If you fancy your chances to win your regional, why not put your money where your mouth is? Betfred will be running a sportsbook on everyone who qualifies to the regional's with the ability to back yourself online with Betfred.com.
All prices for players who have qualified for the regional’s are available now, see what price you are...
Simply select your region in the drop down box below, find your price and click bet now. Once you get to Betfred.com select specials, poker, Redtooth regional poker finals and place your bets.
Scotland - Sunday 24th May
Queens Retreat
6 Scotscun Grove
South Queensferry
EH30 9PH
Registration 1pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
South Yorkshire - Sunday 31st May
Sheffield United Football Ground
John Street
Sheffield
S2 4SU
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
South England - Sunday 31st May
Farmhouse Inn
Burrfields Road
Portsmouth
PO3 5HH
Registration 1pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
London - Sunday 31st May
Loose Cannon Club
13-16 Allhallows Lane
London
EC4R 3UL
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
West Yorkshire - Sunday 31st May
Village Hotel & Leisure Club
186 Otley Road
Headingley
Leeds
LS16 5PR
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
South West & South Wales - Sunday 31st May
Village Hotel & Leisure Club
29 Pendwylatt Road
Croyton
Cardiff
CF14 7EF
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
North East - Sunday 7th June
Stanley Circus Casino
Forth Street
Newcastle
NE1 3NZ
Registration 1pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
North West & North Wales - Sunday 7th June
Ratcliffe Bars & Function Suite
Sandy Lane
Rochdale
OL11 5DR
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
East Midlands - Sunday 7th June
Village Hotel & Leisure Club
Brailsford Way
Chilwell
Nottingham
NG9 6DL
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
West Midlands - Sunday 14th June
Park Hall Hotel
Park Drive
Goldthorn Park
Wolverhampton
WV4 5AJ
Registration 12.30pm
Presentation 1.30pm
Shuffle Up & Deal 2pm
Central England – TBC
Betfred Delighted to agree Turf TV Deal
Betfred customers can now watch the action from every racecourse in Britain after the world's biggest independent bookmaker reached agreement for Turf TV coverage to be broadcast in its 800 shops.
Speaking about the deal, which links Betfred and Turf TV for the next five years, Betfred boss Fred Done said: "I'm very happy that an agreement has been reached with Turf TV.
"My customers will be delighted that they can now look forward to watching every race, every day, in all my shops."
The installation of Turf TV comes in time for Betfred customers to watch every race at the prestigious Sandown meeting at the end of this week and from Newmarket's Guineas Festival on May 2-3.
by Jon Wilde 21/04/2009
Redtooth Reaches 50,000 Milestone
Congratulations to Stewart Ross from the Talbot in Worcester, who yesterday became the 50,000th player to register with Redtooth Poker.
Stewart will receive free beer for a year courtesy of our partners at Carlsberg.
The Redtooth Poker Babes will be visiting the Talbot within the next few days to present Stewart with his prize.
Ladies Poker Tour 2009
Tour dates:
Saturday 18th April
Alea Casino, Leeds
Saturday 9th May
The Opera House, Scarborough
Saturday 6th June
Napoleons Owlerton, Sheffield
Saturday 4th July
Aspers, Swansea
Saturday 8th August
Casino36, Stockport
Saturday 5th September
The Broadway, Birmingham
Saturday 3rd October
Caesars Lounge, Calahonda, Spain
Saturday 7th November
The Western Club, Acton, London
Grand Final Saturday 21st November
Redtooth on Tour with Marstons
As part of Redtooth's exclusive arrangement as sole supplier of poker, quizzes and bingo services, members of the Redtooth Team are undertaking a nationwide tour of Marstons Inns & Taverns regional and area meetings.
Redtooth Director, Steve Saul commented "We have worked with Marstons for some time now and are delighted we are now forging a much closer relationship".
Record Growth for Redtooth Poker
A record breaking 220 pubs have joined the Redtooth Poker League during the first three months of 2009.
Redtooth Director, Steve Saul said "More and more pubs are looking to put on a regular weekly calender of events to entice customers into their venues during these difficult trading times. Licensees who understand the pub poker market know that Redtooth are the market leaders and the best available."
Betfred Delighted to agree Turf TV Deal
Betfred customers can now watch the action from every racecourse in Britain after the world's biggest independent bookmaker reached agreement for Turf TV coverage to be broadcast in its 800 shops.
Speaking about the deal, which links Betfred and Turf TV for the next five years, Betfred boss Fred Done said: "I'm very happy that an agreement has been reached with Turf TV.
