Online Betting Contest

Golf gambling game odds saw a surprising winner two years ago in the Honda Classic as Mark Wilson got his first PGA Tour victory. Golf gambling experts did not expect Wilson to be in contention and he was not even listed on most golf gambling game odds boards.

Towards the end of 2008, Mark Wilson had become a regular feature on PGA Tour leaderboards. Surprisingly enough, we see him trading at around 160.0 for this week’s Bob Hope Classic.

But the statistics suggest Wilson can land the Bob Hope Classic, making the American a great value bet at massive odds of 160.0.

The 34-year-old registered three top-10s including a valiant second place in the Texas Open from July onwards. He is a player who won’t flinch should a winning chance present itself.

Golf punters should remember that Mark Wilson landed his sole PGA Tour title just under two years ago in the Honda Classic, winning a four-man play-off.

Another reason to think Wilson might prosper in California this week is that he scores extremely well across all the key stats.

His previous results in the Bob Hope suggest driving accuracy and putting average are of particular importance.

Furthermore, this pro-am tournament is impossible to win without a spate of birdies, with low scoring very much the order of the day.

Again here, Wilson scores extremely well, ranking fifth in birdie average amongst all PGA Tour players over the past six months, and third amongst this week’s competitors.

If you are looking for a golf betting tip, here it is: Mark Wilson to land the Bob Hope Classic against odds of 160.0

The casino, as we know it today, is a building which houses specific types of gambling. Usually, casinos are built near or with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and various other tourist attractions. The larger casinos generally have concert and performance theatres suitable for hosting large events, such as concerts, Broadway shows, and sporting events.
However, the term casino didn’t always mean the elaborate structures we associate with it today. Originally, the word casino meant a small villa, summerhouse or pavilion built for pleasure, typically built on the grounds of a large Italian villa or palazzo.

The first real casino, as we know of today, was built in Venice, Italy around 1638. It wasn’t until the 19th century when the term casino really came about and began to including buildings where pleasurable activities, such as gambling and sports betting took place.

The real origin of gambling is hard to trace as most historians will explain that gambling is said to have existed since the beginning of time. The Chinese have on record to be the first to officially gamble in 2300 B.C.

Gambling has evolved over the years, and so have casinos and the events which surround them. Casinos used to be simply a building used for gambling activity. Today, casinos are hundreds of thousands of square feet of entertainment for everyone, young and old.

Stu Ungar is a gambling legend. The story of his extraordinary life is filled with spectacular highs and devastating lows. He is considered to be the best card player of all time. Unfortunately, his life story is not a happy-ending one. All his talent and ability was destroyed by his inner demons that is his self-destructive behaviour. After years of drug abuse, his life ended tragically in a cheap Las Vegas motel room in 1998.

The Story of a tortured champion

Born in New York City and raised on the city’s Lower East Side, Stu Ungar became a professional gambler at age 14, a year after his father, who was a bookmaker and bar operator, had died.

At an early age he displayed an amazing photographic memory and a knack for card playing. He won his first gin rummy tournament by his 10th birthday. At 15 he dropped out of school when a well known bookie staked Stu to the $500 buy-in in a big gin rummy tournament. Stu won the $10,000 first prize without ever loosing a hand, a record still held in the card rooms of New York City. A week later, after giving his parents $1,000, he lost the rest on horses at the Aqueduct racetrack. It was a sign of things to come. That was the first bad sign of one of Stu’s many horrible vices. He was a degenerate gambler, and his gambling addiction would follow him around for the rest of his life.

When the baby-faced Stu Ungar arrived in Las Vegas in 1976, he was quickly banned from the casinos for counting cards in blackjack. One of the reasons casinos switched from the one-deck shoe to multi-deck shoes in blackjack is because of Stu Ungar’s eidetic memory.

Venue: Stadium of Light
Date: Sunday, 23 November
Kick-off: 1600 GMT

TEAM NEWS
Sunderland will assess the fitness of Kenwyne Jones, Dwight Yorke and Carlos Edwards after the trio played for Trinidad and Tobago in midweek. Goalkeeper Craig Gordon is a doubt with an ankle injury while George McCartney (foot) is rated as 50-50.
West Ham’s Spanish striker Diego Tristan needs a fitness test after picking up a knock in training.  Jonathan Spector has recovered from hip surgery and may return while Herita Ilunga is over his ankle injury.

