The odds on a Hung Parliament were long, but now quickly narrowing, even though the Tories lead the polls, a lead that has come under constant attack from some sharp social media PR whipped up by Labour, especially its orchestrator Lord Mandelson.

It’s been 36 years since the last hung parliament in the UK. The most recent elected hung parliament in the United Kingdom was that which followed the February 1974 general election, which lasted until the October election that year. Prior to that the last had been following the election of 1929. Hung parliaments can also arise when slim government majorities are eroded by by-election defeats and defection of Members of Parliament to opposition parties. This happened in 1996 to the Conservative government of John Major (1990-97) and in 1978 to the Labour government of James Callaghan (later Lord Callaghan of Cardiff) (1976-79).

Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats could yet be King Maker, but as they say a week is still a long time in Parliament and who knows what will yet transpire in the run up to an election that although has not been announced by Gordon Brown must happen by this June. As a gambling spectacle it sure will be an intriguing one, perhaps the best ever, political gambling is one to keep an eye on this Spring.

The annual Cheltenham Festival horse racing kicks off on the 16th March and runs to the 19th March, but there is one race on the last day of the event that is all of a twitter, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Kauto Star vs Denman, 1-1 so far and it’s been dubbed the War of the Wolds!

The festival has been so keenly awaited, especially after Kauto Star’s impressive win over Denman in 2009’s Gold Cup.

The bookies have Kauto Star edging it over Denman, 1-1 so far against each other, both superb chasers what ever the outcome it’s no doubt going to be close.

William Hill and several other British bookmakers can be found here on UK Bookmakers pages in Oggs, where you’ll find both generous free bonus bet offers, but also the full 4 day card for all those antepost bets.

Since Kauto Star won his first Gold Cup in 2007 the racing world knew it had found something special and it has been proved right as this wonderful beast has gone on to add three King George’s, a couple of Tingle Creek’s and a second Cheltenham prize to his ever growing CV.

Then in 2008, just when Kauto backers were already dreaming of spending their Gold Cup winnings, Paul Nicholls unleashed another superstar in the shape of Denman who went on to jump his stable mate in to the ground in one of the most stunning displays that Cheltenham has seen.

After an injury plagued start to the season all but robbed Denman of his chance in the great race last year, Kauto went on to claim his second Gold Cup and racing fans all over the world thought it could be the end for Denman who many feared would not be the same horse after his injury and certainly now not able to compete with Nicholls’ two – time Gold Cup champion.

Any doubts the masses had were soon forgotten as Denman shouldered top weight in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury to put in a trademark stunning display of jumping and put himself right back in to the frame for the big race at Cheltenham and have Kauto Star backers quaking in their boots about if their hero could stave off a challenge from a Denman on top form.

So in passing on the batton to you our avid readers, all we ask is that you too help spread the word via your Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace, Email, Websites, Forums etc as quickly as possible, and help bring some aid and relief to the people of Haiti quickly.

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Right, forget the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, here are some of the best tips for this year, and not from Alan (!)

What are the best bets in 2010? You need look no further than the world of sport this year. Plenty of good online casino reviews etc on Oggs main site, but let’s look at the sporting tips in certainly a busy year to come.

Let’s start with the World Cup football in South Africa this summer, Ladbrokes and other bookies have these odds 11/2 for England to heal 44 years of hurt and win. Sky Bet offer 150/1 on David Beckham clinching the trophy by hitting the winning penalty in a shoot-out. Whilst Brazil and Spain are joint favourites the best bet looks to be the current champions Italy at a very good 12-1 across the board.

At home in the UK, Chelsea were anti-post favourites to win the Premiership title and still available at 6/5 with Blue Square, 888sport.com, Sky Bet and Paddy Power. And the Golden Boot award? Well the preseason outsider at 50/1 Darren Bent is on scintillating form and now priced at 7/1.

Of course England’s cricketers are bouyed by their 2009 Ashes win and are 11/8 with Totesport to retain those Ashes in Australia at the end of 2010. Rugby Union’s Six Nations’ title is up for grabs with England at 5/1 but still only second favourite behind the impressive Irish.

Boxing was wild in in 2009. David Haye is 2/1 with William Hill to defend his WBA heavyweight crown by beating John Ruiz and then beating either of the Klitschko brothers all in 2010.

Golf is normally the best sport to bet on and the amazing news story involving Tiger Woods at the end of 2009 has seen him withdraw from playing, but the cracking bet of Totesport’s 5/2 shot that he is lured back to play in The Masters as his first golf competition in 2010 is one not to pass lightly.

