Betting Blog – Bang and Pod’s bets

Pod should be back from his African trip soon so the syndicate should be back this weekend. In the meantime, I got mailed this offer from Gambling Magazine.

Gambling Online Magazine is one of the biggest gaming publications in Europe and has 7 years under its belt in the USA. The magazine covers a wide range of sports, poker, casinos and gaming lifestyles. We cover all the latest and greatest events in the gambling world written by our experienced journalists and expert contributors such as Daniel Negreanu.

Stelawton.com has a free subscription offer for Gambling Online Magazine. UK residents can receive the magazine free for six months and there’s no need to supply any payment details.

I actually got a subscription from some other mailing list I was on. There are some good articles in there. Get your 6 month free subscription here Its worth a try for free anyway.

This post is dedicated to my old uni mate, Leon Morris of Welsh decent.  After years of taking the piss out of Welsh Rugby I have to concede they are a much better team than England are.

As I have said earlier, rugby handicaps are pretty easy.  Take last week.  I was just checking the handicaps for Wales/ Scotland.  I managed to get on Wales at 1.91 at -5 with money back for the handicap draw. That was a crazy price.  I promptly stuck a ton on it.  Wales outclassed Scotland, gave up towards the end and still won by 13 points or so.

This week I managed to get on Wales -8 at 1.91 £100 staked.  A bit riskier this one but I saw England and they were poor.  Watching Wales is like watching text book rugby, England have little chance of winning this one.  The only danger I see is that Wales miss a lot of kicks.

Also got £100 on Wales to win it all at 2/1.  The Irish have an outside chance.  They did look good against the Frenchies.   I think Wales will do Ireland at the Millennium Stadium though so its a good bet.  I could get out now as the price has dropped but I’ll stick with this one.

So why this post?  I got emailed from Betfair about a flash rugby game. Play it here

I was in the pub last night and the topic of the weak pound came up.  We were planning on going for a European cycling trip.  With the weak pound though, everything is going to be expensive.  I was in Amsterdam in September 2008.  I was paying 5 Euros for a pint of Heiniken.  At the time that was about £4.  Expensive but I could stomach that.  Now thats about £5, I am thinking that its not worth it.

The question came up, should my friend change all his savings to Euros?  From my GCSE economics I remember that 2 main things affect the value of a currency.  Interest rates and the demand for that countries goods and services.  Interest rates are low and are likely to go lower.  So no value is going to come from that.  I can’t think what the UK produces that can’t be brought abroad in a different currency.  If an alien came to earth, why would they buy any streling pounds?

So I am thinking that the pound is screwed.  So how am I going to make from a week pound?  I was looking at betting on the Forex..

I found this site where you can bet on it. No messing around with changing currency you just bet and take any profit. See the guide below.

About Forex

The Forex market has quickly become the world’s largest financial market, with an estimate daily turnover of $3.2 trillion. It is a market that has great appeal to a financial trader because of its volume which guarantees liquidity. High liquidity means that a trader can trade whatever currencies he feels like at all times, since there will always be someone to buy and sell any currency he wants. Another outstanding feature of the forex market is that it is active 24 hours a day and is closed only on the weekends. This means that unlike the stock market for example, traders in the forex market don’t need to wait for a bell to ring, but can make trading decisions around the clock.

Enter the internet into the equation. Now the forex market is literally at your fingertips. Most brokers offer online trading facilities which enable you to trade simply by clicking a button, instead of the traditional phone call. The internet has really revolutionized the industry, making the retail section of the market more dominant than ever.

About eToro

eToro is a forex trading platform developed to cater to the emerging retail segment of the forex market. With its simple style and exciting trade visualizations, eToro is the perfect platform for a novice trader to get his first forex trading experience. With its great array of professional forex trading and analysis tools, eToro is also the perfect platform for experts in the field who want to trade comfortably and reliably. eToro has developed a truly intuitive interface that lets traders concentrate on trading instead of messing around with bulky and overcomplicated software.

