Category Archives: Sports and Sportsbetting News

William Hill Online Wins Operator of the Year 2011

William Hill Online fended off Betfair, 888 online and Bet365 to walk away with top honours as the “Operator of the year 2011” at the recent eGaming Review Operator Awards (eGR awards) which was held at the Honourable Artillery Club (HAC) in London. These awards are some of the biggest that the online gambling industry has to offer and the event was attended by 700 online gaming professionals to celebrate the achievers of the past year.

Each category is judged by an independent panel of judges who collectively stated that the William Hill group deservedly took home the coveted award after grabbing the spotlight as “The turnaround story of 2011“. According to the judges, William Hill Online transformed its brand into a dynamic, fresh and exciting one that has taken the industry by storm and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.

A delighted Henry Birch, CEO of William Hill accepted the award saying that “The eGR award for operator of the year recognises the huge strides we’ve made over the last 12 months. I want to thank everyone at William Hill Online for all their hard work over the year – it has been fantastic!”

And fantastic is has been! In 2011 the group has shown excellent results and huge growth across all spheres of the business, adding Italian, Irish and Canadian sites to their international portfolio bringing their offering to over 26 different language/territory based casino and betting sites which are now accessible from over 175 countries across the world. William Hill online also branched out into offering financial betting via their new site Day Trader and has also made huge advancements in their mobile casino and betting portfolios as well as continuous expansion into their sports betting products which now allow punters to bet point-by-point on Wimbledon matches as well as pre and in-play during football matches.

In order to support these types of offerings, Will Hill has signed exclusive betting arrangements with ESPN, SPL, Scottish Football, the Sun’s Dream Team, the Investec Derby, and Super League Rugby.

With so much being done with such excellence it is not difficult to see why William Hill Online won Operator of the year this year and it looks certain that the trend will continue for many years to come! So why not experience first class gaming with William Hill Casino online now!

William Hill Reports Back To Business As Usual

World renowned William Hill Casino and sportsbook is an illustrious brand with years of expertise and player satisfaction to its name and while it has faced a few challenges lately the group reports that it is business as usual now that these have been resolved and the group is committed to continuing to offer players the professional service that they have become accustomed to.

The issues arose after Tel Aviv based Will Hill staff abandoned their posts amidst rumours that the group was going to shut down the Israel based operation and move to Gibraltar. These rumours turned out to be unfounded and William Hill offered employees double pay and a bonus in June 2012 should they return to work by the 23rd of October. Employees were also assured of a virtually unheard of 6 month notice period should the group decide to terminate their employment due to any reason other than poor performance. Senior officials from the group have also been assigned to monitor the Tel Aviv office in the coming months and things seem stable and back to normal.

William Hill CEO Ralph Topping has also reportedly fired seven senior managers after ex-Israeli intelligence officers found evidence that they were involved in plans to start a rival business along with a Rabbi, fish feeder and hairdresser (sounds like a bad joke doesn’t it?). Nevertheless, William Hill has remained the epitome of integrity and agreed to pay £2 million in severances to the dismissed staff in order to honour its restraint of trade agreements.

We can only wonder how many other groups would have still honoured this in light of the facts, which just goes to show what a top notch group William Hill Online is and also why they have been nominated for best casino provider of the year again this year. Try them and see for yourself!

Royal Wedding a Royal Mess for bookmakers

The Royal honeymoon was over before it began for bookmakers offering special bets on the recent Royal Wedding, costing many a fortune in pay-outs as the highly anticipated day unfolded.

As previously reported, once Prince William and Kate Middleton were engaged, betting on the Royal Wedding began with odds including everything from the wedding date to the dress designer. Another interesting one was the colour of the queens hat, a special bet that recently cost bookmakers a small fortune when the yellow hat was backed into 8/15 from 12/1 the week prior to the event. The agony continued for bookies as Kate’s dress was officially described as Ivory, a colour with was also the 8/15 favourite, even the bride’s arrival time at 11:02am had books like Betfred paying out.

William Hill who had offered odds on everything from the length of the bride’s train to Prince Harry dropping the ring have also had to open up the coffers for pay-outs. In a statement released by the group, spokesman Rupert Adams commented, “We have been on the end of a Royal roasting as almost every favourite has come in and we will be paying out a six figure sum in the next couple of days!” He further added that, “The only light relief for us was the fact that Philip managed to stay awake and Harry did not drop the ring!”

