Tiger Rejects Betting Sponsor
Mar 9th
Not
It seems that this time, they really have gotten confused between the Tiger Woods of Poker and the Phil Ivey of Golf.
An Ireland-based betting company by the name of Paddy Power offered Tiger Woods a $75 million sponsorship deal. This offer was turned down by Tiger, despite losing several big sponsors as a result of his indiscretions recently. The would-be sponsors saw this as a particularly ripe time to get Tiger on board.
The deal would have resulted in Tiger being paid out the $75 million over a 5 year period.
Despite the rejection, Paddy Power are getting plenty of publicity in the sports and poker worlds as a result. So much so that there are rumours that they will return with an enhanced offer to clinch this 14-time golf champion.
There’s always a silver lining…
And The Most Likely To Cry During Their Oscar Speech Is…
Mar 9th
Not so much
Along with the standard betting on Oscar Odds, come the much more interesting and novel side bets. Here are some of them:
Betting has been placed on the likelihood of a winner of a major award, Best Actress or Best Actor, shedding a tear. Last year there was a 4/1 payout and bettors in favour of the stiff upper lip ended up cleaning up when, despite Kate Winslett’s voice getting a little wobbly for a moment, she managed to keep the tears well contained.
In 2010 the focus seemed to be on the dresses worn by the female contingent. You could bet on the name/manufacturer of the dress worn by the Best Actress. The deceased Alexander McQueen was at the top with 7/4 to be the name worn by the winning leading lady.
The odds were in favour of Sandra Bullock winning Best Actress, but she wore McQueen to the SAG Awards so the question was would she dare to wear the same designer twice? Instyle Magazine predicted that Bullock would be best in Armani Prive. In the end she won the Oscar but wore a Marchesa gown.
More tears were betted on this year in the category of ‘Best Male Actor to cry during his acceptance speech’ at 3/1.
There was an 8/1 payout if anybody dropped their Oscar on stage during handover, and another one for any actor who was unfortunate enough to trip and fall. If any actor or actress said the words “Tiger Woods” in their speech, they were looking at 10/1. There was a 12/1 payout for anyone breaking the record for longest speech (held by Greer Garson at 5 minutes and 30 seconds), at a 12/1 payout.
Lastly, any nominated actress to be photographed in a Janet Jackson-style wardrobe malfunction would be paid off at 14/1 while a streaker appearing on stage during the ceremony (fully nude) would pay a solid 100/1.
It seems the events that go on in the imaginations of the Academy Award viewers and bettors are more exciting than the actual show.
EPT Robbed by Masked Men
Mar 8th
In something that was seemingly straight out of Hollywood, The high-rollers games was underway at the European Poker Tour in Berlin when masked men burst through the doors with more than poker on their mind.
The men, armed with numerous pistols, a machine gun, and strangely enough a machete burst into the poker tournament in the Hyatt Hotel just after 2pm and announced in true Hollywood crime style “This is a hold up!”
They were not bluffing either – video stream caught the action on the robbers which landed up turning the ballroom into chaos as tables were overturned, people scurried out of the way, those watching ran for the exits, and generally fled causing several injuries. In one of the videos one can see a security guard taking on of the masked robbers but he escapes by his fellow com-padre. This initial footage was caught on live television but was quickly cut off as people ran from their tables.
The men forced security staff and hotel employees to hand over a part of the tournaments jackpot money which according to police could be as high as $1.36 million. It had been previously reported that the figure was $272,000 however as the news travels the figure has risen to the million mark. During the incident the security guards tried to fend off the attackers, and a substantial part of the money was lost in the scuffle.
Following the brazen daylight heist the robbers escaped on foot through a nearby shopping mall – not wearing black masks any longer – and finally fled in a getaway car.
According to Olaf Wagner, photographer for Germany newspaper Bild, ““When I entered, I saw a number of security people struggling with three masked men, One guy stood in the corner stuffing 500 euro notes into his backpack, while a second man pinned down a security man with his machete.”
The tournament began March 1 with 945 participants who together paid nearly €3.7 million in entry fees.