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Which football players are good at golf?

Football and golf are two sports that seem to go hand in hand. It has been proven for decades that footballers can escape the everyday pressures of football by playing golf.

A relaxing sport, many current and ex-professionals have excelled not only on the pitch but also on the greens. 

As recently as the start of this month, we saw Premier League club Brighton’s stars take on a golfing challenge courtesy of Betway, with Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy, Pascal Gross and Adam Lallana going up against each other in pairs to see who could drive the ball the furthest, who could hit an approach nearest the pin and who could scramble their way out of a bunker. 

As you can imagine with four professional footballers the action was competitive and there were also several questionable moments, as you can see in the video below.

Let’s now look at the most famous footballers who also love golf.

Gareth Bale

It would be wrong to start any article talking about which footballers are good at golf without mentioning Gareth Bale. In fact, if there is any footballer that might spike an interest in the golf betting were he to join the tour, it would be Bale, such is his reputed love for the game.

Despite getting off to an electric start at Real Madrid, things have soured for the Welshman and part of that is because of Bale’s love of golf.

The Welsh Wizard has made no secret about his love for the game and it’s reported that he has recreated some of the most famous holes in the world at his home. Over the last few seasons, Bale has had a string of different injuries and many in the Spanish media believe it is just his way of ensuring that he can play more golf. 

Harry Kane

The Spurs and English hitman loves his golf – as football fans would have seen in his interview on Gary Neville’s Overlap podcast – and reportedly plays off a four handicap. Kane’s love of the game is so great that he has been to watch The Open in person as well as making a whistle-stop tour to this year’s Masters.

Kane loves spending time on the golf course and who knows what the future might bring once he has hung up his boots.

Andriy Shevchenko

The former Ukrainian star is a mad golfer. The ex Chelsea and AC Milan striker even turned professional back in 2013, competing in the Kharkov Superior Cup. Despite finishing 121st out of 131 players, Shevchenko is one of the best footballers to make the transition from the pitch to the fairways.

Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer is the Premier League’s top scorer and he has shown numerous times that he can be just as effective on the golf course. At any of the leading Pro Am events in the UK Shearer is a name you will often see on the leaderboard. 

Posted: 19th, April 2022 | In: Sports | Comment


Spider-Man: No Way Home Unmasks its Green Goblin

Sony has released its new poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home which focuses on Tom Holland as Spider-Man, but also, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stranger and Zendaya as MJ. The poster comes after last week’s trailer release which confirmed the appearances of Sandman from Spider-Man 3 and Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man

The latter two movies are simply two of the many Spider-Man appearances that this comic character has had over the years. Spider-Man appeared in other movies such as Iron Man 2, in various TV series, comics, docuseries, one-shots, clothing merchandise, popular video games such as the Spider-Man video game in 2018, and even in online casinos as slot games such as Spider-Man: Attack of the Green Goblin by Playtech, the developer behind some of the best new slot sites out there. 

Albeit in arm form for Doc Ock, the three main villains also appear on the poster, Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, and Electro. However, what struck fans the most out of this poster is the fact that the Goblin appears as a maskless Willem Dafoe. 

There is still so much speculation to be made on Spider-Man: No Way Home. It is still very unclear the roles that Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield will have in this movie. However, Sony is doing a great job at keeping the mystery for this movie which is further creating the necessary hype and tension. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home will also see the return of Marisa Tomei as May Parker, Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson, and J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. What we know so far about the movie is that it will pick up from where Spider-Man: Far From Home left off, with Peter Parker trying to clear his name from the damage that Mysterio has done. He attempts to seek help from Doctor Strange, although this will backfire and cause other complications for Peter. 

Spider-Man: No Way Home will hit the theatres on December 17. 

Posted: 30th, November 2021 | In: Film | Comment


Government wants to stop FA selling rights to betting companies

The Government is worried that people who look to the Football Association for moral direction are being let down by the organisation’s decision to sell FA Cup broadcast rights via a third party to Bet365. Nicky Morgan, for one was aghast. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport tweeted: “I hope they will reconsider.”

You can watch lots of dogs and horses racing along tracks in the bookies, as well as darts, tennis and squash. But something about football always upsets the righteous.

To watch the game on Bet365’s app or website, fans must first place a bet or deposit money into an account. In short, you pay. But unlike watching football, say, on the BBC, you pay and have a chance to win your money back or turn a profit. If that sounds a bit like an advert for gambling, it isn’t meant to be. And it’s way too subtle. Gambling adverts are loud. They challenge men to measure their worth by circling the plughole in a pissing contest with Ray Winstone, women to have ‘a bit of fun’ with a furry, and children tuning in to pre-watershed telly to know that betting is normal and synonymous with “good causes”.

Sports minister Nigel Adams tells us: “The gambling landscape has changed since this deal was signed in early 2017. All sports bodies need to be mindful of the impact that problem gambling can have on the most vulnerable.”

Does he mean that the “most vulnerable” who won’t watch the footy on the BBC – having paid a license fee on pain of law – but on the web? This is hard cheese on rough sleepers, the homeless and anyone in locked inside secure mental healthy facilities miles from home. The Government is not worried about those kind of vulnerables. It is worried about, well, who? And how serious is the Government about curtailing gambling?

According to one auditor, the UK betting industry is worth £6bn a year and employs 100,000 people. “The figures, equivalent to 0.5% of UK gross domestic product (GDP) and 0.3% of total UK employment respectively, are published in a study entitled The Full Picture commissioned by Ladbrokes to illustrate the industry’s value to the UK economy.”

A sizeable chunk of the cash goes to Bet365 founder Denise Coates, who paid herself £323m last year. All taxed. All honest. All above board. Which is more than you can say for a Government, which does business with all manner of interesting companies and unenlightened regimes but demands football and footballers teach the vulnerable the right path.

It’s almost as if they want us to talk about the easy stuff and avoid the bigger questions which should demand more attention.

Posted: 8th, January 2020 | In: News | Comment


Football and betting: Stop using Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea to advertise your own sound morals

Stop promoting 1xBet or else. News is that the Russian gambling company has no licence to operate in the UK. The Gambling Commission tells the Sunday Times it has written to Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool, warning them to sever tis with 1xBet. The penalty for non-compliance, according to the paper: unlimited fines and up to 51 week’s prison. Spurs have terminated the deal.

The Sunday Times investigation into the firm’s global operations found that 1xBet was promoting a casino featuring topless croupiers, taking bets on children’s sports, advertising on illegal websites and cockfighting live streams emblazoned with the three club’s logos. In response to the findings, the Gambling Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation.

Some of the clubs’ top players, including Roberto Firmino, Willian and Olivier Giroud, have all fronted campaigns for the Russian company, which is now based in Cyprus.

xBet are quoted:

“We take very seriously the allegation that 1xBet’s brand has been promoted on prohibited sites, which is strictly against our policies, and we have launched an investigation. Pending the outcome . . . we believe it is responsible to temporarily suspend our advertising activity in the UK.”

Has the company been unlucky? The Times links to a wider issue, telling readers of a “growing backlash over the bankrolling of football by the gambling industry”. There is from our knowing betters. “Players need to start using their considerable power to reject gambling’s influence on football,” opined Church of England gambling spokesperson Dr Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans in reaction to Wayne Rooney striking deal with betting firm 32Red. And this from Labour MP Carolyn Harris, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling: “When will celebrities realise that involvement in gambling is not right or moral? Many people look to Wayne Rooney as a role model and yet he is prepared to sell his soul.”

