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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Transfer window opens - what do the Premier League managers say?

The January transfer window opens on New Year's Day, giving clubs their first opportunity to buy or sell players since the end of August.

Most Premier League managers have already had their say over how they see the next month going:

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:
"Although we are not close to signing anyone at the moment, if we do buy I think what we need is maybe someone with a bit of experience. I need a creative midfielder and eventually another midfielder, because we are short.

"We already have many young players so, if we buy, it will be somebody who is ready to play straight away. A loan deal could also be a possibility. What we might need is someone who can create a little spark."

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill:
"We are definitely looking at trying to do something if it is at all possible."

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:
"I'm also more focused on getting players in rather than players out. Certainly my focus over the last two days has been speaking to the chairman about that. We're both going to go out and try and improve our squad as quickly as possible."

Chelsea manager Luiz Filipe Scolari :
"I knew that it's a different time for Chelsea but, if we suffer more injuries, the board understand that I'll need one or two players to replace some [injured] players. They understand this. "

"If, on the other hand, the players are in good condition and there are no more injuries, I think it's maximum one player they'll replace because we need one more. Only one. A striker."

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez :
"It will be difficult to bring anyone in January because we have a good squad. To bring in anyone better than what we've got isn't easy and could be expensive."

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes:
"I think everyone understands there are certain areas of the squad which need strengthening and we will look to address those in the window."

"We are looking to bring good quality players to the club to help our situation and make sure that the club is moving forward in the future. There is no guarantee how many of those players we will be able to bring to the club. It is clear from everyone's point of view that we do need help."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson :
"I do not think there will be any January transfers, I am happy with what I have got.
"We are probably going to bring back a couple of young players who have been on loan. That may just give us extra protection. "

"We took 23 players to Japan (for the Club World Cup) and they are substantial players. I would be happy to play any one of them."

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp :
"If could find a wide-left player I would like to get one. That and a frontman would be the priority."

"I think Portsmouth have had a massive offer from somebody for Jermain Defoe, so good luck to them - I paid about £9m when I signed him. He is a good player but we're not going to pay over the top for anyone."

"I like Stewart Downing but I don't know whether Middlesbrough want to sell him."

Bookmakers clean up as snow stays away on Christmas Day

UK gamblers have been tuning in to weather predictions before placing their bets on whether there would be snowfalls on Christmas Day, but as it turned out it was the bookies who got it right this year, with snow staying away.

Bookmakers William Hill took a large number of bets on the possibility of snow on Christmas Day, following heavy snowfalls earlier in December - but, although it was a chilly day, there was no snow.

Rupert Adams, spokesman for William Hill, told the Telegraph newspaper that it was a relief for the bookmakers -- although it may be a disappointment for gamblers.

"Much like the abominable snowman, Britain's favorite festive flutter is in danger of becoming extinct as snowfall becomes increasingly rare in December," said Adams. "But we are not sorry to see no snow as it would have cost us a monster million pound-plus payout."

Christmas Day was cloudy and cold but dry, with a brisk wind blowing in from the east, the newspaper reported.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Manchester United are title favourites with bookmakers

Manchester United have been shortened from 6/4 to 11/8 favourites (PaddyPower) to win the Premier League title following their hard-fought 1-0 win over Middlesbrough at Old Trafford on Monday night.

United dominated for most of the game and missed a host of chances before Dimitar Berbatov blasted home the winner in the 69th minute. The result means Sir Alex Ferguson's men now trail Liverpool by seven points and Chelsea by four in the race for the title but have two games in hand.

Chelsea are 2/1 second favourites (VCBet)with Liverpool available at 9/4 (BetFred) despite being top. Arsenal are 33/1 (Bet365) shots with Aston Villa 66/1. (Bet365)

RELATED LINK :
Get the latest Premier League Live Odds Quotes at Bookie Lab Rat.

Friday, December 26, 2008

BettingZone take Arsenal to win at Villa

Popular UK betting website BettingZone.co.uk have picked Arsenal to bat Aston Villa on Boxing Day - despite the loss of captain Cesc Fabregas ...

Villa gained a deserved win at The Emirates in mid-November and will be popular with punters at 13/8 to complete the double.

However, one of the themes of this Premier League season is that the top teams appear to prefer playing away from home where they have more space and can hit teams on the break.

Villa, with six away wins to just four at home, have been part of that trend while a win for Arsenal would mean they've taken just as many points on the road as they have at home.

Villa go into the game three points above the Gunners so Arsene Wenger would feel very anxious if that gap doubled to six as the prospect of Villa gatecrashing the top four would grown even stronger.

Yes, holes can be picked in the Arsenal line-up and the loss of Cesc Fabregas is a blow too. But they remain a talented bunch and it's foolish to write them off.

Arsenal have won four and drawn one of their last five trips to Villa Park and, given their record against the top teams this year, they're more than capable of nicking a victory.

Villa are no world-beaters yet so maybe the 2/1 about Arsenal is the best bet.

BettingZone Pick : Aston Villa 1 Arsenal 2

Friday, December 19, 2008

Champions League Knockout Draw : Italy vs England x 3

The champions league draw for the last 16 was made in Nyon on Friday and it has thrown up some mouthwatering clashes as English clubs face three Italian opponents ...and Real Madrid as well.

Manchester United will face Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos will return to England with Real Madrid as they take on Liverpool, with the second leg to be played at Anfield.

Arsenal will have the first leg at home as they play AS Roma, while Chelsea will clash against Juventus who are managed by former boss Claudio Ranieri for their .

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT DRAW
Chelsea v Juventus
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v FC Porto
Lyon v Barcelona
Real Madrid v Liverpool
Arsenal v Roma
Inter Milan v Manchester United

The ties will be played on 24/25 February and 10/11 March as the Champions League knockout phase begins.

UEFA Cup Knockout Draw

Aston Villa and Tottenham have a potential last 16 clash - but they will have to get past a pair of quality opponents as they first face CSKA Moscow and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively in the last 32.

Manchester City will face FC Copenhagen in the last 32 but they could meet Deportivo La Coruna in the last 16.

Other last 32 ties include AC Milan up against Werder Bremen, while Ajax meet Fiorentina.

Last 32 draw (first leg 18-19 Feb/ second leg 26 Feb):
Paris Saint-Germain v Wolfsburg
FC Copenhagen v MANCHESTER CITY
NEC Nijmegen v Hamburg
Sampdoria v Metalist Kharkiv
Braga v Standard Liege
ASTON VILLA v CSKA Moscow
Lech Poznan v Udinese
Olympiakos v Saint-Etienne
Fiorentina v Ajax
Aalborg v Deportivo La Coruna
Werder Bremen v AC Milan
Bordeaux v Galatasaray
Dynamo Kiev v Valencia
Zenit St. Petersburg v Stuttgart
Marseille v FC Twente
Shakhtar Donetsk v TOTTENHAM

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

JustBet Sportsbook $100K Holiday Bowl Competition

JustBet Sportsbook are offering an extra Christmas stocking filler to every active customer - with an $100K Holiday Bowl competition



It's free to play for all JustBet Sportsbook players who hold an active account with a $300 balance or greater.

The competition covers the BOWL games from December 28th, 2008 right through to the BCS game on January 8th, 2009 between Florida and Oklahoma.


FIRST PRIZE : $25,000 for the contestant who picks the most winners - the prize will be split if more than one winner.

BONUS PRIZE : $25,000 more if winner picks every game correctly

EXTRA BONUS SCORE PRIZE OF $50,000 for picking every game, and the exact score of the BCS game.


And as part of the promotion a new deposit (from new or existing JustBet Sportsbook customers) will receive a 50% freeplay bet as a holiday bonus.

So check out JustBet Sportsbook to learn more about this great competition.

UEFA Tells Wayne Rooney that he can stamp opponents freely.

Uefa says it will not punish Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney over his clash with Aalborg's Kasper Risgard.

The Danish defender claimed the England international stamped on him during the 2-2 Champions League draw at Old Trafford on 10 December.



Rooney, 23, faced a three-match ban had he been found guilty by European football's governing body.

