It was a very wild Wild-Card Weekend around the NFL with every game decided by eight points or fewer and three road teams winning – the Houston Texans were the only home club to prevail. There were two overtime games, marking just the third NFL playoff round in history to feature multiple OT games, the others being the 2018 Conference Championship round and the Divisional Round in 2003.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
This season’s Divisional Round kicks off Saturday at 4:35 p.m. ET as the NFC sixth-seeded Minnesota Vikings visit the No. 1 San Francisco 49ers, who are 7-point favorites. San Francisco has covered only five of its past 25 games as a betting favorite, while Minnesota is 3-7 ATS in its past 10 as an underdog.
The Vikings, though, were the biggest underdogs of Wild-Card Weekend but won at the third-seeded New Orleans Saints 26-20 in overtime. It was the third straight playoff meeting between those franchises that was decided on the final play of the game. It also happened following the 2017 season (remember the “Minneapolis Miracle”?) and after the 2009 campaign. It was also the first playoff victory as a starting quarterback for Kirk Cousins and it might have sent future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees of the Saints into retirement.
Online gambling operator Betway has learned the hard way that YouTube prank videos can still be ads, according to the UK’s advertising watchdog.
On Tuesday, the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint brought against UK gambling licensee Betway regarding a prank video that featured West Ham footballer Declan Rice. The video appeared on the company’s YouTube channel last October.
The video featured an actor playing the role of a traffic cop who’d put a restraining clamp on Rice’s car. Rice’s teammate Mark Noble also appeared in the video – wearing a West Ham shirt with the Betway logo prominently displayed – feeding lines via radio link to the cop/actor to keep Rice irritated.
Rice is only 20 years old, and the UK’s Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) code prohibits any individual who is either under the age of 25 or who appears to be under-25 from playing a “significant role” in gambling promos.
Faiā is proud to introduce its first official Advisory Board member, Steve Barnes. The Advisory Board will help guide Faiā’s management team to make sure it stays at the forefront of trends, builds a sustainable business model, and is held accountable. The Advisory Board will also help guide Faiā towards being an irreplaceable resource for community and economic development over the next decade.
Steve Barnes had a few words to share:
Tell us a bit about your career history:
After completing a journalism degree, I spent about ten years in journalism and corporate communications roles, including working at major Australian media organisations and two United Nations agencies. I became interested in organisation and management issues, so did an MBA and joined management consulting firm Accenture, where I worked for around ten years
Two men in Mississippi wanted to claim a $100,000 lottery prizes so bad, they glued the winning numbers onto a losing ticket, authorities said.Legal, Scratch Games, Mississippi, Law Enforcement, Fraud, Arrest, Crime
The Bachelor is a little bit of a phenomena in U.S. TV. It’s a show so many can’t wait for as it takes a slightly twisted look at the dating lives of the very well off. As the new season kicks off with Bachelor Peter Weber trying to find love from 30 lovely women, a former contestant on the show is going through her own scandal on Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) betting site DraftKings.
Bachelor in Paradise collusion on DraftKings
We have to start with the gambling scandal, because that’s really our beat. Jade Roper Tolbert, a former Bachelor contestant, won the Milly Maker tournament over the NFL wild-card weekend. She tweeted her enthusiasm over the win.
In addition to honoring excellence in 17 equine and human categories this year, the 49th annual Eclipse Awards Jan. 23 will pay tribute to those Thoroughbreds who have moved on to a second athletic career.
California Chrome arrived in Japan Jan. 7 ahead of taking up stud duties at Arrow Stud, according to JS Company, a Thoroughbred trading company affiliated with Arrow Stud.
California Chrome arrived in Japan Jan. 7 ahead of taking up stud duties at Arrow Stud, according to JS Company, a Thoroughbred trading company affiliated with Arrow Stud.
2018 Preakness Stakes (G1) runner-up Bravazo breezed five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 at Oaklawn Park Jan. 7, preparing for his first start of 2020, though toward a different race than originally planned.
Woodbine Entertainment announced changes to its senior leadership team as part of a strategic re-alignment that positions the organization to best fulfill its mission in leading the growth and sustainability of the horse racing industry in Ontario.
Following the recent introduction of a new Digital Tattoo system, the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau (TRPB) plans to continue its educational efforts to ensure that regulators and operators are taking steps to adopt the new process.
The Jockey Club today announced the retirement of Brad Kimbrell, president of InCompass Solutions Inc. (InCompass), effective Jan. 1. The Jockey Club will name Harold Palmer as president of InCompass.
The NTRA announced today that acclaimed broadcasters Acacia Courtney, Britney Eurton, and Gabby Gaudet will jointly host the 49th Annual Eclipse Awards presented by Daily Racing Form, Breeders’ Cup and The Stronach Group, on Thursday, January 23.
