Suspicious Betting pattern reported to the FA by William Hill and Blue SQ

UK bookmakers William Hill and Blue SQ have reported some betting irregularities on the Blue Square Premier game between Grays Athletic and Forest Green Rovers.  Grays won the game 2-1 after being 1-0 down and then scored twice in 50 seconds to win the game.

Both of the companies reported that they had seen large wagers on prior to kick off, “We saw a most unusual betting pattern on this match involving a large number of requests for bets on Grays to be losing at half time and winning at full time. The odds for that eventuality were cut from 22/1 to under half of that price yet still people wanted to back that outcome,” said William Hill spokesman, Graham Sharpe.

Both companies closed the book on the game and have chosen not to payout on the match until they have heard back from the Football Association.

Ladbrokes launch Bet British advertising campaign

The UK based bookmaker Ladbrokes has launched an advertising campaign started from 21st March aimed at encouraging punters to only place bets with UK licensed bookmakers, the campaign will appear in the Racing Post.

A PR spokesman for Ladbrokes said “Very few advertisers in the Racing Post are paying tax or levy in the UK but not many consumers would be aware of this. We are informing betting customers that by betting with Ladbrokes or other UK-based operators they are encouraging employment and tax generation in the UK as well as supporting British racing through the levy. We are also reinforcing the fact that while we are increasingly a global business we remain as British as British beef.”

Ladbrokes is responsible for paying 35% of all Horserace & Betting Levy for 07/08 payments made in the UK during this they paid £100.4m in Gross Profits Tax, £68.5 million in VAT and £49.9 million in Corporation Tax as well as paying £40.4 million in levy to UK horseracing and £45 million in local taxes.

How this campaign will be viewed by other operators is yet to be known but a majority do operate from offshore locations such as the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Malta where companies based in these locations benefit from payer tax of just 1% or less, such as Sporting Bet, Blue SQ and Bet Fred.

Blue Square Profits On the UP

The Blue Square internet gaming operation has been very good and has added to the half-year results from its parent the Rank Group. Revenues for the six months to 30 June were up 2.3% to £284.6m, with adjusted pre-tax profits up to £37.3m from £21.9m in the same period last year.

With the new casino laws about to come into operation in September and maximum payouts for Bingo to be able to reach £1 million the news that the wet weather has helped business at Rank’s Mecca Bingo halls provides sufficint encouragement to management that Bigo business is on the up and up.

While the ever growing Blue Square internet business saw revenues jump 40% to £26.2m the firm did state that the second half of the year would “prove more challenging”. This was due mainly to the impact of the smoking ban, which is now in place across the UK, and also because of changes in the law regarding gaming machines.

Source: BBC