Uefa assessed the incident after it was missed by referee Laurent Duhamel but decided that no action would be taken, as it would affect Manchester United chances of progressing and negatively affect sales of future TV rights to upcoming games.

(OK - I added the bit in Italics - but how on earth did they come to this decision otherwise? Rooney had gone mental)

Monday, December 15, 2008

AFC and NFC Playoff picture - how does your team stand with two weeks left?

So if the season ended right now - here is how the road to the Superbowl would look in the NFL.

In the NFC the NEW YORK GIANTS and the CAROLINA PANTHERS would clinch first round byes with the best division winning performances.

The MINNESOTA VIKINGS would host the TAMPA BAY BUCCS and the DALLAS COWBOYS would travel to face the ARIZONA CARDINALS.

There are still four other teams in the hunt though (within two games of a playoff spot) including the 9-5 ATLANTA FACLONS.

NFC playoff picture

Meanwhile over in the AFC it's more clearcut with the TENNESSEE TITANS and the PITTSBURGH STEELERS guaranteed first round byes with two weeks to go.

The NEW YORK JETS would get to host the BALTIMORE RAVENS in the first playoff game, while the DENVER BRONCOS would recieve the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS in the other wildcard game.



MIAMI DOLPHINS and NEW ENGLAND PATS will still harbour hopes of challenging the JETS in the AFC EAST, while SAN DIEGO have the slimmest of hopes in the AFC West.

For the rest of the sides, it's time to face facts, it's the dead time at the end of the season, and now sport bettors will be taking a close look at the motivation levels of some teams.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Barcelona v Real Madrid - Special bets

Barceona v Real MadridReal Madrid visit bitter rivals Barcelona on Satueday evening with their new coach Juande Ramos and Betfred have priced up a number of special bets on "El Classico".

Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has been enduring a torrid time this season and two markets have been opened up for punters who think he might have a tough time :

"Casillas Catastrophe 1" is for Barcelona to score four or more goals, which they have done on an incredible nine occasions already this season, and the Betfred price for that to happen again is 11/2.

"Casillas Catastrophe 2" is for the goalkeeper to commit a foul that results in a penalty and that eventuality is a 7/1 chance at BetFred.

You can also bet on whether Real Madrid will have a player sent off in the match and it's 7/2 that the visitors are reduced to 10 men, as they were against Sevilla last weekend when Arjen Robben’s red card meant he misses this match.

Betfred spokesman Jon Wilde said: "Bernd Schuster's last act as Real coach was to say he didn't think the Galacticos could win in the Nou Camp and it could be a long 90 minutes for Real.

"Casillas is expected to return to the side after seeing his understudy Jerzy Dudek keep a clean sheet against Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League, but he will need to improve on his poor form in such a big game."

Check out all the options at BetFred Bookmakers.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Sevilla beat Real Madrid to move into 4th spot

Sevilla survived a spirited fightback from champions Real Madrid at the Bernabeu to win 4-3 in the Primera Liga on Sunday.

Spanish football betting tips
Adriano Correia gave Sevilla a third-minute lead and although Raul pulled one back in the 19th minute, Ndri Romaric and Frederic Kanoute had the visitors 3-1 up at half-time.

Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago levelled for Real midway through the second half, but a red card for Arjen Robben took the wind out of their sails, and Renato headed the winner six minutes from time.

Real Madrid's third defeat in four league matches left them fifth in the standings with 26 points from 14 matches, nine behind leaders Barcelona who they play at the Nou Camp next weekend.


Barcelona hammered Valencia 4-0 on Saturday, and are now 6 points clear at the top with 35 points after second-placed Villarreal were held 3-3 at home by Getafe.


Valencia are third with 27 points ahead of Sevilla on goal difference.


Deportivo Coruna overcame Malaga 2-0 at home. Malaga keeper Inaki Goitia let Angel Lafita's free kick slip through his hands after 65 minutes and Mexico striker Omar Bravo netted the second from the penalty spot soon after.


Real Valladolid came back from three down to draw 3-3 at Osasuna with Nigerian striker Bartholomew Ogbeche's powerful header securing a point five minutes from time. Valladolid are eighth with 20 points.


Osasuna slipped back to the foot of the table after Recreativo Huelva claimed their first win since the opening day of the season, twice coming from behind to beat Real Mallorca 3-2 away.

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Eduardo nearly ready to return for Arsenal

Arsene Wenger believes it will not be long before Arsenal see striker Eduardo back in action.

The Brazilian-born Croatia striker suffered an horrific broken leg following an X-rated challenge from Martin Taylor at Birmingham in February.

However, the 25-year-old is now closing in on a return to competitive action with the Gunners. Wenger confirmed: "As soon as possible, he will play now. He is joining in full training matches, but he needs games now."

He won't play against Wigan this weekend but the Gunners also face Middlesbrough and Liverpool between now and Christmas.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

NFL Picks for Week 14.



I have built FOUR systems over the last two seasons :
- most likely winners
- best value winners
- extreme value winners
- ATS winners.

But due to the BLOWOUT nature of the NFL - where some scores can get huge when compared to European football - I've found that you have to choose which type of system you are going to chase.

I've gone for value winners, which means that the system is focused around win percentages and who will get over the line, rather than whether they will cover the spread.

So the best system is VALUE which is marked in the HVal and Aval columns where I take the green marked teams to win on the MoneyLine.

This system was +14% last season, and is exactly +14% yield this season too.

It has a 41% hit rate (32 winners and 47 losers this season) but the prices obtained are good enough to yield a profit.

This weeks value picks are ...

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 49% @ 2.57
DALLAS COWBOYS 49% @ 2.37
ST. LOUIS RAMS 19% @ 7.50
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 36% @ 4.50
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS 46% @ 3.55
CINCINNATI BENGALS 19% @ 6.75
OAKLAND RAIDERS 29% @ 4.60

Note that all SEVEN teams are away sides, and all seven teams are actually underdogs forecast to lose if "average" circumstances happen.

But as we know in the NFL a turnover or poor home performance can result in a big dog winning we will need 2 or 3 winners to show a profit this week.

Monday, December 01, 2008

Liverpool move into top spot after held to 0-0 by West Ham

Liverpool go top of the table Liverpool drew 0-0 with West Ham at Anfield on Monday night and it was enough to take the Reds into top spot in the Premier League.

But this was the second time in 10 days that Liverpool had been held to a goalless draw at home by a London club, seriously handicapping their chances in the title race.

West Ham claimed their first point at Anfield for nine years it it might have been more as West Ham's former Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy came closest to a goal when his 30-yard strike hit a post.

But that would have been tough on Liverpool who dominated the match with 25 shots to 7 and 67% ball possession.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sunderland drop into the bottom three after being thumped by Bolton

Sunderland are now 11/4 (3.75) to be relegated from the Barclays Premier League after Saturday's 1-4 home defeat by Bolton.

Sunderland drop into the bottom three
The loss sent Sunderland catapulting into the bottom three and Boyle Sports offer 3.75 about them still being there at the end of the season.

West Brom are still favourites for the drop at just 1/4 (1.25) at VCBet with Stoke City also odds on at 4/6 (1.67) at Bet365.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Cesc Fabregas is new Arsenal captain

Cesc Fabregas has been named as the new Arsenal captain by manager Arsene Wenger.

William Gallas's leadership skills have been questioned since his infamous sit-down sulk at St. Andrews last season, and last week's decision by the Frenchman to go public with criticisms of his team-mates prompted Arsene Wenger to drop him for Saturday's trip to Manchester City.

Fabregas also missed that match through suspension, but Wenger today revealed that the captaincy has been handed to the young Spaniard on a permanent basis.

Gallas will return to the side to play Dynamo Kiev at the Emirates on Tuesday night.

Round 14 : Village side Hoffenheim stand top of the Bundesliga

German Bundesliga
Hoffenheim went three points clear at the top of the German Bundesliga with a 3-1 win at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday afternoon.

Hoffenheim, the village team with multi-millionaire backing, went ahead through Demba Ba and clinched victory as Vedad Ibisevic struck his 15th and 16th goals of the season.

