Politics
Undoubtedly the biggest news coming out of Washington last week was the retirement of Justice Souter. As the dust settles, the focus is now on who will replace him. A smart trader wouldn’t forecast anyone just yet. That said though Sonia Sotomayor is getting a surprising amount of activity, now given a 42% chance of replacing Souter.

Who will replace Justice Souter?

Science
Apparently the end isn’t nye, which is a bummer since for the last week I thought the zombie apocalypse might be upon us, and we all know how cool those look! There’s still a chance we face imminent annihilation though! Hubdubbers give the Swine Flu alert level rasing to 6 a 62% chance. Alert level 6 means we’re in a pandemic.

Whats next for the Swine Flu alert level: 4 or 6?

Entertainment
Yes that’s right American Idol will soon be over, and whatever your feeling about the show in general it has to be said it’s developing into a American Institution. This season Hubdub is forecasting Adam and Danny have a 79% chance of being the last two contestants standing.

Who Will Be the Final Two Contestants on American Idol?

Sport
This week the main NBA playoff game is between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic. Who will win? Hubdub says the current front-runner is Boston and the forecast is that they’re likely to win in 6 games.

NBA Playoffs, Boston Celtics – Orlando Magic, series outcome?

World

Don’t hate the player hate the game! Or in bad Italian Non odiare il giocatore odia il gioco. Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s Prime Minister is on the prowl for a ‘new thing,’ after his wife decided the 71 year-old’s flirtatious eye was too much. Currently Berlusconi, known for his young taste is 29% likely to next marry a 30 to 39 year-old.

What will be the age of Silvio Berlusconi’s next wife?

Trading percentages given are at time of posting and may not match up with markets after the fact due to Hubdub users forecasting on said markets.

Cross Posted From NewsPundits

21st April 2008

BETFAIR WINS SECOND QUEEN’S AWARD FOR ENTERPRISE

Online betting company recognised for International Trade

BETFAIR, the UK’s biggest online betting company, is proud to announce that it has won its second Queen’s Award for Enterprise in its eight year history.

The 2008 award comes in the International Trade category, five years after Betfair was recognised in the Innovation category for creating the first successful betting exchange – a new concept which meant a better deal for customers and greater protections within the betting industry.

Since 2003, Betfair has grown substantially from a company with 100,000 users, of which only 8 percent were from outside the UK and Ireland, to a customer base in excess of one million where over 40 percent are international users.

Winners of the Queen’s Award are selected on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and an independent advisory committee. Betfair joins a select group who have been honoured twice since the inception of the awards in 1966 and it means the company will be able to carry the Queen’s Award emblem for another five years.

David Yu, Chief Executive of Betfair, said: “Upon winning our first award in 2003, our chairman and co-founder Edward Wray said that the company was looking forward to taking this great British innovation onto the global stage. Five years on, this award for International Trade is recognition of the strides we’ve made towards achieving that aim.”

“Betfair continues to pride itself on its innovation, integrity, fairness to customers and a determination to work in partnership with international governments and regulators. Those qualities are being recognised throughout the world and we now have operational bases in Australia and Malta to support over one million registered customers.”

With this award, Betfair joins the likes of Rolls Royce, Weetabix, Aston Martin and who have all been winners in the International Trade category in recent years.

Notes to Editors:

Since winning its first Queen’s award in 2003, Betfair has grown from 200 employees to over 1200 people in 2008, spread across its bases in Hammersmith, Stevenage, Malta and Australia. Driven by cutting-edge technology, Betfair enables customers to choose their own odds, even after an event has started. Betfair processes 5 million transactions a day, more than all of the European stock exchanges combined. Over half of all new customers now come from outside of the UK & Ireland.

In addition to the exchange, Betfair now has an established games portfolio. Betfair Poker, Betfair Games, Betfair Casino and Betfair’s accumulator products are hosted from Malta. It is an area that has seen significant growth and investment. The company is also developing new revenue streams by providing automated price feeds to third parties, establishing white-label exchanges and through its own Betfair Mobile product. In 2007, Betfair launched a new company, Tradefair, for those wishing to bet on financial markets.

Betfair is a licensed betting operator in the UK, and also operates under licenses in Australia, Austria, Italy and Malta. The company is seeking licences elsewhere within the European Union and further afield. Betfair welcomes regulation and is committed to paying the appropriate product fees in every market in which it operates.

Winners in the International Trade category for the Queen’s Award must demonstrate either “outstanding achievement… sustained over not less than three years, [or] continuous achievement in international trade, sustained over not less than six years”.

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Congrats to all BetFair-TradeFair employees, to all their traders, and to all their providers.

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The Queen’s Award for Enterprise

The list

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The past twelve months have seen a significant increase in the rate of investment by Betfair, as the company has sought to not only consolidate its position as the world’s leading betting exchange operator, but also, to broaden its product portfolio, so as to create a one-stop-shop solution for online gambling, under the Betfair umbrella.

Betfair’s Australian based betting exchange went live at the end of August 2006; and in recently filed accounts, Betfair’s Australian partner PBL (50%) said that the business continues to build critical mass in its first full year of operations, and that its share of after tax losses for the year was $2 million.

In October 2006, Betfair Poker left CryptoLogic Inc. to move to an in-house technology solution; whilst in July 2007 Betfair announced that it had executed a non-binding Letter of Intent with Harrah’s License Company LLC, an affiliate of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc which designated Betfair.com as the “Presenting Sponsor” of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe through 2011.

