Making Up For Lost Time?!

Full on, competitive Euro 2012 qualifiers are the main draw on this weekends coupon and I've had my eye on a 3 timer since Wednesday.

Spain + Italy + England treble
3.96 Betfred 3.68 PaddyPower 3.68 StanJames

The negatives are Spain's price looks extremely short, they're not playing mugs in the Czech Republic, Italy seem to have drifted from odds on to odds against in the last couple of days and England are far from convincing at the moment. But all 3 surely have enough quality to negotiate victories against the respective opponents?
Now the near 3/1 price on this treble is a little on the short side for this blog so my intention is to put these three teams into 4 timers with a golfer and two snooker players, highlighted lower down just to get a decent amount rolling on to those ante post picks.

Friday night is full of sporting action.
There are the Spain and Italy qualifiers I touched on above, top class Super League, seeded players entering the fray in Miami's ATP event and some English football league games.

Spain 90 mins
Italy 90 mins
St.Helens 80 mins
Wigan 80 mins
MK Dons 90 mins
John Isner ATP Miami
Sam Querry ATP Miami

20.64 betfred 19.73 paddypower 19.56stanjames

All odds on in the above acca with Wigan v Warrington the strongest danger to letting us down.

The quiet week previous to this post, as always, was due to end of the month financial restrictions, i.e broke and with some major sporting events happening in April, I'm investing now before it's all gone.
Firstly, the snooker World Championships. I'll be surprised if the winner doesn't come from the top half of the draw and I'm backing 2 players who I expect to meet prior to the winner taking on Neil Robertson in the semi finals.
Mark Selby 13/2
Ding Junhui 9/1

Beyond the Worlds and the Grand National in April, there's also the US Masters in Augusta. I've had one player in mind for this tournament since his FedEx Cup performances at the end of last year.
I think his temperament and style of play will carry him a long way into the second Sunday of April.
Matt Kuchar 40/1

Hopefully we Kop something tonight to keep us interested for most of the month.

@rudgey76

Been a while......

But confident of coming back with a winning acc today.
Steered clear of sports betting for the past fortnight as I immersed myself in Cheltenham formbooks, to some degree of success in that I only finished slightly down over the four days, which compared to other years can almost be considered a win!
I had a little rollup on yesterdays 6 Nations handicap coupon but only got Scotland right, with England rolling over in Dublin and Wales getting a bit of a spanking.
Tons of stuff we could get involved in today so I've tried to be a little conservative, which I do find difficult, but have a look at these,

PLAYERS TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS DAY MARK SELBY O/R
QATAR MOTO GP CASEY STONER RACE WINNER
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS FINAL RAFAEL NADAL
EPL FIXTURE LIVERPOOL 90 MINS
SERIE A FIXTURE NAPOLI

Stan James 28.50 Paddy Power 27.99 BetFred 26.76 SportingBet 24.70

Napoli need to win tonights Italian game to keep any title dreams alive, they don't have a great record v Cagliari but a win is vital.
Mark Selby finally managed to beat Mark Williams this year in yesterdays quarter final, both semis and final are played today in Dublin, so bets for the outright need to be on before 12p.m kickoff.
Casey Stoner's move to Honda seems seamless and he dominated qualifying yesterday and the Honda bikes dominated all practice sessions, Pedrosa will lead after lap 1 but Stoner's quicker overall race pace should see him past his team mate by around lap 5 or 6 and I can see him winning by a good margin.
In the tennis, Djokovic is looking to remain unbeaten this year but I'm taking Nadal to inflict Novak's first defeat of 2011. Their h2h reads 17-7 to the Spaniard and the recent wins for Djoko were towards the end of 2009, when Nadal was struggling physically.
Finally I'm taking Liverpool to end their recent troubles after Europa League games.
'Pool have lost their 3 away games in the EPL following European nights.
Prior to the beach ball incident which gifted Sunderland a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light last season, Liverpool had won the previous 6 meetings between the side.

Bet Responsibly

@rudgey76

Cheeky One for the weekend

Kept it quiet during the week, occupying myself with next weeks festival form studying. Couldn't resist all the action taking place this weekend, with 6 Nations rugby and F.A Cup swinging back into action.

6 NATIONS FIXTURE FRANCE -16
6 NATIONS FIXTURE IRELAND +1
F.A CUP FIXTURE MAN UTD 90 MINS
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURE Q.P.R
ENGLISH CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURE PORTSMOUTH
ENGLISH LEAGUE 1 FIXTURE BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
LA LIGA FIXTURE ZARAGOZA v VALENCIA OVER 2.5 GOALS

After going close with last weekends over 2.5 eightfold, I've given myself 9 to keep an eye on this afternoon,

OVER 2.5 GOALS
CREWE v CHESTERFIELD
STOCKPORT v BURTON
CHARLTON v BRENTFORD
ROCHDALE v EXETER
LEYTON ORIENT v OLDHAM
LEEDS v IPSWICH
SCUNTHORPE V LEICESTER
PORTSMOUTH v MIDDLESBOROUGH
Q.P.R v CRYSTAL PALACE

As a warm up to next weeks equine jolliness, I've dipped my toes into Sandowns Imperial Cup card too,

1:55 CUCUMBER RUN
3:00 ALPINE EAGLE
3:35 TANTE SISSI


Small stakes e/w just for interest.

