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American Michael Phelps broke the all-time record for Olympic gold medals on day 5 (Wednesday) of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning the 10th gold medal of his career in the 200m butterfly. He then added an 11th - and his fifth at Beijing - when the US team took gold and broke the world record in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay. Phelps overtook Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina, Finnish athlete Paavo Nurmi, US athlete Carl Lewis and US swimmer Mark Spitz, who have nine gold medals each from their Olympic careers. All attention now turns to whether Phelps can break Spitz's record of seven gold medals at one Olympic Games, set in Munich in 1972. Swimming odds With five golds to his name at this current Olympics, Phelps needs Friday's 200m individual medley, Saturday's 100m butterfly and Sunday's 4 x 100m medley relay to achieve the feat. He has firmed to 2/7 with Ladbrokes to succeed, against 5/2 to not win all eight. Swimming action on day 6 (Thursday) will be headlined by the men's 100m freestyle final. The lead-up to the race had been exciting, with Australian Eamon Sullivan and Frenchman Alain Bernard both breaking the world record in their respective semi-finals. Sullivan, who in his semi eclipsed the mark set by the Frenchman just minutes earlier, goes into the race 4/6 favorite to Bernard's 7/4. Holland's Pieter van den Hoogenband, winner of the last two Olympic 100m freestyle gold medals, is fourth in the betting at 16/1. Football odds Unchallenged as the world's most popular sport, fans don't automatically think of the Olympics when they think of football (soccer). The World Cup, played every four years, in alternate even years to the Olympics, is by far the biggest event on the football calendar. The Olympic football tournament only allows under-23s to compete (with the exception of three over-age players), making it effectively an under-23 World Cup. And with plenty of quality players under the age of 23, that makes it an exciting tournament to watch. Argentina, with its young stars such as Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Liverpool's Javier Mascherano, are the tournament favorites in the men's competition. On the back of successive wins over Australia and Ivory Coast in the group stage, the Argentines are 9/5 favorite at UK bookmaker Betfair. Brazil and Italy are regarded their main competition for the title. Sportingbet UK is offering odds on the winner of the women's tournament. Brazil and Germany are equal-favorites at 9/4 while the USA and China - traditionally stronger in women's football than in men's - are 11/4 and 10/1 respectively. Free bet opportunities are listed at the Sport Lines Service.
Philippine child rights champion Child rights champion, Senator Jamby Madrigal has contested the right of CEZ's (Cagayan Economic Zone) Port Irene to regulate its own gambling laws. According to Madrigal, who currently heads several foundations aimed at increasing awareness of the plight of street children, there is no reason why CEZ gambling operations should not be under the control of the national Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor). Kid's games Yet stripping the CEZ of its autonomous gambling status won't be child's play. In an interview with the Kid's Champ, Madrigal admitted that the CEZ Authority (CEZA) has defended its legal right to issue online gambling licenses to offshore companies without Pagcor's approval. CEZA claims that according to Republic Act No. 7922, authored in 1995 by then Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile, CEZA may "operate on its own, either directly or through a subsidiary entity, or license to others, tourism-related activities, including games, amusements, recreational and sports facilities such as horse racing, dog racing, gambling casinos, golf courses and others, under priorities and standards set by the CEZA." Big boys CEZA procured 110 million Philippine Pesos (PHP) in revenue last year, 90% of which Madrigal claims came from the casinos. This figure is expected to skyrocket to PHP200 million by the end of 2008, mainly due to the efforts of CEZA to plug Port Irene as the Asian hub of gambling.
