Here’s where this weekend’s games stand for profit-minded punters:

Tags: EPL, soccer betting

In-game betting can be dangerous … as one college student learned during an African Cup of Nations match between Angola and Mali.

Angola was up 4-0 when the student bet his entire £4,400 education loan on Angola holding on for the win. Had they been successful, he woulda won £44 via Betfair. Alas, the Mali-ans pulled off a miracle at the last second to draw.

[via CalvinAyre]

UPDATE: James in Dundee (aka @jambizzle) tweets in to say this story is not accurate:

This was outed as a joke between the Original poser (bettor) and a friend. No bet was made.

Tags: African Cup of Nations, Angola, Betfair, Mali, soccer betting

It’s getting near that fun relegation time in the EPL season … one of the things that, frankly, got me hooked on soccer. Though I know it will be a while before MLS and USL are ready for that element, can you imagine how exciting baseball would become — major and minor league — if they had relegation?

Here’s a good article on wagering the end of the season for the bottom of the table.

Tags: baseball, EPL, MLS, relegation, soccer betting, USL

The connection between online gambling and soccer continues to grow in prominence — damn, I really need to learn to bet on soccer — with 188Bet becoming the first two-team kit sponsor in the EPL … their brand soon to be on both Wigan and Bolton. In a two-year deal, gone is JJB Sports and Gone-ish is Reebok.

188Bet-Bolton and 188Bet-Wigan join Mansion-Tottenham and SBOBET-West Ham … making online gambling outfits the torso sponsor of 20 percent of the EPL.

PokerStars, of course, recently entered into Mexico’s Primera Division with FC Chivas, PartyBets has a Coca-Cola team with Leyton Orient, and of course the big boys, Bwin, have Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich. I’m almost sure I’m forgetting a few others …

188Bet, interestingly enough, is an online gambling op that currently draws 80 percent of its customers from the Asian market, and it’s just a coincidence that the new Bolton jersey image above happens to be sized at 188 pixels

Tags: 188Bet, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bolton Wanderers, bwin, kits, Real Madrid, Reebok, soccer betting, sponsorship deals, Wigan

They plead guilty to taking about $1 billion in wagers since the 2006 World Cup … not sure what sentence they face. The criminal-in-China enterprise though, was running its bets offshore to Macau. Interesting … though I’m not totally sure why yet. But clearly a major international issue moving forward.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200901/20090119/article_388542.htm

Tags: 2006 World Cup, China, Macau, soccer betting

… Just made an amazing save to deny a West Ham equalizer. He’s been knocking them out all day. Am considering changing the format of this blog into an all-Brad Friedl superfan site. (The other Brad Friedel, here.)

Sad that he’s not available for international play. (Anyone know why that is?)

Think I gotta credit him for the P$100 Villa is gonna win me in this week’s pretend betting … and, dude, an outsider cracking into the “Top 4″? Go American goalies!

Tags: American internationals, Aston Villa, Brad Friedl, soccer betting

I’m in an American Football “pick’em” league and doing quite well — top 1 percent. Currently ranked 24th out of nearly 10,000 in Las Vegas, and 244th out of more than 140,000 nationwide. (Tied for 1st out of 13 in the Danieldinho family group.)

Of course I’d love to be able to claim such success making these picks on the Premier League … but I just don’t know the teams well enough. And though, as strange as this may seem, I’ve never made a bet in a casino sports book … I’ve been having a hankering to bet me some soccer. So I’ve started making some practice picks, to see how I would do as I get up the nerve to lay down some real money on the games.

Frankly, I’m not 100 percent sure I’ve even got a complete understanding of how the wagers work. But in my little soccer betting world, I made a pretend $100 wager on each game — either the amount it would take to win $100, or $100 to win more.

My results this weekend, with my pick in bold:

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-150 Middlesbrough 1:1 Arsenal
+100 Aston Villa 4:2 Bolton
-400 Hull City 2:2 Liverpool
-100 Everton 1:0 Manchester City
+190 Fulham 0:0 Stoke City
+100 W Bromwich 0:4 Sunderland
+100 Blackburn 0:3 Wigan
+210 Manchester Utd 0:0 Tottenham
+220 Newcastle 3:0 Portsmouth
-650 West Ham 1:1 Chelsea

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Total: -$380

Hmm, without Liverpool and Chelsea, I’d be +$670. So I guess what I’m learning here is that the big-disparity favorites simply don’t make sense to bet on?

My pretend full betting card woulda required putting up $2,010 in an attempt to win $1,315.

My pretend no-bigboy betting card woulda cost me $960 in an attempt to win $1,115.

Tags: American football, Chelsea FC, English Premier League, Liverpool, soccer betting, sports betting