SQUADS

Sunderland: Fulop, Colgan, Bardsley, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Nosworthy, Collins, Malbranque, Whitehead, Tainio, Leadbitter, Miller, Yorke, Richardson, Reid, Diouf, Cisse, Jones, Murphy, Healy.

West Ham: Green, Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert, Parker, Collison, Mullins, Boa Morte, Bowyer, Bellamy, Sears, Etherington, Walker, Lastuvka, Lopez, Tomkins, Di Michele, Davenport, Behrami, Cole, Reid, Tristan, Spector.

HEAD TO HEAD

Sunderland have only once failed to gain any points from home Premier League fixtures with West Ham.
Last season’s corresponding fixture was a dramatic affair. The Black Cats had to rely on a 90th minute winner from midfielder Andy Reid against a side reduced to 10-men by injury, to gain their first win in three home Premier League games against West Ham.

BETTING PREDICTIONS

Punters could back West Ham at 3.7 in the Match Odds. These odds look tempting as they might represent a value bet for gamblers.
Sunderland are a skinny 2.16 for the home win with The Draw at 3.6.
Overs are out for at least modest support, at 2.12 in the 2.5 goals market, with Unders around 1.86.
Sunderland’s Djibril Cisse for First Goalscorer is matched at odds of 5.8

POSSIBLE CORRECT SCORE
2-1 to West Ham can be backed at 14.5 in the Correct Score list.
Also,  a 3-2 to the visitors can be backed by punters at a fat odds of 44.0.

Good luck with your bets!

Aston Villa vs Middlesbrough

Venue: Villa Park
Date: Sunday, 9 November
Kick-off: 1500 GMT

Middlesbrough have a good recent record at Villa Park, where they  two wins, two draws and just a single defeat in the last five. Martin O’Neill’s men had to travel to Newcastle and Prague in the last week so Boro should have the edge in terms of freshness.

Aston Villa are unbeaten at home this season but Middlesbrough are worth a small bet at 9/2.

Betting Verdict: Middlesbrough to get at least one point from this clash

Blackburn vs Chelsea

Venue: Ewood Park
Date: Sunday, 9 November
Kick-off: 1330 GMT

The Premier League’s draw specialists, Blackburn Rovers host The Blues, on the 60th birthday of Chelsea’s manager Luis Felipe Scolari. The match brings together the weakest defence and sharpest attack in the highest league (going into this 12th round of fixtures).

The Londoners have twice as many points as Blackburn (26 to 13), and are aiming to uphold the Premier League’s one remaining 100% away record, and the only unbeaten top-flight away record in 2008.

Chelsea are undefeated in six league and cup matches with Blackburn over the past two seasons.

Chelsea look a strong bet on the handicap.

Betting Verdict: Chelsea to beat the one goal handicap

Possible correct scores: 1-3; 2-4

Fulham v Newcastle

Venue: Craven Cottage
Date: Sunday, 9 November
Kick-off: 1600 GMT

Fulham have failed to win six of their last seven Premier League matches, and now face a Newcastle side chasing a third successive league win.

The Magpies head for London eager to improve on two successive defeats in the capital and gain their first away win of this Premier League season.

The Cottagers have only picked up two Premier League points from a last possible 24 against North-East clubs, since beating Newcastle 2-1 at home on 3 February 2007.

Newcastle did the double over Fulham last season, reversing Fulham’s achievement in the previous campaign.

It’s a tough game to call from a betting perspective.

Betting verdict: Draw

Possible correct score: 1- 1

Man City v Tottenham

Venue: City of Manchester Stadium
Date: Sunday, 9 November
Kick-off: 1500 GMT

Spurs drew 4-4 with Arsenal in their last away game and have netted 12 in four games since Harry Redknapp took over. Darren Bent has found the back of the net in three of those four matches, including a memorable hat-trick against Dinamo Zagreb last time out, and has also registered in his last two away games in the Premier League.