A further Royal blow was dealt to sportsbooks offering horse racing odds on the same day when a horse named “Royal Wedding” sped to the finish line in a 12-length victory at 4:1 odds at the nearby Sussex course. The horses run had been well publicised in the local papers and punters had flocked to the books to place their bets on Royal Wedding in the Royal Wedding day race. A very subdued David Williams of Ladbrokes commented that Royal Wedding’s win had cost the industry millions.

While a joyous occasion for millions across the globe, the Royal wedding day was definitely nothing but a royal mess for many sportsbooks. It will definitely be interesting to see if special bets of this nature will continue to be offered in future…but we guess we’ll have to wait for Prince Harry to tie the knot before we get that one answered!

UK crackdown on foreign online gambling operators

Online gambling was officially legalized in 2005 in the United Kingdom when Labour’s controversial Gambling Act was legislated, but recent concern over millions becoming addicted to gambling has prompted Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to launch a dramatic crackdown which will prevent companies not operating in the UK to halt advertising campaigns. According to sources, Hunt is also considering a ban on the use of credit card payments to fund online casino and gambling player accounts, which will ensure that people no longer risk money they do not have.

This sentiment is echoed by senior government officials who are said to be concerned about the explosion of internet gambling advertising since Labour relaxed the gambling laws. It is sure that if enforced, these policies will drive thousands of foreign operators out of the British online gambling and casino markets altogether, but the government has cited concerns over the welfare of UK citizens for the proposed actions and is making every effort to protect the public from gambling operations that do not meet the required UK standards but have profited from Labour’s soft approach to internet gambling.

Under the current Gambling Act, any organisation that holds a licence for online gaming in the UK is subject to regulation and stringent measures which have been put into place to prevent children from playing highly addictive casino games. However, only operators who are based in Britain are required to be licensed by the Gambling Commission. This means that countries on Britain’s white list (including the Isle of Man, Alderney, Antigua and Tasmania) and those across Europe are able to advertise their services without being subject to any regulation.

According to statistics, consumers in the UK have spent in excess of £2.5 billion on internet and telephone gambling, and less than a quarter of this figure was generated by operators licensed by the British Gambling Commission. A government source stated that it is believed that UK consumers aren’t being as well protected as they could be and while this may be true, the alternative and more likely government concern could be the loss of tax revenues on the billions spent at offshore properties.

The concern has been shared by other European countries including France and Italy which have recently introduced licensing and taxation for companies based in their own countries rather than those abroad and others like Spain and Greece look set to follow suit in the near future.

Should Jeremy Hunt succeed in overhauling the current Gambling legislation so that all internet and telephone gambling is fully regulated, any casino or sportsbook company operating within the UK market be subject to licensing and regulation by the Gambling Commission and will be subject to operation within the full provisions of the law.

Wanna bet on how cold it’s gonna get?

As mentioned in our previous article on the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton, the ever popular William Hill casino and sportsbook has some rather colourful betting options available with everything from TV specials including the outcomes of favourites like The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and even the BBC’s sports personality of the year, but we never really thought we’d be able to bet on the weather, but it seems we can!

Yes, that’s right, William Hill currently has a host of UK weather specials for punters to bet on. The options include Snow Or No Snow on Christmas day (listed by city) with Aberdeen (Pittodrie) and “yes” being the longest shot at 11/4.

And in light of the UK’s and Europe’s recent chilly weather, there are also temperate options including wagering on the Lowest Temperature in Scotland to be beaten by April 30th 2011, with the coolest temperature record sitting at a whopping -27.2c on January 10th 1982, the odds pay 10/1 for a yes bet. Other options in this genre include Lowest Temperature in Wales (coldest recorded temperature: -23.3c, 21 January 1940, Powys) and Lowest Temperature in England (record coldest temperature: -26.1c, 10 January 1982, Shropshire) to be beaten by April 30th 2011 at 16/1 and 20/1 odds for “yes” bets respectively. In spite of the current cold temperatures, we’d say these are safe bets for William Hill to offer as it is unlikely that temperatures will drop as global warming has had quite an effect on worldwide temperatures two decades after these recorded figures, but nonetheless, if there are two sides to anything, William Hill will make sure you can bet on it.