It’s important to mention that eToro also offers an educational experience, so novices can gain knowledge of the forex market and eventually become pros if they’re so inclined. eToro offers forex trading guides, forums and video tutorials to facilitate their traders’ progress. eToro also offers an unlimited practice mode where both beginner and seasoned traders can sharpen their skills and test their strategies with real market rates.

Overall eToro have successfully designed a software that caters to a very wide segment of the forex trading public. eToro is bound to remain a leader in the forex industry for a long time to come.

eToro’s features:

Visual representation of trades: Monitor your trades with ease by watching creative visualizations of your trading activity.

Practice mode: Test your skills and strategies by trading with live rates, without risking a cent.

Trading Challenges: Compete against fellow traders for cash prizes – with no entry fees.

Trade: Enjoy immediate and accurate execution with all your trades.

Low Spreads: Save a fortune on eToros super low spreads – as low as 2 pips.

Bugger knows what 2 pips is but I will find out. I guess I’ll try with a small amount and see how I get on. Etoro Website

Even though the betting hasn’t been going well, I did have the pleasure (sic) of putting on the Liverpool bet on Blue Square mobile. I have Samsung i8510 with full html web browsing. I managed to get oddschecker on there and found bluesquare had the best odds of 1.36 for Liverpool to beat West Ham.

I don’t think the technology is there for mobile betting yet. The bluequare site is OK but navigation is cumbersome on the keypad. I didn’t have £100 in the account so rather than saying, “deposit £100 and place bet”, the website just says, “no”. So I have to mess around depositing and navigating to the bet again. To be fair their full html site does the same. I can cope with navigation on a PC though.

They should publish the phone number on the page where you can phone their telephone betting operation for free. Its 020 76886210. Better still, why not have a text number where you can send a text and they’ll call you back? I remember years ago c2002, I had forgotten my password on Bet365, sent them a message on their website and they called me back about 5 minutes later. That was like 6 years ago.

So in summary, mobile betting is rubbish. You just need to make sure you have the landline numbers for bookmakers – just call them up, its quicker.
02076886210 Bluesquare
01782684757 Bet365
02088348060 Betfair.

With no luck with the footy betting, maybe reality TV betting is the way forward.  Got this from Paddypower yesterday.  Guess there is a gem or two in there.

I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here

Producers of this year’s show have wasted no time introducing the fear factor to the jungle. We’ve already seen some testicle crunching from Joe Swash and Nicola McLean. There are still a few weeks to go yet but chances are Robert Kilroy Silk won’t be around to see them if the odds are correct. The jungle bully is just 2/1 to be the first celebrity axed from the jungle.

X-Factor

Six will become five this week as one more act will get the chop. Rachel Hylton looks to be in trouble this week with Paddy Power making her their firm favourite at 4/6 to become the next act voted off the show. Diana Vickers quirky style has seen her soar to pole position to win the X Factor but it’s Northern Ireland’s Eoghan Quigg who has emerged as the dark horse and a real worry for the bookie.

Strictly Come Dancing

It just won’t be the same without John. Will his exit see increased support go to fellow outsiders in the betting – Jodie and Christine? Will the public exact their revenge by refusing to support the judges’ favourites? Austin Healy remains the even money favourite to toe-tap his way to victory but will the public let him waltz away with it?

LATEST PADDY POWER BETTING

Who will win I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here

7/4      Joe Swash

9/2      George Takei

5/1      Esther Ranzten

13/2      Martina Navratilova

10/1      Timmy Mallett

12/1      Dani Behr

16/1      Nicola McLean

20/1      Simon Webbe

25/1      David Van Day

40/1      Robert Kilroy Silk

40/1      Carly Zucker

50/1      Brian Paddick

10/1      Any Other (Not Listed)

First Eviction

2/1      Robert Kilroy Silk

2/1      Brian Paddick

5/1      Carly Zucker

6/1      Nicola McLean

10/1      Dani Behr

10/1      Simon Webbe

16/1      Esther Ranzten

25/1      Martina Navratilova

50/1      George Takei

80/1      Joe Swash

X Factor Outright

13/8   Diana Vickers

11/4   Eoghan Quigg

3/1   Alexandra Burke

4/1   JLS

20/1   Ruth Lorenzo

50/1   Rachel Hylton

Winning Category

4/7    Cheryl Cole       (18-24yr old girls)

