Betting News Feed | Betting Hideout

British sports betting firm Ladbrokes are on the hunt for a new CEO as news breaks that Chris Bell will be leaving the company in the summer.  Mr Bell has been in the post for 9 years which has seen many changes, none more so than the leap into the online sports betting and gambling market.  Ladbrokes are believed to be seeking a replacement from outside of the organisation rather than hiring from within, even though Mr Bell believes there are some ideal candidates to take up the role that he vacates.

Betting doesn’t have to be all about the obvious (and some might say the serious), sometimes its nice to have a little light hearted betting away from the everyday horse racing bets, dogs and football bets.  Paddy Power has this market well and truly cornered with every conceivable novelty bet seemingly covered, they must have at least two full time staff just investigating possible novelty bets that they can offer their punters.  It is actually a breath of fresh air to visit Paddy Power, and certainly can brighten up a dull, dull day.  So if like us, you sometimes want to just have a little bit of a change then check out Paddy Power and see the vast array of markets that you can bet on.

Betting Hideout reported last month on how well Ladbrokes had come out in preventing underage betting, however all the good press coverage last month sadly can’t wipe out the negative media stories that Ladbrokes Bookmakers are receiving now. The reason for Ladbrokes attracting some bad press is that they have been accused of refusing to pay out £7 million on a punters bet that there would be a white Christmas with snow being recorded as falling on Christmas Day in 24 towns or cities in Northern England.  Ladbrokes are protesting that the bet placed by the (in the circumstances) unlucky winner was accepted in error. Cliff Bryant, the punter who is convinced that his bet should be paid, is now in the process of having his case heard by the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS).

The Gambling Commission has just published results of underage gambling tests carried out at the five biggest named betting companies.  The tests were to see how many betting shops allowed underage people to place bets, the most recent results were carried out in the wake of disastrous results when the tests were last carried out in May this year. The Gambling Commission had been very concerned by the previous results but luckily for the industry there have been marked inprovements in the latest results that were published as a press release on 3rd December.

It seems to be more or less a constant crusade by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to uphold complaints made against gambling companies, and the latest casualty receiving the full weight of the ASA is William Hill.  Clearly this is not the case but there does seem to be quite a high number of complaints that are upheld when it comes to gambling and betting companies. The complaint made by one person against William Hill Bookmakers was in respect of an advertising campaign offering free bets.

William Hill Bookmakers in Dunkinfield, Greater Manchester have had a single decker bus carrying around 30 people plough into the bookmakers front window, killing one man in the process.   The shocking images of the bus, which can clearly be seen with the rear end seen protruding halfway out of the William Hill betting shop front have been published in the press and circulated on the internet.  The William Hill bookmakers was closed on Monday after the accident whilst firefighters tried to make the building safe after the tragic accident.  Police sealed off nearby roads to enable the emergency services to carry out the work.

Betfair Have had their wrists slapped by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after receiving a complaint from Straight Statistics – a pressure group created to ‘expose the distortion and misuse of statistical information and identify those responsible’ – which challenged the facts presented in a poster campaign for Betfair. The posters for the betting exchange were created to advertise Betfair’s own ‘starting price’ (BSP) which they believe gave sports bettors’ better odds than the starting price (SP) given by the industry,  Betfair quoted a 40% better chance of a win using BSP compared to the high street SP, which Straight Statistics believed was misleading and that the sports book could not substantiate.

There is lots of industry gossip stating that some of the biggest bookmakers in the industry are planning to leave the UK in response to William Hill’s decision to relocate its telephone and online betting operation to Gibraltar to save on paying high UK taxes.  This of course all flies in the face of assurances from the industry in 2001 that they would remain in the UK under a special agreement with the UK government in return for tax breaks.  William Hill has said that they are now reneging on the deal as it is no longer sustainable in the current economic and technological world.  William Hill have stated that they have lost out to competitors abroad because of their loyalty to the UK government but that this situation could no longer continue without destroying their business still further.

William Hill are providing their sports betting account holders with a special BOGOF or Buy One Get One Free online betting deal on the big Khan v Kotelnik boxing match which takes place this Saturday (18^th July). This boxing match has everyone talking and to have the opportunity to receive extra betting opportunities on the outcome has got to be an prospect not to be missed.