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A study completed by international auditing group PricewaterhouseCoopers, released in June, has predicted that annual global gambling revenue will top US$155 billion as early as 2012. The report, released annually by PWC, cited the establishment of new casinos and upgrades as a major factor in the expected increase in revenue from $114 billion in 2007. The Asia-Pacific region was identified as the fastest growth market, with new casinos in the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Macau, as well as in Thailand and Singapore, spurring a growth in revenue of 15.2% annually. By 2012 the Asia-Pacific region should account for $37.2 billion in gambling revenue, or around 24% of global gambling revenue, compared to $18.3 billion in 2007, or 16% of global gambling revenue. Despite the report's prediction of a decline in revenue in American gambling hotspots Las Vegas and Atlantic City due to declining economic conditions, the report concluded that the USA would still lead the field in annual gambling revenue - up to $73.3 billion in 2012 from $60.3 billion in 2007. Europe, the Middle East and Africa, defined as one region by the report, are expected to experience a 4.9% increase in annual revenue on the back of new casinos and licenses for online gambling and sports betting in the region. This should see an increase from $30.3 billion in 2007 to $38.4 billion in 2012. Canada will see a jump from $4.6 billion to $6.2 billion, while Latin America, a mere blip on the radar in gambling terms, will rise from $297 million to $514 million.
128 players, six knock-out rounds, and the usual end result: Federer vs Nadal in today's Wimbledon men's singles final. It's a familiar scenario for the Swiss world number one and his Spanish arch-rival, who meet in a grand slam final for the sixth time. Despite being the lower-ranked of the two, Nadal has the edge 3-2 in grand slam finals, but here's the reason Federer is a hot favorite to win today: all of Nadal's wins have come on the clay courts at the French Open, where Federer exhibits his only weakness; Nadal has never beaten Federer on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where the Swiss maestro is aiming for a record-breaking sixth consecutive trophy. Perhaps influenced by Federer's perceived drop in form this year, Ladbrokes UK has Federer only slightly ahead in the head-to-head match betting, placing him at 8/11 on the morning of the match against Nadal at evens. With Venus Williams already claiming the ladies' singles over her sister Serena, all the betting is now focused solely on the men's final. Accordingly, Ladbrokes and other bookmakers are offering a wide variety of bets. For example, Federer is tipped to break serve first - 4/5 against Nadal's 10/11. There are 2/5 odds on there being a tie break during the best of five sets final. And the odds are stacked against there being more than six breaks of serve during the match, with under 6.5 breaks of serve carrying odds of 4/6. Wimbledon is big business for the bookmakers, with over 450 million British pounds (around US$900 million) bet on the tournament last year. As the amount of money bet on the event rises every year, this final between these two long-standing rivals will no doubt attract plenty of interest from punters all over the world.
Sir Paul Condon, the head of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), told an ICC board meeting in Dubai last week that the recently-established Indian Premier League (IPL) offers the greatest threat of match-fixing since the early 1990s. Birth of a super league The IPL recently completed its first season, which ran from April to June. The major attraction of the league was that it was based on the new Twenty20 version of cricket, in which both teams (consisting of 11 men each) bat for only 20 overs (each over consisting of six balls, the equivalent of a pitch in baseball). This means games last only around three hours, and are far more action-packed than the longer one-day version of the game (where sides are given 50 overs each to bat) and the test version, in which teams have two innings of unlimited overs, and can play for up to five full days, complete with lunch, tea and overnight breaks. On the back of a successful Twenty20 World Cup and a whole set of international fixtures, the IPL was born. Eight teams from India's biggest cities participated in the inaugural season. The Board of Control for Cricket in India sold the league's television rights for more than $1billion, and the eight teams were auctioned to the highest bidders for $723 billion (Mumbai Indians the most expensive at $112 billion), giving the league a huge budget with which to attract the world's best players from all the major cricketing countries like Australia, South Africa, England, and of course India, to the IPL. Corruption charges The ASU has raised concerns that the Twenty20 phenomenon is hindering their campaign to cleanse cricket of corrupting influences. As opposed to the one-day and test versions, there is no rankings system for Twenty20 at the international level, and the players don't treat it with as much seriousness, making the sport a target for corrupt bookmakers. It is believed Condon told the Council, "the IPL brings with it the biggest threat in terms of corruption in the game since the days of cricket in Sharjah." The reference was to a tournament held in the United Arab Emirates in the 1990s, in which match-fixing allegations were so rife that the credibility of tournament winners was brought into question. Dark days of the 90s The anti-corruption body led by Condon was established to restore credibility to a sport marred by match-fixing problems in the 1990s. When the allegations were at their peak, barely a week went by without another allegation of match-fixing by or from a top international player. Many top players were caught for corruption, resulting in even three international captains being given life bans - Pakistan's Salim Malik, India's Mohammad Azharuddin, and the late Hansie Cronje of South Africa. These days, the ICC fights corruption by ensuring regular policing, a ban on communication devices in dressing rooms, and player education, to combat the attempts by bookmakers to influence players.