11/4    Simon Cowell    (18-24 yr old boys)

9/2    Louis Walsh      (Groups)

14/1    Dannii Minogue  (Over 25’s)

Next Elimination

4/6    Rachel Hylton

2/1    Ruth Lorenzo

10/1    JLS

14/1    Alexandra Burke

16/1    Eoghan Quigg

20/1    Diana Vickers

Strictly Come Dancing Winner

Evs   Austin Healey

9/4    Tom Chambers

5/1    Rachel Stevens

10/1    Lisa Snowdon

12/1    Christine Bleakley

40/1    Jodie Kidd

Next Elimination

4/5    Jodie Kidd

11/4   Christine Bleakley

7/2    Lisa Snowdon

12/1    Rachel Stevens

25/1    Tom Chambers

40/1    Austin Healy

Blackjack is my favourite casino game.  Nowadays I usually play it for free on ladbrokes flash casino.   Lost far too much money in the past.  I found a better half way house between playing blackjack for high stakes and playing blackjack for free.

Play blackjack for 10p.  Its great.  You only win 20p when you win or 30p if you get blackjack.  You can play this at virgin casino.  Usually, blackjack tables are £1 plus, too much temptation to put a fiver or a tenner on.  With 10 pence tables, a big bet is £1.

Bet of the weekend is the big 4 all to win at Pagebet.

Selection Price
Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool All To Win 4/1

Chelsea v Sunderland
Manchester United v Hull
Stoke v Arsenal
Tottenham v Liverpool

Unreal price. With a £25 free bet it looks like Pagebet are giving you £100. I am signing up this weekend anyway. If it loses I’ll still have a £25 free bet to play with. Visit the site here

Still no betting syndicate. I have been having a few bets but they are mainly losers. I think the syndicate is dead. Pod’s been betting in the championship which is not a good idea. Such a hard league to predict. I am guessing you could make a profit by just laying every favourite in that league. Its so unpredictable.

I get the occasional press release that is interesting. This one is from Paddypower. I am sure this market is easy money for people in the know. Since when were bookies experts on what computer sell? I am pretty sure you could set up a poll and clean up on this one. I would have a flutter but I am so out of touch with video games. Last one I played was Half Life Episode 2.

Call of Duty: World at War has emerged as the frontrunner with Paddy Power to be crowned this year’s No.1 Christmas Video game.

The Irish bookie installed Call of Duty, which is released on the 14th November, at 3/1 into the betting, closely followed by FIFA Soccer 09 at 4/1 and old favourite Need for Speed Undercover at 5/1. Other games on the list include Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2, all at 8/1.

EA’s Need for Speed, the game which commanded the video game charts as far back as 2003 was knocked off its perch last year when Call of Duty proved to be the more popular choice with consumers. Whether or not Need for Speed can crawl its way back to the top spot remains to be seen but the 5/1 on offer will surely prove tempting to die hard fans.

Betting on which video game will hold the top spot in the charts on Christmas Day has become big business with the bookies. Over 1000 bets amounting to more than €30,000 were placed last year on the games market and Paddy Power are expecting those figures to go through the roof as betting heats up in the eight weeks to Christmas Day.

It’s a stark contrast to the 60 bets amounting to a grand total of €250 which were accepted by Paddy Power back in 2003 when they first launched their Christmas video game betting.

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said, “The Christmas video games chart has evolved into a ferocious battle amongst developers to get to the number 1 spot and every year it just gets bigger and better. This year looks to be the most competitive year yet with no clear favourite commanding the betting.”

