Predictor wins £1m, American excess and, er, Belgium | My week in iGaming
More observations, insightful commentary and occasional snidey remarks about the world of iGaming, gambling, sports betting and related stuff.
Well, would you Adam-and-Eve it?
6 correct Premier League scores in one weekend and the lucky bloke walks away with a cool million! The round of Premier League games that last weekend in August saw Tom Kane from Southampton correctly predict 6 Premier League results:
- Everton 2-3 AFC Bournemouth
- Leicester City 1-2 Aston Villa
- Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool
- Newcastle United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
- Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
- West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
Some brave predictions there – not the games at West Ham, Forest or Leicester but the other 3 were pretty bold. A cool way to make yourself a millionaire, I reckon. You could dine out off that for a few years, literally as well as metaphorically.
The relationship between football and gambling is of course, well-known. It has, over the years, thrown up some wild and interesting stories.
GAMSTOP high
Over 500,000 people have now registered with GAMSTOP for its gambling self-exclusion service since they started up 6 years ago. Is that figure something to celebrate or worry about?
Over 6 years though that equates to about 1/120th of the adult population. Compared to those affected by smoking or excessive drinking, half a million people stopping potentially damaging behaviour in a 6-year period is something we should be pleased about. This also means, of course, that millions of people are gambling within their means, and enjoying it without any detrimental effects on themselves or those close to them. Some, of course, have walked away considerably better off, financially.
There is some great work being done by the likes of GAMSTOP and their associates GamCare.
American excess?
This side of ‘the pond’ we’re used to poking fun at our American cousins for some of their excesses. Everything, well pretty much, has to be bigger over there. From hamburger to house via breast implants and credit card limit, it seems size really does matter, state-side.
And this includes betting.
It’s forecast this next NFL season that the bookies are going to take a cool $35 billion in bets. Not only is that a staggering figure in its own right but it’s a massive bloody increase on last season’s $26.7 billion. That’s an increase of over 30%! Where’s that coming from?
It can partly be explained by the states of North Carolina, Maine and Vermont (combined population 13 million) all recently introducing regulated sports betting for the first time. Residents of those states will legally be able to bet on their local(ish) NFL teams Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots for the first time. That’s probably quite a buzz if you live there. Big bucks!
The ‘big’ grounds
Last time out I was banging on about the lack of atmosphere when I went to Anfield, Well it was pretty much the same at the Etihad a couple of weekends ago when little Brentford threatened to take champions Man Citeh to the cleaners in the first 10-15 minutes before succumbing 2-1. But at Tottenham last weekend with Brentford again taking the lead within 30 seconds the home fans seemed to be a bit more responsive than those at Anfield or the Etihad.
Maybe I’ve missed something. Maybe the fans of the big clubs just can’t raise enough enthusiasm against the likes of Brentford…? Whereas Tottenham, only a would-be ‘big club’ can?
Belgium
Odd place. The most famous statue in the country is of a little boy having a wee. And their two most famous historical people are both fictional characters, Hercule Poirot and Tintin.
So I guess it’s not a major surprise when Belgium (age of consent 16, can join the army at 18, can vote in European elections at 16) raises the legal gambling age to 21. 21!?
So you can bring someone into the world at 16, theoretically take someone out of the world at 18 but can’t place a wager until you’re 21?
Someone needs to rethink priorities in Belgium.
Brazil and X
So they did it then: Brazil banned X (formerly Twitter). Exactly what good that's going to do any time in the future, of course, remains to be seen. Apparently to the powers that be in Brazil “running Twitter as a political tool pushing his own vision of the world to everyone else” is unacceptable. Just how different this is to the way Rupert Murdoch, or indeed the BBC, operates is up for discussion. I guess their respective ‘reaches’ don’t extend that far into Brazil.
Trouble brewing in The Colonies
Trouble is brewing Down Under. The Australian government is under considerable pressure to restrict, or even completely ban, gambling advertising. So far, the PM, Anthony Albanese and his Labour government have resisted.
I lived there for 18 years and make no mistake, the Aussies love a punt. And they pour more money into it, per head, than just about anywhere else on earth. Any government trying to restrict an Aussie’s God-given right to gamble with his own money will face a fearsome backlash. Yet the flip side is the puritanical streak that also happens to run through so many in Australia.
“We’re livin’ in a ***kin’ nanny state!” – A commonly heard complaint when I lived there.
And as we watch this unedifying cultural battle unfold we should remember that famous Clive James quote: “The problem with Australians is not that so many of them are descended from convicts, but that so many of them are descended from prison officers.” This will be one to follow.
I’ll be back in a few weeks...
...or some time. Whenever. However if you have the time and inclination for a quick peruse, here are some previous My Week in iGaming blog articles:
Anfield just about silent, election betting x 2 and more, 4 September 2024
MGM cyberattack, Jaguars fleeced and more, 7 August 2024
Odds, football sponsorship and Australia, 27 June 2024