Sport Betting, is it good for the country?

The World Cup is getting hotter and hotter. By now, illegal as well as legal book makers must have raked in millions of dollars. Do you know why book makers always win? They win because the odds are always in their favor whether you bet on the favorites or the underdogs.

It is human nature for punters to go after strong teams rather than weak teams. The bookies know this well enough to capitalize on it. They are able to capitalize on your emotion. When you bet on a favorite, a bigger percentage cut on the fair payment will be deducted. This does not mean that when you bet the underdog, no percentage cut is made. There will also be a percentage cut on the payment, except that, this cut is a bit smaller. As can be seen from the above, it is the lesser of the two evils if you bet the underdogs rather than the favorites. Next time you have the urge to bet a strong team, keep this in mind.

Nobody has the ability to predict the result of a match accurately. Who has the foresight to see Italy at the bottom of the table or that France have to return to France after only 3 matches or that England, in the first two matches, would perform so poorly. On the contrary, the good performance of New Zealand is also not expected. They got three draws in three games. As for the latest match of Solvakia Vs Italy, the result is also a surprise. How many have predicted that the defending champion would be returning home after the match?

Illegal bookies are doing a roaring trade raking in money by the millions. It seems that there is no way the government can curb this type of gambling. Mahathir, Rais Yatim & Rafidah have spoken in favor of legalizing sport betting. What is your view?

Some World Cup Observations

Saturday June 19, 2010

Some observations from the World Cup so far:

The Adidas Jabulani ball is having a disastrous effect on the tournament. Players are regularly shooting over because it is too light, and hardly any decent free-kicks have been taken. It's not a coincidence.

Wayne Rooney's inept performance for England versus Algeria makes me think he may be carrying an injury.

Cameroon were the first team to go out of the World Cup after a spirited 2-1 loss to Denmark. Coach Paul Le Guen blew it in the 1-0 defeat to Japan when he left Alex Song and Achille Emana on the bench, and put star striker Samuel Eto'o on the right of midfield.

Eto'o's claim before the tournament that Cameroon could win the World Cup always looked a little optimistic.

The Netherlands have been unimpressive in beating Denmark and Japan. They lack pace withoutArjen Robben and will look a different team when he returns from injury. Still, they were the first team to book their place in the second round.

Referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco ruined the Serbia versus Germany match by giving a ridiculous first-half red card to Miroslav Klose and booking nine other players. The Spaniard backed himself into a corner and set a precedent by booking several players for minor fouls early on.

Young Germany midfielder Sami Khedira looks quite a player.

Chile have been one of the best teams on show so far and are arguably the most interesting tactically, with their lack of full backs. Winger Alexis Sanchez produced one of the most exciting performances of the tournament so far against Honduras on Thursday.

Ghana were lazy in the second-half of their 1-1 draw with Australia. They played against 10 men for over an hour but lacked urgency, and a defeat to Germany next week is likely to see them eliminated.

There is a genuine chance that no African team will reach the second round. They have won just one game between them so far.

(Stewart's World Soccer Blog)

The herd instinct

Don't follow the herd instinct. In a crowd, you can be more foolish than you think.

Realize your limitations

Overestimation of one's abilities is a fatal error.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Which is your favorite team? Which is the fiercest of them all? South Africa Vs Mexico starts the ball rolling at 4.00 p.m. (South African time) on June 11, 2010. Don't forget to switch on your TV for a good show. For more info, click here. (4 .00 p.m. in Africa means 10.00 p.m. in Malaysia.)

Germany are kings of spot-kicks, winning their four FIFA World Cup™ shoot-outs and converting their last 21 penalties in major tournaments.

FIFA World Cup™ final matches have become tighter, with only 1.6 goals per game in the last five editions compared to 4.7 in the previous ones.

The Castrol Predictor suggests that Brazil’s chances of lifting the FIFA World Cup Trophy are 23.4%.

Stock-market mistakes

One of the dumbest thing man does is to buy or avoid a stock because of its name. Yet many smart men and women sometimes commit this fault. We all make mistakes. There are none so smart who do not err and none so stupid who are never smart. The difference is that the smart make the right moves most of the time; the stupid do the opposite.

Failures in the stock market fail because they just listen to tips. They fail to do a due diligence before they buy. They are either too busy or simply do not have the knowledge to do a fundamental analysis on the stock. Here are some common mistakes people make:

1) Holding on to a falling stock just to get out even.

2) Taking profit too early.

3) Listening to a hot tip without doing a due diligence.

4) Allowing small price movements to frighten you out of an investment.

5) Depending too much on the PE Ratio when looking for a good stock to buy.

6) Confusing low-priced stocks with cheap stocks.

7) Changing your strategy when it works.

8) Going for the laggards rather than the leaders.

9) Thinking that big is safe and not realizing that small-cap stocks have great potentials to become big.

10) The worst mistake is that you do not know that you do not know.