It was enough to take them back to the top ahead of Bayer Leverkusen, who suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat away to Arminia Bielefeld.

Bayern Munich beat Energie Cottbus 4-1 helped by another goal from Franck Ribery who scored with a terrific 20 yard free kick making it his sixth league game in a row that he's scored.

Round 12 : Barcelona held by Getafe but still three points clear

Spanish football standings
Barcelona needed a second half equaliser from Seydou Keita to rescue a point as the leaders were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Getafe in the Primera Liga on Sunday.

Barca have 29 points from 12 games, which leaves them three points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid and four in front of Villarreal.

Real Madrid beat Recreativo Huelva 1-0 at the Bernabeu while Villarreal were upset 0-3 at home by Real Valladolid.

Fourth-placed Valencia are ahead of Sevilla on goal difference with 24 points after thew two sides drew 0-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan on Saturday.

Round 13 : Inter Milan clear at top of Serie A

Serie A Betting Previews
AC Milan were held 2-2 at Torino on Sunday, leaving city rivals Inter Milan three points clear at the top of Serie A.

Torino's Alessandro Rosina scored a 78th-minute penalty, which was conceded for handball by Kakha Kaladze, to earn the hosts a draw.

Napoli are 3rd with Juventus on 24 points after being held 2-2 at home by Cagliari earlier on Sunday. Daniele Conti scored a stoppage-time equaliser for the Sardinian side after Ezequiel Lavezzi thought he had won it for Napoli with a superb late free kick.

Lazio are fifth after grabbing a 1-1 home draw with Genoa thanks to Ousmane Dabo's powerful strike that slipped through keeper Rubinho's hands 10 minutes from time.

Fiorentina round out the top six after they beat visitors Udinese 4-2 on Saturday.

AS Roma continued their return to form after a miserable start to the season with a 3-0 win at Lecce courtesy of first-half goals by Mirko Vucinic and Juan plus captain Francesco Totti's delightful chip four minutes after the break. Roma are in 15th spot.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Rugby League World Cup Final Result : New Zealand 34-20 Australia

New Zealand celebrate winning the Rugby League World Cup
New Zealand came from 10-0 down to gain a stunning 34-20 victory over Australia and lift the World Cup for the first time in the 54-year history of the tournament.

A 50,550 crowd at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium were shocked into disbelief after watching the Kangaroos relinquish their grip on the trophy they had held since 1972.

After leading 16-12 at the break, Australia wilted in the face of a Kiwi onslaught and Slater turned from hero to villain midway through the second half by gifting a try to New Zealand stand-off Benji Marshall with a wild pass into no-man's land.

That enabled Kearney's men to turn a slender two-point lead into a more comfortable 22-16 advantage while a defensive blunder from winger Joel Monaghan led to a penalty try awarded by Ganson to outstanding full-back Lance Hohaia.

New Zealand captain Nathan Cayless thanked the 5,000 British fans who cast aside the disappointment of England's failure to reach the World Cup Final to cheer the underdogs to victory, just as they did at Elland Road in 2005 when the Kiwis won the Tri-Nations final.

"It's going to take a time to sink in," said Cayless. "It's just unbelievable. The boys worked so hard for it. That's my grand final, it's the biggest thing for me."

Tri-Nations rugby teams continue to beat Six Nations opponents

The string of winning results for the Southern Hemisphere Rugby nations continued on Saturday as South Africa, New Zealand and Australia kept their winning runs intact in the November test series.

England 6 South Africa 42
South Africa inflicted a record home defeat on England at Twickenham as they romped to a 42-6 victory on Saturday.

The world champions secured their sixth straight win over England with tries from Danie Rossouw, Ryan Piennar, Adi Jacobs, Jaque Fourie and Bryan Habana.

Pienaar finished with a total of 20 points while all England could muster were two penalties from Danny Cipriani.

The 36-point margin smashed the previous record, which New Zealand set in November 2006 with a 41-20 win.

Wales 9 New Zealand 29
New Zealand overturned a half-time deficit to beat Wales 29-9 at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts had led 9-6 at the interval after Stephen Jones kicked three first-half penalties. The Six Nations champions Wales gave it their all, yet they had no answer once New Zealand stepped up a gear.

The All Blacks dominated after the break with centre Ma'a Nonu and flanker Jerome Kaino scoring tries and fly-half Dan Carter kicking the other points to finish with a personal haul of 19.

France 13 Australia 18
France fly-half David Skrela endured a desperate night with the boot as a below-par Australia earned a smash-and-grab win in Paris to stay undefeated on their European tour.

Toulouse number 10 Skrela was barracked by the Stade de France crowd after missing five penalties that ultimately decided a tight, nervy contest.

Australia's opportunistic finishing was deadly, hooker Stephen Moore and winger Peter Hynes scoring their tries either side of half-time.

Fly-half Matt Giteau kicked two penalties and a conversion as the Wallabies made it three wins out of three in November, following on from victories over Italy and England.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Gallas dropped from Arsenal squad and loses captaincy.

William Gallas has been dropped and stripped of the Arsenal captaincy, according to reports.

France Football claim that the outspoken defender has paid the price for his verbal attack on his Arsenal team-mates and will not appear in Saturday's trip to Manchester City and will be forced to relinquish the armband to either Gael Clichy or Manuel Almunia.

The reports have not been confirmed by the Gunners, but it would not come as a surprise if Arsene Wenger had run out of patience with the 31-year-old after a series of incidents have brought Gallas' leadership qualities into question.

Gallas has recently publically criticised his Arsenal team mates, and followed that on Friday with a fierce critique of his international team-mates in his autobiography.

In October Gallas reacted angrily when Arsenal surrendered a 4-2 lead with just two minutes remaining in the north London derby and drew the game 4-4.

His antics were reminiscent of his behaviour at the end of last season's away game at Birmingham City when striker Eduardo broke his leg and the Gunners conceded a late penalty to draw 2-2.

Simply, William Gallas is a fine player, but one who is rapidly losing his touch, and is unable to display the leadership qualities required of a captain.

This move is the correct one by Mr Wenger

Monday, November 17, 2008

International Friendlies Wed 19th November

International football bettingPaddy Power will refund all losing 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on either of the these two matches matches if the last goal in that match is a header.

Germany v England
Rep of Ireland v Poland

Terms and conditions :
- Applies to singles placed before kick off only
- Max Refund €300/£200 per customer/bet.
- Paddy Power football rules apply.
- Applies to 1st/last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast bets only.
- Own goals do not count.
- Does not apply to customers whose language of registration is Spanish.

RELATED LINK :
Check out top Irish bookmaker Paddy Power now.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Las Vegas feels the pain as US economy tanks

Latest figures from the Nevada Gaming Control Board show a further decline in revenues on both The Strip in Las Vegas and across the gambling state -- the ninth consecutive month in which revenues have gone downhill.

Gaming revenues across Nevada were down 5.4 percent to a billion dollars compared with September 2007, officials reported. On The Strip, revenues dipped 5.1 percent to $525.1 million over last year's equivalent.

The bottom line was that Nevada was $10 million in tax income down from the same period last year, receiving only $63.5 million.

A statistician with the Board described the decline as "alarming" and predicted that the October 2008 figures are unlikely to show a better picture.

It looks like people are prefering to play online - rather than taking the time and expense to travel to land based casinos.

For a list of the BEST places to play check out our online casino guide

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Chelsea bundled out of Carling Cup - United new favourites

There was a Cup shock at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night as Burnley knocked out favourites Chelsea on penalties and that caused a re-order of the betting favourtism.

Burnley held their Premier League rivals 1-1 after extra time and then won a dramatic shootout - and the Clarets can be backed at 40/1 at Centrebet to lift the trophy ahead of the quarter-final draw.

Holders Tottenham marched into the next round of the Carling Cup after defeating Liverpool 4-2 and are now 7/2 chances with Centrebet to hold onto the Cup.

The favourites currently are Manchester United at 2/1 (3.00) at BoyleSports with Arsenal as second favourites at 3.75 at Paddy Power despite their stated intention to keep on "playing the kids".

