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Paddy Power Removed Odds on Obama Assassination

Written by sportsintensity on . Posted in Uncategorized

by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor

                Irish online sportsbook Paddy Power received a great deal of criticism for releasing odds on U.S. President-Elect Barack Obama’s assassination. Due to a slew of complaints and suggestions that the odds might prompt a bettor to assassinate the president while in office, the website has discontinued these betting facilities.

                The odds were not necessarily that the president-elect would be assassinated, but that he would not finish his first term in office, for whatever reason. The online betting affair was met with arguments that the sportsbook was in “poor taste” from the general public as well as the media, and was labeled as “completely inappropriate” by an US Embassy official in Ireland.

                Another internet sportsbook in competition with Paddy Power had refused to post odds on the presidential assassination, despite many demands for it. A spokesperson for the company stated, “After receiving over one hundred requests from gamblers looking to bet that Barack Obama will be the target of an assassination attempt or terrorist attack, bookmakers William Hill have issued a statement confirming that under no circumstances will they even contemplate offering such odds.”

                Spokesperson Graham Sharpe commented, “We have no interest whatsoever in betting on the possible death or serious injury of any politician (or anyone else for that matter) in any circumstance. I cannot imagine why any reputable bookmarker would even consider taking such a bet or any punter contemplate placing one.”

                The US Presidential Election saw a record 10 million Euro in wagers online. Following the outcome, several punters on Paddy Power requested odds for Obama’s assassination. When Paddy Power complied, it immediately received a great deal of controversy. Initially, the sportsbook refused to take down the odds, claiming that it was nonsense to suggest the bet would encourage anyone to harm the President-Elect.

                “The online gambling industry does not offer ‘death pool’ type wagers,” said Gambling911.com Senior Editor, Payton O’Brien. “The industry has evolved way beyond the point so there was quite a bit of disappointment when this story first broke. Paddy Power is like the Virgin Group of online gambling and one would expect this firm to be more responsible.”

                “I have a feeling there is a lot of second guessing now in the Paddy camp,” O’Brien concluded when the sportsbook removed the assassination odds.

                “It is understandable that folks might be offended by this especially when one reflects upon US history and some of the tragedies involving popular public figures including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King, Jr.” O’Brien continued. “This is not something that we would ever promote.”

                While it has not yet been specified, it is believed that the bookies will honor existing bets for people who wagered that the president would not finish his first term in office, whether the reason be assassination or no, with odds of 12-1.

                Paddy Power is now instead offering three Obama “First Term Specials” to online punters and clients in their land shops. The odds are 10-1 that Obama will have another child during his first term in office, 28-1 odds that he will resign during his first four years and 33-1 odds that he will be impeached.

Is Bodog in More Trouble Than We Imagined?

Written by sportsintensity on . Posted in Uncategorized

by Hillary LaClair, Senior Editor

                More complaints about Bodoglife.com have arisen, as customers say their payments have slowed down significantly following the recent payment processing difficulties. According to Gambling911.com, the processing troubles that have hit the entire market have specifically hurt Bodog in the recent months.

                “Processors won’t go near Bodog,” a source told Gambling911.com, regarding the Department of Justice’s recent seizure of Bodog’s funds. Payment has become a level of great concern in the online sports betting industry, with more eWallets being forced out of the U.S. market due to the UIGEA. The lack of options has forced many to close their doors to the U.S. or all together. Because of this, a great deal of the industry has utilized smaller payment processors who accept new clients based on a referral. These processors have had the capacity for mid to large sized gaming websites, and Bodog is certainly a large operation in the industry.

                New processing options have opened in response to the crisis in the market, but unfortunately due to the controversy surrounding the online sportsbook, many steer clear in fear that they will also be shut down. Despite the decreasing availability of payment processors, Bodog has always managed to find new outlets for making deposits and withdrawals. According to the gaming news website, “Online gambling affiliated reported upwards of 50 percent conversion rates over the last month.

                “The problem: Retaining these customers.” This is a growing concern for internet sportsbooks like Bodog, who continue to lose market share. The root cause of this, of course, is the slow processing time that new customers, especially those new to the industry as a whole, have experienced in the latter months with Bodog. Because of this, other gambling venues that have remained overlooked by the UIGEA and its enforcers are picking up the slack. Full Tilt Poker, the second largest online poker room in the industry, has 10 times the number of players as Bodog.

                Moreover, SBR, an extremely useful and reputable online sportsbook review website, has dropped their rating of Bodog from an “A” to a “C,” and is considering a further downgrade. Things are certainly not looking good for the sportsbook, and it’s beginning to show.

                The website reports, “At this point Bodog is simply telling us that everyone is in line for payout and they will pay as fast as their processors can put out payments. Unless a player has made person to person transfers as the primary deposit method, and is a long time customer, p2p isn’t being offered as a withdrawal payout.”

                The person to person payment method has been reported as a means of receiving payment as a timely fashion, although customers have also complained about the costly fees that are tagged to it. While Bodog reports that its poor relationship with Sports Book Review may have led to their downgrade, it is not the online organization to have dropped its review of Bodog in the past few months. Users will notice a shift in review at SportsbookAdvisor.com as well.