Rafael Benitez's future in doubt at Liverpool after bookmakers suspend betting

Rafael Benitez's future as manager of Liverpool looks more uncertain than ever after leading bookmakers suspended all bets on him leaving the club.

The news comes hours before his team take on Real Madrid in the last-16 of the Champions League in the Bernabeu with rumours in the Spanish capital suggesting the Liverpool manager will leave Anfield.

The Spaniard has been locked in talks over a new contract in recent months and surprised the club’s hierarchy by rejecting a fifth draft of the deal over the weekend. Benitez has less than 18 months left on his contract at Anfield and believes that if he reaches the end of the season without a commitment from Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Liverpool owners, he would be forced to look for a new job.

The Americans agreed to offer Benitez a new contract before Christmas but the document remains unsigned. Sources close to Benitez have suggested that the Spaniard has reached agreement with the club on a number of occasions, only to find that, when the written contract arrived, it contained different terms than had been agreed verbally.

The owners have bowed to his requests for more control over transfer policy and the youth academy, however, sticking points remain about the job security of his backroom staff and his concern at the delays in the decision-making process, given the dysfunctional relationship between the owners.

Benitez began his career in coaching at the Bernabeu in 1986 and the Liverpool manager has been linked with a return to Madrid, where Juande Ramos is the incumbent. However, Ramos is a short-term appointment and is likely to be replaced in the summer.

Speculation has suggested that Kenny Dalglish, the former manager, has been approached to act in a caretaker capacity in the event of Benitez leaving, but the Scot remains a strong supporter of the Spaniard and would be unlikely to countenance the dismissal of a man who has brought the European Cup to Anfield.

The internal politics of Liverpool have been tortuous since the American owners took over and Benitez has endured a difficult relationship with Rick Parry, the chief executive. The pair have been enbroiled in a power struggle which has worn down the manager. However, Benitez believes he is right and will not depart without a fight.

Rupert Adams, a spokesman for William Hill, said: "We are slightly jumpy after being turned over by the recent Weymouth coup but the level of interest on Rafa getting the sack is unprecedented with over 300 calls logged today alone.

"We would be very surprised if he is still the Liverpool boss by midnight on Sunday."

Robbie Williams swaps life in LA for poker in Swindon

As a super-rich pop star, you would expect Robbie Williams to indulge his passion for poker at the world’s most luxurious gambling resorts. He could go all in at Monte Carlo or Vegas — but instead he is choosing to hit the tables in not-so-glamorous Swindon.

Now I’m sure there is nothing wrong with the facilities at the town’s Premier Club. But it’s not quite where you expect to find the world’s high-rollers.

But The Robster — during breaks from gazing up at the sky searching for flying saucers — has become a regular at the club’s poker nights close to his multi-million pound Wiltshire mansion. And pal Jonathan Wilkes often joins him for the five-card stud sessions.

My mole said: "Robbie has been in frequently over the last few weeks. He plays to a very high standard and has been having fun with Jonathan. He’s getting a reputation as a serious adversary around the poker tables here."

The former Take That star signalled the end of his five-year exile in LA last December when he splashed out 7 million pounds on his new pad.

He moved in a month ago and has been beavering away on his comeback album.

Robbie — who released No1 album Swing When You’re Winning in 2001 — has a reputation for being a demon card shark.

When he was living in LA, he hosted a card school and once begged veteran Welsh crooner Tom Jones to join. In 2002, Tom said: "Robbie’s started a poker circle. He’s bought a house up the street from me and has been asking me to join in but I can’t play."

Robbie might also have the chance to get his football boots back on, having left his beloved LA Vale amateur side behind. Wilkes plays for the Premier Club members side KC FC.

He explained: "Me and my wife moved to the area about a year ago and my brother-in-law is the captain. We’ve got a decent side and are having a pretty good season."

Sounds like Rob’s got everything his heart desires. Now he just has to persuade his LA-born actress girlfriend Ayda Field to settle over here.

