Australian GamblingNick Haslem | Australian Gambling

Big Gun Horses Trial Tomorrow at Cranbourne – Tuesday 7th February

Nick Haslem — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:23:04 +0000

Tomorrow night at Cranbourne will see a host of Australian horse racing stars come back to the track as they prepare for their next preparations both at home and abroad. These horses include Sepoy, Helmet, Pinker Pinker and Lucas Cranach.

Helmet, the son of Exceed and Excel will be in the 1st heat of the night as he comes back from an unplaced finish in the 2011 Cox Plate. He will race in Group 3 C S Hayes Stakes over 1400m at Flemington on 18th February and then into the Group 1 Australian Guineas over a mile at Flemington on March 3rd.

Both of Darley’s horses Sepoy and Helmet are preparing to go to Dubai later this season. Sepoy the son of Elusive Quality will be in heat 2 over 1000 metres, against his own age group as he prepares for a first up run in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate later this month at Caulfield.

Both of the Darley horses will race at the Dubai World Cup 2012. Sepoy will run in the 1200m Golden Shaheen over 1200m on artifical turf and Helmet will race over 1800m in the 2012 United Arab Emirates Derby.

Pinker Pinker trainer Greg Eurell is still unsure if he will run her over 1000m or 1300m in the trial under lights tomorrow night. She is preparing for the 2012 Group 1 Futurity Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield.

Lucas Cranach, Back and Bent, Members Joy, Forget and Red Colossus are amongst other big horses trialing on Tuesday 7th February 2012 at Cranbourne.

Cranbourne will be revealed as a night racing venue on March 9th, 2012.

Victoria Government Backflips on Pokies Reform – Tim Costello ‘Shattered’

Nick Haslem — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:31:50 +0000

Both the Australian National Government and the State Governments are coming under increasing scrutiny over pokies reform. The latest issue in the last 24 hours is over the apparent “backflip” of the Victorian State Government of pokies legislation.

Anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello has been vocal about his disgust over Julia Gillard’s broken promise to independent MP Andrew Wilkie. The deal that was agreed upon to get her to office was to legislate a national roll-out on May 8th, 2012 of the mandatory pre-commitment technology.

“Another backflip, another broken promise by a government of a different political stripe,” Costello said.

“To be honest, I have given up on state government – and I mean that.”

“As soon as an opposition is in government they’re captured by Treasury that says, `Well, look, your option might be to have to put up stamp duty or other taxes.”

“It’s much easier to allow pokies in the poorest postcodes – whatever the damage.”

“That’s why I’ve given up on state government.”

“This, I am sorry, has been the sort of form of oppositions (that) become governments for the last 20 years in Victoria.”

The Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu refutes claims of any backflip by the Government and says they are holding up their end of the bargain.

“Our commitment is as it was and that is to introduce voluntary … pre-commitment and we stand by that”

“The commonwealth are now moving to a pre-commitment regime. They need to introduce legislation, they need to introduce the standards – they’ve done none of that yet.”

“They need to indicate whether they are going to allow the states to introduce their own standards.”

The productivity commission says that of the $1 billion AUD lost to pokies each year in Australia, $400 million is from problem gamblers. Tim Costello referred to a recent case where 19-year-old Jacob Anton Van Berlo was playing the pokies, withdrew his last dollars from an ATM and then lost it all. It was later revealed that just after this he committed suicide.

“Just extraordinary suffering and it’s all for the greed of the industry and the state treasury,” Costello commented.

“There will always be cosmetic efforts to say `we’re concerned’ … but there is never, ever, serious reform.”

Platinum Plays Biggest Progressive Winner Ever

Nick Haslem — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:55:48 +0000

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Make sure to get your share of winnings by joining Platinum Play today where you will receive 1500 Free bets as well as an additional Deposit Match Bonus of 100% up to 200. Platium Play offers real money online Keno and online roulette for Australians, just to mention a couple of the many games available.

In addition to this CSR (Casino Scam Report) voted Platinum Play as the top approved online casino in their 2011 “Best of the Best” Online Casinos Awards. This prestigious title grounded on consistency, 100% transparency, minimal customer complaints and customer support, making Platinum Play your number one gaming portal.

