Here, you can learn all about arb betting, what it is, how it works, whether it’s legal or not, and the risks involved.

What Is Arbitrage Betting?

Arbing is where you back and lay the same outcome on a sports event, exploiting any mathematical differences in the odds available. The margin between these is called an ‘arb’.

If done correctly, arbitrage betting guarantees you a profit regardless of whether the back or lay wager wins.

When arbitrage betting, the back wager must be at higher odds than the lay.

You don’t even have to be knowledgeable about sports in order to become a successful arber. It’s all about finding opportunities.

The wager where you back a sporting outcome should be placed via a regular fixed-odds bookmaker, either online through sportsbooks or offline at retail outlets.

When putting on the lay bet while arbing, however, you can only make this via a sports betting exchange.

How Arbitrage Betting Works

We’ve included some practical examples of arbitrage betting to help illustrate how it works.

In a hypothetical horse race in the UK, Red Rum is the 9/4 (3.25 in decimal odds) favorite with the bookmakers to win. That works out as ￡9 in profit for every ￡4 gambled.

On the exchanges, meanwhile, this horse can be laid at 15/8 (2.88), which means ￡15 profit for every ￡8 wagered.

You will probably have to pay commission on the lay wager when arbing. This is typically 2%, so also factor this into your calculations.

Backing Red Rum when betting ￡100 through a fixed odds bookmaker then requires a lay stake of ￡113.64.

Your exchange betting balance will need to be ￡213.64, to cover paying out to whoever matches you in the event he wins the race.

An arbing calculator helps you figure out how much you need to bet in order to guarantee profit. These are readily available online.

Should the back bet win, you make ￡225 of profit on that, minus the ￡213.64 of losses from the exchanges.

If the lay wager is successful, then there is ￡227.28 in winnings, with the 2% commission to pay and losing fixed-odds bookmaker bet to deduct.

Either way, you make ￡11.36 of profit whether Red Rum wins the race or not. It’s all thanks to arbitrage betting done properly.

That isn’t a massive margin on its own, but, if done several times a day, what you stand to gain soon adds up.

Another Arb Betting Example

Let’s now look at a football example of arbitrage betting. New England Patriots are at Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL.

You back the Patriots at +175 for the win on the road with the bookmaker, staking $50. For every $4 bet, you receive $7 in profit.

At the same time, you can lay New England to lose at Tampa Bay at +163 on the exchanges. For every $8 gambled, there are $13 in winnings if successful.

Again, with 2% commission to pay on your exchange wager, a lay stake of $52.68, making sure your balance is $85.87 to cover the loss, would be enough to guarantee $1.63 in profit either way through arb betting.

Just remember, you must subtract the losing wager – either the back or lay part of arbing – from your winnings.

If the back bet is successful, there is also commission costs to pay, as well as settling the losing exchange wager with whoever matched your bet.

Arbing Is Legal But Risky

There are no laws against arbitrage betting, so you can’t be prosecuted for doing it.

However, be aware that bookmakers do not take kindly to arb bettors.

This is because you are profiting from a pastime that is supposed to incur losses.

Any bettor who wins often, through fixed-odds wagers and/or sports exchange betting, has their gambling activities monitored by the bookmaker. If you’re caught arbing, then there will be consequences.

It’s important that you are aware of the risks involved.

Bettors can have their accounts with bookmakers restricted, such as limited maximum stakes, or even closed.

Arbitrage betting may even lead to you being blacklisted, so you can never bet on some sportsbooks again.

For some experienced bettors, the irony of bookies being upset by arbing isn’t lost on them. Successful gambling is all about placing wagers when the odds are in your favor.

Bookmakers and their traders are usually pretty good and sharp at shutting down value, especially when reacting to market support for certain outcomes.

Avoiding detection and being exposed as an arber is part of the process, so we’ve got some tips later on that can help you with your arbitrage betting.

Popular Arbitrage Betting Events

Arbing is something you can do on any sport of your choice, but be warned.

The more niche or obscure the event that you back and lay outcomes on, then the more it will stand out to the bookmaker.

It makes more sense, then, if you keep arbitrage betting to popular gambling sports, such as soccer and horse racing.

These two sports in particular attract huge volumes of bets worldwide.

With soccer, there are so many different markets offered by fixed-odds sportsbooks, that traders may find it challenging to keep on top of the odds.

On the downside, the margins of guaranteed profit through arbitrage betting are pretty small here. This is because in many markets, there are only two or three possible outcomes.

Arbitrage betting is associated with horse racing more than any other sport, because of the multiple runners in races leading to a much wider variety of potential results.

Price fluctuations of the odds for horses is also a lot more common.

That naturally lends itself to arbing, especially if there are significant market moves that happen in the build-up to a race.

In order to help spot opportunities for arbitrage betting, there is software available to assist you.

Various providers have simple tools that crawl both fixed-odds sportsbooks and the betting exchanges, which identify where arbing is possible.

These are completely safe and legal to use.

Tips For Successful Arbitrage Betting

As promised, we’ve got some helpful hints and advice for any budding arbers out there.

Just follow these tips when doing arbitrage betting and you’ll beat the bookies at their own game!

1. Place Your Back Arbing Wagers In Betting Shops

Offline retail betting may not be as quick or convenient as online gambling, but placing wagers over the counter gives you a certain anonymity.

While you can’t do lay arbing in a betting shop, there is nothing stopping you from putting the back bet on in person.

It makes it much more difficult for the bookies to track you down.

A key thing to remember with arbitrage betting that uses shop arbing (or ‘sharbing’ for short) is to keep your accounts separate.

Do not link your online accounts to retail.

If you link them, it’s much easier for bookmakers to see what you’re up to.

2. Avoid Large Stakes – They Look Suspicious

Arb betting can involve significant sums of money, both across the back and lay wagers, in order to make decent margins.

The trouble with that is, the bigger your stakes are, the more they will stand out to the bookies, especially if you normally bet on a smaller scale.

Everyone wants a big profit from their gambling, but with arbing, you have to tread very carefully.

Little and often can also be flagged up, yet requires more investigation from bookmakers.

If you find an arbitrage betting opportunity on a major event like a soccer cup final or Group/Grade 1 horse race, where the volume of wagers will be high, that may be a better place to take a bigger punt than usual.

3. Use Multiple Betting Accounts

If you always bet with the same bookmaker, then it won’t be difficult for them to see if you’ve been arbing or not.

Staying loyal to the same sportsbook only gives you access to a small portion of the market.

Arbitrage betting is about getting best odds possible for the back bet, so to do that you may need to wager with other sportsbooks.

Holding multiple accounts across different firms will make it even tougher for your bookmakers to know whether you are arb betting.

Like betting in person over the counter, this helps to obscure your activities.

4. Look Like A Mug Punter

One sure-fire way to cover your tracks from any arbing is to place mug bets.

That means deliberately lose some of the profits you’ve made through arbitrage betting.

Back your favorite soccer team or short-price favorites in horse races as an accumulator.

Make these losses discreet and subtle, so that you aren’t throwing too much away and bookmakers never suspect what you’re really up to.

The idea is to look like a mug – a na?ve, inexperienced bettor reinvesting some of your winnings on wagers that don’t pay off.

When the bookies come to profile you, these losses will show up and confuse the situation. That way, your arb betting may go on for much longer undetected.

Final Thoughts On Arbitrage Betting

Arbitrage betting is a win-win situation for bettors until you’re rumbled by bookmakers.

You may then face sanctions, including account closure, so you must be prepared for the consequences of discovery.

The key to successful arbitrage betting is locating margins between backing and laying the same outcome in a sports event.

It’s completely legal to do so, but annoys the bookies.

Software can help you with arbitrage betting and, although the margins may be modest, the lure of guaranteed profits is very attractive.

For more helpful guides, check out our post on prop betting.

The best players can find themselves winning huge sums for lifting the trophy at one of the larger tournaments, plus they can earn some serious cash through other means, such as endorsements and commentary.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 richest snooker players in the world, taking into account their career winnings, as well as anything else they’ve managed to earn.

10. Mark Williams – ￡7.1 Million ($9 Million)

Mark Williams is a part of the famous Class of 92, which also includes John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan.

He’s won 25 ranking titles and is one of three players to win the Triple Crown in one season, which he did in 2002-03. He’s won the World Championship three times, plus the Masters and UK Championship twice each.

To date, Williams has won ￡7,523,654 in prize money throughout his career.

Overall, his net worth is estimated to be approximately ￡7.1 million ($9 million). He’s still playing to a high level, so this sum will probably increase even further.

9. Willie Thorne – ￡8.1 Million ($10.3 Million)

At number 9 on our list is the late great Willie Thorne.

Willie actually only won one ranking snooker tournament with The Classic in 1985, and peaked at No. 7 in the world rankings.

He retired from snooker in 2001, but returned to the game in 2017 for the World Seniors Championship. He played until 2019, with a final match at the UK Seniors Championship, before passing away aged 66 after being placed in an induced coma.

Throughout his career, Thorne won a grand total of ￡1,182,229. His estimated net worth is ￡8.1 million ($10.3 million).

8. John Higgins – ￡8.8 Million ($11.2 Million)

Another of the great generation of players who started in the early 90s, John Higgins is regarded as one of the best players of all time.

He has 31 ranking titles, including four World Championships, three UK Championships and two Masters. “The Wizard of Wishaw” has also been world number one on many occasions.

Overall, Higgins has won ￡9,725,269 in prize money.

As with many other players on this list, Higgins is still playing and in contention to win major tournaments, so his wealth will probably only increase.

7. John Parrott – ￡9.1 Million ($11.6 Million)

John Parrott is perhaps as well-known for being a pundit and TV personality as he is for being a snooker player.

He won nine ranking tournaments throughout his career and rose to be as high as number two in the world. His biggest achievement was winning the World Championship and UK Championship in the same season.

Throughout his career, Parrott took in ￡3,160,747 in prize money, however he has earned a considerable amount more from TV appearances, as well as for being a long-time pundit and commentator.

He’s now worth about ￡9.1 million ($11.6 million).

6. Ronnie O’Sullivan – ￡11.2 Million ($14.2 Million)

Ronnie O’Sullivan is regarded by many as the greatest snooker player to have ever picked up a cue.

“The Rocket” has won a record eight Masters titles, as well as eight UK Championships, which is another record.

What’s more, he’s a seven-time World Championship winner and holds a total of 41 ranking titles altogether.

Overall, O’Sullivan has won ￡13,973,534 in prize money throughout his career, plus he’s earned a considerable sum from sponsorships.

His current net worth is estimated to be approximately ￡11.2 million ($14.2 million).

5. Cliff Thorburn – ￡12.2 Million ($15.5 Million)

Canadian Cliff Thorburn was a hugely successful player throughout the 1980s.

He only won two ranking titles in his career, however one of these was the 1980 World Championship.

Thorburn also won the Masters three times – only Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan have won the tournament more times.

Over the course of his career, Thorburn only managed to win approximately ￡1.4 million in prize money.

He’s earned a considerable amount since retiring, however, and his personal fortune is now estimated to be around ￡12.2 million ($15.5 million).

4. Jimmy White – ￡15.3 Million ($19.4 Million)

Jimmy White is perhaps the most popular snooker player of all time.

“The Whirlwind” won 10 ranking tournaments throughout his career, including the UK Championship. He has also won the Masters once, however, has never won the World Championship, despite reaching the final six times.

Over the course of White’s career, he won ￡4,942,404 in prize money, however his personal fortune is thought to be approximately ￡15.3 million ($19.4 million).

Much of his wealth has come from TV appearances and sponsorship details.

3. Dennis Taylor – ￡18.2 Million ($23.2 Million)

In third place on our list of the richest snooker players is Dennis Taylor, who is best known for his amazing World Championship victory in 1985, beating Steve Davis in perhaps the most exciting finale to a snooker match ever broadcast.

He also won one other ranking title, as well as the Masters in 1987.

Dennis Taylor didn’t win masses of money from snooker, however he has earned a huge amount after retiring, through commentary and appearing on many shows, including Strictly Come Dancing.

He is now thought to be worth about ￡18.2 million ($23.2 million).

2. Stephen Hendry – ￡25.5 Million ($32.4 Million)

In second place is Stephen Hendry, the man who dominated snooker throughout the 1990s.

He won six Masters titles, including five in a row, as well as seven World Championships and five UK Championships. He was ranked number one in the world for over eight years.

Throughout the course of his career, Hendry has won ￡8,804,081 in prize money.

In 2021, he made a comeback after a nine-year absence, although there’s speculation that he will retire again due to his self-proclaimed “embarrassing” performance since his return.

His overall wealth is thought to be approximately ￡25.5 million ($32.4 million).

1. Steve Davis – ￡26.5 Million ($33.7 Million)

Steve Davis, who was world number one for seven consecutive seasons during the 1980s, scoops the top spot in our list of the richest snooker players ever.

In his career he managed to win 28 ranking titles, including six World Championships and six UK Championships.

He also won the Masters on three occasions and is the only snooker player to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

In his career, which lasted until 2016, Davis won about ￡5.5 million.

As with many of the other names on this list, he has also earned a large sum through commentary, endorsements and other avenues, taking his net worth to be around ￡26.5 million ($33.7 million).

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You can read and know all the form beforehand, but if you are watching live at a racetrack you may spot something.

Bettors who are on course could have the edge over those gambling on the races away from the track, thanks to the opportunity to see horses parade before a race and on their way down to the start.

Read on to discover our step-by-step guide on how to bet late in horse racing.

1. Pick Out Horses To Follow Beforehand

There is plenty of preparation you can do before a horse race.

From buying programs and a Daily Racing Form/pro racecard upon arriving at the track to studying the form yourself in advance, the more research the better.

This allows you to make informed decisions about the horses running in a race.

It’s worth creating a shortlist from the field of runners based on what you have learned beforehand, so you can focus on watching their behavior in the paddock and other preliminaries.

Keeping a close eye on the betting market to see which horses are fancied and noting any changes is also important.

If a favorite has been weak on the morning of the race, that could suggest it may not be 100%. You will be able to confirm that yourself when you observe horses parading.

Noting the weather and conditions is another area of consideration.

While this may alter during racing, racetracks always announce a change in going – just like they do with non-runners and jockey changes.

They will also tell you what the ground is like on course for racing before the day’s action begins.

Pay attention and use this information to your advantage.

Certain horses perform better in certain conditions. Softer or sloppier going, depending on whether races are on turf or dirt, can make even shorter distance races into greater tests of stamina.

One or other of these terms will be uses to describe the going:

• Firm
• Good
• Soft
• Yielding
• Heavy
• Fast
• Wet Fast
• Standard
• Slow
• Muddy
• Sloppy
• Sealed

All of these factors, plus stable, jockey and horse’s form, are things you have to weigh up in advance of a horse race.

2. Bring Binoculars

It might seem a bit old school to have wide angle binoculars, but serious horse racing bettors who are regulars at the track use them.

These allow you to zoom in and get a really good look at horses.

You may spot something while keeping your eye on a fancied runner that others haven’t. Racetracks are large places and not everything is going to be within the range of your normal eyesight.

In order to enhance your viewing of the race – and the horses’ behavior beforehand – it makes sense to take binoculars with you.

You are giving yourself the best chance of seeing all the action, both before and during the races.

3. Put Yourself In The Right Place

Location is key to being able to bet late in horse racing.

Positioning yourself where you have a view of the parade and also the horses going down to start, but also within striking distance of a betting window or automated teller, is vital.

You need quick access to everything.

Even if you are betting online, then you need to be in a place where the large body of people that is the crowd of racegoers won’t interfere with the internet signal and connection, so you can get your bet on.

It can be very beneficial to look in advance at the layout of the racetrack.

If you know where everything is and have a sense of where is best to position yourself, then you can literally be better placed to see everything you need to.

4. Watch The Horses In The Preliminaries

Although you have a shortlist in mind, judging all the horses dispassionately and irrespective of the market in the paddock and on their way to start is your next step.

It’s often overlooked that racehorses are like people – everyone is different.

Consider the following:

• Is any horse playing up, sweating or misbehaving in the paddock? It may be normal for horses to get excited as they are aware that they are about to race. However, this isn’t the case for them all.
• Does a horse have just one handler taking it around the parade in the paddock? If there are two, then this suggests it may not be so well-behaved in the preliminaries.
• On the way down to the start, is a horse being kept apart from the others? Races involve groups of horses running against one another and, if they can’t settle beforehand, that may be a negative.
• Consider the way a horse carries itself. A low or angled head carriage, or excessive bucking suggest it may be highly strung.
• Look at how the jockey is riding a horse on its way to start. If they are straining on the reins to keep it in check, then that may be an indication of a headstrong horse.

Make a mental note of the behavior of the horses, even those who aren’t on your shortlist.

Now it’s time to decide.

5. Reduce Your Shortlist

Based on what you have observed in the preliminaries and through your binoculars, it’s time to eliminate horses from the shortlist and settle on the one you’re going to bet on.

Unruly horses are the most obvious to discount, depending on whether that behavior is unusual for them or not.

A horse that is controlled but vibrant and moving easily down to the start under its jockey is ideally what you are looking for.

Now refresh yourself with the form and see if conditions and past performances support what you’ve seen.

6. Check Out The Odds On Offer

Now it’s time to consult the betting market once again.

Your chosen horse may have seen its odds shorten as other observers spot what you saw, or the bookmakers may have been slow to react.

Either way, don’t panic.

Although frustrating to miss bigger odds, remember that the racehorse’s price coming in is a good sign because the market is speaking for them.

Alternatively, just because a price drifts and gets larger doesn’t mean the horse won’t win.

There may be a hot favorite in the race that you as a bettor want to take on.

If the market remains in favor of that horse, then you may be getting even better value on the wager you’re going to place.

It’s always worth comparing the prices available on track to those online (hence you need to avoid the crowds to make sure you’ve got decent 4G).

A look at the betting exchanges can also prove informative. If fixed odds prices aren’t in line with these, then you may be ahead of the game.

Remember, you don’t just have to bet on a horse to win.

There are also plenty of other race and exotic bets available, depending on your level of gambling expertise and the situation.

7. Place Your Bets

You may have to queue to get your bet on if you are gambling at the track.

That means it’s worthwhile to write the ticket out in advance, so you can you make the process at a betting window as quick as possible.

Having blank betslips or tickets with you to write out your chosen bet is fine.

You aren’t able to do this with an automated teller, but these are simple to use as an alternative means of betting on-track once you familiarize yourself with them.

Betting online is much easier for times when you want to bet late in a horse race.

This is because there are no queues. All you need is a decent internet connection and the betting app or website loaded on your smartphone or tablet.

We hope you enjoyed our guide and picked up some of the basic tips for betting late in horse racing.

You might still have a few questions, so we’ve included some FAQs below:

How late can I bet on a horse race?

This depends on your betting method. Bookmakers on track and online will suspend the market once horses come under starter’s orders.

For a Flat race, no further bets are taken once all horses are in the gates. Betting online is available pretty much right up until the last second.

What are the benefits of betting late on a horse race?

The benefits of betting late are that you have the maximum amount of information to go on and you had the opportunity to see all the horses yourself.

Placing bets beforehand means you haven’t seen how the horses are behaving – vital information before a race.

… And the drawbacks?

There are some potential downsides to betting late. A horse’s odds of winning the race may shorten if they were well-behaved in the preliminaries and other fancied runs played up.

You may have picked out a horse at better odds earlier in the day and missed them. That is the chance you take when you bet late.

Can I win more money by placing a bet late?

This depends on how the betting market has unfolded on a race.

Sometimes, leaving it late works in your favor and you get better odds and a bigger return, but on other occasions it works against you.

You develop betting judgment over time and decide to whether gamble on a price still being there shortly before a race begins, or take the odds without seeing the horse parade.

Knowledge is power when it comes to making money off horse racing. Keep up to date with Casino.org’s horse racing news, or check out our blog posts on the biggest horse races in the world and the top 10 jockeys.

For many, they earn even more money through lucrative sponsorship deals and partnerships with some of the world’s largest brands.

Here you’ll find a list of the top 10 richest baseball players ever, and it won’t surprise you to find that all of them play, or have played, in Major League Baseball (MLB).

10. Manny Ramirez – $110 Million

We start this list with Manny Ramirez, the former slugger for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago White Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays.

A two-time World Series winner with the Red Sox, he now plays in Australia for the Sydney Blue Sox.

A 12-time All-Star, he is considered one of the greatest players of recent times.

Ramirez’s fortune is estimated to be around $110 million. Much of this money came from a contract signed with the Red Sox in 2000, worth $160 million.

He is still earning around $2 million every year from the Red Sox – he’s not played for them since 2018 – and will continue to do so until he’s 54.

9. Joey Votto – $110 Million

Joey Votto is a one-team man, having played for the Cincinnati Reds since first playing in the league in 2007.

The Canadian first baseman is a six-time All-Star, plus he was the winner of the 2011 Gold Glove Award. He’s also a recipient of the Hank Aaron Award, which he won in 2010.

Votto has benefitted from some big contracts, including a 12-year contract in 2012 with the Cincinnati Reds, which was worth $251.5 million.

This deal included the two years left on his existing contract and was, at the time, the longest-guaranteed contract in MLB history.

He’s also earned money through sponsorships with both Nike and Rawlings.

8. Randy Johnson – $115 Million

There aren’t many pitchers more famous than Randy Johnson.

“The Big Unit” spent 22 seasons in the MLB, playing mainly for the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. A 10-time All-Star, he won the World Series in 2001.

He famously pitched a perfect game in 2004, becoming the oldest player to achieve this and became theseventh player in MLB history to do so.

Johnson’s biggest ever contract was a four-year deal signed in 1999, which was worth $52.4 million.

He’s also earned money from several endorsements, with the likes of GEICO, Nike, and Right Guard.

7. Ryan Howard – $120 Million

“The Big Piece” played in the MLB from 2004 until 2016, spending his whole career with the Philadelphia Phillies.

The highlight of his career was undoubtedly winning the 2008 World Series, contributing heavily to their success.

He won the Silver Slugger and Hank Aaron Awards and was selected as an All-Star three times.

Howard’s five-year contract in 2010 was worth a huge $125 million, and he’s also endorsed many brands, including Subway, Adidas, and Verizon.

6. Zack Greinke – $120 Million

Zack Greinke returned to the Kansas City Royals in 2022 after leaving 12 years earlier. During his career, he has played for five other MLB teams.

Winning the Gold Glove six times, and the Silver Slugger twice, he boasts a glittering resume.

His one-year $13 million contract with the Royals also includes an additional $2 million based on performance bonuses.

With no major endorsement deals throughout his career, he has earned nearly all his money through lucrative playing contracts.

5. Miguel Cabrera – $125 Million

“Miggy” currently plays for the Detroit Tigers as a first baseman and has been playing in the MLB since 2003, when he debuted for the Miami Marlins.

He’s hit 30+ home runs in a season 10 times and has won the Silver Slugger Award on seven occasions. He’s also been the AL MVP twice in his career.

Cabrera signed a lucrative eight-year contract extension with the Tigers in 2014, worth $248 million, and is due to be paid his final $32 million in 2023.

He’s also endorsed many different brands, including Sony PlayStation, Oakley, and T-Mobile.

4. Albert Pujols – $170 Million

Albert Pujols currently plays for the St. Louis Cardinals, returning to Missouri after over a decade in California playing for the Dodgers and the Angels, winning two World Series Championships.

He is one of only four players to have over 2,000 Runs Batted In (RBI) in his career and has hit over 650 home runs – the fifth most in MLB history. He has also had over 3,000 hits in his career.

His one-year deal with the Cardinals is reportedly worth $2.5 million.

In 2012, Pujols signed a 10-year, $254 million contract with the Angels before being released in 2021.

He also has a few different business interests, including the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame Grill, and currently earns about $700k per year from a deal with Nike.

3. Ichiro Suzuki – $180 Million

Suzuki is a former player from Japan, who played for 18 seasons in the MLB.

He spent the majority of his MLB career with the Seattle Mariners, also playing for the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins.

He’s a 10-time Gold Glove winner and also a 10-time All-Star.

As you might expect, Suzuki earned a huge amount of money from big contracts, including a five-year, $90 million contract with the Mariners in 2007.

He’s also earned a large amount of money from endorsements, particularly in Japan.

2. Derek Jeter – $200 Million

Derek Jeter is one of the biggest names to ever play baseball. He spent his entire career playing for the New York Yankees and won the World Series five times.

In 2020, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 99.7% of the vote. He was the Yankees’ player of the year five times and was selected as an All-Star 14 times.

Jeter’s largest contract came in 2001 when he signed a 10-year, $189 million deal with the Yankees.

He also earned a huge sum of money from endorsements, working with companies including Nike, Gatorade, Gillette, Ford, and VISA.

1. Alex Rodriguez – $350 Million

To say “A-Rod” has had a controversial career would be an understatement.

He spent 22 years in the MLB, playing for the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees, and was selected as an All-Star 14 times.

He also won the World Series in 2009. However, his career has been marred by allegations of drug use – something he denies.

Rodriguez signed two of the top 10 biggest free-agent contracts in MLB history – a 10-year, $252 million contract in 2001, and a 10-year, $275 million contract in 2008.

His wealth also comes from his investment firm A-Rod Corp which he founded in 1995, plus he’s had many large endorsement deals.

For more on baseball, check out our post on innings, or discover the odds of making it in the MLB.

And that’s before any endorsement deals, business ventures and other partnerships.

But who are the richest men and women to have ever played the game professionally? Keep reading to find out…

10. John McEnroe – $100 Million

First on the list is one of the most controversial players of all time, famed not just for his superb tennis abilities, but also for his hot temper!

He won seven Grand Slam singles titles in the 1980s, all of which came at the US Open and Wimbledon. He also won seven Tour Finals and five Davis Cup titles with the US team.

Throughout his career, McEnroe won over $12.5 million in prize money.

His personality made him hugely marketable, meaning that he was able to clinch many high-paying sponsorship deals, with companies like Sergio Tacchini, a huge name in 80s tennis.

9. Andre Agassi – $145 Million

Next up comes Andre Agassi, another player who enjoyed considerable success in the 1990s, achieving eight grand-slam titles and an Olympic gold medal among other accolades.

The American, who retired in 2006, is married to fellow tennis superstar Steffi Graf and they are the only players in tennis history to have achieved a Career Golden Slam.

As you might imagine, Agassi earned a considerable sum of money while playing, winning over $31.1 million from tournament prize money.

He was sponsored by companies like Donnay and Mazda.

Since retiring, he has formed Agassi Graf Holdings, along with his wife, which has made numerous investments, as well as giving back to the world with the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education.

8. Pete Sampras – $150 Million

Pete Sampras dominated the world of men’s tennis in the 1990s.

Throughout his career he managed to win 14 Grand Slam titles, with the French Open being the only one to elude him.

He is particularly remembered for his serve-and-volley play, which played a huge part in him winning seven Wimbledon titles.

Sampras is the fifth-highest earner in ATP Tour history, having won over $43.2 million during his career. His best year was 1997, when he managed to win a total of $5.7 million.

He was sponsored by Wilson for much of his tennis career, plus he was also sponsored by Nike, Dannon and Pizza Hut, among others.

7. Andy Murray – $165 Million

Sir Andy Murray is a national treasure in the UK, loved by many for finally winning Wimbledon, 77 years after the last Brit won the trophy.

He’s won Wimbledon twice, plus the US Open, and has finished as runner-up at the Australian Open five times, as well as once at the French Open. What’s more, he has two Olympic gold medals.

Murray is the fourth highest earner of all time on the ATP Tour, having won prize money totalling over $62.7 million throughout his career.

He has also had lucrative deals with some huge brands, including Adidas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Head and Under Armour.

This year, he’s teamed up with celebrity nail artist Michelle Humphrey for a collection of Wimbledon-inspired manicures.

6. Maria Sharapova – $180 Million

Maria Sharapova was one of the most feared players on the women’s tennis circuit, winning all four Grand Slams in her career.

She won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2004, when she was just 17 years old. The former world number one retired in 2020, aged just 32.

Sharapova has earned the fourth highest amount of prize money ever on the WTA Tour, winning prizes worth nearly $39 million.

The fact that the Russian is so marketable meant that she had many big sponsorship deals, with brands like Motorola, Tiffany and Porsche.

5. Rafael Nadal – $200 Million

Next we come to perhaps the greatest clay court player of all time, Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard is the all-time leader with 22 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, and the only men’s player in history to complete career Grand Slam twice and win two Olympic Gold medals.

