Have Paddy Power gone a step too far with their North Korean joke, after the Associated Press run a series of stories suggesting that the Irish funsters, and Dennis Rodman, may have broken UN Export Sanctions, and US Treasury Laws, by giving the North Korean leader birthday gifts.
The wheels on the Paddy Power/Dennis Rodman/North Korea bus keep on turning with news coming out of the weekend press suggesting that the Irish Bookmaker, and the former NBA Basketball star, may be in hot water over birthday gifts that were handed to the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
paddy-power-could-have-broken-un-sanction
In October 2006, the North Koreans angered the European Union by moving ahead with its planned nuclear testing. The result was the imposition of UN Security Resolution 1718, which banned a list of ‘luxury goods’ for export to North Korea. US Treasury Law also forbids the export of luxury goods into North Korea either directly, or indirectly, meaning even if Rodman had given the gifts on behalf of Paddy Power he could still be facing the Beak.
The noise surrounds a game of pass the parcel that saw Kim Jong-un receiving an Irish whiskey set for his 31st birthday during the high profile visit to the state back in mid-December.
Paddy Power have issued a statement to NK News, a website based in South Korea, confirming that it did send the presents but was ‘satisfied’ that it had not broken any sanctions.
“The whiskey set consisted of a bottle of Jameson, a decanter and two glasses … I can confirm that we didn’t buy anything else for Dennis to give to Kim.” A Paddy Power spokesperson was quoted as saying in the Telegraph this weekend.
Dennis Halpin, a former US consul to Busan, chirped in to say he believes the gifts were in excess of £6,000 and included European crystal, Italian Suits and a Mulberry handbag; Paddy Power have denied these claims.
It seems karma is biting Rodman on his ass, as he has also angered his fellow countrymen after making comments with respect to imprisoned American Kenneth Bae, who was sentenced to 15 years’ labor in a North Korean prison back in Nov 2012.
Speaking to CNN, from North Korea, Rodman said, “If you understand what Kenneth Bae did. Do you understand what he did in this country? Why is he held captive in this country? I’d love to speak about this.”
Stick to the basketball Dennis.
After a quiet word in the shell a publicist working for Rodman distributed an apologetic e-mail to the Associated press
“I want to apologize first to Kenneth Bae’s family. At this point I should know better than to make political statements. I’m truly sorry. I take full responsibility for my actions. It had been a very stressful day. Some of my teammates were leaving because of pressure from their families and business associates. My dreams of basketball diplomacy were quickly falling apart. I had been drinking. It’s not an excuse but by the time the interview happened I was upset.”
The quick turnaround came after Bae’s sister, Terri Chung, slammed Rodman’s comments and suggested that he may have harmed Bae’s chances of freedom.
“He is playing games with my brother’s life. He is clearly uninformed about Kenneth’s case, and he is certainly not in any position to pass judgment.” Chung told the Telegraph.
We all know that the North Korean leader needs to take a chill pill, and the UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, believes he has the answer: The Teletubbies.
Hague has revealed that BBC Worldwide is negotiating with the North Korean television companies to provide them with programs such as Doctor Who, Eastenders, The Good Life and Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po, in a bid to expose the North Koreans to the life that we lead in the West.
“I have always believed that what brought down the Berlin Wall was not highbrow diplomacy but Dallas and Dynasty.” A senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office source told The Sunday Times.
Now we are expecting psychedelic alien toys to prevent a nuclear war.
“You couldn’t send Dad’s Army as it is about war.” Said the Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Sir Richard Ottaway.
I guess Tenko, Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Railwayman are also out of the question.
January 13, 2014
December 16, 2013
PayPal Admits To Sharing Customer Info With Company Tied To UB Poker Scandal
According to PayPal's Privacy Policy, the popular payment company contracts Iovation to "retrieve risk information regarding the IP and device from which you are accessing PayPal [and] research and testing as to appropriateness of new products and services."
Iovation, for those of you unaware, has a CEO who founded Ultimate Poker, the now shuttered online poker site scarred by an internal cheating scandal that ultimately wound up being profiled on a segment of the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes".