Bookmakers lose £1m in betting coup

For fans of financially troubled Weymouth Football Club, the chance of a humiliating defeat usually only adds to their woes. But when the entire squad went on strike, leaving only the youth team available for the next match, supporters cashed in on one of the biggest betting coups in non-league football.

More than £1 million was paid out after punters placed huge bets on Weymouth losing against Rushden & Diamonds.

As the match became the hottest betting prospect in the country many bewildered bookmakers were forced to cut odds before suspending betting entirely.

The regular team, which has not been paid at all this year because of the club’s debts, walked out after discovering that there was no medical insurance for the game.

Despite a valiant attempt by the Weymouth teenage team, when the final whistle blew they had been trounced 9-0.

One punter, who wanted to remain anonymous, told how he had earlier raced from one Devon bookmaker to the next to place thousands of pounds in bets.

He said: “As soon as word began leaking out on Friday night that it might be the entire youth team playing the next day we began putting on bets. We put on money at all the local bookmakers and then started driving to all the surrounding towns to get more bets on.

“We then began ringing friends around the country to get them to put on money for us. Even as the price began shortening we kept putting on thousands because there was no way a team of 17-year-olds was going to win that game.”

About £680,000 was traded on a Rushden win on the Betfair exchange alone. At first the odds were 15-8. By kick-off at 3pm on Saturday the odds on Rushden winning were just 4-6 and some bookmakers had stopped taking bets.

The 1,000 Weymouth supporters, some of whom felt mixed emotions at having made money from their team’s loss, gave the young squad a standing ovation.

Keith Avant, 30, said he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after winning £237 from his team’s defeat. “I put £100 on and got £237 back. I heard all the players were walking away so I went out to make the bet.

“It was a bit emotional as a Weymouth fan as you don’t want to bet against your own team. But it was a good investment.”

A Coral spokesman said: “Normally £30,000 to £40,000 would be paid out on a match like this across the whole industry. But we paid out in the region of £100,000 and we are 20 per cent of the industry.”

He added that Coral changed the odds after learning that the public was aware the club was fielding its youth team.

A Ladbrokes spokesman said: “We got wind of it on Saturday morning after we noticed an unexpected number of people placing bets. We were able to slash the odds and fortunately it was not too bad.”

Steve Palmer, deputy sports editor at theRacing Post, said that the match had become “the centre of the betting universe” before the game.

“Nonleague football is one of the few sports where punters can get an edge on the bookmakers,” he said. “They can have superior knowledge and the bookmakers can get caught with their trousers down.”

George Primarolo, spokesman for Totesport, which was one of the first bookmakers to suspend betting on the game, said: “We took it down once it appeared people knew more than us. We are quite used to this sort of thing happening in the lower leagues because teams can struggle financially and all of a sudden a couple of players cannot play.

“It’s not like the Premier League where all the team news is broadcast everywhere. I am sure there are some people who did very well out of it.”

New evidence revealed in Polish football scandal

New evidence has been revealed in connection to the Polish football scandal that remains under investigation. Thanks to Przeglad Sportowy, a member of the investigative team, a list of calls made by Arka Gdynia suspects has joined the case. According to Polskie Radio, the latest evidence shows how detailed the criminal portion of the operation was, which coincides with statements that suggested members of the scandal were acting like part of a “real mafia”.

With the prosecutor’s office now sporting more evidence, the defendants may have a harder time prevailing. Identified as members of the scandal are Ryszard F., (known as 'Fryzjer'), referee head Marian D. and former Polish Football Association board member Henryk Klocek, who allegedly bribed referees using money provided by Arka Gdynia representatives. As indicated by the data on file, the individuals attempted to avoid police involvement by frequently changing their mobile phone cards.

Further data shows phone calls made by various members of the group during one of the fixed matches in question, which resulted in a EUR 1200 bribe provided to the referee by team leader Wiselaw K. Arka Gdynia advanced to the Premier League during the 2008 season, although the investigation has been underway since 2005.

