Online Football Betting Odds

26/01/08

Mobenga Mobilises Celtic Online Betting

Published: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 Online-Casinos.com

MOBENGA MOBILISING CELTIC FC ONLINE BETTING

Bespoke mobile application will allow Celtic fans to bet on all Celtic matches and access relevant information

The Celtic football club mobile betting deal has gone to mobile technology and content supplier Mobenga, connecting with the Centicfcbet website and its worldwide audience.

The tailor made mobile application will allow Celtic fans to bet on all Celtic matches as well as get up-to date information and news about their favourite team.

Kenny Macleod, Business Development Manager at Celtic Football Club commented: "We are thrilled to provide the possibility for our fans to use their mobile phones to participate in the excitement surrounding our matches whether they are in front of the TV, in the pub or even at the stadium."

The downloadable Mobenga mobile application will focus on betting and live betting on all the Celtic matches as well as other popular matches and leagues. The application will support all markets and events as well as both fractional and decimal odds among many other things.

"Providing fans with the means to follow their team and bet on their matches, anytime and anywhere via their mobile phones is really getting to the core of the excitement surrounding a game and such a fantastic club as Celtic FC," Christian Rajter, Mobenga CEO said.

05/01/08

Becker: Bettering science by betting on it?

By Kate Becker

Friday, January 4, 2008

The average American doesn't know much about astronomy. He can't tell a pulsar from a quasar, a photon from a proton, and, when pressed, will admit he has a hunch that the sun orbits the Earth.

Well-intentioned educators and policymakers have proposed a diverse suite of solutions to this problem, from stringent education standards to hands-on learning opportunities to rigorous educational research.

But I have another idea: Let's bet on it.

Legalize betting on astronomy. Billions of dollars are won and lost every year on sports betting (both legal and not-so-legal). Surely March Madness wouldn't be quite so mad if it weren't for the millions of bracketeers trying to earn some cash by picking each round's winners. The drama and athleticism of sports are great, but doesn't the prospect of winning or losing some money spice up a game?

Here is my proposal: Set up "astro books" in local planetariums and science museums. Establish online betting from the Web sites of NASA and the National Science Foundation. Casinos could get in the act, too, turning over some slot-machine real estate for the noble cause of cosmic betting.

What exactly would you bet on? Asteroids would be one natural choice. Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Near Earth Objects Program make their living putting odds on asteroids crashing into Earth. Just like their counterparts in the Vegas sports books, their job starts with meticulous research: spotting an asteroid, tracking it over time, slowly refining the odds it might smack into the ocean and disrupt every ecosystem on Earth.

Which does make betting on asteroids a little grislier than judging your average football line, particularly since those gambling on destruction would have little guarantee of being able to collect their winnings. But consider the asteroid 2007 WD5: This blimp-sized rock is headed for Mars, not Earth, meaning that we can fully enjoy the thrill of interplanetary violence without fearing for our lives.

A team of observers first spotted this Mars-bound asteroid back in November using a telescope atop Arizona's Mount Lemmon. They put the odds of a Jan. 30 collision at 1 in 75.

A few weeks later, experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory used archival images to up the odds to 1 in 25. To put that in sports terms, the likelihood that 2007 WD5 will make a bodily rendezvous with the Red Planet is about even with that of the New England Patriots ever losing a game again, but slightly better than the odds of the entire team spontaneously ascending to football heaven atop a radiant pigskin chariot. But in the world of asteroid tracking, where one-in-a-million is a more typical figure, 1 in 25 is about as close as you get to a sure thing.

Of course, astronomy betting wouldn't be limited to asteroid impacts. How about an over/under on how many supernovas astronomers will observe each year, or how many new planets will be discovered? Bettors would be compelled to do their homework before putting down their money. As a result, the average American would be very scientifically savvy and just as enthralled with the latest astronomical discoveries as with the sports scores.

To keep everything on the up-and-up, astronomers themselves would be prohibited from placing bets. But the institutions hosting the betting would rake in juicy commissions, which would be folded back into the scientific pot. Maybe it would be enough to fund research into asteroid defense, finance telescope upgrades or keep Arecibo and its radar system -- an asteroid-tracking powerhouse -- online.

With vice thus transformed to virtue, even losing bets would be winners.

Kate Beckeris an astronomy outreach program manager. Contact her at www.spacecrafty.com.

18/12/07

Prosecution demanding prison sentences in betting bribes case

Coach and gaming kiosk owner sought to fix outcome of matches for gain

District prosecutor Harri Tiesmaa is demanding that a former football coach and a part-owner of a Veikkaus betting cafe, who both are accused of having been involved in a so-called betting bribes scandal, should be given custodial sentences in excess of a year and a half. Veikkaus Oy is Finland's national betting and lottery agency owned entirely by the Finnish government.

The list of charges against the two men makes heavy reading.

