Ascot to host rescheduled International Hurdle

The postponed International Hurdle which was due to take place at Cheltenham last week will now take place at Ascot on Saturday and will be shown live on BBC One. It is hoped that Champion Hurdle winner Katchit will be able to attend.

Several races have had their times adjusted to allow for the changes with the BGC Long Walk Hurdle being ran 30 minutes later than planned at 1410 and the Ladbroke will now be at 1445. The chief executive of Ascot, Charles Barnett confirmed that the revamped card would offer prize money totalling more than £500,000.

The day will feature seven races, three of which will be top hurdle contests. A spokesman for the sponsors of the event Boylesport said “This could be the greatest day’s hurdling ever seen. We’d like to thank Ascot for working so closely with us, as well as the British Horseracing Authority and the other main sponsors during this difficult time.”

No tax increase on Irish online gambling

The Irish Government has confirmed this week that is has no plans to tax bookmakers operating over the telephone or online because it needs to spend more time researching the industry. Brian Lenihan the Irish minister for Finance declared that the tax on land based bookmakers was to doubled to two per cent on turnover from the beginning of next year, but online and telephone service will remain tax-free

Previous attempts to tax the online betting industry by the Irish Government have failed as many of them mover their operation to Gibraltar and other tax havens. The government however has stated that it does wish to force some type of tax onto the sector in the future.

Big Brother Gambling

The Reality Show Big Brother will have about £1million will be gambled in the final twenty four hours of the show accoring to bookmakers and the clear favourite are the twins, Amanda and Sam Marchant, overwhelming favourites to take the £100,000 prize tonight.

One firm, Boylesports, is convinced they will win and has already paid out thousands of pounds.  The Irish bookmaker said: “The twins have cost us a lot of money but they have been complete stars.”

 William Hill took a £50,000 bet on them at 5-1 on yesterday from a punter in Birmingham. It said: “We’ve taken some huge bets on Big Brother but none bigger than this. Millions will be won and lost.” It is thought most punters will back the twins, liked for their love of the colour pink and their singing sessions.

About three quarters through the show Big Brother gave teh twins the chance to be treated as one contestant which they readily agreed to and so knocking off Brian from top sport to win the show. Before going into the house they were studying social care at university but are now expected to cash in on magazine and modelling deals. A show source said: “We’re surprised one bookmaker has paid out. It’s closer than most people think.” Brian and Liam are in the running but the other three remaining contestants Ziggy, Jonty and Carole are seen as huge outsiders.

Betfair Odds: Twins 11-8, Brian 6-1, Liam 43-1, Ziggy 129-1, Carole 279-1, Jonty 759-1.

Source: Mirror

Paddy Power publish golf betting losses

In winning the Deutsche Bank Players Championship, Andrés Romero stung the pockets of the irish bookmaker Paddy Power. Paddy Power stood the biggest bet on the Argentinian, laying £4,000 at 28-1. That customer collected £112,000. Another irish bookie Boylesports took a string of three-figure bets, including one of €500 (£337) at 5-1 in-play. One Sporting Index client collected £6,600 after selling Romero’s finishing position at 34 for £200 a place.

Boylesports was also forced to pay a punter from Tallaght €7,000 (£4,716) after he wagered €1,000 (£674) at 7-1 about Jim Furyk winning the Canadian Open. It was worse for Victor Chandler, which lost £50,000 thanks to Furyk’s success at Angus Glen. Still, at least Nick Faldo did not win the Senior Open Championship - that result would have cost VC Bet a further £25,000.
India attracted plenty of interest to defeat England in the second Test, although most of the money came in-play. SkyBet reported a £20,000 punt at 1-2 (but got most of its money back when a client staked £16,000 at 5-6 that there would be fewer than 88 runs in the second session of day two). William Hill saw a £16,000 wager at 1-16 while Boyle’s stood multiple bets between €300 (£202) and €1,000 (£674). Paddy Power reported the draw best backed (one of £4,500 at 6-5) while England (£2,500 at 6-5) also saw support.

VC Bet laid the draw heavily, standing one bet of £12,000 at 4-6. A Sporting Index account holder bought India’s first-innings total at 300 for £50 per run, resulting in a £9,050 win.

Source: Guardian