Bookmakers Pay Out On Barcelona League Win

Real Madrid might not be ready to admit that Barcelona have won La Liga yet, but one bookmaker has announced today that they are paying out the Catalan side as champions.

Expekt.com have released a statement this afternoon, confirming that any bets made on Barcelona to win the league will be paid out, even though there are still 18 games left in the season.

"We declare that the title race is over in Spain and congratulate our customers who backed Barcelona to win the Spanish league. The money will start to be paid out to their accounts on Tuesday," said Dan Vikman, press officer for the firm.

This decision by Expect is apparently not just based on the fact that Barcelona are 12 points clear at the top but also the fact they believe they are too strong to drop points.

"We see no big risk with the squad that Barcelona have. They will keep the other teams behind them during the spring, and, if the unlikely should happen, and another team would win, we will make more customers happy later this year and pay out again," declared Vikman.

The news will no doubt be music to the ears of punters who backed Barcelona with Expect, especially as at the start of the season Real Madrid were 1.7 favourites and Barcelona were priced at 2.35.

The good news for those who didn't back Barcelona is that the firm will still pay out if another side can usurp the Catalans at the top of the table, not that they are expecting it to happen.

"Of course, all other league winner bets will still be valid. If another team should win the Spanish league, we will pay out on them as well, but even if there are 18 rounds to go, we see no competition," declared Vikman.

One of the reasons for the company announcing the decision is to probably stop punters betting on Barcelona, even if they are as short-priced at 1.04.

The company could not release figures about how much they would be paying out, but confirmed that it will be a six figure sum in Euros.

Winning Bet On Obama's Speech

As previously mentioned, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power had odds on what phrase President Obama would say first in his speech.

Turns out it wasn't "Change has come", which was favored at 8-1.

Instead, the first sentence out of his mouth included the phrase "As I stand here today", which was tied for third at 12-1 odds.

The speech went eighteen minutes and 26 seconds, not as long as the favored 22-25 minutes.

Didn't see Oprah during the speech, which was also favored at 7-4 odds.

In fact, I didn't see any celebrity once the President began speaking, only average Americans, which was probably the point.

Also, I was wrong. President Obama quoted Washington, not Lincoln.

PartyGaming's managing director, John O'Malia is to leave at the end of February

The Board of PartyGaming Plc has been given notice by John O’Malia, Group Managing Director, of his intention to leave the Company in order to pursue other business interests. Mr O’Malia will remain with the Group until the end of February 2009 when he will step down from the Board and his duties as Managing Director will be assumed by Jim Ryan, Group Chief Executive.

John O’Malia was Chief Executive of Gamebookers, until it was acquired by PartyGaming in August 2006. Having agreed to remain with the Group following the integration of Gamebookers, he became a member of the senior management team and was appointed to the Board of PartyGaming in May 2008.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jim Ryan, Group Chief Executive Officer said:

“Over the past two and a half years, John has made a significant contribution to the transformation and leadership of the Group. In particular, his vision and dedication were fundamental to the successful launch of the next generation of our signature PartyPoker.com product in September 2008. John is a natural leader and is keen to fulfil his potential in a more senior management role that will play to his considerable industry and management experience. Whilst saddened by his decision to leave the Group, we wish him every success for the future.”

John O’Malia, Group Managing Director, commented:

"My time at PartyGaming has been extraordinary. We have made enormous strides in repositioning the Group’s gaming portfolio, something that I was determined to achieve before moving on. I am enormously proud of the progress we have made and the fact that many of the Group’s games are now once again recognised as being best in class. Whilst I shall certainly miss the excitement of working for the world’s leading listed online gaming company, I am looking forward to taking on fresh business challenges."

Athens Court Allows Stanleybet Shop to Reopen

Following the closure of Stanleybet’s retail outlets in Greece last November by police just days after their launch, the Athens Administrative Court of First Instance on Wednesday provisionally ordered the sealing of the Athens Stanleybet shop to be lifted, allowing it to once again reopen for business.