The former coach is accused of aggravated fraud and two counts of bribery in business operations. The betting cafe part-owner, who is also a major gambler, is suspected of aggravated fraud and a single count of seeking to bribe for personal gain.

"The punishment being sought is in accordance with the legal usage. Important public interest calls for raising this lawsuit", Tiesmaa says.

The three cases of attempted bribery took place in 2003- 2005. Money was offered to the coach of the Jaro football club from Pietarsaari in 2004, to the goalkeeper of the Rakuunat football team a year later, and to the goalie of FC Honka in 2005.

All three turned down the offers, and they are not suspected of any wrongdoing. In each case the individuals approached were supposed to engineer defeat for their team.

The aggravated fraud charges refer to a JJK vs. Warkaus JK football match on June 6th, 2004. The match was included in that week's fixed-odds football results betting by Veikkaus. The duo is suspected of having fixed the outcome of the game such that the visitors would lose, which they duly did.

The preliminary session of the case commenced at the Vantaa District Court on Tuesday. The accused denied all the charges presented against them.

One of the accused was the coach of the Warkaus JK team in 2004. According to the prosecution, he had influenced the outcome of the game by "making disadvantageous line-up decisions, or otherwise agreeing with a player or players on the course of the game".

Tiesmaa pointed out that, for one, a substitute suddenly replaced the Varkaus first-string goalkeeper, although the regular keeper was fit to play.

The handling of the case, in which one interested party is Veikkaus, will continue in February.

Veikkaus is demanding compensation from the defendants, who allegedly recouped more than EUR 200,000 from heavy betting on the outcome.

It is alleged that the gaming cafe owner placed bets of EUR 63,000 on the match and that the coach later received EUR 19,000 for his part in the scam.

www.hs.fi

10/12/07

Ladbrokes eyes Italian online growth

Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:50pm GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Bookmaker Ladbrokes (LAD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday it had started taking online bets from Italian punters, the latest step in its expansion into the country.

The head of the firm's Italian business Mattia Nicelli told Reuters 700 to 800 people were now betting on the site.

Italy is slowly opening up its gambling market and although the government still decides which kinds of bets are allowed, fixed-odds betting on things like soccer matches and horse racing have now been introduced.

Around 95 percent of bets in Italy are on football matches.

Ladbrokes has 100 million euros (71.3 million pounds) to spend on expansion into the country and plans to have 62 shops offering both sports and horse racing betting, plus another 51 betting kiosks in places like bars and cafes, in time for next summer's Euro 2008 finals.

Ladbrokes has said it will make 20 to 40 million pounds from its new Italian and Spanish businesses.

"We will make money in Italy," said Nicelli. "I'm not allowed to lose money," he added, refusing to give a forecast.

Betting firms received a big boost at the end of last year when the Italian government upped the number of lucrative slot machines betting shops were allowed from eight to 24, but fickle government opinion towards gambling in Italy can make the market a volatile bet for operators.

Nicelli said the firm was considering using some of its licenses to open amusement arcades rather than betting shops in order to make the most of the floor space in its shops.

Ladbrokes' rivals William Hill (WMH.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Coral are also in the process of opening shops in Italy.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by David Holmes)

04/11/07

Blackburn v Liverpool: The betting

Even though Blackburn are ahead of us in the league, the betting exchanges make us firm favourites for the clash at Ewood Park. If you look around, you'll find odds of around 6/4 on a Liverpool win with Stan James and BoyleSports.

Trying to work out first goal scorers tomorrow is tricky, not only do we have to work out who Rafa might play, we also need to work out who is FIT to play.

I think it's fair to say that Fernando won't be playing tomorrow, as only 2 sets of international bookmakers are offering odds of him scoring first. In fact my guess would be that Ryan Babel might start as a striker tomorrow. VCBet are offering a delightful 11/1 on him being the first goalscorer.

After Stevie's heroics in the past couple of games, I wouldn't doubt that he's eager to get on the scoresheet again, and BetFred are offering a nice price of 9/1 on him scoring first.

Part of me thinks that it's going to be a very tight game especially with neither side wanting to lose league positions. Looking at the markets for the total goals, a price of 2/1 with Expekt.com seems like a bargain for less than two goals.

If you're feeling brave, why not go with a Liverpool win to nil. If they win by any scoreline that doesn't include a Blackburn goal you'll pick up 11/4 for your money with Bet365. And for me, that's the bet of the day.

If you've seen any others we should know about - let us know through the usual channels..

Came straight to this page? Visit www.liverpoolpies.tv for all the latest news.

If you've enjoyed feasting on Liverpool Pies then you'll love whoateallthepies.tv, the best source of football news, views and gossip in the blogosphere!