Another very entertaining betting notion on offer, no matter how unlikely it is, is the wager on whether Big Ben to fail to chime due being frozen solid by April 30th 2011…the odds are 100/1 and that’s not surprising considering that the famous clock is maintained by three specialized clock engineers who climb its 292 steps three times a week to wind it and have in the past used hairdryers on a particularly frosty New Year’s Eve to thaw the frozen bell hammers in time for midnight. They are such a dedicated crew that one of the members Paul Robertson once walked from his home during a February blizzard to wind the clock so it didn’t stop.

One thing’s for sure, with William Hill’s host of betting options from sports to TV and Weather specials, you’ll find it very difficult to ever be bored because it really seems like if it’s a thought in your head William Hill will offer the odds to match! Check them out today, you won’t be sorry you did!

Boylesports pays out on England Germany upset

Sunday the 27th of June 2010 saw one of the biggest World Cup upsets of the tournament during the England Germany game held at the Manguang Bloemfontein stadium in South Africa. England’s Frank Lampard was denied a legitimate second goal for his team that would have levelled the score at 2-2 against Germany in the first half. Referee Jorge Larrionda did not award the goal and assistant referee Mauricio Espinos who appeared to have a clear view from the sideline also did not flag the goal. Television replays do however clearly show the ball bouncing over the goal line yet in football, unlike other sports such as rugby and cricket, television monitoring is not employed during matches and calls are therefore, at the mercy of FIFA officals.

The match ended in crushing 4-1 defeat for England with Germany progressing to the quarterfinals and across the globe English supporters expressed their upset and disgust at the outcome and the local media on both sides have had a field day ever since. German media have not denied that England did in fact score a goal but thanked the God of Football in their headlines and touted the incident as “Late revenge for Wembley” in reference to the 1996 final in Wembley when England beat Germany after a questionable call by the referee.

The English media on the other hand have savaged everyone from FIFA organisers, to the referees as well as their own squad, calling for their coach Fabio Capello’s resignation. The back page of one of the UK’s biggest newspapers carried the line “Time’s up Fab” and featured a picture of the squad with the statement “Go – and take these losers with you!” Others like the Daily Mail exhumed wartime references which drew on the two countries complex political history.

It seems that only Boylesports has been truly fair in all the madness and has surprisingly stated that the referee’s call was unfair, not only to England but also so the punters who placed wagers on the match. For this reason, the sportsbook paid out on inplay-bets on England’s second goal and also for those on Frank Lampard to score a goal. So fair and honest business practices and ethics still do exist when it comes to online gambling and they deserve an honourable mention.

Betstopper.ca puts Online Gambling at Bay for Minors

It’s old news that online gambling has been a source of concern for many parents, especially those that don’t gamble, because of the potential risk of access to websites that offer online gambling by their children. Though online sites try their best to prevent minors from registering gambling accounts by implementing their own fraud checks, children who are under the legal age to gamble still manage to infiltrate these fraud barriers. It is advertised that online gambling in Canada is illegal but yet still according to statistics, the number of online gamblers who are minors and online gamblers who are adults are quite staggering. A “2006 DeCode Research Study” shows that 2% of Nova Scotian adults gambled online that year versus 6% of Nova Scotian minors. According to a study called “Internet Gambling Among Youth”, 9% of high-school aged teens and 6% of University students, who are all under the legal age to gamble, do play online for money. Of these minors, 70% reported gambling online on a weekly basis. This includes playing for fun and playing for real.

Betstopper.ca is a content blocking software that parents can install on their home computers to prevent their underage children from accessing gambling websites. It was designed also for the purpose of preventing gambling addiction with the current generation. According to the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (NSGC), Betstopper.ca was “vigorously tested”, however, they admit that it is still not 100% fool proof because “parents and caregivers are always encouraged to monitor their children’s online activity, regardless of whether they are using any additional tools such as BetStopper”. However, according to a study by “Young Canadians in a Wired World Phase II”, only 13% of children are supervised by a parent when they go online. With these facts in mind, the question still remains is Betstopper effective enough to prevent minors from accessing online gambling websites and preventing problem gambling.

