Gambling Blog

A new casino complex has been opened in Detroit that uses some interesting technology to make it appear as if the floor of one of its nightclubs is one fire.
 

By using thick ice and a novel lighting system, the team behind the development of the fittingly-named Ignite nightclub were able to give the casino a distinctive and fiery appearance.
 

Efforts are being made to establish Detroit as a centre for gaming in the US and Ignite forms part of a newly-refurbished casino complex opened recently by MGM Grand, Bloomberg reports.
 

“Our whole focus is looking at business that maybe will be going to Indianapolis, Chicago, and try to bring that business to the Detroit market,'’ said Tony Brolick, vice president of operations for MGM Grand Detroit.
 

“All the indicators are we’ve turned a major corner now in getting people to commit to Detroit,” he added.
 

The entire MGM Grand complex in Detroit, which incorporates restaurants, retail outlets and a hotel, is themed around flames and gamers are invited to head to the casino and “play with fire”.

A Norwegian gamer has scooped a total of around $10,000 at a World Poker Showdown (WPS) event in Costa Rica.
 

Geir-Yngve Andersen joked that he wanted to live in the Central American country after he went home with his massive cash prize.
 

Mr Andersen earned his seat at the WPS event after qualifying via Titan Poker and he came out on top in a game of No-Limit Texas Hold’em and came in eighth in a big money game on the finals table.
 

“People were very friendly and the tournament organisers did a tremendous job,” said the successfully Scandinavian after enjoying his time in Costa Rica.
 

Titan Poker recently revealed its intention to send some of the best players from its online gaming rooms to the European Poker Tournament that will get underway in the Czech capital Prague next month.

A World Series of Poker champion has been arrested for alleged illegal gambling activity, it has been revealed.
 

The 2005 World Series of Poker Seniors Event winner, William Paul McKinney, was arrested last week along with 15 other men during a gambling raid by police in Tennessee.
 

Cash, playing cards and betting chips were seized when police raided a property only to find several men sitting around a table playing poker, authorities said.
 

Betting slips detailing amount bet on the  weekend’s sporting events were also found.
 

‘Cigar’ McKinney is alleged by police to be one of the game’s organisers, and he now faces aggravated gambling promotion charges along with one other man.
 

The 82-year-old took home a total of $202,725 in his last series win, and was the oldest winner of an event in World Series of Poker history, organisers said.
 

Gambling is illegal in the state of Tennessee.
 

Following on from our earlier post about some of the big gambles which came off, we hereby list an intriguing story about the infamous Salisbury Hermits who certainly made their mark:-

When No Information Equals Large Prices

Even though it may have been the early twentieth century, the Hermits of Salisbury Plain obviously knew the value of information even then! These horse owners pulled off some of the largest betting coups of all time, taking the bookies for a ride in the process.

This group of horse fanatics owned and trained a number of race horses at their top secret Druid Lodge stables, an area which was cut off from public view with visitors by appointment only.  They were so paranoid about information being leaked to the wider world that they even opened the mail of the stable lads to ensure no tips were being passed on.

The syndicate were rumoured to have netted about £250,000 (£10m in today’s money) when Hackler’s Pride won the 1903 Cambridgeshire race,  with nobody aware of what the horse was capable of before the day.  Their strategy of keeping all horses under wraps certainly paid off!

In the same season they also introduced Ypsilanti to the racing world, with the “outsider” backed from 25/1 to 7/2 favourite on the day of the Great Jubilee at Kempton Park.  While the bookies had learned to take notice of their horses, the Hermits still managed to lock in a profit equivalent to £4m in today’s money after taking the earlier 25/1 odds!

While the bookmaking industry of today seems to have informants every where, the early days of horse racing were often shrouded in mystery.  That is not to say that it is impossible to “hood wink” the bookies in today’s market, but it would be a whole lot more difficult.

Scott ‘The Bracelet’ Clements has joined Jared Hamby, Jon Turner and Jordan Morgan at Full Tilt Poker. 

Along with Jonathan ‘Fieryjustice’ Little, Clements is the latest addition to the Full Tilt stable, which has been snapping up poker talent in recent months. 

Known in some quarters as ‘BigRiskky’, Clements won a gold bracelet and a cash prize of $301,175 (£150,000) at the 2006 World Series of Poker. 

He subsequently claimed victory at the Canadian Poker Championship on the World Poker Tour (WPT), a second WSoP bracelet and another WPT title at the North American Poker Championship. 

Born in 1982, Clements only turned pro in 2005. Before that he worked as a mortgage broker. 

In an interview with PokerListings conducted last year, Cements said: “I’ve been playing professionally this year and last year and I played a little bit before then. 

“I used to play online before it became illegal in Washington, then I stopped.” 