@rudgey76

So many Grade 1's, so little time...

I am currently trying to sort out the Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 races during my every spare moment, thus leaving me no time to have a butcher's at football coupons.
But how can anyone resist a cheeky punt on the Europa League, the only good thing about a Thursday, I reckon.
Therefore I am following a fellow betting blogger, blindly.
He runs a superb blog covering the majority of sports betting and the link below will take you to the picks.


http://t.co/vzPIr0J

Good Luck if you're following the Vic Page tonight. (@keejayOV)

Dream the impossible dream, but 12 seems a lot!

Yesterday we put 6 homes up as an acc, none of them lost but only 3 of them won.
The over 2.5 goal acca, 9 games, saw 7 go over, 1 feature just 2 and one end goalless, thats 77% correct. Clutching at straws, I know. Not going to debate Arsenal or Leeds Rhinos.
I'm putting 12 up today! And if I'm totally honest, I haven't really taken any time over picking them, I will place another bet, wittle them down to a more realistic number, but I'll let you decide which they should be, so any suggestions gratefully received.

LIVERPOOL v MAN UTD OVER 2.5 GOALS 13:30
UDINESE 90mins v Bari 14:00
INTERNAZIONALE 90mins v Genoa 14:00
NAPOLI 90mins v Bari 14:00
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 90mins v Wolves 16:00
OLYMPIQUE LYON -1 v Arles 16:00
FC COPENHAGEN 90mins v Midtjylland 17:00
STANDARD LIEGE v CLUB BRUGGE OVER 2.5 GOALS 17:00
BESIKTAS 90mins v Trabzonspor 17:00
SPORTING LISBON 90mins v Beira Mar 18:00
MARSEILLE 90mins v Lille 20:00
REAL MADRID 90mins v Racing Santander 20:00

1010.39 Paddy Power(Lyon-2) 671.18 Stan James 436.19 SportingBet 194.28 BetFred(2 missing markets)

With 4 of the picks going before 4 p.m, a second rollup beginning with Spurs will keep us interested for a short while, should things go tits up with Uniteds bore draw with Liverpool or Udinese failing to beat the worst away record in Serie A.

@rudgey76

@charliesheen "Face it folks, you just feel better when you say it. #WINNING.

Charlie Sheen, nervous breakdown or a string of losing weeks as long as my own!
After many days of deteriorating confidence, I've gone for scatter gun approach today.
There are that many I don't have time or space for the unending statistical analysis, deep breath, here they come:

OVER 2.5 GOALS
NEWCASTLE UTD v EVERTON
READING v MIDDLESBOROUGH
PETERBOROUGH UTD v EXETER CITY
AFC BOURNEMOUTH v OLDHAM ATHLETIC
SHEFF WEDS v PLYMOUTH ARGYLE
CHARLTON ATHLETIC v TRANMERE ROVERS
SWINDON TOWN v WALSALL
CREWE ALEXANDRA v BURTON ALBION
NORTHAMPTON TOWN v SHREWSBURY TOWN

I'll have a goals galore on the above too, just in case of 1-1's.

HOME WINS
PORTSMOUTH
NORWICH CITY
PETERBOROUGH UTD
AFC BOURNEMOUTH
WYCOMBE WANDERERS
ROTHERHAM UTD

BetFred 27.34 Stan James 27.15 SportingBet 25.49 Paddy Power 25.04

And then,

ARSENAL 90mins v Sunderland
JUVENTUS v AC MILAN OVER 2.5 GOALS
BAYER LEVERKUSEN 90 mins v Wolfsburg
EXCELSIOR v PSV OVER 2.5 GOALS
PSG 90 mins v Auxerre
ST.HELENS 80mins v Catalan Dragons
LEEDS RHINOS 80mins v Warrington Wolves

Paddy Power 62.72 Stan James 59.36 SportingBet 54.98 Betfred 38.49

Back to the Original Idea.....

