NJPC puts taskforce to use at track
Hoping to curtail the use of betting exchanges by bookmakers, the National Joint Pitch Council was making its presence felt at this year's Cheltenham Festival.
The NJPC created a seven-person task force to monitor the betting ring at Cheltenham to ensure that commercial bookmakers weren't using exchanges as hedging facilities and that punters weren't using wireless devices to place bets.
Mark Davies, the communications manager for Belfair, shrugged off the attempts by officials to curtail the site's business.
"They had seven people there to monitor 200,000," he said. "And what they are doing any lawyer would tell you is an effort to restrict business that wouldn't hold up in court."
Davies said it was too early in the process for Betfair to determine how much of its action came from individuals and how much came from commercial bookmakers but the site saw more than £8 million in turnover on the first day of the festival.
Cheltenham Means big payday for bookmakers
Betfair isn't the only bookmaker cashing in on Cheltenham.
David Harding, CEO of William Hill, said the industry is likely to see more than £250 million in turnover from the races with all 20 races having odds placed on them in advanced for the first time.
William Hill is estimating that it will bring in £10 million a day in turnover from its various betting platforms.
Ladbrokes is also in the thick of the festival. The company is sponsoring Cheltenham's only "Betmobile," a pedal-powered rickshaw that chauffeurs punters from the railway station to the racecourse. The rickshaw is fully equipped with a "betphone" provided by Ladbrokes that allows bettors to place their bets while in transit.
Simon Clare, a spokesman for Coral Eurobet, said his company was the first bookmaker to post odds on all 20 races before the start of the event.
"In the past we had put some of the races up overnight," he said. "This year we decided to be the first to offer ante-post odds on all of the races."
Those pre-race odds contributed to a record amount of pre-festival sign ups, Clare said. He said Coral should take in about £25 million in turnover during the three-day festival.
Paddy Power Catches the Ire of ASA
Complaints about a suggestive advertisement for Irish bookmaker Paddy Power showing two schoolchildren kissing on a park bench are being investigated by the advertising watchdog group Advertising Standards Authority.
In the ad, the boy has his arm around the girl who has "Evens" written across her blouse and "2-1" shown on her skirt.
The content sparked complaints from members of the public who claimed the ad was irresponsible and an offense and that it encouraged underage sex.
The ad, which led to 34 complaints, is one of three by Paddy Power under investigation by the ASA. The ASA is due to rule on the ads in coming weeks.
Paddy Power was ordered to withdraw a poster two years ago after the ASA ruled it was offensive to old people.
The poster made fun of two elderly women crossing the road in the path of an oncoming truck. It led to 49 complaints.
UKbetting Teams with Totalbet for Cricket World Cup
UKbetting and Totalbet have launched a live betting service centered on cricket's World Cup.
Punters can bet on a wide range of markets, including bets about the outcome of individual deliveries and whether certain events will occur during an over or not.
Cricket is considered by many an ideal sport for in-running betting and once logged on, punters can bet all the way through to the end of the game.
Although the service is designed for TV betting, punters can just as easily follow the event on the live scoreboards provided by sportinglife.com, and bet when the right opportunity arises.
Examples of the huge range of bets available on both sites include: whether runs will be scored off a particular ball, whether a wicket will fall in a particular over and how the next man out will be dismissed.
Popular Trifecta brought back
A well promoted, weekday Tote Trifecta was rescued from the ashes of the Channel 4 lunchtime racing program, and will be staged whenever possible, on the afternoon's Showcase race, thanks to attheraces.
Tote spokesman Andy Clifton said Wednesday that his own organization, the racecourses and the BHB were anxious to maintain the extra interest generated in the Trifecta by exposure on Channel 4, whose half-hour lunchtime slot ended last Friday.
"The average pool went up from around £4,000 to about £12,000, and we're sure that part of the reason came from the fact it was at the same time every day," he said. "The Channel 4 opportunity has gone--except during its midweek coverage--but attheraces will get behind the promotion, and the racecourses are very keen too."
Cohen Update
Four months into his sentence at a federal minimum security prison, Jay Cohen was the subject of a lengthy story in the weekend edition of the Las Vegas Sun.
Stemming from charges related to his association with online sports book World Sports Exchange, Cohen was convicted in March 2000 of conspiracy and violating the Federal Wire Act
According to the Sun, Cohen has lost 40 pounds since his incarceration and is putting his math skills to use by teaching prisoners who are trying to get their GED certificates.
Cohen is serving his time at a prison on the outskirts of the Las Vegas Strip. In the interview Cohen explained why he was the only one to end up with a prison term.
"I came back to the United States because I wanted to clear my name and felt this was wrong," Cohen, 35, said of the federal charges. "Here I sit in the shadow of the Strip while billion-dollar corporations engage in the same activity every day for which I am serving a 21-month sentence. And for what? For running a legal business in another country."
He also had sharp criticism for members of the U.S. government.
"I would respect Congress more if they said all gaming is bad and that they want to ban all gaming," he said. "I wouldn't agree with it, but I would respect it. But their real motivation is nothing more than anti-competition. It's protectionism. They're just trying to protect their home-grown industries."
Although Internet gambling has more of a social stigma associated with it in America, Cohen feels many operators are more concerned about their players than their land-based counterparts are.
"I'll tell you something else we don't do that Vegas does," he said. "Not only do they serve you alcohol, they serve it for free. It distorts your judgment. They put you in this room with no clocks and no windows. We don't give you free booze. We don't put you in a windowless room unless you choose to be in a windowless room. Land-based casinos take cash. Internet casinos don't take any cash. Which is more susceptible to money laundering?"
Cohen didn't just reserve his jabs for those in the United States. His bookmaking operation was based in Antigua, and he complimented the country for its jurisdictional integrity, but called other countries out for the way they do business.
"We didn't just show up and hand them (Antigua regulators) money and say, 'We'd just like a license,' " he said. "Antigua is definitely one country that is worthy of recognition as doing a good job. If you have a problem with an Antigua operation, there is someone to call there as opposed to Costa Rica, which is just like the Wild West. The Costa Rica gaming operations claim in their ads that they're licensed but that's just the same license you buy to become a hot dog vendor there."
Other highlights of the interview included Cohen's thoughts on pro leagues in the United States that publicly have a hatred toward the gambling industry, yet secretly are happy with their relationships to them. He pointed out the National Football League's demand that teams publish injury reports during the week and moving back kickoffs of afternoon games 15 minutes to give bettors time to determine if they had won or lost their morning games.