Nadal has won over $130.6 million in prize money, which puts him only second behind only Novak Djokovic.

He has a long-standing deal with Nike, who has sponsored him since 2008 and who supplies his clothing and footwear

Nadal has also worked with many other brands, including Emporio Armani and PokerStars. Since 2004, he’s also been a global ambassador for Kia Motors.

4. Novak Djokovic – $220 Million

In third place is Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis sensation who, along with Federer and Nadal, has dominated the men’s tennis world for many years.

Nobody in tennis has won more prize money than Djokovic, who has earned over $156.5 million. If this list was based solely on career earnings, he’d be the richest tennis player in the world.

Djokovic is a 20-time Grand Slam champion and the only player to win all 9 ATP Masters 1000 events, multiple times for a record total of 38 titles.

He has also had endorsements with many companies, plus has several business interests, made via his family’s investment company.

The tennis super star owns a number of restaurants in Serbia called Novak Café & Restaurant.

3. Serena Williams – $250 Million

Serena Williams is one of the greatest players of all time.

Her tally of 23 Grand Slam singles titles is second only to Margaret Court in the Open Era, and overall, she has won 73 career singles titles.

She is also a prolific doubles player with her sister Venus. The pair has won 22 titles, including 14 Grand Slams and three Olympic gold medals.

No female tennis player has won more in prize money than Serena Williams, who has earned more than $94.5 million over her incredible career so far.

Of course, she’s highly marketable, which adds to her wealth considerably.

She currently has endorsement deals with Nike, Aston Martin, Beats by Dre, Bumble, Pepsi and a ton more.

2. Roger Federer – $550 Million

At number two on the list is Roger Federer, who is often described as the greatest male tennis player of all time.

He’s tied with Djokovic in second place for the most Grand Slam wins behind Nadal, with both men having 20 – two fewer than the Spaniard.

He has won Wimbledon, the most prestigious tournament in tennis, a record eight times.

Federer has earned just over $130.5 million in prize money and a huge amount more from endorsements, working with companies like Mercedes-Benz and Nike.

Until 2028, he has a 10-year deal with Uniqlo that’s worth a whopping $300 million (and three-times his Nike earnings, according to Fox Sports).

1. Ion Tiriac – $1.2 Billion

The last name on this list is the one you’re least likely to know.

Ion Tiriac was a tennis player who managed to win one Grand Slam title – the men’s doubles at the 1970 French Open.

Before this he was an ice hockey player, representing Romania at the 1964 Winter Olympics.

Tiriac’s enormous net worth comes from his investments.

He founded the first private bank in post-communist Romania, plus also started a number of other businesses in various niches.

He was first included on the Forbes billionaires list in 2007 – no Romanian had been included on the list before.

If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out our list of the richest racing drivers and the richest MMA fighters ever.

All the best professional sportspeople do, though.

Here, we lift the lid on horse jockeys with our list of top 10 things you never know about riders.

1. There Is No Maximum Height For A Jockey, But Being Small Helps

Jockeys can be as tall as they like, so long as they can make the allotted weight for the horses they ride.

While there is no upper limit in terms of height, taller jockeys are more likely to struggle with their weight – especially as they get older.

This prompted two-time Irish champion Flat jockey Donnacha O’Brien, who was close to 6ft (1.82m), to retire from the saddle aged just 21, and join famous father Aidan and older brother Joseph as a racehorse trainer.

The average height of horse jockeys ranges from 4ft 10in (1.47m) up to 5ft 6in (1.67m).

Size matters, then, but although small as a rule, riders also need to be strong to control their mounts.

2. The Tallest Ever Jockey Was 7ft 7in (2.31m)

Former NBA player Manute Bol tried his hand at being a jockey in a charity race in Indiana. Standing at 7ft 7in (2.31m), he is the tallest jockey on record to ever ride under rules.

In Australia, the late Stuart Brown who died aged 43 was 6ft 3in (1.87m) but still enjoyed victories in the saddle.

Patrick Sankey, a British point to point jockey standing at 6ft 7in (2.01m), won a horse race between the flags in Wales, but carried 10lbs overweight at 12st 10lbs (almost 80.75kg).

That highlights the issues taller riders face against their smaller counterparts.

The taller you are, the tougher it is to make the weight.

Jockeys of greater heights are simply at a disadvantage.

Riding ability and talent, as Donnacha O’Brien found out, can’t protect you from piling on the pounds with a certain body type.

3. There Are No Height Restrictions, But Jockeys Must Weigh A Certain Amount

What a jockey needs to weigh is determined by the conditions of the race.

There may be set weights or, if the horse is running in a handicap, the jockey’s weight is determined by the horse’s rating relative to other runners.

The top-rated horse carries the heaviest weight.

If a jockey weighs in light after a race, then they will be disqualified.

However, it’s not just themselves that go on the scales to be checked.

A horse’s saddle, tack and cloth must be carried into the weighing room too. The weight of all that equipment is added to the jockey.

Riders can be found to weigh in overweight, which isn’t seen as a problem.

There are allowances for amateur and conditional jockeys which they claim off the set weights. These start at 10lb (4.5kg) and are reduced in intervals after a jockey rides a certain number of winners.

Once they have 75 victories in the saddle, a jumps horse jockey is said to have ridden out their claim and can no longer take additional weight off their mount’s back.

On the Flat, apprentice jockeys get up to 95 winners which is more generous.

In France, female riders are allowed to claim a gender allowance and, while this might seem sexist, it gives them an advantage over their male counterparts.

Never ignore weight allowances when you bet on a horse race, as this knowledge could give you an edge.

4. Jockey Weights For Flat And Jumps Races Are Different

Flat horse jockeys must weigh considerably less than their colleagues who ride over jumps.

The weight structure for Flat races in which no obstacles are jumped can go down to 8st (51kg).

When you factor in the saddle and tack, a Flat jockey must weigh about 108lbs (49kg) in order to make bottom weight.

No horse on the Flat should be carrying more than 10st (63.5kg).

In National Hunt horse racing over jumps, however, 10st is the minimum set weight.

Topweight is rarely above 12st (76kg), although in hunter chases the amateur horse jockeys may have 12st 7lb (79kg). Heavier saddle cloths, often with lead sheets in their lining, are used for National Hunt races.

With the weight of their tack included, it’s still important for jumps jockeys to keep themselves in shape.

Size helps but, because the weights are not so extreme compared to the Flat, National Hunt jockeys could end up having longer careers – providing they stay injury free.

5. Jockeys Keep Less Than 10 Percent Of Winnings From A Race

After risking life and limb partnering their mounts in a race, horse jockeys aren’t exactly well compensated for doing the steering.

In jumps races, which after all are riskier than running on the Flat, the rider receives between 8-9 percent of the prize money.

You are scarcely better off than a racehorse trainer, with the owners pocketing the lion’s share at around 80 percent of winnings.

Many are kind enough to give the handlers, jockeys and grooms a bonus though.

On the Flat, the percentage is even lower for horse jockeys with less than 7 percent on average going to the winning rider.

With placed prize money, regardless of the code, the rider gets a measly 3.5 percent. No wonder they try so hard to get the horses to win!

There are also expenses, agent’s fees and many other deductions taken from horse jockeys.

They are not as well off as you might think, then, and the risk of injury outweighs the rewards as riders don’t earn when they are facing a spell on the sidelines.

6. A Jockey’s Use Of The Whip Has Strict Rules And Limits

This is a controversial topic, but horse racing authorities have always taken on board concerns from equine welfare charities with regards to a horse jockey using the whip.

There are clear rules to follow and severe punishments for any rider who is found to have broken them.

In a Flat race, a jockey may not use the foam padded, air cushioned whip made of synthetic material more than seven times.

If they do, then they will incur either a fine and/or a suspension for excessive use. Stewards also look at the force a jockey punts into their use of the whip.

Over jumps, the maximum limit is eight times.

The correct place to use the whip is on a racehorse’s hind quarters, never on its flanks.

If a horse does not respond to the whip, one of the expressed purposes for using it, then a jockey must consider the wellbeing of their mount.

7. Horse Jockeys Aren’t Allowed To Place Bets

Racing authorities take a very dim view of horse jockeys placing bets and it is seen as major breach of the rules.

Lengthy bans can be handed out, with Hayley Turner suspended for three months after she was found betting while still holding a licence to ride.

That’s a mild punishment by comparison.

In Australia, there is a mandatory two-year ban for any horse jockey found to breach betting rules.

This acts as a major deterrent and the authorities Down Under aren’t afraid to be even more severe than that with punishments.

Racing NSW stewards banned Adam Hyeronimus for three years when they found him guilty of breaking the rules. He placed two A$500 bets on horses he rode, so backing himself backfired.

Authorities have to be tough on this because horse jockeys have inside information. 

8. Hundreds Of Jockeys Have Died Or Suffered Life-Changing Injuries As A Result Of Horse Racing

Horse racing is a dangerous sport and, while fatalities are thankfully few and far between, life-changing injuries and deaths do happen.

All horse jockeys are required to wear protective headgear, but more than 100 riders in North America have died as a result of injuries in races since 1950.

Studies do show that the death rates of jockeys in California have decreased significantly after 1980.

While much has been done in countries where horse racing is popular, the risk to both equine and human athletes cannot be reduced entirely.

As with any sport, there is always a chance of sustaining injuries.

Thin body protectors, which horse jockeys can claim as part of their equipment, have become more common in race riding in recent years to protect the spine.

9. You Won’t See Many Riders Over The Age Of 40

As it becomes more difficult to control their weight as they get older, many horse jockeys call time on their careers in the saddle after the age of 40.

It’s rare for riders to go on past 50, although there are notable exceptions.

Legendary British Flat jockey Lester Piggott came out of retirement aged 54. Like American rider Bill Shoemaker, he partnered his final winner in the saddle at 58 years old.

That’s beyond most jockeys, however, with the late 30s or early 40s the age at which most call time on their careers.

US Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith, Japan’s Yutaka Take, and Qipco Hall of Famer Frankie Dettori are all still getting a leg up into their 50s.

10. Gender Equality Has A Long Way To Go

Horse racing is by and large dominated by men.

There are notable exceptions of course, and plenty has been done to spotlight female jockeys in recent years.

From Lizzie Kelly’s breakthrough Grade 1 ride on Tea For Two at Kempton, through to Bryony Frost winning a top race at the Cheltenham Festival, Holly Doyle’s record breakers in Britain and Rachael Blackmore making history in 2021 as the first-ever female winner of the Grand National – there is plenty to inspire.

However, many of these big race victories are notable because they are firsts for women.

There are still so few female jockeys.

When female jockeys have been asked, they often say they feel discriminated against.

With such a dominant male presence with owners, trainers and weighing room colleagues all around them, they feel afraid to speak out against harassment or bullying.

Horse racing is behind the curve in terms of equal opportunities.

However, witnessing these finely-tuned college athletes dribble, pivot and dunk their way to stardom has got us thinking. What chance does an average Joe like us have of turning pro and making it in basketball’s biggest league?

In the following article, we’ll take a look at the odds of achieving NBA fame and all the factors that have to be taken into account if you want to successfully make it to the top of the mountain.

Spoiler alert: It doesn’t make for pretty reading.

Hoop Dreams

In terms of raw numbers, earning your place in the NBA is tough.

Very tough.

With only two players from each college team being drafted to make the step up to the pro league every year, the odds of being promoted to the NBA are a prohibitive 1-3,333 against.

This stat becomes even more imposing when you consider who’s actually eligible for selection.

With approximately 500,000 high school boys playing basketball at any given time, only 16,000 of them will go on to make an appearance in any of the three college divisions.

From there, just 110 will make at least one NBA appearance in their career, so the drop-off is extremely sharp.

What’s more, this number also accounts for foreign players too, so even being at the peak of your powers in the US might not be enough to see you make the cut.

I Wish I Was A Little Bit Taller…

Unfortunately, once you go beyond the raw data and start to look at physical statistics, the challenge of making it into the NBA becomes even more difficult.

In the 2021/2022 season, the average player measured a whopping 6’6.2” (200cm) and weighed in at over 220 pounds.

With the average male in the US measuring 5’9” and stacking up at somewhere in the region of 197 pounds, it’s clear these are large men playing a large man’s game.

Indeed, even the NBA’s smallest position – Point Guard – averages 6’2.5”, putting it some 5” above the norm.

Tallest Players In NBA History

Of course, for those not blessed with the stature of a Spartan warrior, the rise of Small Ball offers a shred of comfort.

With NBA coaches and teams prioritizing agility and spreading their offence in recent seasons, there’s no doubt the average height of NBA players is decreasing.

However, with larger Centres and Power Forwards adapting their games to keep up, it would seem that for the time being, size still matters.

I Wanna Be Like Mike

Naturally, there’s much more to making it in the NBA than probabilities and physical attributes.

The road to basketball’s top tier is a long and arduous one and requires myriad factors to fall into place if you truly want to have the best chance of succeeding.

Not only does practice have to be carefully balanced with education and personal life, but sacrifices such as refraining from junk food and too much partying must also be made.

Parents have a key role to play too, ensuring their young stars get the support and training they need to reach their potential.

Throw in a handful of uncontrollable factors such as long-term injuries, timing of growth spurts and the level of local competition and it’s clear the odds of reaching the big time are not in your favor.

However, for the lucky few that do make it to the top, an exciting and lucrative career usually lies ahead – so keep practicing those three-pointers and hopefully we’ll see you lighting up the NBA soon.

To discover more about the players who not only reached the NBA, but became one of the sport’s all-time greats, check out our article on the players who have won the most NBA rings.

For something similar, check out:

• The Odds Of Making It To The NFL
• The Odds Of Making It To MLB

If you have never bet on this before, then you need to know what your options are.

This is our guide to Super Bowl betting, showing novices and newbies how and where to place your wagers on the big match.

Popular Super Bowl Betting Markets

For starters, it’s useful to get the lowdown on the most popular Super Bowl bets so you know what you can bet on.

These are the wagers bettors place most often on the NFL championship game each and every year:

Moneyline

With the Super Bowl moneyline, you bet on which of the two teams will win the championship game once the two finalists are known. It’s as simple as that.

Moneyline odds are three-figure numbers and favorites have a minus sign (-) next to their price. This value shows you how much you would have to bet to win $100 on a wager.

The underdogs, meanwhile, have a plus sign (+) next to their odds. Moneyline prices here highlight what you would win off a $100 stake.

Point Spread

Oddsmakers calculate a points total that they believe will be the likely difference between the two NFL teams contesting the Super Bowl. This is called the spread or point spread.

You can either bet on the favorites to win by this margin or greater, or back the underdogs to win or lose by less than this number of points.

A successful bet is said to cover the spread.

Over/Under

The Over/Under markets reflect whether there will be more or less than a set number of combined points picked up by both teams in a part of the Super Bowl.

Betting on each quarter or half, as well as the entire game, are all offered by sportsbooks.

You can wager on whether you think the oddsmakers have underestimated (Over) or overestimated (Under) the total points scored.

Super Bowl Prop Bets

Prop bets, a short form of proposition, are hugely popular on the Super Bowl and cover all sorts of bases.

You can make wagers on everything from who will sing the National Anthem to who scores the first touchdown of the game.

Props are also available on the Super Bowl MVP, the quarterback who makes the most passing yards and touchdown passes, and even the Halftime Show.

How To Place Super Bowl Bets

Putting a bet on the Super Bowl is no different any other form of sports wager.

If you’re new to it all, then just follow these simple steps:

1. Pick a legit and licensed sportsbook for Super Bowl betting

We have a number of recommended Super Bowl betting sites that tick all the boxes. More on that below.

2. Sign up to the betting site

In order to get a bet on in the first place, you must have a betting account. That means signing up to a sportsbook and entering your personal details.

3. Create a username and password for your sportsbook account

All betting sites will insist on this security measure. It helps to protect you when gambling online.

4. Now make a deposit so you have funds to bet with

You can’t place wagers without money in your account, but think carefully about your betting budget and what you can afford to lose.

5. Claim a welcome bonus for joining as a new customer

Sign-up offers are common throughout the gambling industry and incentivize bettors to join up to sportsbooks.

6. Locate the NFL betting tab or section on the sportsbook

Online bookmakers will display their Super Bowl markets prominently on the site near to the big game. You should be able to find them easily.

7. Search the Super Bowl betting markets for the wager you want

There will be lots of bets to choose from. Find the wager that looks like the best value for you and has a good chance of winning.

8. Click the odds of your selection to add it to the betslip

You can place more than one bet together at once. This is called a Super Bowl parlay, but only comes recommended for experienced bettors.

9. Now enter the stake you want to wager

Remember, you can only bet up to the amount of your account balance. Set yourself stake limits and stick to them, as this ensures responsible gambling.

10. Confirm and place your Super Bowl bet

Some sportsbooks may give you the option of cashing out wagers that you place later on. Always make it your decision if you want to end a bet early.

Where To Bet On The Super Bowl

As noted above, you should be betting on the top Super Bowl betting sites out there.

The online sportsbooks you use need to be reliable, fully licensed and regulated, and above all legal.

Casino.org can help you there. We only recommended the best places to put your Super Bowl bets on with details of the all the latest odds, welcome bonuses and more.

We offer comprehensive reviews that you can read before signing up, so you know what to expect and can make an educated decision about which sportsbook is best for you.

3 Quick Tips For Beginners

We all need a bit of advice when starting out; so, if this is the first Super Bowl that you have bet on, here are some top tips to consider.

1. Do your research to find the best odds

It could pay to shop around for the best odds before signing up to one of the Super Bowl betting sites we recommend.

Oddsmakers at sportsbooks may calculate their prices for the moneyline and spread differently, so you could find extra value.

2. Don’t go too wild with prop bets

When it comes to Super Bowl betting, it’s easy to get carried away in the excitement of it all.

There is so much choice out there, particularly with the prop bets, that you can end up gambling more than you intended.

It’s wiser to find bets on the game that you can research rather than guessing what color Gatorade gets dumped on the coach by the winning team.

3. Check the stats

Before placing a point spread bet, for instance, you can check out the record of all NFL franchises of covering it.

This stat is actually recorded every game against the spread (ATS) as the margin of victory (MOV).

That data can be vital in helping you pick out a winning Super Bowl bet.

We hope this guide has helped you to make an informed decision when you bet on the Super Bowl this year.

Enjoy the game!?

For more on the Super Bowl, check out our article on the Super Bowl’s average ticket price over the years.

They call it the sport of kings and when you see the prize funds of these famous horse races, you’ll understand why.

Ever wondered what the top 10 greatest horse races are? Our experts took these criteria into account when deciding:

• Total prize fund (also called the purse) for racehorse owners and trainers
• Global betting interest in the race
• History, prestige and worldwide significance
• Amount of media coverage
• Interest from the wider public beyond horse racing enthusiasts

Here’s a look at the largest, most financially important, and celebrated horse races in the world:

10. Epsom Derby

• Date: First Saturday in June
• Location: Epsom Downs Racecourse, Surrey, England, UK
• Surface: Turf
• Distance: 2,400m (about 1.5 miles)
• Prize Purse: About $2,000,000
• The biggest horse race in Britain in prize money terms.
• Contested since 1780, the Epsom Derby is the premier Flat race in the UK.
• Open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies only. Such races are called Classics.
• It’s the second leg of the English Triple Crown after the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, but before the St Leger at Doncaster.
• Often attended by British royalty like Royal Ascot, the Duchess’s Stand at Epsom Downs Racecourse has 11,000 capacity alone.

9. Saudi Cup

• Date:?Last Weekend in February
• Location:?King Abdulaziz Racecourse, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Surface:?Dirt
• Distance:?1,800m (about 1.1 miles)
• Prize Purse:?$20,000,000
• The world’s most lucrative horse racing event with a purse of $20 million, with $10 million going to the 1^st place winner.
• Automatic bids are awarded to the top three finishers in the Pegasus World Cup – Saudi Arabia pay for the travel, accommodation and horse care too.
• The first Saudi Cup was held in February 2020, with the winner being Maximum Security. The winning jockey was Luis Saez – he still has not received his winnings after trainer Jason Servis went to jail in 2021 for using illegal medications on horses. ?

8. The Everest

• Date: Second or Third Saturday in October
• Location: Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia
• Surface: Turf
• Distance: 1,200m (about three-quarters of a mile)
• Prize Purse: $14,000,000
• Until the Saudi Cup announcement, there was no richer race on planet Earth than The Everest. This valuable sprint was only inaugurated in 2017, so is lower down our list until it builds up some history!
• Despite that, horses from all over the world are attracted to The Everest by big prize money for winning it.
• This event lacks Group/Grade 1 status and isn’t eligible for it yet but looks sure to be awarded that in the future.
• It’s a weight-for-age sprint contest open to any thoroughbred racehorse whose owner is prepared to pay the $600,000 entry fee. Only 12 slots are available for purchase.
• Redzel won the first two runnings of The Everest, showing age is no barrier to success in sprints.

7. Melbourne Cup

• Date: First Tuesday in November
• Location: Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne, Australia
• Surface: Turf
• Distance: 3,200m (about 2 miles)
• Prize Purse: $5,300,000
• Called the race that stops a nation, the Melbourne Cup is our second trip Down Under in this list.
• A handicap for three-year-olds and up with weights set by the Victoria Racing Club, it tests a thoroughbred racehorse’s stamina.
• First contested in 1861, the Melbourne Cup has a long history and gets targeted by horses from all over the world.
• Cross Counter became the first British-trained horse to win the race in 2018 – 25 years after Vintage Crop was the first Irish-trained winner.
• Makybe Diva is the only three-time Melbourne Cup winner with consecutive victories in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

6. Grand National

• Date: Second Thursday to Friday in April
• Location: Aintree, Merseyside, England
• Surface: Turf
• Distance: 7,242m (about 4.5 miles)
• Prize Purse: ￡750,000
• In 1929 the Grand National saw a record 66 horses line up for the race. The smallest number came in 1883 when only 10 took part.
• The slowest time in the historic competition came in the inaugural one – Lottery took almost 15 minutes to win in 1839.
• 2019 saw almost 10 million people watch the race, six years after it was first televised on Channel 4.

5. Sheema Classic

• Date: Last Saturday in March
• Location: Meydan Racecourse, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Surface: Turf
• Distance: 2,400m (about 1.5 miles)
• Prize Purse: $6,000,000
• Horse racing in the Middle East is beloved by Sheikhs and Princes throughout the region, so valuable races have sprung up there.
• The Sheema Classic is one of the most valuable turf races in the world first contested in 1998, but entries into it depend on where a horse comes from.
• Southern Hemisphere thoroughbreds can be aged three and up, but the race is only open to Northern Hemisphere four-year-olds and up.
• The grandstand at Meydan Racecourse seats over 80,000 people.
• An honorable mention goes to the Dubai Turf – an 1,800m race at the same meeting that’s worth similar prize money.

4. Breeders’ Cup Classic

• Date: First Saturday in November
• Location: A different venue in North America every year
• Surface: Dirt
• Distance: 2,000m (about 1.25 miles)
• Prize Purse: $6,000,000
• The concept of the Breeders’ Cup is unique in global horse racing. This two-day meeting is held at different racetracks in the USA (and once in Canada) each year.
• A series of qualifying “win and you’re in” races are held around the world for various Breeders’ Cup events.
• The Breeders’ Cup Classic is now one of the most famous horse races after first taking place in 1984.
• It’s a weight-for-age race open to three-year-olds and up. Tiznow is the only double Breeders’ Cup Classic winner.
• We can’t mention the Breeders’ Cup Classic without highlighting another valuable race during the meeting, the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

3. Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

• Date: First Sunday in October
• Location: Longchamp Racecourse, Paris, France
• Surface: Turf
• Distance: 2,400m (about 1.5 miles)
• Prize Purse: $5,600,000
• Arguably Europe’s most famous horse race, the Arc has almost a century of history behind it after the inaugural running took place in 1920.
• This weight-for-age race is open to three-year-olds and up, but geldings cannot enter.
• Fillies and mares have a particularly good recent record in the Arc. As of 2018, eight horses are dual winners of the race.
• Did you know that during World War 2, the Arc wasn’t run at all in 1939 and 1940, while the 1943 and 1944 races were at Le Tremblay?
• When Longchamp closed for redevelopment, Chantilly Racecourse took over hosting duties in 2016 and 2017.

2. Dubai World Cup

• Date: Last Saturday in March
• Location: Meydan Racecourse, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Surface: Dirt
• Distance: 2,000m (about 1.25 miles)
• Prize Purse: $12,000,000
• Back in Dubai, the most valuable race on World Cup night at Meydan is the eponymous Dubai World Cup.
• This weight-for-age dirt race open to Southern Hemisphere three-year-olds and up, and Northern Hemisphere thoroughbreds that are at least aged four takes place on the same card as the Sheema Classic.
• Thunder Snow became the only dual winner of the Dubai World Cup in 2019.
• First held in 1996, horses trained in the UAE, UK, USA, France and Japan are on its honor roll.

1. Kentucky Derby

• Date: First Saturday in May
• Location: Churchill Downs Racetrack, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
• Surface: Dirt
• Distance: 2,000m (about 1.25 miles)
• Prize Purse: $3,000,000
• While the Kentucky Derby is far from the most valuable event on our list, it’s hard to think of more famous horse races than this.
• Nicknamed the run for the roses because winners are draped in a blanket of the flowers, it’s also billed as the most exciting or fastest two minutes in sports.
• As the first leg of the American Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby was first run in 1875. It’s a three-year-olds only race and the US equivalent of the Epsom Derby.
• Secretariat is the fastest horse in Kentucky Derby history and one of only two to win in under two minutes.
• American bettors gambled an estimated $133,000,000 on the race in 2015 alone. That’s why the Kentucky Derby tops our chart as the biggest horse race on Earth!

If you enjoyed this, check out our post on the top 10 racehorses of all time.?

Lead image: GPA Photo Archive/Flickr, CC BY 2.0

Still, there are some players at the very top of the game who manage to rake in some large salaries, such is their skill on the pitch and their allure off it.

Here we’ll be looking at the 10 highest paid rugby stars in the world, all of whom play in one of two countries: England and France.

Keep reading to see how much the world’s top rugby stars reportedly take home every year.

10. Morgan Parra – ￡620,000 ($862,800) p/a

At number 10 on the rugby rich list is Morgan Parra of France and Clermont.

The scrum-half is hugely popular in his home country, where he is known as the petit général.

He’s played over 70 times for France, plus he’s become a lynchpin of the Clermont side, having taken to the field over 300 times for the French club.

Parra might now be one of the older statesmen of French rugby, however his contract is estimated to be worth around ￡620,000 per year.

9. Nicolas Sanchez – ￡620,000 ($862,800) p/a

The only Argentine in the list, Sanchez has played over 90 times for his national team, with his career highlight being scoring all 25 points scored by his team as they beat New Zealand for the first time in 2020.

The fly-half has played for Stade Fran?ais since 2018.

When joining the French team from Jaguares, Sanchez was able to negotiate himself a significant pay rise. He is now believed to be earning approximately ￡620,000 per year.

8. Dan Biggar – ￡640,000 ($890,600) p/a

Dan Biggar is one of Wales’ top players. The outside-half also plays for Northampton, joining the Saints in 2018 and winning the Premiership Rugby Cup with them the following year.

He’s got over 90 caps for Wales and, amongst other honours, was voted the 2015 BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year.

When he signed with Northampton, Biggar put pen to paper on one of the most lucrative contracts around. He now earns approximately ￡640,000 per year playing for the Saints.

7. Steven Luatua – ￡700,000 ($974,300) p/a

This New Zealand lock plays for Bristol Bears and was an integral part of the team that won the Challenge Cup in 2020.

Despite his clear abilities on the pitch, Luatua has only represented his country 15 times, with his last cap being in 2016. This is because of his decision to start playing club rugby away from NZ.

When joining Bristol, Luatua signed a large contract, which made up for having to side-line his international ambitions.

He currently earns around ￡700,000 per year playing for his domestic side.

6. Owen Farrell – ￡800,000 ($1,113,500) p/a

Owen Farrell is one of the most famous rugby players in the world. He plays both fly-half and inside-centre and is the captain of England.

He’s played over 90 times for his national team, as well as over 200 times for Saracens. He has scored over 1,000 points for England, making him the country’s second highest points scorer.

Farrell is certainly paid well by Saracens, despite them dropping to the RFU Championship due to salary breaches. His contract is currently thought to be worth around ￡800,000 per year.

It was recently announced that the England captain could be out of the game for up to three months following ankle surgery.