Whether the folks behind PayPal were aware of Iovation’s skeletons, few seem to really know. PayPal bigwigs might not follow industry poker news but they certainly keep tabs on their own community forum, which now features a posted message regarding the controversy.
USPoker.com was among the first websites to note the cozy relationship between PayPal and Iovation.
And it is not the first time Iovation has developed business partnership arrangements with otherwise reputable companies.
Last March, the Station Casinos backed online poker site Ultimate Poker (not to be confused with UltimateBet) severed ties with Iovation once these past revelations came to light.
“We understand that there were concerns among some of our customers, we hope this makes our players feel more comfortable,” a short statement from Ultimate Poker read at the time.
Iovation is subcontracted through CAMS, itself a subsidiary of Verifi.
From US Poker:
Travis Makar, a former business associate of Russ Hamilton, released tapes that implicate Hamilton and Greg Pierson, among others, in a cover-up of the UltimateBet insider cheating scandal. Pierson is the CEO and co-founder of Iovation.
A documentary on the UltimateBet insider cheating titled UltimateBeat connects Iovation co-founders directly to the scandal. Scott Bell, director and creator of UltimateBeat, published a detailed outline of the tapes leaked by Makar here. These tapes were used in the UltimateBeat film.
Iovation, for those of you unaware, has a CEO who founded Ultimate Poker, the now shuttered online poker site scarred by an internal cheating scandal that ultimately wound up being profiled on a segment of the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes".
Whether the folks behind PayPal were aware of Iovation’s skeletons, few seem to really know. PayPal bigwigs might not follow industry poker news but they certainly keep tabs on their own community forum, which now features a posted message regarding the controversy.
USPoker.com was among the first websites to note the cozy relationship between PayPal and Iovation.
And it is not the first time Iovation has developed business partnership arrangements with otherwise reputable companies.
Last March, the Station Casinos backed online poker site Ultimate Poker (not to be confused with UltimateBet) severed ties with Iovation once these past revelations came to light.
“We understand that there were concerns among some of our customers, we hope this makes our players feel more comfortable,” a short statement from Ultimate Poker read at the time.
Iovation is subcontracted through CAMS, itself a subsidiary of Verifi.
From US Poker:
Travis Makar, a former business associate of Russ Hamilton, released tapes that implicate Hamilton and Greg Pierson, among others, in a cover-up of the UltimateBet insider cheating scandal. Pierson is the CEO and co-founder of Iovation.
A documentary on the UltimateBet insider cheating titled UltimateBeat connects Iovation co-founders directly to the scandal. Scott Bell, director and creator of UltimateBeat, published a detailed outline of the tapes leaked by Makar here. These tapes were used in the UltimateBeat film.
Men Prefer Gambling Over Sex Recent Study Reveals
A “neuroeconomics” study has revealed that both taking risks with money and sexual arousal affect same parts of the brain. Men who were sexually aroused or shown sexy pictures gambled / played more daringly than those shown scary pictures of animals like snakes, scorpion etc or even neutral pictures.
The research proved that both sex and money trigger the same part of brain that plays the main role in the experience of pleasure. Not only for gambling, the same results could be seen in actions where money was at stake like stock market trading etc.
The case study was done over people of various age groups and both the gender. Pretty Interesting results were seen in the case study. Firstly the results were same irrespective of the gender. Both men and women gambled more daringly after seeing some sexy pictures.
Another interesting observation was that the urge of having sex increases with the winning of the gambles especially in women. Many people agreed that they had the best sex of their life while making out in casinos only.
And the degree of influence of sexy pictures on people of various age groups was also studied. It was brought to attention that youth is affected the most by it and the influence decreases as the age group of people increased. People were divided in groups of 10 like: 30 years – 40 years, 40 years – 50 years, 50 years – 60 years and so on. People in the first age group were the ones who were influenced in the experiment the most and those of the last age group were the one who were affected the least by the experiment. The first batch played more daringly however the last batch played almost the same way they always did.