Rugby World Cup Final Review

Nick Haslem — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:31:11 +0000

The 2011 Rugby World Cup has finally reached its climax with what was an intriguing final involving New Zealand and France. It’s been 16 years since the All Blacks last played a world cup final and they started the game as firm favourites. They played great rugby in the build up to the final and looked like a team that was ready to lift the Webb Ellis Cup and put the pain of 1995 behind them. In stark contrast France barely looked worth their place and if it wasn’t for a questionable red card shown to Wales skipper Sam Warburton in the semi final they may never even have made it there.

The History

France, much like the All Blacks, are no strangers to a Rugby World Cup final having made it there on two previous occasions. The first took place in 1987 at Eden Park in which New Zealand won the game 29-9 and the second final appearance for France came in 1999 when they lost to Australia 35-12. Not a great record and after losing last Sunday to New Zealand France are now played 3 lost 3 in Rugby World Cup finals.

New Zealand don’t exactly have a love affair with the Rugby World Cup in spite of the fact they’ve started a number of World Cup tournaments as strong favourites over the years. They’ve managed to lift the trophy once in 1987 but since then have cracked under the pressure of the world’s biggest stage. History meant pressure for New Zealand who could so easily have been looking at another failed final attempt if only France had kicked a little better.

Pre Match Odds

New Zealand Win 1/9

The Draw 40/1

France Win 7/1

*Odds source

Looking at how the bookies priced the game it’s clear for all to see that no one gave the French a chance and to be brutally honest on their tournament form there’s was very little reason to. The All Blacks were favourites and many expected them to blow the French out of the water.

How It Went Down This Time Around

It’s safe to say that as Rugby World Cup finals go this one wasn’t exactly a smooth flowing game of rugby. If it had been the All Blacks might have won by a much more comfortable margin. As it happens France decided to show up and narrowly missed out in what we’re happy to call an 8-7 thriller.

The scoring started early in the first half when unlikely try scorer Tony Woodcock completed a very impressive training ground line out which split the French defence and allowed Woodcock to get over the line unchallenged. This was followed by a penalty from fourth choice kicker Stephen Donald who was making his world cup debut and the score was 8-0 to the All Blacks.

France hit back with some big tackles and in the second half came out and dominated the game for the first 15 minutes. A converted try from Thierry Dusatoir got them right back in it and set up a grandstand finish which ended with an 18 phase attack from the French breaking down on the New Zealand 10 metre line. From here the All Black surged forward killing the remaining seconds on the clock and securing a dream final victory on home soil.

Cox Plate: Rekindled Interest Backed from $13 to $10

Nick Haslem — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 05:02:36 +0000

Rekindled Interest has been heavily backed to win the Cox Plate after burning up the track this morning and getting the ideal barrier.

Sportingbet Australia CEO Michael Sullivan said the gelding had been backed from $13 to $10 following the draw with 90% of the money since the draw being for him.

“We put him back up at $13 and punters knocked us off the stand with a series of good sized bets,” Sullivan.

“It wasn’t one big bet but a series of $500 each way and $1000 each way bets plus a couple of bigger ones.

“He is now on the third line of betting behind Helmet and Jimmy Choux who are battling it out for favorutism.”

Helmet is a $3.60 favourite with Sportingbet Australia ahead of Jimmy Choux at $3.80 and Sullivan said he was keen to take the pair on.

“Both will be starting from wide barriers and will have to do plenty of work and I think they are both worth risking at their current prices,” he said.

“The race does have a lot of depth and i genuinely think there are seven or eight winning chances in the race.”

