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UPDATE 1-William Hill says World Cup offset weak Ascot

July 21, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

LONDON, July 20 (Reuters) – British bookmaker William Hill (WMH.L) said first half earnings would be fractionally higher on the year before with the soccer World Cup offsetting the company’s worst ever results from horseracing at Royal Ascot.

William Hill, which has around 2,300 betting shops in Britain and Ireland, said it expected earnings before interest, tax and amortisation to be around 135 million pounds ($206 million) in the first half, compared with 134.6 million the year before.

The company said its over-the-counter retail business had seen a very strong World Cup performance in June but also saw poor horseracing results in the second quarter as a whole, with a relatively weak Grand National in April followed by a loss-making Royal Ascot festival.

“Whilst it was our worst ever Royal Ascot, with a loss on the meeting, the World Cup proved to be one of the best for bookmakers in 40 years,” Chief Executive Ralph Topping said on Tuesday.

The company added that William Hill Online had a strong performance in the half year with total online net revenue growth of about 24 percent and operating profit about 43 percent higher than in the prior year.

Shares in the company closed on Tuesday at 178.9 pence, valuing the business at 1.27 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Lorraine Turner)

($1=.6541 Pound)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Amortisation, ascot, Betting Shops, bookmaker, bookmakers, grand national, half year, Horseracing Results, Interest Tax, Lorraine Turner, operating profit, pence, Retail Business, reuters, Royal Ascot, Soccer World Cup, Strong World, william hill, Wmh, world cup performance

World Cup Set To Be Betting Bonanza

June 12, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

MILTON KEYNES, UNITED KINGDOM, Jun 11 (MARKET WIRE) –

The 2010 World Cup will be the biggest gambling event in the history of
the world. A report this week by the London based Global Betting and
Gaming Consultants projected that a staggering GBP 3.35 billion would be
waged on the tournament, of which an estimated GBP 1 billion will be in
the UK.

So, as the tournament gets under way, who have the punters been backing
and avoiding?

Two of the most popular nations with backers have been Argentina and the
Netherlands. Under Diego Maradona, no-one previously gave the
Argentineans much of a hope and their qualification for South Africa was
only secured in the final match. However, the club form of the likes of
Diego Milito and Lionel Messi has seen Argentina backed in to just 13/2
from as long as 9/1 some months ago.

Another nation to have received plenty of support from punters over
recent weeks has been Holland. Indeed, striker Robin van Persie has been
the subject of a huge gamble by backers and his odds of winning the World
Cup Golden Shoe have been slashed from 25/1 to just 11/1.

Paddy Power, the leading Irish bookmaker who offer a range of World Cup
odds, said, “Just a few weeks ago you could have backed the Dutch at
14/1 to finally win the World Cup. After the classy performances of Arjen
Robben and Wesley Sneijder in the Champions League, and the return to
fitness of key man Robin van Persie, it’s now just 9/1 that the
Netherlands will lift the trophy in Johannesburg on 11th July.”

Whilst the 1978 finalists might have plenty of support in the markets,
there has been little confidence in the two teams who contested a
thrilling 2006 quarter final in Gelsenkirchen. Portugal reached the
semi-finals in Germany but after a poor qualifying campaign have seen
their odds drift from 18/1 to 25/1 to win the World Cup. Star man
Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t scored a competitive goal for his country since
2008 and is out to 18/1 to be the leading scorer in South Africa.

England have also seen their odds drift after problems with form and
injuries. The one-time 11/2 third favourites have been gradually drifting
in the betting and are now 8/1 to reclaim the trophy they last won in
1966.

Paddy Power, a leader in World Cup betting, added, “Whilst there has
been some patriotic money on the Three Lions, as the tournament draws
nearer more and more people are looking elsewhere for the eventual
winners. Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Holland are now looking like the
favourites – although that could all change if England get off to a
flying start in South Africa.”

About Paddy Power

Paddy Power is Ireland’s biggest and most successful bookmaker.

Founded in 1988 by the merger of three existing Irish high street
bookmakers, Paddy Power takes an unconventional approach to betting and
gaming believing them to be firmly rooted in the leisure and
entertainment space.

As such its mission is to make ‘risk-based entertainment’ more accessible
and fun. It offers customers an unparalleled betting experience that is
great value; great fun and has the best service.

Through this strategy the company has developed a strong reputation as
“The Punter Friendly Bookmaker” and has become renowned for its
unique “Money Back Specials”.