Another case study conducted in Netherlands brought another interesting point to attention. The study proved that men who gamble on regular basis prefer gambling over women. In simple terms it can be summed up as brain of people who gamble regularly is hardwired to prefer easy money over easy women. The study involved 18 pathological gamblers and 20 healthy individuals into an MRI and their brain activity was monitored while performing one of the two tasks.
The participants were asked to press a button as fast as they could and in reward they could either win cash or view pictures of hot women. It was observed that the gamblers responded 4% faster when money was the reward compared to when the pictures of hot women was the reward.
The two case studies clearly highlight the relationship between sex and gambling. Also we understand the difference in the way in which the brain of a professional gambler and a person gambling not so often react differently when allowed to choose between easy money and easy women.
The research proved that both sex and money trigger the same part of brain that plays the main role in the experience of pleasure. Not only for gambling, the same results could be seen in actions where money was at stake like stock market trading etc.
The case study was done over people of various age groups and both the gender. Pretty Interesting results were seen in the case study. Firstly the results were same irrespective of the gender. Both men and women gambled more daringly after seeing some sexy pictures.
Another interesting observation was that the urge of having sex increases with the winning of the gambles especially in women. Many people agreed that they had the best sex of their life while making out in casinos only.
And the degree of influence of sexy pictures on people of various age groups was also studied. It was brought to attention that youth is affected the most by it and the influence decreases as the age group of people increased. People were divided in groups of 10 like: 30 years – 40 years, 40 years – 50 years, 50 years – 60 years and so on. People in the first age group were the ones who were influenced in the experiment the most and those of the last age group were the one who were affected the least by the experiment. The first batch played more daringly however the last batch played almost the same way they always did.
Another case study conducted in Netherlands brought another interesting point to attention. The study proved that men who gamble on regular basis prefer gambling over women. In simple terms it can be summed up as brain of people who gamble regularly is hardwired to prefer easy money over easy women. The study involved 18 pathological gamblers and 20 healthy individuals into an MRI and their brain activity was monitored while performing one of the two tasks.
The participants were asked to press a button as fast as they could and in reward they could either win cash or view pictures of hot women. It was observed that the gamblers responded 4% faster when money was the reward compared to when the pictures of hot women was the reward.
The two case studies clearly highlight the relationship between sex and gambling. Also we understand the difference in the way in which the brain of a professional gambler and a person gambling not so often react differently when allowed to choose between easy money and easy women.
December 13, 2013
Skrill exits Canadian gaming market
Ewallet service provider Skrill will be leaving the Canadian online gaming market.
The news came suddenly to both gaming firms and players on Skrill’s departure from the Canadian market. Skrill sent out notifications to gaming firms and players stating they have 4 weeks to cash out their balances, and will cease their services as of January 2nd 2014.
Canadian players have experienced a similar story in the past, when Neteller exited the market back in 2007. Currently, Canadian players have some options left for placing wages online with the likes of MasterCard, Visa, InstaDebit, Ukash, PaySafeCard, EntroPay and electronic checks.
Skrill is the (un)official ewallet for online gambling in New Jersey, and plans on expanding their presence in North America as more states decide to follow suit and legalize online gaming. The sudden, short announced decision does leave many wondering. There are rumors of provincial lottery sites posing a stand against offshore firms who do not pay Canadian taxes, and they are taking action against them.
There is no word from Skrill as of yet on why they have decided to leave the Canadian market.
The news came suddenly to both gaming firms and players on Skrill’s departure from the Canadian market. Skrill sent out notifications to gaming firms and players stating they have 4 weeks to cash out their balances, and will cease their services as of January 2nd 2014.
Canadian players have experienced a similar story in the past, when Neteller exited the market back in 2007. Currently, Canadian players have some options left for placing wages online with the likes of MasterCard, Visa, InstaDebit, Ukash, PaySafeCard, EntroPay and electronic checks.
Skrill is the (un)official ewallet for online gambling in New Jersey, and plans on expanding their presence in North America as more states decide to follow suit and legalize online gaming. The sudden, short announced decision does leave many wondering. There are rumors of provincial lottery sites posing a stand against offshore firms who do not pay Canadian taxes, and they are taking action against them.
