The U.S. Trade Representative is considering launching a WTO challenge of China’s internet restrictions. And in a twist right out of The Twilight Zone, they may base their challenge (in part) on the 2005 WTO ruling that Antigua’s online gambling industry had been unfairly denied access to the American market. (It’s not known if America’s challenge will utilize the lyrics to Radiohead’s Electioneering: I go forwards, you go backwards, somewhere we will meet.) A law professor in Singapore was puzzled as to what America hoped to gain from the action, beyond “an...
March Madness is almost upon us and it’s estimated that 45% of Americans will fill out brackets in their NCAA office pools. That act is technically illegal in many jurisdictions, but a January 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management revealed that 55% of HR managers believe office pools have a positive impact in the workplace. You know what would improve workplace morale even more? Putting gin in the water cooler. Read more.
A shadowy vision is helping lottery players win jackpots. Ever since it first appeared just before Chinese New Year, crowds have begun to gather outside the gates of the Fook Cheng Khoong temple in Bercham, Malaysia, to gaze at the apparition. Some have even used it to win money “by correctly interpreting the vision and betting on the corresponding four-digit numbers found in the guidebook for lottery punters.” There’s a guidebook for lottery players that interprets ghostly images in numerical terms? What’s it called? The Big Book of Bullshit? Read more.
Okay, what do you want to know about online bingo? The name of the company that just signed a sponsorship deal with the UK’s highest-rated TV show? The details behind Italy’s re-legalization of online bingo? Wanna play bingo on the radio? Seriously, say ‘uncle’ or we’re tell you some more.
A lot of bizarre shit gets bandied about while poker players are waiting on cards to be dealt. Now a conversation between Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and Phil Ivey has led to a $1M prop bet on whether meat-lover Ivey could go vegetarian for a full year. Few details have been offered on how precisely Ivey’s adherence to the meatless regimen will be monitored, but we doubt it involves Phoebe Cates walking in on Ivey whenever he goes to the bathroom to check if he’s McChoking a McChicken on the sly. Read more.
When we’re talking about Betting on the 2010 Football World Cup, this time we’re talking the other football, the football without pads, with a round ball, and where flopping is not only permitted, it’s encouraged. North Americans may be rolling their eyes but the excitement for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is already growing at a feverish rate almost everywhere in the world, except of course in North America. While some sportsbooks sit back, others are leading the way. In North America we have more important sports things on our agenda that come before we can even begin to think about...
How does one separate the lads from the Ladbrokes? With a crowbar, apparently. Having lost interest in handing Calvin Ayre the keys to the executive suite, Ladbrokes has cozied up to Irish boy band star Shayne Lynch to pimp their poker offering. “We’re not like other sites that spend huge amounts on poker professionals that their players will never be able to relate to,” announced Ladbrokes Poker’s Kate McLennan, clearly convinced that the poker-playing public has far more in common with millionaire pop stars who while away the hours rehearsing their crotch-grab choreography....
It’s been a college basketball season full of upsets, the most recent one being against the number one ranked Big East champion Syracuse, who I am now questioning on whether they are good enough to make a Final Four run. Read more. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that there were upsets in the individual achievement awards as well, namely in the ACC. The Maryland Terrapins swept the big awards for the ACC this year by winning both Player of the Year and Coach of the Year awards. It’s a bit of a shocker to me, as I thought and would have bet on the Duke Bluedevils to sweep those awards. I thought...
With the Super Bowl and the Oscars in the books, the World Cup not yet upon us and movie futures mired in the play money stage, what’s a prop bettor to wager on? What about the odds of President Obama passing his healthcare bill, which has recently crossed the 60% ‘likely’ threshold? And is it an even better bet that some cranky pundit will label people betting on health care as sick gamblers? Read more.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before online gambling jumped into the lottery style entertainment gambling. Now online sportsbooks like Intertops are giving bettors an opportunity to get in on the Powerball action without having to visit the Quick E Mart. Read more.