Contacts:
Paddy Power
Carole Paul
0751-6490734
partners@paddypower.com

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: 11th July, Arjen Robben, backers, bonanza, bookmaker, Diego Maradona, Diego Milito, final match, Gaming Consultants, Golden Shoe, History Of The World, key man, lionel messi, Milton Keynes, Punters, Robin Van Persie, semi finals, Star Man, Wesley Sneijder, World Cup Odds

INTERVIEW – Samuels returns from ban and targets recall

May 24, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels marked his return from a two-year suspension with a half-century for Jamaica against the United States on Saturday and said he was targeting a return to the international scene.

Samuels, 29, was banned in 2008 for passing on team information to a bookmaker during a one-day series in India in January 2007.

“After 735 days to be back playing the game that I love to get fifty today was wonderful. I have had a wonderful welcome from the Jamaican team and it is so good to be back,” he told Reuters at the Lauderhill cricket ground in Florida.

The Jamaican, who has insisted he did no wrong and said he was made a scapegoat by officials, struck the ball well for 52 off 61 balls in the Twenty20 victory, a day after making 11 in a 50 over match.

Samuels was not allowed to play at any level of cricket and said he was even barred from playing in friendly club matches in Jamaica.

“It was tough but at the end of the day, the Almighty doesn’t give anyone a challenge that they can’t bear. It was most definitely unfair but I have to put that behind me and move forward,” he said.

“My love for the game kept me going, my love for the game is never dying so I just continued to practice and work as hard as possible.

“I knew the ban would come to an end and I would come back and carry on where I left off,” he said, adding that he had continued to work on his skills during his time out of the game.

“I have my own personal bowling machine which I invested in and I also have never had a shortage of people who would come and bowl to me,” he said.

With plenty of West Indies batsmen struggling for form at the moment, Samuels could be in line for a quick return to the Caribbean team, captained by fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle.

“I’m dealing with the future like I dealt with the last two years, just taking it in my stride. I’m in good nick, so I’m just looking to continue scoring runs and hope my runs will put where I deserve to be.

“Encouragement is always there. Chris is my best friend, we keep communicating and talk about cricket continuously. West Indies aren’t doing well at the moment but we can only improve,” he said.

(Editing by Justin Palmer; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: balls, batsman, bookmaker, Caribbean Team, chris gayle, Cricket, Friendly Club, jamaica, Jamaican Team, Lauderhill, Marlon Samuels, match, Personal Bowling, playing the game, reuters, scapegoat, targets, Team Information, victory, West Indies

Kaneria arrested on spot-fixing charges

May 16, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, May 15 (IANS) Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who is playing for English county Essex, was arrested and later released on bail by Essex police following the police’s investigation into alleged spot-fixing in his team’s Pro40 match against Durham last September.

Essex’s young fast bowler Mervyn Westfield has also been arrested along with Kaneria.

‘Both men appeared at Brentwood police station Friday and were questioned under caution before being released on bail until Sept 15, pending further inquiries,’ said a report in Daily Telegraph.

As neither has yet been charged with any offence, both are free to continue playing cricket until then, by which time Pakistan will have completed their Test series against England. That should allow Pakistan’s selectors to at least pick Kaneria.

Essex police had wanted to interview Kaneria, 29, who has 58 Test caps for Pakistan, last Monday, three days after his return to England, but that was during Essex’s County Championship match with Kent and the club asked if that could be deferred until Friday. Every other Essex player, as well as the support staff, have been helping police with their inquiries.

Kaneria’s performance in the match against Durham is not under scrutiny, but he is thought to have introduced Westfield, whose performance against Durham is under the microscope, to an illegal bookmaker,’ the report claimed.

Westfield, 22, has been interviewed before by police, who confiscated his mobile phone. He conceded 60 runs in seven overs in the 40-over match against Durham, with four wides and two no-balls.

Essex police confirmed that their investigation, which began in March this year, followed allegations received. As these allegations are thought to have come from other players, it has made for an uncomfortable dressing room this season.

Spot-fixing is when small events in the game are fixed, such as a wide or a dropped catch.

‘It is thought to be the vehicle favoured by India’s illegal bookmakers to manipulate bets, in which millions of pounds are staked on the smallest shifts within a match, to their advantage,’ the report said.

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: allegations, bookmaker, daily telegraph, danish kaneria, dressing-room, Essex Police, favoured, last monday, last september, mervyn, microscope, offence, police station, scrutiny, selectors, spinner, Test Caps, test series, time pakistan, westfield

ICC made me a scapegoat, says Marlon Samuels

May 6, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Sydney, May 6 (ANI): West Indian batsman Marlon Samuels, whose two year ban for informing a bookmaker is about to end in three days, has said that he did nothing wrong and ICC made him a scapegoat.

