sittingchilly. . .

Puzzling attitude at Betfair

2010-03-24T16:00:00.007Z

Just thought I'd give everyone an update on things on the Betfair dispute (i.e. yours truly being harshly in my view banned for life from their forum). I should point out I'm not a raving Betdaq-ite though policies and dealings with people at Betfair have inevitably forced me that way over the last year or so.
I've happily offered olive branches to those at Betfair but for some reason they continue to prefer to be unreasonable and unapproachable which does seem pretty pathetic really given the standing of the company. Apparently if you infringe their forum rules they give you absolutely no room for resuming the status quo seemingly forever which seems draconian to say the least. I do believe everyone deserves a second chance and it only causes prolonged bad feeling. I really can't get inside these people's heads, they must be a different breed. But they lack the human touch for sure and in fact prefer to act like money hungry robots with pound signs in their eyes.
Anyhow I openly admit it was maybe a little infantile of myself to get so wound up about one or two of their policies I ended up saying the word "purple" a few times on their forum but no more so than their reaction to it, as they must have realised the introduction of the PC charging system in particular would cause some sort of furore.
Why victimise otherwise friendly and civilised folk for a mostly understandable reaction to something they stirred up in the first place. Of course they can do as they wish on their own forum but its sad they lack any empathy and person to person understanding and prefer to take the bully-boy or silent approach. Totally unnecessary and people don't forget it.
The hope is that when they have a turnover of staff the new incumbents will be somewhat more customer friendly than the current occupants, who seem to think we are still living in a Nazi state.
Not only that, but to simultaneously ban peoples relatives from the forum just because they are in some way kin to someone previously expunged seems to be totally prejudicied and discriminatory and not befitting of a global company who once seemed to be on the punters side. Somewhere along the line, it seems to have fallen into enemy hands and there is an under-current of greed and disregard for its patrons.
Indeed, my old Dad who seemingly got barred from the forum just because his surname is the same as mine, now has all his emails completely ignored with not even the courtesy of a reply.
I really don't know whats the matter with these people and I hope when I send a letter to the gambling press, it might stir them into some kind of answer as I do think by and large they have got off very lightly with some of their actions which for many people have left a nasty taste in the mouth.
On a lighter side, there is an excellent new snooker betting blog by my old mucker Snookerbacker at snookerbacker.com which is well worth a look and he does seem to make a consistent profit so hopefully you will come out of it alot richer too.
Good luck for now and keep the wins coming
Rick

Blog on a sabbatical

2009-07-31T23:59:00.001+01:00

I think I'm going to take a sabbatical from the blog for the time being as amongst other things, I've lost a bit of inspiration and of course I still need to catch up on the horse racing (as I've been saying for the last couple of years!!) plus I'm also getting around a few of the dog tracks, attended Sheffield last week and Perry Barr tonight each for the first time, so that leaves less time for the stay at home punting I'm afraid.
But its a bit dull being behind a computer screen all day so I feel its best to mix and match and get out there in the elements every now and again. Plus the football is starting too so will be out at a fair few of the Rams games on Saturdays from now on.
Anyhow its time to concentrate on the matters at hand so will maybe catch you later in the year or else on the Daq2Daq Forum, though dont worry, if Betfair announce an increase of their premium charge next month (a year on from its introduction) I will no doubt be back fairly pronto to voice my condemnation on here lol.
In the meantime good luck to anyone who's punting regularly and may the force be with you, keep it fun and hopefully you'll end up on the right side.
All the best for now
Rick

