Betting on The Apprentice: closed

A leading offshore gaming company for over 10 years, has suspended betting on the hit NBC reality series The Apprentice following an unusual betting pattern on two contestants on the show. Suspicions arose when the company received maximum limit wagers on the same two contestants from newly opened accounts originating in New Hampshire.

Of all the money wagered on The Apprentice to date, 100% originated from new accounts in New Hampshire, and all was placed on the same two contestants - leaving the sportsbook with a liability of $10,000 on each. Company officials discovered that each account was opened within a day of each other and the customers all placed maximum limit wagers of $300 on the same two candidates immediately after opening their accounts. In one instance, a maximum limit bet was placed on one of the contestants even after sportsbook had lowered the candidate's odds from 12/1 to 4/1.

"We have received an abnormal amount of maximum limit wagers backing the same two contestants from new customers in New Hampshire, which has unfortunately forced us to close betting on The Apprentice," said Stuart Doyle, wagering director of this sportsbook. "Whether the by-product of rumor or a leak from someone involved with the show, we've uncovered a highly unusual betting pattern and determined the risk too great to continue offering betting on the show."

This marks the fourth time that the sportsbook has ceased wagering on a reality television show because of unusual betting patterns. In September 2003, sportsbook suspended betting on Survivor: Pearl Islands before the first episode of the show aired after receiving a number of wagers from the Vancouver area on eventual winner Sandra. Earlier that year, the company closed wagering on Survivor: The Amazon when it appeared that CBS employees placed bets on Jenna and Matt, the final two contestants vying for the $1 million grand prize. The first instance of insiders betting on a reality show occurred in November 2002, when sportsbook halted betting on The Bachelor after discovering that a number of new customers from the hometown of bachelor Aaron Buerge had all wagered on eventual winning bachelorette, Helene.

Trump Gets Bailout Offer From Online Casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- An Internet casino operator said it was offering Donald Trump $400 million for a stake in his ailing casino company.

Casino Fortune, a Trinidad-based company, said it approached Trump about replacing DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, whose plans for a bailout of Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts fell through last week.

Officials at Casino Fortune acknowledged that they've never spoken to Trump officials about the offer.

They said it was made in hand-delivered letters.

Trump officials said they've been contacted by Casino Fortune, but wouldn't say whether the offer was being considered.

Trump, who runs the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., has fallen on hard times even as his public persona soars on the wings of "The Apprentice," his reality TV show.

Trump Hotels holds $1.8 billion in debt and spends so much money on interest payments it has not been able to invest in improving its casino properties.
Verbatim from www.nbc30.com

Will the Donald close this deal? I don't know... Anyway, one thing is sure. Las Vegas would be more than happy to welcome another Trump, Ivanka :-)

Can a lucky bettor be unlucky?

It sounds like a contraction in terms. Graucho Marx would say is sounds like "military intelligence" :-) But keep reading this story...

A man from South Africa may go down in history as one of the unluckiest gambling winners ever. It all happened in Gabon, South Africa when his winning ticket was washed out. The gambler correctly predicted the first five finishers in a horse race that took place on 12 September. Based on the odds, his winnings would have been $170,000. Unfortunately he was not able to claim the big winnings because his wife unknowingly washed the winning ticket that was still in his pants at the time.
In fact the gambler in question was the only person that managed to pick the right order for the first five finishing horses. Even the bookmakers who he placed the bet with are aware that he ultimately chose the winning order. They keep duplicate records of all bets that are placed and are able to confirm that someone did actually place a bet on the winning order of finished horses and is therefore entitles to the money. But, since his winning ticket wad destroyed in the washing machine, by default he is not able to produce the ticket for verification and claim his winnings.
The bookmaker's PR agent explained the problem in detail as to why the winner can't claim his earnings: 'The following day, a man came to our offices, saying he had got the right order, which we already knew because we keep duplicates of all bets. Unfortunately, he was unable to present the green part of his ticket, which acts as proof, and explained that his wife had washed the trousers he had left it in...Despite his best efforts, he was unable to retrieve the slightest shred and after seven days, we had to declare the ticket lapsed, as stated in our rules. So in fact he cannot claim the winnings and they have already been rolled into the next jackpot. Now that is defiantly a case of winner's bad luck.
Verbatim from www.onlinecasinoreports.com

So, do you think a lucky bettor can be, at the same time, unlucky? And do you think his wife has now to hide from him? :-) We'll never know...