There is no word from Skrill as of yet on why they have decided to leave the Canadian market.
December 12, 2013
Romania to change gambling tax laws
The Romanian state is planning to double the tax casino operators currently pay along with adding an extra 200 Euros to each slot machine used in the country per year.
The current law tries to figure out how much each gambler loses and then taxes the operator on the loses, but slot machines operators agree it is impossible for companies and the tax administration to highlight how much a gambler actually wins or loses, and tax it, so they welcome the change, even if it represents a tax increase.
The new tax regime will cover a whole host of gambling including slot machines, video lottery, online gambling, casino and poker clubs. Last year the government revenue from gambling tax was EUR 7.5 million.
With over 65,000 slot machines in the country estimates have that they earn over 1 billion Euros for operators each year. With casino operators the new tax will be on net earning set at 2% tax, which will be the same for online gambling operators.
Also for online gambling operators more changes will come as the state wants to block access to online sports bets and gambling sites which are not owned by the state or not licensed to do business in Romania.
A black list of sites unauthorized in Romania will be compiled, and will be monitored by the National Office for Gambling.
The current law tries to figure out how much each gambler loses and then taxes the operator on the loses, but slot machines operators agree it is impossible for companies and the tax administration to highlight how much a gambler actually wins or loses, and tax it, so they welcome the change, even if it represents a tax increase.
The new tax regime will cover a whole host of gambling including slot machines, video lottery, online gambling, casino and poker clubs. Last year the government revenue from gambling tax was EUR 7.5 million.
With over 65,000 slot machines in the country estimates have that they earn over 1 billion Euros for operators each year. With casino operators the new tax will be on net earning set at 2% tax, which will be the same for online gambling operators.
Also for online gambling operators more changes will come as the state wants to block access to online sports bets and gambling sites which are not owned by the state or not licensed to do business in Romania.
A black list of sites unauthorized in Romania will be compiled, and will be monitored by the National Office for Gambling.
American Indian tribes ready for online gambling
The American Indian tribes have not so far taken part in any online gambling in the three states that have legalised online gambling in Nevada, Delaware or New Jersey but by the end of 2013 that could be changing.
The American Indian tribe in rural California, the Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe will be ready they believe to launch online gambling to customer outside of the US, either before or just into the new year. They are not alone with the same strategy being taken up by the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma, looking to entice overseas online gamblers to their website that will be launched soon in 2014.
In total American Indian tribes operate 460 gaming venues in 28 states in the US and many tribal leaders feel with global revenues in online gambling at $30 billion a year, they are missing out on a piece of the action.
How much the US market is worth a present is unsure, Fitch Ratings believes New Jersey which is the largest of the states to allow online gambling says the market is worth $300 million to $700 million a year in the coming seven years.
But the Indian tribes are not all together with online gambling with many believing it will harm their current land based casino operations, with the other side saying it will help with their large scale un-employment problem.
One thing is for sure the Indian tribes want to get into online gambling, how and in what form is still not certain but come the end of the year, they will be live with their own offerings.
The American Indian tribe in rural California, the Alturas Indian Rancheria Tribe will be ready they believe to launch online gambling to customer outside of the US, either before or just into the new year. They are not alone with the same strategy being taken up by the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma, looking to entice overseas online gamblers to their website that will be launched soon in 2014.
In total American Indian tribes operate 460 gaming venues in 28 states in the US and many tribal leaders feel with global revenues in online gambling at $30 billion a year, they are missing out on a piece of the action.
How much the US market is worth a present is unsure, Fitch Ratings believes New Jersey which is the largest of the states to allow online gambling says the market is worth $300 million to $700 million a year in the coming seven years.
But the Indian tribes are not all together with online gambling with many believing it will harm their current land based casino operations, with the other side saying it will help with their large scale un-employment problem.
One thing is for sure the Indian tribes want to get into online gambling, how and in what form is still not certain but come the end of the year, they will be live with their own offerings.
December 10, 2013
North Korean leaderpurges his uncle after gambling allegations
The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has proved that nobody is beyond the reach of his cane, as his once powerful uncle Jang Song-thaek has been purged from his position for crimes that include faction-building, drug use, womanizing and gambling.