5. Maro Itoje – ￡825,000 ($1,148,800) p/a

Next on the list is Maro Itoje, who also plays for the Saracens.

The lock is also an integral part of the England set-up, and is regarded by many as the best player in the world in his position.

He has played over 130 times for Saracens and has over 50 England caps.

Itoje’s contract is believed to be worth about ￡825,000 per year.

4. Finn Russell – ￡850,000 ($1,183,600) p/a

The highest placed British player on this list, Finn Russell is an integral part of the Racing 92 team, as well as a key member of the Scottish national team.

He plays both centre and fly-half and has played in over 50 games for Scotland and Racing 92 since joining them in 2018.

There was some speculation that Russell was going to leave Paris, however a huge pay rise in 2020 tempted him to stay in the French capital. He now earns approximately ￡850,000 a year.

3. Eben Etzebeth – ￡900,000 ($1,253,200) p/a

South African lock Eben Etzebeth is a key member of the South Africa national team that won the 2019 World Cup, as well as a hugely influential player for French side Toulon, who he’s played for since 2019.

He’s appeared over 95 times for his national team, and 27 times for Toulon.

Etzebeth signed a new deal with Toulon in July 2020, agreeing to a contract that runs until 2023. Thanks to this new contract, he is now paid an impressive ￡900,000 a year.

2. Handré Pollard – ￡1,000,000 ($1,392,700) p/a

In joint first place on this list is South African playmaker Handré Pollard.

The World Cup winning fly-half moved to Montpellier in 2020, having previously played for Super Rugby side the Bulls.

He has played over 60 times for his national team and managed to score 22 points in the 2019 World Cup final.

When Pollard moved to Montpellier in 2020, he signed a contract that made him the joint highest paid player in the world. He currently earns approximately ￡1 million per year.

1. Charles Piutau – ￡1,000,000 ($1,392,700) p/a

Charles Piutau is a former New Zealand international who now plays for Bristol Bears.

The fullback has been consistently regarded as one of the best players in Europe since 2015, playing first with Wasps and then Ulster, before making the move to Bristol in 2018.

When Piutau moved to Bristol, he became the highest paid rugby player in the world, accepting a pay packet worth ￡1 million per year. He now shares this title with Handré Pollard.

There are some sports stars who have taken longer to get to the top though, finally reaching their peak as older athletes, like the 10 listed below…

1. Bernard Hopkins – Boxing

We start this list with Bernard Hopkins – a man with a pretty extraordinary story. In 1982, Hopkins was sent to prison at the age of 18.

During his time in the penitentiary, he would discover a love for boxing. When he was released from prison after five years, he decided to try boxing professionally.

Unfortunately, he would lose his first fight, and then take 16 months to get himself to a better standard.

His career would then go from strength to strength, with Hopkins winning many world championships at two different weight classes.

He made up for starting late by not retiring until he was 52 years old.

2. Jamie Vardy – Soccer

Jamie Vardy is one of the best-known strikers in the Premier League. He didn’t rise to the top in the usual way though.

Instead, he was still playing in the lower leagues until he was 24 before being bought by Leicester City – a Championship team at the time – and he’s been leading their front line ever since.

Since being at Leicester, Vardy’s biggest achievement is undoubtedly winning the Premier League title. He has also represented England on numerous occasions, scoring seven goals in the process.

He has now made himself unavailable for international duty, however he’s still the main man in Leicester.

3. Kurt Warner – NFL

Kurt Warner has one of the most amazing stories of any football player. He was passed on in the 1994 NFL Draft, and then went to work in a grocery store.

He then started to play arena football, which in turn led to a contract from the Rams in 1997. They then sent him to Europe, to play for the Amsterdam Admirals.

It wasn’t until 1999, when Warner was 28, that he got his chance to play in the NFL. From that moment, he was a revelation, throwing for 4,353 yards in his first season and taking the Rams to victory in Super Bowl XXXIV.

One year later, he would be signing a $47 million contract with the Rams.

4. Didier Drogba – Soccer

Didier Drogba is regarded as one of the Premier League’s best players of all time, however he only turned professional at the age of 21, when he was also studying accountancy at a French university.

He didn’t become a superstar until the age of 26, though, when he moved to Chelsea.

Drogba started his time at Chelsea during Jose Mourinho’s first reign and would end up scoring in excess of 100 goals for the London club.

During his time at Chelsea, he won the Premier League and the Champions League. He is also a hero in the Ivory Coast, having represented them on 105 occasions, scoring 65 times.

5. Rocky Marciano – Boxing

Rocky Marciano is a legendary name in the world of boxing, however he didn’t start boxing professionally until he was 23 years old.

Before this, he served in World War II, during which time he would box as an amateur. He finished his service in 1946 and would make his professional debut the following year.

Marciano would go on to become one of the biggest boxing stars of all time.

Amazingly, he won his first 16 bouts by knockout. He would then go on to win the world heavyweight title in 1952 – a title he kept until 1956, when he retired.

He was undefeated throughout his professional career, winning all 49 of his fights.

6. Junior dos Santos – MMA

Dos Santos is a Brazilian MMA fighter, however he didn’t start training properly until the age of 21 – most other MMA fighters start much earlier.

During this time, he was working as a dishwasher. He would have his first kickboxing bout just three months after starting his MMA training.

Junior dos Santos signed with the UFC in 2008, knocking out the heavily favored Fabricio Werdum in the first round.

He would then go on to win the UFC heavyweight title in 2011, which he held until the following year.

7. Jimmy Graham – NFL

Next up, we come to Jimmy Graham. Nowadays he’s an NFL star, but he didn’t have dreams of playing football in college.

Instead, he played college basketball for the Miami Hurricanes. It was only during his time at college that he made the decision to switch his focus to football.

Graham was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2010, where he spent five years. He would then move to the Seattle Seahawks, before then making the switch to the Green Bay Packers and finally to the Chicago Bears in 2020.

Now aged 34, Graham has 82 receiving touchdowns to his name, as well as nearly 8,400 receiving yards at the time of writing.

8. Kimbo Slice – MMA

Kimbo Slice – real name Kevin Ferguson – initially came to the attention of the world when he appeared in numerous brutal street fighting videos.

He would start boxing professionally in 2011, remaining unbeaten throughout his boxing career. It wasn’t until he was 33 years old that he’d change course and begin MMA.

His first professional MMA fight came in 2007, when he fought Bo Cantrell at EliteXC: Renegade. He would then fight in the UFC, before moving onto Bellator MMA.

Sadly, he died in 2016, aged 42, before he had retired. He finished with an MMA record of 5-2-0 (not including two exhibition fights).

9. Vince Papale – NFL

Vince Papale’s story is an amazing one. In fact, it’s so amazing that it was turned into a movie called Invincible, with Mark Wahlberg playing him.

Papale went to college on a track scholarship and became a teacher after graduating. He also played minor league football for the Aston Green Knights and the Philadelphia Bell.

During his time at the Philadelphia Bell, he came to the attention of the Philadelphia Eagles. He would then sign for the Eagles aged 30, becoming the oldest rookie ever in the NFL without college experience (barring kickers).

He would go on to play 41 games for the Eagles, as a wide receiver and a member of special teams.

10. Randy Johnson – MLB

The last name on this list is Randy Johnson. With a height of 6 foot 10 inches, nobody ever thought he’d make it as a pitcher in MLB.

This, along with his decision to attend college, meant that Johnson didn’t make it to MLB until the age of 25, when he was drafted by the Montreal Expos.

Despite entering the league late, Johnson would go on to have an incredibly decorated career.

He was a World Series champion in 2001 while playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks, plus he was selected as an All-Star 10 times.

Johnson retired in 2009 at the age of 46 and was added to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

For something similar, check out our posts on 10 sports stars who ruined their careers and 10 who went broke.

Here you’ll find 10 of the most notable instances of sports stars who managed to completely ruin their careers.

1. Aaron Hernandez – NFL

The grisliest story on this list is that of Aaron Hernandez.

The tight end for the New England Patriots was drafted in the fourth round in 2010 and went on to play three seasons for them. Everything came crashing down in 2013, though, when he was arrested and charged with murder.

Hernandez was convicted of the murder of Odin Lloyd and jailed for life, without the possibility of parole. He was also indicted for a double murder; however, he was acquitted of these in 2017.

Hernandez’s story would come to an end on April 19, 2017, when he committed suicide in his prison cell.

2. Oscar Pistorius – Athletics

Oscar Pistorius was hailed throughout the world as an inspiration, becoming a massive name in athletics.

After winning gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics, he would go on to become the first amputee to run in the Olympics. His fall from grace, however, would be a shocking one.

In 2013, Pistorius was arrested in South Africa for shooting his girlfriend. He claimed he shot her thinking she was an intruder, but the judge disagreed.

He initially got a light sentence but this was later changed to 13 years in prison, meaning he’ll be eligible for parole in 2023.

3. Johnny Manziel – NFL

Johnny Manziel is proof of what happens when a player doesn’t take his sport seriously.

He came into the NFL with the nickname “Johnny Football” and was expected to do big things. He played for the Cleveland Browns during the 2014-15 season but would never play in the NFL again after that.

Manziel’s problem? His own personal discipline.

He had a number of black marks against his name when he finished his collegiate career, and he then had trouble with the law in 2015 and 2016, with a 2016 domestic violence incident being the last straw for the Browns, who cut him after one season.

4. Ryan Lochte – Swimming

Ryan Lochte won multiple gold medals spanning the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, becoming one of swimming’s biggest stars in the process.

Everything came crashing down during the Rio Olympics, though, when he claimed to have been robbed – something that was untrue and led to a suspension.

The incident in Brazil wasn’t the only one to dent Lochte’s career, as he also received a 14-month suspension in 2018 for receiving a “prohibited intravenous infusion”.

Although Lochte had a successful career, he could have done more had his misbehavior not caught up with him.

5. Tonya Harding – Figure Skating

Tonya Harding has certainly had an eventful life.

In fact, she even had a Hollywood movie made about her, called I, Tonya.

She was the 1989 Skate America champion, as well as US champion in 1991 and 1994 (although she was stripped of her 1994 title). Additionally, she competed in the Olympics twice.

Controversy struck in 1994, when Jeff Gillooly, Harding’s ex-husband, attacked her main rival, Nancy Kerrigan. After a trial, she was convicted of conspiracy to hinder prosecution.

She was then banned for life by the United States Figure Skating Association and would never skate professionally again.

6. Lamar Odom – NBA

The story of Lamar Odom is a well-known one in the US.

The New Yorker was drafted in 1999 and went on to play for the Clippers, Heat, Mavericks and the Clippers again. During his career, he won the NBA Championship twice, plus he married Khloé Kardashian.

Throughout Odom’s career, he was regularly in trouble.

Most notably, he was found unconscious in a brothel in Nevada in 2015 after taking cocaine and had to be put on life support before recovering.

He never played in the NBA again and admitted that his drug use had contributed to his career finishing earlier than it should have done.

7. Ray Rice – NFL

There’s no doubting that Ray Rice is a legend among NFL fans, playing for the Ravens for five seasons and winning the Super Bowl in 2013.

Only Jamal Lewis has rushed for more yards for the Ravens than Rice, and he could have challenged Lewis for the record, had his career not come to an early end.

In 2014, Rice was arrested after footage emerged of him assaulting his then-fiancée in a casino elevator. He was suspended by the NFL and released by the Ravens, then later convicted.

After successfully appealing his conviction, his suspension was overturned, but he’s never returned to the NFL.

8. Michael Vick – NFL

When Michael Vick entered the NFL, big things were expected.

He was drafted by the Falcons and then signed a lucrative six-year deal to become their franchise quarterback, which followed by a 10-year extension, after leading his team to a number of impressive victories.

Things unravelled in 2004, when a truck owned by Vick was discovered with a large amount of marijuana inside, although he wasn’t charged.

He was then sued for giving a woman an STD, before being arrested for being part of a dog fighting ring.

Vick went to prison, eventually returning to the NFL but never reaching his potential.

9. Paul Gascoigne – Soccer

Paul Gascoigne – or “Gazza”, as he was affectionately known – was a sensation when he first burst onto the soccer scene.

He was seen as one of the world’s biggest stars and had the skill needed to take him to the very top. After the 1990 World Cup, he secured a big money move to Italy, and everything seemed to be good.

Sadly, by 1998, Gazza was, in his own words, at “rock bottom”, having been signed into rehab due to alcohol abuse.

Since then, Gazza’s mental health has been a constant source of speculation in the tabloids, leaving many to wonder what he could have achieved had it not been for his well-publicized demons.

10. Israel Folau – Rugby

The final name on this list is Israel Folau.

Folau is a rugby player from Australia and is still regarded as one of the best talents of his generation. He’s played for his country in both codes – league and union – and he holds the record for the most tries ever scored in Super Rugby.

Folau is a devout Christian and his views on homosexuality saw his contract with Rugby Australia terminated in 2019.

Folau would sue and eventually win a settlement in December 2019, however, it’s doubtful his career will ever reach the same heights again.

Something similar:
10 Sports Stars Who Cheated

The wait for FIFA 22 is almost over.

On October 1, or earlier if you’re an EA Play member, FIFA fans will be able to get their hands on the latest release.

This brings a whole load of excitement – and whole a lot of “FIFA rage”.

There’s no doubt that anyone who’s played FIFA will have at some point experienced “FIFA rage”, succumbing to the frustration and supposed injustice of the game.

Since the game made its debut in 1993, there’s been significant interest in its impact on players by way of promoting aggression, reducing pro-social behaviour, and increasing sexist attitudes. Other studies have looked at the impact on sleep quality and perceptual, attentional and cognitive functions.

Here at Casino.org, we wanted to dive deeper into the physical and psychological impact of the game on its players, so we partnered with researchers at the University of Leeds school of biomedical sciences who ran a series of scientific experiments to find out.

From spikes in heart rate to fluctuating anxiety levels, we investigated what really goes on inside the mind and body when playing FIFA…

Methodology

A total of 10 participants were recruited for the project, with a minimum of 10 games analysed for each of the participants, and three playing conditions taken into account:

A = Playing against the computer

B = Playing against a player who is known to them

C = Playing against a random player online

All participants were playing the 2020 version of the game, and each game tended to last between 10 to 12 minutes.

Heart rate and blood pressure measurements were taken both pre and post the session.

In addition, participants were asked to complete the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory pre and post the game. The STAI measures two types of anxiety – state anxiety (anxiety about an event), and trait anxiety (anxiety level as a personal characteristic). 

We only measured the State aspect of the inventory, to determine players anxiety directly related to the game.  

Key Findings Of The Experiment

This particular study was interested in the physiological and psychological responses of participants who play FIFA20 on a regular basis.

The game has a reputation of causing high levels of player rage, therefore, by monitoring participants whilst they were playing FIFA20, we aimed to examine how engagement in the game actually impacted them.

Here’s what we found:

Playing against an unknown player who actually exists clearly caused a higher level of arousal, and goals scored against participants in those games had a marked impact on heart rate.

Therefore, there was an increase in emotional responses during those games that was more pronounced than other games in which players knew each other.

It should also be noted that during these games 70% of participants had an elevated heart rate for the duration of the game once the opposition had scored.

Despite this, in line with the findings of Aliyari et al. (2015) and Bediou et al. (2018), players reported a reduction in stress after playing in all three conditions. 

It should also be noted that players did report that the game made them angry at times.

The main causes cited for this were aspects of play that they felt were unfair, and the opposition scoring.

Messages from other players also cause surges of emotion, but despite this all, players felt the game was a good way of relaxing. 

Full Results

Heart Rate:

The three players shown in each condition below were selected as the most indicative of the wider results. 

It’s worth noting that the age and fitness of the participants, and the fact that the heart rate was taken a few minutes after completion of the game (allowing it time to reduce back to normal levels) is likely to have had an impact on the results.

The monitoring of participants heart rates during the game has revealed some interesting patterns which can be seen in the tables below.

When we look at the impact of heart rate over time in all three conditions, we can see clear fluctuations throughout the game, and in all conditions, we see a spike in heart rate whenever a goal is scored (home or away).

When playing against an unknown opponent, participant’s heart rates were elevated even before they started playing, and elevated even higher post-game.

The heart rate spikes from scoring were also much greater – approaching up to 140 beats per minute, indicating a real surge in emotional activity when a goal is scored.  

This kind of escalation in heart rate is comparative to what individuals within our participant age range would see when engaging in a moderate cardio work-out such as a brisk walk (around 135 BPM).

It’s also interesting that in this condition, following a goal from the unknown opposition and the consequential surge in heart rate, the heart rate would remain elevated for the rest of the game.

Overall, these results show that there was clearly a greater level of arousal, rage, and anxiety when playing against a random stranger. 

The other spikes which occurred across all three conditions were indicative of near misses, tackles made in the game, or a decision going against the player. 

Blood Pressure:

Systolic blood pressure: The highest pressure when your heart beats and pushes the blood round your body.

Diastolic blood pressure: The lowest pressure when your heart relaxes between beats.

As can be seen above, there was only a slight elevation in blood pressure pre and post-game when playing against a known opponent or the computer.

However, we can see that when playing against an unknown player there was a more significant rise in blood pressure after playing the game.

This highlights a greater level of anxiety and frustration when playing against an unknown player.

Stress and Anxiety Results:

The state anxiety questionnaire tells you about someone’s absolute perception of how anxious they are at any given time.

Despite blood pressure and heart rate results both indicating a surge in emotional activity and rage when playing the game, participants across the board pre and post all indicated a decline in anxiety.

This shows that, despite the commonality of experiencing “FIFA Rage”, playing the game can actually reduce the players’ perception of stress and anxiety.

So, there you have it: FIFA, one of the most rage-inducing games out there, actually reduces stress and anxiety, and it could even help contribute to your weekly cardiovascular workout if you’re playing against an unknown opponent.

Related Articles:

Key Highlights:

• Two key points need to be addressed, the amount of heading practice undertaken at clubs, and whether kids should begin heading the ball properly at such a young age:
  
  “In my position at West Ham, we had a ball in the gym hanging from the ceiling where you’d spend half an hour heading a ball constantly. Then you go on the pitch, and we used to obviously work very hard at near-post crosses. You could spend 20 minutes, half hour on that.
  
  So that’s got to be looked at in terms of the amount of practice. And secondly, whether you should look at stopping younger kids now, when they’re just 10 years of age, not heading the ball particularly.”

• Hurst believes that although you can’t stop heading in games, it could be significantly reduced in practice:
  
  “You can’t argue that headings should be taken out, but you can argue quite strongly that when senior players practice at clubs, they can do a lot of practice without getting in position in the crossing, and practicing how they’re going to approach things without constantly knocking the ball in and heading the ball.
  
  You can still achieve the objective of where you want to be for a corner or a free kick. That can be done positionally without the huge amount of heading. So that’s certainly got to be looked at.”

• Quoting a study by Dr Willie Stewart:
  
  “Willie Stewart analysed that football players are 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia than the general public and so on. So there’s lot more work to be done, but what is important and the point you’ve raised, is that the focus is now on this topic, and very, very, very closely.”

• Speaking about his own experience with dementia and his teammates:
  
  “I’m involved with Alzheimer’s because it’s a personal issue for me with my teammates. Sadly, many of them are no longer with us because of dementia. And more recently of course, Sir Bobby Charlton and his wife Norma, coming out and stating that he is suffering with dementia.
  
  And it really is, in terms of an illness and a condition, it’s up there with probably the worst. Not even necessarily just for the person but also for the impact it has on the family.”

Full Transcript:

I wanted to ask you about something else, which is a quite serious subject, about the effect of dementia in the game, and a number of players who have been impacted by it. Why do you think it’s taken such a long time for the rest of the game to catch up and talk about it in this serious way?

Yes, it’s a difficult thing to answer really. It has been going on for some time. But it’s been a gradual process, more and more high-profile people are gradually coming out. It started, of course, with Geoff Haswell and his daughter, Dawn, some time ago who fully believed and was examined to say that it is an issue.

It’s difficult to answer why, but it certainly is overdue for it to be discussed. And it’s a very difficult subject to analyse because medically, they’re still saying that there needs to be more medical research involved with Alzheimer’s, even as we speak.

But the profile is important because it needs to be addressed. It needs to be addressed on two points. One, whether the amount of practice at clubs, and I’m talking about my position at West Ham, we had a ball in the gym hanging from the ceiling where you’d spend half an hour heading a ball constantly. Then you go on the pitch, and we used to obviously work very hard at near-post crosses. You could spend 20 minutes, half hour on that.

So that’s got to be looked at in terms of the amount of practice, particularly with the balls being much heavier in those days. Alan Shearer’s documentary analysed that when it was wet, our ball was much heavier than the current ball.

And secondly, whether you should look at stopping younger kids now, when they’re just 10 years of age, not heading the ball particularly.

You can’t argue that headings should be taken out, but you can argue quite strongly that when senior players practice at clubs, they can do a lot of practice without getting in position in the crossing, and practicing how they’re going to approach things without necessarily constantly knocking the ball in and heading the ball.

You can set up positions, maybe have two or three where you knock the ball in, but as long as you set up positionally, that’s where we’re going to be on the Saturday. That can be reduced. Certainly, the practice that we had constantly, for example we played head tennis at the gym, that was one of our practices.

So we’d head a ball in the gym, then we’d practice with five a side, so we did a lot of heading. A lot of it not to the detriment, again, could be stopped and reduced quite considerably. Somebody’s talked about having a day of rest during the week where you don’t practice heading, one or two days. Agreed, that would also reduce the impact.

And you can’t stop the heading in the game, but I think you wouldn’t affect the game by restricting stuff, and you still went through the practices without finally heading the ball 30 or 40 times. You can still achieve the objective of where you want to be for a corner or a free kick. That can be done positionally without the huge amount of heading. So that’s certainly got to be looked at.

Because I guess when you’re training as well, you’re not going in 100% of the tackles. You’re not going in 100% on some of the other moves. So you can also reduce the heading element as you mentioned.

Good point. Good point. Yes, you don’t necessarily when you have a five a side try to kick the lumps out of everybody. Absolutely, so that can be done without any detriment on the game at all. It is such a complex and complicated subject because the issue with people like Nobby (Stiles), and what they call CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), they analysed people’s brains saying that if you head the ball regularly, there is this condition called CTE.

There are other forms of dementia, and vascular dementia, and I’m not an expert so I’m not going to roll on too much about this. But there was Willie Stewart, the guy in Scotland, who analysed that football players are 3.5 times more likely to develop dementia than the general public and so on. So there’s lot more work to be done, but what is important and the point you’ve raised, is that the focus is now on and very, very, very closely.

I’m involved with Alzheimer’s because it’s a personal issue for me with my teammates. Sadly, many of them are no longer with us because of dementia. And more recently, of course, Sir Bobby Charlton. His wife, Norma, coming out and stating that he is suffering with dementia. And it really is, in terms of an illness and a condition, it’s up there with probably the worst. Not even necessarily just for the person but also for the impact it has on the family.

And I’ve gone through that with Martin and his wife Kathy who, as she has done for 60 years, she speaks to my wife every day. So, although there’s nobody in my immediate family, we’ve lived as close to a family and people living with somebody with that condition than as many other people. It’s awful. But the focus is on it now, and that’s good. That’s very good.

If you’d like to hear more of Sir Geoff Hurst’s thoughts on the current state of football in the UK, you can find more exclusive interviews discussing topics such as England’s chances at the EURO 2020 tournament, West Ham’s recent success and the impact of technology in football.

The 2021 edition of the roster-building exercise certainly didn’t let fans down with plenty of surprise picks and steals galore, while the race to snap up the best undrafted free agents continues.

But, as well as building up excitement for the game days ahead, the draft also serves to remind us of just how hard it is to make it to the NFL (and stay there).

So how many players actually go pro? Casino.org decided to find out…

What Percentage Of Football Players Go Pro?

Which kid doesn’t dream of becoming star QB for the Bears, Patriots or Packers? But how many actually do?

According to a 2020 survey by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the chances of making it all the way through the system from high school football to fully-fledged professional are slim at best.

Interestingly, the closer you get, the harder it is to make that final leap to the ‘big leagues’.

The overall probability of high school players going on to compete in illustrious college football was just 7.3 percent – with 73,712 NCAA participants estimated to make the grade from 1,006,013 high schoolers.

While those that made the cut for college football then stood just a 1.6 percent chance of going from the NCAA to a major pro – highlighted by the fact that of around 16,380 players eligible for the draft, from 73,712 college ballers, only 254 were likely to be picked.

While, according to other sources such as the NFL Players Association, some rate the odds of ultimate success as even smaller – and even as little as a 0.2 percent shot for any player to make it all the way to the NFL.

Although based on older stats, one graphic nails the likelihood of a player making the NFL:

Why Are The Odds Of NFL Stardom So Low?

Making it as a pro athlete in any sport is an arduous journey – fraught with huge demands, difficulties balancing training and practice with education and personal lives, and the sheer amount of will and dedication required – with the sport requiring sacrifices stretching from dietary requirements to missing family time.

But the sacrifices aren’t just for the kids. Parents put in just as much effort as players and coaches into developing stars of the future.

And this support requires not only time but also money – for everything from summer camps, to extra coaching, academic tutors, training equipment, and gas for the car journeys.

Even if all of those ‘odds’ are stacked in a youngster’s favor, competition is fierce.

As well as giving their all on and off the field for years – both physically and mentally – there are things that remain out of everyone’s control: injuries, growth spurts, taking your chances, form when scouts show up, the quality of the local competition, and the location or hometown of a prospective player.

And if you make it to college football and all the way to the draft – the right coach and team then need to come along, searching for a player in a specific position, with certain skillsets and characteristics.

Otherwise, you could be left on the shelf. Yeesh.

Those who watch the NFL every week know what it takes to make it: strength, speed, skill, talent, conditioning, mentality and…lots of luck.

Will you make it?

We probably wouldn’t bet on it.

Something similar:

Knighthoods have been awarded to men and women from a whole range of different sports, from soccer through to sailing.

Below you’ll find 10 of the most famous sports stars who have been knighted and are now officially known as a ‘Sir’ or ‘Dame’.

1. Sir Andy Murray – Tennis

The first name on this list is Andy Murray, who’s regarded by many as the greatest tennis player to ever come from the United Kingdom.

Murray has won Wimbledon twice, and the US Open once, plus he has two Olympic gold medals and led the GB team to Davis Cup glory in 2015.

Murray was knighted in 2017. Since then, he’s had a tough time, with injury nearly forcing him into retirement.

He has returned to the sport now though and, while he might not get back to his previous best, he is still one of the most respected players on the circuit.

2. Sir Alex Ferguson – Soccer

In the Premier League era, one manager has dominated the scene: Sir Alex Ferguson.

He led Manchester United to 13 Premier League titles, as well as two Champions League titles and five FA Cups. Ferguson was knighted in 1999, the year United won the Champions League in the final minutes against Bayern Munich.

He stepped down as manager in 2013 at the age of 71 and has since released a second autobiography and taught at Harvard.  

Since retiring, Manchester United hasn’t been anywhere near as successful, underlining Ferguson’s importance to the team.

3. Dame Ellen MacArthur – Sailing

Dame Ellen MacArthur is one of the greatest sailors to ever come from the United Kingdom, which is high praise indeed.

She is best known for her solo circumnavigation of the world in 2005. She broke the world record during this adventure, however it has since been reclaimed by French sailor Thomas Coville.

MacArthur has received many high accolades in her life, including a knighthood in 2005 and becoming a Knight of the French Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit, in 2008.

MacArthur is now retired and has launched the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works towards the introduction of a circular economy.

4. Sir Mo Farah – Athletics

Mo Farah is one of the most famous British athletes of all time.

His list of achievements is incredibly long, however he’s best known for winning gold medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. He has also won multiple gold medals at the World Championship in Athletics.

Now 37, Farah is still going strong, having turned his attention to marathon running. He recently landed his first win of 2021 in the inaugural Djibouti International Half-Marathon.

The legendary sports star was awarded a knighthood in 2017, in recognition of his services to athletics.

5. Sir Alastair Cook – Cricket

When it comes to opening batsmen in international cricket, there aren’t many better than Alastair Cook.

Throughout his international Test career, he played 161 matches and finished with an average of 45.35. He is fifth in the list of highest run scorers in Test cricket.

Cook was captain of England a record 59 times and retired from international cricket in 2018, being replaced as captain by Joe Root.

He still plays county cricket for Essex though, the team he has represented his entire domestic playing career.