When did Wazza become employed by Public Heath England?

Troy Deeney, the Watford skipper, had a word on the tosh about role models: “I don’t like the word role model, first and foremost. The role model should be in the house at all times… What are we basing the role model on? Because we’re in the limelight. I don’t like that.”

One thing you can bet on: politicians scurrying around for a cause and sense of purpose by which to showcase their sound morals and protect the poor from themselves will keep hammering football and footballers. It’s a dead cert.

Posted: 1st, September 2019 | In: Money, News, Sports | Comment


The Hidden Dangers of Cheltenham; It isn’t Just the Horses Who Should Be Careful.

This year’s Cheltenham festival is already underway, with scores of racing fans flocking to the four-day event in Gloucestershire. They may come for the horses, but many stay for the food, the entertainment, and of course, the booze! While flat events like Epsom and the Grand National can often be seen as snobby and elitist, Cheltenham, with its thrilling jumps and hurdles, has something for everybody. The passion of the jockeys bubbles over into the crowd, whipping up ardent fans and newcomers alike. For those on both sides of the paddock, Cheltenham is often viewed as the jewel in the jump racing crown, the highlight of the year for everyone involved.

For the jockeys, Cheltenham is the one date in their calendar that they do not want to miss. It is the competition that everyone is training for, and everyone wants to win. Think of it like being asked to play the main stage at Glastonbury, or walking out onto the pitch for the FA Cup final. Except they’re being paid far less than the rock stars and the footballers, and are far more likely to wind up with a broken bone.

When a serious fall happens, it isn’t just the horse who could wind up with a serious injury. Jockeys have been trampled, crushed and dragged along, all by the partner they’ve trained with day-in, day-out, often for years. Ruby Walsh, one of the greatest modern jockeys, often dubbed the King of Cheltenham, has had his fair share of injuries in his 20 year career. His philosophy is ‘move on. Fix it. Let’s go. So you know why it happened and then you do the rehab and get back.’ He’s broken his fair share of bones over the years, so has a pretty good idea of the recovery process. But many others find it harder to bounce back. Which is why there is a specific charity with its own rehabilitation centres to help them recover from the traumas, both mental and physical.

But why do the jockeys need a charity? There isn’t one for footballers, rugby players or even formula one drivers, surely they get injured just as often? Well, over jumps, jockey’s average a fall every 16 rides, 18% of these result in injury, meaning there is one injury every 83 rides. With the average jump jockey taking 215 rides per-year, the charity is certainly warranted.  

To add insult to injury, it might surprise you to find out that some of these jockeys probably get paid less than you do. The average salary for a jockey equates to around £26,000, compared to a staggering £2.6 million for a Premier League footballer. Is the risk of being a jockey really worth it without the paycheck to back it up? CheltenhamFestival.net have created a tool which compares various sports from a risk vs reward point of view, the results suggest they have due cause to be feeling a little Jocked Off.

Of course one thing you can’t measure is the passion these jockeys feel for their horses and the thrill of the competition. And Cheltenham Festival brings them from all over the country for the biggest event of the horse jumping calendar. It’s their chance to show off and compete amongst the best of the best, the time when they might finally be able to answers, once and for all, who is top dog…or umm, top horse!

Posted: 15th, March 2019 | In: Sports | Comment


Is Premier League sponsorship still a viable option?

Is Premier League sponsorship still a viable option? – Post Supplied.

Traditionally, sponsorship in sport has always been an attractive option for marketers. Over  the years, sports have been able to accommodate near enough any type of brand or business; which is one of the many reasons why this type of marketing activity has been a favourite for many brands and businesses. So it will come as no surprise that with the resurgence of the English Premier League, there has been a huge amount of interest and money that have been associated with it.

The Premier League, the highest level of professional football in England is now considered by most to be the best known and most followed league in the world. This along with the fact that the league is projected to generate a huge 5.65 billion Euros in 2018/19, goes to show just why it is so expensive to either sponsor a Premier League team or even the league itself.

The massive worldwide viewing figures the Premier League attracts still makes it a very attractive sponsorship opportunity despite the cost, seeing an estimated 12 million people on average tune in worldwide to view each game. Many large organisations are still choosing to sponsor Premier league teams. For example, car manufacturer Chevrolet is spending approximately £53 million per year to sponsor Manchester United, while bank Standard Chartered have agreed a new deal with Liverpool worth £40 million a year, both of whom are included in the £300 million that is realised in sponsorship revenues by the top 6 clubs. However, it is not just the top clubs that are raking it in, but even struggling teams like Newcastle United are benefitting from very lucrative sponsorship deals. Currently, Mike Ashely’s club is with betting company Fun88, a deal that is valued at £6.5 million per year.

At the moment betting companies are dominating the shirt sponsorship of EPL teams, with 9 of the 20 Premier League teams featuring a betting company as the main sponsor on their shirt. This has been a relatively new trend, as 20 years ago shirt sponsorships were dominated by electronics companies, including Sanderson Electronics who actually sponsored two teams in the Premier League at the same time, Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton. The first club to feature the name of a betting company on their shirt was Fulham in 2002, when they were sponsored by Betfair.

The actual league used to have a main sponsor, that would be featured in the name, for example it has been previously Barclays Premier League, Barclaycard Premiership and before that the Carling Premiership. Now, the league has no sponsor which it is named after, however still has many big name sponsors. Coca Cola is now the official soft drink partner of the Premier League, joining other big name sponsors such as Tag Heuer, Cadbury, Nike, EA Sports and Barclays, who have now become the banking partner of choice for the league.

The kit sponsorships are also still dominated by major sporting brands. Adidas have the largest share of kits with 30% of Premier League clubs wearing an Adidas kit.

So it is clear by the presence of so many big brands associated with the Premier League and its teams, that it is definitely still an effective marketing strategy to get your brand out to a bigger audience. In spite of the substantial costs that are associated with this form of advertising, if a business can afford to do this, it is definitely worth it, as the audience for the Premier League is not going to drop anytime soon. This is why massive brands will continue to sponsor the Premier League, especially with the viewership not just limited to the UK, but also includes audiences from all over the world. 

Posted: 3rd, January 2019 | In: Online-PR | Comment


Premier League odds and views

With the Premier League proving to be as exciting as ever, the top teams of the competition are slowly but surely starting to show their faces. For punters, this is the perfect time to lock in the odds and maximise their profits when it comes to the finals. This has been a year of many stories, from team gossips to a few scandals here and there, but the games have remained as thrilling as ever.

Looking at the present points tally, Manchester City is on top. They remain undefeated with 13 wins and 2 draws and are listed at 2/9 odds to win the championship. If you still haven’t placed your bets, then do it now and make the most of the free bets and welcome bonuses that bookmakers give out. However, for a more spread out bet, make sure you look into Liverpool and Tottenham as they both are hot on the heels of Manchester City and quite ready to knock them off the top spot.

Golden Boot
When it comes to acknowledging the individual players, the Golden Boot of the Premier League is one of the top-most achievements anyone can have. Bettors can claim a number of free bets including up to £300 welcome bonus to enhance their winnings by placing bets on players like Pierre-Emerick and Harry Kane who are at 10 and 9 goals respectively at present. While Pierre is listed at 4/1 odds to walk away with the boot, Harry Kane remains a favourite with 9/4 odds. However, the magic of football is such that things can change in one game. So, it is essential to keep a watch on players like Sergio Aguero, Glenn Murray, and Callum Wilson who have scored 8 goals each so far.