29/10/07

Internet betting is an odds on winner as big sector gets bigger

David Crow

Wednesday, 17th October 2007

AS INDUSTRIES go, this one is huge: in 2011, global gambling will be worth around $144bn (70bn gbp, 101bn euro), with Europe alone set to reach 76bn euro by 2010. Attempts by governments to legislate against gambling have done little to abate consumers with a hunger to win. Online betting sites have played a huge part in rejuvenating the sector which, until recently, had a serious image problem. Betting is no longer seen as the pastime of old men darting in and out of smoke-filled bookies.

Most firms in the online betting market operate betting exchanges. Instead of betting against a bookmaker, users of these sites bet against each other; a player who places money on Liverpool to win a football game must always be matched with someone who thinks they will lose, with betting exchanges simply acting as a broker. The model is similar to a stock exchange, except the commodity being traded is a bet, not a stock or futures contract. Because they cut out the bookmakers - who build somewhere between 12% and 25% commission into their odds - the odds on these sites are normally much more favourable.

Betfair, an online betting exchange based in Britain, is the industry's biggest player with over 1m account holders who place 5m bets a day. Launched seven years ago by a professional gambler and an ex-trader in debt capital markets at JPMorgan, the site has gone from strength to strength. In the year to April 2007, it saw an increase of 57% in active users. A new poker game and last summer's world cup saw revenues rise by over 30%, although investments in new technology meant that pre-tax profits took a dip from 36.5m gbp to 25.3m gbp. Because the site has never taken money from gamblers in America, it has weathered the country's crackdown.

The site has been hugely popular with those working in the City. Unlike its competitors, it allows users to carry on betting during a live sporting event as the market changes, giving them the chance to win back their losses. Professional gamblers - traditionally thwarted by bookmakers who close their accounts - also frequent the site as there is no limit on how much they can win. Unlike bookies, Betfair wants users to win; it takes a 5% commission on all earnings.

But Betfair has also attracted casual gamblers and those not normally associated with the pursuit. Punters can bet on virtually anything, from politics to reality TV. It has even forged links with celebrity gossip website Popbitch to create Popbet, a site that allows users to make bets on celebrities; over 6m gbp was wagered on the last series of Big Brother.

Although these newer markets are still dwarfed by sporting events - over 13m gbp was bet on this summer's Wimbledon men's final - they are also less saturated, making them ripe for expansion.

The difficulty of internationality is Betfair's biggest frustration. While it accounts for around 90% of the online betting market, its revenues would surge if global gambling laws were loosened. It spends huge amounts on corporate diplomacy in countries like France, where all bookmaking is a state monopoly. Instead of chasing France through the European courts, it believes that its soft diplomacy will mean that when the French government eventually does relax its laws, its time and money spent on lobbying and charming officials will pay off.

The company will take solace from the fact that it has few competitors that could steal its crown. Over the years, it has mopped up most of the important players, most notably Flutter - a site launched at around the same time but which had a better knowledge of the internet. At the end of 2001, the two companies merged, creating the now seemingly unstoppable platform.

Betdaq, an online exchange based in Dublin, is the site's only real competition. But it has always found the going hard and - although it handles bets worth 20m gbp each week - still isn't profitable. It initially targeted Betfair by offering a lower 3% rate of commission, although it recently reverted to 5%. The company's best hope is that one of the top bookmakers - both William Hill and Ladbrokes have been touted - decides to make an offer to buy the company.

America still proves the hardest nut to crack for the industry. Betcha, a Seattle-based exchange which launched in June, believed it had found a solution by exploiting a loophole in the country's strict legislation. After years of studying federal and state laws, its founder developed an "honour-based" platform. Like eBay, the site did not give assurance for any of the exchanges which took place on its pages, instead letting users give each other a trust rating and feedback for each transaction. It argued that because it did not guarantee the bets - unlike Betdaq and Betfair who ensure their users have liquidity before betting - its activities did not meet the definition of gambling, meaning it wasn't illegal.

Nonetheless, the site was wound down just a month later when the Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) seized its computers. Internet Community & Entertainment Corp - the company who owns Betcha - believes it has prosecutors rattled after the WSGC asked for more time to consider the site in relation to gambling laws. The next hearing is scheduled for early November and, in the unlikely event that Betcha wins, the market could seriously change. Until then, all bets are off; Betfair is running a one-horse race.

16/10/07

Betting Quiz Sorts Winners, Dupes: Joe Saumarez-Smith (Correct)

By Joe Saumarez-Smith

(Corrects question 4 (ii) to show that the host knows the location of the winning box.)

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Are you a good gambler?

Take our short quiz and find out whether you're lucky to have the shirt on your back or you're a casino's worst nightmare.

Questions

1. Blackjack:

You are playing at a table with six decks and the dealer always stands on 17.

i) You are dealt an Ace and a 4. The dealer is showing a 4.

You should:

a) Double down (double your bet and take one final card)

b) Take a card/hit

c) Stand

ii) You are dealt a 5 and a 7. The dealer is showing a 2.