Sports is all about excitement—sportsbooks count on it. As legal sportsbooks across the U.S. grew over the decade, automated video highlights production platform Thuuz culled data from more than a quarter million events to determine the most exciting games of the last 10 years.
“We all have our memorable moments, but what we have been able to
do, and do every day, is measure the overall excitement in a wide
range of sports events to produce this very special list,” said
Warren Packard, Thuuz CEO. “This amazing cross section from around
the world shows the global nature of sports fandom and provides us
with a unique snapshot on what really made hearts pound the last ten
years.”
Using their
custom designed algorithms to measure real-time event excitement,
Thuuz provides a unique look into what games have gotten fans the
most excited and engaged through the close of 2019.
The game
excitement ratings are measured on a 0 to 100 scale and take into
consideration game pace, team parity, play novelty, momentum shifts,
social buzz, and historical context. The algorithms behind the
excitement ratings are statistically calibrated to insure the
appropriate distribution of ratings across the duration of a season
or course of a tournament.
Using the Thuuz
excitement measurement platform, the top ten most exciting games of
the decade were:
New England
Patriots 34, Atlanta Falcons 28 (NFL): 2/5/2017. The Patriots
rally to claim their Super Bowl title in one of the greatest
comebacks in NFL history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=016LXFHpFCk
St. Louis
Cardinals 10 Texas Rangers 9 (MLB): 10/27/2011 David Freese late
game heroics created an instant heart stopping classic and helped
lead the Cardinals to the World Series title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4cd3XzzqMw
FC Barcelona 6
PSG 1 (UCL): 3/8/2017 Barca was down 4-0 after 1st leg and had to
rally with a massive comeback, the greatest comeback in Champions
League 2 leg history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CgHT6_leeI
Novak Djokovic
vs Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 (ATP): 1/29/2012:
Probably the greatest tennis match ever in 5+ hour epic took place
Down Under in the Australian Open final Aussie Open Final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kaaXz4IgrA
Villanova
Wildcats 77, North Carolina Tar Heels 74 (NCAAMB): 4/4/2016:
Villanova goes end to end with Kris Jenkins buzzer beater giving the
Wildcats the national title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFKZ84aV-qw
Her 2019 season was a non-stop whirlwind featuring 12 starts in six different countries and this year may be no different for Magic Wand, a mare trainer Aidan O’Brien described as “just unbelievable.” She is being pointed for the Pegasus Turf.
The 2020 Aussie Millions has kicked off in fine style as the opening event has been joined in the Crown Casino in Melbourne by other side events as the famous yearly festival builds up to the Main Event.
Williams welcomes the world
With the tragic Australian bushfires still raging, air quality has been in question not only at the Australian Open tennis festival, but by players taking on the Aussie Million. Former WSOP Main Event champion Martin Jacobsen posted this evocative picture of just how the air quality has changed from a different year to this January’s event:
The air quality in Melbourne has reached hazardous levels. Contrasting view from my apt. pic.twitter.com/bKwALPcYYD
Bitcoin has more to offer the gambling industry than just a great payment option. By utilizing the blockchain, operators can benefit from having provably fair games as well. Chloe Tartan, research and development specialist at nChain, joined our Becky Liggero Fontana to explain what her company can help operators do on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain.
For those who might not have heard about provably fair concept, it’s pretty easy to understand. Game results can be recorded to the blockchain, allowing regulators and players to easily verify that the games are settling fairly.
Tartan noted why this concept can be very appealing for players. “So obviously online gaming has been around for a while, incredibly popular, but over time there has been some major problems in the perceived fairness of play,” she noted. “Users simply having to trust an online casino’s sort of declaration that they’re not altering results based on the players bets. Rather than having this inherent trust and relying on the websites claims of third party verified, the user can actually prove it for themselves.”
Spillemyndigheden, the Danish Gaming Authority, has issued its new guide on responsible gambling, aimed at organizations that hold gaming licenses within the country. This move was expected to strengthen the country’s commitment to educating those within the industry on the best practices to employ.
The new guide will act as a supplement to the already existing Danish Gambling Act as well as to associated executive orders. It will include the guidelines and interpretations for how the license holders will be able to comply with the responsible gambling regulations. This includes performing risk assessments and how rules can be implemented.
This new instructional guide was created using many of the existing executive orders that have been implemented prior to January 1 of this year. It includes all regulations and relevant amendments that have been made to existing practices.
According to the guide, this information must be made available to players. Not only must they do so on the license holder’s website, but also must be available at the landed based site of the holder.
