RedCafe.net

Following on from the last Betfair Poker tournament in September, United’s official betting partner is running another competition giving you the chance to win tickets to Manchester United vs Portsmouth on February 6. The prize also includes $500 (US Dollars) towards travel expenses so even if you are outside the UK, there is no reason not to enter.

This is not an exclusive RedCafe competition, so entrants go head-to-head with other Reds fans, making the winner the finest poker playing United fan – unofficially at least!

The top prize is two seats at Old Trafford on February 6, while the runner-up will receive a signed United shirt. The third placed card shark lands a $100 bet with Betfair, with fourth and fifth taking free bets to the value of $50 and $25 respectively. The next five entrants win a free $10 bet.

The tournament takes place on Wednesday December 16 at 7:45pm, and entry is simple:

1. Competition entrants must be over 18.
2. You must be holder of a Betfair account (please support RedCafe by registering using this link).
3. Once you have setup your Betfair acount, download the Betfair Poker Room and create your poker alias before midnight on Sunday December 13.

On Wednesday night get down to the tournament lobby and register for the ‘Man United Freeroll’ in the Tourney Lobby. Get all that done before 7:45pm on Wednesday December 16 and start playing when the tourney begins at 8pm GMT.

For those who have never played before or consider themselves novices a full guide to poker is available on Betfair Poker.

Full competition details and T&Cs are available here on the Betfair website.

It’s competition time yet again folks, and this week to coincide with the interview with Andy Mitten on the RedCafe.net Podcast, we’ve got copies of his two latest books to give away.

Glory Glory!

Glory Glory! is the story of one of the greatest eras in the history of England s greatest club through the eyes of the players who made it happen. Not just the big wins, the cup finals and the trophy parades, but the half-time rows, the mad pranks, the boozy nights out and the training ground bust-ups.

Andy Mitten has tracked down ten of the stars from that team – including Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Lee Sharpe, and Nicky Butt as well as controversial chairman Martin Edwards – to open the door to both the dressing room and boardroom at Old Trafford as the club emerged as the dominant force in English football.

Glory Glory! is an astonishingly candid and revealing insight into a club that was winning its first league title in 26 years, the Double and that historic Treble. More than that, it as lively and entertaining sports book as you’ll ever read.

When Football Was Football: Manchester United

his is a superbly presented collection of photographs of Manchester United from its early days until 1992, newly selected from over 10,000 images in the “Daily Mirror’s” archive. These evocative pictures, many previously unpublished, bring to life the important events in United’s history: the triumphs of the first trophies, the tragedy of the Munich disaster, the successes that followed.

There are glorious images of United icons such as Edwardian superstar Billy Meredith, Sir Matt Busby and his first captain, Johnny Carey, lost ‘Babes’ Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor, and the stars of United’s first European Cup-winning side – George Best, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, Paddy Crerand and Nobby Stiles.

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To enter the competition, just click this link to send through an email and I will pick the winners from a (imaginary) hat next week.

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Andy is also doing a few book signings later in the month with Andrew Cole and Paddy Crerand if you want to pop along and meet them in the flesh:

‘When Football Was Football’ Book Signing
Friday, 23rd October 2009 @ 18:30
Waterstones, Trafford Centre, Manchester
With Paddy Crerand

‘Glory, Glory!’ Book Signings
Thursday, 29th October 2009 @ 13:00 – 14:00
Waterstones, The Manchester Arndale, Manchester
With Andrew Cole

Thursday, 29th October 2009 @ 17:00 – 18:30
WH Smith, Trafford Centre, Manchester
With Andrew Cole

It’s competition time again folks! Last week it was a book, this time it’s something a little bit meatier.  We’ve teamed up with Betfair to offer forum members the chance to win hospitality tickets to Manchester United vs Sunderland at Old Trafford on October 3rd.

By hospitality I mean:

• pre-game drinks in the ‘Platinum Suite’
• pre-game lunch
• a seat on the half-way line in the Betfair box
• drinks at half-time and afterwards
• all the prawn sarnies you can eat!

This is a very exciting offer, the first of its kind really for this site, and as the official betting partner of Manchester United, Betfair will be running many more exclusive offers in the future for United fans.

There’s a catch though – to win you have to be a bit of a poker shark!  Betfair are running an online RedCafe Freeroll Poker Tournament on Tuesday, 29th September at 19:30 BST (that’s GMT + 1 hour) to determine the winners of this competition.

The prizes are as follows:

• 1st place – 2 hospitality tickets for Man United v Sunderland
• 2nd place – 1 hospitality ticket for Man United v Sunderland
• 3rd – £50 sports bet on Betfair
• 4th – £35 sports bet on Betfair
• 5th – £20 sports bet on Betfair
• 6th to 20th – £5 sports bet on Betfair

The tournament is completely free to enter, here’s how:

1. If you don’t already have one, open a Betfair account.
2. Download the Betfair poker room from www.betfairpoker.com.
3. Private Message me for the game room password.
4. Enter the Betfair Poker room on Tuesday evening and go to the Tourney Lobby.
5. Select the free to enter ‘Red Cafe Freeroll‘ and enter using the password given.

Betfair is one of the largest online betting companies in the world, so rest assured the poker room software is 100% safe and secure. If you don’t know much about Multi Table Poker tournaments, read more here.

The tournament is only open to currently active forum members (any new members who join from today onwards are not eligible – sorry). The eventual winners will be verified as site members and if they are found not to be, any prize they were eligible for will go to the player who finished behind them.

And just to be extra clear, you have to be available on Tuesday at 19:30 BST to play in the tournament.  Depending on the total number of contestants it could take up to 4 hours if you go all the way to the end, so make sure your other half is pre-warned!

Please note that if you are lucky (or skilled) enough to win the match tickets, you are responsible for making your own way to Old Trafford for the game. That means if you’re reading this in Djibouti or Uzbekistan, we’re not paying for your flights to Manchester!

If you have any questions, please post in the topic this blog entry has created or PM me.

So that’s it – PM me now to enter, start honing those poker skills and good luck!

- Niall

Here’s something a little different for you all!  The Football Supporters’ Federation have kindly donated a copy of ‘Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King‘ by Phillipe Auclair to give away to one lucky Cafite.

So if you want to be in a with a chance to read this ‘tour de force’ (according to Brian Glanville) on Le Roi’s life, simply follow this link to send me an email and I’ll make the draw next week.

Garreth from the FSF also sent through the following about the organisation.  They’re doing some great work, it’s free to join plus you get a few perks, so why not get involved…

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The Football Supporters’ Federation is offering free membership to all fans
from across the UK and beyond. We’re geared to creating a larger, more vocal
campaigning force for fans of all clubs up and down the country. If you’re
worried about the direction the game is heading, whether it’s the way that
fans are policed week-in, week-out, ticket prices being prohibitively
expensive or club ownership issues, then join our existing 140,000+
individual and affiliate members and stand up for fan interests.

There has never been a more important time to ensure your voice is heard,
and it’s never been easier to get involved. All you need to do to become a
member is give us your name and email address – it’s that simple.

www.fsf.org.uk/join.php

All newly joining members are entitled to a free issue of The Football
Supporter magazine delivered straight to your door, absolutely free of
charge, as well as receiving a £5 discount from TOFFS, the UK’s largest
retailer of retro football shirts, just as our thank-you to you for getting
involved. You can use the code as many times as you like between now and the
end of the year, too. You can’t say fairer than that, surely?

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