That "after the Lord Mayor's show" feeling

2009-07-20T23:59:00.005+01:00

An inbetween sort of post this week, as I usually try to get the blog out around Friday or Saturday, so this might be the only one for the fortnight, thank goodness everyone says lol.
Yes I've definitely felt lacking in inspiration despite having a cracking punting week the one before last, perhaps its an "after the Lord Mayors Show" type of feel and its maybe easy to relate why some teams find it hard to lift themselves after a particularly impressive performance.
I'm also maybe feeling a bit melanchony as any sports you seem to win consistently on, the firms gradually make the slots where you put your money in smaller and smaller until you can hardly get anything on (I suppose understandably so in the circumstances). Though of course the ones you are no good at you can probably get a four figure sum lol.
Normally this is where the exchanges come in, who should be acting purely as a go between between interested parties, but nowadays of course Betfair seem to want to play bookmaker too, asking for a minimum 20% cut of any proceeds if you are a regular winner on top of the 3-5% commission that usually applies.
I still find it hard to believe they can target normal gamblers with this unforgiveable stance: more understandable if it was aimed at traders who are not taking big risks or people with an inbuilt advantage in the markets I suppose, but I really don't think its any of their business snooping around in my account and in effect stealing money out of it.
If this ever becomes the norm in exchange land I'll long remember the perpertrators thats for certain.
I suppose obstacles are there to be overcome and as quite a stats man its maybe feasible to operate a kind of break even strategy to go along with the bona fide money making account, perhaps running two separate strategies on one account to make sure you pay the 20% commission without anyone from Betfair putting their hand in your drawers.
Anyhow for the time being I'm at Betdaq and will see how it progresses, I just see a time when most of the business will have to be on the exchanges as the avenue of the bookies will be mostly closed off if we aspire to get where we want, fair enough theres always the option of visiting the big local shops in person though its not quite as convenient of course.
About the only result that didnt go my way the week before last was when old stager Jimmy White beat Barry Hawkins 8-6 in the Sangsom Six Red Grand Prix final in Thailand, which would have made me £625 if the result had gone the other way, and gambler that I am, I didnt lay off either as didnt see any value in the Whirlwind at evens.
Overall though perhaps my second best week ever in a couple of years, though a bit behind the one where the money from the 125/1 Walden windfall came in.
The last week has been pretty even, I lost a couple of my gaelic football outrights as Antrim and Galway lost out in their respective finals, the latter to an injury time point after staging a great comeback. Derry also bowed out of the All Ireland Championship qualifiers at Donegal in extra time.
That said, two or three of the match bets went my way so didnt do any damage.
The Sky dogs night at Sunderland saw Crown Rover land a 14/1 ante post punt in the Grand Prix but Droopys Bogart was knocked out of the Classic final so you win some and lose some.
Had got tickets for the Splendour in Nottingham show this weekend with headliners Madness the last on the bill but then found out one of my fave reggae bands of all time Third World were playing Derby Caribbean Carnival the same day for FREE!!
Strangely enough I then noticed they were due to play the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham the same night (how many bands would do that!) which surely meant they were going to be on quite early in Derby.
So it probably meant a straight choice between Third World and The Pogues, who were understudies to Madness, and it was always no contest really. For a start I've always preferred the clean cut type of image so Shane McGowan's rotting teeth didnt greatly appeal really. I always remember refusing to buy Dexy's Midnight Runners "Come on Eileen" in the 80s mainly cos the band were all showing their hairy armpits on TOTP, even though I thought it one of the best sounds of the time.
I eventually relented about 20 years down the line though and bought their "Best of" when I decided there were worse things in life than seeing a few pubic hairs on TV!!
Anyhow I set out to do both Derby and Nottingham and it couldnt have dovetailed better. Third World did about forty minutes in Derby from 7.30-8.10 before somehow embarking on their trip to the capital (what dedication - they even had to make do without their bass player who was denied a visa for some reason).
I must say the reception to most of the bands didnt seem overly enthusiastic though I suppose most of the people there weren't hardcore fans of the acts themselves which makes a difference plus for the most part it was torrential rain too.
The highlights of the set were as you would expect the big hits "Now That We've Found Love" and the Stevie Wonder collaboration "Try Jah Love" though was a bit upset we didnt get to hear "Dancing on The Floor" which was the track that first got me interested in the band.
At least they said they may be back next year. A word for the compere too, he really put on a fantastically enthusiastic display, I'm sure he would have been quite watchable on his own for the entire evening given his all round repertoire of singing, dancing and comedic ability.
I then hotfooted it to Woollaton Park and after parking up outside and a very long walk down the driveway, arrived just in time to see Madness starting their set at 9pm in front of an unbelievably large crowd, one of the biggest I've seen at a pop concert.
All the classics were reeled off and my particular favourites were "Bed and Breakfast Man", "My Girl", "House of Fun", "Our House" and "It Must Be Love" to name but a few.
All the best for now
Rick

Just time to say hello, wave goodbye!

