Should the bookie be allowed to walk away from its ante-post liabilities, punters could miss out on thousands of poundsIt may be just six days until the start of the Cheltenham but there are no apologies this morning for bringing football into the discussion, since the details of just two bets with the now ex-bookie BetBright hint at the scale of the injustice which will be inflicted on punters if, as currently seems possible, it is allowed to simply walk away from its ante-post liabilities.The Guardian has seen details of two bets placed by the same BetBright customer last year. The first was a £100 each-way double on Luton in League One at 14-1 and Lincoln in League Two at...
An interesting tidbit doing the rounds at present is that the Tote will attempt to up its game at next week’s meetingNext week’s Cheltenham Festival has long since overtaken Royal Ascot as the biggest betting event of our racing year, with 25 of the year’s top 40 races by turnover in the latest list from Ladbrokes/Coral.All bar a tiny fraction of that money is staked with bookmakers or on betting exchanges, but an interesting rumour doing the rounds at present is that the Tote, for so many years the all-but-forgotten poor relation in British betting, will attempt to up its game at next week’s meeting with a cut to its take-out rate in the Festival’s win pools. Related: Danny Brock...
If whip breaches are to be reduced, jockeys must be told by their employers not to break the rules at any costOh whoopee, the whip is back in the news. This time, the headline is a threat from the British Horseracing Authority that “temporary measures” could be suddenly introduced if there are too many rule breaches at the Cheltenham Festival next week.“Temporary measures” sounds very dramatic, as if the BHA was thinking about declaring an emergency, finding itself in a situation so problematic that action must be taken right away. In fact, the ruling body has been consulting on the subject and tweaking the rules at regular intervals for decades, so, if there is an emergency, they bear a large...
Four times a winner from his eight forays over fences, Javert can land the day’s big betting race, the Greatwood Gold CupIt has generally paid to follow Paul Nicholls in Newbury’s Greatwood Gold Cup, the Ditcheat trainer having saddled a remarkable eight winners in 12 years. But this year’s renewal could provide a pre-Cheltenham boost to the Emma Lavelle stable, whose Javert (2.40) looks overpriced in the early betting at 12-1.Four times a winner from his eight forays over fences, Javert was below his best in Cheltenham’s BetVictor when last seen. But he is on the same mark as when chasing home Frodon in the Old Roan and, with Tom Scudamore aboard for the first time, can make a big...
A deeper understanding of betting is essential if any future Labour government is to make a better fist of gambling regulation than the last oneTom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour party and a politician with a long-standing interest in the regulation of gambling, offered some hints of what might be in a new Gambling Act if or when his party returns to power in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research on Thursday morning.Watson was a prominent figure in the long-running and ultimately successful campaign to reduce the maximum stake on betting shop gaming machines (FOBTs) from £100 to £2. Related: Tom Watson calls for crackdown on in-game gambling Newbury 1.45 Crystal Lad 2.20 Christopher Wood 2.50 Awake...