The normally discreet North Korean media have reacted to the news by splurging the world’s media of photographic images of Song-thaek as he is forcible removed from his chair, by officials, during a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea.
It’s not the first time that Kim Jong-un has made changes to the higher echelons of power after the military chief Ri Yong Ho was also removed from office due to ‘ill health’ last year.
“It is the most prominent disgrace of an official in North Korea’s entire history,” Andrei Lankov, an expert on the North at Kookmin University, told the Guardian, “Purges in the past have seldom touched members of the family; the only precedent I remember was in the mid-70s when the brother of Kim Il-sung was removed. As far as I understand there was no official accusation brought against him; he was simply sent to the countryside.
“Secondly, when they have purged people in the past it was mentioned in passing.
“It tells us something about the new leadership’s style: the young man seems really tough and brutal in dealing with people he wants to destroy.”
A report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that Jang had ‘seriously obstructed the nation’s economic affairs and the improvement of the standard of people’s living.
“By abusing his power, he was engrossed in irregularities and corruption, had improper relations with several women and was wined and dined at back parlors of deluxe restaurants.
“Ideologically sick and extremely idle and easy-going, he used drugs and squandered foreign currency at casinos while he was receiving medical treatment in a foreign country under the care of the party.”
Somehow you get the feeling that match fixing wouldn’t be a problem in the North Korean DPR League and it is in the UK equivalent.
Let’s Hope Dennis Rodman Doesn’t Understand What Faction Building is
Perhaps, Dennis Rodman has heavily influenced Jang Song-Thaek?
The former NBA star has a CV littered with a history of addictions that would seemingly result in a North Korean incarceration, with the exception of faction building, but that hasn’t stopped the North Korean leader from taking a shine to the guy.
“You have a friend for life,” the leader told Rodman after his first visit to the normally secretive country.
The former wild man will be returning to North Korea on Dec 18th to continue his work with the North Korean national basketball team who will play an exhibition match against former NBA players in January.
The Irish funsters PaddyPower are sponsoring Rodman’s Korean trip, which is not surprising given the fact that the lads in green have worked with the North Korean leader in the past (as shown in the video below)
The normally discreet North Korean media have reacted to the news by splurging the world’s media of photographic images of Song-thaek as he is forcible removed from his chair, by officials, during a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea.
It’s not the first time that Kim Jong-un has made changes to the higher echelons of power after the military chief Ri Yong Ho was also removed from office due to ‘ill health’ last year.
“It is the most prominent disgrace of an official in North Korea’s entire history,” Andrei Lankov, an expert on the North at Kookmin University, told the Guardian, “Purges in the past have seldom touched members of the family; the only precedent I remember was in the mid-70s when the brother of Kim Il-sung was removed. As far as I understand there was no official accusation brought against him; he was simply sent to the countryside.
“Secondly, when they have purged people in the past it was mentioned in passing.
“It tells us something about the new leadership’s style: the young man seems really tough and brutal in dealing with people he wants to destroy.”
A report from the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that Jang had ‘seriously obstructed the nation’s economic affairs and the improvement of the standard of people’s living.
“By abusing his power, he was engrossed in irregularities and corruption, had improper relations with several women and was wined and dined at back parlors of deluxe restaurants.
“Ideologically sick and extremely idle and easy-going, he used drugs and squandered foreign currency at casinos while he was receiving medical treatment in a foreign country under the care of the party.”
Somehow you get the feeling that match fixing wouldn’t be a problem in the North Korean DPR League and it is in the UK equivalent.
Let’s Hope Dennis Rodman Doesn’t Understand What Faction Building is
Perhaps, Dennis Rodman has heavily influenced Jang Song-Thaek?
The former NBA star has a CV littered with a history of addictions that would seemingly result in a North Korean incarceration, with the exception of faction building, but that hasn’t stopped the North Korean leader from taking a shine to the guy.
“You have a friend for life,” the leader told Rodman after his first visit to the normally secretive country.