2009-07-11T14:29:00.010+01:00

An interesting and busy week, just squeezing the blog in between watching lots of live sport, again missed my Friday deadline but I have an excuse honest.
We've been having a new boiler in at home and so the workmen have been here at the crack of dawn turning the electricity on and off in between occasionally falling through the ceiling from the loft above (honest).
Well at least a whole leg was in view until the fall was broken by the refrigerator below!
Anyway will have to be a quick one today as I'm about to watch two of my outright picks Monaghan and Derry go head to head in half an hour which starts a back to back GAA marathon for around six hours of online coverage assuming I can get access to all the feeds.
I've also got a big interest in tomorrows matches with Dublin attempting to beat the improving Kildare in the Leinster final and Tipperary trying to justify favouritism against Waterford in the Munster hurling showdown.
Last weekend saw Cork (who I'd backed for the Munster football at 13/8 outright) fall over the line with a one point win over Limerick after being well adrift at one stage, and maybe they can thank the referee somewhat for the award of a slightly controversial penalty which kept them in touch early in the game when they couldnt find any rhythm at all. I'm glad I didn't take the 1/8 available on the day anyhow as there would have been more pleasant afternoons to be had!
In the match betting I claimed a winner through Wicklow who saw off the disappointing Fermanagh though the refs call rather went against me this time in my other pick when Monaghan conceded a highly dubious last minute late free to Armagh who forced the draw though ultimately losing out in extra time.
The aussie rules betting has picked up too lately and had a few more successes this morning. Carlton as they seem to do made hard work of landing the 3/10 against Richmond but always just held the upper hand while Essendon looked attractively priced on the road at Sydney and they justified support at 6/5 with a comfortable success.
Luckily I was just snooping around on a sports forum the other night and found that Geelong were likely to be missing several regulars for their match with Brisbane so armed with that info before most of the bookies I took the 33/10 that was available and also the 5/6 on the +20 handicap. Both were never in much doubt and it turned out the Cats had even more players missing than first thought, around half the team infact!
Most of that was down to the legacy of a bruising encounter with fellow Championship contenders St Kilda the week before, and I think I'll also take on Saints themselves in the handicap market with a long interstate journey to West Coast on the agenda tomorrow and being asked to give up 31.5 points. Not one I'm confident in, but the type of match where tiredness or an "after the lord mayors show" type of feeling may creep in.
It's been a pretty decent week on the snooker too, I seem to be doing better on these out of season events than I was actually doing all last year strangely enough.
I had a few Group bets in the Sangsom Six Red Grand Prix in Bangkok and landed three winners out of seven, though two of them were bigger stakes too so returned a modest overall profit.
John Higgins got off to a nightmare start with a 5-0 loss to unknown Pakistan cueist Mohammed Sajjad, but part of that was attributable to arriving late and having three frames docked. Eventually though he came through to head affairs by winning the rest of his games.
Shaun Murphy was always at the top in his section, and had already done enough by the time of a 5-1 loss to Nigel Bond in his last group game.
And Ryan Day also came up with the goods eventually with a 5-3 win over Supoj Saenla enough to see him narrowly overhaul Ken Doherty and Michael Holt.
Out of my four outrights, all at decent odds, I was hoping rather than expecting but thankfully Barry Hawkins at 25/1 has made it through to the final with an impressive 7-2 in over Judd Trump in the semis, and now faces veteran Jimmy White in tomorrow afternoon's showdown which can be seen live on the net on Modernine TV.
I probably struck one of my worst bets of the year on the cricket this week but got away with it luckily. I'd taken 4/7 about Essex to beat Glamorgan, knowing they were without three major players in Bopara, Cook and Kaneira but having consulted their fans website they seemed of the opinion the signing of South African international Amla would be what was required to stiffen up the batting. Also I noted that the youngster Maynard was on England twelfth man duty and would miss the match for the visitors.
However I somehow managed to miss the fact that the Dragons had also been active in the player recruitment area and Herschelle Gibbs unknown to me was making his debut.
He scored a half century and I was soon regretting my bet when Glamorgan amassed well over 500 and Essex were then skittled out for just 200.
Thankfully Amla lived up to the fans expectations second time around with a great knock of 180+ which somehow saved a game they looked certain to lose.
I've taken some 5/6 about Kent in their current match at Surrey. The home side knocked up just short of 400 which seems a decent total but it can be hard to tell sometimes until both teams have batted. I'll probably settle for a draw there now as well though thought the inclusion of Joe Denly after England Lions duty and South African Wayne Parnell, who had a successful World Twenty20 campaign might give them the ascendancy.
Last Sunday saw the end of my dreams of a big payout on Gloucestershire winning the Friends Provident Trophy when the 33/1 outright shots bowed out at the semi final stage despite a brave effort to overhaul a mammoth total set by Sussex at Hove.
And finally there was no Sky live dogs programme this week, I almost decided to go up to Sheffield's Owlerton Stadium on Tuesday for the first time but with heavy rain the order of the day decided against it, which was lucky as the hare stopped halfway through the night which meant a long delay, and also caused some angry scenes apparently with winning punters unhappy on the ruling about the lucrative Jackpot on offer that night (it was much reduced due to a void race).
I've still got a few active in the ongoing Sunderland festival but with throw in time looming for the gaelic football, I'll say adios and be lucky for now.
Catch you later
Rick

Anyone for a Lord Toffingham revival petition?