Cook was knighted in 2019, rewarding him for his services to English cricket.

6. Sir Steve Redgrave – Rowing

Steve Redgrave is commonly selected as one of the biggest British sporting icons of all time.

He competed in every Olympics from 1984 until 2000, winning five gold medals in the process. He is the fourth most decorated British Olympic athlete and the most successful rower from any country in the history of the Olympics.

Redgrave has received many honors throughout his life. He received his knighthood in 2001, and the following year was voted one of the 100 greatest British heroes of all time.

He has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.

7. Sir Edmund Hillary – Mountaineering

Edmund Hillary is a man who will go down in history as, along with Tenzing Norgay, he was the first man to summit Mount Everest – a feat achieved in 1953.

The New Zealander would then reach both the South Pole and the North Pole, cementing his place as one of the greatest explorers of all time.

After his summit of Everest, he was almost immediately given a knighthood. He would then create the Himalayan Trust, which worked to help the Sherpas in Nepal.

When “Sir Ed” died in Auckland in 2008, at the age of 88, he was given a state funeral in New Zealand.

8. Baroness Grey-Thompson – Athletics

Tanni Grey-Thompson – or, to use her proper name, The Baroness Grey-Thompson – is one of the UK’s greatest ever athletes.

Throughout her Paralympic career, she managed to win no fewer than 16 different medals, including 11 golds. She also won 13 World Championship medals, as well as the London Marathon six times.

The sports star was knighted before retiring, receiving the honor in 2005.

She was then made a Baroness in 2010 and has sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher since then, as well as Chancellor of Northumbria University.

9. Sir Bradley Wiggins – Cycling

British cycling has been in a golden period for over a decade now, and one of the biggest stars is undoubtedly Sir Bradley Wiggins.

He has won five Olympic golds and seven Track World Championships, plus he won a gold medal in the time trial event at the 2014 UCI Road World Championships.

Wiggins’ greatest feat however was becoming the first Briton to ever win the Tour de France, in 2012. British riders would then win five of the next six races.

Wiggins received his knighthood in 2013 and would then continue racing until 2016, when he retired from the sport.

10. Sir Nick Faldo – Golf

Nick Faldo was one of the biggest names in golf in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He won The Open Championship on three occasions, plus he was also the Masters champion three times as well. What’s more, he has earned more points than any other player in history in the Ryder Cup.

Due to his achievements on the golf course, Faldo was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1989.

He was selected as European Ryder Cup captain in 2008, however the European team lost the contest.

He was knighted in 2009 in recognition of his services to golf.

Can Americans Be Knighted?

Yes! Lots of people think because it’s a British thing that non-Brits can’t be knighted, but so long as the Queen of England thinks it’s appropriate, it’s a possibility. She’s the only one who can do the actual knighting.

Some Americans who’ve been knighted include George Bush, Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie – proof it is possible!

For more in this series, check out our posts on 10 sports stars who went broke and 10 sports stars who became actors.

Lead image: Twitter/Eldoret7news

Other key dates in the calendar to keep an eye out for include the MLB Draft between July 11-13, the All-Star Day on July 13 and the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on 25 July.

And the best news? Fans will be back at ballparks, too, adding to the atmosphere. Cardboard cutouts be gone.

Things will still be a little bit different, as is to be expected, with tickets sold in socially distanced pods and face coverings required.

Crowd sizes will vary depending on state but commonly range from around 12 to 50 percent, with between 20 to 30 percent capacity for most teams.

When a new season starts it’s always tempting to think about what could have been – could you have made it to the MLB?

But what are the actual odds of anyone making it as a pro baseball player? Let’s find out…

Home Run? The Odds Of You Making It

We found some sources with great stats on a would-be player’s chances and how they fluctuate along the development path.

A high school senior boy has apparently got a shot of less than three in 50 – which roughly equates to a 5.6 percent chance – of playing men’s baseball at an NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) team.

So the odds aren’t great at that age, which makes sense – there’s a lot of variables.

But things improve for the guys if they can get to that stage, as just less than 11 in 100 – 10.5 percent – of those NCAA senior male baseball players will then get drafted by an MLB team.

But overall, that means that around just one in 200, or approximately 0.5 percent of high school senior boys that play baseball will one day be drafted by an MLB team.

Considering the popularity of the sport – and how many kids grow up wanting to be a pitcher, a shortstop or first baseman one day – those odds of +20000 (200/1) are actually pretty tempting.

Going from draft pick to playing in the major leagues then gets harder, though, as Bleacher Report reckons just 66 percent of those first-round picks play in the major leagues.

These odds plummet further with each round, all they way down to 7 percent or lower for any player who gets drafted after the 21st round.

Drafted in the 40th round? It might be time to forget about it.

No Clear Cut Answer

It’s not easy to get into the major leagues – not even if you grow up in a baseball-mad city like Chicago, which is apparently home to the most players, closely followed by Philly.

There are a lot of different numbers and odds doing the rounds out there so it’s hard to pinpoint a person’s average chances, as this can differ along the journey too – from high school, to college and pro roster.

The closer and higher up the chain you get, the more likely it is you’ll be stepping up to the plate for an MLB team, which seems obvious.

You just have to make that first step…

Lead image: mlb.com

For more on baseball, check out our guide on baseball innings, or discover the richest baseball players.

But how does this look in the traditionally male-dominated world of professional sports? And how does it vary between different sports? Our sports betting analysts looked at over 200 teams from the UK and US to find out.

Note: organizational structures vary quite a bit from one team to another. We looked at the highest-ranking group of officials at each team, which in the majority of cases (but not all), was a board of directors for British teams and executive officials for US teams.

The UK Sports Teams With The Most Diverse Leadership

Of all the teams that we analyzed in the UK (indeed, in the US too), just one had more women than men in leadership roles.

This was Kilmarnock FC, a team in soccer’s Scottish Premiership, which has three directors: one male and two female.

A further two had 50-50 parity on their boards (Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and Leicester Tigers in rugby’s Premiership), meaning that just 3.7% of teams have equality at boardroom level.

In terms of which sports had the greatest diversity, cricket was the clear winner (though still low), with 13.9% of board positions taken by women.

The UK Sports Teams With The Least Diverse Leadership

Over half (58%) of the teams that we looked at had no women on their boards at all, while almost all of them (96%) had more men than women in these senior positions.

The list of those teams with no female representation includes some of the biggest in the UK, including Liverpool, Manchester City, and Leeds United soccer teams, as well as teams such as Newcastle Falcons and Ospreys in rugby union, and Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves in rugby league.

In fact, rugby league had the lowest female representation of each of the sports we looked at, with women taking just 4.1% of board positions.

The US Sports Teams With The Most Diverse Leadership

In the US, many teams didn’t list a board of directors on their website, so we looked at their executive leadership teams.

And while that usually encompasses a larger group, there were still no teams that had more women than men in these positions.

However, there were four teams with 50-50 parity in their leadership positions, two of which were based in Pittsburgh (the Pirates and the Steelers).

Basketball was the sport with the greatest diversity, with just short of a quarter (23.2%) of leadership roles taken by women.

The US Sports Teams With The Least Diverse Leadership

Similar to the UK, the vast majority of teams had more men than women in leadership roles (96.7%), although just 17% had no women at the highest level of their organization.

Some of these teams include the New England Patriots of the NFL, Miami Heat in the NBA and Boston Bruins in the NHL.

Ice hockey had the lowest representation of the big four sports leagues, with just 18.8% of senior team members being female.

Methodology

We analyzed each team currently competing in the following major leagues in the UK and USA:

• Premier League (association soccer)
• Scottish Premiership (association soccer)
• Premiership Rugby (rugby union)
• Pro14 (rugby union)
• Super League (rugby league)
• County cricket (cricket)
• National Football League (American football)
• National Basketball Association (basketball)
• Major League Baseball (baseball)
• National Hockey League (ice hockey)

For each team in each league we took the number of men and women in leadership roles at the organization, sourced from the teams’ official websites.

We specifically looked at the highest-ranking group of officials at each team, which in the majority of cases (but not all), was a board of directors for British teams and executive officials for US teams, although the specific organization of the hierarchy on each team’s website differed.

The items often range in value depending on the name, or year attached. Memorabilia from legends such as Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan, and Babe Ruth all come with a hefty price tag.

But which sports (and sporting stars) are behind the most costly memorabilia?

Most Expensive Sporting Memorabilia Of All Time

If you want to bag yourself a signed memento from your favourite player or athlete, you can expect to pay into the hundreds or maybe even thousands of dollars in some cases.

But even that pales in comparison to the amounts that have been paid for some of the most expensive pieces of sporting memorabilia of all time.

Top 3 Most Expensive Pieces Of Sporting Memorabilia

1. Original Olympic Games Manifesto – $8.8 million

The Olympics are one of the most iconic sporting events of all time and a couple of years ago, the manifesto outlining Pierre de Coubertin’s vision for the modern day revival of the ancient competition smashed the previous record for the most expensive piece of sporting memorabilia, fetching just over $8.8 million at Sotheby’s.

2. Babe Ruth’s 1928-1930 Jersey – $5.64 million

Babe Ruth is an icon of American sporting culture, as evidenced by the fact that no fewer than six of the pieces on our list belonged to the legendary baseball slugger.

The most valuable of these was one of Ruth’s jerseys which dates from between 1928 and 1930 and sold for $5.64 million at a New York auction in 2019.

3. Babe Ruth’s 1920 jersey

Another of Babe Ruth’s jerseys previously held the record for the most expensive piece of sporting memorabilia, this time one from the 1920 season.

This is actually the earliest known surviving jersey of Ruth’s in existence and it sold for over $4.4 million in 2012.

Average Cost By Sport

We also took a look at how much the average cost of sports memorabilia looks today, and how this varies across different sports.

1. Golf – $514

While golf isn’t necessarily the most popular sport for collectors, it was actually the most valuable, with the average piece costing $514.

As well as signed pictures, valuable items signed by the likes of legends Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo and current stars like Lee Westwood and Sergio García also include things such as tee markers and Ryder Cup clothing, including signed caddie bibs!

2. Boxing – $500

Behind football, boxing is one of the most popular sports when it comes to memorabilia, whether it’s signed gloves, shorts, or other pieces and was also the second most valuable on average, at $500.

While those signed by the likes of Mike Tyson, Joe Frazier and Lennox Lewis all command high prices, there one name whose signature was clearly worth more than anyone else, that of Muhammed Ali, with some pieces bearing the signature of “The Greatest” selling for up to $14,000.

3. Athletics – $278

Track and field athletes have always been some of the most recognizable and respected names in sport, but taking a look at the types of items which are currently on sale (with an average value of $278), it’s clear that Team GB’s heroes from the 2012 games have helped boost the value of athletics memorabilia, with some of the most expensive items on sale featuring the signatures of the likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Jason Kenny.

Average Cost By Athlete

While some sports are obviously more sought after than others, it’s the personalities that we really fall in love with when it comes to sports.

These are the athletes that command the highest fees when it comes to their all-important signatures.

1. Kobe Bryant – $16,966

Unfortunately, the reason that basketball legend Kobe Bryant is so far ahead at the top of our list is a tragic one, with his death last year meaning that demand for memorabilia to commemorate his life skyrocketed, with an average value of just under $17,000.

Of course, Bryant was already a legend before his passing, helping the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships as an 18-time All-Star.

2. Michael Jordan – $7,593

In second place was another icon of the NBA, Michael Jordan, with items bearing the signature of Michael Jordan selling for over $7,000, on average.

MJ is possibly the greatest basketball player of all time and is also known for his endorsement of the hugely successful Air Jordan sneakers.

In fact, a pair which were worn by the man himself in 1985 once sold for $560,000 at Sotheby’s.

3. Babe Ruth – $5,983

As we’ve seen, Babe Ruth has perhaps been the biggest name in history when it comes to sporting memorabilia, with his name appearing throughout the list of most valuable pieces ever.

Jerseys and bats used by the Bambino have set records when it comes to valuable memorabilia and it seems that to this day, he’s still one of the most popular athletes for collectors.

Methodology

Most Expensive Sporting Memorabilia of All Time
Sourced from various news articles. You can view a full list of the sources used here.

Average Cost By Sport and Athlete
Sourced from thousands of listings on A1 Sporting Memorabilia and SportsMemorabilia.com, correct as of March 9 2021.

COVID-19 caused the shutdowns of all major leagues throughout the world, including the NBA and MLB, and even when events were allowed to resume, they took place with few or no fans in attendance.

This lack of fans was a cataclysmic blow to various sports leagues around the US, costing both league organizations and individual teams huge sums of money in lost ticket sales.

While things are starting to head towards some type of normalcy in 2021, there’s still a long way to go until fans are safely allowed to cram into stadia again and major leagues can once again feel comfortable with their finances.

According to Statista, MLB was the major loser throughout 2020, with the pandemic wiping out an entire season, leading to the potential loss of $5.13 billion in ticket sales alone.

The entire MLB regular season was wiped out, leading to each team losing ticket sales from 162 games. The post-season went ahead; however, this only saw 60 games played in total.

The NBA was also heavily affected, losing approximately $1.69 billion in ticket sales as a result of the pandemic.

The NHL also took a hit, missing out on a potential $1.12 billion in ticket sales.

The MLS potentially also lost $640 million, while the cancellation of the NCAA tournament led to a loss of about $260 million.

Looking Ahead To 2021

2021 started in much the same way 2020 finished – reduced ticket sales due to stadium capacity restrictions, although these restrictions differed from team to team because of individual state laws.

Some sporting organizations have already started selling tickets for games next season, incorporating social distancing into plans.

For example, the Tampa Bay Rays have just released tickets for the first month of the 2021 season, however they will be limiting their capacity to just 9,000 people – down considerably from the usual capacity of 42,735 at Tropicana Field.

They have, however, stated that they’re hoping to increase capacity as the season progresses.

Regardless of what happens, revenue from tickets at sporting events will be hit hard over the next few months.

Should the vaccination program work, however, league officials will be hopeful of getting back to somewhere close to full capacity during the second half of the year.

Check out this article to see what NFL fans told us about attending live games:

For NBA fans and beyond, the blockbuster basketball superstar is a gift that keeps on giving.

Now aged 59, and with his milestone 60th birthday arriving in May 2021, the complicated and controversial former power forward still hits the headlines for all kinds of reasons. Even though he finally hung up his boots for good around 15 years ago.

Although the ex-Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons player’s wildest days appear to be behind him, the internet still searches for, and laps up, the most outrageous Dennis Rodman stories.

So to celebrate the man, the myth, the legend and, of course the great hall-of-famer, we’ve compiled a list of Rodman’s most memorable news clippings.

It’s been a wild ride.

Rodman vs The Referee, Rodman vs The Mascot And Rodman vs The Cameraman

Maybe using ‘vs’ in the subtitle is misleading. As far as we know, none of these folks fought back.

Some of Rodman’s most infamous incidents were actually on-court.

First up, back in 1996 the athlete notoriously head-butted an NBA ref after being given his marching orders, which was followed by a bust-up with some bins. He was fined over $200,000 for the trouble.

But that’s not all.

Rodman also took his ire out on an NBA mascot in a pre-season game. San Antonio Spurs’ coyote was the mascot in question, who also received a headbutt.

Rodman let his temper get the better of him during a live game, too.

This time a cameraman felt his wrath, taking a powerful kick to the groin that knocked him out and landed him in hospital.

This time Rodman paid the price with an 11-game unpaid suspension, a ￡25,000 fine and $200,000 in compensation.

Rodman Turns Up Late After Fixing His Hair

Classed as an NBA style icon, Rodman took care over his appearance and fashion choices.

This was best shown when the power forward turned up 30 minutes late to the grand opening of a basketball stadium because he’d been bleaching his hair.

The stadium in question was the Alamodome, where Rodman was expected to do drills for media.

But it turns out his late arrival went down a storm anyway.

Rodman Appears With Pearl Jam

It’s unsurprising that Rodman also knows how to rock.

Said to be good pals with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, ‘the Worm’ memorably took to the stage with the beloved US band in Dallas, 1998.

You can still see video footage of a shirtless and shoeless Rodman joining the musicians on stage for a shoulder ride and, erm, jam. Although they eventually cut his mic.

Other stories about his friendship with the band have since been revealed.

And Rodman even credited the band’s song ‘Black’ with helping him get through tough times.

Rodman And Madonna

The apparent two-month romantic relationship between one of the kings of the court and the ‘Queen of Pop’ was always going to be media gold.

And Rodman has hardly kept his silence since the two stopped dating in the 90s.

One of Rodman’s most ‘outrageous’ revelations was his claim that the singer/movie star once offered him $20 million to impregnate her.

It’s worth noting, however, that Madonna denies this.

Rodman has also claimed Madonna locked him in her hotel room, and that she once appeared post-NBA game in his locker room, uninvited.

We think we’ll take all of these with a pinch of salt!

Rodman And North Korea

You’ve probably already heard this one. But we’ll revisit it again.

Rodman has famously traveled multiple times to one unlikely destination…

Having first reportedly made the trip to North Korea in 2013 to host basketball exhibitions, Rodman is said to have developed good relations with leader and apparent b’ball fan, Kim Jong-un.

Further trips followed, including reported controversy over Rodman’s political statements, US prisoners and the basketball star’s luxury gifts for Kim.

His efforts even earned the term ‘hoops diplomacy’…

Rodman The Wrestler

In 1997, despite being at the height of his NBA powers, Rodman also took a fancy to the wrestling ring.

All was well. That is until 1998, when pay-per-view action clashed with the Bulls’ NBA Finals prep.

So what did ‘the Worm’ choose? To skip practice, of course, and team up with another 90s icon, Hulk Hogan.

Thankfully, playing hooky with Hogan didn’t impact his basketball game.

Rodman And Carmen Electra Go AWOL

Given an inch — 48 hours off from the Bulls — Rodman famously decided to run a mile.

After taking off for fun times in Las Vegas for over four days with then-girlfriend Carmen Electra, the partying eventually had to be put to a stop by none other than Michael Jordan.

Legend has it that MJ turned investigator, tracking his wayward teammate to his hotel and physically dragging him out of bed.

Rodman eventually went on to marry Electra, briefly, and they famously got up to no good on the hallowed Bulls’ training turf, too.

Rodman And The Radio Incident

It’s also reported that former rebounder and defensive star Rodman once called into a radio station while he was receiving oral sex.

Having called up the Miami station to talk about basketball, Rodman apparently insinuated that he was multi-tasking in a more than inappropriate way.

Listeners certainly got more than they bargained for.

Where Is Dennis Rodman Now?

Rodman has been retired from basketball since 2006, when he was last seen shooting hoops for Brighton Bears.

And what about Rodman’s wife and kids? Rodman’s been married and divorced three times.

His first marriage in 1992 lasted just 82 days, while his second marriage to model Electra almost ended after nine days but ultimately stretched from 1998 to 1999.

His most recent marriage took place in 2003, before being officially dissolved in 2012.

Rodman also has three children, including 18-year-old Trinity Rodman who recently made history as the youngest player ever to be drafted in the history of the National Women’s Soccer League.

The most well-known Dennis Rodman documentary, where you can catch up on his life pre, during and post-court, is 2009’s Rodman: For Better or Worse.

But you can also catch old school footage of him in the 2020 Netflix smash, The Last Dance. Focusing on the history-making Bulls of the 90s and in particular MJ, there’s still more than a little screen time dedicated to the legendary Rodman.

But how much is Dennis Rodman worth now? Having once netted millions per season for the Bulls, and apparently an overall $27 million salary over his NBA career, he famously went broke.

But now it’s said the star has a net worth of $500,000.

Still not bad!

Lead image: YouTube

The turbulent GameStop saga has taken the world by storm, on an absolute rollercoaster of emotions.

It has also, coincidentally, caused a surge in traffic for something totally different.

Drop the ‘e’ out of ‘GameStop’ and you end up with ‘GamStop’, which is actually a gambling exclusion scheme for people in the UK.

So while on a hunt to working out what the heck’s been going on, some people have accidentally ended up finding a tool that prevents them from gambling instead.

Google Trends data has revealed a huge spike in people searching for ‘gamstop’ and ‘gamstop stock’:

As you can see, no one was searching for ‘gamstop stock’ until towards the end of January:

What is GAMSTOP?

GAMSTOP is a self-exclusion scheme for UK-based gamblers who want to restrict their online gambling activities. It’s a free service that aims to help people curb their gambling addiction.

And given that it’s a not-for-profit organization, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to buy shares in it any time soon.

Although it’s unrelated to the US store that sells games, consoles and various other electronics, the connection to the whole story seems quite fitting when you consider the gambling involved in trading…

More on this topic:

While many female jockeys are amateurs, there are a small number of pros (11.3 percent) proving they are just as good as the men. This is our celebration of the top 10 women riders.

There are the usual metrics to consider when debating the best female jockeys of all-time: the number of career successes, victories in major horse races and how much prize money their mounts have earned.

Read on as we reveal our top 10:

10. Nicola Currie

• Born: 1996
• Country: Scotland
• Career Wins: 172*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 0*
• Earnings: ￡1,769,877 (UK)*

*Stats correct as of January 1, 2021

Scottish female Flat jockey Nicola Currie is an up-and-coming woman to watch in the saddle.

She has already picked up career earnings of over ￡1,750,000 and is best known for her exploits in Heritage Handicaps on Jamie Osborne’s Ascot specialist Raising Sand.

Riding out of the horse racing hub that is Lambourn, the career move south of the border with England has already proved a wise one for Currie.

Her best season to date came in 2018 when she rode 81 winners.

9. Lizzie Kelly

• Born: 1993
• Country: England
• Career Wins: 72
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 2
• Earnings: ￡1,273,651 (UK) + €5,920 (Ireland)

As the first British woman to win a Grade 1 National Hunt race on Boxing Day 2015 aboard Tea For Two, Lizzie Kelly is assured of her place in sporting history.

Riding largely for stepfather Nick Williams and mother Jane during a decade-long career, Kelly enjoyed Aintree Bowl success on the same horse during the 2017 Grand National Festival.

Kelly’s association with Agrapart saw the pair win three graded races on heavy ground, and she also won twice at the Cheltenham Festival.

Both came in Grade 3 handicap chases on typical French imports Coo Star Sivola and Siruh Du Lac from her stepdad’s stable in 2018 and 2019.

Kelly announced her retirement from the saddle in 2020 to start a family with husband Ed.

8. Lucy Alexander

• Born: 1990
• Country: Scotland
• Career Wins: 180*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 0*
• Earnings: ￡1,262,193 (UK) + €1,975 (Ireland)*

*All stats correct as of January 1, 2021

Riding for her father and trainer Nick has proved fruitful for Scotland’s only female professional jumps jockey Lucy Alexander.

With a handful of wins on the Flat, she was eclipsed as the most successful British woman in the saddle in National Hunt horse racing by Bryony Frost over the Christmas period in 2020.

Despite her work at one of the more modest stables in Scotland, the horses Alexander has ridden have pulled in more than ￡1,250,000 in prize money.

An untimely back injury forced her to miss Lake View Lad’s defeat of Santini, Native River and Frodon in the Many Clouds Chase at Aintree.

7. Katie Walsh

• Born: 1984
• Country: Republic of Ireland
• Career Wins: 174
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 2
• Earnings: Over €2,345,847 + ￡415,276 (UK)*

*Prize money not listed before 2007

Katie Walsh is more than just a sister to her famous jockey brother Ruby, she was a crack amateur rider in her own right.

No woman to date has ever done better than her third on Seabass in the Aintree Grand National of 2012. Walsh was also the third female jockey to win the Irish Grand National after partnering Thunder And Roses to glory at Fairyhouse over Easter in 2015.

She won three Cheltenham Festival races, including the historic National Hunt Chase and the Champion Bumper.

The latter is a Grade 1, which Walsh won aboard Relegate in 2018, and she also tasted victory in the Irish equivalent during the 2016 Punchestown Festival on Blow By Blow.

Walsh added her own chapter to her prominent family’s legacy in the sport before retiring in April 2018.

6. Josephine Gordon

• Born: 1993
• Country: England
• Career Wins: 334*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 0*
• Earnings: ￡3,511,679 (UK) + €36,250 (Ireland) *

*Stats correct as of January 1, 2021

One of three British female jockeys to ride 100 or more winners in a season, Josephine Gordon was champion Flat apprentice rider in 2016.

Associations with the powerful Sir Michael Stoute stable and Hugo Palmer’s yard helped her to explode onto the scene.

While success at the highest level has thus far eluded Gordon, she has enjoyed black types winners in Ireland and Germany.

Replicating her exploits of 2016 and 2017 has proved tough since, but career prize money of over ￡3,500,000 ensures she remains considered among the best active female riders.

5. Bryony Frost

• Born: 1995
• Country: England
• Career Wins: 175*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 3*
• Earnings: ￡2,768,3788 (UK) + €62,000 (Ireland)*

*All stats correct as of January 1, 2021

No female jumps jockey has quite captured the horse racing public’s imagination quite like Bryony Frost.

She is the first British woman to win a Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 and will be forever synonymous with Paul Nicholls’ underdog steeplechaser Frodon.

The pair’s partnership in National Hunt horse racing has produced fairy tale moments which arguably eclipsed father Jimmy’s Grand National winning ride on Little Polveir back in 1989.

Frost and Frodon captured the 2019 Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham, and the dynamic duo made more headlines on Boxing Day 2020 with success in the King George VI Chase, one of the Triple Crown steeplechases.

That provided Frost with a new record of 175 wins for a female British jumps jockey.

She is far from finished with her exploits in the saddle either as, while she rides for the powerful National Hunt stable of Nicholls, she will only add to her tally and set a mark for the women of the future to aim at.

4. Hollie Doyle

• Born: 1996
• Country: England
• Career Wins: 420+*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 1*
• Earnings: ￡4,620,857 (UK) + €69,770 (Ireland)*

*Stats correct as of January 1, 2021

Such were the achievements of Hollie Doyle that she finished third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award after a ground-breaking 2020 Flat season.

She rode a record 151 winners in the campaign and became the first woman to land a Group 1 on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot thanks to a photo finish win for Glen Shiel.

Doyle, who has also had big race successes in Hong Kong and France, raised the bar for female jockeys with an incredible five winners on the same card at Windsor.

She has accomplished so much in a very short space of time, amassing well over ￡4,500,000 in British Flat prize money.

There is more to come from Doyle in the saddle too.

3. Rachael Blackmore

• Born: 1989
• Country: Republic of Ireland
• Career Wins: 317*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 10*
• Earnings: €6,345,144 (Ireland) + ￡590,024 (UK)*

*All stats correct as of January 3, 2021

With over 300 winning rides and counting across all codes, no active jockey has had more success under National Hunt rules than Rachael Blackmore.

She is already the most successful female jumps jockey at Grade 1 level with a record 10 successes.

As the stable jockey to trainer Henry De Bromhead, she has been riding some of the best National Hunt racehorses in Ireland of recent times which contribute to her earnings being substantial.

Key equine partnerships for Blackmore include the prolific mare Honeysuckle, Minella Indo and Notebook. All of these horses remain in training with the potential to give her even more success before their careers and her is out.

Blackmore has three Cheltenham Festival victories so far.

2. Nina Carberry

• Born: 1984
• Country: Republic of Ireland
• Career Wins: 417*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 2
• Earnings: €5,055,059 (Ireland)*

*Prize money and full data from her UK rides are not available

With more than 400 victories in the saddle, Nina Carberry has had the most wins in history as a female National Hunt rider.

Sister to Paul and daughter of Tommy, she also married Ruby and Katie Walsh’s brother Ted junior and tied two of Irish horse racing’s main families in modern times.

Carberry often rode for trainers Noel Meade and Enda Bolger and recorded seven Cheltenham Festival victories in her career as an amateur jockey.

She was also just the second woman to ride an Irish Grand National winner after Ann Ferris with success in the Fairyhouse feature aboard Organisedconfusion for the Arthur Moore in 2011.

Carberry retired from the saddle in 2018.

1. Hayley Turner

• Born: 1983
• Country: England
• Career Wins: 860+*
• Group/Grade 1 Wins: 3*
• Earnings: ￡7,980,646 (UK and USA), €42,700 (Ireland)*

*Stats correct as of January 1, 2021 and only include UK, US and Irish races

With more than 860 winning rides worldwide and ￡8,000,000 in career prize money, Hayley Turner is the most successful professional female jockey in history.

Her many years of race riding on the Flat have yielded international success with historic Grade 1 glory in 2012 aboard I’m A Dreamer in the Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park stateside in Chicago.