Year-on-year growth Cryptologic, the gambling software company originally based in Canada has now moved its center of operations to Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland. Its new appointment of Mr. Brian Hadfield has also been welcomed by the industry. Hadfield's appearance coincides with a modest year-on-year growth for the three months ending June 30, 2008, following the signing of five new clients. The Company grew its revenue in this traditionally slow quarter to $16.8 million (Q2 2007: $16.2 million). The second quarters of 2007 and 2008 produced the software provider's only quarterly losses in recent years, reflecting significant expenses in both periods. Significant sales The group also announced recently that it had signed a three-year contract for Internet casino software with the Gaming Media Group Ltd., which owns the Poker Channel, Europe's premier dedicated gaming TV network and PokerHeaven.com, a major European poker room. Cryptologic also announced a further three-year contract with Sky Betting & Gaming, which is part of the BSkyB group PLC, the UK's leading entertainment company. Under this agreement, a selection of the e-gaming leader's top non-downloadable casino games will be available on SkyVegas in early 2009. New releases CryptoLogic has recently launched seven exclusive new casino games. The most significant release was the Internet's first slot version of the world-famous Street Fighter II arcade game. The company also presented a new suite of casino games, including titles featuring the famed Marvel Super Hero Sub-Mariner and 4 Deck Multi Hand Video Blackjack, a patent-pending product developed exclusively by CryptoLogic. Outlook for 2008 and beyond Despite a bumpy ride over the last 18 months, Cryptologic maintains a positive outlook for the rest of 2008 and 2009. Evidence for this optimism is based on the signing of seven new clients that will inevitably enhance the Company's revenue stream. Add to this new poker room licenses, system enhancements, potential acquisitions, and collaboration with other Internet poker networks, then the Company's prospects for success are looking rosy indeed.
Two of the big Olympic sports - athletics and cycling - will dominate weekend Olympic action, while another - swimming - draws to an end. Athletics The men's 100m sprint - traditionally one of the headline events at the Olympics - gets started with the heats on Friday, with the eight fastest runners in the world to compete in the final on Saturday night, at 2230 Beijing time. Current world record holder Usain Bolt, of Jamaica (9.72 seconds), leads the odds for the event, listed as 11/8 at Ladbrokes. Compatriot Asafa Powell, who previously held the record with a time of 9.74 seconds, is second in line at 7/4. American Tyson Gay is third at 5/2. Gay once ran a time of 9.68 seconds for the 100m, but it was not officially recognized because the wind speed of 4.1 m/s exceeded the International Association of Athletics Federation's legal limit. There is lots more action in both men's and women's athletics over the weekend, with such events as the hammer throw, shot put and discus getting underway, as well as heats beginning on Friday in the men's 1500m and the women's 800m. Cycling Team sprint events get underway Friday in men's cycling. While the fortunes of former Olympic powerhouses Great Britain and France have waned in the medal tally with the rise of non-European countries in recent years, the cycling team sprint events are still something they can count on for success. France, 4/6, leads Britain, 9/4 in odds for the team sprint, while Britain 4/11, is favorite to win the team pursuit, ahead of Denmark 7/2. The team pursuit is a particularly interesting event to place bets, in that it involves two teams starting on opposite sides of the velodrome, with the objective to overtake the other team or finish faster over 4000m. In women's cycling BMX bikes are the order of the day on Friday, with Britain's Shanaze Reade 2/5 favorite ahead of New Zealand's Sarah Walker, 5/1. Swimming Michael Phelps' chase after eight gold medals continues Friday in the 200m individual medley, where he is a 1/20 favorite to take the event. Phelps is now odds-on in betting to win all three of his remaining races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and achieve the amazing feat. The men's 1500m freestyle, considered the title of long distance champion, also gets underway with heats on Friday. Australian Grant Hackett is going after his third straight Olympic gold in the event, with Ladbrokes offering 11/10 odds on the treble, and 3/1 on his only realistic challenger , American Peter Vanderkaay.
Olympics, Olympics, Olympics... but also news from the UK Gambling Commission, BetOnSprots case and Las Vegas, which is heading green. China Favorite to Top Olympic Medal Tally Who said the Olympics are only about the sport? World super-power USA and Games host China compete over who will win the most medals. So, How's the Online Gambling Scene in the UK? One year into the new, regulated gambling reality, and the UK Gambling Commission releases interesting figures. Guilty Pleas on BetOnSports case Three family members entered guilty pleas with authorities last week in the BetOnSports investigation. The big fish - founder and former CEO - still face their own investigation. Vegas Gambles on Green Las Vegas does the smart move and joins the global trend of global care. Are you ready for the eco-friendly, green mega-construction movement?