“I am an honest person. My conscience would not allow me to come back if I knew within myself I had done something wrong,” he said.

“They (ICC) needs to spend time on situations like this, it is delicate and very important because you are dealing with players” careers,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Samuels, as saying.

“When they looked at my case, they used me as a scapegoat, the ICC wanted to make an example out of me when I was never in a position for them to be able to use me as an example. The way they dealt with my case was very unfair.

“I really didn”t have a case; when I went to the hearing I thought it would be just a fair process but it wasn”t like a hearing at all, I was just banned,” Samuels said.

The case against Samuels centred on a police-tapped telephone conversation he had with Dubai-based Mukesh Kochhar before the Windies” first one-dayer against India in January 2008 and included accurate revelations of the Windies” batting line-up and bowling order. The chat included both men saying they would be in Mumbai.

After the tour Samuels went to Mumbai with Chris Gayle to appear in a television show, but they backed out after the promised 2000 dollars could not be guaranteed to them before shooting, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

They still had to pay for their hotels, but Samuels” credit card was rejected. He phoned Kochhar from the hotel lobby and soon a man sent on Kochhar”s behalf arrived at the hotel and settled the 1238 dollars bill.

Samuels has always maintained the money was a loan and he intended to pay it back but the ICC viewed the payment as some compensation for the divulging team information.

It later found him guilty of breaching its code of conduct for “receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute”. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: benefit, bookmaker, chris gayle, code of conduct, conscience, dayer, Honest Person, hotel lobby, India, Indian Batsman, Marlon Samuels, Money Loan, morning herald, Mumbai, revelations, scapegoat, sydney morning herald, Team Information, telephone conversation, television show

‘T20 open to corruption’

April 30, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Only 10 months after Pakistan captain Younus Khan held the Twenty20 World Cup aloft at Lord’s, a third edition of the global tournament opens in the West Indies on Friday.

The rapid growth of Twenty20 cricket has fuelled fears that the game is open to corruption akin to the match-fixing scandal which rocked the summer game of the British Commonwealth at the end of the 1990s.

WHAT ARE THESE FEARS?

Because of its all-action nature, with wickets tumbling and runs scored at breakneck speed, Twenty20 cricket is particularly susceptible to spot-fixing in which matches are not necessarily fixed but individual events within the game are.

Tim May, the chief executive of the international players’ union FICA, is one of several influential figures in the game who believes that the number of Twenty20 matches now being played could tempt players to take money from bookmakers in return for spot-fixing.

HOW DOES SPOT-FIXING WORK?

Spot-fixing involves a player agreeing to under-perform. For example, a bowler might deliberately bowl consecutive wides in his second over or a batsman could make sure he does not reach double figures. So much happens so quickly in a Twenty20 match that individual performances can soon be forgotten or dismissed as inconsequential.

WHO BENEFITS?

Betting on cricket matches televised in India is a hugely lucrative business. Fortunes can be made if a gambler knows in advance what a particular bowler or batsman is going to do. Bets are placed on every delivery in a 50- or 20-overs match.

Only betting on horse racing at trackside is allowed in India but in practice around half of a market worth billions of dollars is estimated to be illegal betting, mostly on cricket.

WHAT EVIDENCE IS THERE OF SPOT-FIXING?

Rumours have abounded since the advent of the Indian Premier League (IPL) two years ago although nobody has ever been charged. During last year’s Ashes tour of England an Australian player reported that he had been approached by a suspected illegal bookmaker in the team’s London hotel.

Former England captain Michael Atherton, who is now the cricket correspondent for The Times, said in his column on Thursday that one leading former international had told him categorically that spot-fixing was a regular occurrence.

WHAT WAS THE MATCH-FIXING SCANDAL?

Three international captains Hansie Cronje (South Africa), Salim Malik (Pakistan) and Mohammed Azharuddin (India) were banned for life in 2000 for helping to influence the results of matches.

Match-fixing had become established in one-day cricket in the 1990s and suspicion centred, in particular, on the one-day tournaments staged at Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.

As a result of its investigations the International Cricket Council (ICC) founded its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) to monitor all international matches. The ACSU monitored the IPL tournament in India this year but not the second in South Africa last year because the Indian board thought the fee charged by the ICC was too high.