What’s in the Future
There has been a growing trend of tweaking rules and procedures by FIFA in recent years. These new set of rules are having a dramatic impact on the way football is managed. The latest statement from the governing body hinted towards limiting the number of players on loans for clubs. This will undoubtedly affect a few clubs and their investments. Some of the other rules in question, but not finalised yet, include removing off-side and allowing only the captain of the team to speak with the referee if required. In the long run, if the loan rule comes into play, it will certainly add an exciting element for punters to bet on.

Bench Warmers
When the Premier League started, all that people could talk about was the growing tension between Mesut Ozil and his Arsenal manager Unai Emery. This was amplified when Ozil was left out of games, although officially it was stated that this was due to health issues. Now, we see a similar tension between Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho and team members Pogba and Lukaku. They both were benched for the majority of the game against Arsenal. An astute bettor will keep note of such things and also pay attention to the latest odds that place Arsenal at 80/1 and Manchester United at 500/1 to win the championship.

Posted: 24th, December 2018 | In: Online-PR, Sports | Comment


West Ham players pot the red and screw back

Image: Betway

Betway, sponsorss of the 2018 UK Snooker Championship, invited West Ham players Marko Arnautovic, Mark Noble, Robert Snodgrass and Javier Hernandez down to their local boozer for a coaching from former World Champions Steve Davies and John Parrott. A fame of ‘Crazy Snooker’ kicked off – that’s snooker with obstacles.

Loads bantz as the lads try to knock the ball up the Bendy Wendy, through the Helter Skelter, over the Water Wheel, on the Runaway Train and avoid the Trap Door:

 

Spotter: Betway

Posted: 15th, December 2018 | In: Online-PR | Comment


Premier League – News, Views, Teams, and Players

Premier League – News, Views, Teams, and Players.

With the Premier League proving to be as exciting as ever, the top teams of the competition are slowly but surely starting to show their faces. For punters, this is the perfect time to lock in the odds and maximise their profits when it comes to the finals. This has been a year of many stories, from team gossips to a few scandals here and there, but the games have remained as thrilling as ever.

Looking at the present points tally, Manchester City is on top. They remain undefeated with 13 wins and 2 draws and are listed at 2/9 odds to win the championship. If you still haven’t placed your bets, then do it now and make the most of the free bets and welcome bonuses that bookmakers give out. However, for a more spread out bet, make sure you look into Liverpool and Tottenham as they both are hot on the heels of Manchester City and quite ready to knock them off the top spot.

Golden Boot
When it comes to acknowledging the individual players, the Golden Boot of the Premier League is one of the top-most achievements anyone can have. Bettors can claim a number of free bets including up to £300 welcome bonus to enhance their winnings by placing bets on players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Harry Kane who are at 10 and 9 goals respectively at present. While Pierre is listed at 4/1 odds to walk away with the boot, Harry Kane remains a favourite with 9/4 odds. However, the magic of football is such that things can change in one game. So, it is essential to keep a watch on players like Sergio Aguero, Glenn Murray, and Callum Wilson who have scored 8 goals each so far.

What’s in the Future
There has been a growing trend of tweaking rules and procedures by FIFA in recent years. These new set of rules are having a dramatic impact on the way football is managed. The latest statement from the governing body hinted towards limiting the number of players on loans for clubs. This will undoubtedly affect a few clubs and their investments. Some of the other rules in question, but not finalised yet, include removing off-side and allowing only the captain of the team to speak with the referee if required. In the long run, if the loan rule comes into play, it will certainly add an exciting element for punters to bet on.

Bench Warmers
When the Premier League started, all that people could talk about was the growing tension between Mesut Ozil and his Arsenal manager Unai Emery. This was amplified when Ozil was left out of games, although officially it was stated that this was due to health issues. Now, we see a similar tension between Manchester United’s Jose Mourinho and team members Pogba and Lukaku. They both were benched for the majority of the game against Arsenal. An astute bettor will keep note of such things and also pay attention to the latest odds that place Arsenal at 80/1 and Manchester United at 500/1 to win the championship.

Posted: 13th, December 2018 | In: Online-PR | Comment


Forever Young: why adults still sleep with cuddly toys

Forever Young: Why Do Adults Still Sleep With Cuddly Toys?

When you were very small, you probably had a teddy bear. It’s a rite of passage for every young child; some relative will buy one for us the moment we’re born, and it’s there by our side for the entire time we’re growing up. They get battered and beaten, an eye falls off, a parent has to do their best at stitching it up when a hole appears in it, and by the time you’re six or seven it looks like it’s survived a war. You love it, though. It’s been your constant companion for as long as you can remember. Getting rid of it can be quite a wrench.

It’s even more of a wrench if you have a whole fleet of the things surrounding you. Having one teddy bear can lead to a love of all things soft and cuddly, and your favourite bear might have a whole army of fluffy friends including hippos, gorillas, giraffes, penguins, and just about any other cute looking animal who can be rendered in a form you can snuggle up to. However, the day finally came where you were no longer a child. Even the Bible saw this day coming. To quote Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” The text seems to explicitly suggest that it’s men who should be putting the toys in the bin when they reach a certain age, but it’s generally expected of both sexes that eventually you’ll stop collecting toys and start worrying about getting a mortgage instead.

In the 21st Century, we don’t seem to be following that understanding anymore.

Soft Toys Become Forever Friends

A study conducted earlier on this year has revealed that a staggering forty three percent of Americans still sleep with a stuffed toy. It wasn’t a small survey either; over two thousand people were polled, and nearly half of them are still taking a teddy bear – or something very much like a teddy bear – to bed with them. You might look at that figure, smile to yourself, and think ‘typical Americans’, but this is not exclusively a British issue.

You have to go back a little further to find a reliable survey that was performed in the UK, but Travelodge asked six thousand people about it in 2010, and found that half of us at least own a teddy bear from childhood, and a third of them still go to bed with them. Even more amazingly, twenty five percent of the men who answered in the affirmative even said they go so far as to take their teddy bear away on business with them, because it ‘reminds them of home’.

The fact that we’re talking about men at all will come as a surprise to some. Many of you reading this article will have looked at the figures and presumed that the adults we’re talking about are mostly, if not all, women. Wrong again. Going back to the American study, eighty percent of all men still at least own at least one stuffed toy from childhood, even if they’re not going to bed with them. The figure for women is seventy seven percent.

The next supposition might be that it’s the Millennials, who are perceived as ‘soft’, who can’t bear to give their soft toys up. 30% of those 45-54 are apparently arctophiles, too. It’s not one age, or one gender, or one location. It’s all of us.

Why Is It Happening?

We’ll be careful with this question, because we’re very conscious that half of you reading this have a teddy bear and don’t believe there’s any issue with it, whereas the other half are stunned by the idea that there are so many people out there who have bedrooms that presumably look exactly the same way they did when they were ten.

For those who don’t go to bed with their teddy bears, the reasons for keeping them are usually sentimental. They’re often on shelves, or in unused parts of the house, gathering dust. As with many things we find when we go to cut down on clutter, coming across them again stirs memories, and when the nostalgia bites we can’t bring ourselves to throw them away. The fact it’s a teddy bear is immaterial; they’d feel the same about an old photo album. It’s just a reminder of happy times.