As time passes by, we see more and more NBA players acting not as adults, but as extremely rich and talented children, who need constant supervising by their team and league. Still, this "Parental Control" system was one step away from becoming an absurd as the league was to stand a lawsuit for a $50,000 for an unpaid bill from the 2007 All-Star Weekend. Strangely enough, the league was somehow held responsible for a convention which actually been held by Alonzo Mourning Charities Inc. during the All-Star Weekend. According to the lawsuit, filed on 16 June, 2008, the charity used the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel for a fundraising event, which included billiards tournament and a silent auction. True, this activity should be commended, but only if the organization holding the event pays for the services it gets. Alonzo Mourning Charity Inc. did not do so, and the casino had no choice other than going to the courthouse to claim what's rightfully theirs. Still, the adjacent All Star event and the fact that Alonzo Mourning is a well known NBA veteran must have confused the suitors, who decided that if Mr. Mourning used to play for the Miami Heat until as recent as last season, the league itself must be held responsible for his mishaps. According to this line of thought, we can only wonder why the US government was omitted from the lawsuit, as Mourning is a respectable citizen. Happily enough, the Wynn Las Vegas rechecked the issue and came up with the amazing conclusion that the lawsuit should have been filed only against Alonzo Mourning Charities Inc., and described this as an "Administrative Error", which actually means - "It was worth giving it a shot..." Wynn Las Vegas will have no funding problem for this lawsuit, as it recently recovered a $400,000 gambling debt from another NBA veteran - Charles Barkley. It seems that Barkley quickly paid his debts upon learning of the lawsuit the casino filed. Indeed - there's a love story between Lynn Las Vegas and veteran NBA players...
Richard Suen, a 55 year old Hong Kong businessman was recently awarded $43.8 million for his part in assisting in obtaining gambling licenses in Macau. The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, owners of the Las Vegas and Macau Venetian locations, lost their legal battle against Suen, who exploited his father's government contacts in China to aid the Sands Corporation. The owner of the Sands Corporation is the renowned resort emperor, Sheldon Adelson, who is reportedly the United States' third richest person, with an estimated wealth of $26.5 billion. At one stage, Suen was Adelson's secretary. Las Vegas Sands hired Suen and his Round Square Company to assist the US colossus in breaking ground in the resort market and Macau gambling, and according to Suen he turned this into a great success. Suen's testimony claimed that it was meetings he set up in Beijing in July 2001 between officials of the Chinese government and managers of Las Vegas Sands that led to the successful bid for obtaining a license to operate the casinos. Adelson claimed that Suen was not successful, resulting in the hiring of the Galaxy Entertainment group for the identical purpose. When the firms obtained the license, they couldn't agree on the plans due to a breakup of the partnership. Las Vegas Sands then received a sub-concession from Macau, resulting in their customer's decision of prior lobbies, according to the Suen's lawyers. In court, Adelson proposed conflicting testimony in which he told the lawyers that the president and chief operating officer, William Weidner, gave Suen a letter asking for his help in Macau concerning business deals. He later stated that the company had never taken on Suen. The Las Vegas Sands lawyer announced that the Las Vegas Company would appeal the court's decision.