"My customers will be delighted that they can now look forward to watching every race, every day, in all my shops."
The installation of Turf TV comes in time for Betfred customers to watch every race at the prestigious Sandown meeting at the end of this week and from Newmarket's Guineas Festival on May 2-3.
Betfred.com to sponsor World Snooker Championship
Betfred.com have announced a new exciting partnership with World Snooker to become the main sponsor of the World Snooker Championship for the next four years.
The sport's most prestigious tournament will now be known as the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.
The event at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield runs from April 18 to May 4, is one of the highlights of the sporting calendar and features all of snooker's top players, including defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, seven-times winner Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Steve Davis, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and Ali Carter.
Announcing the deal, Betfred boss Fred Done said: "It's always been an ambition of mine to sponsor a World Championship and this is a competition with so much history. When it comes to snooker this is the pinnacle of the sport and I look forward to watching the world's greatest 32 players."
World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker said: "We are extremely pleased to have entered into a long-term partnership with Betfred.com, which is a fantastic company for our sport to be associated with and again they have demonstrated their support to the benefit of all fans.
"The fact we have been able to secure a four-year agreement within the current economic climate is testament to the popularity of snooker in the UK and internationally. We look forward to working together with Betfred.com to build and develop the sport further over the coming years."
Betfred.com are no strangers to the world of sport and have already secured deals with Wembley and Manchester United to be their exclusive online bookmaking and gaming partners.
After successfully sponsoring snooker's Premier League, the players are very pleased with the announcement.
Snooker legend Stephen Hendry said: "I'm delighted that we have found a sponsor for the World Championship. I've known the people at Betfred.com for several years so I know snooker will be able to build a great relationship with them."
Last year's Crucible runner-up Ali Carter said: "It's great news for snooker and all the players. The World Championship is our biggest event and having a major sponsor in Betfred.com adds to the prestige, so it's brilliant to have that secured for the next four years."
Rising star Mark Selby, last year's Masters champion, added: "So many millions of people in the UK and internationally love snooker. The amount of TV coverage and viewing figures are very strong, and obviously Betfred.com has realised that. Everyone can now look forward to a great tournament."
Last year, the tournament received 127 hours of coverage from BBC Sport, with 24.5 million adults watching at least five minutes of consecutive action. It also received extensive coverage around the world with a reach of over 60 million individuals on Eurosport and a peak audience of over 10 million on CCTV5 (China) alone.
You can also follow the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship on Twitter @ BetfredSnooker (http://twitter.com/BetfredSnooker)
Salford student snares UKSPC
The University of Salford has come a long way since 1896 when the town’s Working Men’s College joined forces with the Pendleton Mechanics Institute to form the Salford Technical Institute. Upon being granted royal assent soon after, this seat of learning became the Royal Technical Institute and finally gained university status in 1967.
Since then, Salford has produced some notable alumni, including Ian Hinton-Smith, formerly of Badly Drawn Boy, now with The Beep Seals and actor Chris Brown – you remember, the guy in I’m a Celebrity… the one who bravely refused the advances of model Catalina Guiardo?
Now, thanks to Betfred Poker, Salford boasts another famous student – and he hasn’t even graduated from its wonderfully intricate Victorian portals yet.
At last weekend’s UK Student Poker Championships, sponsored by Betfred Poker since inception, Salford University’s Greg Yates emerged victorious from a field of 287 runners to bag a first prize of £1,180 and claim a World Series of Poker package worth an estimated $15,000. Greg will have his $10,000 WSOP Main Event buy-in paid by Betfred Poker, together with his flights and hotel costs. It is, as he said afterwards, “an unbelievable prize.”
But this was no cakewalk for the Salford man. He had to battle hard to beat off the sustained challenge of Plymouth University’s demonstrative Rachel Dale and Surrey’s Daniel Atkinson.
Since kicking off at St Andrews in 2005 when that establishment’s Calum Macnicol claimed the ultimate student poker crown, the title has been spread around the UK.
Daniel Underwood of Strathclyde University won it in 2006, followed by Essex’s Joe D’Angelo in 2007. Last year, Portsmouth’s Jamie Turner bagged first place – when Salford were also well represented by Nick Cole, who managed third place.
