Their lives as sporting stars with mansions, fast cars, women, parties, booze, drugs and misbehaviour are splashed across the headlines of newspapers and glossy magazines on a regular basis but it seems that many professional footballers are now adding gambling addiction to their long list of vices.

Well, that is according to former England football star Tony Adams, who claims that his charity Sporting Chance which was established to assist professional soccer players to overcome their addictions has seen an increase in the number of gambling addiction issues recently and is currently treating more players for betting and gambling addiction than any other vice.

Adams reportedly believes that these addictions are largely due to easy access to online sportsbooks and believes that the aggressive marketing tactics employed by online gambling websites may be at the root of the problem. He has approached the Responsible Gambling Trust in order to address these marketing strategies and find a solution to the problem.

According to Adams, wealthy football stars are “actively pursued” by some book makers who offer them thousands of pounds worth of free bets as well as commissions for introducing other high rolling friends to the brand. Sporting Chance’s CEO Colin Bland agrees with Adam’s, stating that no other addictive substance is actively promoted, but gambling is the exception and players are bombarded with advertising while watching a game.

While getting your first bet free or having your first deposit matched by a sportsbook or casino are common practice, it is believed that these organisations amplify tempting offers on a grand scale in order to attract Premier League footballers to their sites and this leads to thousands of pounds being lost by players.

Sporting Chance is currently working with the Professional Footballer’s Association to develop preventative and treatment programs designed especially for first team and premier league players.

Despite having strong opinions on the subject, the organisation claims that it is not anti-gambling and does recognise that many online casinos and sportsbooks have made considerable investments in the advancement of various sports. They do however feel that aggressive targeting and marketing are compounding problem gambling issues and that some form of accountability and regulation should be put in place.

When approached on the subject, CEO of the trade body Remote Gaming Association, Clive Hawkswood reported stated that he had no information that any sports stars had been specifically targeted by gambling companies. He insisted that all players were offered bonuses and promotions that included match bonus offers proportional to the amounts that they wagered and that VIP and loyalty programs are in place at some venues to handle high rollers, just like in land based casinos.

He further added that the RGA and Professional Players Federation already work closely to tackle problem gambling across several sports and added that if there’s any concern from the Sporting Chance Charity that there’s a link between targeted marketing and problem gambling then the issue should be brought to their attention.

As mentioned in our previous article on the engagement of Prince William to Kate Middleton, the ever popular William Hill casino and sportsbook has some rather colourful betting options available with everything from TV specials including the outcomes of favourites like The X Factor, Strictly Come Dancing and even the BBC’s sports personality of the year, but we never really thought we’d be able to bet on the weather, but it seems we can!

Yes, that’s right, William Hill currently has a host of UK weather specials for punters to bet on.  The options include Snow Or No Snow on Christmas day (listed by city) with Aberdeen (Pittodrie) and “yes” being the longest shot at 11/4. 

And in light of the UK’s and Europe’s recent chilly weather, there are also temperate options including wagering on the Lowest Temperature in Scotland to be beaten by April 30th 2011, with the coolest temperature record sitting at a whopping -27.2c on January 10th 1982, the odds pay 10/1 for a yes bet.  Other options in this genre include Lowest Temperature in Wales (coldest recorded temperature: -23.3c, 21 January 1940, Powys) and Lowest Temperature in England (record coldest temperature: -26.1c, 10 January 1982, Shropshire) to be beaten by April 30th 2011 at 16/1 and 20/1 odds for “yes” bets respectively.  In spite of the current cold temperatures, we’d say these are safe bets for William Hill to offer as it is unlikely that temperatures will drop as global warming has had quite an effect on worldwide temperatures two decades after these recorded figures, but nonetheless, if there are two sides to anything, William Hill will make sure you can bet on it.

Another very entertaining betting notion on offer, no matter how unlikely it is, is the wager on whether Big Ben to fail to chime due being frozen solid by April 30th 2011…the odds are 100/1 and that’s not surprising considering that the famous clock is maintained by three specialized clock engineers who climb its 292 steps three times a week to wind it and have in the past used hairdryers on a particularly frosty New Year’s Eve to thaw the frozen bell hammers in time for midnight.  They are such a dedicated crew that one of the members Paul Robertson once walked from his home during a February blizzard to wind the clock so it didn’t stop. 

One thing’s for sure, with William Hill’s host of betting options from sports to TV and Weather specials, you’ll find it very difficult to ever be bored because it really seems like if it’s a thought in your head William Hill will offer the odds to match!  Check them out today, you won’t be sorry you did!

Sunday the 27th of June 2010 saw one of the biggest World Cup upsets of the tournament during the England Germany game held at the Manguang Bloemfontein stadium in South Africa. England’s Frank Lampard was denied a legitimate second goal for his team that would have levelled the score at 2-2 against Germany in the first half. Referee Jorge Larrionda did not award the goal and assistant referee Mauricio Espinos who appeared to have a clear view from the sideline also did not flag the goal. Television replays do however clearly show the ball bouncing over the goal line yet in football, unlike other sports such as rugby and cricket, television monitoring is not employed during matches and calls are therefore, at the mercy of FIFA officals.

The match ended in crushing 4-1 defeat for England with Germany progressing to the quarterfinals and across the globe English supporters expressed their upset and disgust at the outcome and the local media on both sides have had a field day ever since. German media have not denied that England did in fact score a goal but thanked the God of Football in their headlines and touted the incident as “Late revenge for Wembley” in reference to the 1996 final in Wembley when England beat Germany after a questionable call by the referee.

The English media on the other hand have savaged everyone from FIFA organisers, to the referees as well as their own squad, calling for their coach Fabio Capello’s resignation. The back page of one of the UK’s biggest newspapers carried the line “Time’s up Fab” and featured a picture of the squad with the statement “Go – and take these losers with you!” Others like the Daily Mail exhumed wartime references which drew on the two countries complex political history.

It seems that only Boylesports has been truly fair in all the madness and has surprisingly stated that the referee’s call was unfair, not only to England but also so the punters who placed wagers on the match. For this reason, the sportsbook paid out on inplay-bets on England’s second goal and also for those on Frank Lampard to score a goal. So fair and honest business practices and ethics still do exist when it comes to online gambling and they deserve an honourable mention.