We thought it might be interesting to take a look at the more obscure moments in the gambling world which have seen some of the craziest and weirdest gambles of all time bring home the money!

Are you ready ? Let us begin :-

Tony McCoy Keeps It In The Family

In a novice chase as Southwell, jockey Tony McCoy was dismayed when 8/11 favourite Family Business fell during the race.  Sure that his chance of victory had gone, McCoy was making his way back to the stables when he heard news that the other 4 horses in the race had also fallen.  Quick thinking McCoy then re-mounted Family Business, trotting home the only finisher in one of the strangest races of all time.

One hardened gambler in Australia chose to stake £5 at odds of 1,000/1 on Family Business to win, after the horse had fallen and McCoy had dismounted.  This in-play bet sure paid off when the lucky gambler collected £5,000 for his £5 stake, but what about the poor soul who layed the bet, sure that he had £5 in the bag!

The Long Walk Home

In 1836 the famous St Leger race meeting was not quite as sophisticated as it is today, with no horse transport available and all horses having to be walked to race meetings, where ever they may be.  However, when Lord George Bentinck decided to enter his champion Elis into the race the bookies were running scared until they realised that with just a few days to go before the race, Elis was still at the Goodwood stables many many miles away.

Confident that the horse would be in no fit shape to race, the bookies lengthened the odds on the early favourite, effectively deeming the horse as having no chance.  Little did they know that Lord Bentinck had been working on the first horse carrier ever seen, hooking up a number of horses  to the box containing the favourite.  

After being pulled to the race course, Elis arrived in tip top shape, went off 7/2 second favourite and romped home.  Lord Bentinck picked up a tidy amount, having taken the earlier odds when the horse had “no chance”.

More interesting gambles to follow……..

A charity poker day in Dublin, held as part of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT) was a huge success and is in line to break the record €50,000 raised last year. 

The second annual Simon Poker Day raises money for Dublin Simon’s homeless projects. 

The organisers said that all incidental expenses in the running of Simon Poker Day were picked up by the players and no deductions have been made from the donations in order to fund the event. 

The event was well supported by celebrities, though last year’s winner and former World Series of Poker main event winner Noel Furlong was knocked out early. 

Snooker player Ken Doherty also fell early together with former Irish international footballer Tony Cascarino. 

They were joined by many UK and Irish players as well as a few from mainland Europe. 

The overall winner was Waterford man Pat Storan who won €10,690.

Sports bodies in the UK have taken the lead in the fight against corruption and “rigged” events by announcing a tie-up with the Central Council for Physical Recreation to carry out an investigation into how betting markets may offer opportunities for corruption in a number of sports.  Initially the research will concentrate on Football, Cricket, Tennis and Rugby but this is expected to be widened in due course.

The last few weeks have seen a whole host of accusations in the tennis world, we are also in the middle of a major horse racing court case with regards to possible manipulation of events, and there have been numerous legal actions in the US over recent times.  In isolation it is easy to say there is not a real problem, but when you consider the instances of corruption and rumours across the whole spectrum of sports, it does begin to get a little worrying.  So what will the researchers be looking at?

While they will be look at a whole host of sub betting markets, they are rumoured to be targeting the “novelty” end of the market which appears to be nothing but fun, but can be very easy to manipulate.  In cricket we are seeing such bets as how many players will wear sunglasses, how many times the bails will come off, and in football we are seeing bets on the time for the first throw-in and corner, etc.  This is often the end of the market which many regulators over look, but there is potential for large gains and corruption – which can often go unnoticed.

At the heart of this announced review of the relationship between sport and gambling is the possible disenfranchisement of sponsors.  After all, which multi-million pound company would want to be associated with a sport which had the stench of corruption hanging over it? 

Over the years the gambling industry has created a whole new dialect of its own, some exclusive to certain regions of the world and some more wider known.  Where some of these phrases come from is anyone’s guess, but see how many you recognise or relate to :-

“A fool and their money are soon parted”

Meaning: Unless you are sensible when gambling, it is very very easy to lose your money very quickly.

“In a bet there is a fool and a thief”

Meaning: For most bets there is one person who takes the outside chance, and the other has effectively stolen your money because it is so easy.

“The safest way to double your money is to fold it over once and out it in your pocket”

Meaning: There is no easy way to make money at gambling, where there are risks associated with even the most obvious of bets.

“No wife can endure a gambling husband, unless he is a steady winner”

Meaning: Nobody likes a loser!

“A bookmaker’s pension”

Meaning: An outside bet that has very little chance of coming in – easy money for a bookmaker.

“Luck never gives, it only lends”

Meaning: Even if you are lucky, you will soon give it all back.

“At the gaming table there are no fathers and sons”

Meaning: When gambling you have no friends, it is everyone for themselves.

“There is no such thing as a dead cert”

Meaning: No winner is ever guaranteed, no matter what the odds are.