For the adults, the teddy is more likely to have become an ‘attachment object’. They’re go to items which we associate with reducing stress or anxiety. Perhaps it’s because they remind us of childhood, and a childhood was a safe place away from the strains and concerns of adult life. It’s a known phenomenon to psychologists, who say it’s a mostly harmless habit.

Entertainment Connections

It would seem that we have all been holding onto our teddy bears for decades, and not speaking to each other about it. The knowledge that so many other people out there are doing it is presumably comforting to those who do. If nearly half of the population have a teddy bear, then we certainly can’t call it weird. In fact, figures like that suggest there’s a vast swathe of the population who have an interest that isn’t being catered to.

That fact that this information is now known might explain the slow emergence of soft toys in the world of grown up entertainment. The popular online slot game Fluffy Favourites features a whole host of cuddly characters, with cute features designed to remind the player of childhood. It’s one of several games on the Money Reels website to contain features that remind us of childhood, but it’s by far and away the most popular. Something about the game obviously tapped into the preferences of casual gamblers, and made it a more attractive choice to play than the others games offered on the website.

Then there’s the ‘Ted’ movies, which if you haven’t seen, are the hilarious escapades of one man and his teddy bear, who’ve been friends since childhood. The bear, like his owner, has become sassy, foul mouthed and ill-behaved, but then it’s as old as he is, so why shouldn’t it? Both movies were a huge success, making massive amounts of money and suggesting there’s a definite audience out there for adult-and-bear stories.

So, then, here we are. We can no longer say that teddy bears are the preserve of childhood. They’re our friends for life, and may go on to outlast most of our adult relationships. How long before we see a teddy bear ‘walk someone up the aisle’, or serve as a groom’s ‘best man’? Should we start allowing new recruits to the army to bring them along to barracks? Time will tell. It always does.

Posted: 21st, November 2018 | In: Strange But True | Comment


‘First Man’ reveals interesting facts about Neil Armstrong

‘First Man’ reveals interesting facts about Neil Armstrong

A small step for a man a giant leap for humanity that is how Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon was described back then. An authorized biography of Neil Armstrong was published in 2005 which goes by the name ‘First Man’. Recently a movie of the same name was also released. When Sinatra sang “Fly me to the moon”, he’d never have thought that it might become a possibility. That’s exactly what Elon Musk’s SpaceX programme is trying to do, start commercial trips to the moon for billionaire passengers. This has been the biggest development since the moon landing. Moon is the closest object to us in the space and thus the idea of buying land on the moon is not inconceivable anymore.

 


But all that is in the distant future. Let us talk about the moon landing and the facts that the recently released movie has not documented.

Neil Armstrong never believed space travel would be possible

He believed that he had born in the wrong generation. He was a naval pilot during the Second World War and thought that the limits of aeronautical greatness were already reached. He once said that “all the flights that have set records such as across the oceans, over the poles and to the remotest places on earth have all been accomplished.

Who’d step on the moon first

In March of 1969 just months before the date of landing the NASA had not come to the decision as to who’d be the first man to land on the moon. But then four big shots in the NASA met and decided that it had to be Neil Armstrong who had a calm, quiet and composed personality. He was said to be of the ‘Lindbergh type’ – the first man to complete the trans-Atlantic voyage non-stop. 

He was quiet but had a sense of humour

The movie depicts Armstrong as an introvert. And that was more or less true in real life too. The people close to him have said that he was a man who believed that a man’s actions define him more than his words do. His wife Janet also agreed that silence is her husband’s answer to most things.

However the film fails to capture Armstrong’s humour. After the Apollo XI mission he revealed about a geology prank that he had thought of. He said that he was planning to sneak a piece of limestone on Apollo XI and tell it to be a rock from the moon on returning. He didn’t follow through on it though but what a story that could have been!

Another moment highlights his easy going nature. Just before entering the spaceship he gave a card to Guenter Wendt, the launch pad leader, which read “Space Taxi – good between any two planets”.

The first moon landing was a remarkable achievement for mankind. And there is a lesson to take there. When we are together as one there is nothing mankind can’t achieve.

Posted: 14th, November 2018 | In: Technology, The Consumer | Comment


The death of bingo halls

The death of bingo halls

If bingo were a sport, it would be the 6th most popular sport in the country. Over 1.9 million people regularly play bingo each month in this country compared to 1.7 million who play tennis.

Online bingo is the main driver in popularity for bingo, with weekly bingo hall figures dropping by more than 14% in the past year alone. The death of the bingo hall, while sad, is completely and entirely expected – given the comfort and convenience with which they can play their favourite game, and the high-quality, engaging nature of the graphics you can get for free online. That’s why you can’t blame many players heading to sites such as Wink Bingo which are infinitely more appealing than their local bingo hall.

But bingo halls leave behind a rather amusing legacy. Let’s look back at some of the funniest bingo stories from the annals of time.

Bingo brawls

Bingo traditionally brings out the worst in people, particularly those of an older generation who may on the outside seem genteel, calm and placid. When a regular winner calls ‘bingo!’ there are whispered insults from around the room, questioning what sort of Faustian pact the winner must have struck to keep garnering such bingo success.

Sometimes bingo players even throw their cards at each other, assault one another with purses, dabbers and walking sticks. However on occasion it gets serious, especially when the new generation of players meet the old.

In 2016 a full scale brawl broke out at a bingo hall in Derby when a group of millennials fell afoul of the elderly regulars. According to onlookers an elderly regular was heard describing the youngsters as ‘lacking in respect’.

The millennials made so much noise during the bingo that people were complaining they couldn’t hear the balls being called. One patron decided enough was enough and hurled her handbag in her enemies’ direction, which sparked the brawl.

A crowd of millennials pounced on their aged counterparts and punches were thrown with police arriving on the scene in a matter of minutes to apprehend the offenders. Wendy Lee, 50, from Chaddesden, said she had “never seen anything like it” in her 20 years of playing bingo.

Another witness, Jim Hamer, 66, from Darley said, “It was just a few stuffy old sorts getting their knickers in a twist.”

So forget Connor McGregor’s next fight, head down to your local bingo hall to see some of the most frantic fighting action in the world.

 

bingo caller

 

Bingo rhyming slang

In Victorian times many Londoners communicated by Cockney rhyming-slang, using phrases such as:

  • Battle Cruiser – The boozer – pub
  • Apple and Pears – Stairs
  • Brown bread – Dead
  • Pat and Mick – Sick
  • Orchestra Stalls – Balls

This rhyming slang made its way into bingo halls all around the country just after the end of the Second World War. Here is a mixture of classic, bizarre and downright strange bingo calls.

5 and 7, Heinz Varieties – Baked Beans were traditionally made with 57 unique ingredients, hence this bean style reference.

1 and 0, Theresa’s Den – UK Prime Minister Theresa May lives at number 10 Downing Street, otherwise known as her den.

3 and 0, dirty Gertie – This one definitely shows the main demographic of bingo halls, with it being a reference to a Second World War song of the same name about a dirty woman called Gertrude.

Number 9, Doctor’s orders – Another war reference, signifying the ‘number 9 pill’ that was given to troops with a non-specific illness. The pill was a laxative and was intended to ‘clear out’ the troops.

8 and 8, two fat ladies – This refers to the shape of the numbers, with an 8 looking like a slightly rotund woman.

5 and 6, was she worth it? – Another incredibly dated reference, this time to the price of a marriage license in the 1950’s, 5 shillings and sixpence. Normally women around the country shout back, “every penny” when the caller reads out 56.