When it comes to the NBA, more and more professional sports handicappers are finding it a risky bet. According to rumors in the market place, sports bookies are openly taking about the possibility of taking the NBA off the boards. Go into a sports book these days and you'll hear the question - "Can we trust the NBA?" All this comes in the wake of the Tim Donaghy sentencing. Common sense says that people shouldn't worry as much about gambling in the NBA now that we're over the Donaghy scandal. He was nothing more than a wannabe bookie, gambling on games he officiated. The well-known handicapper Dave Cokin, who also co-hosts the early afternoon program on ESPN Radio 1100 in Las Vegas, thinks the league needs a jolt of some kind to make it realize that its credibility is at stake. "I don't believe there's any real chance the books will boot the NBA, but they need shock treatment," Cokin says. It's not a coincidence that just about all of sports betting scandals of the last few decades occurred through illicit bookies away from Vegas, but it was usually Vegas sports book informants who tipped off the Feds. Las Vegas casinos are too big to get involved in scandals such as these and they have little to gain from a quick boost by fixing a game and a great deal to lose in the aftermath. If the games aren't clean, neither is Vegas. And sports book managers want to appear squeaky clean. Listen up everyone: Las Vegas is warning that the NBA may be becoming too dirty for their dealers' hands. Of course, there are still plenty who think that nothing is ever going to come of the NBA officiating scandal. I'm not betting on this one!
From the earliest days of colonial period, Americans have had a rocky relationship with their Indian neighbors. The Native Americans resented European expansion; the settlers pushed west onto tribal lands. Conflict was inevitable. By 1890, the western ‘frontier of settlement' was a thing of the past, and the Indian tribes had mostly been confined to a series of reservations across most of the 48 contiguous states. These Indian reservations had, and still have, an ambiguous relationship with the US and state governments. Formed by treaties between the Federal authorities and the individual tribes, the reservations are, technically, sovereign entities, not bound by state laws and only loosely bound by Federal regulations and laws. Given the history of distrust between Indians and whites, it's an uneasy relationship; sometimes it works well, and sometimes its bursts into violence (think Leonard Peltier). Gone gambling So where to Indian casinos fit into the story? How do they relate to the history of conflict, and the Indians' long defeat? Oddly enough, the fit is logical, and it boils down to money. The Indian reservations were set up, for the most part, in the latter half of the 1800s, on land which the US government deemed marginal for settlement or development. Their purpose was not so much to give the Indians a place to live, as to get ‘em out of the way. It's an ugly chapter of American history. The reservation system, combined with prejudice, bigotry, and segregation, left a majority of American Indians (Native Americans, as they prefer to be called today) living in deep poverty by the mid 1900s, with, at best, run-down facilities and no particular tax base or income. And then, in the latter half of the 1900s, some enterprising tribal leaders made a few important connections... Know thy neighbors First, they noticed that a lot of Americans liked to gamble. It was hard not to notice this, since many people would go to the reservations for their games. They did that because a majority of states (Nevada and New Jersey are notable as exceptions) have strict laws regulating or forbidding gambling, whether casino based or private games. Second, the tribal leaders began to realize that their reservations were islands of legal gambling within the states. To take one example, Michigan simply forbade casino gambling until the mid-1990s. To take advantage of this, the tribes on the Isabella Indian Reservation, near Mt. Pleasant, built the Soaring Eagle Casino: a first-class resort hotel and casino, complete with five-star restaurants and spas. Soaring Eagle is only a few hours north of metropolitan Detroit, and is a well known vacation destination in Michigan and Ohio. The final thing the tribal leaders saw was the sheer quantity of money to be made from operating casinos. This writer has been to the Isabella Reservation; casino profits have paid for new school buildings, fire and police stations, emergency vehicles, and an ambulance service. Verified tribal members are entitled to a percentage of annual profits, as well. The reservation can set its own gaming regulations, and pays no taxes to state for Federal governments. The effects, both positive and not Most tribes within the US made the same realizations, and Indian casinos have popped up all over. The income from them has permitted tremendous improvements in the standard of living at most reservations. Several of the tribes used their unique regulatory status to get around Federal regulations and enter the Internet gaming market, as well. Canada, with a similar history to the US, is home to the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. The picture, of course, is not completely rosy, but it's not likely to change anytime soon. Most legal gambling in the US is based on Indian reservations, in the Indian casinos.