The former wild man will be returning to North Korea on Dec 18th to continue his work with the North Korean national basketball team who will play an exhibition match against former NBA players in January.
The Irish funsters PaddyPower are sponsoring Rodman’s Korean trip, which is not surprising given the fact that the lads in green have worked with the North Korean leader in the past (as shown in the video below)
FA chief: Spot-fixing 'isn't a big issue'
The Football Association's general secretary Alex Horne has insisted match-fixing is not widespread in the game but has warned against complacency.
Horne was among representatives from five sports - football, cricket, tennis and the two rugby codes - who attended a summit with ministers in Whitehall on Tuesday morning for talks on tackling fixing.
It followed the arrest of six people, including Blackburn striker DJ Campbell, following an investigation into spot-fixing in football by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Horne, who was at the meeting with culture, media and sport secretary Maria Miller, said the "general consensus" was that fixing was not a widespread problem. Representatives from the Premier League, Football League and British Horseracing Authority (BHA) were also present.
He insisted however that the FA took the issue seriously and will study measures against fixing already in place in cricket and horse racing.
Horne said after the meeting: "I think the general consensus around the room was this isn't a big issue. The intelligence that we have says this isn't a wide-scale issue at the moment but, again, we don't want to be complacent.
"It's clear that, as Britain, we are very proud of our sporting product, of the sport that we play in this country and we all want to do all we can to protect the integrity of that sport.
"We are never complacent on this issue and there's a lot we can learn from other sports. Some of the education programmes that cricket have put in place are very far advanced, and the integrity unit that the BHA have in place is very far advanced so there's lots of learnings that are open to all sports."
The FA has its own integrity unit and education programmes, but fixing has been an issue for a longer time for horse racing and cricket.
Horne added: "We don't want to see this in our sport and so, therefore, we are doing everything we can, we are looking at all measures we can across sport but also with the agencies.
"We really welcome the recent impetus from the NCA. I think that is going to be a really important body for all of us in reminding people that these are criminal activities and the criminal nature of activities shouldn't be underestimated and all power to the NCA."
Horne was among representatives from five sports - football, cricket, tennis and the two rugby codes - who attended a summit with ministers in Whitehall on Tuesday morning for talks on tackling fixing.
It followed the arrest of six people, including Blackburn striker DJ Campbell, following an investigation into spot-fixing in football by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Horne, who was at the meeting with culture, media and sport secretary Maria Miller, said the "general consensus" was that fixing was not a widespread problem. Representatives from the Premier League, Football League and British Horseracing Authority (BHA) were also present.
He insisted however that the FA took the issue seriously and will study measures against fixing already in place in cricket and horse racing.
Horne said after the meeting: "I think the general consensus around the room was this isn't a big issue. The intelligence that we have says this isn't a wide-scale issue at the moment but, again, we don't want to be complacent.
"It's clear that, as Britain, we are very proud of our sporting product, of the sport that we play in this country and we all want to do all we can to protect the integrity of that sport.
"We are never complacent on this issue and there's a lot we can learn from other sports. Some of the education programmes that cricket have put in place are very far advanced, and the integrity unit that the BHA have in place is very far advanced so there's lots of learnings that are open to all sports."
The FA has its own integrity unit and education programmes, but fixing has been an issue for a longer time for horse racing and cricket.
Horne added: "We don't want to see this in our sport and so, therefore, we are doing everything we can, we are looking at all measures we can across sport but also with the agencies.
"We really welcome the recent impetus from the NCA. I think that is going to be a really important body for all of us in reminding people that these are criminal activities and the criminal nature of activities shouldn't be underestimated and all power to the NCA."
December 09, 2013
Bet365 to add 600 new jobs
Midlands based betting firm Bet365 has announced it is to create up to 600 new jobs in a new expansion plan that will see the company move into its new headquarters in Forge Lane Stoke on Trent.
Bet365 has over 2,200 employees currently and with the move has promised to increase that by another 600 by the end of the decade, reaching almost 3,000 staff.
Its joint chief executive Denise Coates CBE said: “I am from the area and apart from my time at university, have always lived here.
