
Iconic gambler Barney Curley has done it once again each time a 9000- 1 shot on four horses came through (Image: The Guardian)
There’s nothing that can compare with the feeling of hitting a double that is daily choose six or other big accumulator at the race track, especially when that final horse comes in to complete your once-in-a-lifetime payday. But while there have been some epic wins over the course of horse racing history, few compare to the story that played out this week in the UK as four horses linked to popular gambler Barney Curley pulled off shocking victories that may have cost bookmakers millions.
Long Odds on Four Horses
The story began on Tuesday night, as odds started turning up for a number of Wednesday’s races. There have been four horses in all, each coming down a layoff that is long race at fairly long odds. Horses Eye of this Tiger and Indus Valley had been both 20-1 longshots, while Seven Summits and Low Key were more reasonably priced at 7-1. in almost any situation, a $1 accumulator bet on all four horses to win could have earned a bettor around $13,000 at Bet365, in the event that wagers came in at simply the best time when all four races were on the board therefore the chances were as favorable as possible.
Estimates of precisely how much money ended up being lost by bookmakers through the four not likely champions varied greatly. One spokesman for Paddy Power said that the industry-wide hit could are as great as £15 million ($24.9 million), though others stated a more likely figure was in the range of £2 million ($3.3 million).
Some bookmakers, such as Ladbrokes, avoided the largest losses by only posting chances later in the afternoon, though many bettors acquired in the connected horses also because the chances started to fall.
‘We dodged all of the morning that is early, but you cannot stop moving trains and we got caught up in some of it since the day panned out,’ said Ladbrokes mind of consumer PR David Williams. ‘Our choice to not price the Kempton races up until as late as feasible helped protect us through the worst of it so we certainly were not confronted with any of the business that is overnight the majority of the fancy prices were snapped up.’
Unlikely Winner
Bookmakers begun to become suspicious as the odds on all four horses dropped in betting morning. The horse had been bet all the way down to an even money favorite despite the fact that he had not run for 481 days, and had failed to win in any of his previous four races by the time Eye of the Tiger ran at Lingfield.
Sure enough, Eye of the Tiger won his race. Whenever stewards at the track established an inquiry into the winner, these were told that the horse was now being trained by Dan Donovan, and had formerly been trained by Curley himself. The horse had evidently been injured several times, but came into the race healthier, with Donovan calling him ‘a genuine horse.’
Soon thereafter, Seven Summits would win their battle at Catterick by way of a length . 5. At battle time, he had been bet down to a 9-4 favorite, though that was partially because another favorite was indeed scratched from the race. Seven Summits was also formerly trained by Curley.
The third horse, Indus Valley, was another Donovan-trained runner who had been rushing for the first time in nearly two years. A 4-6 favorite by the race, Indus Valley pulled off a tough win.
‘He has constantly shown ability but we had been lucky the 2nd just switched it in,’ Donovan stated.
Finally, Low Key was set to race at Kempton, and had moved from a 7-1 shot up to a 7-4 favorite. Although his last competition saw him finish 7th of seven horses, Low Key pulled off a win, with trainer John Butler attributing it to the horse being gelded and a drop that is significant class compared to past events.
Barney Curley has been a legendary trainer and gambler for decades, though he has largely stayed out of the eye that is public. Curley who claims that he gets more of a thrill away from beating the bookmakers than through the money he wins has been finding methods to beat bookies since at least the 1970s. A similar four-horse success in 2010 netted Curley more than £1 million ($1.66 million).
Billionaire Asian Moguls Duke It Out for Bloomberg Richest Rating
Still #2: Chinese billionaire Lui Che-Woo thought he was ranked first, but Bloomberg took it back (Image: Forbes)
In a world of uber-wealth with many of the wealthiest on earth now from Asian countries it takes some serious cash to be the richest associated with the rich; type of like being crowned Miss Universe from out of a bevy of stellar beauties. And just like Miss Universe, sometimes the votes get tallied incorrect along with to give back the crown.
That seems to be what’s happened with Lui Che-Woo, founder of casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., who briefly held the title before several news sources corrected it and maintained that past title holder and genuine property investor Li Ka-Shing stays Asia’s man that is richest.
Lui’s web worth jumped up by $2.9 billion this year to $23.7 billion; but wealth protagonist Li still beats him down with a $29.5 billion fortune. And that means Li retains the title he’s held since April 9, 2012, as he moved past previous richest, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani.
Being a daily ranking of the wealthiest people into the world, the Bloomberg Billionaire Index bases its statistics and dimensions on changes within markets, the economy and reporting to update the figures at the end of each business day in New York, utilizing the closing share price to calculate positions on the index and taking inherent family wealth into account as well.
The principal supply of wealth for the billionaire mogul comes from his 51 percent stake in Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd., which ranks third in proportions for Asia’s casino operators and saw a 129 percent increase in shares year that is last riding on the waves regarding the 18.6 percent rise in revenues for Macau, which reached a total of $45.2 billion.