Strange sellers

There’s no more classic a sight than a man in a trench coat walking around a bingo hall, opening up his coat to reveal a plethora of stolen goods, all available for a pound. Instead of going down to the local pub – where the police would often be – thieves chose the bingo hall instead to flog their hauls.

As a child there was a time when I thought that the bingo was actually a butchers because of all the meat my Grandma brought back with her. There’d also be Nicky trainers, Roy Ban sunglasses and Leroy’s jeans circulating around.

Ashley Graham Holland from Manchester took it way too far in 2017 when he stole £15,000 worth of goods from his employer John Lewis and flogged his ill-gotten gains on eBay and in his local bingo hall. Fortunately a Good Samaritan spotted him selling electronic goods one day and tipped off police.

Peter Kay satirises the bingo hall

 

 

Before Peter Kay made it big with his hilarious comedy Phoenix Nights, he had to prove to TV producers that he had what it took to be a writer, director and actor. The project that highlighted his talents was That Peter Kay Thing, a six-part series that featured completely individual fly on the wall style mockumentaries.

The second episode in that series was Eyes Down which centred on the goings on of Bolton’s premier bingo establishment – Apollo Bingo!

Eyes Down was loosely based on Kay’s own experiences of working in a bingo hall when he was a teenager and the popularity of the episode was hugely detrimental to the reputation of bingo. Here’s what Kay pokes fun at:

The callers: In Eyes Down Peter Kay plays (among others) the role of Scouse bingo caller Tom, who sees himself as somewhat of a celebrity. His interviews to camera are centred on his famous connections and he tells stories to big himself up, like when he had to turn down an appearance from Shirley Bassey because she wasn’t prepared to get changed in a disabled bathroom. Tom also indulges in the ridiculously crass jokes that epitomise small town bingo callers. 

The intensity: In the opening scenes Peter Kay’s main protagonist is telling the camera about why he hates his job working at the bingo hall. He says it’s the worst job he’s had, and that’s doubly bad considering he once worked in a Harvester. One of the reasons he hates the job is because of the intensity that the players play with. He regales us with a story about a man who called for help for his wife, she was having a stroke but he couldn’t help as he had to carry on filling out her card. That might sound a bit far-fetched, but it’s undoubtedly happened at a bingo hall in the UK at some point, which is why it’s funny.

In summary

The bingo hall is dead. Yes, it remains the unique haunt of an elderly generation that still enjoy Second World War references from their bingo caller, but as that generation slowly shuffle off this mortal coil, the new home for bingo is online.

In all seriousness, if you were interested in playing bingo now you’d just download an app and play from the comfort of your own home. You can also play on mobile, meaning you can have a flutter while you’re on the move. No dabbers needed, no annoying bingo callers, no pain in the backside competitors – just bingo and chill.

Posted: 23rd, October 2018 | In: Technology, The Consumer | Comment


The commercial impact of the World Cup

The commercial impact of the World Cup

It’s safe to day that the World Cup is one of the greatest shows on earth. With a global audience measured in the billions rather than millions, almost half of the planet has tuned into this years’ competition, and records have been set in countries like England, where over 23 million (not including those in pubs and fans zones) tuned in to their quarter final appearance against Sweden. With so many eyes on the pitch, the opportunity for businesses to share their message with a ridiculous number of people at once has turned the World Cup into a highly commercial affair.

From the pitch-side hoardings to the adverts that run during the half time break, international football’s biggest tournament becomes something of a circus for advertisers. It’s estimated that an additional $2.4 billion is added to the global advertising market thanks to the World Cup, and brands in England can expect to pay as high as £500,000 for a 30 second spot should the English national team make it to the final. Then there’s the official tie ins, including official beer, official TV set, and even official chocolate bar. Even brands that aren’t associated with FIFA (or indeed football) tend to jump on the World Cup bandwagon too, using the tournament to get some publicity and exposure.

One of the largest advertising deals of the World Cup has come from InBev, the company behind beer brand Budweiser. The ubiquitous ‘Light up the World Cup’ campaign has seen Budweiser become the most exposed beer of the tournament, and when news emerged of the massive spending associated with the World Cup campaign, share prices rose by a staggering 2.1%.

Football-mad consumers may be allowing non-football organisations to boost profits, but for companies who make money out of football year-round, the World Cup can be something of a cornerstone. Sports betting companies can see some of their biggest profits as both regulars and new customers look to try and make some cash from their predictions, and the number of betting adverts tends to rocket in countries with developed gambling industries. It’s not just sports betting where opportunities arise either, and other parts of the gambling world can take advantage of such a huge demographic. Take slots games for example, for a gambling company to feature a slot game on their site that revolves around football at this time of year is an easy way to drive traffic to the website, with football fans potentially enticed by the opportunity to play a fun new game that has a theme to match their interests. The Champion’s Goal online slots game at sites like Roseslots.com does precisely this, there are plenty of unique features that capture the interest of football fans, as well as those that don’t know much about the game. Players can get involved from as little as 20p and wager a maximum of £100, this is the beauty of online slots, they cater for a wide range of people and budgets. Jumping on the bandwagon in this way can be a hugely successful business technique, and one that can only be admired. 

In domestic football tournaments, kit sponsors often dominate player’s clothing, but it’s the kit manufacturers who can cash in at the World Cup, with no other advertising allowed on both home and change shirts. This means big money for national teams, with kit brands paying big money for the chance to have their equipment shown off during games. Nigeria may have stolen the limelight with their best-selling kit from Nike, but France were the biggest winners, with the team walking away with a gigantic $54 million this year from their Nike deal.

Players are also the big winners at each World Cup. The opportunity for businesses that come from associating their product to a sporting superstar rocket during the tournament, especially if the particular players manage to go far in the tournament. From former England goalkeeper Joe Hart advertising shampoo to Lionel Messi drinking a deeply unhealthy Pepsi after a game of freestyle soccer, the opportunity to cash in is massive for bigger names. It’s no surprise that Messi is one of the highest paid players at the tournament, and his share of Argentina’s £5.04 million collective team salary will certainly top up the bonuses he’ll receive for advertising during his short time at this years’ tournament.

For the host nation Russia, the World Cup has been seen as a great opportunity to boost the country’s economy. With millions of fans flocking to stadiums and fan zones all over the country and of course hundreds of thousands of international fans paying to see their teams play, the opportunity for improved tourism is of course a valuable income stream. But what about the legacy once the football has finished?

Russia has spent an estimated $11 billion (a 6th of their 2016 defence budget) on preparations for the World Cup, which includes several new stadia and infrastructure, but whether this new hardware is enough to create a long-lasting economic effect remains to be seen. After Brazil hosted the tournament in 2014, sad images appeared of the shiny new Maracana stadium in a state of disrepair, with not enough money remaining to maintain the little-used World Cup arenas. With Russia’s economy not exactly in the strongest place right now and 70% of the $11 billion budget coming from public spending, we may end up seeing a World Cup which actually has a negative effect on the economy.

The biggest winners at the World Cup however are FIFA. The tournament organisers may have been through a (still unresolved) period of corruption, bribery and general controversies plagued by greed, but money is still the number one priority, with football more of an afterthought. With Western companies like Mastercard avoiding the toxic FIFA brand this year, Chinese companies have filled the gap (despite China not appearing at the World Cup), and a mammoth $6.1 billion is expected to line FIFA’s coffers by the time the tournament is over, even after the $400 million prize money has been dished out. Naturally, none of this goes back into grass roots football, begging the question of who is really benefitting from this vast sum of money.