Stanleybet International opened two betting shops in Greece in late October, one in the Capital Athens and a second in the city of Thessalonica. The branded outlets focused on football betting and a number of seasonal sporting events, delivered as a face-to-face service to customers in order to assure them of the quality and transparency of the transaction.

On November 6th 2008 Greek police raided the stores, resulting in the arrest of a number of Stanleybet employees and customers present at the time of the raid. All those arrested were subsequently released, however both shops were closed down.

The company said the actions of the Greek authorities were in direct contravention of Article 49 of the EC Treaty which guarantees the right of European companies to provide cross-border services.

Commenting on the decision of the Athens court on Wednesday, Adrian Morris, Deputy Managing Director of Stanleybet International said: “Although today’s court decision is purely procedural, we interpret this as a first move by the Greek courts to acknowledge our right to offer our innovative sports betting services to Greek consumers. In addition, it is a clear indication that Greek judges apply laws consistently and without hesitation.

“Our continuing goal is to create a free, competitive and regulated betting market in Greece, fully compliant with EU law. We have called on the Greek government to comply fully with its EU obligations and we intend to open new shops in the coming weeks.”

In February 2008 the European Commission increased pressure on Greece to liberalise its gambling market by issuing a final warning over its restrictive policies. The Commission said at the time that increasing levels of advertising spend and the introduction of new and addictive games, without effective measures to counter gambling addiction, demonstrated that maintaining public health was not a motivating factor behind the existence of the Greek monopoly. The EC has since however been seen to be inactive in pursuing state monopolies which continue to flout European law.

Ladbrokes Seeks Lone Complainant of TV Ads

Ladbrokes has launched a tongue-in-cheek press campaign in the style of a missing persons poster offering a £20 reward to find the one viewer who complained to the advertising regulator and got the betting company's TV ad campaign banned.

The company, which today called for a review into the Advertising Standards Authority's ruling banning the two TV ads for its Ladbrokescasino.com online business, has taken out one-page ads in the Sun and the Racing Post.

Ladbroke's press ad campaign features a mock-up of a police photo-fit of a man's face, under the headline "Missing (a funny bone)".

The complainant is described in the ad as: "Body Type: Busy. Nose: Severely out of joint. Last Seen: Throwing toys out of pram."

"We bear them no ill will, we just want to give them a big bunch of flowers and a hug to say sorry," runs a line in the ad.

Ladbrokes goes on to ask readers to see if any of their friends watched the tongue in cheek TV ads for Ladbrokescasino.com "without so much as a snigger".

If so, says the ad, "we may have found our man, and you could earn yourself £20" to use on the casino website.

The ASA banned two tongue-in-cheek Ladbrokescasino.com TV ads for portraying gambling in a "context of toughness" and linking the pastime with recklessness.

PartyGaming Sues Former Owner of EOL

PartyGaming plc has filed a lawsuit against the former owners of Empire Online, alleging that the company failed to deliver on certain income as agreed in the terms of its acquisition by PartyGaming in 2006.

According to court documents obtained by Bloomberg, PartyGaming's lawsuit against Livermore Investments Group was filed in London last month, seeking damages in an amount running into six figures.

At the time of the company's acquisition of Empire Online in December 2006, PartyGaming said that it expected the acquired businesses and assets to generate clean EBITDA of at least $6.0 million.

The company acquired the assets for a consideration of 83,325,934 new ordinary shares in PartyGaming, which equated to approximately $48 million based upon the then average share price of 29.32 pence. A further $10 million was also retained in escrow, to be released in instalments over the following 18 months subject to certain conditions.

The Empire Online assets comprised a substantial number of its gaming websites including the poker site NoblePoker.com and three online casino sites, EnterCasino.com, Clubdicecasino.com, and Carnivalcasino.com.

Livermore Investments is headed by CEO Noam Lanir, the founder and CEO of Empire Online, with Richard Barry Rosenberg continuing in his role as Non-Executive Chairman.