The Spanish National Lottery (Entitad Publica Empresarial Loterias y Apuestas del Estado, or LAE) and the Sistemas Tecnicos de Loterias del Estado (STL) which is the operator responsible for the LAE have signed a contract with Reykjavik-based Betware, an interactive gaming program, as its sole supplier for their system. LAE and STL's goal was to have the Spanish Lottery ready to launch new games which are not only based online but also on a mobile and digital television platform. June 23, 2008 saw the launch of classic lotto games already familiar to Spanish citizens such as La Primitiva or EuroMillions which is run in conjunction with France and the UK and offers large jackpots. Sporting two new versions of horseracing games that are also popular, Lototurf and Quintuple Plus are now set up for online interactive gaming. Alfonso Pedro Fernandez Garcia, Communications and Logistics director at STL, says that "Nowadays sales through this alternate Internet channel are a must. The rapid growth of Internet penetration that we've been witnessing in Spain makes it imperative to implement new sales channels in order to stay competitive." Not only Spanish Their new website offers gaming options in 5 different languages commonly used in Spain, uses 3DSecure Technology for the utmost secure banking transactions via credit cards or electronic bank transfers. Also, there are SMS features, real-time game results and prize verification statuses, all which all aim to bring the public more easy access and a pleasant experience. Ole!
Background Brett Favre retired, and fans waved a wistful goodbye to a legend. After 275 consecutive starts, the NFL's answer to Cal Ripken Jr. called it quits after a strong season, before the natural decline of age and injuries could turn him into a has-been. It should have been goodbye. But Favre is a competitor; he's an elite athlete, possibly the best quarterback in the last decade, and definitely dedicated to the game, so he came back. And then the fighting started between the star and the Packer's management. The result was almost inevitable: last week, the Packers traded Brett Favre, to the New York Jets. Expectations The Packers and the Jets both had strong seasons last year, and mavens of football betting are expecting more of the same this coming season. Conventional wisdom would say that acquiring a genuine (albeit aging) star to lead the offense will give the Jets added inspiration and leadership to repeat their playoff bid, and that losing the heart of their offense will hurt the Pack's chances for an NFC Championship. Unusual predictions Don't count on that. By making the trade, Green Bay stopped a potentially divisive and deadly contract dispute between Brett Favre the star and a legally justified management. Such a dispute would only have harmed the team's morale and cohesion; ending it, even at the cost of a great player, sends the message that the team transcends the individuals. In taking Favre, the Jets are hoping to use his star power and talent to propel themselves to another playoff run. However, both the team and the man have performed erratically lately; both were impressive in 2007, but in 2006, the Jets went 4 and 12, and Favre threw 29 interceptions. A mating of the '07 squad and quarterback would be formidable, but a combination of their '06 incarnations will be sad. After Favre fumbled his first practice snap in New York; the jury's still out on what we'll see. The bottom line for football betting: don't count on either the Packers or the Jets to dominate the NFL. Green Bay is good, but not great; the Jets have potential, but haven't shown more.
Building three casinos in Massachusetts would allow the state to recapture up to $700 million of the $1.1 billion the state's gamblers are currently spending in Connecticut and Rhode Island, according to a report released by the New Jersey-based Spectrum Gaming Group. The 301-page, $189,000 report on Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick's proposal for three state-licensed casinos found, however, that his estimates regarding employment creation were inflated, with the analysis showing that the casinos would create about 15,000 permanent jobs, and not the 20,000 he projected. In addition, the report found that the gambling establishments would generate 9,000 construction jobs - a far cry from the 30,000 once touted by the governor. The report also strongly advises that the state include the Mashpee Wampanoag Native American tribe in one of the three casinos. Failure to include the tribe, the report says, could lead to the opening of a Native American casino under Indian gaming law and the undercutting of a commercial casino in southeastern Massachusetts. Patrick plotting? While the report provides ammunition to both supporters and opponents of casino gambling in the state, with Spectrum warning that casinos would bring added "social costs" and that the state should expect a rise, for example, in drunken-driving arrests, it has also stirred talk that Patrick may be preparing to put forward another casino proposal next year. The governor saw his original three-casino proposal defeated in the statehouse in March by a vote of 108 to 46. The state budget, meanwhile, has done from bad to worse since then, and Patrick administration officials, while not talking about their next move, are not ruling out anything. "I believe this analysis will prove valuable for future policy deliberations if and when the issue of expanded gaming in Massachusetts re-emerges," said Dan O'Connell, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. The report, commissioned by the Patrick administration, said casinos were not recession proof, but concluded that destination casinos with the right amenities were still poised to be profitable in the long run.
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