Lui’s biggest casino Galaxy Macau has raked in regarding the success of the only area in China where casinos have actually been legalized. Galaxy Macau is situated in the heavily visited gaming location of Cotai, known popularly as Asia’s variation associated with the Las Vegas Strip.
Internationally Heavy Hitters
In addition to Bill Gates perhaps the man that is richest in the world, whoever net worth rose by $15.5 billion last year Lui’s gains of $14.2 billion had been only beaten by casino rival and Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, whom saw a growth in net worth of $14.4 billion over the past year, according to the Bloomberg ranking.
According to Macau-based analyst at Union Gaming Group, Grant Govertsen, the Lui family’s early investment in Cotai is mainly to thank for his or her current level of success.
‘ The boom there ramped up the share price appreciation and wide range creation for the Lui family members,’ explained the analyst. ‘They’re most readily useful positioned for long-lasting growth and so are focused on becoming the dominant player in Macau.’
Although the 2,200-room Galaxy Macau has been the largest casino for the company since the doorways launched in 2011, Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. also owns and operates an additional five of Macau’s 35 gambling enterprises. All told, Macau reportedly generates around 97 percent for the group’s revenue, which is leading Lui and his son, deputy president Lui Yiu Tung, to a $2.6 billion addition to Galaxy set for the following year so as to capitalise on the increasing growth of the gambling destination.
Rose from Poverty
The self-made billionaire had extremely humble beginnings, as he and his family fled the town of Jiangmen in the Guangdong province for Hong Kong when southern China ended up being occupied by the Japanese. As a teen, he helped to support his family by offering food on the town streets, but later managed to procure construction equipment put aside after the U.S. invasion of Okinawa in Japan.
As Hong Kong ended up being going right through a reconstruction boom, Lui managed to import the construction gear and make their first fortune, which was followed by a number of other effective opportunities property that is including, hotels and gambling enterprises.
Payments for Undisputed Full Tilt Claims Approved by Feds
U.S. Full Tilt poker players with undisputed claims should finally be getting their claims any time now (Image:keepcalmomatic.uk)
It has been a road that is long Americans who possess cash sitting within their Full Tilt Poker accounts. But almost 3 years after the events of Black Friday, it looks like the majority of those who have expected for his or her money-back might be getting their cash in the very future that is near.
According to John Pappas executive director of the Poker Players Alliance the Department of Justice has approved approximately 30,000 claims made through the Garden City Group (GCG) for the return of funds from Full Tilt Poker accounts. Which comes after the Department of Justice completed an audit of player petitions that had been processed by GCG, and represents about $82 million in funds that could be returned to American players shortly.
Only Undisputed Funds Returned For Now
Those numbers apparently represent just the Full that is undisputed Tilt claims which can be outstanding. These are claims in which players and all other principals agreed on the amount become returned to the player. In the case of disputed claims, there is nevertheless no timeline for repayment. Nevertheless, all players with undisputed claims must be getting e-mails from the GCG in the weeks to come that should include guidelines on the best way to get their money.
That doesn’t mean that the remissions that are entire is likely to go without a hitch. On the side of minor issues, Pappas said that we now have some claims though not a number that is significant were filed incorrectly or remain incomplete. Those individuals affected by this matter are anticipated to get email messages describing exactly how to submit the lacking information to complete their claims.
A bigger issue is that of just what will happen to affiliates and Comprehensive Tilt Poker-sponsored professional players who are nevertheless owed money. In accordance with Pappas that issue has yet become remedied, but both the Department of Justice therefore the GCG are searching into the matter.
It is nevertheless unclear exactly how long it will require for Americans to get their funds right back, though Pappas seemed optimistic that the GCG should be able to meet their March that is original 31 2014 deadline for many claims.
‘ the claims collected by GCG,’ Pappas said in a thread on this issue at the twoplustwo.com poker forums. ‘The onus is now on GCG to remit the funds to players. I don’t understand their payment process and it perfectly could possibly be days, not days.’
3 Years Coming
The repayment of American players would end a saga that is three-year which former complete Tilt Poker customers have had their account balances sitting frozen and in a state of limbo. After the Black Friday indictments of April 15, 2011, Full Tilt Poker failed to return balances that are outstanding American players (in contrast to PokerStars, which was in a position to return such funds almost immediately), and eventually shut down later that 12 months.
Later, PokerStars would buy complete Tilt Poker included in a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice so that you can settle the claims against both sites. That agreement saw PokerStars simply take regarding the responsibility of repaying Comprehensive Tilt users from around the planet, but left the repayment of Americans to your Department of Justice. According to some estimates, American-owned accounts held the maximum amount of as $184 million on Full Tilt Poker at the time of the web site’s closing.