Forum | General Discussion

To many fans the whereabouts and contract details of Hammers keeper Darren Randolph are an absolute mystery, the Republic of shot stopper has occupied a 'unique' role during his second stint at the club which has quite blatantly been the vessel from which David Moyes delivered his transfer 'desires' to the club's hierarchy. For many games Randolph has been named in the match day squad AND on the bench for the first team.

Having three goalkeepers is not totally unknown, but within the industry having three keepers on match day is a clear sign that the manager feels his squad is SO under strength that there are NO other first team members available! Well Moyes CANNOT use that ploy anymore given the huge investment in new players during the summer transfer window, so what has happened to Randolph and where does he stand with the club?

Lukasz Fabianski's injury picked up against Manchester's 2nd team is either serious or just a niggle depending on which news source you refer to, but either way it is clear that Alphonse Areola will be between the sticks for not only the away European Conference dead rubber against FCSB, but also the Premier league fixture against Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Moyes could elect to play Randolph, after all it is a dead rubber with Hammers topping their group by a country mile, but the club does have it's own promising youth keepers and it would seem churlish NOT to use one of them who could take to the field of play alongside other youngsters they actually play and train with. Randolph's 'second coming' was a panic buy brought about by the worst keeper in the World Roberto's absolutely dreadful performances and the club have continued to pay a hefty price since.

Play the youth on Thursday, let Areola prepare properly for Palace and move on, WITHOUT Randolph! We are going to do some digging into the EXACT details of Randolph's contract and will publish them later. - Ed

There are many mysteries that remain unsolved in the Universe, somehow just trying to comprehend them can result in a head ache or merely total confusion, we accept this state as part of our existence and see no reason as to not proceed along our merry or not so merry paths. However one 'Mystery' we continuously ask ourselves at the Org is 'why Sky?' whenever a Hammers game is screened live on Sky, which is EXTREMELY often.

The 'why Sky' is then invariably followed by "Alan *unting Smith, yet a *ucking gain!" Why on earth do Sky persist in using Alan Smith for West Ham games, or Glenn Hoddle or Jamie Caragher and the Scousen contingent? It might be 'accent' racism but the mere sound of Alan Smith's adenoids or Hoddle's 'themness', the former's comments are always laced with envy when he references young players because they earn more in a week than he used to in a year!

The sound of a 'gloating' scousers is also abhorrent to most Irons fans...it's the accent you see! Individually acceptable but collectively mind numbing, so bearing in mind how distinctly unpopular Smith, Hoddle, Scousers and the Mancs are with most Hammers fans why do Sky continue to use those people to cover West Ham games? Do they like people NOT renewing their subscriptions?

The technology already exists and is already available when streaming games on Amazon for the viewer to have just crowd noise only, no annoying commentator or person who thinks they know everything and no more idiot pointing out the obvious before bringing up some negative stat just to make you a bit more anxious than you were! It IS the way forward, that is not to say watching a TV game with a good non biased commentator isn't enjoyable, far from it, unfortunately those occurrences are far too rare, especially when it comes to West Ham United! Doubtless the 'presenters of the dark arts' will be out in force this weekend, shape shifting from one pastiche of a player to the next as they transfer their negative energy- Ed

All sports now accept bets, and newer areas like eSports see the most growth in player interest, attendance, and volume of bets placed. However, there have always been a few sporting events that dominate the sports betting industry. We've put together a list of the giants in sports betting to help you figure out what areas you'll make the most money in. Take part in the action by placing a wager on these major sporting
events.

World Cup

In terms of betting, American football is only second to the World Cup. For the record, the World Cup features 64 betting matches and attracted 3.572 billion viewers in 2018, nearly half of the world's total population. FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) confirmed in October 2017 that a total of $400 million would be shared between the participants at the 2018 World Cup in the form of prize money. Meanwhile, last 2018, The average match during the competition had a betting turnover of €2.1 billion ($2.4 billion), according to FIFA. As anticipated, the number
increased for the final, which brought in an estimated €7.2 ($8.2 billion).