Turner was also the first woman to win a British Group 1 on the Flat with Dream Ahead taking Newmarket’s midsummer highlight, the July Cup in 2011.

Later that same season, she also steered Margot Did to victory in the Nunthorpe Stakes during the York Ebor Festival.

After winning black type races in the UK, US, Italy, Germany and France, Turner is a true trailblazer.

She has ridden for a number of leading Flat trainers and managed the incredible feat of 100 winners in a season back in 2008, emulated only twice since by others in this list.

Gender Inequality In Horse Racing

It’s clear that horse racing still has a long way to go in providing equal opportunities for winning.

Lucy Alexander admitted that: “There are certainly some owners/trainers that would prefer to use male jockeys and don’t want to get a girl hurt.”

Nick Rust, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) chief executive in charge of the sport when the University of Liverpool study was commissioned, said: “There is no reason why female jockeys should not be considered as good as their male counterparts”.

Under successor Julia Harrington, it is to be hoped that more can be done to get female jockeys the chances and big rides that they deserve.

Jockey stats data collected from Racing Post.

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Many of these top players are now millionaires, living off money they’ve made by being among the best in the game.

But which of the many different Esports players are the richest? Below, we’re going to take a look at the players who have managed to win the most in prize money throughout their career…

10. Lasse “Matumbaman” Urpalainen – $3.8 Million

At number 10, we’ve got Lasse Urpalainen, better known to his fans as Matumbaman.

The 25-year-old Finn is a Dota 2 player, as are the rest of the players on this list. He currently plays for Team Secret and has so far collected a fortune of around $3.8 million.

His biggest victory came as part of Team Liquid, when the team scooped a prize of nearly $11 million at The International 2017. This was worth nearly $2.15 million for each player.

His team also finished 4^th at The Invitational 2018, sharing a prize of nearly $1.8 million.

9. Maroun “GH” Merhej – $4.2 Million

Next up, we have Maroun “GH” Merhej, a Lebanese professional Dota 2 player, currently playing for Team Nigma.

He plays support during tournament games and has regularly used Io, Tusk and Keeper of the Light. At the time of writing, he has won around $4.2 million from Dota 2 tournaments.

His biggest ever prize came alongside Matumbaman, the previous entry on this list, when he was part of Team Liquid and they triumphed at The International 2017.

He has also been part of teams taking 2^nd and 4^th at The International Tournaments and was part of the team to win the Tier 1 China Dota 2 Supermajor.

8. Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Ivanov – $4.6 Million

Ivan Ivanov is a 25-year-old Dota 2 player from Bulgaria and he takes 8^th place on this rich list.

He’s been playing professionally since 2014 and currently plays for Team Nigma. Ivanov is generally known as an offlaner and his signature heroes are Dark Seer, Nature’s Prophet and Beastmaster.

As with the previous two names in this list, Ivanov was a member of the victorious Team Liquid when they won at The International 2017.

More recently, he has been part of the winning China Dota 2 Supermajor team, plus his team finished 2^nd at The International 2019, sharing a prize of nearly $4.5 million.

7. Amer “Miracle-” Al-Barkawi – $4.8 Million

Amer Al-Barkawi is another Dota 2 player.  

The 23-year-old Polish-Jordanian plays for Team Nigma and he generally has the carry role. Before Team Nigma, he played for Team Liquid and OG, and was previously ranked number one in the world by MMR.

Once again, he was a member of the victorious team at The International 2017. He was also part of the team that came second in the 2019 tournament.

He won just under $1 million in 2019, however his best ever year was 2017, when he won over $2.4 million.

6. Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi – $5.2 Million

Kuro Takhasomi, who is better known as “KuroKy” is currently a member of Team Nigma.

The 28-year-old has been playing professionally since back in 2011 and is best-known for playing support or captain. He is one of only two players to have competed in every International tournament.

Once again, he was part of the team that won at The International 2017. He came 2^nd in the 2019 tournament and 4^th in the 2018 tournament.

Other tournaments he’s tasted victory in include the China Dota 2 Supermajor, EPICENTER 2017 and ESL Frankfurt 2015.

5. Topias “Topson” Taavitsainen – $5.4 Million

Now we come to the second of three Finns on this list, who currently plays for OG and has been a member of their team since 2018.

The Esports player has won a whopping total of $5.4 million throughout his career, most of which was won in 2018 and 2019.

It’s no wonder he’s so good; he’s been playing Dota since he was eight years old!  He’s now 22 and has recently become a father to a baby girl.

Taavitsainen is the first name on this list not to be a winner at The International 2017, however he tasted success at both the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. By winning both tournaments he got to share a prize pool of over $25 million.

During the 2019 tournament, he had the highest average kills per game of any player.

4. Sébastian “Ceb” Debs – $5.5 Million

Debs, more commonly known as “Ceb”, is a French-Lebanese Dota 2 player.

The 28-year-old is the only French player to have ever won The International. He currently plays for OG as a coach or offlaner, generally playing with Magnus the Magnoceros, Bradwarden or Aiushtha.

The majority of Debs’s winnings have come from winning both The International 2018 and 2019 while playing for OG – the first team to ever win consecutive titles.

He has also placed highly in many other Tier 1 tournaments, most notably winning at DreamHack Summer 2012.

3. Anathan “ana” Pham – $6 Million

Taking the bronze medal in this list of the richest Esports players is Anathan Pham, an Australian player better known as “ana.”

The 21-year-old currently plays for OG, although he is currently inactive, and plays the carry or solo middle role. He is best known for playing with Io, finishing unbeaten with the hero at The International 2019.

As Pham has been a member of OG since June 2018, he has also won two titles at The International.

He’s also won the Boston Major 2016 and the Kiev Major 2017, sharing a prize of $1 million each time.

Overall, he has won an impressive $6 million so far in his career.

2. Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka – $6.5 Million

The runner-up on this list is the third and final Finn to mention, Jesse Vainikka, better known as “JerAx.”

He initially played Heroes of Newerth, however switched to Dota 2. He has played for a number of teams in his career, including OG and Team Liquid, however retired in January 2020.

Throughout his career, Vainikka won a number of massive tournaments, including The International 2018 and 2019.

He also won the Kiev Major 2017, the Boston Major 2016 and EPICENTER 2016. He was the first player to make the final of four consecutive Major tournaments.

1. Johan “N0tail” Sundstein – $6.9 Million

At number one on this list is the Dane, Johan Sundstein, who is better known to Dota 2 fans as “N0tail.”

He is currently the captain of OG and is renowned for his use of Meepo. He is the most successful Dota 2 player of all time, with four Major titles and two International titles.

Aside from his victories at the last two International tournaments, Sundstein has won Majors at Frankfurt, Manila, Boston and Kiev.

He recently came 2^nd with his team in the OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division. Overall, he has won $6.9 million in prize money throughout his Dota 2 career.

For more rich lists, check out:

• Top 10 highest paid female soccer players
• Top 10 richest racing drivers
• Top 10 richest poker players

But who are the richest racing drivers in the world? We’ve put together a list below, which might contain a few names you weren’t expecting to see, as well as some you’d expect to be on any list.

So, keep reading to find out more about the richest racing drivers ever.

10. Jimmie Johnson – $160 Million

The first name on our list of the richest racing drivers of all time is Jimmie Johnson.

He’s won the NASCAR Cup Series seven times – nobody has ever won more.

He still drives in the series for Hendrick Motorsports but has announced that he’ll retire when his contract finishes at the end of 2020.

Throughout his career Johnson has managed to build up a fortune of $160 million.

According to Sportekz, he currently earns around $15 million per year from his salary and winnings, plus he makes around $3 million from endorsements.

Some companies he’s worked with include Chevrolet, Seiko and Gatorade.

9. Richard Childress – $200 Million

Now we start a long streak of drivers with a net worth of around $200 million.

The first is Richard Childress, who is a former NASCAR driver and now the owner of Richard Childress Racing (RCR). His team has won six championships in the Cup Series and five in the Xfinity Series.

Childress didn’t earn a huge amount of money from his NASCAR career. His ownership of a NASCAR team proved to be far more fruitful though.

The racing driver also owns a vineyard and a racing museum, both of which are located in Lexington, North Carolina.

8. Ken Block – $200 Million

Ken Block is a professional rally driver who drives for the Hoonigan Racing Division.

He has 16 wins in the Rally America National Championship, plus has raced 24 times in the World Rally Championship but he’s best known for being one of the founders of DC Shoes.

While Block has made money from his rally career, the vast majority of his wealth comes from the sale of DC Shoes to Quiksilver for $87 million in 2004.

He is now “Head Hoonigan in Charge” of Hoonigan Industries. He is also the owner of Hoonigan Racing Division.

7. Connie Kalitta – $200 Million

Connie Kalitta was a drag racer, who raced from the 1950s until the 1990s.

He holds the distinction of being the first driver to reach a speed of 200 mph at an event sanctioned by the NHRA. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1992.

The majority of Kalitta’s money has come from business investments. He is currently the CEO of Kalitta Air, which operates dozens of planes, and is also the owner of Kalitta Motorsports.

6. Jeff Gordon – $200 Million

Jeff Gordon is a former stock car racer and four-time Cup Series Champion.

He’s completed three Grand Slams and won a total of 16 Grand Slam titles, including three victories at the Daytona 500. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019.

Gordon earned more than $140 million from track winnings. At one point, he was also earning around $20 million per year from endorsements.

His most famous sponsorship deal was with Pepsi, however he also had deals with Ray-Ban and Frito-Lay, among others.

He lost a lot of money in an expensive divorce though.

5. Fernando Alonso – $240 Million

Fernando Alonso is best known for his time in Formula One, winning the World Championship in 2005 and 2006.

The Spaniard has also won the Le Mans 24 Hour twice, the 24 Hours of Daytona and the FIA World Endurance Championship. He’s regarded by many as one of the most gifted racing drivers of all time.

Alonso is one of the highest paid Formula One drivers of all time.

He had endorsement deals with some large companies, including Citibank and Pirelli, plus he also owns Kimoa, a lifestyle brand inspired by surfwear.

4. Kimi Raikkonen – $250 Million

Known as “The Iceman” by fans, Raikkonen is a current F1 driver, driving for the Alfa Romeo team.

He won the F1 World Championship in 2007, spectacularly beating Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso to the title by winning the final race of the season. He also competed in the World Rally Championship, winning one stage.

Raikkonen currently earns a salary of $4.5 million per year, however was earning $37 million per year when racing for Ferrari in 2008 and 2009.

When it comes to endorsements, he’s not earned as much as many other drivers, however he has still had deals with brands including Oakley, Wrangler and Singha.

3. Lewis Hamilton – $285 Million

Next on the list is British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton, who is the highest placed driver on this list still competing.

As of Sunday 15 November, he has won an incredible seven Formula One World Championships, equalling Michael Schumacher in terms of titles achieved.

He was also listed as one of the Time 100 in 2020, for his driving brilliance and activism. It’s been a very good year for the superstar, who puts much of his success down to his vegan diet.

Hamilton’s deal with Mercedes is reportedly worth around ￡40 million ($51 million) per year.

He also currently has a large number of sponsorship deals, with companies such as Bose, Sony, L’Oreal, Puma and Monster Energy Drinks.

Endorsements earned him around ￡15 million in 2019.

2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – $300 Million

The second placed driver on this list comes from the world of NASCAR, and it’s Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The two-time winner of the Daytona 500 was voted the most popular driver in NASCAR for 15 consecutive years. He retired from driving in 2017, finishing with a total of 26 wins in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Earnhardt Jr. is the highest paid driver in NASCAR history and at one point was earning over $15 million per year from salary and winnings.

He also leveraged his massive popularity to gain many endorsement deals, with companies such as Budweiser and Chevrolet, plus sales of his merchandise were phenomenal.

1. Michael Schumacher – $800 Million

The number one driver on this list is Michael Schumacher, who is widely regarded as one of the best Formula One drivers of all time.

Tragically, he had a skiing accident in 2013 and is still continuing his rehabilitation. There’s very little information on his current condition.

Formula One is well-known for being a high paying sport, especially for the very best. At one stage, Schumacher was reportedly earning up to $100 million per year, from winnings and endorsements.

Some of the companies he had deals with include Vodafone, Shell and Mercedes-Benz.

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Lead image: Shutterstock

Some of the giants of the betting industry – Coral, Paddy Power and William Hill among others – all started out small before becoming the gambling goliaths we know today.

Just how do you become a bookmaker and what route should you take? If done right, then you can have a very profitable and lucrative business on your hands.

You also need a certain skillset, money to get started, and to decide what type of bookie you want to be. We’ll cover everything in our step-by-step guide below.

Step 1: Decide Which Route To Take

If you decide that bookmaking is the career for you, then what avenues are open to you? Which of those is best?

Well, there are pros and cons to each route, with four options to choose from:

• Online bookmaker
• On-course bookmaker
• Opening a betting shop
• Combination of some or all of the above

Online betting has never been more popular, but the marketplace is somewhat saturated nowadays.

You would need to offer something different to the mainstream and big boys of betting to attract business. Incentives like sign up offers and regular promotions are what lures and then keeps bettors coming back to place their wagers with you.

Be warned: it’s hard to stand out from the crowd in this area.

If you love horse racing at your local track, then becoming an on-course bookie is an alternative option.

There are additional costs involved, however, for your pitch and it’s worth noting that quiet, midweek meetings seldom attract big crowds. It can be hard to make on-course bookmaking pay.

Opening a betting shop involves more than just getting yourself a license to operate. You have to rent some real estate and employ staff to help you run the place and that means additional costs.

A premises license for the place you lease and personal functional licenses for any people working for you are also needed. More on those later.

Step 2: Decide How You Want To Set Up

Many small-time bookmakers are family businesses, so do you want to go it alone or become a partner of an existing firm? That is the broad choice you face if deciding to become a bookie.

Again, there are pluses and minuses to both approaches:

• Being an independent bookmaker sounds great, but you still have overheads. There is rent and wages to pay if you run a High Street betting shop.
• There are fees like renewing your trackside pitch every year if you are an on-course bookie.
• Taking the business online means server costs and license fees apply to whatever type of outfit you want to run.

Becoming a partner with an existing company means you are representing them. Franchises may be granted for a betting shop or trackside pitch, but you are in effect an employee of that organization.

That means total profits don’t go to you and you are on a percentage of takings or a salary paid.

While there can be greater security in forming a partnership, it is worth remembering that many betting shops have been closed by large bookmakers to save on high rent costs.

This has come in reaction to regulation changes brought in the by the British Government over the maximum stake for Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs).

Step 3: Find Out Which Licenses You Need

As noted above, the gambling industry has strict regulation by the state. This is to ensure ethical practice and fair treatment of bettors.

You are going to need licenses and, depending on the type of bookie you are, plenty of them.

As listed by the UK Gambling Commission on its website, the regulator requires you to have some or all of the following licenses:

• Operating License
• Personal Functional License
• Personal Management License
• Premises License

These don’t come cheap, either.

A license application has no guarantee of success and the UK Gambling Commission doesn’t return fees if you get turned down. There are also annual renewal costs attached to licenses.

With Premises Licenses, you are applying to your local authority rather than the regulator. These may set different fees, rates and tariffs depending on your geographical location.

Also be prepared for the possibility of opposition to your proposal of turning a piece of real estate into a betting shop.

Why You Need Licenses

Each of the licenses related to bookmaking serves a different purpose. Knowing about all of them is essential before you decide to become a bookie.

With an Operating License, the clue is in the name. Some or all of the following activities must be specified on your licenses:

• Non-remote general betting – standard if you trade from premises and/or limited for on-course bookies
• Non-remote pool betting
• Remote general betting – standard for real and/or virtual events, and/or limited for telephone and email bets
• Remote betting host – again for real and/or virtual events
• Remote betting intermediary – if you have trading rooms on your site
• Remote pool betting

Getting those which you need and also including ones for other intermediary purposes all have different costs attached to them in terms of fees.

Looking at the remote general betting license, for example, any bookie operating a gross gambling yield of under ￡550,000 per year has an application fee of ￡2,933 and annual renewal costs of ￡3,408.

Obtaining and keeping this license alone will thus be an expense of ￡6,341 within 12 months.

Successful bookies who have over ￡1,000,000,000 in their annual gross gambling yield pay an application fee of ￡25,777 with annual renewal costs of ￡694,856.

For every ￡500,000,000 above that threshold, the price to renew increases by ￡200,000.

Personal Functional License

Personal Functional Licenses are for people who work for you as a bookie.

Your staff needs to have one of these in order to be legally allowed to do their job. Employees are subject to a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check to ensure they are trustworthy.

You need to get a Personal Functional License for the following staff:

• Cashier
• Dealer/croupier (if you’re offering a casino product)
• Gaming supervisor (or pit boss)
• Inspector
• Security personnel

Personal Management License

Before granting a Personal Management License (PML) to anyone, the UK Gambling Commission wants to be satisfied that the business model of a bookmaker is sustainable. They are looking for stability in the people running the show.

These licenses cost ￡370 per person.

A PML isn’t just concerned with the boss. It covers a wider base than just that and includes members of staff with responsibility for:

• Strategy and delivery of gambling operations
• Financial planning and budgets
• Commercial development and marketing
• Compliance (with the regulator)
• IT provision and digital security
• Management of premises licensed for bingo and/or as a casino
• Management of 5 or more licensed premises within a particular area of the UK

Premises License

Local councils can take several weeks to process and decide on your application to turn real estate into a place where betting and gaming is permitted.

Residents in the nearby area may raise objections. It follows that converting some premises into a betting shop are easier than others.

Step 4: Work Out Your Budget

As you may have noticed, there are plenty of costs, expenses and overheads involved in setting up and becoming a bookmaker.

It’s estimated that there are average initial costs of ￡8,000 to ￡10,000 just for starting up as an on-course bookie.

Here are some of the outlays you are going to have to make:

• Licenses
• Rent of premises (for a betting shop)
• Light, heat and electricity of premises
• Pitches on racetracks (for on-course bookmakers)
• Staff wages
• Hardware (FOBTs, boards and batteries, computers, printers, stands and umbrellas to keep equipment dry on-course)
• Software (for printing betting slips, online security and tracking markets)
• Server hosting (for online bookies)

Bookmaker pitches, officially known as list positions, can be a huge expense depending on the racecourse in question.

At popular National Hunt horse racing venue Cheltenham, for instance, some of these have been valued at ￡250,000. Prime pitches at York, meanwhile, can change hands for ￡200,000.

That is a lot of money, but these tracks may be the exception rather than the rule.

A lower profile racecourse will have their pitches valued at significantly less, but it may be just as if not more difficult to turn a profit from them if demand isn’t there on track.

It’s crucial that you budget carefully, then, and have a good financial plan before you kick-start your new career.

The Skills You Need To Become A Bookmaker

Depending upon the type of bookie you want to be, certain specific skills may be needed.

In general terms, however, these traits and competencies will serve you well:

• Numeracy
• Negotiating skills
• Leadership and management
• Flexibility (reacting to situations)
• Decision making
• Customer service

Numeracy, an understanding of odds and finance, almost goes without saying for a bookmaker.

You may need to negotiate with potential betting partners, local authorities and staff, to whom you also have to show leadership and management.

Customer service is all-important too, as you can’t make money without people betting through your service.

Flexibility and decision-making become especially important if you are an on-course bookie. You have to decide whether or not you have a strong view about a horse race.

Is a favourite worth laying and pushing out in the market you offer, or do you just follow what the betting exchanges tell you as they reveal where the money is going?

Common Misconceptions About Being A Bookie

Be under no illusions, there is a lot more that goes into becoming a bookmaker than meets the eye.

The first mistake you can make is by assuming it is an easy living.

It really isn’t, especially for on-course bookies and those running a betting shop in an era where online gambling has taken off.

It’s not just a formality that you will be granted the licenses you need, either. If you fail in your applications, the UK Gambling Commission has a no-refunds policy.

This leads to additional costs that, if you didn’t budget for, will adversely affect your business because you can’t even get properly started without licenses.

If you choose the wrong favorite to take on as an on-course bookmaker, you can end up losing money. Developing sound betting judgement is essential.

Trying to just wing it is a very bad idea indeed.

Is The Bookie Life For You?

So, if you’re undeterred by all that and passionate about sport, being a bookie could be the career for you.

First of all, you need capital investment from the very start if you are to make a business. Strong financial planning and evidence of sustainability will help persuade gambling regulators to issue licenses to you.

When pitching to become a bookmaker, you must have a clear idea and vision of the type of bookie you want to be. Opening a betting shop means you need premises which means more licenses, overheads in rent, light, heat, electricity and wages.

On-course bookmakers must fork out for a pitch and have the technology to advertise prices, follow the wider betting trends and markets, and create betslips.

If you go down the online betting route, be prepared for stiff competition, security and server costs.

With numeracy, negotiating skills, the ability to plan, manage, lead and make decisions, and not forgetting a sense of customer service, you might just make it as a bookie.

While other professional seasons were suspended, the timing of football season and the occurrence of the draft suggested that we actually could have a “normal” sports season after all.

After having a conversation with more than 1,000 football fans across the country, we’re starting to understand what their new normal looks like and how it will fit or clash with stadium rollouts.

We asked each fan to share how they felt about going to games in the middle of a pandemic and how mask requirements impacted their decisions. Their answers were compared by team preference, age, and even political affiliation.

Keep reading to find out which stadiums will likely be looking at a very different subset of fans (if any) this year.

2020 Game Plans

The first part of this study asked respondents to consider a simple question: If you could get the tickets, would you attend an NFL game in 2020?

Their answers were compared by the team they said they supported.

Even football’s most ardent fans were split. Given the opportunity, exactly 52.3 percent of fans would attend a game in person this year.

41 percent specifically said COVID-19-related fears would make them stay home. That said, some fans were more than willing to go despite the threat of the pandemic.

Fans of the San Francisco 49ers were the most likely to say they wouldn’t attend a game?this year. In order to actually attend, however, fans would have to get pretty lucky. The?68,500 seat Levi’s Stadium?will likely face a drastically reduced capacity mandate, and the team has already shared that “ticket availability is not guaranteed for any member this season.”

Santa Clara County (home to Levi’s Stadium) was one of the earliest adopters of large-scale event bans. Fans are also not permitted in stadiums until the jurisdiction’s initiation of Stage 4 reopening procedures. Considering the state’s spike in COVID-19 cases, 49ers fans will likely face a long wait.

The Arizona Cardinals were the least likely to feel dissuaded by the pandemic. Only 15 percent said they would avoid a game due to fear of contracting COVID-19.

Though?the state of Arizona?faced a relatively large second wave of the illness, recent reports show a slowing of both new cases and hospitalizations in the area.

The Cardinals?shared a vague statement?of their plans for this season at Farm Stadium: “We are developing contingency plans for the different scenarios and potential stadium seating configurations.”

If they do choose to sell tickets, their fans appear more ready to purchase than any others.

Fans In Fear Of COVID-19

It became immediately apparently that certain demographics of fans were more ready to attend games than others.

The next part of this study momentarily put teams aside and instead analyzed fan willingness to attend based on their age and political affiliation.

That said, everyone included in this study was united under their common self-identification as football fans.

Older respondents were the most likely to say they would not be attending any games this year, even if they had the chance.

But when we say older, we’re not necessarily referring to senior citizens or those we stereotypically think of as high-risk individuals.

Instead,?Gen Xers and baby boomers alike were often unwilling to consider going to a football game this year,?with 45.4 percent and 46 percent of each generation saying they would opt out of games, respectively.

As of 2020, Gen Xers are between the ages of 41 and 55 years old, while baby boomers cap at 76 years old. Though this second group is literally?hundreds of times more likely to die?from the disease than those under 50, the two groups were equally as likely to prefer staying home.

Millennials, on the other hand, had only about a third stating they’d stay home if given the chance to go to a game this year.

Unfortunately for all parties involved, politics effectively dictated fan reactions to the disease. Without indicating which approach is “right” or “wrong,” it is clear that Republican football fans feared the disease far less often than did Democrats or Independents.

While?51.8 percent of Democrats said fear of COVID-19 would make them stay home instead of attending a game, only 25.3 percent of Republicans said the same.

This is even more interesting when you consider that?Republicans often skew older?than their Democratic counterparts and are, therefore, more at risk.

Fan Attitudes Toward Face Masks

Face coverings are currently?recommended by the CDC?to function as a “simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people.”

They also share the emerging evidence to support this stance, though they’re clearly hesitant to make a definitive stance on overall effectiveness. In other words, we know it’s effective, just not?how?effective.

The next part of this study asked fans if they would attend an NFL game mandating face coverings.

Let’s assume that 0 percent of fans actually enjoy wearing face masks. Data showed, however, that most fans (66.5 percent) would still attend an NFL game in person, even when having to don a mask.

For those that do snag limited tickets, those mask requirements will be their reality.?The NFL has already said?their stadiums will all require face masks, even in areas where local ordinances say otherwise.

Fans of the Dallas Cowboys were the most likely to say a mask requirement would prevent them from wanting to attend a game.?The state of Texas?has produced a large portion of anti-mask protests and rallies, with people gathering in streets and at the governor’s mansion.

Cowboys fans showed similar adamance against the mask, with 26.5 percent of fans saying they wouldn’t want to go to a game if they had to wear a mask.

Though Texas has seen?large surges of the coronavirus?in recent days, Philadelphia Eagles supporters were almost as likely to share their fan’s anti-mask sentiment.

26 percent of this fan group said a mask requirement would make them want to stay home.

This is ironically in spite of the fact that?Philly has been retightening?its COVID-19 prevention measures in response to increased outbreaks and even in spite of Miami Marlins players and coaches testing positive for the disease after staying in a Philadelphia hotel.

Game On

Fans have ultimately shined a light on what the new normal may actually look like for stadiums.

Available tickets will still sell (more than 60 percent of fans said they would still go given the chance), but the people that fill the stadium will be a drastically different subset of the general fan population.

Older fans and even Gen Xers are looking to stay home, no matter the mask requirement or social distancing practices. And Independents and Democrats won’t be in the seats nearly as often as Republicans.

Not to mention this new and limited audience will sit mask in tow among many (or even mostly) empty seats.

What comes of 2020’s football season is still to be determined. Many teams are insisting that they still have time to decide, while the times surrounding the decisions continue to change rapidly.

What we ultimately do know is that certain fans will be ready to attend, no matter what.

Methodology and Limitations

We surveyed 1,013 football fans via Amazon Mechanical Turk. To qualify for the survey, respondents had to indicate that they were fans of the NFL. Of the 1,013 fans surveyed, 36.9 percent were female, 63 percent were male, and less than 1 percent identified as nonbinary. Additionally, 63 percent of respondents identified as millennials or younger, 26 percent were a part of Generation X, and 11 percent identified as baby boomers. Forty-two percent of respondents were Democrats, 37 percent were Republicans, and 21 percent were Independents. The main limitation of this study is the reliance on self-report, which is faced with several issues such as, but not limited to, attribution, exaggeration, recency bias, and telescoping. Data is solely representative of self-reported claims by fans, and no association to teams, venues, or cities should be inferred. This survey ran between July 24–25, 2020.

Fair Use Statement

Which fan sentiment do you share? Do you think others would agree? If you know some football fans that would have an opinion on this topic, you’re welcome to share our data. Just be sure your purposes are noncommercial and that you link back to this page so its contributors can receive credit for their work.

This is our guide to prop betting. You’ll learn what it is, how it works and – if you play your cards right – how you can make money through such wagers.

Some prop bets are just a bit of fun, but to serious gamblers they are a tool for potential profit.

What Is A Prop Bet?

A prop bet, short for ‘proposition’, is when you bet on whether something will or won’t happen. Chances are you’ve made one before.

“I bet you $5 you can’t get a hole in one!”

“I bet you $20 you can’t eat three KFC Family Buckets, plus the sides!”

One famous pop culture example of a prop is from beloved British sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Del Boy, the wheeler-dealer market trader with the gift of the gab, gets out of paying for a round of drinks at his local pub, The Nag’s Head.

He bets the landlord, Mike, that he can make him turn his hands over without touching them. When Mike holds out his hands, Del Boy says: “No, the other way”. Mike turns his hands over, so Del Boy wins the bet.

This illustrates prop betting nicely. If the proposition made happens just as you say it will in the bet, then you get a return on the money you staked on the wager. Any other outcome means you lose.

Prop Bets In Sports

Now that you understand the basics of prop betting, how does this apply to sports?