You should:

a) Double down

b) Take a card/hit

c) Stand

2. Craps: In this dice game, what odds are paid for a bet on rolling a ``hard 8,'' or two 4s?

a) 7-1

b) 8-1

c) If you think I'm going to bet the hard eight, you're nuts.

3. Poker: Which cards would you prefer to be dealt as a starting hand in Texas Hold 'Em?

a) Ace, Queen (not the same suit)

b) King, Queen (same suit)

c) 10, 10

4. Proposition bets (unique wagers on a specific outcome):

i) How many people do you need to have in a room for there to be a 50 percent chance that two of them have the same birthday?

a) 23

b) 37

c) 52

ii) You are on a game show and there are three doors. You are told that behind one door there is a box with $1 million and behind the other two a box with $1. You choose a door. The game show host, who knows in advance where the winning box is, opens one of the other doors to reveal a box with $1. He then offers you the choice to switch from your original door to the other door. What should you do?

a) Stick with your original choice

b) Switch doors

c) It doesn't matter what you do

iii) You are in a bar and someone offers you a bet on the last digit of the serial number of the $1 bill the barman is about to give you as part of your change. Should you bet on odd or even?

5. Football: You learn that an ice storm with 40 mile-per-hour winds is forecast to hit the Green Bay Packers' Lambeau Field during a game against the Miami Dolphins. The betting line has not yet moved, and you can bet on the outcome of the game as well as the total points scored by both teams. (In these ``over/under'' bets, you wager on the two teams' points totaling more or less than a level set by the bookie.) What is the best bet?

a) Bet on the Packers because they have more experience with playing in the snow and high winds.

b) Parlay the Packers and the ``over'' on the basis that there will be more fumbles and turnovers and the Packers should handle the experience better.

c) Bet on the ``under'' as both teams are likely to struggle in the conditions.

Answers

1. Under basic Blackjack strategy, you should:

i) (a) double down (2 points). Because one of your cards is an Ace, you are guaranteed not to ``bust,'' or go over 21, on the next card. By contrast, the dealer has a significant chance of busting with a 4 card showing.

ii) (b) take a card (2 points). You have a hand value of 12, which has a lower chance of busting than the dealer's hand showing a 2.

2. (c) is the best answer (2 points), but mathematically (b) is correct (1 point).

The ``hard 8'' pays 8-1 but is one of the worst bets on the craps table, with a house edge of 9.09 percent. Only the hard 4 or 10, which have a house edge of 11.11 percent, are worse bets.

Although craps is generally a poor value proposition for the casino bettor, it can be one of the best if you bet right. The casino has only a 1.4 percent edge on bets on the Don't Pass line. If you're getting complimentary or discounted rooms, they are probably losing money to you.

3. (c) The pair of 10s. (2 points). Poker players can use probabilities to determine the ``expected value'' of a hand. The higher the number, the better the chances of winning. The pair of 10s has an expected value of 0.58, versus 0.31 for hand (a) and 0.39 for hand (b). Experienced players will point out that there is a difference between the value of starting hands in tournament and cash poker and factors such as table position and depth of chip stacks will change the expected value of starting hands.

4. i) (a) (2 points). The answer to the ``birthday paradox'' is one that instinctively feels wrong but can be proven mathematically. The key is that it's not just the chances of one person having the same birthday as any of the others in the room, it's about the number of pairs in the room. With 23 people there are 253 possible pairs, which computes to a 50.7 percent chance that one of the pairs will share a birthday. In a room of 57 people there is a greater than 99 percent chance. ii) (b) (2 points). You should always swap doors. At the start you have a one in three, or 33 percent, chance of choosing the $1 million door. Revealing the $1 door doesn't change your odds but it does change the odds of the remaining door being the correct to 2 in 3, or 66.6 percent. So you should always swap. iii) You should always bet on odd. (2 points). The government may have issued an uneven number of notes, so there is a higher probability that there will be more odd numbered notes in circulation than even ones.

5. (c) (2 points). The biggest move in the odds is almost certain to be on the total points, which linesmakers will drop anywhere between 2 and 5 points on news of an ice storm. Although fumbles and turnovers do increase in these extreme conditions, statistically it's much harder to score, and betting the ``under'' on total points will return a higher profit than any of the other bets.

Scoring

0 to 3: The complimentary casino limo is sitting outside ready to whisk you off to Atlantic City. 4 to 6: Don't give up the day job. 7 to 10: Not bad, but your gambling math could use some work. 11 to 14: You're on the road to gambling riches. 15 to 16: Are you a professional gambler already?

(Joe Saumarez-Smith is chief executive officer of Sports Gaming, a U.K. management consulting firm to the gaming industry. He also owns European online bingo companies and odds comparison Web sites. The opinions expressed are his own.)