Sport Betting

The seven winners on the first day of the Hennessy meeting here 12 months ago included the subsequent Champion Hurdle winner and the beaten 6-5 favourite for the RSA Chase, but if the winner of the feature event on this year’s card on Thursday makes it to the Cheltenham Festival, it is much more likely to be in 2014 than four months from now.

There was something pleasantly old-fashioned about the course mapped out for Harry Topper after his success in the Grade Two Worcester Novice Chase, a reminder of the days of store horses and “big baby” seven-year-olds.

“You won’t see him for a long time now,” Kim Bailey, Harry Topper’s trainer, said. “I said before the race that not since Master Oats [the 1995 Gold Cup winner] have I come across a horse who will run through a brick wall, but he will.

“I’ve always held a very high opinion of him and he’s the best horse I’ve had since Master Oats. In days gone by, you could have won two or three novice chases with him and built up his strength and his confidence, but today we’ve had to come to what for me was the best novice chase [of the season].

“The chances that we’ll be at Cheltenham [in 2013] are very limited. He’s not strong enough to gallop downhill, he’s 17 hands with a huge amount of ability. I would like to think that in 18 months’ time, you’ll see him at Cheltenham. He’s the horse of my dreams, really.”

At one stage, Harry Topper looked a most unlikely winner and he was backed at 999-1 in-running on Betfair, but he came with a strong run under Timmy Murphy to catch Benefficient a few yards from the post.

“He lost four lengths at the last just by going right-handed, but when you’ve got horses with guts, it makes up for everything. He’s tough, but he’s so immature and weak,” Bailey said.

“He’s a mad horse, he walks his box, he crib bites, he weaves, he windsucks, he does everything. It takes an hour to get him in the horsebox to go racing. He has his own way of doing things.”

Meganisi, who finished second in a Listed race on the Flat at Newbury in May on the afternoon when ^{Frankel made his seasonal debut, put his experience over hurdles to good use as he beat Aaim To Prosper, the 66-1 winner of last month’s Cesarewitch, in the opening novice hurdle.}

Prospect Wells, the winner of this race last season, went on to finish fifth in the Supreme Novice Hurdle and third in a Grade Two at Aintree’s Grand National meeting, and Meganisi is now likely to step up into graded company. “We had the confidence to give him six months off and now he’s perfect,” Gearoid Costelloe, assistant to Rebecca Curtis, Meganisi’s trainer, said. “AP [McCoy] says two miles is a perfect trip for him, and we’ll just keep him at that.”

Costelloe also confirmed that Teaforthree, who took the National Hunt Chase at last season’s Cheltenham Festival, will run in Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup, with McCoy in the saddle.

“We have an each-way chance, hopefully,” Costelloe said. “The Hennessy would be better to win than the Welsh National [at Christmas, Teaforthree’s next major target] and you’ll know turning in whether you’re good enough or not.

“He needs to get another run before the Welsh National. The soft ground is perfect, because it takes a bit more getting.”

Nicky Henderson took the Gerry Fielden Intermediate Hurdle, won last year by Rock On Ruby, the 2012 Champion Hurdler, as Lyvius beat Edgardo Sol, a Grade Three winner at Aintree in April, by two lengths. Handicaps are a more immediate concern for Henderson than Grade One championship events, however, with the valuable Ladbroke Hurdle at Ascot just before Christmas one possible target for the winner.

The British Horseracing Authority said on Thursday that the minimum weight on the Flat will rise by 2lb to 8st from 1 January 2013. The rise is the first since 2002, when the minimum rose from 7st 10lb to 7st 12lb, and will be accompanied by new initiatives to improve the welfare of Flat jockeys, including a programme of bone-density scanning and the allocation of a minimum weight to apprentice and conditional jockeys, based on measurements recorded at their racing schools.

“The rise was an obvious step to take in view of the fact that the average weight of the British population is rising at a rate of 1lb every three years,” said Dr Michael Turner, the chief medical adviser to the British Horseracing Authority.

“Just as significant, though, are the wider initiatives being implemented with a view to assisting particularly young jockeys maintain and ride at a weight which is suitable for their wellbeing. Research in Britain and Ireland has identified that low bone density scores are a potential problem for young jockeys. To enable these jockeys to seek appropriate advice at an early stage, the BHA is introducing the programme of routine [bone density] scanning for apprentice and conditional jockeys.”