In October 2006, Betfair broadened its product portfolio with the launch of an online casino. This followed the previous launch of Baccarat (launched June 2006), Blackjack (launched November 2005), Jacks or Better, Roulette and Omaha Hi (launched April 2007); all with zero house edge.

At the end of November 2006 Betfair announced that it had acquired Portway Press Limited, the owner of Timeform for somewhere in the region of £15m.

Looking ahead, Betfair will launch its betting exchange service in Italy and will also enter into the area of financial spread betting.

A decline in revenue growth and profitability is anticipated; with profit before tax likely to be down somewhere in the region of 33%.

There are those that will argue that the company should have stayed focused on its core betting exchange business; and I for one must question whether the company’s investment in online poker is going to reap the forecast dividends.

[cross-posted from Betting Market]

Here’s a republication of their warning:

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Responsible Gambling
Betfair’s Responsible Gambling Policy
Betfair is committed to endorsing responsible wagering among its customers as well as promoting the awareness of problem gambling and improving prevention, intervention and treatment. Betfair’s responsible Gambling Policy sets out its commitment to minimising the negative effects of problem gambling and to promoting responsible gambling practices.

We believe it is our responsibility to you, our customers, to ensure that you enjoy your wagering experience on our site, while remaining fully aware of the social and financial harms associated with problem gambling.

Problem gambling is not uncommon and we try to help those who are vulnerable as much as possible. We are able to do this because we have GamCare trained staff as well as links to the charitable organization that provides help and counselling to those with gambling problems.

In order to assist our players in gambling responsibly we have provided the following features on our site.

* Customer driven deposit and loss limits
* Game Session Timers
* Self-exclusion tools
* Links to GamCare and other help organisations
* Self help and awareness information
* Information and tools to protect underage access
* Player Protection area within Account Profile

Maintaining control
Whilst the majority of our customers gamble within their means for some it can be more difficult. In order to maintain control of your gambling habits we would like you to bear in mind the following points:

* Gambling should be done in moderation and undertaken as a form of leisure not as a genuine way of making money
* Avoid chasing losses
* Only gamble when you can cover the losses
* Keep track of the time and monitor the amount of money you spend
* If you need help, use the deposit and time limits on the player protection page to control the amount you can spend
* Should you need a break from gambling then use your exclusion options on the player protection page
* If you need to talk to someone about problem gambling then contact GamCare

GamCare are the National Association addressing the social impact of gambling. Betfair works with GamCare to help develop policies and practices that address problem gambling in accordance with their Social Responsibility Code of Conduct.

Do you have a problem?
If you are concerned that gambling has had a negative impact on yours or someone else’s life then the following questions may help you find out.

1. Does gambling prevent you from attending work, college or school?
2. Do you gamble to pass time?
3. Do you gamble until you lose all your money?
4. Have you ever lied to cover up the amount of money and time you spend gambling?
5. Have you lied, stolen or borrowed to maintain betting habits?
6. Are you reluctant to spend gambling money on anything else?
7. Have you lost interest in family, friends and other hobbies?
8. After losing, do you feel you have to try and win back those losses as soon as possible?
9. Do arguments, frustrations or disappointments make you want to gamble?
10. Does gambling make you depressed or even suicidal?

To speak to someone about this visit the Gamcare website www.gamcare.org.uk or call their confidential helpline on 0845 6000 133.

Underage gambling
It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to open an account or to gamble on Betfair. Betfair takes its responsibilities in this regard very seriously. We carry out electronic age verification checks on all customers who use payment mechanisms available to children.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 FOUND TO BE USING THIS SITE WILL HAVE ANY WINNINGS FORFEITED AND WILL ALSO BE REPORTED TO THE POLICE.

Filtering Systems
If you share your computer with friends or family who are under the legal age to register or bet with our site, please click on the link to register with our preferred filtering partner www.icra.org.
Alternatively, you can use NetNanny or Cyberpatrol.

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Copyright by BetFair – Reproduced on Midas Oracle with the purpose on informing the world citizens on how ethical and responsible BetFair is.

P.S.: Our good friends the American scholars, who work in symbiosis with InTrade-TradeSports mainly, have never mentioned the fact that their pet prediction exchange lacks ethics. In Italy, they call this the “omerta“. Everybody knows, but nobody will tell —in fear of retaliation (not getting exchange data anymore).

P.S. #2: And BetFair signed 25 MoUs with sporting bodies to cut down sports corruption, whereas InTrade-TradeSports has none. Same remark as above.

#2. ITALY: Nova24 – 12 aprile 2007 – PDF – via Nicola Mattina

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A big hello to the Italian readers of Midas Oracle.

FORZA ITALIA.

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Midas Oracle is a truly global group blog.

The top European court on Tuesday prohibited Italy from prosecuting bookmakers based in other European countries, a ruling that private companies hailed as a milestone in efforts to pry European betting markets from government-run monopolies. Online operators have used licenses from one country in Europe to try to operate in neighboring countries, arguing the European Union’s single market permitted this. [...]

The ruling applies only to sports betting, and it stops short of explicitly endorsing the idea that holders of a betting license in one European country should be able to operate without borders, lawyers said. [...]

Previous: European Union countries should allow inter-state betting, court says. – (Thanks to petit chenapan Niall O’Connor. )