Christmas No.1 Video Game 2008

3/1 Call of Duty: World at War

4/1 FIFA Soccer 09

5/1 Need for Speed Undercover

8/1 Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

8/1 Gears of War 2

8/1 Resistance 2

10/1 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009

12/1 Guitar Hero World Tour

12/1 Quantum of Solace

14/1 Lego Batman: The Videogame

14/1 Far Cry 2

16/1 Fallout 3

16/1 Fable II

18/1 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

18/1 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

20/1 Wii Music

20/1 Rock Band 2

20/1 Wii Fit

33/1 Tomb Raider Underworld

40/1 Sonic Unleashed

40/1 Mario Kart Wii

50/1 Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

50/1 Grand Theft Auto IV

50/1 Wii Play

66/1 Legend of Spyro: The Dawn of the Dragon

80/1 SingStar ABBA

80/1 High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance

80/1 Halo 3

100/1 MotoGP 08

150/1 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Lightsaber Duels

150/1 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

150/1 World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

150/1 Monopoly

250/1 Resident Evil Zero

You can have a bet here

Its been a while.  No syndicate.  Just been having personal bets which winning and losing, slightly down personally and Pod’s up a little bit.  Betting properly takes time and I haven’t got the time to think about bets nowadays. Been playing a bit of roulette recently and winning. Amazing considering, 1) Its boring 2) The game is mathematically in the houses favour with no skill.

Anyway, just read this about Paddypower. Basically, they’ve paid out already on the election result in America.  Those crazy Irish.  I remember a few years ago now, they paid out on Arsenal winning the league and Man U made a miraculous comeback and won the league so they had to pay out twice.

With the moose hunter running mate, McCain has really no chance. It would need a blackswan event for this to change.

[Dublin, Ireland. 16 October 2008] Following the concluding presidential debate in New York last night Ireland’s largest bookmaker, Paddy Power, has decided to pay out on Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States of America.

This unprecedented move comes almost three weeks ahead of Election Day on November 4th and sees the bookie paying out in excess of €1,000,000 [$1,360,000] to Obama backers. Prior to Paddy Power paying out, Obama was practically unbackable at odds of 1-9 to be the next American President (meaning a bet of €90 was required to make €10 profit)

To date Paddy Power has taken over ten thousand bets on the 2008 US Presidential Election, the majority of which were placed in support on the Illinois Senator over the past 12 months. In fact betting support was so strong for Obama that Paddy Power paid out over €50,000 ($68,000) on his successful nomination as the Democratic Party candidate back in January of this year, seven months before the convention.

Paddy Power said “We declare this race well and truly over and congratulate all those who backed Obama, your winnings await you. Although the Senator seemed a little off sorts in last nights final debate we believe he has done more than enough to get him across the line on November 4th. The overall betting trend has shown one way traffic for Obama since the start of the summer and punters seemed to have called it 100% correct. It reminds me of the patriotic words of action star Wesley Snipes in the movie Passenger 57……Always Bet on Black!”

Incredibly, Obama was a massive 50/1 with Paddy Power to be next President back in May of 2005. One inspired punter had a long range wager of €50 at these odds which today returns a cool €2,550. The largest single bet placed on Obama to be next President was €100,000 ($136,000) in June of this year at odds of 1-2 which returns a whopping €150,000 ($204,000) today.

Despite today’s seven-figure payout, Paddy Power continues to offer betting right up to and including Election Day. One of its most popular bets currently on offer is predicting the winning margin of the successful nominee on November 4th.

To see Paddy Power’s full range of betting on the American Presidential election click here.

I would like to say a big thank you to Jenningsbet.  Few readers will remember when Premierbet went bust but Pod remembers all too well.  He lost about £550 when they disappeared.

So jenningsbet buy the database of users from the administrators of Premierbet.  As a gesture of good will they have refunded customers like Pod who lost money.   The maximum payout is £200 for users that lost more than that and sign up to both sportsbook and poker room.  They are  not obligated to pay this out at all.  They bought a list of email addresses and old accounts from a bankrupt company.  You can read more about the refunds here

Looking at the jenningsbet site, they do some good football odds.  All premiership matches are booked to 104%.  I am sure in future we will be using jenningsbet as its a solid site with some good odds.