With this years’ World Cup generating so much money, the World Cup is going to continue being just as much about the commercials as it is about the football. The World Cup adverts from the likes of Adidas have indeed become part of the fun, and advertising is now just part of the World Cup experience. It’s also easy to forget that domestic leagues are just as commercial, and with record-breaking Premier League TV rights of £3.5 billion this year plus hundreds of billions made by the clubs in it, the World Cup actually seems like a reasonable little tournament…

Posted: 7th, August 2018 | In: Online-PR | Comment


Cancerians win more awards than any other star sign

This infographic below shows winning trends for 236 celebrated individuals in film, music, sport and more. If you’re going to play online slots check out if the planets are aligned.

Betway looked at the star signs of winners of the world’s most prestigious awards in TV and film, music and sports, theatre and literature. Can a trend be found? Are Leos as successful as they think they are? Or are we living in the age of the crab?

 

 

cancer star sign winning

media

Posted: 17th, July 2018 | In: Online-PR, Strange But True | Comment


‘Role Model’ Raheem Sterling should stick to junk food, gay bashing and gambling

Some news that the FA has a Code of Conduct for England players and that Manchester City and England striker Raheem Sterling might have fallen foul of it on account of his M16 tattoo. The Sun cites the Code in its front-page news story on Sterling’s tattoo. The paper links Sterling’s tat to the Vietnam War.

 

raheem sterling m16 tattoo

 

raheem sterling m16 tattoo

 

raheem sterling m16 tattoo

 

 

You can read the full Code of Conduct which Sterling has not flouted here.

And you can read the list of FA ‘parters’ here, highlights of which are: Mars, Lucozade Sport, Emirates, Budweiser, Carlsberg, Walkers and Coca Cola. All the kind of stuff to get the kids fit, lean and healthy. And there’s Emirates, the airline that sponsors the FA Cup. It’s owned by the government-run Investment Corporation of Dubai. In Dubai, the NYTimes says “homosexuality is subject to the death penalty”. Grab your rainbow laces and run like hell.

In 2017, the Football Association ended all of its sponsorships with betting companies, including mutually terminating a long-term Ladbrokes deal. The BBC’s Dan Roan commented:

…it does at least finally address mounting concerns the governing body was being hypocritical and its role as a regulator of gambling was hopelessly compromised by a clear conflict of interest. However, there will still be concerns the football and gambling industries are too closely linked. It will be interesting to see if the clubs follow the FA’s lead.

The Premier League itself may not have an official gambling partner (like the FA), but last season 11 Premier League teams were sporting betting company logos on their shirts, and Sky Bet are title sponsors of the Football League.

Gambling. What harm does that do, eh? Former England player Kieron Dyer told the Mail in 2018:

We were gambling such large sums that we knew we couldn’t possibly do it in public. So we gambled in each other’s rooms, behind locked doors.

We were like clandestine drinkers, hiding ourselves to get wasted. Except the drug was gambling and there was a sizeable band of us that were addicted.

If you’re going to pretend that England players are “role models” to anyone but their nearest and dearest, why focus on a tattoo of a gun and not their employer’s profiteering from gambling, booze, gay bashing and junk food?

PS: Previously the Sun has gunned for Sterling:

 

Young man from working-class background buys house!

 

Sterling-Social-Media-drugs

Spot the obscenity – the story had nothing to do with Sterling

 

raheem sterling PFA daily mail

The Sun: Man has car; eats breakfast; minds own business

 

sterling

Get Sterling

 

To recap: Raheem Sterling is a professional athlete and England footballer.

 

Posted: 29th, May 2018 | In: Back pages, Key Posts, Manchester City, Sports | Comment


Standing in a betting shop made women want me

They shoot horses and put greyhounds out to graze on the hard shoulder. And now there’s “bloodbath at the bookies” featuring human beings. The Star is labouring under the impression that bookmakers give two hoots about their staff as it leads with how the Government has “slashed maximum stakes at fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2”. This will, we’re told, lead to job cuts among the people detailed to scoop up the proceeds of the pitiless gambling industry and deposit the filthy lucre into the burgeoning bank accounts of the big companies running the show.

 

betting adverts tabloids

Betting is sexy!

 

betting adverts tabloids

Who sane dials these lines?

 

The Association of British Bookmakers warns that curbs on “crack cocaine” betting machines will lead to the loss of 21,000 jobs as 4,000 high-street bookies shut. All balls, of course. The big betting companies spend fortunes telling us to bet online, offering inducements for a more fun sporting experience from your smart phone. They don’t do that to improve the lot of their shop workers. Online bookies are often based overseas. They’re happy for British punters to chuck their money to non-British workers.

Switch on pretty much any televised sporting event and someone will tell you how betting is for hard men – men ‘hard’ to argue with, like actor Ray Winstone, or ‘hard’ to touch, like the priapic saddos who think betting on Harry Kane will get them laid, possibly with an actual flesh-and-bone woman.

 

betting adverts tabloids

 

Inside today’s Star there are plenty of adverts for gambling. “Bets plan is a loser,” says the Star’s editorial. The adverts agree – it’s free FUN and you GET YOUR MONEY BACK:

Page 50: topless stunna Michelle Marsh advises readers to “BET HARD & FAST” (see above). Subtle it ain’t.

Pages 46- 48: horse racing times are wrapped round adverts for tipster hotlines (£1.50-a-minute); and more ads for Ladbrokes and Coral – “Bet £5.. .& Get £20 in Free Bets” – “When The Fun Stops Stop – Be Gamble Aware.” Yeah, right.

Pages 27-30:  An entire section advertising Paddy Power bets on the FA Cup final – “The Craziest bets punters have placed this weekend.”

And it’s all done to keep people in work and the high-street bustling. It’s selfless stuff…

Posted: 18th, May 2018 | In: Key Posts, Money, News, Tabloids | Comment


Arsenal Balls: The changing styles of Arsene Wenger

It looks like being another season of barely held together crisis for Arsenal – just for a change, writes Sunil Singh. 

After winning the FA Cup again in May, Wenger should probably have walked away from the job he has held for more than 20 years.

Instead, Wenger signed a two-year contract to extend his stay at the Emirates and Arsenal’s start to the season has been typically predictable.

After a rollicking 4-3 home win against Leicester City got the new Premier League season off to a flyer, Arsenal promptly lost back-to-back away games at Stoke City and Liverpool, the latter a humiliating 4-0 hammering.

A run of four clean sheets in a row in the league, with 10 points taken from those games, suggested Arsenal could have turned a corner. But Arsenal were too Arsenal-y for that.

Leading at Watford last weekend, they collapsed to a 2-1 loss at Vicarage Road and sit sixth in the table as a result – level on points with Burnley, of all teams.

But can we predict Arsenal’s twists and turns via Wenger’s wardrobe? Let’s give it a go!

The coat – an investigation

We have to start with Arsene’s coat, of course. It is arguably the most iconic piece of manager-wear of the Premier League era.

The sight of Wenger, ordinarily a very dapper man – he is French, after all – struggling to do up the zip on his jacket is a familiar one to all football fans. It’s a cliche these days.

Wenger’s coat in the 2014-15 Premier League season was a beauty. So long it would swallow a man of normal height hour, it billowed down below Wenger’s knees.

And he couldn’t do it up. Every game, it seemed, the television cameras would capture him grappling with the zip as his team fell apart in front of him. It was all too easy to draw a parallel.