Blackburn are 8/1 (9.00) at Bet365 after they defeated Sunderland 2-1 while the rest of the market sees Stoke at 20/1 with Derby and Watford at 40s.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Bet365 asks whether Carling Cup side will start in the League?

How Many Wenger Boys Will Face Wigan In The Premier League?

Arsene Wenger's young guns tore apart Wigan on Tuesday and bet365 are betting on how many of his Carling Cup kids will start when Steve Bruce re-visits The Emirates on December 6th.

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth says : "It could have been a cricket score if it wasn't for Chris Kirkland and Wenger could be tempted to blood a few youngsters in the Premier League after the way they dismantled Wigan in the Carling Cup."

Arsenal v Wigan - Premier League - 6th December
How Many Of Carling Cup Starting XI v Wigan Will Start?

0 ------ 6/4 (2.50)
1 ------ 7/4 (2.75)
2 ------ 7/2 (4.50)
3 ------ 8/1
4+ ----- 16

Check the markets out at bet365

Monday, November 10, 2008

Chelsea favourites to win Premier League

English Premier League BettingChelsea are the clear favourites to win the Premier League after they reclaimed top spot with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn on Sunday.


Chelsea's superior goal difference sees them ahead of Liverpool, who had a comfortable 3-0 triumph over West Brom.

Chelsea are available at a best priced 4/5 (1.80) at VCBet, while Liverpool are 3rd favourites at 5.00 at Betfred.

Manchester United are eight points behind Liverpool, but are still second favourites and can be backed at 10/3 (4.33) also at Betfred

Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1 on Saturday, and that's had the bookmakers cut the price on the Gunners from 20s down to 13.00 - again at Betfred.

RELATED LINKS :
Live betting odds for English Premier League at Bookielabrat.com.
Bet365 Bookmakers
Betfred Bookmakers
VCBet
Ladbrokes

Know the #1 Game for Christmas? Bet on it!

With the continued talk of economic turmoil, the US Election and Russell Brand's nocturnal activities, the Christmas hype machine has been a little slow to kick into gear.

As PaddyPower Bookmakers look forward to the embarrassingly funny Christmas Party and dodgy shenanigans at the photocopier, they're once again speculating what Video Game will be number one at Christmas.

Slapping a picture of Cliff Richard on the front of FIFA 09 may increase sales in the 70+ demographic, but, as a marketing strategy, it'd be doomed to fail.

Instead, EA's best selling franchise has been the subject of a price war and has been cut to £19.99 in some outlets. If you don't back FIFA09 to be the Christmas No 1 Video Game, it could cost you money!

Christmas No.1 Video Game - Odds at Paddy Power*
Call of Duty: World at War 5 - 2
FIFA Soccer 09 4 - 1
Need for Speed Undercover 5 - 1

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Leverkusen on top of the Bundesliga - but watch out for Bayern !

Bayern Munich moved to within a point of leaders Bayer Leverkusen when Luca Toni and Franck Ribery gave them a 2-1 win at Schalke 04 on Sunday, while Hoffenheim lost 1-0 away to Hertha Berlin.

German Bundesliga standings
Toni, back after a rib injury, supplied a cool finish to give Bayern an early lead at one of their least favourite grounds.

Schalke were level almost immediately through Jefferson Farfan but Ribery, a different class to everyone else, scored his fourth goal in four league games to earn the champions a fifth successive league win.

Hoffenheim have surprised everyone this season but the wealthy village team slipped up on Sunday as their five-match winning run came to an end at the Olympiastadion losing 0-1 to Hertha Berlin.

The much-vaunted trio of forwards Vedad Ibisevic, Demba Ba and Chinedu Obasi had a collective off-day and Hertha nicked a win when Andriy Voronin beat the offside trap and scored with 20 minutes to go.

Leverkusen moved top the top of the table on goal difference following their 3-3 draw away to Karlsruhe on Saturday.

Leverkusen and Hoffenheim each have 25 points from 12 matches, with Bayern third on 24.

Inter Milan top of Serie A table after late goals

Julio Cruz headed home in injury time to give Inter Milan a 1-0 home win over Udinese on Sunday and send the Serie A champions top of the table.

Serie A Standings
AC Milan, a point behind Inter on 23, were held 1-1 at Lecce in the late game after conceding a late equaliser.

Napoli beat Sampdoria 2-0 to be on the same points as Milan while Lazio defeated Siena 3-0 at home thanks to a brace by Tommaso Rocchi and Mauro Zarate's goal.

Alessandro Del Piero celebrated his 34th birthday by scoring a third free kick in a week to help Juventus to a 2-0 win at lowly Chievo which puts them level with Udinese on 21 points.

Genoa are a point further behind in an extremely tight top half of Serie A after Diego Milito's hat-trick sealed a 4-0 home victory over bottom side Reggina.

Fiorentina are also on 20 points following a 2-1 triumph over Atalanta.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

UEFA Champions League Results from Wednesday night

Lyon, Porto, Zenit St Petersburg and Juventus were winners on matchday four, with half of the games finishing all square.

UEFA Champions League results

The results mean the Manchester United and Villarreal (both 8 pts) sit atop Group E, and are all but mathematically through, while Lyon and Bayern Munich (8 pts) have a similar position in Group F.

Group G sees Arsenal (8 pts) on top but still needing one more good result, while Porto (6) have leapfrogged Dynamo Kiev (5).

Finally in Group H Juventus (10 pts) have qualified, and Real Madrid (6) and Zenit St Petersburg (4) are likely to battle for the second spot on matchday 6.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Wolves and Reading take over favouritism in Championship race

Birmingham City suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Coventry on Monday night and have lost their position as favourites for the Coca-Cola Championship title.

Clinton Morrison struck for the Sky Blues against his former club, heading home from a corner eight minutes after the half-time break.

But Coventry's man of the match was undoubtedly goalkeeper Keiren Westwood who made several superb saves in the second half to deny Birmingham and leave them four points behind league leaders Wolves.

So now it is Wolves and Reading who now share favouritism for the title at 11/4 (3.75) with bet365, with Birmingham eased to 3/1 by Ladbrokes and Sheffield United at 14/1 at BoyleSports.

The bookies then have teams like Cardiff City, and QPR at 22/1 and 25/1 respectively.

RELATED LINK :
Live betting odds on the English Championship

Monday, November 03, 2008

Stoke City still favoured for relegation

Stoke CityThe relegation market has drastically seen a shake-up after the weeeknd with Tottenham the big movers now at 14/1 to go down with Boylesports, who offered 11/4 (3.75) just one week ago.

Tottenham are now the same price as Portsmouth to go down, as Harry Redknapp's former club suffered a 1-2 loss at home to Wigan.

Stoke are still favourites for the drop, but after beating Arsenal 2-1 at home they are now 8/15 following their 4th home of the season.

RELATED LINK :
Live betting odds for relegation from the English Premier League.

Chelsea Favourites Again after Liverpool Lose

Chelsea are odds-on favourites for the Barclays Premier League title following Liverpool's 2-1 loss at Spurs on the weekend.

The Blues beat Sunderland 5-0 earlier, but it took Liverpool's 1-2 defeat to Spurs at White Hart Lane to send Chelsea under even money for the title.

Rafa Benitez's side went 1-0 up inside three minutes through Dirk Kuyt and controlled the majority of the game for the next 70 minutes, hitting the bar three times but couldn't find the killer second goal.

And Harry "houdini" Redknapp's charmed life as Spurs new boss continued as a late Jamie Carragher own goal was followed by an injury-time winner from Roman Pavlyuchenko to leave Benitez's side second in the table on goal difference.

Liverpool are now 9/2 for the title, with Manchester United 15/8 second favourites following their narrow 4-3 win over Hull City.

Arsenal are out to 20/1 for the league title after they lost 2-1 at Stoke City.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Gus Hansen winning millions in online poker

One of the world's best poker players, 34-year-old Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen, has been winning big money online at Full Tilt.com, earning a million dollars in a single day during October.