USA is not doing well at Wimbledon in the Mens’ Championship and so the Brits have Andy Murray at 11/8 with Sky Bet, Totesport and Victor Chandler to win a major grand slam in 2010.

Now I love Formula One motor racing and the return of Michael Schumacher will certainly spice the races up, Sportingbet have him at at one time would have been an outrageously good price of 3/1 to win the drivers’ championship, but perhaps the best bet is with William Hill and that the champion will be British, a fair 5/4.

Now I can’t miss out horseracing, and my wasn’t 2009 probably the best year ever, one exceptional horse race after another. The magnificent Kauto Star is 6/4 to lift win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the Spring and other festival tips are Big Bucks at 6/4 with most bookies to take the World Hurdle and Master Minded at 7/4 to win the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

I miss my local dog track that shut down, but will be keeping my eye on the fine Irish dog Tyrur Quinn to spring a surprise and race off with the Greyhound Derby, well at a cheeky 50/1 each-way price why not. I’d love Ireland to win something this year if they are not going to be represented at the football World Cup.

Well enjoy your year, bet safe and may the luck of the Irish be with you in 2010!

Cheers! JC

The Xfactor, Britain’s most watched TV talent show, crowned Joe McElderry its winner last weekend. Simon Cowell’s creation in recent years has then grabbed the UK’s coveted Christmas No 1 Single position, but this year there is a groundswell of protestors on both Facebook and Twitter leading a campaign to put real music, not manufactured and manipulated pop on top of the charts.

It’s alleged that Cowell has a large stake in Sony Record’s Rage Against The Machine and even this face off between the two contenders is just a way for him to make even more money. Let’s not put it past him, the manipulation of the media week after week by who and what happens on Xfactor is headline news and lapped up by the public. The ultimate ringmaster? The svengali in the centre of zheitgeist? Very possibly, but even the competition for No 1 is pure entertainment.

The bookies are happy to, years of foregone conclusions about the Chritsmas No 1 winner has a bit of edge, prices for Rage Against The Machine are shortening every day and Joe’s price is lengthening. Will the power of Twitter and Facebook put the people’s choice at the top of the charts? We’ll all find out Christmas Eve, but if you want a festive flutter then Betfair probably offers the best odds on the two protagonists. It’s just a shame you can’t bet on Cowell not being involved, those would be long odds indeed.

…And next year for Cowell? A rumoured prime time television show centred around politics; well 2010 is election year in the UK so who knows what will happen – Brown v’s Cameron v’s Clegg on a stage dancing, singing and juggling near you soon!

Have you bought either record this year? Let us know your thoughts below…

Well as most of the UK knows today it’s already white and slushy, what with an early blizzard covering large swathes of the British Isles.

So is it an odds-on dead cert that Christmas Day will be snowey or just slush or bare with no more flurries.

In the UK you can bet by city, so offering a better opportunity of calling it right. Paddy Power and Sky Bet offer some of the best odds and offer introductory bonuses too when you join them. I had a cheeky snow bet with Betfair two weeks ago when the odds were 6-1, I’m keeping my mittens crossed for more snow, but with pressies still to buy a few snow free days would be good to get out round those stores quickly and not get caught up in the last minute rush.

Some City prices from last night include both Christmas Snow and No Christmas Snow, amazingly yes you can even bet on it being a blank Christmas. Now if only I could bet on what colour the usual Christmas slippers colour will be this year – sheesh!

London 3-1 Yes, 2-7 No
Manchester 2-1 Yes, 1-3 No
Liverpool 9-4 Yes, 2-7 No
Glasgow 5-2 Yes, 1-3 No
Edinburgh 7-4 Yes, 2-5 No
Cardiff 10-3 Yes, 2-5 No
Birmingham 11-4 Yes, 1-3 No
Belfast 10-3 Yes, 2-7 No

From everyone at Oggs & Casinotabs, may we wish you all a very festive Christmas holiday, good cheer, happiness and lots of luck in 2010.

Christmas is coming, awards season is coming and not only at Oggs, but also at the BBC with the annual Sports Personality of the Year Awards to be decided in just a few weeks time. Such greats as Henry Cooper, David Beckham, Nigel Mansell, Princess Anne, Dame Kelly Holmes, the list goes on and on for more than 30 years, have won the coveted silver TV camera trophy.

This year could be the most open there has ever been. Not an Olympic or World Cup year the achievements in the big sports, like Football, Tennis, Golf, Athletics, Rugby and Cricket have not thrown up any major achievers, but perhaps it’s a fight out between an athlete, boxer or racing car driver in 2009.