The coat looked great, but it didn’t really work – or at least Wenger couldn’t get it to work. Just like this team, it was almost perfect. But not quite.

What Wenger’s coat says about him

Manager style is going through a big change in the Premier League right now.

While it used to be Wenger who brought massive innovations to English football – like eating right – now it is a new foreign influence who is educating us all over again.

Pep Guardiola sports trainers on the touchline, often with chinos and a nice v-neck jumper. It’s pure style – just like his Manchester City team.

Another manager has seen his fashion choices pored over in recent weeks – Antonio Conte.

The Italian donned stunning suits for most of last season as Chelsea romped to the Premier League title in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

But Conte appeared on the sideline for the first game of his side’s title defence in a shabby club tracksuit – with his team looking similarly out of sorts.

Burnley turned Chelsea over that day, running out 3-2 winners in a game that saw two of Conte’s players sent off. It is impossible to argue that the defeat was solely down to Conte ditching his suit for trackies, but it might well have been a small factor, at least.

How a manager dresses says a lot about him. To Wenger, his coat is all about function. It looks a bit naff, but it keeps him warm. It does the job just about well enough.

But when it doesn’t do the job – when he fumbles with the zip yet again – it makes you wonder why Wenger does not ditch it and upgrade for a better model. Just like his midfield.

Ryan, the editor of a highly respected online publication had this to say, “Wenger used to be a favourite of ours here at Gamblingkingz, but these days he is a relic that the Premier League could certainly do without. And the bookmakers feel the same way. While Arsenal used to be perennial title contenders under his leadership – with the odds reflecting that – now they are also-rans.”

How the other Premier League managers compare

In hindsight, Frank de Boer was always destined to fail when he was appointed at Crystal Palace as the replacement for Sam Allardyce after his shock departure.

De Boer rocked a blue blazer and cream chinos on the sidelines as he watched his Palace side struggling to get to grips with his Total Football style. It just wasn’t a good fit.

Mauricio Pellegrino also does not look quite right in his ‘athleisure’ gear consisting of a polo top and tracksuit bottoms. The colours of his club-branded gear make him look more like a Sainsbury’s assistant manager than the boss of a Premier League football club.

Some managers can pull off the casual look however, with Tony Pulis certainly among them.

The Welshman’s baseball cap is up there with Wenger’s billowing coat as one of the most iconic clothing items in Premier League history.

Pulis is rarely seen without it, pairing the hat with a tracksuit despite him approaching his 60s.

Another tracksuit boss is Jurgen Klopp. He is always in Liverpool-branded gear, giving the impression he is a manager who likes to get stuck in on the training ground. The defending of his team suggests otherwise, however.

Eddie Howe is a fan of the tracksuit too. The Bournemouth boss is so young – still somehow just 39! – that he probably would look like a child dressing up in his dad’s clothes if he wore a suit.

What about Jose Mourinho? Wenger’s old rival is not afraid to rock a tracksuit but he is usually smart in a suit on the touchline.

Opposition fans used to sing “that coat’s from Matalan” at Mourinho earlier in his career, but there is no doubt the United manager is one of the best dressed coaches in the league now.

Mauricio Pellegrino switches between the suit and the tracksuit as well – and he is one of the few Premier League managers who both looks comfortable in either outfit and pulls it off.

Some managers don’t quite suit the style of their team – Burnley’s Sean Dyche, for example. While he is never seen out of a dark suit, his team is much more rough round the edges.

Dyche’s smart style, of course, continues to make him look even more like a nightclub bouncer than his scary face and voice suggest.

So what can Wenger learn from his peers? Ultimately it doesn’t matter. Wenger has shown time and time again he has no interest in learning from anyone else. It’s his way or nothing.

Even if Wenger’s way is a ludicrously long coat that he can’t do up.

Posted: 14th, November 2017 | In: Arsenal, News, Sports | Comment


Arsenal balls: Theo Walcott leaves Gunners in tabloids betting scoop

Arsenal are ready to sell nice middle-class boy Theo Walcott in January, says The Week. “Gunners are getting ready to blast the dead wood from the Emirates and top of the flops is Theo Walcott,” thunders the review magazine.  The mag’s source is The Sun, which says Arsenal are “preparing to sell Walcott in January”.

 

 

Who wants Theo, then? Well Walcott, has “attracted interest” from “West Ham and Everton”. On the Sun’s website, we  read: “He has 18-months left on his £110,000-a-week contract, and is one of the club’s highest earners, according to TeamTalk.”

Over there we learn that “Arsenal are reportedly preparing to sell Theo Walcott in January, unless he can cement himself in Arsene Wenger’s first team.” The source for this TeamTalk story is The Gambling Times.

The Gambling Times mentions a betting company in its report, which carries no source to support its well-travelled scoop, which features unchallenged in the Sun, The Week, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Star. What The Gambling Times does cite in its Arsenal news is a betting company. “We spoke to BetVictor and their Head of antepost Football Michael Triffitt about Walcott and their market on his future, with West Ham, Everton and Southampton the favourites to land him,” says the paper, which tags BetVictor in its SEO. Indeed, BetVictor features in many of the site’s articles, including a daily horse racing tips sheet – and Triffitt is a not infrequent source of opinion.

Is it news or is it affiliate marketing? It’s worrying that the national press don’t make any attempt to differentiate between the two…

Posted: 4th, October 2017 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Sports | Comment


Fabulous playing cards inspired by Karina Eibatova’s bird art

We love a beautiful set of playing cards. This set designed by Karina Eibatova with LUX Cards features her birds and feathers drawings.

 

 

You can buy AVES  here. And you can learn how to play at the online casino at RedBet.

Posted: 9th, June 2017 | In: Money, The Consumer | Comment


Transfer balls: James Rodriguez to Manchester United is a dead cert – place your bets!

Transfer Balls: Is James Rodriguez on his way to Manchester United? Is the player not good enough to start for Real Madrid for more than two matches in a row good enough for Manchester United?

On May 16, the Daily Mail said a deal has been agreed. “James Rodriguez ‘agrees’ Manchester United transfer,” said the paper.

Why the Mail saw a need to couch the agreement in inverted commas is odd because the story begins with a statement of fact: “James Rodriguez’s summer move to Manchester United will be confirmed following the Champions League final next month.”

In a second story, this time about Real Madrid replacing Rodriguez with Chelsea’s Eden Hazard, the Mail confirmed the news: “The 25-year-old Madrid signed for £60million in 2014, and who is represented by Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes, had agreed terms with Manchester United.”

And then the facts got a little murky. Sky Sports reported on May 15:

“European Paper Talk: Has James Rodriguez played his last game for Real Madrid?”

Dunno. Because Marca then told its readers on May 18:

“After missing the match against Celta, James Rodriguez has recovered from his ankle injury and will be available for Real Madrid’s last LaLiga game against Malaga on Sunday.”

And then in two stories dated May 16 Sky mused:

“European Paper Talk: Real Madrid set James Rodriguez asking price”

“Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez offered to Man Utd”

Offered to United? But the deal has been agreed. Or as the Indy puts it:

“Under Zinedine Zidane this season, Rodriguez has not once played more than two consecutive games for Real and United are, quite frankly, not interested in the 25-year-old…”

Football 365 picked up the scent of the betting companies feeding off the rumours.