A prop bet could be any wager made on a sports event that isn’t directly related to the final result.

It could be outcomes based on individual performance, team discipline, statistics or timeliness of something happening in a game or match.

The type of prop bets offered depends on the sport in question.

How many passing yards a quarterback throws during the Super Bowl can only be wagered on by betting on NFL football, for example.

For basketball bettors, a common NBA wager made is on the game scoring leader (the player with most points).

In cricket, you could place prop bets on the number of sixes a team scores or who a team’s best bowler will be.

When it comes to soccer, the time of the first goal, total number of corners or yellow cards in a match are common types of prop betting wagers that people place.

Who scores the first try or what the first scoring play will be are popular examples of prop bets from rugby.

How many century breaks in a snooker match or 180s thrown in a game of darts can be considered prop bets too. 

Most Popular Prop Bet Types By Sport

Check out the table below for a fuller list of popular prop betting wagers by sport:

Different Types Of Prop Betting

As you can see from the examples above, not all prop bets are the same. There will be a range of options to choose from and bet on depending on the type of wager.

For the passing yards in NFL football, number of sixes scored by a cricket team and our snooker and darts examples, sportsbook traders will set a threshold.

You then bet around whether it will be over or under that amount. Oddsmakers will base this on current form and stats from past meetings.

In prop bets which concern individual performances, such as the NBA game scoring leader, best bowler for cricket or first tryscorer in rugby, you have a list of names to choose from.

The bigger the odds for a player, the less likely that prop bet is to come off.

Time-related prop betting, including when the first goal is scored in a soccer match, doesn’t have to be exact. No sportsbook will ask you to name the precise second, but instead offer you bands of five or 10-minute periods to choose from.

Method prop betting, like the first scoring play in rugby, sees oddsmakers put forward all possible outcomes that result in points being awarded.

Here, you could bet on a try, penalty try, penalty kick or drop goal, but not a conversion. Without scoring a try first, there cannot be a conversion.

Exotic Prop Bets

While most prop betting is kept fairly simple, you can now request more exotic ones from sportsbooks.

For example, you think Lionel Messi will score Barcelona’s first goal in a soccer match against Real Madrid. This big game has a history of poor discipline with players getting sent off in it too.

You could combine a first goalscorer wager on Messi with a “Yes” to a red card in the game and total bookings being over a certain threshold. The odds accumulate on such a bet if each prop comes off.

An exotic wager like this comes with far greater risk, however, as all eventualities must happen for it to pay out.

Prop Betting: Skill vs Fun

An exotic prop like our Messi example tests your skill as a bettor.

If you have enough knowledge about a sport, team and players involved, then putting that to the test by betting on it is an option. Gambling is supposed to be bit of fun, though, however seriously you take it.

Predicting what will happen in a football game or rugby match has risks attached. Sport has the infinite capacity to surprise, so be prepared for the fact that you will not be correct all the time.

What separates skilled bettors from average ones is being right with their props more often than not.

How Prop Bets Pay Out

A prop bet pays out in much the same way as any other wager.

If the outcome you gambled on happens, then you receive a return including your stake depending on the price you took.

Let’s look at an example. Here is what a first goalscorer market on Barcelona v Real Madrid might look like:

• Lionel Messi -125
• Luis Suarez +110
• Karim Benzema +163
• Antoine Griezmann +225
• Gareth Bale +250
• Eden Hazard +300
• Luka Jovic +350
• Vinicius Junior +400
• Isco +500
• Arturo Vidal +650

Messi is the favorite as he is the only player with a minus sign next to him. That means you would need to stake $125 in order to make $100 profit on a first goalscorer props bet on him.

Gareth Bale is a bigger price, meanwhile. His odds will pay $250 profit off a $100 stake. The total return on such a wager would be $350 if he scored the first goal in the game.

In this example, only one soccer player can score first. The smaller the number next to a prop bet, then the more likely it is.

Anything with a minus sign in front of it is said to be odds-on. In other words, there is an implied probability of better than 50 percent it will happen.

The Pros And Cons Of Prop Bets

As with any type of gambling, there are advantages to prop betting and drawbacks.

On the positive side, you can still make profit even if the team a player you have made a prop bet about doesn’t win. You are focusing on the individual in your wager, not the collective and overall performance.

This type of betting can prove very rewarding for people who follow the stats behind sports events.

If you know, for instance, that a certain player has a great record of scoring dunks, goals, runs, tries or touchdowns against a particular team, then it could be a bet worth making.

Knowledge is power when it comes to gambling.

The downside to prop bets is there could be more than just two or three possible outcomes to some bets.

If you are betting on a first goal, try or touchdown scorer, then several players on both teams could get it. It can be more complicated than a simple yes or no outcome.

Prop bets can be a bit like betting on a horse race. There are many variables to consider. The loss of a player during a match through injury can ruin your bet, or make it less likely than before the sports event started.

You are only gambling on past form and stats to form the proposition.

They are not an automatic guide to what will happen in the future. It allows you to make an informed choice, but even this isn’t always right.

Do Your Homework To Get The Most Out Of Prop Bets

If you want some tips about prop betting, then research is the key.

You need to read up on the sports that interest you and become as knowledgeable as you possibly can.

Without putting in this legwork which informs your betting, you would just be trusting to luck or picking out a name you like or player you have heard of.

Smart bettors do their homework.

If you discover trends, stats and records that point to a certain prop bet, then that is evidence which suggests it may be worth putting a wager on.

Exotic prop bets can be very tempting with the bigger odds on offer, but it may be wiser to keep things simple.

The more propositions you put together, the greater the return but the higher the risk.

Requesting prop bets can be fun and very rewarding if you beat the bookies, but the odds will not be in your favor. A steadier approach to props can build profits slowly over time.

Keep your eye out for players going in and out form. Just because they have raised their game and done well against upcoming opposition in the past doesn’t mean they will deliver again.

Any time that bot current form and past stats support making a prop bet, then that’s when to place a wager.

Making Prop Bets For Profit

Prop bets give you the chance to take a very different approach to gambling on sports.

They switch the focus away from teams often towards individuals, or from the result to timings and totals. There are many different types of prop betting available – each sport tailoring markets to specific instances.

All top sportsbooks should offer you the chance to make propositions. You may even be able to request bets that include several together for the same sports event. Be careful not to be seduced by the accumulating odds of these.

Prop betting can really enhance your enjoyment of watching sport. It gives you individual players to focus on, or stats to count up as the event goes on.

While prop bets can be a path to potential profit for you, always remember to gamble responsibly.

Memorable names conjure up images of the biggest horse races, dominant performances, and memories of where you were watching.

Whatever incredible feats that the equine greats pulled off, narrowing it down to the 10 best or most famous racehorses is always a highly subjective and hotly debated topic.

With such storied history behind this sport going back centuries, it’s very hard comparing horses of different eras and from parts of the world.

Let’s not forget the greatest jockeys ever who piloted famous racehorses throughout their careers either. Context is everything in a list like this. How do you define greatness? Is a longer unbeaten streak better than earning millions in prize money?

We’ve taken those metrics – undefeated animals, career winnings, outstanding achievements and longevity – and come up with our top 10 all-time most famous racehorses. There may even be a few on the list you didn’t know about.

Without further ado, here’s a list of what we believe are the most famous racehorses of all time:

1. Secretariat

• Foaled: 1970
• Bred: USA
• Sex: Colt/Stallion
• Record: 21: 16-3-1
• Earnings: $1,316,808

Any list of famous racehorses wouldn’t be complete without the scintillating Secretariat. Nicknamed “Big Red”, he destroyed the US Triple Crown competition in 1973.

Time sectionals are very important in Flat horse racing and Secretariat set age or track records in each of the big three-year-old events in the USA. His 31 lengths winning margin in the Belmont Stakes is the largest in any Triple Crown event ever.

He was simply in a league of his own. There had been Triple Crown winners prior to him, but no horse before or since has delivered in such style.

Like Man o’ War before him, Secretariat was named Champion Juvenile Colt and Three-Year-Old in the USA. He was also American Horse of the Year in 1972 and 1973.

Winning the Marlboro Cup in then world record time made him just the thirteenth horse to earn over $1,000,000 in prize money in thoroughbred horse racing history.

We salute you, Secretariat.

2. Man o’ War

• Foaled: 1917
• Bred: USA
• Sex: Colt/Stallion
• Record: 21: 20-1-0
• Earnings: $249,465 (equivalent to almost $3,200,000 today)

It’s one of the great shames in this sport that Man o’ War wasn’t given the opportunity to go for the US Triple Crown by his owner.

An even greater bargain than Zenyatta at just $5,000, he won all but one of his 21 career races.

Man o’ War had as violent a temperament as the crews of the British Royal Navy warships had when ruling the waves that he was named after. He?is credited with revitalizing the sport in North America during the interwar period.

At stud, he had a remarkable and wide-reaching influence on thoroughbreds.

Man o’ War sired War Admiral – who did what his father wasn’t allowed to and won the Triple Crown – and Battleship (the only horse to win the American and English Grand Nationals over jumps).

3. Seattle Slew

• Foaled: 1974
• Bred: USA
• Sex: Colt/Stallion
• Record: 17: 14-2-0
• Earnings: $1,208,726

Until Justify came along in 2018, Seattle Slew was the only racehorse to win the US Triple Crown of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes without losing beforehand.

He was Champion Juvenile Colt, Three-Year-Old and Older Male Horse in consecutive years from 1976-78. Seattle Slew was also American Horse of the Year for 1977.

Battling back from a career and life-threatening illness, he returned to action and came within two-fifths of a second of breaking the world record in the Marlboro Cup.

The influence of Seattle Slew over North American horse racing continued in his career at stud. Subsequent Kentucky Derby winners California Chrome and Orb are descended from him.

Such was the popularity of Seattle Slew that racetracks became gripped with “Slewmania” when he ran. He really captured public imagination during a golden era for horse racing in the United States.

4. Winx

• Foaled: 2011
• Bred: Australia
• Sex: Filly/Mare
• Record: 43: 37-3-0
• Earnings: A$26,241,176

The phrase wonder-mare could have been coined for Winx.

She stands alone as the winner of the most highest-level races with 25 Grade/Group 1 successes, a world record.

She became just the third horse to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame whilst still in training in 2017, following in the hoofprints of Black Caviar.

Winx has the same sire, Street City, as Zenyatta, and earned more prize money than any Southern Hemisphere horse ever.

Her four consecutive wins in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley is a record.

Awarded the title of Australian Horse of the Year in four consecutive years (2015-16 to 2018-19), Winx was also Champion Middle Distance Racehorse in those seasons.

5. Kelso

• Foaled: 1957
• Bred: USA
• Sex: Gelding
• Record: 63: 39-12-2
• Earnings: $1,977,896

Kelso missed an US Triple Crown bid in 1960, but went on to true greatness.

He had surprising longevity for an American racehorse and beat more fellow Hall of Famers than any over twentieth century thoroughbred.

It’s rare for any horse to be named American Champion Three-Year-Old without running in those Triple Crown races, but this one managed that accolade.

A five-time winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park, Kelso is the most successful in the history of this Grade 1 feature in the fall.

He also earned American Racehorse of the Year honors for a record five consecutive years between 1960 and 1964. He was Champion Older Male Horse from 1961 to 1964 too.

6. Makybe Diva

• Foaled: 1999
• Bred: England
• Sex: Filly/Mare
• Record: 36: 15-4-3
• Earnings: A$14,526,685

Although bred in England, Makybe Diva was shipped to Australia as a yearling alongside her dam Tugela. She went on to achieve legendary status.

There’s a race that takes place Down Under attracting worldwide interest nicknamed “the race that stops a nation”. No horse has won the Melbourne Cup more than Makybe Diva (three times between 2004 and 2006).

Her record is far from flawless compared to some of the other famous racehorses on our list, but she delivered again and again when it mattered most at Flemington, which is one of the top horse racing tracks ever.

Makybe Diva completed the rare Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup double in 2005, becoming just the seventh horse in history to do it.

She was named Champion Australian Stayer three times (2004-06) and Australia Racehorse of the Year in 2005 and 2006.

7. Zenyatta

• Foaled: 2004
• Bred: USA
• Sex: Filly/Mare
• Record: 20: 19-1-0
• Earnings: $7,304,580

Once named the greatest filly of all-time by Sports Illustrated, Zenyatta was also a bargain when you consider she was bought for just $60,000 and quickly set about winning 19 of her 20 career starts.

Zenyatta landed back-to-back races at the Breeders’ Cup in 2008 and 2009, scoring in the Distaff (then known as the Ladies’ Classic) against fellow fillies and mares first.

Her triumph in open company in the Breeders’ Cup Classic itself pocketed her a first-place purse of $2,700,000.

A three-time American Champion Older Female Horse, Zenyatta was also awarded American Horse of the Year in 2010 and just failed by a short-head to retire unbeaten.

8. Hurricane Fly

• Foaled: 2004
• Bred: Ireland
• Sex: Gelding
• Record: 42: 26-5-4
• Earnings: ￡1,894,422

Our sole entrant from the British Isles, Irish National Hunt star Hurricane Fly was one of the best hurdlers ever seen across the Atlantic.

Originally trained in France on the Flat, it was only when he moved back to Ireland and joined the famous stable of Willie Mullins that he showed his true potential.

Hurricane Fly went on to win 22 Grade 1 hurdle races from 32 starts over the obstacles. That was a world record in this sport until another of our famous racehorses eclipsed him.

In 2013, he regained the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and was the first horse in 38 years to do so.

His five consecutive victories in the Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown (2011-15) is a record.

Hurricane Fly also holds the outright most wins in the Punchestown Champion Hurdle with four in succession (2010-13).

9. Black Caviar

• Foaled: 2006
• Bred: Australia
• Sex: Filly/Mare
• Record: 25: 25-0-0
• Earnings: $7,953,936

The first of a few entries from Down Under on our list, Black Caviar enjoyed an undefeated career as a sprinter spanning between 2009 and 2013.

She raced just once outside of her native Australia, at Royal Ascot – the UK’s premier Flat horse racing festival – and won the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

Black Caviar was crowned Australian Champion Sprinter and Racehorse of the Year in three consecutive years between 2011 and 2013.

In homage to her incredible record, she was also named European Champion Sprinter in 2012 despite just that one race in the Northern Hemisphere.

60 per cent of her career wins came at Group/Grade 1 level, including three in the Lightning Stakes which has since been renamed the Black Caviar Lightning in honor of her.

10. Kincsem

• Foaled: 1874
• Bred: Hungary (Austria-Hungary)
• Sex: Filly/Mare
• Record: 54: 54-0-0
• Earnings: 379,805 German Goldmark

Eastern Europe’s most famous racehorse had an undefeated career over four seasons between 1876 and 1879 in a world record streak of 54 runs.

Kincsem won races in seven modern day countries: Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, UK and France.

The height of her fame outside Eastern Europe came in 1878 when she won the Goodwood Cup, Grand Prix de Deauville and Grosser Preis von Baden in the space of a few weeks.

She won the latter a record three times. Only one other horse has matched her since.

After retiring from the track, Kincsem became an influential broodmare. Famous racehorses descended from her include Polygamy and Camelot – a dual Derby winner in the UK and Ireland and leading thoroughbred sire in his own right.

Most English-speaking countries and many other nations have iconic horse racing venues that make for a perfect outing with family and friends. What about the best racecourses in the world, though?

Just like the best jockeys, the top 10 horse racing tracks is a highly subjective debate. We have picked out racecourses from the UK, USA, Australia, Europe, and even the Middle and Far East.

Each horse race track on our list has a something special about them. Whether it’s storied history, lore or mystique, just mentioning these famous horse tracks conjures up memories of great sporting moments.

With the addition of an honorable mention, here are top 10 racecourses of all-time:

10. Santa Anita Park

• Location: Arcadia, Los Angeles County, California, USA
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1934
• Famous Races: American Oaks, Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Handicap

Any track that has hosted a record 10 Breeders’ Cup World Championships has to be among the best racecourses in the world.

That is what Santa Anita Park in California has done. Home to 13 Grade 1 Flat races annually, the sport here takes place against the stunning backdrop of the San Gabriel Mountains.

Complete with an art deco grandstand that has room for 26,000 fans, the horses race on dirt around a mile oval with a tighter turf course on the inside.

Many of the events run at Santa Anita have plenty of history behind them. The Santa Anita Derby and Handicap have been held here since 1935.

Other races, including The Gold Cup at Santa Anita and Shoemaker Mile, were inaugurated from the end of the interwar period too.

9. Epsom Downs

• Location: Epsom Downs, Epsom, Surrey, UK
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1661
• Famous Races: Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks, Coronation Cup

Epsom Downs in the southeast of England is the site of the premier British Classic, which also happens to be one of the biggest horse races in the world – and richest in the UK.

For the three-year-olds taking on the rigors of the Epsom Derby and Oaks, this is not only one of the most famous racecourses in the UK but the most unique.

The Epsom track twists and turns, including the famous bend at Tattenham Corner, while thoroughbreds hurtle downhill. Not all horses take to this test and can become unbalanced.

The undulations are even more demanding than at other British Classic horse racing venues Newmarket and Doncaster.

What also makes Epsom Downs one of the best racecourses in the world is the fact that the land around it is open to the public.

Most other tracks are entirely enclosed, so crowds can swell to over 100,000 on Derby day as horse racing fans flock to see equine sporting history made.

8. Flemington

• Location: Flemington, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1840
• Famous Races: Melbourne Cup, Black Caviar Lightning, LKS Mackinnon Stakes

If you head Down Under to watch horse racing, then it may well to be see the race that stops a nation. Australians treat Melbourne Cup day on the first Tuesday in November as a national holiday.

After all, it’s the richest handicap for Flat stayers in the world so it attracts a lot of global attention.

Flemington Racecourse is not a one trick pony, though. Built on Crown land by the banks of the Maribyrnong River, this pear-shaped track is simply the jewel in the Victoria Racing Club’s crown.

The Spring Carnival held across several horse racing venues in and around Melbourne during what is the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn is a real gala of equine excellence in Australia.

Besides Melbourne Cup day where the three grandstands on the “Straight Six” home stretch are packed with racegoers, Flemington hosts other Group 1 action in October, February and March.

Like Cheltenham, it even has its own railway line and station. There are 13 elite horse races run here in total.

7. Tokyo

• Location: Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1933
• Famous Races: Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), Tenno Sho (Autumn), Japan Cup

Any list of famous horse tracks has to include “The Racecourse of Racecourses” as Tokyo is known.

Complete with one of the largest video screens anywhere in the world, the Turf Vision, this venue is another undulating one. The home stretch is all uphill, with the dirt track inside the turf course.

More than 220,000 horse racing fans can pack into Tokyo Racecourse. They don’t do things by halves in Japan, with eight Grade 1 stakes races held at this track from February through until November.

As the home of the Japanese Derby and Oaks, and a leg of the Asian Mile Challenge, Tokyo is one of the premier racecourses in the Far East.

6. Saratoga

• Location: Saratoga Springs, Saratoga County, New York, USA
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1863
• Famous Races: Travers Stakes, Whitney Handicap

Saratoga Race Course is widely recognized as the one of the oldest sporting venues in America.

While it may not have Triple Crown events like fellow New York track Belmont Park or Pimlico in Baltimore, there are still 16 Grade 1 races throughout the year here.

The site of the only defeat for Man O’ War, other legendary American thoroughbreds and top racehorses have graced Saratoga down the decades.

With feature contests including the Travers Stakes and Whitney Handicap having implications for the Breeders’ Cup, this oval track of nine furlongs for dirt racing has a round mile turf course on the inside.

Saratoga is famed for its mineral springs, and you should listen out for the famous bell. This is rung 17 minutes before the off time of a race to summon jockeys into the paddock.

5. Aintree

• Location: Aintree, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1829
• Famous Races: Grand National, Liverpool Hurdle, Aintree Bowl

A shoe-in to be among the top 10 horse racing tracks, some of the fences jumped at Aintree near Liverpool in northwest England are so famous that they even have names!

Ever heard of Becher’s Brook, The Canal Turn or The Chair? These are unique obstacles covered with spruce which horses must clear in the world’s most famous steeplechase: the Grand National.

While equine stamina is stretched to its very limit in that race which has hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide every year, there is also the Mildmay course on the inside. This is tighter as a result and used for many other Grand National Festival events in April.

Aintree has horse racing events at key points in the National Hunt season: near the beginning in October, approaching halfway in December and towards the end.

It is a major achievement for any jockey to complete the Grand National course as it’s the ultimate test of horse and rider.

4. Meydan

• Location: Meydan City, Ras Al Khor, Dubai, UAE
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 2010
• Famous Races: Dubai World Cup, Dubai Gold Cup, Sheema Classic

This might be the youngest on our list of best racecourses in the world, but the mile-long grandstand gives 60,000 fans stunning views of horses in action at Meydan.

It has more than replaced Nad Al Sheba as the premier horse race track in the Middle East.

Everything here is geared around the Dubai World Cup Carnival during the Northern Hemisphere winter months. That culminates in Dubai World Cup night itself at the end of March.

No one card of horse racing events anywhere on Planet Earth is worth more prize money than this, so it attracts worldwide entries.

It may seem strange to have a turf track in the heart of the Arabian Desert, but Meydan caters for all. The dirt track is on the inside here.

Arabian purebreds also get their chance to compete at this venue, so horse racing is ingrained in the culture of this ultra-modern course.

3. Longchamp

• Location: Bois de Boulogne, Paris, France
• Orientation: Clockwise (right-handed)
• Opened: 1857
• Famous Races: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Prix du Cadran, Grand Prix de Paris

Sometimes called ParisLongchamp, the Hippodrome de Longchamp is the site of Europe’s richest horse race.

The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe run on the first Sunday in October has its own storied history dating back a century. Horse racing in Paris at Longchamp goes even further than that, however, to the time of the Second French Empire.

Over half of the Group 1 races in France are held at this track on the banks of the River Seine. Longchamp is most famous for its false home stretches. They always get horses racing far from the winning post, increasing the emphasis on equine stamina.

Arc weekend at Longchamp is a coming together of Europe’s top Flat thoroughbreds. Races take place here from spring right through until November, though.

Longchamp has had recent renovation to increase grandstand capacity, and sits head and shoulders above other Greater Paris tracks like Saint-Cloud, Chantilly and Auteuil.

2. Ascot

• Location: Ascot, Berkshire, Greater London, UK
• Orientation: Clockwise (right-handed)
• Open: 1711
• Famous Races: Royal Ascot, British Champions Day, Clarence House Chase

Dating back to the end of the Stuart period in England, the horse racing mad Queen Anne founded Ascot.

It has since developed into a global sporting phenomenon. Royal Ascot, where Flat thoroughbreds descend on this leafy corner of London’s commuter belt from all over the world to race in front of royalty, is the zenith of British equine activities.

That five-day festival in mid-June is a major social, as well as sporting occasion. Morning dress is compulsory in certain enclosures.

With Royal Ascot races including the Gold Cup, King’s Stand and St James’s Palace Stakes, the action comes thick and fast. There are millions of pounds in prize money doled out here.

Ascot has more to it than the royal meeting, though.

It is also home to British Champions Day in October which officially ends the Flat turf season in the UK. During the winter months, the focus switches to jumps action.

The stiff uphill finish from Swinley Bottom, the lowest point on the track, makes any race on the round course at Ascot tough.

1. Churchill Downs

• Location: Churchill Downs, Lexington, Kentucky, USA
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (left-handed)
• Opened: 1875
• Famous Races: Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, Clark Handicap

It just had to be Churchill Downs topping our list of the top 10 horse racing tracks anywhere on the planet. Wouldn’t you agree?

The most exciting two minutes in sports happen here in the Bluegrass State on the first Saturday in May when the Kentucky Derby is run. That is America’s most famous horse race by some way.

The first of three legs in the US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, Louisville grinds to a halt on Kentucky Derby day. Also called the race for the roses, it is broadcast worldwide and has horse racing fans glued to their screens.

Besides that, Churchill Downs has hosted nine editions of the Breeders’ Cup and seven Grade 1 events take place here each year.

Whether you like a mint julep or not, the Kentucky Derby makes an obvious case for this track being among the best racecourses in the world.

Churchill Downs is a mile dirt oval with a turf track on the inside, but it is known all around the globe as the place where the best horses run stateside.

Honorable Mention: Cheltenham

• Location: Prestbury Park, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK
• Orientation: Counter-clockwise (Left-handed)
• Opened: 1831
• Famous Races: Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase

The premier National Hunt festival takes place here in this natural amphitheater in the Cotswolds’ hills each March. All of Britain’s championship races over jumps, and 14 Grade 1s in total, take place here.

Prestbury Park has an undulating track that sees racehorses climb Cleeve Hill in its back stretch, then descend before a separate uphill finish.

It is a real test of stamina and even shorter distance jumps races require equine endurance to win. There is even a Cross Country course in the middle of the complex.

The Cheltenham Festival is huge in the UK with National Hunt owners and trainers planning the entire season around races that include the Champion Hurdle and Queen Mother Champion Chase.

As well as many novice events and competitive handicaps, the blue riband race – the Cheltenham Gold Cup – is one of two ultimate tests for steeplechasers.

If you’re planning on a trip to one of these incredible race courses, make sure you’re clued up on how to bet on a horse race before you go.

While this global crackdown is of course great for sports, it means that the classic art of the doping excuse is fading away.

We wanted to make sure we’ve got something to look back on of what may soon be a bygone era, so we’ve put together 10 of the worst (best?) excuses athletes have used to cover up their PED use:

1. Penis Pills – LaShawn Merritt (Track and Field)

American sprinter LaShawn Merritt emerged onto the athletics scene as a junior, setting youth world records and even helping the American 4x400m relay team win gold at the 2005 World Championships as an 18-year-old.

Over the next few years, his career would further explode as he collected more golds at World Championship events and the Olympics.

But more than just Merritt’s trophy case seemed to be expanding. In 2010 the increasingly-muscular sprinter was revealed to have failed?three drug tests?for the banned steroid dehydroepiandrosterone.

While his performance on the track was at an all-time high, apparently his performance in the bedroom was not, as Merritt claimed that the positive test results were from using the penis enlargement supplement ExtenZe.

He served a 21-month ban for his dysfunctional…label reading.

2. Double Chin Treatment – Shane Warne (Cricket)

Aussie Shane Warne is one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. One of Wisden’s five Cricketers of the Century, “Warnie” is particularly renowned for his leg spin and ability to turn the ball considerably on absolutely any pitch.

What he isn’t particularly known for is his good looks, something apparently even his mother agreed on.

A day before the 2003 Cricket World Cup, Warne was sent home from the squad after testing positive for a prohibited diuretic.

What he claimed to have taken was the pharmaceutical Moduretic, allegedly given to him by his own mother to improve his appearance and?“get rid of a double chin”.

Because he admitted to his absent-mindedness (and not-so-good looks), Warne’s suspension from the sport was reduced from the usual two years to just one.

3. Too Much Sex – Dennis Mitchell (Track and Field)

By the time he was 30, sprinter Dennis Mitchell had accomplished more than most athletes in the sport even wish for.

With an NCAA Championship, world record, and gold medals at the World Championships and Olympics to his name, the American seemingly slacked off on abiding by the anti-doping policies in his sport and in 1998 tested positive for high testosterone levels.

But if you believe his story, what really happened is that the night before the test, he had enjoyed “five bottles of beer and sex?with his wife at least four times” because “it was her birthday [and] the lady deserved a treat.”

The best part about this excuse is that USA Track and Field accepted it. However, the IAAF did not, and he was banned retroactively for two years.

4. Addicted To Eating Veal – Petr Korda (Tennis)

Once ranked number two in the world, Petr Korda is a name forgotten by casual fans of the sport since his suspension and subsequent retirement.

The Czech lefty’s excuse for?getting popped?in 1998 for the steroid nandrolone is perhaps just as bad as how the case was handled.

Korda claimed that his love for veal, especially veal injected with steroids, was the reason for his hot test. That excuse didn’t hold water, as it was proven that he would have had to eat 40 calves every day for 20 years to match the amount of steroids in his system.

To the outrage of players and fans alike, the ITF only stripped Korda of his results and prize money from that year’s Wimbledon.

After a long court kerfuffle in which the ITF tried to appeal their own decision in order to dish out a harsher one, Korda was eventually banned for 12 months from the tour but still maintains his innocence (and presumably his love for veal) to this day.

5. Contaminated Piegon Pie – Adri van der Poel (Cycling)

The 1980s were the Wild Wild West for doping, and you had to be pretty obvious about what you were doing to get caught by the limited testing technology there was.