On Monday night, Hansen won more than $589,000 at Hold 'em, $145,000 in PLO, $152,000 in Omaha Hi/Lo, and $97,000 in a HORSEgame, demonstrating a his skills over a wide range of poker styles. Playing against some of the best players around on Full Tilt, his October 2008 earnings thus far have reached $3.2 million.

Hansen is famous for his loose and aggressive style of play, and started playing poker as a professional in 1997. Before that he was a world-class backgammon player who tried to make a living at the game in New York and abroad but found the pickings too slim.

In his outstanding poker career "The Great Dane" can boast a long record of wins in significant tournaments.

He has won a three World Poker Tour open titles, the 2007 Aussie Millions main event, and was the season one winner of the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. His official career winnings recently topped $5.8 million dollar, and he describes his approach to the game as: "I play the players, not the cards."

RELATED LINKS :
Check out PokerLabrat for more poker news on Gus Hansen
See our review of Full Tilt Poker or visit FullTilt Poker now.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Tony Adams to manage Portsmouth?

Legendary Gooner Tony Adams is the man almost every punter wants to back to be next permanent manager of Portsmouth with bookie Paddy Power cutting his odds in the first 36 hours of betting from 9/4 to 1/2.

Sam Allardyce remains second favourite, although his odds have eased from 4/1 to 9/2 whilst almost all other contenders have seen a significant drift in their odds.

The most noticeable exceptions to this that are seeing some levels of interest are Avram Grant, whose Portsmouth connections have seen his odds slashed from 14/1 to 9/2, and Kevin Keegan who came into the betting today after some small interest at 20/1.

Joe Jordan, who many believe may join Harry Redknapp at Spurs, is the biggest faller at 14/1 from an early 5/1 on Sunday morning.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: "The speculation may have been about Allardyce so far but the betting is almost exclusively Tony Adams and Avram Grant. It remains to be seen if punters will be enjoying another betting coup regarding the Portsmouth manager."

Friday, October 24, 2008

Aston Villa shorten to lift the UEFA Cup.

Aston Villa have been cut for UEFA Cup glory after winning in midweek while Spurs and Portsmouth are on the drift.

Aston Villa kicked off their Group F campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Ajax at Villa Park and Ladbrokes have cut them to 11/1 to lift the trophy after goals from Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry secured victory over the Dutch visitors.

However, with the knockout stages still to come, there are plenty of challenges left and Villa can still be backed at 13.00 with PaddyPower.

Tottenham's miserable start to the season continued with a 2-0 defeat away to Udinese.

Spurs mixed passages of promising play with a defensive howler from goalkeeper Gomes and then an unnecessary red card to leave manager Juande Ramos even more uncertain about his future.

Spurs are 25/1 shots at BetFred for UEFA Cup glory - if you fancy their chances of getting sorted out.

Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth crashed to a 3-0 away defeat to Braga of Portugal and now Pompey are down at 40/1 in the betting ahead of their next fixture - a home clash with tournament favourites AC Milan.

AC Milan left some big names on the bench for their Group E opener away to Heerenveen but still cruised to a 3-1 win and have been cut to 7/2 by Ladbrokes.

Manchester City, who didn't have a fixture this week, are 14/1 to lift the cup.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Newcastle draw 2-2 with Man City

Newcastle United might have only picked up a point in their entertaining 2-2 draw with Man City on Monday night, but the betting public saw enough to think that the Geordies will not be going down.

The Magpies got off to the worst possible start at St James' Park, going a goal and a man down after just 14 minutes with Habib Beye adjudged to have brought down Robinho when clean through on goal.

Beye was shown a straight red card before Robinho got back to his feet and dispatched the spot kick past Shay Given in the home goal.

But Newcastle fought back and a Shola Ameobi strike and a Richard Dunne own goal gave the home side a 2-1 lead - but they could not hold it and Stephen Ireland to leveled matters for City with just four minutes remaining.

Still, Newcastle were 7/2 but have been moved out to a best-price of 4/1 for the drop with VC Bet.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Why bother with the US election? Bookie declares Obama the winner!

The American taxpayers can save money and don't even have to bother holding their presidential election after Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has declared Barack Obama the winner.

After the final presidential debate in New York, bookmaker Paddy Power has decided to pay out on Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.

An initial CNN poll showed 58% thought Mr Obama won the third and final debate of the election, which saw the two candidates sit side-by-side at Hofstra University in Hempstead. Most US political pundits also thought he won the first two.

The move from Paddy Power comes almost three weeks ahead of Election Day on November 4 and sees the bookie paying out in excess of £800,000 to Obama backers after he was backed all the way into 1/9 (1.11).

To date Paddy Power has taken over 10,000 bets on the 2008 US Presidential Election, the majority of which were placed in support on the Illinois Senator over the past 12 months.

Betting support was so strong for Obama that they paid out over £40,000 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 out of sorts in last night's final debate we believe he has done more than enough to get him across the line on November 4. The overall betting trend has shown one way traffic for Obama since the start of the summer."


If you'd had the foresight to bet on Barrack Obama earlier then you could have cleaned up. Obama started the year 11/2 to make it to the White House and was a massive 50/1 with Paddy Power to be next President back in May of 2005.

It just proves that there is big money in politics.

Injury problems for Premier League clubs?

Manchester City will be anxious to check on Robinho's fitness after the star forward was substituted with an injury during Brazil's World Cup qualifier against Colombia.

Robinho was replaced by AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato in the 63rd minute as his country were held to a goalless draw at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

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Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has suffered a suspected broken nose while playing for Spain.

The 21-year-old managed to finish his country's 2-1 victory in Belgium, but medical staff confirmed the injury after the game. Fabregas will now report back to Arsenal for further treatment, though it will be hoped he can play on regardless.

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Liverpool have injury worries up front ahead of Saturday's match at home to Wigan after both Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel limped off while on international duty.

Torres, the Barclays Premier League joint-top scorer with five goals, lasted less than 16 minutes of Spain's World Cup qualifier against Belgium on Wednesday before being replaced by Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The former Atletico striker reportedly felt a tweak in the muscle in the back of his left leg and was taken off as a precaution.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Betfair signs 2,000,000th customer

Online betting group Betfair has just signed up customer number 2,000,000 this week just 18 months after signing their 1,000,000th.

The player was Bo Ohrman who is a 59-year-old Swedish civil servant resident in the town of Linkoping. Ohrman won his first bet, a wager on Wall Street finishing down on the day's trading.

"It's certainly more fun betting on Betfair than it is betting on the stock market at the moment!" said Bo.

Betfair is flying the betting Swede over to London for a VIP weekend in the capital, where he hopes to take in some Premier League football and a West End show.

Ohrman became 'Mr Two Million' just 20 months after Betfair broke through seven figures, a feat that took more than six years to achieve. Spokesmen say that the firm's customer base is becoming increasingly international as punters around the world take to the exchange model of betting.

David Yu, CEO of Betfair, said: "In a year when we won a Queen's Award for International Trade, it is fitting that Betfair's two millionth account comes from outside the U.K.

"Our international customers are already an essential part of our business and they are growing larger in number every day, so congratulations to Mr Ohrman -- he's joined the world's biggest online betting community."

Monday, October 13, 2008

England beat Kazakhstan - now the world?

Patriotic punters are always a little strange but the rush to back England to win the 2010 World Cup after the 5-1 thrashing of "mighty" Kazakhstan seems hard to believe.

England are now as short as 8/1 to win the World Cup after they moved a step closer to qualification with the 5-1 victory over Kazakhstan at Wembley on Saturday, after being held to 0-0 at halftime.

A Rio Ferdinand header and an Alexandr Kuchma own goal put England in control. Zhambyl Kukeyev reduced the arrears, before Rooney's double blast and a late effort from Jermain Defoe gave a flattering look to the scoreline.

England range from 8/1 to a best price 10/1 (at bet365) to triumph in South Africa in 2010, with only three sides ahead of them in the betting.

South American giants Brazil and Argentina are the 5/1 joint favourites with Boylesports, with Euro 2008 winners Spain next best at 8/1 with Bet365.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Punter to collect a million if UFOs appear on Oct 14th

British bookmakers William Hill say that a Wiltshire man will collect £1million from them this week if an internet prediction that massive UFOs will appear next week comes to pass.