City have suffered successive 0-2 defeats and are in danger of tumbling to their longest losing run since ending last season with three consecutive defeats.  A home defeat would also mean Manchester City had reached an unwanted milestone. It would be their 1,500th loss in League football

According to the head to head stats, Manchester City’s only victories in 22 Premier League games against Tottenham were 5-2 on 22 October 1994 at home, 0-2 at the Lane on 18 April 2003 and the 2-1 home triumph eight months ago. Tottenham dismissed the Citizens on their way to winning the Carling Cup last season; a 0-2 victory at Eastlands in the quarter-finals on 18 December 2007.

Given those stats, a high scoring draw wouldn’t surprise anyone.

Betting Verdict: Draw

Possible correct scores: 3-3, 4-4

Las Vegas has been portrayed in many movies as a place for some of the biggest robberies in American history. Casino robbery has known a significant growth lately. A string of robberies have plagued Montana casinos all year. More recently, attempts were made in other states.
Friday morning, the robbery scenario played out in real life as a Las Vegas casino was hit.
The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and Casino was subject to a robbery, as two robbers took bags of money from the sportsbook and fled, presumably with a third person as a getaway driver.
Two men wearing motorcycle helmets and covered from head to toe walked into the sportsbook at 6:00 A.M. holding handguns. They ordered the employees at the betting window to fill bags of money, and then they were gone.
Las Vegas Police Lt. Clint Nichols said authorities also were looking for a third person believed to driven a getaway car from the 6 a.m. heist at the Las Vegas Hilton Race and Sportsbook.
Nichols said several gamblers witnessed the robbery at the casino located just east of the Las Vegas Strip and known for its large sports betting operation.
As quickly as they came in through a back door, they vanished. The whole period of time took less than a minute, according to Las Vegas Police Lt. Clint Nichols. They jumped into the getaway car and have yet to be found.
Nichols does not have any leads in the case and is wary that the felons might not be caught. “They were quick,” he said, “We have nothing.” The sportsbook was left to pick up the pieces.
It was not revealed exactly how much money was taken in the heist. Nichols and Hilton spokesman Ira Sternberg would not disclose how much money was stolen from the casino.
The good news was that nobody was injured in the robbery. Sternberg said the sportsbook was reopened within a couple of hours of the incident. He was not aware of any previous robberies at the casino.
Investigators have no leads. Perhaps questioning will start with how the personnel operating the omnipresent camera system carried by all Vegas casinos didn’t find patrons walking through the casino wearing helmets to be suspicious.

An Irish card player from Claregalway has written his name in the poker record books after he cashed out for almost €1 million in a prestigious tournament in Spain.

Fintan Gavin, aged 40, won €900,000 for finishing in an impressive second place in a field of 620 players at the €8,000 entry European Poker Tour (EPT) event in Barcelona.

He almost outlasted a field of 620 players in the event, but was eventually eliminated following a brief head-to-head battle with the winner, a German professional Sebastian Ruthenberg.

The two players negotiated a deal which netted Mr Gavin a total payout of just over €900,000, while the winner took home the EPT trophy and €1,361,000 in prize money.

Mr. Gavin currently works in the poker business in the northwest, where he runs poker events in the Eglinton Casino in Galway and the surrounding area.

Like many of the big winners in the world of poker in recent years, Mr Gavin qualified for the event by winning a small online satellite tournament, the prize for which was a €12,000 package to cover his entry fee and travel costs.

“I never thought going over there I would get anywhere near as far as I did. There were 620 players taking part, including the top poker players in Europe. It was something else to reach the final table,” he said.

Despite his big pay-day, he said he was not considering taking up the game professionally and would continue organising rather than competing in events.

Fintan Gavin is one of many Irish poker players to have made a big impact on the poker scene in recent years.

Belfast player Marty Smyth won a $10,000 entry pot-limit Omaha event at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in July, for which he received $859,532 (€600,000).

Ireland has produced one world champion poker player. In 1999, prior to the boom in the popularity of the game, which was brought about by the advent of online and televised poker, Dublin businessman Noel Furlong conquered a field of 393 in the World Series of Poker main event winning $1 million (€695,000).