This only means that the World Cup is not only one of the most thrilling sports events in history, but it was also a massive hit with FIFA World Cup odds for wagerers. Super Bowl Even though soccer prevails in most of the world, it still comes nowhere close to the supremacy of a different-shaped football in America. Many consider the Super Bowl, the National Football League's title game, to be the biggest annual sporting event in the world. The betting volume placed on Super Bowl is a manifestation that Super Bowl is a giant in the sports betting industry.

With the legalization of online gaming in the United States, American Football is probably a sports betting star. Consequently, the Super Bowl betting odds are even more impressive. The American Gaming Association predicted that approximately $6.8 billion would be wagered on the big game last 2020. Prop bets and exotics, in addition to standard point spread and total wagers, account for a large percentage of the deal.

According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), about $4.3 billion will be wagered on this year's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 23.2 million people in the United States. According to the report, a record 7.6 million people would bet on an online sportsbook. That's a 63 percent rise from the previous year.

March Madness

Last year, the NCAA's annual income was cut in half when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the American Gaming Association, almost 50 million Americans wagered an estimated $8.5 billion on the tournament in 2019, the year before the pandemic.

March Madness is essentially the NCAA's primary source of income. The tournament brought in $1.05 billion in revenue for the NCAA in 2019, accounting for more than 90% of the organization's annual revenue.

Kentucky Derby

Many states have legalized online betting for the Kentucky Derby. Based on the report of Churchill Downs, 51,838 people attended this year's limited-capacity Kentucky Derby. Overall, wagering on the Kentucky Derby Day program totaled $233 million, an increase of 85 percent over the 2020 Kentucky Derby Day program. The total amount wagered on the Kentucky Derby was $155.4 million, up 96 percent from the previous year's race.

Boxing

There are plenty of bookmakers participating in the boxing betting business, all of whom are offering some rather appealing odds for the bettors. In history, the Mayweather and McGregor fight is the match with the most recorded bets. Though most people backed Mayweather, it was difficult to overlook Conor McGregor's strength and vigor. Conor had never played in a significant match before, but he had a large following. This was the second-highest pay-per-view buyout in boxing history, according to analysis. On the fight night, some bettors won millions of dollars. Bettors will bet on their favorite fighters, while the competitors will put their best foot forward to win the title.

The Grand National

The recent Grand National has set a new high for betting volume on a single event on the Smarkets platform. Bets totaled £92.8 million ($127.8 million), up 21% from the previous National for the brand.
The National accounted for 71% of overall volume during the three day Aintree Festival with a total in excess of £131Million exchanged on the races from Thursday to Saturday, a 28 percent rise from the previous year's £101 million.

Esports

The global eSports industry was worth just over 1.08 billion dollars in 2021. Moreover, its market revenue is projected to hit nearly 1.62 billion US dollars in 2024, indicating that it is expected to expand steadily in the following years. Sponsorships and ads account for the bulk of these sales, with the remainder coming from broadcast rights, publisher fees, merchandise and tickets, digital, and streaming. Asia and North America are the two largest eSports markets in terms of sales, with China alone accounting for nearly a fifth of the market.

The pandemic has totally changed the esports industry's development trend due to the cancellation of major sports leagues. On the stock market, esports is still in its honeymoon phase, so expect betting sites to market themselves to investors and potential gamblers.

Final Thoughts

Sports betting accounts for about 30 to 40% of the global gambling industry. Sports betting can be considered an excellent way to invest money for anyone, from experienced bettors to inexperienced ones. The giants in the betting business are a great arena for bettors of different levels of expertise. -Ed

West Ham: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Zouma, Kehrer, Rice (c), Soucek, Scamacca, Downes, Bowen, Benrahma. Subs: Areola, Randolph, Coufal, Fornals, Antonio, Lanzini, Obgonna, Coventry, Emerson.
Bournemouth: Neto, Fredericks, Cook, Mepham, Lerma, Christie, Billing, Smith (c), Tavernier, Senesi, Solanke. Subs: Travers, Stephens, Rothwell, Stacey, Stanislas, Moore, Pearson, Anthony, Zemura.