Ronnie O’Sullivan was celebrating on Monday after netting himself £157,000 for potting a 147 break at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. The two time former World Champion recorded the maximum break in the final frame of his 13-7 2nd round victory over Mark Williams. The money was put up by Championship sponsors 888, £147,000 for any player achieving a maximum break plus £10,000 for the highest break in the tournament.

However, Ronnie O’Sullivan’s winnings were soon depleted on Tuesday when Ali Carter also notched a maximum break during his 13-9 Quarter Final victory over Peter Ebdon. The two players must now share the £157,000 bonus.

The odds of any player recording a maxmimum break in the 2008 World Championship were 7/4 prior to the tournament starting and the odds of two players recording maximum breaks in successive days would have been much bigger, had anybody been clever enough to predict such an occurence.

Irish Bookmaker Paddypower has paid out early on Manchester United winning the 2008 Premier League title. They took the decision to pay out early to all those customers who had back United to win the Premier League throughout the season on Friday morning, depsite Chelsea moving just two points behind them in the league with a 1-0 win over Everton on Thursday night.

A spokesman for the firm said “Let’s be honest, they are home and hosed at this stage and it would take a minor miracle for Chelsea to catch them. Having said that, we did end up paying out on both Arsenal and United to win the title a few years ago, so you never know. Whatever happens, we reckon that the money might as well be in the punter’s pocket at this stage.”

It is a great gesture from the company to reward punters who had backed Fergie’s men at odds of 13/8 at the start of the season and they could face an even bigger payout if the Reds go on to lift the Champions League. However, Paddypower could end up with egg on their faces as bookmaker Fred Done, Chairman of Betfred, found out when paying out early on United to win the titlte in 1998, when eight point clear. That season, Arsenal came pipped them at the post and so anybody who has backed Chelsea shouldn’t throw away that betting slip just yet.

Bookmakers were left counting the costs after joint favourite, Comply or Die won the 2008 John Smiths Grand National. This year’s Aintree spectacle is estimated to have attracted over £400 million in bets placed in betting shops and on the internet and following the result, bookmakers are reporting big losses on the race for the first time in years as seemingly millions of punters up and down the country had backed the winner.

One website that won’t be facing losses is betting exchange Betfair, whose market on the race traded over £15 million as punters bet agaisnt each other, with Betfair taking a commision on every bet up to 5%. However, for the more traditional ‘high street’ bookies the result saw massive payout but not from the horse they feared the most in the days leading up to the race. It was Cloudy Lane that was expected to start as the favourite; but continued support for Comply or Die throughout Saturday saw the David Pipe trained winner start as the 7/1 joint favourite alongside Cloudy Lane, who could only manage 6th position - much to the delight of millions of punters up and down the country who had backed the winner at odds as big as 10/1.

The BBC reported that an impressives 10.1 million people watched the race live on Saturday afternoon.

This year’s Grand National is expected to break all previous records for betting turnover on the most famous horse race in the world as the nation goes horse racing and gambling mad for oen day. Industry insiders are predicting record turnover both both on the high street and with more people than ever vefore anticipated to place their Grand National bets via the internet.

The Grand National is a race steeped in heritage and has become something of a Great British institution over the years. Many of the millions of people who place bets on the 40 runner, 4 mile 4 furlong marathon steeplechase over Aintree’s famous fences will often only place the one bet during the course the year and that will be on the Grand National. The estimated total worth of bets placed within the betting industry is predicted to be in the region of £650 million and whilst it is usually a big pay day for bookmakers this year’s race may make for little more uncomfortable viewing.

One of the main reasons that bookmakers have come to love the Grand National so much is because the winning horse is often a big price, resulting more people backing losers than winners, thus bigger profits for the bookies! However, this year looks set to be different with the shortest priced favourite in years set to line up - the 6/1 shot Cloudy Lane. Many people will automaticaly back the favourite becuase it is the easiest selection method, but this favourite has an excellent chance and will be even more popular as a result of being trained by David McCain, son of Ginger McCain, trainer of the most famous Grand National horse of all - Red Rum. If Cloudy Lane can justify his favourite tag and does go on to win the Grand National, bookmakers will be bracing themselves for yet another record - the most paid out on a single race.

David Beckham is set to win his 100th England cap when he lines up against France in an international freindly in paris on Wednesday (26th March). Beckham, who plays for American side LA Galaxy was left out of new England boss Fabio Capello’s first squad and many feared that he would not reach the landmark 100th cap in his career. However, the former Man Utd and Real Madrid star has been re-called and British bookmakers are expecting increased interest in this match given the Beckham should become only the 5th England player ever to reach 100 caps and the betting industry is anticipating many people to place bets on the game. The most popular bet is expected to be on Beckham to score the first and last goal of the game at odds of generally between 10/1 and 12/1.