“No dog can go as fast as the money you bet on him”

Meaning: When you gamble on the dogs, your money can be gone in an instant.

“You never see a poor bookmaker”

Meaning: There is only one winner in the gambling game – the bookmaker!

Harvard, one of America’s most prestigious educational institutions, is leading the way in making poker a part of serious academic study, according to reports.
 

Charles Nesson, a professor at Harvard Law School, has initiated a number of seminar sessions focusing on how poker can be interpreted as “a game of truth in life and law” and can offer insights into effective business strategy.
 

“I like poker because it’s a way of thinking,” Professor Neeson is quoted as saying by Boston.com.
 

“People who are into poker have a lot of trouble holding on to absolutes. To me, it’s a way of thinking liberally and seeing what the world looks like from another person’s point of view,” he continued.
 

The growing interest in poker at Harvard has also seen the university’s students establish the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, which organises gaming-focussed events and already has chapters at a number of US colleges.
 

Franklin Roosevelt and John F Kennedy are among the list of well-known ex-students of Harvard, which is the oldest private university in America.

As Poker continues to touch more and more areas of the world, with more people than ever using the various Poker forums available, many are starting to ask whether the sell by date for these discussion areas is fast approaching.  It seems that the quality is not what it used to be, but what really is the problem?

There seem to be a number of concerns about some of the leading Poker forums, including :-

• A lack of quality discussion.  Much of the discussion seems to have turned to more trivial subjects, deflecting form the actual game itself.
• SPAM.  We are seeing more and more self promotion of websites, ebooks and the like.  While many of these may be useful to the beginner, there is a time and a place and this is not it.

While we all appreciate that Poker websites and Poker forums are in the industry to make money, they will only make the real money by offering quality, clean discussions.  Too much SPAM, too much off subject chat will lose many of the new Poker players of today, who are ultimately looking for guidance, for chat and help – something which the very best forums still offer.

As with any popular business on the internet, online Poker has attracted many people looking to make a quick buck, the kind of people who do not actually have an expert knowledge of the game.  In order to be successful in any industry you really need to know what you are talking about and what is actually happening in the industry.

Are forums on the way out?

While many forums are starting to give the industry a bad name, there are still some good forums out there, people who actually take a pride in what they present, know the game and know what players (new and old) want to see and discuss.  We just need more of them!

Increased competition from new East Coast venues and the recently-introduced smoking ban have seen profits at the gaming giant Trump Entertainment Resorts decrease slightly over the last quarter, a new report from the company has revealed.

The introduction of new gaming facilities in the neighbouring states of Pennsylvania and New York has seen Trump’s Atlantic City operations suffer significantly over the past six months, with net revenues falling by $7.3 million, or 2.5 per cent, over the third quarter of 2007.Of the company’s three Atlantic City sites, the Marina suffered from a 46.7 per cent fall in profits, equivalent to $8.6 million, over the three months to the end of September, the report also shows.

However, Trump Taj Mahal experienced a $2.0 million growth in profits to $37.0 million, equivalent to 5.7 per cent growth, while Trump Plaza’s profits soared by 28 per cent, or $3.7 million, to $16.9 million.

Commenting on the figures, Mark Jaliano, chief executive office of Trump Entertainment Resorts, was upbeat, stating: “We continue to look forward to the future growth and development of the marketplace as Atlantic City continues to evolve into a destination resort, which we believe will have a positive effect on our changing business model.”

In what promises to be one of the games of the season so far, Saturday’s early kick-off sees Arsene Wenger take on his arch-rival Sir Alex Ferguson.  Many may be surprised to learn that even though Ferguson seems to be able to get under Wengers’ skin, it is the Arsenal man who has the “magic” sign over Ferguson in their head to head statistics.  But who will win this latest encounter?

It would most certainly take a brave person to actually step in with an outright forecast for the game, but there is every chance of a goal feast for the fans.  Both teams are on fire in front of goal, with United hitting an impressive 4 goals in each of their last four games – but can they make it five on the trot?

Arsenal on the other hand look a good bet with their defence rock solid, against an often shaky United back four, and both the midfield and attack joining in the goal scoring of late.  Perhaps the games needs an early goal to focus the minds of the players, and take out the dreaded “looking for a draw” scenario.  Thankfully this is not a style which any of the teams are well known for, even though so much is at stake.

Arsenal stormed to the top very early in the season although they have been pulled back a little over the last couple of weeks.  United on the other hand had a distaterous start to the season and saw many people writing off their chances of winning the Premiership, then came the troubles at Chelsea. 

All of a sudden United took the lead, pushing forward, scoring goals and moving their way up the league,  and before the Chelsea saga had calmed down Ferguson had pushed his men back to the top of the Premiership table.  It would take a mighty brave person to bet against the crafty Scot.