Lawrence Tout has staked £1000 at odds of 1000/1 with Hills that George Bush or Gordon Brown will officially confirm the appearance of UFOs, after websites carried details of predicted alien activity on October 14.

"Mr Tout's stake is the biggest UFO wager we have ever taken but he is not alone in believing the prediction that we'll be visited by aliens next week, and we face a massive, million-pound plus payout if it happens," said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.

The prediction has been made by a wacko called Blossom Goodchild (I kid you not) who claims to be in telepathic communication with beings from the "Federaton of Light". (see UFO report)

Portuguese bank asks investors to bet on interest rate

A Portuguese bank has this week asked savers to bet on the interest rate they'll get for their investment.

In one of the more novel ways of riding out the current banking crisis, a Portuguese bank is trying to entice customers to deposit funds with it, with the level of interest they can earn being determined by the outcome of a bet.

Savers are being encouraged to deposit up to Eur 50,000 each into Banco Best's 60-day deposit account, and to place a bet on the outcome of the US presidential election.

Back the right candidate and the bank will pay out 8% interest on your deposit. If your candidate loses however, so do you, receiving a mere 2% interest instead.

The Obama/McCain deposit account is being offered until November 3rd. The initiative comes at a time when European governments are scrambling to guarantee bank deposits in order to calm investor fears during the deepening global banking crisis, and the Portuguese bank hopes to secure an additional Eur 10 million in deposits through the promotion.

GOONER ADDS :
If you want to bet on the US Presidential election, (but not invest in a Portugese bank), check out top Irish bookie PaddyPower.com for some fun and potentially profitable novelty bet wagers and at reasonable odds.

For more on Paddy Power bookmaker read the online review of Paddy Power at BookieLabRat.com.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Spurs defeat shortens relegation odds

Spurs hoping for betting things from JuandeSpurs are now as short as 5/1 for relegation after their latest defeat - a 1-0 home loss to Hull - left them rooted to the foot of the Premier League.

Spurs have made their worst start to a season in 96 years and have just two points from the opening seven games.

And although the bookies still rate Stoke (1/5), Hull (13/8), West Brom (7/4), Bolton (9/4), Fulham (3/1) and Newcastle (7/2) as more likely candidates for the drop, it's still an surprising price crash for the White Hart Lane side, who were quoted at 1000/1 to go down by totesport before the season started.

VC Bet, and BoyleSports are the firms going 5/1 about Spurs dropping to the Championship.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Bookmaker Wary Of Champions League Backlash

Hull City saved bookmakers from a monster payout over the weekend, but bet365 are preparing themselves for a Champions League midweek backlash.

bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth "Hull got us out of jail over the weekend, particularly with Real Madrid and Barcelona both winning in injury time, but we're nervously looking at the matchday 2 fixtures in the Champions League."

"Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are all odds on for victory, and Celtic's wretched away form will see in-form Villarreal thrown into every accumulator going.

We're expecting all five teams to be very popular."


Bet365 Midweek Champions League Prices :
17/2 AaB --------- Draw 7/2 --- Man Utd 4/11
1/2 Arsenal ------ Draw 14/5 -- FC Porto 13/2
4/9 Villarreal --- Draw 3/1 --- Celtic 7/1
15/2 CFR Cluj --- Draw 3/1 --- Chelsea 4/9
4/11 Liverpool --- Draw 7/2 --- PSV 17/2

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Carling Cup : Arsenal beat Sheffield United and other results

Arsenal's kids gave a display of wonderful talent in a 6-0 home win over Sheffield United, with Carlos Vela the star of the show.

Established first-teamer Nicklas Bendtner (31, 42) finished off clever assists from Vela and Aaron Ramsey to put the Gunners two up before Vela made it three (44) with a lovely curling effort.

The Mexican then grabbed his second by leaving Paddy Kenny on his backside before calmly slotting in his second (50) and 16-year-old Jack Wilshere got in on the act with the fifth (57).

Fittingly, Vela had the last word by completing his hat-trick three minutes from time.

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Manchester United and progressed safely - Sir Alex Ferguson's side beating Middlesbrough 3-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo marked his first start of the season with the opener at Old Trafford when he headed in Ryan Giggs' corner (25).

Brad Jones kept Boro in contention with some fine saves before Adam Johnson shocked the home crowd by drawing the visitors level with a shot from the edge of the box (56).

But they found themselves a man down when Emanuel Pogatetz was shown a straight red card for a bad foul on Rodrigo Possebon, who was carried off the pitch with what looked a bad injury.

Chris Riggott's mistake then let in Giggs to put United back in front (79) and Nani made sure of victory in injury time.

-------

Liverpool also progressed after beating Crewe 2-1 at Anfield.

Daniel Agger opened the scoring at Anfield when he fired in a free-kick after 15 minutes.

But Crewe showed they would be no pushovers by equalising through Michael O'Connor (25) after debutant keeper Diego Cavalieri had parried Calvin Zola's header.

There was to be no fairytale victory for the League One side, however, as Lucas headed in Jermaine Pennant's cross (58) for what proved the winner.

---------

UPSETS :

West Ham were knocked out of the cup by Watford at Vicarage Road as goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka missed a cross and the ball went in off Hayden Mullins for an own goal (70) as the Hornets triumphed 1-0.

It was the same scoreline at Turf Moor as a goal from substitute Jay Rodriguez two minutes from the end of the game handed Burnley victory over Fulham.

Arsenal will stick with "the kids" for the Carling Cup

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will give nearly all of his first team a well-deserved rest on Tuesday night when Coca-Cola Championship side Sheffield United are the visitors to Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal have traditionally played "the kids" in the Carling Cup and the youngsters reached the Carling Cup semi-finals last season, before they lost over two legs to Tottenham.

The Gunners boss confirmed he would adopt the same approach once more - which means the likes of Wales Under-21 midfielder Aaron Ramsey, 16-year-old Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, reserve-team captain Gavin Hoyte and even first-year scholar Emmanuel Frimpong will get their chance.

Wenger is quoted on the the Arsenal website as saying :
"We have to keep our policy because we lost players in this competition that harmed our chances in the Champions League and the Premier League."

"No matter how far we go, we will keep our policy. Even in a stricter way than before."

"We have great experiences in this Carling Cup and there is always a great excitement for the young players to play."

Video highlights of the weekend games

Just in case you missed some of the goals over the weekend, we've complied a set of links to some of the most interesting games and results.

There are quick text summaries and also 3-4 minutes of video highlights for each of the following games.

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester Utd : Video of goals

Hull City 2-2 Everton : Video Coverage

Manchester City 6-0 Portsmouth : Video Coverage

Liverpool 0-0 Stoke City : Video coverage

Bayern Munich 2-5 Werder Bremen : Video highlights

Sunderland 2-0 Middlesbrough : Video coverage

Bolton 1-3 Arsenal : Video highlights

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bodog having problems paying US players

Several US based punters have been experiencing long delays in getting payouts from Bodog Sportsbook, Casino and Poker.

This does not seem to be due to financial problems with Bodog itself - rather getting payments into the US banking system - as the UIGEA hits hard at online gambling companies.

With the recent changes at Bodog - Morris Mohawk now have an exclusive license to market the Bodog brand - and the loss of the previous payment processor - it appears that the new promoters are not as skilled in moving the money - and/or perhaps do not understand the importance of maintaining the payment system for easy payouts to the USA.

The money does eventually get out - but new payment processors are very uneasy about helping high profile gambling companies to pay US based players after recent legislative changes.

I am not aware of any Bodog players from other countries outside the United States that are experiencing these problems. The financial state of Bodog is not really in question here.

But - as such we have to recommend caution for any new players or repeat players from within the United States when choosing to play. It may be wise to look at some of the alternative organisations that we have listed on the main site that have existing solutions in place to quickly pay US players.