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Natural History Museum bets on discovery of Loch Ness monster

September 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sept 14 (ANI): London’s Natural History Museum has inked a deal with bookmakers William Hill, which will see the mythical Loch Ness monster go on public display – if it is ever caught.

The Loch Ness Monster is a creature believed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland.

The museum has secured the rights to showcase Nessie’s remains, if the monster is ever caught.

According to the archive documents, under the 1987 deal William Hill will pay the museum an annual fee on return for the guarantee its experts will provide “positive identification” of the elusive creature.

The agreement also covers the Yeti or Abominable Snowman, another mythological creature and an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet.

The bookmaker currently offers odds of 500/1 on the existence of the Loch Ness monster being proved within a year and 200/1 for the Yeti.

“We have maintained our relationship with the Natural History Museum and are delighted to do so,” the Telegraph quoted Graham Sharpe, spokesman for William Hill, as saying.

“As we rely on the Met Office to rule on white Christmases, we are dependent on the museum to tell us whether any carcass that may emerge from the loch is a haddock, or a previously unknown creature from the deep,” he added. (ANI)

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50 things that are being killed by the Internet

September 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Sep 4 (ANI): The Internet has been touted as one of the most useful tool for the last two decades, and has had a huge impact on our lives, but along with its benefits, the World Wide Web has also had some negative impacts on people.

While tasks that once took days can be completed in seconds, traditions and skills that emerged over centuries have become redundant.

The Telegraph has compiled a list of 50 things that are in the process of being killed off by the web and other tools of modern communication, from products and business models to life experiences and habits.

These things are:

1. The art of polite disagreement

2. Fear that you are the only person unmoved by a celebrity’s death

3. Listening to an album all the way through

4. Sarah Palin

5. Punctuality

6. Ceefax/Teletext

7. Adolescent nerves at first porn purchase

8. Telephone directories

9. The myth of cat intelligence

10. Watches

11. Music stores

12. Letter writing/pen pals

13. Memory

14. Dead time

15. Photo albums and slide shows

16. Hoaxes and conspiracy theories

17. Watching television together

18. Authoritative reference works

19. The Innovations catalogue

20. Order forms in the back pages of books

21. Delayed knowledge of sporting results

22. Enforceable copyright

23. Reading telegrams at weddings

24. Dogging

25. Aren’t they dead? Aren’t they gay?

26. Holiday news ignorance

27. Knowing telephone numbers off by heart

28. Respect for doctors and other professionals

29. The mystery of foreign languages

30. Geographical knowledge

31. Privacy

32. Chuck Norris’s reputation

33. Pencil cricket

34. Mainstream media

35. Concentration

36. Mr Alifi

37. Personal reinvention

38. Viktor Yanukovych

39. The insurance ring-round

40. Undiscovered artists

41. The usefulness of reference pages at the front of diaries

42. The nervous thrill of the reunion

43. Solitaire

44. Trust in Nigerian businessmen and princes

45. Prostitute calling cards/ kerb crawling

46. Staggered product/film releases

47. Footnotes

48. Grand National trips to the bookmaker

49. Fanzines

50. Your lunchbreak (ANI)

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Bookies menace is rife in India

August 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London/Brisbane, Aug.20 (ANI): Though the International Cricket Council (ICC) is investigating a report made by the Australian team that one of its players was approached by a suspected bookmaker at their London hotel after the Lord’s Test, the problem of illegal bookies approaching cricketers is rife in India, a source has said.

“This (match fixing and bookies approaching) is a massive problem that has its tentacles at all the high levels of the game,” he added.

Therefore, the targeting of one of the best-paid international cricketers in the world to influence the most prestigious series in the game only shows the growing audacity of illegal bookmakers, whose criminal operations include murder, death threats and entrapment.

However, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, any scrutiny is unlikely to discourage illegal bookmakers, who will continue to feed off cricket so long as there is such disparity in pay among the game’s international elite.

Australian players earn up to 10 times more than peers from other Test-playing nations. If the Ashes can be targeted, what chance the new Twenty20 leagues?

Already there is widespread innuendo, all unsubstantiated, that matches in the Indian Cricket League were fixed.

Some Australian players also have concerns that bookmakers influenced a high-profile international star during the first Indian Premier League season.

“People also need to understand that this is not about match-fixing directly influencing a result, it’s about spread betting. It could be about bowling a wide with the fourth ball of the 16th over, losing a wicket at a certain time in the match. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars here. This is heavy stuff, like the mafia,” said one highly placed source.