2011 Cox Plate
Sportingbet Australia market

HELMET 3.60
JIMMY CHOUX 3.80
REKINDLED INTEREST 10.00
SECRET ADMIRER 11.00
LION TAMER 12.00
GLASS HARMONIUM 14.00
KINGS ROSE 15.00
DESCARADO 16.00
SINCERO 21.00
EFFICIENT 21.00
PINKER PINKER 34.00
PLAYING GOD 41.00
SHAMROCKER 51.00
AVIENUS 61.00
WALL STREET 71.00
YOSEI 101

Taking A Look At Early Season English Premier League Betting

Nick Haslem — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 01:52:53 +0000

The English Premier League (EPL) is now around six full games into their 2011 season, and there have been quite a few interesting and exciting matches. On top of that though, there has been some very interesting betting that has occurred as well on the EPL. Soccer betting is quickly becoming more and more popular all around the world, and the English Premier League is popular in many different countries as well. When you take a look at the top of the standings for this season, you’ll see some familiar names up top, with the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea sitting in the top three positions. One team that has surprised a few people this season is Newcastle United, who had betting odds to win the EPL of 1000 to 1 to start the season. Newcastle is currently sitting in fourth place with 12 points, and has yet to lose a game.

Betting on the EPL early in the season can be tough, as you’ll see that quite a few teams are still in the process of figuring out their lineups and their identities before they get into the heat of the season. One example of a team who is attempting to figure out who they really are would be Arsenal. They are sitting with two wins, three losses, and one draw, but they have been very disappointing with a -5 goal differential. Arsenal was an 8 to 1 favorite to win the entire league at online gambling sites before this season kicked off, and they have been a major disappointment in terms of English Premier League betting as well.

We now move ahead to the upcoming soccer betting for the weekend. Two games that stand out in terms of online betting for this weekend are the Everton vs. Liverpool game, as well as the Blackburn vs. Manchester City. In these two match-ups you’ll find that the team who is favored will give you some good betting odds, and you should also feel confident about how they’ve played this season. The Manchester City game features Man-City with odds of 1.57 to win outright against Blackburn, who has odds of 5.57 to win outright. It wouldn’t surprise many if Manchester City took this one down by a score of two or three to zero. The Liverpool game on the other hand features a team near the top of the standings, and a team who is near the middle. While the stats aren’t incredible for either side, and Liverpool is coming off of a tough loss to Tottenham 4-0 on the road. Liverpool’s odds to take down Everton are currently 2.35, and their offensive firepower should be back and ready to go for the upcoming week.

The English Premier League has been exciting so far this season, and the betting should continue to feature some excellent betting options throughout the 2011-2012 season. Keep an eye out for more excellent betting options out of the EPL in the upcoming weeks, and don’t sleep on these teams who are sitting atop the standings early in the season, as they’re on top for a reason!

PartyPoker Launches Pokerfest Online Tournament Series

Nick Haslem — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:10:19 +0000

Party Poker has announced that they are launching “Pokerfest” which is an online poker tournament series. This comes at a handy time because of Full Tilt burning to the ground so FTOPS is no longer available to us.

Pokerfest 2011 starts on October 23rd and runs till November 6, and will have $3 million in guaranteed prize money. There are 47 events with a main event with $1 million guaranteed.

Best Pokerfest Tournaments

Main Event – $640 buy-in with $1mil gtd.
Event #23 – $215 buy-in with $350 gtd.
Event #46 – $33 buy-in with 50k gtd.

There are side events as well that include jackpots. You’ll have to do extremely well to pick it up though, because they all revolve around you performing highly in a ton of events. You can pick up 20k if you win three of the tournaments, 10k for final table of 10 different Pokerfest tourneys, and 5k for finishing in the money in 10 tourneys.

PartyPoker will be running staellites for the poker tournament series if you don’t have the money to buy in directly. If you can qualify quickly then you can get a shot at a bigger tourney for a fraction of the price obviously. I’ve done this many times for the bigger tournaments, so it’s worth taking a shot at, especially for the $640 main event.

PartyPoker has been impressing me a lot lately, and seem to be excelling in the controversy in the online poker market of late. They are one of the best online poker sites in my honest opinion, and over the next few years expect them to gain traction in the market.

>>> Get full Pokerfest details right here <<<

2011 NRL Grand Final Betting: Bet on Sea Eagles vs Warriors

Nick Haslem — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 03:43:53 +0000

The 2011 NRL Grand Final betting markets are open, huge bets are being put down across the country. This is the biggest game of the year, so get your bets down now.

Best NRL Grand Final Bookmakers

www.Centrebet.com.au – Our #1 NRL Bookmaker – Highly recommended.
www.Sportsbet.com.au
www.Sportingbet.com.au

Bet on 2011 NRL Grand Final

The following bets are just some of the betting options for this year’s GF.