“Given the growth in the number of poker societies at British universities, it’s hardly surprising to see the field at the UKSPC expand as rapidly as it has,” says John Bishop of UK Poker Analytics. “Nor,” he adds, “is it a shock to learn that the overall standard of play has improved enormously. At least two of the players in action at Birmingham’s Broadway casino last weekend are believed to be capable of taking the necessary steps to join the professional’s ranks.” Kind words indeed.
The UKSPC top ten finishers were as follows:
1st Greg Yates (Salford) £1,180 + WSOP Main Event
2nd Rachel Dale £1,180 (Plymouth)
3rd Daniel Atkinson £955 (Surrey)
4th Anthony McShane £785 (St Andrews)
5th Sam Weir £635 (Warwick)
6th Aron Springfield £515 (Teeside)
7th Peter Hildel £415 (Aberystwyth)
8th Adam Edgerley£325 (Aberystwyth)
9th Andrew Macfarlane £260 (Plymouth)
10th Aaron Madeley £205 (Warwick)
Ladies Poker Tour good to go
In a little over a week’s time (18th April), the third season of Betfred’s hugely popular Ladies Poker Tour gets under way at Leeds’ Alea Casino, situated in the city’s thriving Clarence Dock area.
As most participants in this nationwide tour will appreciate, Leeds has been rightly famed for its shopping for more than a decade - ever since Harvey Nichols opened its first regional store in the city. Since then, cutting edge British designers such as Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood have also opened stores in the handsome Victoria Quarter, a series of ornate shopping arcades. Just for the record girls, Leeds has 4.3 million square feet of retail space located within five miles of shopping streets. This includes five indoor shopping centres, one of the country’s largest pedestrianised shopping areas and a whole range of speciality shopping attractions.
As Betfred’s Ladies Poker Tour doesn’t start until 3pm on 18th April and as Clarence Dock is a mere five minute cab ride away from some sumptuous shopping, who knows what you could get up to on a Saturday morning before the poker commences…
Once you have dragged yourself away from Leeds’ retail delights however, there are bigger fish to fry at the felt should you fancy your chances in the UK’s only all-female poker tour.
This year, it comprises eight events, including one in Spain in October, scheduled to be played between April and November; the winner of each event automatically qualifies for November’s grand final and the chance to win a £20,000 sponsorship package.
For the past two years, that honour has gone to Lynne Beaumont who has gone on to represent Betfred at poker events across the globe; little wonder the tour attracts some of the UK’s finest female players.
Entry to each event click here to see the full schedule costs £110 and we’re running exclusive online satellites which cost just $2 with a weekly $16.50 final played every Thursday. Throughout the tour, we’re also running an online points leaderboard; there will be two seats at the grand final on offer to two players finishing high enough on the board.
There’s still time to qualify for this year’s opening event and of course, should you wish to combine shopping with poker, you could always make a weekend of it…
Tournament details
Kid should play to his strengths
After appearances in Lucky You and The Grand, Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu is rumoured to have landed a part in what is deemed to be “one of the most eagerly-awaited movies of the year”. According to reports from those who have stumbled upon a pirate copy of the film, scheduled for its official premiere in the US on 1st May, the player known as ‘The Kid’ has a cameo appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine in a scene playing poker with Wolverine and new character Gambit.
At this juncture, it’s unclear whether Negreanu’s latest thespian efforts will make the final cut. He certainly enjoyed greater silver screen success a couple of years ago when he appeared in Lucky You which featured Drew Barrymore amongst others. Indeed, the movie was laden with poker greats, amongst them Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan.
Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth were given walk-on parts in the 2007 comedy The Grand which featured Woody Harrelson and Shannon Elizabeth, but in truth, poker players tend not to be great actors. Even if the likeable Negreanu does make the final cut of the latest X-Men film, we suspect viewers will come away from the cinema believing he should stick to his day job.
What’s the worst poker movie you’ve ever seen? Email us your selection at Poker Plus, telling us why it was so bad. We’ve got £25 in free chips to give away to the person who sends us details of the most cringe-worthy poker movie ever.
ASK FRED
Hi Fred,
I’m used to playing online at Betfred Poker and was involved in last week’s UKSPC which was only about the fourth time I’d played live. When I’m online, sometimes playing two or three hands simultaneously, I’m constantly in action, but I found that offline, my attention began to wander. Is this normal?
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your email. As you know, when you’re playing online, you can be involved in more than 50 hands every hour, whereas the best you’re going to see at a live event is around 25 to 30. It follows that when playing offline, you might not be dealt a playable hand in a good position for perhaps half an hour.
This can mean that when you’ve been waiting ages for a decent hand and are dealt Q-9 offsuit, it suddenly looks more like pocket rockets. However, you should not let your desire to play lure you into making silly mistakes.