These sports have been well represented on the winners podium before, but this year’s outstanding athletes have all won when not expected to; David Haye, World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Jessica Ennis, World Athletics Decathlete and Jenson Button, Formula 1 Racing World Champion.

There might be some who actually disagree with the above, and some who would choose a ‘horse’ over them. For the greatest and most outstanding achievment this year was surely from Sea The Stars who won the 2,000 Guineas, The Derby and Prix De L’Arc De Triomphein 2009. Not just the champion 3 year old colt of the year, but the best flat racing horse of all time.

In 1977 Red Rum, the greatest steeplchaser appeared on the BBC awards show, but missed out on the top award after his third win of the Grand National, but surely it’s time to look at the amazing season See The Stars had and put a horse at the top of the podium in December.

The nature of the wins, the top class opposition beaten so well and the enjoyment the horse gave to so many in the racing fraternity and outside it are all great justifications and far more impressive than one off boxing, athletic or driving races.

So I’d hope you all join with me and ask the BBC to allow us to vote for See The Stars and pass this page on via Facebook and Twitter and whatever means to start the votes rolling in for a true champion. What price Ladbrokes would you give him?

This weekend saw the first of the two leg World Cup play-offs and many of the favoured teams are still not safely on the plane to South Africa 2010. France, Portugal, Russia and Uruguay all take one goal leads into their second legs on Wednesday night.

Elsewhere minnows New Zealand booked their place, the first time in 28 years joining Australia who also had pre-qualified and gives the Oceania group its strongest showing ever in the football finals.
Egypt looked like they would be staying at home until the 94th minute and a last gasp equaliser versus Algeria now requires a further one-off play-off game between the two sides to split the difference and send one heading south next year to compete in the largest soccer spectacle ever.

The bookmakers loved the weekends results, most went according to form, so there were some lucky gamblers too, but the tight scoring means that bookies like Ladbrokes and the rest are able to offer good prices on the more undesired teams with no doubt a shock in the offing somewhere amingst them so it’s worth checking out the prices on Ireland, Bosnia-Herz, Greece or Ukraine and Slovenia.

The World Cup Draw is made in South Africa in just 2 weeks time at the start of December and with so many top teams possibly scraping through unseeded there are no doubt going to be more than one or two Group’s of Death that many countries will wish to avoid to be able to proceed to the last 16 when the latter stage of the World Cup Finals goes into sudden death play-off.

England, qualified on the back of the best campaign they have ever had, but the likes of Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy and the ever present Germany will be the other top seeds who will no doubt meet at one point or another next summer in the world’s largest football tournament in the continent of Africa for the first time ever.

(Being slightly biased, my Irish heritage will no doubt be kicking into gear again this Wednesday as I will the lads in green, from the Emerald Isle, to step up to the task in Paris and recover from the 1-0 defeat at Croke Park this weekend and come away victorious.
There will no doubt be quite a party in a number of shamrock bedecked places across the globe if they do!)

Today is the official launch of COD6 Modern Warfare 2, dubbed the most anticipated game of the decade by many gamers across the world. Oggs reviewer JC got his hands on a copy 24 hours early of the eagerly anticipated sequel to Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare and his verdict after 8 hours straight gaming? AWESOME!

Playing through the many levels the action is fast paced, breathtaking at times and the cut scenes look no different to the gameplay, the graphics, sound and feel is that precise and good.

All the buttons are the same, the amount of kit and mods has been cranked up and 18 player multi-player works so sweetly you just can’t put it down. A few energy drinks later and the sun rises to bring in a new fresh day and you wonder where all the time went.

FALL IN SOLDIER!

Oggs.com is bringing UK gamers together via Twitter with the hash tag #MW2UK prefix and asking all UK Xbox Live gamers to ‘Fall in Soldier’ and create the largest UK COD6 Modern Warfare 2 clan to be launched tonight. By searching #MW2UK all UK gamers can tweet their Xbox Live profile name for others to befriend and enable UK players to find local gamers to set up Xbox Live Parties and take on the world.

But, it doesn’t stop there, the Americans have #MW2US to do the same and so let the battle commence. Why not start your own hashtag list from the country you are in too and see you online later.

For now sit back and view the sumptuous advert. It has a few squeemish moments, but nothing more than a normal Hollywood blockbuster has.

The Future of Gambling – perhaps we should start a thread up on our Online Gaming Forum about it and see what everyone has to say, or by all means add your comments below.