All of the major global sporting events are big money to bookmakers and punters these days, and the Tour de France - the world's most important cycling event - is no different. With an estimated 2 billion viewers worldwide over the course of the 23-day event, not to mention 15 million live spectators who will line the more than 3,500 kilometer (2,200 mile) route throughout July, there is sure to be plenty of money bet on this event. How the tour works The 2008 Tour de France will be competed over 21-stages, taking in the length of France, from the beautiful streets of the capital Paris, to the valleys in the country's centre and the high mountains of the Pyrenees, as well as crossing the border into neighboring Italy for a portion of the 15th and 16th stages. The tour winner is determined by the cumulative total given to each rider based on their time taken to complete each stage. Stages are divided between those on flat terrain - dominated by sprinters - and the intermediate and mountain stages. There are also two individual time trials, shorter stages in which not all competitors begin riding at the same time. Aside from tournament winner, there are separate competitions for teams (every rider belongs to one), the mountain stages, the younger riders, and one based on a points system. The winners of these are invariably somebody different from the overall tournament winner, and bets can be made on all these different competitions. Current odds The decision by event organizers Amaury Sport Organisation to ban the Astana team from competing this year due to its involvement in the drug scandal from last year's tour means this year's tour is without 2007 winner Albert Contador of Spain and last year's third-place getter Levi Leipheimer of the USA. As a result, last year's runner-up Cadel Evans is the new favourite, and would become the first Australian to win the Tour de France if successful. Online bookmaker (and casino) Victor Chandler Bet is offering odds of 7/4 on Evans claiming the yellow jersey for overall tour winner at the end of the tournament. The yellow jersey is worn each day by whoever is on top of the overall tour rankings at the end of the previous stage. Following Evans are Alejandro Valverde, Spain, 5/2, and Dennis Menchov, Russia, 8/1. The Tour de France finishes July 27 when the riders arrive in one of the world's most famous avenues - Paris' Champs Elysees. More free bet offers and reviews of the sports betting sites that offer them can be found at our Sport Lines Service.
Back in September 2005, Adam Anhang came out with his wife from the restaurant he just bought for her in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, before they had the chance to celebrate the missus's new property, a man appeared from the shadows and stabbed Mr. Anhang to death while also wounding to the wife. Looks like robbery, or does it This could have easily been filed as a robbery, but questions started to rise when the police found that nothing was taken from Anhang body, including his wallet and personal documents. This, obviously, discarded this option, so the investigators had to try and understand what led to the murder of one of the rising stars of the industry. Adam Anhang, despite being only 32 years old, had an impressive resume, including being the CFO of Dr. Ho and later on becoming the CEO of CWG Gaming. It is totally understandable why this act of violence caused havoc amongst people from the industry, as no logical explanation for a murder of such a well known person could be found. It seems we are only inches away from the solving of this case. A couple of weeks ago a person was brought in front of a judge in Puerto Rico, accused of conspiring the murder of Adam Anhang. The perpetrator, Alex Pabon Colon, has already admitted at his part of the murder and pointed at Anhang's wife as the person standing behind the crime. According to the lawsuit, Anhang's wife offered Colon no less than $3 million to kill her husband. Mrs. Anhang The wife, currently living in Italy and pregnant with twins to an Italian man, will have to work hard to claim her innocence in court. She has her work cut out for her, as the investigation suggests she found out that Anhang was about to file for divorce just before the murder took place. This trial will probably draw a lot of attention, after Dateline NBC reported this case and brought up a couple of options to what might have caused it. This adds to a list of violent acts against online gambling officials, such as the Joey Rizzo case, from six months ago in Costa Rica.
Victor Chandler the Gibraltar-based online bookmaker and casino has announced that 15 employees at its Malaysian IT and customer services center were arrested last week following a police raid. Euro 2008 front The operation was part of a crackdown on illegal gambling in Malaysia in the wake of a rise in betting on the Euro 2008 soccer championships this month. Authorities claimed the Kuala Lumpur operation was an international football gambling syndicate using Victor Chandler's offices as a front collecting over 5 million dollars a month in bets from China and Europe. Millions in bets Forty computers and a laptop were seized in the operation. "We have identified two local women as directors of the company and we would be questioning them on the illegal activities," said a police spokesman. "We estimate that the syndicate has been receiving bets averaging $1 million from China and $4 million from several European countries monthly." Company response Senior executives of Victor Chandler will fly to Malaysia in a bid to discover why 15 of their staff were arrested and held for six days. The employees, since released on indefinite bail, have not been charged. "We believe there's been a mixup," said Phil Hall, Victor Chandler's PR representative. "The Malaysian operation is a customer service center, an IT center, and has never been used for any sort of gambling or the taking of bets. It is therefore not in breach of any Malaysian gambling laws. We're confident that this mix-up will be resolved shortly." Legality issues Online gambling remains unlawful in the majority of regions worldwide. In spite of the fact that European countries and some South American ones have greeted online gambling warmly, the greater part of the South Pacific region restricts the online casinos, and sometimes even traditional gambling is banned. For our readers and players, Online Casino Reports has devised a list of the countries and the legal status of online gambling.