Patience and observation are the keys to offline play. Use your ‘spare’ time constructively to run the rule over your opponents, look for tells and pay attention to their mannerisms. Having left the rapid online action behind, it’s perfectly normal to feel as though you should be constantly involved when you’re in a live event, but don’t let your attention wander: stay focused and patient.
askfred@betfred.com
Weekend betting preview
Last Saturday’s home reverse against Chelsea illustrated in no uncertain terms the magnitude of the task facing Newcastle’s latest potential saviour, Alan Shearer.
If Shearer’s opening managerial defeat has taught him anything, it’s that passion alone will not be enough to guide the Toon Army to safety, though these qualities will be needed in abundance this weekend as Newcastle travel to Stoke as 7/4 outsiders.
The Potters’ home record betters those of European certainties Everton and Aston Villa and as a result Tony Pulis’s side have deservedly been installed as favourites, albeit narrow ones, at 5/4. Newcastle are 9/4 to land a share of the spoils, but their job has been made a touch more difficult by City’s win at West Brom, which carried them to 35 points, a tally they know is little more than another victory away from guaranteeing them top flight football next season.
It follows that a slender Stoke success appears likely and a decent case can be made for the 8/1 odds posted against a 2-1 home triumph. The 9/2 available for Tony Pulis’s rugged charges to prevail following a level first period also catches the eye as does the likelihood of a James Beattie opener, priced at a tasty 5/1.
Meanwhile, Newcastle are joined in serious relegation trouble by North East counterparts Middlesbrough and Sunderland.
The former simply have to defeat Hull at the Riverside to stand any chance of staying up and as they are unbeaten at home in all competitions since Boxing Day, they are a decent even money bet to do just that. By contrast, the Black Cats seem set to glean nothing from their home clash against Manchester United, who should be revitalised by the late, late, late strike that handed them victory against Aston Villa on Sunday. Sir Alex Ferguson’s men look a banker at 2/5 to edge closer to retaining the Premier League crown.
Liverpool’s last-gasp winner at Fulham means it’s a case of ‘as you were’ in the title race and like United, the Reds are a safe bet, this time at 1/4 to land a maximum haul when they entertain Blackburn.
In the battle for fifth spot, Aston Villa (11/10) and Everton (2/1) could net a point apiece at Villa Park, a result rated at 9/4. Immediately ahead of that pair, in-form Arsenal are quoted at a tempting 8/13 to overcome Wigan at the JJB Stadium.
Elsewhere, a trio of home wins are expected for Chelsea (1/4) Portsmouth (4/6) and Tottenham (4/6) when they host Bolton, West Brom and West Ham respectively, while Sunday’s clash at Eastlands should also see the hosts emerge victorious - Manchester City are an attractive-looking 4/6 to get the better of Fulham.
If you haven’t registered with our sports book, do so now here and claim your £25 free bet bonus.
Gadget review
The netbook craze first took off in 2007 when PC manufacturer Asus introduced what they called an Eee-PC, specifically designed for children. Not surprisingly, when the mini-computer hit the shelves at Toys R Us, they sold out inside a few hours. Since then, the appeal of netbooks has broadened, although it’s worth remembering that they do have smaller internal memories and less powerful processors than a full-sized desktop.
Files can be created and stored online and read later at a user’s ‘mother computer’, an arrangement known as ‘The Cloud’.
We’ve looked at several netbooks, each on sale at between £300 - £400; our favoured three are as follows.
1. Dell Inspiron Mini 9
A Dell computer always looks and feels well-made and their netbook is no different. It has an easy-to-view 9 inch screen and buyers may choose between Windows XP or Linux operating systems. If it has a drawback, its that the internal storage space is limited. Costs around £269 & weighs in at 1kg.
2. LG X110
Okay, so there’s no built-in 3G to enable mobile access to a wi-fi network if you buy this LG netbook in the UK (it’s available on international models for some reason), but this is a classy-looking piece of kit which comes with a full-sized keyboard. It has an easy-to-view 10 inch screen and weighs in at 1.2kg, costing approximately £300.
3. HP Mini-Note 2140
Where do you draw the line between laptop and netbook? Probably at the HP Mini-Note, which feels similar to the former, but which has a slightly smaller keyboard than the LG X110. It weighs the same, but the screen is larger and it’s loaded with Windows Vista (which can be downgraded for the sake of enhance speed). Costs around £380.