Sort of lost track of what I was trying to achieve with this blog in recent posts.
The idea was for big priced accas not piddly 11/2 trebles, not that we're getting much success with either! But we carry on punting regardless.
Gone for 5 selections tonight, 3 footy games and 2 Super League handicaps.
Wigan played as recently as Sunday evening, losing out in the World Club Challenge after throwing everything at their NRL counterparts, but just coming up short. Salford will offer up nowhere near such resistance and the handicap varies between 12 and 14 points, that may be covered before halftime.
Harlequins have started the season amazingly well and because of their 3 year long, losing record v the Giants, they are in receipt of between 6 to 8 points at home. Harlequins are 3 wins from 3 starts including a humbling of the might Leeds Rhinos last Friday, good form in my opinion.
Borussia Dortmund at home v Cologne, is a home banker. BvB have won 6 of the last 7, home and away v FC Koln and the last meetings at the Signal Iduna Park have gone to BvB on aggregate 9-3.
Roma away at Lecce, looks like a possible banana skin, but Lecce have never beaten Roma, home or away, in 19 meetings. Roma's recent change of manager, chosen by Totti and co. seems to have reignited the desire to qualify for Champions League football next season. Recent away wins at Juventus and Milan show they have no problems travelling.
A real chance is also taken with Anderlecht. Despite this being a home fixture, it's against their closest rivals in Belgiums Jupiler League. Anderlecht have won 7 of the last 8 meetings at home v Genk. Genk are unbeaten in their last 12 matches, whereas Anderlecht have lost their last 3, a two legged Europa League tie v Ajax and a league game inbetween, prior to those defeats Anderlecht were unbeaten in 14 league games.

SUPER LEAGUE HANDICAP WIGAN WARRIORS -12/14
SUPER LEAGUE HANDICAP HARLEQUINS -6/8
BELGIAN JUPILER LEAGUE FIXTURE ANDERLECHT 90 mins
SERIE A FIXTURE ROMA 90mins
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURE BOR. DORTMUND -1/2

prices vary due to handicap lines
22.22 Paddy Power
20.35 SportingBet
13.13 BetFred (no BVB handicap)

Good luck if you're punting.

To Be Expected

After going so close Monday night, a complete reversal of fortune the following evening should come as no surprise. All 3 picks went for a burton with Espanyol and Southampton both losing and Exeter and Tranmere only managing a 1-1 draw.
Picks are thin on the ground tonight, but thanks to those lovely fellas at A McLean Bookmakers (TeleBet 0800 121 4567) we have a little free money to play with tonight!

Man City are home bankers, haven't been beaten at the Eastlands since before Christmas and Mancini surely needs silverware.
Valencia v Barcelona, over 2.5 goals. 6 of the last 7 meetings between these two have gone over.
French Cup PSG to beat their second division opponents. Le Mans are top of Ligue 2 but PSG, are unbeaten in 11 games at home including against the likes of Seville and Borussia Dortmund, agreeably sides much better than the likes of Le Mans.
Finally Arsenal v Leyton Orient and I've gone for Samir Nasri to score anytime, the stats tend to show that without either Fabregas or Van Persie in the side, both unavailable due to injury, Nasri brings himself to the fore, I've played it safe with the anytime but wouldn't be surprised if he popped in with the first.

ENGLISH F.A CUP FIXTURE MAN CITY 90 mins
SPANISH LA LIGA FIXTURE VALENCIA v BARCELONA OVER 2.5 GOALS
COUP DE FRANCE FIXTURE PSG 90 mins
ENGLISH FA CUP FIXTURE SAMIR NASRI ANYTIME SCORER for Arsenal v Leyton Orient

A McLean Bookmakers 9.24 Stan James 7.32 SportingBet 6.68 BetFred 6.64 Paddy Power 6.52

Really Close.....

Really close to collecting last night 2 out of 3 and the third was just a goal shy of collecting! I'd even changed my mind twice on the losing selection, once from overs to both to score and then back again, believe it or not.
Lots of footy action tonight and not much else going on sports wise.
I'll open up with the cardinal sin of football betting, odds on away from home.
I hear you, a fool and his money and all that, but Southampton away at struggling Walsall, surely has the looks of a decent odds compiler?
Their two meetings last season both went the way of the Saints, to an aggregate score of 8-2. Saints haven't lost a game since going out of the F.A Cup to Man United.
Walsall have shown improvement of late, since the previous manager left but their record so far this season against teams in the top half of League One is not great.
Secondly, Exeter City v Tranmere Rovers to go over 2.5 goals.
Last seasons two meetings both went over 2.5 goals, 2-1 and 3-1. Exeter currently sit 3rd in the overs/unders table with an average of 3.16 per game with Tranmere at 2.65 p.g. The Imps last 5 home games have all gone over and Tranmere's last 3 aways have all gone over.
Finally, over to Primera Liga in Spain for Espanyol v Mallorca.
Espanyol's home form is what has seen them remain firmly in the top 6 so far this season, recent defeats to two teams above them forgiven, Saturday night they beat Sociedad 4-1 and the home game prior to home defeats by Villareal(3rd) and Real Madrid(2nd), saw them beat Zaragoza 4-0. Mallorca have not won an away game in 7 attempts with just one draw managed of those 7 games. The head to head table shows, of the 13 games between these two played at the Cornella El Prat, Espanyol have won 9 drawn 2 and lost 2.

LA LIGA ESPANYOL 90 mins v Mallorca
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE SOUTHAMPTON 90 mins v Walsall
ENGLISH LEAGUE ONE EXETER CITY v TRANMERE ROVERS OVER 2.5 GOALS

6.77 Stan James 6.61 Paddy Power 6.38 SportingBet 6.31 Betfred

Good Luck if you're punting.