 11.4% to $21.6 billion.

Lottery revenues increased 5.79 percent to $22.8 billion. While traditional lottery games such as scratch-off tickets grew 4.8%, revenues from video lottery terminals grew 11.8%.

Legal bookmaking, card rooms and charitable bingo revenues grew a combined 1.9 percent to $1.5 billion. Books and card rooms, pushed by the growing popularity of live poker, each enjoyed double-digit growth. Bingo revenues declined 3.1%, to $825 million.

Internet gambling emerged as the industry’s top performer with 42.2% growth, with $5.9 billion taken from American cyber-gamblers last year.

Add comment December 18th, 2006

How to Handicap College Bowl Games (Pt 2)

If you can’t bring yourself to bet on a side – just because they are a big underdog – and most players prefer to bet on favourites – then you’ll need to actually do some homework in order to handicap your selected Bowl Game.

Firstly, contemplate the motivational edge. A solid team playing against a weak opponent may be disappointed by the match-up. This could result in flat play, which is one explanation for the underdog Bowl trend mentioned in part 1.

When an average or slightly above average team goes to a Bowl game, it’s playing in its “Super Bowl” and every player is motivated to play the game of their life. This inspiration may not be felt by their superior opponents, so look for many underdogs to have an emotional edge in the Bowls.

(Of course in the BCS Bowls, strong teams usually stay motivated regardless of their opponent)

The second major factor to consider for College Bowl Games is a team’s coach. When teams have four weeks to prepare, and holidays are between a team’s last regular season game and the Bowl, coaching plays a bigger role than normal.

A well-coached team is likely to over perform, but even more so in a Bowl game when there’s more time to prepare. Conversely, an undisciplined team has more time to lose focus.

So in a nutshell here is our basic bowl handicap advice …

  • “big underdogs tend to cover the spread better than the betting public believe.”
  • “motivated teams will keep the score closer than you expect.”
  • “good coaching is doubly important – the teams have had a month to prepare.”

Keep it in mind the next time you see a 7+ point spread – and check out the underdog very carefully – do they fit the bill to become a candidate for this system – and add to that 71% success rate?

And remember – bet on the best odds : Bet at PinnacleSports.

 

Add comment December 17th, 2006

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