Officials are remaining tight lipped about the Australian player episode, which is said to have taken place in the lobby of the Royal Kensington Garden Hotel.

“We did everything to the letter of the law,” Australian captain Ricky Ponting said.

England captain Andrew Strauss said there had been no approaches made to his team. (ANI)

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UK man makes up kidnap story to avoid wife’s nagging

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Jul 4 (ANI): A man, who was weary of his wife’s nagging, made up a story that he had been kidnapped at knifepoint as he dared not tell her he had been to the bookies.

Peter Woodward, 57, told a court that in order to get away from his wife, he made up the story about being abducted by three armed men, and even reported it to the police at Crosby, Liverpool.

Prosecutor Sandra Arden told South Ribble Magistrates Court that on the morning of April 2, Woodward, of Leyland, Lancashire, had gone for a drive and then to the bookmaker’s, where he won some money.

On his return, to explain where he had been, the part-time cleaner made up a story that three men had carjacked him and made him drive 25 miles to Liverpool before robbing him of 90 pounds.

“A major investigation was commenced and the victim re-driven along the route,” the Daily Express quoted Arden as saying.

“In the end, he just wanted to go for a ride without answering to his wife.

“He went for a drive to Liverpool and thought up the kidnapping story to account for his movements,” she said.

But following a thorough police investigation, he admitted that he had in fact visited a bookmaker’s and had a large amount of cash on him.

He was arrested on May 6, and admitted falsely reporting an offence to police.

On July 3, Woodward, who was supported by his humiliated but loyal wife Janet, was ordered to pay 1,000 pounds compensation for the 185 man-hours the police put in investigating his claims at a cost of more than 5,000 pounds.

“It was due to the extensive investigation that Mr Woodward’s lies were uncovered,” Detective Sergeant John Cass, of South Ribble CID, said.

“All allegations made to the police have to be fully investigated, but it is a sad fact that some people do fabricate being victims of crime.

“Mr Woodward made a very serious allegation to the police, that he had been kidnapped, which will always be investigated extremely thoroughly.

“Mr Woodward was prosecuted due to the amount of time invested in this investigation, which could have been put to better use investigating real crime,” he added. (ANI)

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UK Premier League wants tighter laws against pirate sites

March 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar.1 (ANI): The Premier League in the United Kingdom has called for tighter laws against IT theft to stop the unauthorized online broadcasting of football matches, the Daily Star reports.

One website which links to unauthorized live broadcasts of Premier League and other matches now attracts more traffic than the sites of broadcasters such as ITV, according to a report by Radio 4′s You and Yours program.

The site, based in the Netherlands, receives funding from online bookmaker bwin, which sponsors Real Madrid and AC Milan.

The Premier League said it was actively engaged in combating abuses of its rights, with legal notices sent to those found broadcasting matches to which they did not own the rights.

But as soon as one site had been stopped, another would pop up, said a spokesman.

“This kind of use of our rights is illegal and we take any abuse of our intellectual property very seriously,” he said.

Bwin pays one such site for providing a link to it so that users can place bets. The bookmaker said it was not breaking any laws.

The legal implications are unclear, according to Akash Sachdeva of the law firm Allen and Overy. (ANI)

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Federer says Murray is no threat to his Grand Slam aspirations

January 14, 2009 By Rajesh Leave a Comment

Melbourne, Jan.13 (ANI): Thirteen-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer suggested on Tuesday that challenger Andy Murray was no threat to his apiration for another Grand Slam.

Murray, the 21-year-old Scot who cruised from 20th in the world rankings last April to No.4 by the end of the year, has beaten Federer in their two meetings this month.

He also has a 5-2 record against Federer in official ATP matches, as well as a resounding victory over the Swiss in an exhibition in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.

As a result of those defeats and his solid end to last season, Murray has been installed as the favourite for the Australian Open which begins in Melbourne next week.

But Federer, who is in Melbourne to play in the pre-Open Kooyong Classic this week, doesn’t necessarily agree with the bookmaker’s assessment.

“Good for him, but it doesn’t help him a whole lot. I’ve been in that position before and didn’t make it. But I’m surprised that the bookies say he’s the favourite. He’s never won a slam,” The Age quoted Federer, as saying.

Federer, who will be looking for his 14th grand slam singles title in Melbourne, expressed admiration for Murray’s play.

“I think he’s got used to playing at a high level …. he’s more consistent now,” he said.

Federer, who pulled out of the Kooyong tournament with a stomach virus last year, said he is fully fit and feeling good about his game after making his earliest ever start to the tennis year. (ANI)

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