SPORTSBOOKS FOR US PLAYERS

ONLINE CASINOS FOR US PLAYERS

POKER SITES FOR US PLAYERS

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Terry wins appeal against red card and will face Manchester Utd

Chelsea captain John Terry will face Manchester United in the Premier League game on Sunday after winning an appeal against the red card he picked up at Manchester City.

Terry was sent off for hauling down City striker Jo in Chelsea's 3-1 victory on Saturday but Jo still had a long way to go to goal when the foul came in from Terry.

Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho was also in a defensive position and although referee Mark Halsey deemed it a professional foul, Chelsea protested, and lodged an appeal.

The FA announced on today that an independent regulatory commission had upheld the club's claim for "wrongful dismissal." The ruling means the defender has avoided an automatic three-game suspension and he will be available to face United at Stamford Bridge.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Gianfranco Zola likely to be new West Ham manager.

West Ham are likely to offer their vacant managerial position to Gianfranco Zola.

Zola has emerged as the London club's preferred candidate ahead of the former Italy coach Roberto Donadoni and, with personal terms having effectively been agreed, confirmation of his appointment as West Ham's first foreign manager could be made later today.

Zola is currently coaching the Italy Under-21s alongside his former Chelsea team-mate Pierluigi Casiraghi, and has been given a glowing reference by the Italian Football Federation to back up his credentials.

West Ham's board will meet again today and expect to be in a position to offer the job to their favoured candidate - personal terms had been discussed and as good as agreed with both Zola and Donadoni during the interview process - in the hope that Zola will be able to attend the game at the Hawthorns, with the team to be selected by the caretaker manager Kevin Keen.

West Ham are already drawing up tentative plans to unveil the 42-year-old at the Boleyn Ground as early as Thursday ahead of the weekend trip to West Bromwich Albion

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Telegraph reports Arsenal interest in Ghanian Stephen Appiah

Arsenal are reportedly set to the revive their interest in Stephen Appiah, planning a late move to beat West Ham to the signature of the Ghana midfielder according to the Daily Telegraph.

Appiah is a free agent following his release from Turkish club Fenerbache, and so is available to be signed outside of the enforced transfer windows associated for players already on contract.

He had been considering terms to sign at Upton Park but the resignation of Alan Curbishley has forced the player to reconsider his options having been said to be close to reaching a £40K-per week three-year deal.

The player is keen to ply his trade in England and Arsenal could now offer him that opportunity as manager Arsene Wenger considers ways to improve his midfield.

Wenger has been a long-term admirer of Appiah, who two years ago was close to joining Arsenal before a knee injury denied him.

Certainly, Arsenal's young midfield requires strengthening and Appiah could provide a sound alternative at The Emirates - much in the style of Patrick Vieira.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Big Sam Allardyce to manage West Ham?!


Sam Allardyce has been the big mover with Betfred in the market for next permanent West Ham manager as there was plenty of betting support for the former Bolton and Newcastle boss.

But surely if Hammers fans were unhappy with the way their side played under Curbishley there is no way that they'd accept the UGLY FOOTBALL that has been a trademark of all Big Sam's teams?!

Allardyce was up as a 16/1 shot at the start, but is now down to 8/1 after early favourite Slaven Bilic distanced himself from the job with his former club.

Croatia coach Bilic, who opened up as a favourite following Alan Curbishley's resignation, drifted out to the best price on the high street of 10/3 after insisting he is focused on his role in charge of his national team.

Italian duo Paolo Di Canio and Roberto Mancini, who were the subject of good betting on Wednesday, are next in the market at 5/1 and 6/1 respectively, followed by Allardyce and ex-Chelsea manager Avram Grant, another man to have attracted attention from punters.

Betfred founder and chairman Fred Done said: "Big Sam is a surprise choice as the market springer for he doesn't appear to be a natural fit for the West Ham position. All his previous managerial jobs have been in the north and midlands and it's hard to know how the Cockneys would react to him."

"But he has been quite active in the media recently, which could be seen as a way of reminding people in football of his availability. I've certainly taken plenty of money from shrewd sources for Sam and, along with Di Canio, he represents the biggest losing result in our book."

Bilic and Mancini are bet365's 7/2 joint favourites, with Di Canio next best at 6/1 and bet365 spokesman Steve Freeth said: "Bilic seemed to be playing his cards close to his chest when quizzed about the vacancy, whilst Italians Mancini and Di Canio have been very popular."

For betting Odds on West Ham manager market check out these bookmakers :
Bet365, Betfred, PaddyPower

Gus Poyet at 3/1 to replace Kevin Keegan at Newcastle

Kevin Keegan's departure from Newcastle is now official and the bookmakers have Gus Poyet their clear favourite to replace him.

Keegan's exit will have increased the influence of Poyet's former colleague Dennis Wise at St James' and Poyet has been backed into 3/1 from an opening 50/1 with Paddy Power while he's as short as 9/4 elsewhere.

Magpies legend Alan Shearer was a name bandied about 6 months ago when the job was open and he is 7/1 with some bookmakers to take the option this time.

Darren Haines, spokesman for Paddy Power, said: "There's been a lot of confusion in the last few days but now betting will begin in earnest for what is traditionally one of the biggest next manager markets for any football club."

Check out all the football specials at PaddyPower now.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Alan Curbishley quits as West Ham manager

Alan Curbishley has resigned as manager of West Ham because of a lack of control over transfer policy.

Curbishley offered his resignation on Wednesday and it was quickly accepted by owner Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson.

A West Ham statement said the club had accepted Curbishley's resignation in the best interests of both parties.

The final straw for the 50-year-old had been the enforced sales of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney. Curbishley said decisions had been made without involving me, amounting to a breach of trust and confidence meaning I had no option but to leave.

Curbishley added: "The selection of players is critical to the job of manager and I had an agreement with the club that I alone would determine the composition of the squad."

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Has Kevin Keegan left Newcastle United?

Kevin Keegan is rumoured to have resigned as Newcastle manager after showdown talks with the club's directors on Monday.

One of the lads on our forum broke the initial news but the betting markets on the first Premier League boss to leave his post this season have been withdrawn by many bookies after Keegan's odds tumbled.

BBCSport are saying that Keegan is in showdown talks, while SportingLife.com says the meeting weas Monday at 2pm and Keegan has gone.

Sky Bet's spokesman has said: "The rumour mill in the north-east is working overtime and the money has followed accordingly. The transfer deadline was simply a disaster for Newcastle, with no significant purchases, and we wait to see what Keegan's response is."

Dennis Wise, the executive director (football) at St James' Park, has already been installed as 4/1 favourite to take over as Magpies manager.

Berbatov and Robinho both move to Manchester !

The Premier League transfer window closed on Monday night - and it was Manchester City who had the biggest news.

City were bought by an Abu Dhabi consortum at midday, and the Shieks immediately proved that they've got pot-loads of spare cash by successfully pitching a £30m+ big for Real Madrid's Robinho ... and gettting him !!

In other (minor) news - the sulky Bulgarian Berbatov did eventually move to Manchester United for £30m too - and Spurs agreed to drop the "Tapping-up" case against Sir Alex Ferguson.

PREMIER LEAGUE TRANSFER MOVES :
In:
Blackburn (Bunn),
Everton (Saha, Nash),
Hull (Cousin),
Liverpool (Flora, Gulacsi, Riera),
Man City (Robinho),
Man Utd (Berbatov),
Newcastle (Gonzalez, Xisco),
Portsmouth (Belhadj),
Sunderland (McCartney),
Stoke (Higginbotham),
Tottenham (Pavlyuchenko, Corluka, Campbell),
West Brom (Donk)

Out:
Bolton (Dzemaili),
Fulham (Zakuani, John, Smertin),
Liverpool (Finnan, Voronin),
Man City (Corluka, Vidal),
Man Utd (Saha, Campbell),
Portsmouth (Cranie, Christophe),
Sunderland (Higginbotham),
Stoke (Parkin),
Tottenham (Berbatov),
West Ham (McCartney),
Wigan (Bouaouzan, Nash, Sibierski)

There may be more announcements in the morning - but Arsenal fans should be aware that it appears the Mr Wenger simply decided to have an early night.