Sport has always been big betting, but politics has become increasingly more popular for gamblers too. With the worldwide coverage of the US presidential election akin to a major sporting event like the football World Cup, gamblers can now put their money on their choice in the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain in the same way they would on a match between France and Italy. Obama vs McCain With the Democratic (Obama) and Republican (McCain) nominees already decided, and the November 4 election only a matter of months away, Obama has gradually become the steady favorite to become the 44th President of the United States of America. Obama is currently listed at 2/5 odds at UK bookmaker Ladbrokes. McCain is 15/8. The two other candidates, independents Bob Barr and perennial participant Ralph Nader, are at 250/1 - a good indication of the fact that a candidate competing from outside the two major parties has little to no chance of making a serious challenge. Surely Nader, who had run for President for the first time back in 1992, is not new to this statistical fact. Second-in-Command Competition for the vice-presidential nominees on both sides is heating up, with Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius the favorite at 4/1. Defeated Democratic primary candidate Hillary Clinton is next on 5/1. On the Republican side former Massachusetts governor and defeated Republican primary candidate Mitt Romney is a warm favorite at 5/2. He is followed by Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, 5/1, and Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, 6/1. Billionaires Steve Forbes, 66/1, and Bill Gates, 100/1 are also apparently contenders. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is listed as 100/1 for both the Democratic and Republican vice-presidential contests. Electoral College System The US president is elected by receiving a majority (270) of the 538 Electoral College votes. Each state is allocated a certain number of votes based on their population, California the biggest with 55, and the smallest states having a minimum of three. However, the trick is the winner of the popular vote in each state obtains the complete number of Electoral College votes on offer in that state. That means the winner of California takes all 55 votes on offer and goes a long way toward acquiring the presidency. As such, attention is invariably focused on several large swing states that could make or break the entire election. Bets can be made on the result in some of these states, with Ladbrokes choosing to focus on Florida (the state that decided the fate of the controversial 2000 election), Ohio and Virginia. Obama is a firm favorite in Ohio and Virginia, but trails in Florida where McCain is 8/13 odds against Obama's 5/4 to take the 27 Electoral College votes. Clinton 2012? Amazingly, speculation has already begun on the 2012 presidency, with Ladbrokes offering odds of 10/1 for Hillary Clinton to make it second time lucky. She has no competition in the odds as yet, with bookmakers as much in the dark as everybody else about who will run.
The joint venture of English bookie William Hill and their Spanish counterparts Codere has opened its first betting shop in Madrid. This joint venture, which was branded "Victoria," has made the first step in a journey which will include the opening of a total of 70 betting shops across the Spanish capital alone. Spanish gambling Up to this point, the Spaniards could only place bets on sporting and social events through the Internet, as betting shops weren't allowed. This is quite strange, as the Spaniards are a gambling frenzy nation, with an average yearly expense of 670 euros per person, while analysts value the betting market in Spain to grow to 39 billion euros in 2010. Considering the assessment of sport bets hitting the 4.5 billion euros mark at that time, the move of Victoria is well justified, despite some limitations posed on the bettors - the Madrid residents will be able to bet on sport events or TV shows, but bets on either politics or religion issues are banned. First steps According to Victoria's Operations Manager John Hallahan, the demand for betting services in Spain is huge. This explains why Madrid has granted licenses to a handful of joint ventures, such as Victoria, to operate betting stores in its region. This is only the first steps as foreign bookmakers hope to open thousands of betting shop all across the country. Feminine touch This hope is backed up by the fact that Spain is new to all this "Betting Shop" idea. The reason it makes a difference is that unlike the traditional English betting market, where betting is conceived as a male-only activity, the Spanish betting market might draw the attention of women as well. That is also why the shops are designed differently than the ones in England, with comfortable sofas, and a lot of chrome and glass - making it a comfortable place to be in.
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