Higgins defies age stats to lift World crown

I'm getting better at timekeeping, only a day late with this one, but still reckon its best to keep a regular posting date otherwise it will all get a bit willy nilly, am I rambling already lol.
The World Snooker Championship finished with a couple of winners for me having backed John Higgins to take both the match and the highest break of his final with Shaun Murphy and both obliged at the same price of 5/6. So although I actually finished a fair bit up on the match betting, I overstaked a bit on the outrights and also on some of the extra markets that crop up every World Championship so ended up slightly down overall.
Thats a bit disappointing as have usually done quite well in the flagship event betting wise in the past, but it was close as I reckon if Mark Selby had edged out John Higgins instead of the other way around, things could well have been different. Fair play to John though, a sterling effort of matchplay snooker all the way through and the oldest player to take the title since Joe Johnson over 20 years ago, which shows how competitive the modern era is with the conveyer belt of young and hungry players coming into the game.
It will be interesting to see if that trend continues with a few snooker clubs closing down in the last year or two, but would imagine that the bigger cities will still be thriving with plenty of talent.
Theres no rest for some of the participants in the Worlds as they go straight on to the World Series grand finale in Portugal which is now underway. My outright pick is Graeme Dott each way at 9s and he is in action against young whizzkid Luca Brecel, a 14-year-old from Belgium as I speak, the latter having already disposed of Jimmy White and Ken Doherty to get to the quarter final.
Also had a nice six-fold acca up in the league stages of this, all at shortish odds, but still paid a touch over 5/2 so off to a decent start anyhow though will probably keep bets to a minimum given the format and end of season feel.
Also had a nice winner in the Peterborough Puppy Derby last Tuesday on Sky when my ante-post pick Barnfield Rocky powered home from his rail draw to land the 14/1 odds and supplemented that one with Bandit Blue who I also backed on the night at evens in one of the supporting events on the sharp Midlands track where the start is so vital.
I wasn't totally happy with my early Greyhound Derby picks in the ante post market however and lost one of them last night when Tyror Hestor fluffed the start though Bandicoot Tipoki, Head Iton Ellis, Wise Thought and Farloe Reason all made it through. Tonight Jesters Nap and Ballymac Ruso make their bids to reach the next round too, have I really backed that many lol!!
The next round of the Ladbrokes 600 takes place tonight at Shelbourne with College Causeway the ante post favourite being my biggest outlay though I also have Dundrum Minor, Mid West Blue and Skywalker Night in this one, the latter two only just scraping through last time around though.
And also the Oran Majestic Classic semi finals are held on the same card with Faypoint Man, Tip and Tin and Skywalker Queen all in contention for me.
There was disappointment in horse racing's 1,000 guineas when my 8/1 ante post bet on Rainbow View (odds on on the day) didnt bear fruit as the filly seemed to dislike the firmer ground and could only stay on at one pace in fifth. Perhaps she'll need to wait for the rains or else step up in trip to be seen to best effect now.
It was nice to pick up a decent return on the aussie rules on Friday when Essendon Bombers surprised the Hawthorn Hawks at best odds of 9/2, I thought the visitors were being priced up on last seasons form there so had a nice sum of money on both the match odds and handicap and Brisbane added to the coffers by defeating Richmond at 4/5 this morning.
In the gaelic football tomorrow, the Connacht Championship starts and I've backed Mayo to reel in their -16 handicap at New York at 10/11, most of the more illustrious Irish teams have managed to overcome similar burdens in the past though of course the recession may mean the American minnows have a bigger pool of players to choose from. The lines have changed to -18 though in the last couple of days so hopefully the early bird has caught the worm!!
The ice hockey has never quite happened for me on the betting front but I'm continuing to work on it as I love to watch the games. The match betting is showing a loss on the current World Championships which come to a conclusion tomorrow with my outright picks Russia facing Canada in a repeat of last years final, so at least theres the chance of some compensation. The Canadians however will start favourites to avenge last years overtime defeat as they have generally looked the more impressive in this event with a few of the Russian stars missing in the NHL play offs this time around (which didnt seem likely at the time I struck the bet!!).
Also unlikely are the chances of my Stanley Cup outright bet on Boston Bruins being cashed in, as they now trail 3-1 to Carolina in a best of 7 series so have no room for error now and were generally outplayed in the latest match. Will also be taking a bit of a loss on the chin there in the series bet which I thought looked a decent wager at 8/15 but its certainly not looking too hot now!!
This years World Pool Masters, sponsored by Matchroom, got underway last night and although the outrights looked far too trappy, I had a few dabbles on the match bets.
Imran Majid beat Johnny Archer in the Mosconi Cup the last time they met so took the 7/4 about him only to see him bomb out 8-2 in the first round, though the first leg of my double Shane Van Boening won by a similar score against the young Korean girl Ram Cha, that rolls on to Nils Feijen beating Tony Drago tonight.
Also chanced the outsider Fu Jian-Bo at 15/8, now into 7/4 against Mikka Immonen.
All the best for now
Rick