The maximum weight on the Flat will not change, resulting in a 2lb compression in the weight range for some races which will, the BHA said, have a “minimal effect” on the race programme. The Authority also pointed out that just 94 out of a total of 59,592 runners in Flat races in 2011 carried less than 8 stone.

The Professional Jockeys’ Association welcomed the changes, describing the new regime as “the result of a collaborative effort” by Dr Turner and the PJA “over a number of years”. “It was always important that the holistic approach British racing has taken in this issue continued,” Paul Struthers, the PJA’s chief executive, said, “as opposed to simply raising the minimum weight.”

Ed Dunlop’s star mare Snow Fairy has had her victory in the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville taken away after failing a test for a banned substance. Connections have explained it was due to anti-inflammatory treatment the five-year-old has been receiving.

“We have sadly learnt that Snow Fairy has been disqualified as a result of failing a routine dope test taken after the race,” said Dunlop. “Due to the significant tendon injury that she suffered at the end of last year, Snow Fairy has required anti-inflammatory medication to help the injury.”

In its seventh year, the Betfair Chase takes place this coming Saturday (24th November) at Haydock Park. The three mile race is the British National Hunt Steeplechase, famously won by Kauto Star four times. This year the race is broadcast live on Channel 4.

You too can be a winner with the bet365 Price Promise – a pledge to update its prices during the course of the race as it is broadcast on telly. In other words they will match the best price set by the major bookmakers as they change. This way you’re guaranteed to get the best possible price. These Bookmakers are: Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power, Coral, Totesport and Boylesport.

In the case of the Betfair Chase, the bet365 Price Promise applies to bets placed after 10am on the day of the race. Bet365 extends its Price Promise to all races broadcast on the BBC and Channel 4 until the end of the calendar year!

The Channel 4/1 Free Bet Offer

If you back a single winner at 4/1 and you win at 4/1 or more then you win a free bet on next Channel 4 horse race broadcast live. The same applies to this second bet, so you can potentially win a third horse racing bet.

Bet365 Best Odds Guaranteed Greyhound and Horse Races

And there are still more sports bet offers at bet365: Take the price on your selection and if the starting price is bigger then bet365 will pay you out at bigger odds. For example, if you take a 3/1 Early Price and your selection wins at 4/1 then bet365 will pay out at 4/1. Quite simply its the best odds guaranteed.

Online betting providers are quickly recognizing the importance of snooker, with Betfair extending its presence in the sponsorship market by shoring up naming rights to the 2013 Masters.

Betfair Sponsors Snooker

Snooker’s most important invitation event will be known as the Betfair Masters when it next takes place in London in January, after the online betting and gambling operator took over sponsorship of the tournament from its former backer – the American financial services firm BGC partners.

Betfair is now the sponsor of a number of prestigious snooker events, as it is already associated with the Shoot-Out, the German Masters and is tour sponsor of the European Tour. The company said this was a move that would enhance its position in the popular sport.

Snooker Betting

Betfair and other leading online sportsbooks offer a variety of odds on upcoming snooker tournaments, including the Premier League 2012, Betfair Masters 2013, and World Championship 2013. More tournament odds will be offered as the events approach.

Sixteen contenders are in the running for the 2013 Masters, and it might be worth getting in early for favorable odds. Reigning champ Neil Robertson of Australia is a 4.5 second favorite, trailing only Judd Trump, 3.5, in the betting odds.

November 12 2012, Rich Ryan

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In March, we told you that Jennifer Tilly was going to appear on an episode of The Simpsons that focused on online poker. The episode, “Gone, Abie Gone,” aired on Sunday, and we recap it in this edition of The Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Xing Zhou took down the 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Macau: Asia Championship of Poker. Want to know how it went down? Here’s a full recap of the final table.

Joe Elpayaa leads the remaining 28 players after Day 2 of the 2012 World Poker Tour bestbet Jacksonville Fall Poker Scramble. Find out who else is in the hunt with ourWPT recap..

For the first time since the Summer of 2011, major tournaments took place on both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker on Sunday. Find out who the big winners were in The Sunday Briefing.