There is no issue with those headlines, and Sky Sports were hardly alone in running them, but when partner Sky Bet then offers odds on James Rodriguez joining Manchester United, it’s not hard to see how those headlines might persuade the public to part with their money.

 

James Rodgriguez Sky Manchester united

 

Is it news of is it PR for the betting industry?

Says 365:

Fast forward further and most reports on Wednesday morning now say that Rodriguez is not close to a move to Manchester United, that no offer is being made by United and that claims he has agreed personal terms are false. And lo and behold, Sky Bet have opened up their market again to take bets on where Rodriguez ends up next.

Indeed, in a story updated after 6pm on May 18, Sky reports that there are odds on Rodriguez joining Manchester United. Betting is no longer suspended on what has been presented as a dead cert. Quick – get your money on it while you can!

James Rodgriguez Sky Manchester united

 

James Rodgriguez Sky Manchester united

 

Such are the facts.

Posted: 19th, May 2017 | In: Back pages, Key Posts, manchester united, Sports, Tabloids | Comment (1)


Coffee-housing to win The World Series of Poker

We often hear of a poker face, but what of a poker mouth? Most of today’s tournament players try not to give anything away in the game’s cut and thrust. They sit still, stoic in baseball caps, hoodies and sunglasses. They only speak to state their move. It was very different at the 1973 World Series of poker, where the aim was to rile and unsettle opponents with ‘coffee-housing’, what would now be called ‘banter’. Get a reaction by irritating opponents and watch them go ‘on tilt’. Keep going and look for ‘tells’. These verbals unsettle and misdirect the other players. If used skilfully they can mask the talker’s own ticks and telltale signs.

It’s not civil. It’s not sportsmanlike. But it sure can be effective. Poker is a human game. Communication is not banned. Your noisy bluff can get your opponent to fold – which might be your only chance of winning the pot.

The 2016 WSOP Tournament Rules dealing with table talk are listed below:

113. Table Talk / Disclosure: participants are obligated to protect the other participants in the Tournament at all times. Therefore, whether in a hand or not, participants may not:
a. Disclose contents of live or folded hands.
b. Advise or criticize play at any time.
c. Read a hand that hasn’t been tabled.
d. Discuss strategy with an outside source while involved in a hand.
e. The one-participant-to-a-hand rule mentioned in Rule 111 will be enforced.

Special Exceptions:
1. A participant is allowed to mention the strength or content of his/her hand if no other participant in the hand will have a decision to make.
2. In heads-up events or when down to the last two participants in a Tournament, participants may speak freely regarding the contents of their hands.
3. The Floor Person reserves the right use his/her judgment to determine if one participant intentionally helped another participant. Participants who violate this rule are subject to penalty in accordance with Rules 40, 111, and 112.

116. Etiquette Violations: Repeated etiquette violations will result in the imposition of penalties assessed by the Tournament Staff. Examples include, but are not limited to, unnecessarily touching other participants’ cards or chips, body, or clothing, delay of the game, repeatedly acting out of turn, betting out of reach of the dealer, or excessive chatter. Excessive chatter includes, but is not limited to, talking or conversation that causes a disruption of participants who are in a hand.

The video hereunder of that 1973 series features Walter ‘Puggy’ Pearson ‘making a speech’, telling Bryan ‘Sailor’ Roberts: “I’m not trying to bust you now. I guess you trying to bust me, go ahead.” Roberts goes all in. He’s holding a flush. “Sailor, please have a hand,” says Pearson. “He can’t have one this big.” Pearson then reveals his pocket aces. Will Roberts cave in and fold? No.

The last card is served. Person gets lucky and scores a full house. Roberts’ flush is beaten.

 

Posted: 27th, February 2017 | In: Money | Comment


Is Sun Bets or Wayne Shaw the greedier?

When the Sun Bets bookmakers sponsored Sutton for their home FA Cup match against Arsenal (final score: – 0- 2), they offered odds of 8-1 that the home side’s home reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw would eat a pie during the match.

Given that Shaw’s in the ‘big lad’ territory of players, Sun Bets could have offered a spread of how many pies, tubes of Rolos, lamb bhunas and ‘cheeky’ kebabs he’d eat inside the 90 minutes. As chance had it, Shaw did eat a pie, and because the game was being broadcast live on the BBC, we all got to see him do it. Shaw later admitted that ‘pals’ had placed money on the bet, which, says the Sun, were offered at a £5 maximum stake. The Mail says Sun Bets ‘tweeted that it had paid out a five-figure sum after Shaw finished his pie’.

For his (hunger) pains, Shaw was sacked for breaching FA rules concerned with betting on any “aspect of, or occurrence in” a football match. The Sun says on its front page that Shaw was ‘Hung out To Pie’. Shaw was handed his ‘Pie 45’.

 

Sun Bets Wayne Shaw

 

The Sun calls it pathetic. So outraged is the paper that nearly all the media are talking about its Sun Bets (the Mirror doesn’t mention the company by name in any of its reports) – that’s S.U… – it calls on some unlikely comrades. Sun readers hear from Piers Morgan – for whom Shaw’s sacking “sums up the pathetically PC-crazed world” –  and the BBC’s Gary Linker – “FFS!”.

Sun Bets says its investigating and working with the Gambling Commission, which is doing the same.

Shaw helps them out by noting his ‘pie’ was a ‘pastry’. Sun Bets says a pie is a “filling totally encased in pastry”. So it paid out. But, then, it’s the big winner in a sad story of greed.

 

Sun Bets Wayne Shaw

 

 

Posted: 22nd, February 2017 | In: Arsenal, Sports, Tabloids | Comment


Dennis Rodman wants to razz the Popemobile around Rome to campaign for black Pontiff

Vatican Pope Rodman

CRAZY ol’ Dennis Rodman has been a busy boy lately. First off, he visited North Korea and gave Kim Jong Un a hug, before The Glorious Leader flew into the sky completing a series of 147s in the clouds while farting orchids. Dennis Rodman stood by with garish clothing and a load of tattoos as usual.

And now, the NBA legend has the Catholic church in his sights, intending to ride around Italy in the Popemobile while campaigning for a black Pope. Rodman wants Cardinal Peter Turkson to be elected and, while he’s there, he’ll team up with A Notable Bookmaker Who Won’t Be Getting A Free Advert Here to extol the virtue of papal betting.

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Posted: 13th, March 2013 | In: Celebrities | Comment


Match-Fixing in soccer: Dan Tan and FIFA’s corruption

BRIAN Phillips has investigated football-match-rigging:

I am a midlevel Hungarian gangster. You are a Finnish referee. So here’s how it works. I get a call from a lieutenant in the syndicate — not from Dan Tan himself, the boss has to be protected, but from a middle man somewhere in Asia. Maybe Singapore, where Dan Tan is based; maybe someplace else. The caller says: We need so-and-so to happen in such-and-such soccer game. So I fly to Helsinki from Budapest and take a train north to Tampere, where you’ll be officiating a match in the Ykkönen, the Finnish second division, between FC Ilves and FC Viikingit. We meet. It’s not as if I’m lugging a duffel full of cash. The money will be laundered; we have the systems in place. I want you to be comfortable, after all.

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Posted: 20th, February 2013 | In: Sports | Comment


Betting insider lifts lid on football betting scam

SHADOWY goings on the world of football. And shadowy reporting to highlight the allegations that a Champions League game played in England in the last four years might have been rigged. In all, 380 matches are under suspicion, including World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.

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Posted: 5th, February 2013 | In: Sports | Comment