And in that era of blatant usage came perhaps the most blatantly-pseudo excuses, as in the case of famed Dutch cyclist Adri van der Poel.

In 1983, van der Poel tested positive for strychnine, one of the earliest popular performance enhancers. Apparently not just popular with human athletes, it was also the drug of choice for Adri’s father-in-law’s racing pigeons.

Since there was no drug testing in pigeon racing at the time, van der Poel claimed he ate some of his?father-in-law’s pigeon pie?which ultimately resulted in the positive test.

6. Cocaine Is Actually An S.T.D. – Shawn Barber (Track and Field)

Shawn Barber was an Olympic hopeful from Canada, looking to represent his country on the biggest stage. To do so, he had to get through the Olympic Trials, held in Edmonton in 2016.

Clearly feeling the pressure in the run-up to the event, Barber posted an ad on Craigslist, looking for a casual encounter – we’ll let you decode exactly what that means.

Barber got his wish, but things turned ugly when he failed a drugs test at the Trials.

He tested positive for cocaine, but he had an excuse ready and waiting: it had been transferred to him during his night of passion, as the woman had apparently racked up a few lines before they met.

The most amazing thing about the whole scenario? He only lost the Canadian pole vault title and wasn’t sanctioned in any other way, as the cocaine in his system was not deemed to have given him an advantage.

This meant he was free to go on and compete in Rio, where he finished 10^th.

7. It Was The Ghosts – Jeremy Kerley (NFL)

Do you believe in ghosts? Jeremy Kerley certainly does, or at least he claimed to, in an attempt to squirm his way out of a failed drugs test.

At the time, Kerley was a wide receiver with the New York Jets and on November 6, 2017, he received a four-game suspension for doping violations.

Most would have used an excuse that was even slightly plausible, but not Jeremy. Instead, he claimed that there were lots of ghosts around, so it must have been one of those that caused the positive test.

Somehow Kerley’s excuse didn’t persuade the authorities, and he was forced to serve his ban. He said he was going to get to the bottom of what had happened, but never did manage to prove his ghost theory.

He was released by the Jets shortly after and would play just one more season in the NFL, with the Buffalo Bills.

8. Victim Of A Fake Site – Melky Cabrera (MLB)

While playing for the San Francisco Giants in 2012, outfielder Melky Cabrera failed a test for performance-enhancing drugs.

Instead of accepting his punishment, Cabrera decided he wasn’t going down without a fight, and concocted one of the most elaborate excuses ever given by an athlete for a failed test.

After testing positive, Cabrera paid $10,000 to someone in order for them to create a fake website, which sold fake products.

I mean, you have to salute this guy for his efforts.

He then protested his innocence, claiming that he’d bought and used a fake product from the site and that was the reason for the banned substance being detected. Quite simply, as he told it, he was the victim of a scam.

He was the scammer though, as both Major League Baseball and the FBI traced the site back to him, and he had to endure a 50-game suspension.

9. Shared A Glass With His Wife – Mariano Puerta (Tennis)

Mariano Puerta’s career highlight was reaching the French Open final in 2005, where he would lose to Rafael Nadal. The drama wasn’t only played out on the clay though, as he was found guilty of doping following the match.

Puerta’s excuse was that he accidentally ingested the substance after drinking from the same glass as his wife, who’d been taking meds for menstrual pain.

Puerta received a record eight-year ban, partly because he’d already been caught doping once before. His ban was eventually changed to two years though, after the ITF declared that there wasn’t enough of the substance present in order to have made a difference to his performance.

10. Set Up By The Mafia – Javier Sotomayor (Track and Field)

Javier Sotomayor was known for being the best high jumper in the world throughout most of the 1990s. He scooped a gold in the event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and he remains the only high jumper to have ever cleared a height of eight feet.

There was controversy in 1999 though, when he tested positive for cocaine at the Pan American Games.

What makes this case so interesting is the fact that it wasn’t only Sotomayor making excuses and denying ever taking the illegal drug. Cuban president Fidel Castro got involved too, by blaming the Cuban-American Mafia for setting him up.

Despite his presidential backing, the IAAF handed him a two-year ban, although this was later decreased to just one year. Sotomayor would eventually retire in 2001, after failing another drugs test.

Excuses, Excuses

As things are clamping down, it really is a shame the art of the doping excuse will die alongside it – we’re going to miss them for their entertainment value.

If you enjoyed this, you should check out our list of 10 sports stars who cheated or maybe you’d enjoy the story of scammer Ron Harris and his accomplices, who got busted after cheating at keno.

Amazingly though, of the thousands of men who have stepped onto the field, only a small handful have ever come out as gay.

What’s more, all the openly gay NFL players haven’t felt comfortable to come out while playing, and instead many took the step once their playing careers were over, which shows the stigma still surrounding gay footballers.

Though their numbers may be few, these men have been trail blazers not just for LGBTQ+ sports stars but for regular people around the globe too.

Here’s a list of 10 openly gay NFL players:

1. Dave Kopay

Dave Kopay played professional football from 1964 until 1972. Throughout his career, he played for five teams: the 49ers, Lions, Redskins, Saints and Packers.

He would come out in 1975, making him one of the first professional sportspeople to do so.

In 1977, he co-authored The Dave Kopay Story, which was a massive hit. He is now an ambassador for the Federation of Gay Games and runs his family’s business in California.

2. Michael Sam

Michael Sam is the only person on this list who didn’t play a single game in the NFL.

He is an important figure though, as in 2014, he was the first openly gay NFL player to be drafted. He went to the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round. He would also be a part of the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, before moving to the CFL.

In 2014, Sam was the recipient of the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards. He decided to retire in 2015 though, citing concerns over his mental health.

3. Jeff Rohrer

Jeff Rohrer is a former linebacker who spent his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys.

He was drafted in 1982 and earned a reputation for being an outspoken member of the team. He was released in 1989, as the Cowboys looked to craft a younger team.

Rohrer did not publicly come out until 2018, shortly before he married Joshua Ross.

By marrying Ross, he became the first openly gay NFL player to enter a same-sex marriage – something that has not been seen again since.

4. Ryan O’Callaghan

In 2006, Ryan O’Callaghan was an offensive tackle drafted in the fifth round by the New England Patriots, where he stayed until 2008.

He would then head to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played 23 games before leaving the NFL in 2011.

His story is one that shows the pain often suffered by those unable to come out, as he went as far as writing a suicide note, before thankfully instead deciding to seek help from a psychologist working with the Chiefs.

He would then go on to tell his family, teammates and the general public about his sexuality.

5. Kwame Harris

When he was young, Kwame Harris confided to his parents that he was attracted to other boys.

Sadly, he didn’t receive the support he needed, which caused him to choose to go to college at Stanford, across the country from his family. After being successful in college, he was drafted by the 49ers in 2003.

Harris would go on to play 86 NFL games from 2003 until 2008, for both the 49ers and the Raiders.

He came out to the public in 2013, when he was convicted of domestic battery, committed against his ex-boyfriend.

6. Esera Tuaolo

Esera Tuaolo was drafted in 1991 by the Green Bay Packers, however he played the majority of his games for the Minnesota Vikings.

His career highlight was playing in Super Bowl XXXIII with the Falcons, who were beaten by the Broncos.

In 2002, Tuaolo came out publicly, becoming only the third NFL player to do so.

Since coming out, he has become a board member at the Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation, plus he created an organization called Hate in Any Form is Wrong, which campaigns against homophobia.

7. Jerry Smith

Jerry Smith spent his entire career in the NFL as a tight end for the Washington Redskins. He played a total of 168 games for the franchise and was twice selected for the Pro Bowl, plus he was a First Team All-Pro in 1969. He retired from playing in 1977, aged 34.

Controversially, he has never been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

After retiring, he moved to Texas, where he opened a gay bar. Despite this business venture, he never came out publicly as gay. He sadly died due to an AIDS-related illness in 1986.

8. Ray McDonald

In 1967, Ray McDonald was the 13^th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft, picked by the Washington Redskins. Sadly, however, McDonald’s career was cut short in 1968, as he was forced to retire due to an injury.

In total, he played 13 times for the Redskins, scoring four touchdowns, three of which came in one game.

McDonald didn’t come out during his career, though he was the subject of many rumors. After retiring, McDonald turned to teaching music to junior high schoolchildren.

In 1993, he died due to complications arising from AIDS, aged 48.

9. Ryan Russell

Ryan Russell is a defensive end who is currently a free agent. After playing football at Purdue, he went on to be drafted by Dallas, before then heading to the Buccaneers.

After this, he was a part of the Bills’ practice squad. In total, he has played 23 games in the NFL.

Russell came out as bisexual in an essay written for ESPN in 2019. He now has a YouTube channel with boyfriend Corey O’Brien, which has over 15,000 followers.

10. Roy Simmons

Roy Simmons had an NFL career that lasted for four years. He was a guard for the New York Giants, before moving to the Washington Redskins.

Simmons would later admit to having substance abuse problems as he struggled to keep his sexuality a secret. He came out in 1992 and became the first NFL player to announce he had HIV in 2003.

He died in 2014, and the year after was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

If you’re an NFL fan and want to know more, check out our blogs of vegan NFL players and the heaviest NFL players.

Sources:
https://www.outsports.com/2019/9/5/20850457/nfl-history-gay-bi-players
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_in_American_football
https://www.out.com/26-Football-Players-Who-Came-Out/

One metric for ranking famous horse jockeys is the prize money they rake in. You can also look at quality and quantity of horse races won.

There’s also career longevity to consider, international success in big events and striking up memorable partnerships with famous racehorses too. Comparing jockeys from different eras and places, and with different riding styles is always difficult.

We thought we’d have a go anyway. With honorable mentions for Eddie Arcaro, Javier Castellano, Pat Day and Chris McCarron, this is our list of the top 10 jockeys of all-time.

10. Ruby Walsh

• Born: 05/14/1979
• Country: Republic of Ireland
• Career Wins: 2,770+
• Grade/Group 1 Wins: 213
• Earnings: €24,000,000+

A 12-time Irish champion jumps jockey, Ruby Walsh retired from the saddle in 2019 as the rider with the most wins in Cheltenham Festival history.

Thanks to 59 race victories at the premier event of British Isles National Hunt horse racing, he was also top jockey at the Festival 11 times.

Walsh is best known for long associations with champion trainers Paul Nicholls in the UK and Willie Mullins in Ireland.

His memorable race partnerships include Hurricane Fly and Kauto Star. These horses regained the Champion Hurdle and Cheltenham Gold Cup respectively to rapturous ovations.

Ruby partnered two Grand National winners – Papillon for his father Ted Walsh in 2000 on his first-ever ride over the Aintree fences, and Hedgehunter for Mullins in 2005.

9. Russell Baze

• Born: 08/07/1958
• Country: Canada
• Career Wins: 12,842
• Earnings: $199,334,219

Russell Baze may not be as high-profile as others on our list of famous jockeys, but there isn’t a professional horse rider who can claim to have won more races.

He has almost 13,000 winning rides at an almost 25 percent strike rate.

Nearly one in ever four of the racehorses Baze has sat on in his career, he has partnered to victory.

It’s an incredible achievement and, while there aren’t any major wins in US Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup races on his CV, he is well worth his place on this list.

Born in Canada to an American family, Baze is a 10-time American champion jockey by most winners. Lost in the Fog, the US champion sprinter from 2005, is perhaps his most famous equine partner.

8. Sir Tony McCoy

• Born: 05/04/1975
• Country: Republic of Ireland
• Career Wins: 4,358
• Grade/Group 1 Wins: 105
• Earnings: ￡40,000,000+

As a record 20-time British champion jumps jockey in consecutive years, McCoy’s desire and will to win was unparalleled.

He set a new record for most National Hunt winners in a single season in the UK in 2001-02. McCoy steered 289 rides past the post first in that memorable campaign.

Best known for his association with trainer Martin Pipe, he became retained rider to leading Irish owner JP McManus. That supplied McCoy with a raft of big rides, but he still went for quantity over quality.

No jumps jockey in British horse racing history has ridden more winners than this man. McCoy’s most famous equine partnerships include Brave Inca, Binocular and 2010 Grand National winner Don’t Push It.

7. Laffit Pincay, Jr

• Born: 12/29/1946
• Country: Panama
• Career Wins: 9,530
• Breeders’ Cup Wins: 7
• Earnings: $237,120,625

Second on America’s all-time list of winning most jockeys is Laffit Pincay, Jr.

A seven-time champion jockey stateside in terms of prize money, he dominated the sport in the early 1970s and rode the most winners in 1971.

Pincay Jr. partnered Affirmed to US Triple Crown glory in 1978. A sure-fire Hall of Famer, he started riding in his native Panama before making it big in America.

An incredible mark of 9.530 career wins saw Pincay Jr. retire then as the most successful jockey ever in terms of winners. Only Baze has surpassed him since, so he just had to be included in this list that puts forward names for the best horse jockey ever.

6. Frankie Dettori

• Born: 12/15/1970
• Country: Italy
• Career Wins: 3,000+
• Grade/Group 1 Wins: Over 250
• Earnings: ￡155,000,000+

Frankie is best known for his flying dismounts and 20-year association with powerful worldwide thoroughbred racehorse operation Godolphin. He was retained rider to Sheikh Mohammed for a golden period.

Dettori has pretty much done it all in a career that continues to this day. For that reason, he has to be in the conversation for best horse jockey ever.

Nobody has ridden more winners of France’s most famous race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, than Frankie with six.

His partnerships with Stradivarius, Enable, Golden Horn, Authorized, Shamardal, Singspiel and a whole host of other Flat luminaries in Europe and beyond ensure Dettori’s place among famous jockeys.  

Frankie has even been UK champion Flat jockey three times.

5. Mike E. Smith

• Born: 08/10/1965
• Country: USA
• Career Wins: 5,559
• Breeders’ Cup Wins: 26
• Earnings: $328,329,509

Proof, as if it were needed, that age is no barrier to success is embodied by Mike Smith. At the age of 52, he partnered with Justify to claim the US Triple Crown in 2018.

It was the highlight of his career despite being towards the end of it.

Smith is synonymous with success at the Breeders’ Cup too, winning 26 races at the premier Flat thoroughbred meeting in America.

Arrogate, who has won some of the richest races staged in the world, is another of Smith’s high-profile equine partners in a career that began in 1982.

He has also set a new record for most American Grade 1 successes in the saddle, surpassing honorable mention Jerry Bailey, at the end of 2019.

4. Sir Gordon Richards

• Born: 05/05/1904
• Died: 11/10/1986
• Country: UK
• Career Wins: 4,870
• British Classic Wins: 14

Any list of famous horse jockeys needs to have a 26-time champion on it. That’s what Sir Gordon Richards managed during a glittering career in the saddle.

While he wasn’t as prolific in the British Classics as some of the other UK based jockeys on our list, Richards set a record that may never be broken.

Longevity and sustained success are both boxes firmly checked in this case.

Richards became a fine racehorse trainer after retiring from riding and son Nicky still has stables at Penrith on the edge of Lake District.

Sun Chariot, a rare winner of the UK Fillies’ Triple Crown, and Tudor Minstrel are perhaps Richards’ most famous equine partnerships from the 1940s.

3. John R. Velazquez

• Born: 11/24/1971
• Country: Puerto Rico
• Career Wins: 6,165
• Breeders’ Cup Wins: 16
• Earnings: $415,609,389

No jockey on planet earth can claim to have bagged more prize money than John Velazquez.

The Puerto Rico native has in excess of $415,000,000 in career earnings and counting.

With well over 6,000 winning rides, Velazquez is still seeking the career Triple Crown in the USA.

Just glory in the Preakness Stakes eludes him with two wins apiece in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes. Velazquez has topped the prize money charts twice in America and remains consistent as ever.

Kitten’s Joy and Scat Daddy, who have both become huge influences on thoroughbred breeding as sires of great racehorses since going to stud, are among his most famous equine partners. ?

2. Lester Piggott

• Born: 11/05/1935
• Country: UK
• Career Wins: 4,493
• British Classic Wins: 30
• Earnings: N/A

And now we come to “The Long Fellow”.

Lester Piggott takes the second spot in our list of famous horse jockeys, because he not only had longevity, sustained success at the top in the UK and Ireland but international success too.

Piggott’s way of riding racehorses has been imitated ever since.

With 30 British Classics under his belt, including the UK Triple Crown of 2,000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and St Leger with Nijinsky in 1970, he partnered many of the best Flat thoroughbreds in Europe over four decades.

An 11-time UK champion Flat jockey, Piggott even has the British horse racing awards – the Lesters – named after him. And with nine wins, he is the most successful rider in Epsom Derby history.

Piggott also holds the record for most victories in the Ascot Gold Cup (11), Dewhurst Stakes (10), July Cup (10), Coronation Cup (nine) and many other Group 1 races.

1. Bill Shoemaker

• Born: 08/10/1931
• Died: 10/12/2003
• Country: USA
• Career Wins: 8,883
• Earnings: $123,375,524 (jockey), $3,700,000+ (trainer)

Quite possibly the best horse jockey ever though, is Bill Shoemaker.

He rode 11 US Triple Crown winners, but never captured all three prizes in the same season.

Although he is only third on the all-time list of winning most American Flat jockeys, Shoemaker had a career strike rate over 21 percent.

In other words, about one in every five horses he ever rode won their races.

He topped the earnings table 10 times in his career in the saddle, holds a deserved place in National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and was champion US jockey five times in the 1950s.

Shoemaker went on to earn more than treble what he made riding as a racehorse trainer once he retired after 41 years of being a jockey.

He is truly one of the all-time greats.

Sources:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/237677/omaha-beach-wins-malibu-under-record-setting-smith https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gordon-Richards https://www.skysports.com/racing/news/12426/9818547/ap-mccoys-career-in-numbers-we-compile-the-jockeys-achievements-ahead-of-retirement https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/horse-racing/ruby-walshs-net-worth-career-14090629

As we celebrate Pride globally this month, we wanted to look at 10 amazing LGBTQ athletes who have really pushed the agenda and attempted to make the world of sports a more welcoming place for all.

1. Renée Richards – Tennis

Dr. Renée Richards isn’t the most famous name on this list, however she was a trailblazer.

Over 40 years ago, she won a court battle to play in the 1977 US Open as a woman following gender reassignment surgery. The following year, she reached the final of the US Open women’s doubles tournament.

Richards would then go on to become a spokesperson for transgender sportspeople, plus she’d eventually coach tennis great Martina Navratilova, who’ll you’ll find further down this list.

2. Megan Rapinoe – Soccer

Megan Rapinoe is the current captain of the US national team, as well as the winner of both the Golden Ball and Golden Boot awards at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup – a tournament she won along with her team.

Rapinoe works alongside a number of LGBTQ organizations and has been awarded a place on the board of directors at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

She is also a spokesperson for Athlete Ally, which aims to stop homophobia and transphobia in the sporting world.

3. Ian Thorpe – Swimming

Australian Ian Thorpe – known by many as the “Thorpedo” – is one of the most successful swimmers of all time.

He has won five Olympic gold medals, which is the highest number won by any Australian athlete. He has also won 11 gold medals at the World Championships.

Thorpe came out in 2004 on a UK TV show.

In 2017, he was a high-profile supporter of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, campaigning in support of same-sex marriage to be legalized in Australia – something that happened that same year.

4. Justin Fashanu – Soccer

Justin Fashanu was the first British pro soccer player to come out as gay, which he did back in 1990 via an interview with the UK tabloid The Sun.

Eight years later, Fashanu tragically took his own life following allegations of sexual assault made by a teenager in the US.

Despite the tragic end to his story, Fashanu became a symbol for the struggle for acceptance by LGBTQ players and supporters.

5. Billie Jean King – Tennis

Billie Jean King is a tennis icon, having won an unbelievable 39 Grand Slam titles.

She was, and still is, a great advocate for the LGBTQ community, as well as someone who pushed the subject of gender equality.

King is a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

She has been outspoken recently on the homophobic and transphobic comments made by Margaret Court and thinks that the Margaret Court Arena – one of the courts used at the Australian Open – should be renamed.

6. Brian Boitano – Figure Skating

Brian Boitano was a huge name in sports during the 1980s and early 1990s, and the pinnacle of his career came when he won gold at the 1988 Olympics in Lillehammer.

He also won the World Championships twice and the US National Championships four times.

Boitano did not come out as gay while competing.

Instead, he revealed his sexuality in 2013, when he was appointed to the US delegation at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

He said that until then he had never wanted to come out.

7. Tom Daley – Diving

Tom Daley is an English diver, with two World Championship medals.

The first of these medals came when he was just 15. He is also the youngest diver to ever compete in an Olympic final.

Daley came out as bisexual in 2013 via his YouTube channel, declaring he’d been in a relationship with his partner Dustin Lance Back since earlier in the year. They married in 2017.

He has been active in campaigning against anti-gay laws in Commonwealth countries and is also a patron of LGBT+ charity Switchboard (UK).

8. Orlando Cruz – Boxing

Boxing could arguably be seen as the most macho of sports, which makes Orlando Cruz even more remarkable.

The Puerto Rican came out as gay in 2012, while still an active boxer, and went on to challenge for the WBO Featherweight title in 2013 and the WBO Lightweight title in 2016, losing both bouts.

In 2013, Cruz married his partner in Central Park – the same year he was one of the first class inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2018, he was also Grand Marshall for the Chicago Pride Parade.

9. Michael Sam – NFL

Michael Sam is a former defensive end, who was drafted in 2014 by the St. Louis Rams.

When Sam was drafted, he became the first publicly gay player ever in the NFL, having come out a few months beforehand.

Unfortunately, Sam’s career wasn’t a long one.

After being cut from the Rams, he was picked up by the Dallas Cowboys, however never made it past their practice squad.

He would then go on to spend a year in the CFL. He retired in 2015 due to mental health reasons and is now a motivational speaker and author.

10. Martina Navratilova – Tennis

Finally, we come to Martina Navratilova, who is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

She won an unbelievable 59 Grand Slam titles, including 18 in singles competition, and spent 332 weeks as the world’s number one female tennis player.

Navratilova is now known as an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights.

She has previously spoken at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation. Navratilova also supports animal rights and humanitarian causes.

There are obviously a ton more amazing sports stars we would have loved to include! If you enjoyed reading this why not check out our other similar posts, like 10 sports stars who meditate or 10 sports stars who cheated.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_sportspeople
https://www.thesportster.com/entertainment/top-15-famous-transgender-athletes/
https://www.insider.com/professional-athletes-who-are-lgbtq

Casino.org caught up with the super star to ask him a few questions about esports, how he stays on top form, and what he thinks the future holds for virtual F1 games.

Did you always plan to work in either motorsport or gaming?

Not at all. I never really knew what I wanted to do as a job when I was younger.

I’ve always been interested in both motorsport and gaming but there certainly wasn’t a strict plan to get into either industry for a living.

When you set up your YouTube channel nearly 10 years ago, did you expect it to do so well?

I only set up the channel as somewhere I could watch back some decent races I was having online. I never really expected any sort of viewership at all in the beginning.

Even after a few years of growth, I still never thought I’d be able to do it full time. It’s only been in the last few years where I’ve genuinely thought the potential was there and, eventually in 2018, I went full time with it.

Are there certain training techniques or diets you have to undertake to stay on top of your game?

I don’t personally train or diet specifically for gaming at all. I’m sure that the very best esports players on any given game will be training many hours every day.

The best way to train is to surround yourself with good (better) players. Talk to them, ask advice, practice with them.

How have esports changed your life?

Esports has given me a great opportunity to travel the world, meet likeminded players who enjoy the same games and competing against these guys on the highest level has been a great learning experience.

More recently, being involved with the FRC and GT World Tour as a media personality has helped to boost my profile within the scene.

How do you prepare for races? How do you think preparing for virtual racing differs to the real thing?

The main thing is to go into each knowing what you’re doing!

You need to practice race strategy: improving your laptime, managing your tyres, managing your fuel. All of these factors need to be practiced so that you feel totally comfortable going into the race.

If you have doubts or question marks going into a race, it’ll affect your performance negatively.

The main difference would have to be the physical aspect. Real racing is very taxing on the body whereas simulation racing has almost no physicality to it (although endurance races can get tiring).

I’d say that the mental aspect of sim racing and real racing is actually quite similar for the most part but I would say I actually feel more nervous in sim racing. It largely depends on what pressures are put upon you in the race, though.

Do you compete in any other esports?

I wish I had the time (and skill) to do so!

I prefer though to play other games for fun and not have the stress of having to compete and improve.

What trends have you seen since the cancellation of major sporting events?

A lot of real series have been creating virtual series to keep interest up and to provide entertainment given the downturn in real-life entertainment.

More people are staying at home given the lockdown and more hours are being spent consuming online content. This is therefore a good time for content creators to make more content.

Have you noticed an increase in followers since lockdown? Any who weren’t esports fans before?

Views, yes. Followers, not really.

I have fans who aren’t esports fans per se but that was true before the lockdown. It’s hard to know whether the lockdown is getting new people into esports.

Do you have ambitions to take part in the Virtual F1 series?

I’d love to take part but it’s up to the organisers to choose me.

Do you believe that Virtual F1 and other games can really take off now – even when other sports return?

They can for sure but, at the same time, we must be careful not to do too much and make people bored of it!

I still think virtual racing has a long way to go until it is truly mainstream.

When ‘normal’ sports return, I can see the numbers stabilising as they were but who knows? Time will tell.

What are the most common misconceptions you find people have about esports?

The main one would be that it doesn’t take skill or dedication.

Just like any real world sport team, the players in esports have to practice a ridiculous number of hours. Perhaps even more than what a real world player would practice for football, for example.

The fact that you sit down when you play, doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t take skill. The skill comes from mental agility and not making mistakes.

Playing chess takes skill. Video gaming at a high level is just a faster version of chess.

The next would be that many question why anyone would want to watch esports. Video games in general is a massive industry and there are countless millions of players.

Most of these people are interested in seeing who is the very best in the world at any given game, and so the market for esports competitions is huge.

Are there any other esports gamers waiting in the wings to take part? Or any you’d like to see?

Judging by the comments I receive on my YouTube videos, there are a lot of people who want to get into competitive online racing.

Competing at a high level gives players something more to aspire to compared to just racing for fun.

I’d like to see Lewis Hamilton get involved with some of the virtual racing. He is usually quite elusive when it comes to this sort of thing! It would be great to see the 6-time world champion get involved.

Virtual F1 is taking part on weekends to match when real Grands Prix would’ve taken place. Is there a particular race coming up that you are most excited about?

Maybe the Monaco GP.

It’s usually a procession in reality but virtual races around there are often an absolute mess to put it mildly. That’s exciting to watch!

How great is it for esports that this Virtual F1 series is getting coverage on major channels such as Sky Sports? Especially when there are virtually no other sports to watch. Surely eSports is now attracting new types of viewers now to give people their “sporting fix”?

It’s great to get a lot of attention onto the racing game genre.

Any person that watches it is a potential new regular viewer and, the more viewers there are, the quicker the industry will grow.

I’m sure on the flipside though that many people just want to see the real thing, and that’s fine too. I personally don’t see esports as a direct replacement for the real life equivalent.

I’ve been watching the virtual F1 to see how celebrities compete against each other rather than seeing it as a direct replacement for Formula One.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to Casino.org!

You can keep up to date with Steve’s latest news on any of his social channels:
YouTube:?https://www.youtube.com/user/xSUPERxGTx/featured
Twitter:?https://twitter.com/F4HSuperGT
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Just about three percent of all thoroughbred racehorses are grey.

Like their more common bay and chestnut counterparts, they are born with darker skin but their coats soon become dappled, then grey and eventually white.

Where Grey Horses Are Thought To Have Come From

Equine bloodstock and genetic historians believe that the gene that makes grey horses was introduced into the western world when Arabian stallions were brought to Europe for thoroughbred breeding purposes in the early eighteenth century.

One sire in particular, Alcock’s Arabian, has been traced as their origin from about 1720. Genetics also tell us that at least one parent in a racehorse’s pedigree must be grey in order to pass the trait on.

Grey Horses Have Higher Risk Of Developing Illness

There is also a cautionary tale about breeding greys.

From the age of 10 onwards they are genetically more likely to develop tumours on their skin, called melanomas, due to a biochemical link between coat colour and this illness.

This led some influential people in the bloodstock world to believe that grey horses are diseased – a prevailing attitude which only began to change when famous racehorses of this colour emerged.