Monday, September 01, 2008

How did your weekend punts go then?

The new season for Italy and Spain brought some "surprise results" with Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan all losing, and several other name sides all failing to win.

In England, we saw Everton lose at home again, Chelsea held to a draw, and Manchester City win 3-0 at Sunderland. Many punters on the forum seem to be counting the cost of a tough betting weekend ...

But why? Were all those results really so unexpected? It's a tough way to make a profit if you go exclusively on home "bankers" - so you've really gotta chase the value too.

Everyone can see who is favoured - including the bookmakers - and those "big name" teams are usually priced so as to make a loss over the course of a season.

Personally, I'm happy enough with the weekend results. I put nine picks on the main site and they went 5-4 (including 3 draws from 4) for a tasty +44% yield on level stakes.

I still missed on AS Roma, and I'm annoyed with the Chelsea v Spurs game as I did highlight the DRAW as good value - but still tipped the home win.

And I also got Everton v Portsmouth all wrong ...

But draws in Villa v Liverpool, Fiorentina v Juve and Sampdoria v Inter Milan were good as was the Arsenal win and Overs in Middlesbrough v Stoke.

A mix of value betting the DRAW, and higher priced home wins did prove to be a useful buffer against the shock results.

Now - let's see if we can find some in the weekend internationals eh?

Carling Cup : Arsenal met Sheffield United - again!

Arsenal and Sheffield United will have to stop meeting like this after being drawn together in the third round of the Carling Cup, the third time in four years that the two sides will have met in knock-out competitions.

Last year, Arsenal were comfortable winners against the Championship side at Bramall Lane in the fourth round and with home advantage this time will expect to make similarly smooth progress.

There are 4 all Premier League ties, with Portsmouth hosting Chelsea and Newcastle hosting Spurs in the best ties of the round.

Third round draw - Ties to be played week starting September 22

Arsenal v Sheffield Utd;
Brighton or Man City v Derby;
Burnley v Fulham;
Portsmouth v Chelsea;
Blackburn v Everton;

Rotherham v Southampton;
Swansea v Cardiff;
Ipswich v Wigan;
Stoke v Reading;
Leeds v Hartlepool;
Watford v West Ham;
Man Utd v Middlesbrough;
Liverpool v Crewe;
Aston Villa v QPR;
Sunderland v Northampton;
Newcastle v Tottenham.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle - scoring highlights

Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle
Arsenal overwhelmed Newcastle 3-0 at the Emirates. Robin van Persie scored a double in the first half. The first goal was from the penalty spot. Denilson set the final score for the Gunners in the 59th.

1-0 Robin van Persie penalty kick goal.


2-0 Robin van Persie scores his second of the day.


3-0 Denilson sets the final score.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Steven Gerrard out for 10-15 days with groin injury

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is set to miss four matches, including the first two World Cup qualifiers, because he needs a groin operation.

Gerrard, 28, will undergo the operation on Thursday and will be out for "10-15 days", according to boss Rafa Benitez. Gerrard played through the pain barrier on Wednesday to help Liverpool into the Champions League group stage.

This means that he is set to miss the Premier League matches involving Aston Villa on Sunday and Manchester United on 13th September.

"I'm disappointed because Gerrard will have an operation on Thursday," added Benitez. "He has a groin problem, we knew it could be like this. He had a problem and now he will have an operation and will be out for 10-15 days.

"He needs to have it because he is having pain with it. When he went with the national team we knew he had a problem and in the first leg too. I was talking with the doctor on Tuesday and on Wednesday we talked with him. He said he would play with pain and after it he would have an operation."

Thursday, August 28, 2008

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Europes best clubs ready for UEFA Champions League Draw

Sixteen teams gained automatic entry to the competition proper and the same number came through the third qualifying round on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Making their debut in the group stage are UEFA Cup holders FC Zenit St. Petersburg, CFR 1907 Cluj of Romania, the first Belarussian qualifiers, FC BATE Borisov, and the inaugural Cypriot entrants Anorthosis Famagusta FC.

In all, 17 nations are represented in the draw, the ceremony for which will include the UEFA Club Football Awards.

English sides dominate the seedings for the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League group stage draw which will take place from 18.00CET on Thursday at Monaco's Grimaldi Forum.

POT ONE
Manchester United FC (ENG, holders) 107.996
Chelsea FC (ENG) 124.996
Liverpool FC (ENG) 118.996
FC Barcelona (ESP) 117.837
Arsenal FC (ENG) 110.996
Olympique Lyonnais (FRA) 99.380
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) 96.934
Real Madrid CF (ESP) 93.837

POT TWO 92-66 points
FC Bayern Munchen (GER), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Villarreal CF (ESP), AS Roma (ITA), FC Porto (POR), Werder Bremen (GER), Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR), Juventus (ITA)

POT THREE 63-51 points
Olympique de Marseille (FRA), FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS), FC Steaua Bucuresti (ROU), Panathinaikos FC (GRE), FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA), Celtic FC (SCO), FC Basel 1893 (SUI), Fenerbahce SK (TUR)

POT FOUR 49-1 point
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), ACF Fiorentina (ITA), Club Atletico de Madrid (ESP), FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR), CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU), Aalborg BK (DEN), Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP), FC BATE Borisov (BLR)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Carling Cup Round-up - Bolton, WBA, Hull dumped out

Adebayo Akinfenwa was Northampton Town's two-goal hero as the League One side dumped Bolton Wanderers of the Premier League out of the Carling Cup with a 2-1 win last night.

BOLTON WANDERERS 1-2 NORTHAMPTON TOWN
The London-born striker put the visitors ahead in the 22nd minute from the penalty spot after Gavin McCann had handled and then doubled the lead when he latched on to a cross from Abdul Osman six minutes later. Bolton's night took a turn for the worse before half-time when Gary Cahill received a straight red card for a challenge on Giles Coke.

Before the game the Bolton manager, Gary Megson, had stressed that the Carling Cup was "a big priority", saying "I want to pick the strongest team", but despite Kevin Nolan's 88th-minute goal they could not deny the Cobblers a place in the next round.

HARTLEPOOL 3-1 WEST BROM (AET)
Joel Porter's 61st-minute strike looked like it had put the home side through but Robert Koren equalised in the 87th minute to ensure an extra 30 minutes were played. Hartlepool were the stronger side and went through after substitutes David Foley and Richie Barker both found the net.

SWANSEA CITY 2-1 HULL CITY (AET)
Hull also fell at the first hurdle despite being given an early lead by Dean Windass at Swansea. Gorka Pintado equalised and a penalty from his fellow Spaniard Jordi Gómez in extra-time sealed the win for the Swans.

QPR 4-0 CARLISLE UTD
QPR's Argentinian winger, Emmanuel Ledesma, hit a hat-trick as west London's nouveaux riches thrashed Carlisle 4-0. Ledesma, who is on loan from Genoa, struck after Damian Stewart had given the home team the lead in the 48th minute.

LEEDS UTD 4-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
Leeds, who defeated Chester 5-2 in the previous round, notched up another impressive Carling Cup victory, beating Crystal Palace 4-0 at Elland Road. The Nigerian striker Enoch Showunmi completed a miserable evening for Neil Warnock's men who have yet to win in the league this season.

PRESTON NORTH END 0-1 DERBY COUNTY
A goal from Paul Green brought some respite for Derby's under-fire manager, Paul Jewell, as the Rams secured a morale-boosting 1-0 win at Preston

SOUTHAMPTON 2-0 BIRMINGHAM CITY
Southampton enjoyed a 2-0 home win over Birmingham, with goals in either half from Lee Holmes and Adam Lallana avenging a league defeat by Blues at St Mary's earlier this season.

MIDDLESBROUGH 5-1 YEOVIL TOWN
Mido was again on the mark for Middlesbrough, scoring the opener after 11 minutes as the Teessiders ran out convincing 5-1 winners at home to Yeovil.

READING 5-1 LUTON TOWN
A Nicky Hunt brace and two goals in two second-half minutes from Alex Pearce and Jem Karacan put Reading in the comfort zone against Luton in a match that finished 5-1.