The bottom line is that we want to keep our children safe. If we wouldn’t take our children into a land-based casino, then why would we want them visiting a casino online? Although we realistically cannot monitor our children’s every move, we can try our best to keep them from harm’s way. Betstopper does provide that extra bit of comfort and puts us more at ease when our children are online. So, in a nutshell, it is effective to a point because it does what it was created to do – helps to keep minors out of the way of problem gambling by blocking access to Internet gambling sites and content.

Download the Betstopper software now.

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France imposes new gambling regime

The Palais du Luxembourg hosted a conference, which was sponsord by the Government, to discuss the liberalization of France’s gambling market, a venture that is slated to take place starting January 1st 2010. The event was hosted at the Palais du Luxembourg and involved topics such as taxation, addressing problem gambling and problem-gambling-related issues, which was announced would be the responsibility of the state and not of the gambling Operators. Minister Eric Woerth, who is responsible for the liberalization, stated that regulations would be put in place to prevent money laundering and maintain transparency with the Operators’ business transactions. He said that prospective Operators would not be able to ‘influence neither the form nor the timetable for reform’. Disciplinary action will be taken against those Operators who operate without a license, including blocking their website access and access to their financial transactions.

Offshore companies, Unibet included, and local Operators were asked to discontinue their online gambling campaigns, which, Woerth warned, would lead to their demise and, quite possibly, prevent them from acquiring a license when the new regime is at the helm.

In closing he left this message with the attendees, “Restez Calme”, which means “Remain Calm”, as reform is on the way.

The ASA strikes again – this time at Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes’ latest TV commercials received two thumbs down by the Advertising Standards Authority who claimed that the ads breed “excessive risk taking and recless behaviour”. Ladbrokes is not pleased and will appeal the decision because from their perspective, the ads were humourous and light-hearted with a message that Players don’t have to take risks anywhere else. One ad featured a man skydiving for a parachute with a pack of chips in one hand. In the other ad, a man with bacon and sausages tied around his waist was swimming with sharks. Initially the ASA argued that the ad:

portrayed gambling in a context of toughness or linked it to risk taking and reckless behaviour;
portrayed, condoned or encouraged people to gamble in a way that was socially irresponsible and could lead to financial harm;
exploited the susceptibilities and aspirations of vulnerable people, according to the BCAP TV Advertising Code.

The ASA later cleared the last 2 charges but maintained the first and banned the ad accordingly.

Ladbrokes is now lodging a request with the Independent Reviewer of ASA Adjudications to review the decision. While we waited for the Round 1 of the ad ban fighting match to proceed, Ladbrokes got themselves busy rebutting the ban with another humourous ad featuring a mock up of a police missing persons poster. The ad offered a £20 BONUS to the lucky Player who found the person responsible for getting the ad banned. The ad headline read in bold print “MISSING” and in smaller print below “(a funny bone)”. It described the complainant as: “Body Type: Busy. Nose: Severely out of joint. Last Seen: Throwing toys out of pram.” Ladbrokes further said that the complainant need not worry because all it (Ladbrokes) wants to do is give them a big bunch of flowers and a hug to say sorry.”

Click here to view the MISSING poster. p>

Latest News on Betonsports founder, Gary Kaplan

It’s been 18 months since the arrest of BetonSports founder, Gary Kaplan, related to illegal gambling activities. Now, it is alleged that he may have been the recipient of special treatment, as it is believed that contraband articles were being smuggled to him in the St. Louis County jail, where he was remanded. The allegations and bad press sparked a transfer to a detention facility in St. Charles county, where it is now alleged that he is monopolising the interview rooms at the facility with lengthy daily legal consultations.

Other lawyers are infuriated by the apparent disregard for the rights of the other inmates. Especially incensed by the matter is Tracy Brown, one of the St. Charles County’s public defenders. “Inevitably, the less I see my clients, the less chance I’m going to have to make a good connection with them,” Brown said. “It’s hard for them to trust me when they hardly see me,” claiming that Kaplan’s attorneys are there most of the day and sometimes into the evening.

In retaliation, Freeman Bosley Jr., one of Kaplan’s attorneys said that, “If the amount of working hours in the interview room are limited or reduced, it will greatly diminish the amount of work that we accomplish in preparation for Mr. Kaplan’s upcoming trial.”

Seems like Kaplan and his attorneys have something huge in the pipeline. To date, no trial date has been set.