The Seat Open series continued on Monday with Part Two of an extensive interview with World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jonathan Aguiar. Watch the episode to find out more.

Lisa Simpson Goes All In

*SPOILER ALERT*

On Sunday, Season 24 of The Simpsons rolled along with Episode No. 4 “Gone, Abie, Gone.” The main theme focused on Abe, better known as Grandpa, and a mistress he encountered while performing music at various bars in Springfield during his 30s, but there was a subplot that focused on Lisa and online poker.

In the opening sequence, Homer is burned while ordering onion rings at Krusty Burger. He sues the restaurant, wins $5,000, then deposits the money onto an online poker site because Moe tells him it’s safer than keeping it in the bank.

This is ironic in many ways.

Homer’s online handle is “Lisa Simpson College Fund,” and he proudly tells Lisa where he’s invested her future. Naturally, she’s disgusted and becomes even more distraught when she finds Bart playing on the account. She shoos him away but then tries to win the $60 or so her brother lost. Lisa ends up flopping quad queens on the first hand she plays and becomes hooked.

Jennifer Tilly makes an appearance in the episode when Lisa watches her instructional DVD. Lisa also reads a few poker books, but rather than choosing classics like Super System or Harrington on Hold’em, she prefers Al Roker on Poker and Fold Yourself Rich. Lisa runs the $5,000 up to over $360,000, but eventually loses an $800,000 pot to Sideshow Bob with a full house aces over threes.

Sideshow Bob has two threes, winning the pot with quads.

In the end, we find out that Bart was actually playing under the Sideshow Bob handle, and that the site took away all of the winnings when they discovered that Bart and Lisa were both under the age of 18. Lisa’s account was credited with the original $5,000, however, making her very happy.

The episode received mixed reviews on TwoPlusTwo, but TVFanatic.com rated it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

No U.S. Legislation for 12 Months?

According to Reuters.com, International Game Technology doesn’t expect much progress toward legal online poker in the United States in the next year. CEO Patti Hart believes that social gaming is growing faster than expected, however.

“We don’t expect legislation in the U.S. to move significantly in the next 12 months,” Hart told Reuters. “[IGT’s gaming license is] for people who reside in Nevada, so the pool of potential players is not significant enough.”

In January, IGT purchased DoubleDown, one of the biggest providers of games on Facebook. The company had revenue of $35.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 — a 20 percent increase from the third quarter. Among the games DoubleDown provides are poker, blackjack, and slots.

Hart added, “We’ve been slowed down by the legislative process, there’s no question about it. Our reaction was to find a way to extend a gaming experience to the public that is not really encumbered by the legislative process and that’s what we’ve done [with DoubleDown].”

Hart, who left Yahoo Inc earlier in 2012, believes that the online gaming environment, “looks social for an extended period of time.”

Reuters.com has more.

Betable Hires former Zynga VP

On Monday, AllThingsD.com reported that Ya-Bing Chu, a former vice president at Zynga, was hired by Betable, a London-based company that’s focusing its efforts on bringing real-money gaming to mobile phones. Chu served as general manager of Zynga’s mobile division, which is responsible for operating games like Words With Friends and Scramble With Friends. Prior to his work in the mobile division, Chu worked directly with Zynga Poker, FarmVille, and Petville.

“This is an opportunity to pioneer this business, and this was too good to pass up,” Chu said.

Betable’s servers are located in the United Kingdom, where the company is licensed, but Betable also has offices in San Francisco. Currently, the company does not offer gaming in the U.S. because it’s prohibited.

The company isn’t building its own games, rather they offer its services to third parties that are entering the real-money market. Betable recently announced a partnership with Big Fish Games that will result in a real-money version of its iOS title Big Fish Casino to launch in the U.K. They have also teamed up with Slingo, Digital Chocolate, and Murka Games.

Betable CEO and founder Chris Griffin added, “Every industry is being affected by the transition to mobile. It’s definitely here, but the only thing that’s holding back innovation is the license.”

AllThingsD.com has more.