Dublin-based player Andrew Black became a familiar face in international poker circles when he made his way to the final table of the World Series of Poker main event in 2005. He eventually finished fifth out of 5,619 players, winning $1.75 million (€1.3 million) and has since continued to perform well in big poker events.

A new website called www.ExpertBet.com is drawing the attention of all of the United Kingdom’s punters and tipsters worldwide as it introduces free betting contests regarding English Premiere League.

Newcomers can take this great opportunity to win prizes up to £775 in cash until December, 24 2008. Taking part in these contests is free of charge and all punters do not stake or risk anything of value other than their personal efforts of knowledge and their personal time.

Founded by Win at Max Associates LLC the www.ExpertBet.com is the newest website world wide available which offers cash money-prizes without no fees registration to its users, after the big brother’s website has arrived 2 years ago www.TipsterPicks.com which gave more than $US 2000 lately to many tipsters world wide.

An ExpertBet representative commented “We’re making history here at www.ExpertBet.com by rewarding all football fans out there, hosting the biggest free football contest worldwide available for the greatest football league in the world England Premiere League. These excellent treatments are exciting and we’re very much looking forward to bigger prizes in the future.”

There are two kinds of contests at www.expertbet.com.

1. The monthly contest brings money prize £55 in cash to the best punter who earned the most profit units in the monthly punters’ classification. Punters have to place at least 15 bet tickets in the current month in at least 2 different weeks (Monday to Sunday). The end of the current month profit must be at least 5.55 units. All monthly cash prizes (£55) will be paid in the 5th day of the next month. Any disputes or complaints will be accepted until the 4th of the next month.
2. The Expert Bet contest brings money prize £555 in cash to the best punter who earned the most profit units until the fixtures from the Saturday 20th December 2008. Punters have to place at least 55 bet tickets in the 4 months period (September to December 2008) in at least 7 different weeks (Monday to Sunday). The end of the current period profit must be at least 25.5 units. For this contest any disputes or complaints will be accepted anytime until the 24th December 2008, 12:00 GMT.

For both contests stakes are set to 1 (one) unit as default. Punters can place from the entire betting offer only “single” bet tickets not combo or system. The betting offer is with Asian Handicap and Over/Under odds. The latest time when punters can place a bet ticket on a specific event is 25-30 minutes before schedule starting time. If there is more than one winner, the prize will be equally split between the winners.

Fore more information regarding these 2008 Premiere League betting contests please visit: ExpertBet Contest

Staking systems are about where or when to place a bet, for instance bet red or black, pick the pony “she is sure to win” or “damned unlucky”, bet Banker or Player in Baccarat and so on. Staking systems range greatly in terms of sophistication but generally aim to take the emotion out of picking a side by making it systematic.

But you should be careful. There are lots of so called gambling experts sharing with us their staking systems. But in the long-run, there are very few, if none, successful betting strategies.

Follow the Shoe

Follow the Shoe is a simple staking system where your next bet is on the last winner. As an example, in Baccarat if the Banker won the last hand then the next bet would be on Banker. The argument for the Follow the Shoe staking system is that it can catch winning streaks on either side.

Avant Dernier

The Avant Dernier is another popular Baccarat staking system, where your next bet is on the second last winner. So if we had the results Banker win, Banker win, Player win; then our next bet would be on Banker. The Avant Dernier system works well when the results come in longer streaks or alternating patterns. That is, a 5 streak run of Banker wins or an alternating pattern like Banker, Player, Banker, Player, etc. The Avant Dernier System begins to lose when there is alot of ‘double chopping’, where results come in pairs like Banker, Banker, Player, Player, Banker, Banker.

Regression Modelling

Regression modeling is a sophisticated statistical approach to forecasting future events. In simple terms, a data set of historical results is regressed on an econometric model of factors. As an example, we could model horse speed based on historical data including factors such as track conditions, age of horse, jockey, recent health etc etc. By then predicting each horses speed, which can assess the probabilities of each horse winning. Based on this and the current odds wagered, you let the model decide whether to lay, back or stay out of a race.

Regression modeling is the approach used by the largest horse racing syndicates but the power of the model is limited to the quality and size of the dataset used.