Research continues into drugs that block malignant melanomas, though many tumours are thankfully benign.

The Lamb – a Grand National Pioneer

It follows that if so few of the thoroughbred population are grey horses, then it is little wonder only three have won the world’s most famous steeplechase race – the Grand National at Aintree.

From their introduction into the equine gene pool in the early Georgian period, we jump ahead about 150 years to the end of 1860s and the Victorian era. William Henry Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett, loved his racehorses.

He owned a curiously-named horse called The Lamb, who won the Grand National twice and four seasons apart in 1868 and 1871.

What seems strange looking back on that now is Poulett’s horse was fancied on both occasions despite no grey horses having won the race previously.

When The Lamb first landed Grand National glory aged six (he would not be eligible to run in it at that point his career today), only six finished and 21 ran.

His second success saw twice as many finishers from a 25-runner field and he was sent off about half the starting price of that previous victory.

Nicolaus Silver and Neptune Collonges Also on Honour Roll

Leaping forward almost another century and we come to Nicolaus Silver.

An Irish import into the yard of powerful trainer Fred Rimmell after his original handler Dan Kirwan died in 1960, he honoured the memory of present and previous connections by winning the Grand National the following year.

Sent off at 28/1, Nicolaus Silver raced carrying a relatively light weight of just 10st 1lb and scored by five lengths. This ended a 90-year wait for grey horses in the Grand National and it wouldn’t be quite so long before it happened again.

Neptune Collonges was unfortunate in that he shared the same era as modern British National Hunt icons Kauto Star and Denman. He hailed from the same stables too, trained by Paul Nicholls during a golden period.

Bred in and brought from France by owner John Hales who is no stranger to having grey horses, Neptune Collonges was the third in a 1-2-3 for Nicholls in the 2008 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He would have his moment in the sun in the 2012 Grand National, however, and go out on a high.

Some 51 years after Nicolaus Silver, 33/1 shot Neptune Collonges got up on the line to score by a nose and just overhaul Sunnyhillboy – a horse he was giving 15lb in weight to.

Native Dancer – Legacy of the “Gray Ghost” of 1950s America

Given just three grey racehorses have won the Grand National in its illustrious history, first officially dating back to 1839, the world-famous horse race hasn’t contributed much at all to their public popularity.

The answer to their enduring appeal can be found in thoroughbreds on either side of the Atlantic.

No equine athlete has done more to change perceptions of grey horses both on the track and at stud than Native Dancer.

He was a real force stateside in the early 1950s and twice voted American Horse of the Year.

Native Dancer suffered just one defeat in 22 career races, finishing a head runner-up in the Kentucky Derby but went on to win the other two US Triple Crown legs.

Greatest Of Grey Horses At Stud

Nicknamed the “Gray Ghost” in line with the American spelling of grey, he went on to be hugely influential on breeding.

As the grandsire of Northern Dancer, Native Dancer’s progeny from subsequent generations includes English Triple Crown hero Nijinsky, Sadler’s Wells and Galileo.

All of these horses have been overarching influence as sires of many top British and Irish Flat thoroughbreds. A plethora of racehorses over the last 60 years can trace their lineage back to Native Dancer.

They include the American Horse of the Year for 1986, Lady’s Secret who had him on the distaff side of her pedigree and was by the mighty Secretariat.

This grey filly was absolutely bred in the purple and, although small in size and light in stature, she was a prolific winner of valuable handicaps on the track.

Native Dancer’s exploits coincided with the first televised coverage of horse racing in America which admittedly was in black and white.

By the era of Spectacular Bid and Lady’s Secret, grey horses were easily identifiable as broadcast pictures came into people’s homes in glorious technicolour.

Desert Orchid – Popularity Personified

No grey racehorses anywhere in the world can hold a candle to Desert Orchid in terms of popularity, though.

Foaled in rural Leicestershire in England and trained by David Elsworth for much of the 1980s, “Dessie” became public property.

He wasn’t even at his best on racetracks configured anticlockwise, but still managed a heroic Cheltenham Gold Cup triumph on bottomless ground in 1989 despite being headed by Yahoo.

It was at right-handed courses, notably Kempton Park, where Desert Orchid shone the most.

His four victories in the King George VI Chase there on Boxing Day across five seasons was a record until a certain Kauto Star came along and won the Christmastime feature five times.

Desert Orchid also proved he could stay further than the easy three miles at Kempton by winning the Whitbred Gold Cup at Sandown Park in 1988 and the 1990 Irish Grand National around Fairyhouse.

Both of those races were over trips further than three-and-a-half miles.

Too Good For Aintree?

Would the Grand National have been a problem for Desert Orchid had he ever contested it?

He was classy and speedy enough to win Sandown’s Tingle Creek and the Clarence House Chase at Ascot over about two miles, yet also highly versatile as victories in those staying handicaps at almost twice the distance show.

Connections were always worried about Dessie’s tendency to jump out to his right. Aintree, like Cheltenham, is a left-handed track and the Grand National course’s major obstacles like the Canal Turn could have seen him career into other horses and heighten the risk of falling.

This was one grey horse who was so beloved – and rated 187 by the official handicapper at his peak – that perhaps he was too good for the world’s most famous steeplechase.

The Grand National then, in the late 1980s, as now is a lottery. Other grey horses will try their luck in it, though.

Sources:
https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/sport/horse-racing-gray-horses-appeal/index.html
https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/features/great-grey-racehorses-462421
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2296131.stm
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/mar/25/grey-horses-grand-national

The games may not be going ahead this year but it doesn’t mean we can’t look through history to find out who are the richest Olympians ever to have competed. Many huge sporting superstars have competed with differing levels of success, but which Olympians have accumulated the most money throughout their careers?

Keep on reading to find out. Some of them may surprise you…

10. Shaquille O’Neal (Net Worth – $400 million)

Shaq is the fourth basketball player on this list, and he took part in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, starting three games as the US team took the gold medal. He won the gold alongside some of the biggest names of the era, including Scotty Pippen, Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley.

Despite having been retired for many years, Shaq still receives huge pay checks through sponsorship deals, totalling around $60 million per year.

He has also invested his money cleverly, with a couple of his investments being Google and Apple. He also owns a ton of restaurants, gyms and car washes.

9. Lionel Messi (Net Worth – $400 million)

Some think Ronaldo is the best player of recent years, while others are adamant that it’s Lionel Messi.

The Argentine has appeared in the Olympics once, helping his native country take the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Games by scoring twice in the tournament.

Messi has one of the most lucrative contracts in soccer, earning around $33 million per year from Barcelona.

He also has a lifetime deal with Adidas, which is worth about $12 million per year, as well as sponsorship deals with Pepsi, MasterCard and Huawei, among others.

8. LeBron James (Net Worth – $440 million)

LeBron James is the most successful Olympian on this list, as he has three gold medals won the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

Add those to his three NBA titles and four NBA MVP awards, and it’s clear to see why King James is regarded as one of the best basketball players of all time.

LeBron is the highest paid basketball star in the world at the moment, bringing in over $134 million through salary and sponsorship deals in the 2019-20 season.

His biggest sponsor is Nike, and he also has deals with Coca-Cola, Samsung and more.

7. Roger Federer (Net Worth – $450 million)

For many, Roger Federer is the greatest tennis player of all time. One title to have eluded him is the Olympic gold medal for the men’s singles competition though.

He does have a gold in the men’s doubles event, which was won in 2008 alongside Stan Wawrinka.

As with many sports stars, a lot of Federer’s money comes from sponsorship deals.

He has these with a host of massive companies, including Rolex, Mercedes-Benz and Credit Suisse. He also has a deal worth $300 million with Uniqlo.

6. Cristiano Ronaldo (Net Worth – $460 million)

The Portuguese soccer player regarded by some as the greatest of his generation took part in the 2004 Olympics. He wasn’t able to win a medal though, as Portugal were eliminated before the medal round.

He’s not taken part in another Olympics since then.

Nowadays, Ronaldo is one of the highest-paid stars in the world, boasting a bumper contract worth around $33 million per season with Italian club Juventus.

He also has a huge lifetime Nike contract (worth in excess of $1 billion) as well as various other significant endorsements, which also earns him a spot on our richest soccer players list.

5. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Net Worth – $560 million)

Next up is the boxer many believe to be the greatest since Muhammad Ali – Floyd Mayweather Jr.

His Olympic experience wasn’t a great one though, as he only managed to take a bronze medal in the flyweight competition at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Since then, however, Mayweather has written his name into legend, earning massive pay checks for mega-fights such as his bout with Conor McGregor – be sure to check out our piece on who earns the most money!

4. Magic Johnson (Net Worth – $600 million)

Earvin “Magic” Johnson is one of the biggest names ever in basketball. He picked up a gold medal as a part of the Dream Team at the 1992 Olympics – which also contained Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and other massive names – despite having been diagnosed as HIV positive the previous year.

Most of Johnson’s money has come from his company, Magic Johnson Enterprises.

The company invests in many different niches and has partnerships with names like Sony and Starbucks. He also co-owns basketball, baseball and soccer teams.

3. The Winklevoss Brothers (Net Worth – $600 million Each)

The Winklevoss brothers competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. They didn’t manage to win any medals though, and their actions since have consigned their Olympic appearance to the back seat.

The brothers are best known for suing Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that the Facebook founder stole their idea.

The majority of their money comes from Bitcoin though, and at one point, their Bitcoin portfolios saw them each worth over $1 billion. A subsequent dip in value has significantly cut their net worth though.

2. Michael Jordan (Net Worth – $1.9 billion)

Next up is the greatest player to ever play the game of basketball, Michael Jordan, who led the US team to gold medals in two Olympics in 1984 and 1992.

There’s no doubting the fact that Jordan was exceptionally well paid throughout his career, however his fortune of nearly $2 billion has mainly been earned via savvy business deals and movies.

He still has endorsement deals with companies like Nike and Gatorade, plus he is a part-owner of the Charlotte Hornets.

1. Ion Tiriac (Net Worth – $2 billion)

At the top of the list of richest olympic athletes is a name many of you won’t have heard of: Ion Tiriac.

The Romanian competed in the hockey tournament at the 1964 Winter Olympics, where the team was only able to take 12^th place. He would then become a professional tennis player in the 1970s.

Sport didn’t give Tiriac his bundles of cash though.

Instead, he founded the Tiriac Group, investing in everything from car dealerships through to insurance companies. He even has his own museum in Romania, displaying his impressive range of luxury cars.

If you enjoyed reading this list of richest Olympic athletes, why not check out our list of the richest poker players and the richest female soccer players.

Sources:
https://money.com/richest-olympic-athletes/
https://www.sportscasting.com/the-richest-olympic-athletes-include-some-surprises/
https://wealthygorilla.com/lionel-messi-net-worth/
https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-athletes/richest-soccer/ronaldo-net-worth/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/14-richest-athletes-time-090000090.html

Attend any football match across the nation, and you’re almost guaranteed to be greeted by a slew of profanities (usually aimed at the referee), especially in the Premier League.

However, some teams’ fans are known to be worse than others when it comes to turning the air blue. So who leads the league when it comes to curses?

Here at Casino.org we don’t like to judge on reputation alone, so we’ve gone deep into the trenches to do our research — analyzing the top 100 posts plus comments across the Subreddits for each Premier League club — to find out which are the rudest fans in the PL. Enjoy…

Who Is The Most Foul-Mouthed Premier League Fanbase Overall?

Using percentages, we counted the contribution of each club’s online supporters to all the swearwords found across Premier League Subreddits. That’s dedication to the cause. Here’s what we found out…

Liverpool fans on the platform came top of our profanity league, contributing 14.80 per cent of PL teams’ swearing. In just 100 posts from the club’s supporters — and their comments — we found a whopping 457 swears.

As to why this may be, we couldn’t possibly speculate. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Reds fans are among those forking out the most for matchday essentials, as on average tickets cost an eye-watering ￡46 per person, with ￡7.50 needed to pay for a pie and a pint — according to our Premier League matchday calculator.

Other fanbases completing the PL’s ‘top six’ for worst swearing offenders include the popular sides Newcastle United, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea — who contributed 12.67 per cent, 10.85 per cent, 9.46 per cent, 8.52 per cent, and 7.13 per cent, respectively.

Interestingly, Burnley were bottom with just 14 profanities, contributing only 0.45 per cent of swears. Who knew Turf Moor’s terraces were filled with such polite fans?

Premier League Fans’ Favorite Swearwords

We totted up the top words used both league-wide and team-wide to find out which were PL fans’ favorite expletives from their er, expressive, vocabulary.

The results are in…and the final score shows that — unsurprisingly — ‘f**king’ took top prize, having been used more than any other word. 1,033 times to be exact, which counts for 33 per cent of all curses.

Which other impolite words were among the most used? Again, it’s no surprise that ‘s**t’ came second, having been used 859 times, while ‘f**k’ completed the top three most-used swears with 755 mentions.

As for individual fanbases’ favorites, ‘f**king’ was the top profane word for Manchester United fans — contributing 34 per cent of Red Devils supporters’ swears.

Showing that fans may have more in common than they think, it was also the sole favored swear of 13 other PL clubs, including Liverpool, Everton, Aston Villa and West Ham United. While, Manchester City fans clearly like to mix it up a bit, with ‘f**k’ and ‘f**king’ their joint favorites.

‘S**t’ was also a popular pick, coming top for a number of southern teams’ supporters such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Southampton, and Crystal Palace.

PL Profanities: Supporters Say What?

When it comes to how frequently certain teams use each word, results revealed just how colorful football fans’ language can be. Below are some of the most ‘outrageous’ examples.

Arsenal fans certainly don’t mince their words, as they used ‘c**t’ 20 per cent more than other sides’ supporters.

Meanwhile, Tottenham and Liverpool fans were united in their love of the word ‘wanker’, using it 33 per cent more than other teams.

And, of course, we couldn’t forget to mention that Newcastle fans are more likely to use the words ‘wank’ and ‘ass’ than any other. Nice!

If you’ve enjoyed this piece about PL fans, you can also check out our similar article on the most toxic fanbases in the NFL. Happy reading!

Methodology:
We analyzed the top 100 posts of every Subreddit for each Premier League team, including every comment on the posts.

Sources
Reddit
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-36436180

The thrill of seeing a horse you bet on pass the post first and win is massive, especially if you have gambled on it. Everyone has to start somewhere with it, though.

This is our step-by-step guide for beginners on how you bet on live horse races.

Step 1: Buy a Daily Racing Form/Pro Racecard

All racetracks will provide bettors with information relating to that day’s horse racing. Programs are available on course for just $/￡3 or $/￡4 and contain general information about:

• The types of horse racing events on the track that day
• Lists of horses that are entered in each of the races
• If any races are handicaps, what the designated weights that horses carry are
• The jockeys booked to ride the horses

You should know that events as advertised in the program are subject to change.

For example, if a jockey were to get injured falling off a horse in one race, they may not be passed fit by medical staff to continue their book of rides.

If something like that happens, then a replacement jockey will be called up. Racetracks are duty bound to inform racegoers of a jockey change or if a horse is withdrawn from a race. They usually do this over public address systems.

Daily Racing Form guides are also available at racetracks, again costing $/￡3 or $/￡4. Often abbreviated to DRFs, these offer even more detailed information relating to horses’ past performances. They are known as Pro Racecards in the UK.

Having a horse’s previous form to hand when deciding whether to bet on it for a race is important. You need to gain as much knowledge about the events before betting on live horse races.

Step 2: Find Out What the Experts Think

It’s also well worth checking what tipsters in local, regional and national press fancy. Online research can help you here but be warned: there are many so-called “experts” on the internet.

With newspapers, you are reading the opinions of people who are providing this service for a wide audience. Tipsters aren’t right all of the time, but the best ones are correct with their picks more often than not.

If many different sources agree or point to a certain horse, then it is likely to be a fancied runner. Alternatively, if expert opinion is divided, then the event may be a very competitive horse race.

You don’t have to follow what tipsters put forward for live horse races, but it is useful to know as a starting point. Ask yourself why do experts fancy a particular horse?

The answer will probably lie in studying the DRF.

A comment about a horse’s previous performance may suggest it will improve for that last run. Alternatively, the fact that it beat better horses before than the opposition here may explain it all.

Step 3: Choose Which Horse to Bet on

Once you have studied the form, then considered what pro tipsters in the press and racing publications like and why, it’s time to decide.

You can follow experts, draw your own conclusions or let the betting market be your guide.

When looking at form, consider the following:

• Are horses that are undefeated progressive and special talents, or have they just been winning easy races?
• Is there an excuse for a beaten horse losing its last race?
• Could an inexperienced horse improve for its last run?
• Are there any doubts about a horse in this event? Are the conditions, distance or going in their favor or not?
• How has the jockey on board been riding lately? Are they in-form?
• Has the stable that a horse hails from been sending out other winners?
• If the race is a handicap, then is the horse higher or lower in the weights than when last in action?

The fewer concerns you have when posing and answering these questions about a horse, the better.

Once you have analyzed these things, you should have a good idea about the form. Making an informed choice allows you to bet with confidence.

Step 4: Understand How Betting Odds Work

It’s now time to check the live horse race betting on the upcoming event. Are the odds in your favor? If you’re a total beginner, you should read our sports betting odds guide first.

US Odds:

Decimal odds are common in the US for horse racing, so the smaller that number is the stronger a horse is fancied. For example, a horse with odds of 3.25 is rated more likely in the market than one priced up at 5.00.

Remember, you always receive your stake back as part of a return on winning bets. If you wagered $5 at 5.00, you get $25 back and that is $20 of profit.

UK Odds:

Fractional odds which are used in the UK and Ireland work differently. They don’t include your stake. The decimal 5.00 converts to the fraction 4/1 as you make $4 of profit for every $1 wagered.

Shorter price guarantee nothing, however. Odds are just representations of statistical probabilities drawn up by betting traders.

Changing Odds Explained:

Although they’re called fixed odds, they are anything but and prices fluctuate. This happens in reaction to market support for or against a horse.

If a horse you back drifts, don’t panic.

That does not automatically mean it will lose. Betting traders are just increasing the odds to cover their own liabilities on the race.

When market confidence is behind a horse, however, the odds shorten.

Success can be even sweeter when you have spotted a horse early and taken a better price than other bettors got closer to the time of the race.

Step 5: Decide on the Type of Bets You Want to Place

The thing about betting on live horse races is it doesn’t just have to be about a win only wager. Picking winners is what everyone – whatever their level of gambling experience – wants of course.

Sometimes though, there is better value to be had in other markets. Say that there is a red-hot favorite in the race you’re betting on. You could just follow everybody else and back that horse.

The return you receive, depending on your budget, might not be that large. However, all your research may point to another horse running into a place at bigger odds. It’s always worthwhile considering alternatives.

All top UK online betting sites and racetrack bookmakers should offer you the following types of wager:

• To win – betting on a horse to finish first
• To place – betting on a horse to finish first or second
• To show – betting on a horse to finish first, second or third
• Across the board – three separate bets, including each of the above
• Exotic bets – these are combination or multiple bets and only advised when you’re an experienced bettor. We’ve explained these below.

Place and show bets will often be shorter odds than a win only wager, but can still give you a healthy return.

Remember, an across the board bet can pay out three times to you if your chosen horse wins.

A Word on Exotic Wagers

When you become a more seasoned bettor, you can start to think about exotic wagers. It is far wiser when starting out to keep your gambling simple.

Once you do have some experience of betting on live horse races behind you, however, consider these types of wager:

• Exacta – betting on two horses in the same race, one to finish first and the other second in an exact order
• Quinella – betting on two horses in the same race, one to finish first and other second in any order
• Trifecta – betting on three horses in the same race, one to finish first, second and third in an exact order
• Superfecta – betting on four horses in the same race, one to finish first, second, third and fourth in an exact order
• Double – betting on two horses in two different races but both must win for the wager to payout
• Triple – betting on three horses in three different races but all must win for the wager to payout

By placing these combinations and multiple bet types, you can accumulate even greater winnings. There are greater risks involved as you aren’t just concerned with one, but potentially several horses.

Step 6: Placing A Bet

Now, it’s time to get your wager on.

Should you bet on track or do so online? It is always worth comparing the price offered at wagering windows with the internet.

If the racetrack odds aren’t as good as what you can get online, then why miss out on a bigger return?

To bet on a betting site, you will need to:

• Sign up for an account (and do so in advance)
• Make a deposit so you have money to bet with on live horse races
• Betting apps may be available in some cases to download for your smartphone or tablet
• Log in to your account, find the race meeting and event you want to bet on
• Select the horse by clicking or tapping on its odds (this adds it to the betslip)
• Now enter your stake and place the bet
• You can check after the race that the bet has been settled

If you want to bet on the racetrack instead, then here is what you should do:

• Queue up for a betting window or automated teller
• If you’re at a window, then talk with the clerk and explain which race, the type of bet and horse(s) involved, and how much you want to stake
• They will give you a ticket, which you should always keep safe
• If you lose it, then you can’t claim any winnings from the window afterwards
• Alternatively, use a teller where you input information to generate your ticket, then scan it after the race to receive a return
• UK bettors can use trackside bookmaker pitches in the betting right on course

Step 7: Watch the Race and (Hopefully) Collect Your Winnings

All you need to do now is kick back and watch the race unfold.

If your bet wins, then you need to get it settled.

Take your ticket to the teller and scan it. If you got it from a betting window, then you need to go back there to get your winnings.

For online bets, check your account and see if your balance is bigger than what it was before.

We know you might still have some questions, so we’ve done our best to answer the most common ones below.

What is the minimum I can bet on a live horse race?

Minimum stakes vary depending on the racetrack or online betting services available. It is usually $/￡1 or $/￡2.

How much should I bet on live horse races?

This depends on your means. It is good to have a budget in mind and stick to that. Betting is supposed to be a bit of fun, so never gamble more than you can afford to lose.

How can I get better at betting on horse racing?

Practice makes perfect, and there is no substitute for studying horses’ form yourself. Using experts’ selections or the betting market as a guide, ask yourself why tipsters put a horse forward or why it’s that price?

What is the secret to betting on live horse races?

There’s no secret, just being knowledgeable about the sport is a good foundation. It doesn’t guarantee you will win every time you bet, but can only help.

Can I place bets using my debit or credit card?

Provided there are no limitations on what services you use your debit or credit card for, then yes you can. Some tellers and betting windows have card machines in them. Cards are also a popular deposit method for online betting accounts.

It should be noted that in the UK, as of April 14, 2020, the UKGC’s ban on gambling on credit cards will come into force, so you won’t be able to use your credit card in the UK to place bets soon.

What is the different between betting on the exchanges and fixed odds?

Fixed odds markets are where you back a horse to win. Bettors can use online betting exchanges to lay horses to lose. They are also different from a sportsbook in that you are making bets with other users rather than a bookmaker. It means you could win or lose more than taking a fixed odds price.

Images: Shutterstock

From doping to ball tampering, here’s a list of 10 cheating athletes and what they were caught for:

1. Lance Armstrong – Cycling

It’s impossible to write a list about cheating sports stars and not start with Lance Armstrong.

He was the superstar of cycling, having overcome cancer to win an unprecedented seven Tour de France titles, all the while consistently denying that he had doped. He was an American hero, but he was in for a big fall.

In 2012, the USADA came to the conclusion that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.

The upshot was Armstrong being stripped of all seven Tour de France wins, plus he also received a lifetime ban. Any doubts about his guilt were expelled when he famously confessed on Oprah.

2. Fred Lorz – Marathon

Next up, we come to a name you might not have heard of. However, his story from the 1904 Olympics in St Louis is a remarkable one.

Lorz was an entrant in the marathon and managed to be first home, winning the gold medal and having a photograph with Alice Roosevelt.

Lorz didn’t run a particularly fair race, though. In fact, he didn’t run at all for 11 miles, as he was instead carried along the course in a car.

It might seem obvious today, but word only spread after the race about how he cheated. He was, of course, later disqualified and the race was awarded to Thomas Hicks.

3. Ben Johnson – Athletics

Canada’s Ben Johnson is perhaps one of the most famous cheaters of all time, as he cheated to win the blue-ribbon event of athletics: the Olympics’ 100m title.

His run in the 1988 Olympic final in Seoul astounded the world, taking nearly half a second from the world record, as he easily ran to victory.

It didn’t take long for the race to become engulfed in controversy though.

It was revealed that one of his samples contained stanozolol, a banned anabolic steroid. He was banned for two years and the medal went to Carl Lewis.

Johnson returned but was banned for life in 1993 after testing positive again.

4. Tom Brady – NFL

Tom Brady is an all-American boy and an idol to millions of New England Patriots fans around the world.

There was controversy concerning the 2014-15 AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, though – a game the Patriots would win 45-7.

The controversy surrounded the balls used, which Brady demanded be slightly deflated, in order to gain an advantage.

Subsequently, Brady was fined a massive $1 million, plus he was banned for four games. While Brady is still considered the GOAT by many, the scandal certainly put a black mark against his name.

5. Boris Onischenko – Fencing

Boris Onischenko was a competitor in the modern pentathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

He was one of the favorites for the event, having won a silver medal in the previous Olympics. By the end of the competition, he was disgraced though, due to cheating in the fencing discipline.

But what did he do?

Well, he connected a device to his épée, which allowed him to simply press a button and add a hit to his total. So, he didn’t even have to make contact in order to get a hit.

His plan was undone when the British team noticed he wasn’t getting genuine hits. And after an investigation, he was disqualified.

6. Sylvester Carmouche – Horse Racing

Sylvester Carmouche’s story is perhaps the most blatant example of cheating on this list, and it is no surprise to find that he was caught almost straightaway.

It occurred at the Delta Downs racetrack in Louisiana, on what was a very foggy day. Carmouche would romp to victory by 24 lengths, but something wasn’t right…

Many of the riders said that they’d never seen Carmouche pass them during the race, and soon the true story came to be known.

Hidden by the fog, Carmouche had stopped near the start, and then re-joined the race once he heard them coming around again.

For cheating, he was handed a 10-year ban.

7. Hansie Cronje – Cricket

Next, we turn to the world of cricket.

Hansie Cronje was a huge name in South Africa as the captain of their national team and one of the best batsmen in the sport. His reputation was destroyed in 1999 though, when he was recorded offering to fix matches in return for money.

After the recording – which also implicated three other players – came to light, Cronje was banned from playing cricket for life.

Despite this, he was still voted the 11^th greatest South African in 2001. Cronje tragically died in a plane crash a year later, aged just 32.

8. Tonya Harding – Figure Skating

Tonya Harding’s story is without doubt the most serious on this list, as it’s the only one that led to the injury of an opponent.

Going into the 1994 US Figure Skating Championships, Harding’s main competitor was Nancy Kerrigan. Kerrigan, however, was attacked after a practice session, forcing her to withdraw.

It turned out that the attack was planned by Harding (although she denies this), along with three others – including Shane Stant, the man who carried out the attack.

Harding was sentenced to three years of probation, 500 hours of community service and given a huge fine. She was banned from USFSA events for life.

9. Diego Maradona – Soccer

This entry is the only one on the list that didn’t see the athlete in question punished even though there is proof.

Video evidence proves that Diego Maradona definitely broke the rules in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England:

However, he did also score one of the finest World Cup goals ever seen in the match too.

During the match, Maradona challenged for a header near the goal, but instead directed the ball into the net clearly using his hand – something the referee failed to spot.

After the match, Maradona said it was the “Hand of God” – unsurprisingly this didn’t go down too well with England supporters.

10. Barry Bonds – Baseball

Barry Bonds was one of the biggest stars in baseball, but he got caught in possibly the biggest steroids scandal to ever hit sport.

This came after Bonds had broken the record for the most home runs scored by any player – a record that still stands, despite him being found to have used drugs.

Along with other major names, such as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, he was found to have used steroids to enhance his performance.

Some still claim that Bonds is one of the greatest players ever, while others now disregard him due to his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Enjoyed this? Be sure to check out our list of 10 sports stars who smoke.?

Sources:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/537712-the-40-worst-cheaters-in-sports-history#slide42
https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,516244,00.html
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/articles/these-are-the-11-biggest-cheating-scandals-in-sporting-history/
https://www.businessinsider.com/olympic-athletes-who-have-been-caught-cheating-2016-8?r=UK#ortrun-enderlein-grenoble-1968-2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/21065539
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/20/archives/soviet-fencer-disqualified-for-cheating-a-soviet-fencer-is.html
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-12-sp-1810-story.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_South_Africans
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_career.shtml