Germany vs. The EU

According to Pokerfuse.com, Germany is close to passing The States Treaty on Online Gaming. Once North Rhine Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein sign the treaty, sports betting will be legalized in Germany, but online poker will remain illegal. The treaty will mandate a 5 percent tax on every wager, prompting Betfair to close its German sports betting operation.

Betfair will continue to offer online poker, as will bwin.party, which is bidding to become one of the 20 licensed online gaming sites authorized by the treaty. Germany’s Commission policy is to refuse companies that offer illegal online gaming in other countries.

The European Gaming and Betting Association believes that the treaty is illegal under EU law, and has submitted a formal complaint to the European Commission. The EU Internal Markets and Services Commissioner Michael Barnier plans to step up legal and regulatory enforcement on countries who are in breach of EU law.

The EU Commission could potentially order changes to the German treaty, creating a regulatory format that has previously been rejected by every German State other than Schleswig-Holstein.

For more, head to PokerFuse.com.

Final Episode of The Final Table

The sixth and final episode of The Final Table was released on Monday. In it, Russell Thomas and Jason Somerville discuss Thomas’ fourth-place finish in the World Series of Poker Main Event.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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The kind people at Betfair are offering newby sports-betters a risk-free introduction with their “Free £20 Sports Bet” offer. Betfair’s offer guarantees any sports bet worth £20. In other words, you can’t lose your first £20:  First-time players who stake £20 on exchange odds receive £20 cashback if they lose. That’s zero risk.

It is  worth noting that you must place your first sports bet within 21 days of registering with Betfair. The offer applies to all residents of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

On top of that, there are more rewards to be had for playing at Betfair. The Betfair £10-1,000 cashback promotion offers credit rewards the more you play. Basically, it is a credit bonuses for the points you accumulate betting online. Points are awarded every time you place a bet on a market or on the Exchange, whatever the outcome. In other words, you earn points just for having played, regardless if you win or lose. At the end of your first 30 days’ with Betfair, the points you have accumulated will turn into credit. Full details await you at Betfair.

So if you were planning on watching the football or the tennis, it is possible to crank up the excitement without risking a single pound sterling.

Other sports covered on Betfair include basketball, american football, Rugby League, ice hockey, greyhound racing, cricket, volleyball, horse-racing, motor sports, martial arts and golf.

Top sports betting company promotes online casino brand with seven-figure ad blitz.

By Consuelo R | Nov 09, 2012

 Betfair Casino, TV

With today’s much wider array of news and entertainment sources, TV advertising has become less and less of an awareness- and sales-building vehicle for many brands. But for one industry, the opposite is true. According to an Ad Age Digital story, online gambling advertising expenditures could reach up to $4 billion in the next five years. BetFair, a UK online gambling company, is Exhibit A of this trend.

Largest investment in BetFair

BetFair recently launched a seven-figure TV ad campaign to promote its online casino – BetFair Casino. While BetFair is a top brand synonymous with sports betting, BetFair Casino – a relatively small but highly secure casino that offers numerous games and terrific bonuses – needed to get out of the brand’s shadow and attract many more customers. Officials believe that their huge advertising investment may well achieve this goal.

Sleek TV advert lives up to its name

Titled “Huge”, the commercial, which runs through December, features giant lemons, cherries, cards, and other classic casino images falling down from the sky and astounding people. It also boasts of the £4 million paid out every day… and ends dramatically with the £20 Free Casino Bonus spiel (New players deposit £10 and get £20 free). The commercial will run on major UK TV stations.

Top-rated BetFair sportsbook has everything for the betting aficionado

The action-packed sports betting site has a huge selection of markets in sports, finance, and politics. Plus a new in-play home page that makes it easier to monitor, bet, and cash out on all your markets from one page. A betting exchange, BetFair now also has a fixed-odds betting platform  for players who want traditional betting options as well.

SS1: Sun: 16:00. Liverpool v Newcastle. If the match finishes a draw, Betfair will refund up to £50 on 1st/last Goalscorer and correct score bets

Refunds if there’s a draw at Anfield
Liverpool v Newcastle, Sunday 16:00, Sky Sports 1
If the match finishes a draw, and the first bet you place loses, Betfair will refund your stake, up to £50 on First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer and Correct score bets. Applies to fixed odds markets only.

Bet with Betfair.com. New account holders: £20 risk free bet