Who Will Win 2011 NRL Grand Final?

This is a tough question, most people will just say “Manly” straight off the bat without giving it much thought. I can understand why as well, as on paper they are a much better team than the Warriors.

Manly Seal Eagles have been flying under the radar all year, especially during the finals series. They have had a couple of easy matches though. First the played a Cowboys outfit that was struggling to win a game, then they played a bashed Broncos team without Lockyer.

The Warriors on the other hand had a lucky escape against the Tigers in the dying minutes, then their best performance of the season against the Storm.

The biggest matchup in this match wil be between the 5/8 of each team. Foran and Maloney have both been in exceptional form and their teams will look to them to get them over the line.

These two teams have the exact same form in their last five matches: WWLWW.

The big question is whether the soft match against the Broncos hurts Manly, and if the Warriors can continue to ride their wave of momentum.

Manly Sea Eagles vs New Zealand Warriors Odds

Manly: $1.48
New Zealand: $2.68

2011 Grand Final Margin Betting

Manly 1-12: $3.05
Manly 13+: $2.69

New Zealand 1-12: $3.95
New Zealand 13+: $6.80

Rugby League Grand Final Tips & Predictions 2011

I’m picking an upset to happen this year, and I’m going with the Warriors. I think they can continue their season best form in the GF.

There’s something about the Manly team that makes me uneasy. I went and watched them played the Dragons at WIN stadium earlier in the year, and they played close to their best football and were belted.

I know they finished 2nd during the season, and the Warriors 6th, but Warriors are in better form.

The Warriors have now beaten both the Tigers and the Storm who were premiership favourites.

If the Warriors can replicate their form from last week than Manly will have a very difficult time containing them. The NEw Zealand forwards will keep rolling forward around the ruck and will eventually string some points together if their fancy plays come off.

I don’t make this tip lightly either, as I haven’t given the Warriors much of a hope all year.

GF Tip: New Zealand Warriors

Grand Final Best Bets

First Try Scorer: James Maloney at $21.00
Warriors 1-12 at $3.95

Black Caviar Opens at $1.25 on Sportingbet

Nick Haslem — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 03:32:50 +0000

Black Caviar has been posted as a $1.25 favourite at Sportingbet Australia after ten horses accepted to take on the champion mare in the T.J Smith Stakes.

Sportingbet Australia CEO Michael Sullivan said he was pleasantly surprised by the depth and quality of the field to take on the undefeated star.

“I thought many of these horses may have dodged Black Caviar thinking she was unbeatable but it is undoubtedly a high quality field,” Sullivan said.

“Luke Nolen has been able to keep her out of trouble in her recent outings but with a field of eleven and plenty of speed in the race, he might not have that luxury here.

“This certainly shapes as her biggest test so far this campaign with the likes of Shoot Out, Hay List, Crystal Lily, Response and Shellscrape set to really test her.

“Perhaps we’re slow learners but we’ll take her on again on Saturday despite the fact she has been an absolute nightmare for us and a dream for punters.”

Sullivan said the good draw of barrier five for Black Caviar would help her but there were still challenges for her to overcome.

“This is her first time going the Sydney way and in high pressure race that could certainly cause problems for her,” Sullivan said.

“There also looks to be plenty of speed in the race with Crystal Lily and Hay List likely to go forward and ensure a good tempo.”

TJ SMITH STAKES

Black Caviar 1.25
Hay List 15.00
Shoot Out 15.00
Crystal Lily 17.00
Shellscrape 26.00
Response 26.00
Hinchinbrook 26.00
Demerit 34.00
Alverta 51.00
All Silent 67.00
Triple Honour 67.00

Horse Racing Big Bets – Saturday 2nd April 2011

Nick Haslem — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 04:56:19 +0000

Sportingbet Big Bets for Saturday 2nd April, 2011

Maluckyday $50,000 ew at $2.80

More Joyous $30,000 at $1.28

Retrieve $10,000 at $2.20

Ilovethiscity $2500ew at $8.00

Karuta Queen $2000 at $17