Parlay System

Commonly used in horse racing, the Parlay system aims at taking the winnings from one bet, and investing those on the following bet. Being a positive progression system, this system can be regarded as being reasonably safe. Players using this technique generally aim for a winning situation that will occur in a quite distant future, as in theory it should protect the accumulated winnings.

1-3-2-6 System

The 1-3-2-6 system is a positive progression system that takes for granted that you should be able to win four times in a row. If bets are categorized on a scale of one to six units (six being the highest bet), your first bet should be 1 unit, the second 3 units, the third 2 units, and the fourth 6 units. Despite the mathematics involved in this system, it is fairly straightforward. All in all, the system offers insurance by altering the bets each time, and taking money away when you win at particular moments. If you end up winning four times in a succession, it is very good opportunity to substantially increase your bankroll. However, a question still remains to be answered: it is equally as likely that you will lose four times in a row?

Horse racing systems

Horse racing betting systems are based on a number of criteria, some of which include analysis of the horses’ form.

Often horse racing systems are based on financial systems such as hedging (betting on multiple outcomes in a race) and arbitrage (lay the horse a low price and back it at a high price). Other horse racing systems exist which are based on items such as horse name, jockey form, trainer form, and lane draw. Modern horse racing systems can rely on specific betting possibilities only offered on betting exchanges.

Loss recovery systems such as Martingale can also be applied to horse racing.

A large-scale bookmaking, gambling and loan sharking organization, which had an association with the Philadelphia organized crime family, was busted by authorities in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police arrested no less than 17 people on charges from illegal gambling through loan sharking and drug dealing.

Attorney General Tom Corbett said the investigation focused on Nicholas Cimino, 49, also known as “Nicky the Hat”, who was the head of a southeastern Pennsylvania “large-scale” bookmaking operation from 2002 until March 2007 that included an illegal casino located at 431 MacDade Blvd., Folsom, Delaware County, where poker games, illegal betting on horse races and other gambling activity occurred. As part of the illegal gambling organization, Nicky the Hat also ran a Web site for online sports betting, and accepted sports wagers from 800 bettors without computer access. Gregory “King” Triantafillou, Daniel Diedrich, Victor “Vic” Novelli and Spiro “Bart” Barbalois were allegedly employed to accept sports wagers, collect money from bettors’ losses, and pay bettors for winning bets. The domain name of the sports betting website has not been released.

According to Attorney General Tom Corbett, one of Cimino’s principle debt collectors was identified as Joseph Pizza who was responsible for receiving payments from individuals who owed the organization money. Agents involved in the operation dubbed “Delco Nostra” said that Pizza was also allegedly responsible for “laying off” bets from the Cimino organization to other bookmaking organizations in order to minimize the risk of loss to the organization.

According to the grand jury, Cimino’s organization had a close association with the Philadelphia organized crime family through Louis “Bent Finger Lou” Monacello. Corbett said that Cimino allegedly paid Monacello a “tax” every month in order to be allowed to operate his illegal gambling casino.

The grand jury found that Cimino used the associates of his bookmaking operation to collect debts and had a reputation in the gambling community for threatening or using force to pressure individuals to pay.

Grand jury testimony revealed that Cimino’s source of his illegal income was hidden by the purchase of numerous real estate properties in Delaware County and by using Pizza and two other individuals, Ralph “Ralphie head” Abbruzzi and Robert Beck, to purchase winning Pennsylvania state lottery tickets, which were cashed in to show a “legitimate” source of income.

On at least one occasion, Monacello had a debtor’s car vandalized and on several other occasions sent individuals to a debtor’s house with the intent of assaulting them into paying Cimino.

Attorney General Tom Corbett added that Cimino and Monacello were allegedly aware on the grand jury’s ongoing investigation and Monacello allegedly encouraged witnesses to perjure themselves during testimony.

“Through this investigation, we successfully dismantled a major illegal gambling enterprise operating in Southeastern Pennsylvania,” Corbett said. “And, with the arrest of Louis Monacello, we have taken into custody a well-known member of the Philadelphia organized crime family.”

Corbett stated that the investigation is continuing and more arrests are expected and thanked the Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI for their work on the case.

The case will be prosecuted in Delaware County by Chief Deputy Attorney General Erik Olsen of the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Section.