The four other players to win more than 100 caps for England are Wolverhampton Wanders legend Billy Wright, who won 105 caps. Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton was capped 106 times aong with World Cup winnign captain and West Ham defender Bobby Moore with 108 caps and the record holder for most games played for England is golakeeper Peter Shilton who won a total of 125 before hanging up his international gloves in 1990.

William Hill have reported that one of its punters is Britains first betting shop millionaire following a successful eight horse accumulator bet on placed in the company’s Thirsk, North Yorkshire branch on Friday 22nd February 2008.

The lucky punter, believed to be in his 50’s has been placing the same type of bet for years without much luck. However, he will never need to place another bet in his life following winning the biggest amount ever claimed in a British betting shop. A William Hill spokesman said “the punter want to keep a low profile following his win. he didn’t realise that he had won until he came to place his bets on Saturday, when shop staff informed him of his luck. He still placed £2.50 worth of bets but didn’t have the same luck”

The customer’s winning selections were -
Isn’t That Lucky - 2.55pm Sandown (8/1)
Mutamarres - 3.05pm Nad Al Sheba (7/2)
Mutasallil - 3.40pm Nad Al Sheba (11/2)
Racer Forever - 4.15pm Nad Al Sheba (4/1)
Ede’s 4.50pm - Warwick (10/1)
Rio L’Oren - 7.50pm Wolverhampton (15/2)
Guadaloup - 8.20pm Wolverhampton (11/2)
A Dream Come True - 9.20pm Wolverhampton (5/2)

BBC’s gambling expert and TV pundit Angus Loughran, better known as Statto thanks to his appearance on 90’s cult TV show, Fantasy Football, has been declared bankrupt.

It has emerged that Loughran has been unable to pay his creditors and was declared insolvent at a hearing at Manchester County Court on February 4. Details of how much he owes, and to whom, were not disclosed and it remains unknown whether he declared himself bankrupt or if it followed a petition from someone he owes money to.

Loughran’s work includes being a racing correspondent at BBC’s coverage of race meetings, which include the Grand National and Epsom Derby. He also writes a weekly betting column in the Daily Telegraph and commentates regularly on football matches covered on Eurosport.

British Bookmaker William Hill is being taken to court by a former customer who intends to sue the betting company for the gambling losses that he incurred whilst betting in the company’s betting shops, believed to be in the region on £2million.

The customer, Graham Calvert of Sunderland, was a successful Greyhound Trainer before he lost everything through gambling. Calvert claims that William Hill failed in their duty of care towards him after he underwent the self exclusion process from the comapny’s chain of shops but was still able to go and place bets. Calvert said “If I’d known I had the problem and didn’t do anything about it, I would see myself as being 100 per cent responsible. However, I did try to go through the right procedures and I was let down by William Hill.”

It emerged that Calvert used to bet in large stakes and was responsible for placing the largest bet evr on Golf, when he placed £350,000 on The USA to win the 2006 Ryder Cup.

The case will go to court in the next couple of weeks.

Former Champion jockey Kieren Fallon, who recently received a worldwide ban from racing for failing a drugs test, will join his former boss Sir Michael Stoute ahead of the forthcoming flat season. It is believed that the former six times champion jockey Fallon, will be work riding for Stoute during his 18 month ban, but their are rumours that he could become the assistant trainer at Stoute’s Newmarket stables.

Fallon said during an interview “We have been very, very lucky together. I thought riding out at his yard would just get me back into the game and give me the feeling again, because the last three and a half years have been a nightmare.” And racing fans will be hoping that the partnership can sparkle once again during the 2008 flat season, who have enjoyed multiple Group and Classic successes together, most notable, Golan in the 2000 Guineas, Russian Rhythm in the 1,000 Guineas and Kris Kin and North Light in the Derby.

A record $10 billion was wagered on this year’s Superbowl, which took place in Glendale Arizona on Sunday 3rd February 2008. The game, which was between the unbeaten favourites the New England Patriots and New York Giants attracted the interest of people all over the world, with a record 107 million viewers watching the game in America alone.

The Superbowl, played once a year, is always a big betting event, but the estimated $10 wagered on the game this year is a record amount, the majority of which was wagered online. Interest in the betting on the game was thought to have been increased by the fact that the New England Patriots were so stongly fancied, so when the 9/2 New York Giants upset the odds, it was a winning day for bookmakers around the world.

British bookmakers also reported record figures on this year’s Grid Iron showcase, much of which is thought to have been down to the game being shown on both BBC 2 and Skysports. Viewing figures in the UK stood at over 1 million people for the first time ever.