“Key to bet365’s success, is our fantastic and loyal group of employees who have worked with me over the years I have worked in Stoke.
“At the moment we contribute over £80 million annually into the economy in terms of staff wages, so it’s a significant amount being invested in the area in terms of those wages. Other businesses will also benefit”.
Bet365 is planning to build a new 13,000 square meter office in Forge Lane, which is almost double the size of the existing HQ.
Bet365 has over 2,200 employees currently and with the move has promised to increase that by another 600 by the end of the decade, reaching almost 3,000 staff.
Its joint chief executive Denise Coates CBE said: “I am from the area and apart from my time at university, have always lived here.
“Key to bet365’s success, is our fantastic and loyal group of employees who have worked with me over the years I have worked in Stoke.
“At the moment we contribute over £80 million annually into the economy in terms of staff wages, so it’s a significant amount being invested in the area in terms of those wages. Other businesses will also benefit”.
Bet365 is planning to build a new 13,000 square meter office in Forge Lane, which is almost double the size of the existing HQ.
Former Premier League player admits to fixing matches
Match fixing in English football took another incredible turn after the National Crime Agency arrested six people connected to another spot fixing investigation involving players in the Championship.
The sordid details were unearthed by the Sun with incredible information on former Premier League player Sam Sodji, who was caught on film bragging about his power to fix matches at a drop of a hat…or in this case, a show of a yellow or red card.
The information was gathered by an undercover reporter after compiling four month’s worth of information on the betting syndicate. Of those findings, the most incredible one was Sodje’s admission that he can arrange for players to earn yellow or red cards in exchange for pay-outs amounting to £30,000. The price goes up for a red card, or in some cases, balloons to the six digits if the fix happens in the Premier League where fines are typically higher than in the lower tier leagues.
The NCA isn’t commenting on details surrounding the arrest, opting only to say that six individuals have been arrested and are being questioned regarding the scope of their involvement in the syndicate.
Sodje’s claims, in particular, are especially damning after he was recorded bragging about his apparent match-fixing powers, even calling it “child’s play” because of the amount of money being waved in player’s faces.
“This guy came to meet me at my house and it was sorted,” Sodje was quoted as saying. “That’s how easy it is – it’s nothing.”
One particular incident occurred last February while Sodje was playing for Portsmouth. In a game against Oldham, the 34-year old Nigerian walked up to Oldham’s Jose Baxter and punched him in the gonads twice, earning a red card – and a pay-out for his actions. Even more perplexing was the reason for the attack, something Sodje attributed to referees not booking him during the match.
Nothing gets you sent off faster than knuckling up on a man’s privates, it appears.
The sordid details were unearthed by the Sun with incredible information on former Premier League player Sam Sodji, who was caught on film bragging about his power to fix matches at a drop of a hat…or in this case, a show of a yellow or red card.
The information was gathered by an undercover reporter after compiling four month’s worth of information on the betting syndicate. Of those findings, the most incredible one was Sodje’s admission that he can arrange for players to earn yellow or red cards in exchange for pay-outs amounting to £30,000. The price goes up for a red card, or in some cases, balloons to the six digits if the fix happens in the Premier League where fines are typically higher than in the lower tier leagues.
The NCA isn’t commenting on details surrounding the arrest, opting only to say that six individuals have been arrested and are being questioned regarding the scope of their involvement in the syndicate.
Sodje’s claims, in particular, are especially damning after he was recorded bragging about his apparent match-fixing powers, even calling it “child’s play” because of the amount of money being waved in player’s faces.
“This guy came to meet me at my house and it was sorted,” Sodje was quoted as saying. “That’s how easy it is – it’s nothing.”
One particular incident occurred last February while Sodje was playing for Portsmouth. In a game against Oldham, the 34-year old Nigerian walked up to Oldham’s Jose Baxter and punched him in the gonads twice, earning a red card – and a pay-out for his actions. Even more perplexing was the reason for the attack, something Sodje attributed to referees not booking him during the match.
Nothing gets you sent off faster than knuckling up on a man’s privates, it appears.
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