The FIFA World Cup, which kicked off on Thursday, is a busy time for the betting markets. During the 2014 World Cup, betting analysts estimated that we Brits wagered more than £1 billion, setting a record for the biggest betting event in our country’s history. Those of your looking to have a flutter this time around should, however, consider heeding the advice of behavioural scientists before you do. According to the Behavioural Scientist magazine, when wagering money on sporting events, it’s less about who you bet on and more about who you don’t put money on. Their advice includes - avoid betting on your favourite team, don’t opt to cash out because your team is doing badly, forget what you know about the sport, keep your bets simple, and finally, ignore the advertising. The Weekly doesn’t pretend to be a gambler, let alone understand how it all works, but if you are anything like us, hopefully our understanding might help. England, who kick off their World Cup campaign against Tunisia tomorrow night, are 12-1 to win the World Cup. That means if you bet £10 at 12-1, you should expect to lose £10!

It appears to be seminar season and, fresh from hosting our own last week, The Weekly ventured to CBRE’s inaugural Alternatives Conference on Tuesday afternoon. Titled ‘Winning Investment Strategies in Operational Real Estate’, the afternoon’s agenda included a review of three key areas: Building Platforms - supercharging returns or diluting focus?; Long Income - wonderdrug or snake oil?; and International Capital - transient disruption or the new normal? Rather than trying to summarise three hours of excellent content into just a few sentences, we’d rather point you in the direction of their new publication ‘’Alternatives – More mainstream than Mainstream’. In here you’ll learn that IPD data shows just 5% of new leases are now for terms more than 15 years; how 40% of new leases now have break clauses; how alternatives accounted for 37% of Q1 2018 investment volumes; and how global capital accounted for over a third of alternative volumes in 2017.

With next week likely to be focused on the World Cup and Royal Ascot, it could be easy to forget all about National Selfie Day. Get those smartphones out people, Tuesday is National Selfie Day. While some of The Weekly’s readership might argue that every day is selfie day, 21 June is officially the day of the year set aside specifically to recognise ‘the act’. Gone are the days when you used to have to turn your clunky digital camera backwards or — even worse — pose in front of a mirror to achieve that perfect profile photo! The Weekly would be the first to admit that we’re not big on selfies. In fact, most usually result in a, "Wait, is that what I really look like?" sort of moment. However, like it or not, selfies and narcissism are here to stay. So in light of this, we thought we’d share a few tips that 'apparently' guarantee a high-quality selfie. These include: 'find your perfect angle'; 'consider your background'; 'lighting is everything'; 'primp yourself'; and keep ‘applying filters until you've reached your desired outcome'. If you put all these tips to use you’ll apparently accomplish that elusive "retouched without actually being retouched" selfie that you thought only existed in your dreams. Unless you simply just couldn't care less. In that case, you are allowed to join our club.