2009-07-04T15:33:00.008+01:00

This hot weather is not much fun when your brain is working overtime trying to come up with the latest bets but then again suppose its the same whatever you're doing though there are plenty who seem to positively enjoy it.
I think its fine if you have nothing to do but it does make you feel very lethargic and I have the freezer stocked up with dozens of ice lollies to get me through this latest heatwave. What a pity they dont do Lord Toffinghams any more, think I might start a petition for a revival! That toffee bit in the middle was simply magical.
Anyhow enough of my longings, overall its been a pretty satisfactory kind of week.
Although the dogs haven't been as kind to me in the last few weeks as previously, I still managed to land the Irish Oaks winner last Saturday, Skywalker Queen (10/1) who became the fastest bitch ever to run the trip at Shelbourne Park. And then in a damage limitation exercise, Corporate Attack won the Corn Cuchuilan at 6/1 which meant in essence I was about even on both events (work that out lol).
Of course the reason being I had also backed a few losers too along the way and perhaps my staking plan wasn't the best either, with a host of each way dabbles out of the money in the latter event not helping the coffers.
Anyhow last night's 6/1 winner seems to have persuaded Mr Power to limit my bets on the dogs, even though I made a loss on the Corn Cuchilian as a whole which seems a strange reaction, though I suppose it may be a totting up process.
On the Sky dogs Cesarewich night Melodys Comet looked like landing a 6/1 punt after going clear at one stage but was agonisingly reeled in by the favourite He Went Whoosh on the run in much to my dismay, a good effort from the winner though to overcome early scrimmaging.
I'm also struggling to get on with the GAA bets in some quarters, the ones that are winning keep seeming to occur with the same companies which isnt helping matters though does perhaps show that some of the compilers are a bit out of sync with others.
Last week I quite fancied Antrim to continue the good work after their "shock" win in Donegal and backed them at 2/1 to win against Cavan in the Ulster semi final.
I thought it was a good price until I saw someone offering 3.65 on the exchanges!
Cavan were unimpressive in the main in the previous win against Fermanagh, but had the one quality scorer on the pitch in Seanie Johnston. This time around things were probably not alot different, but with them trading at odds on this time as opposed to odds against, it was time to take them on.
Even I wasn't quite expecting the dominance the Saffrons showed and it was amazing how the game was still in the balance until quite near the end given the amount of possession Antrim enjoyed. Anyhow they did enough to take the spoils and I also had a bit of the 5/4 on the +2 handicap as a bonus.
Dublin looked a stonewall banker against the hapless Westmeath and although I'm not normally in favour of taking such short odds I did have some of the 1/5 before it disappeared and should maybe have taken the -6 handicap bet too as they had already knocked it off within about ten minutes lol.
Instead of that one I decided to side with Sligo to stay within the +6 margin up against Galway and despite a sluggish start with only two points in the first half hour they upped the ante to the stage that they were level with only a couple of minutes left.
Things turned out well in the remaining minutes for Galway with a goal and a point sealing a narrow win and as they were my Connaught outright picks that suited me down to the ground and the handicap bet was won too.
So I'm still in a healthy outright position for the provincial football outrights - Galway, Dublin, Cork and Antrim (the latter at 125/1 though I dont expect to collect there!) are all through to their respective finals and I also have Tipperary at 7/4 contesting the Munster hurling showdown too.
The cricket action slowed down a bit this week with a return to County Championship action. After getting used to batsmens strike rates being over a run a ball, Steve Stubbings of Derbyshire took 110 balls for 19 runs in their match against Leicestershire this week so I am mighty glad I didnt make the journey on this occasion as it must have been something akin to slow water torture.
The good run of form on the match betting has continued with Durham defeating Leicestershire in the last round of 20/20 matches at 4/6 and Somerset (4/7) somehow engineering a remarkable win over Yorkshire in the four day game thanks largely to a big hitting century from Peter Trego after it had seemed certain to be a draw earlier on.
And the aussie rules has joined in the fun too with a couple of winners this morning in Port Adelaide and West Bulldogs so I'm still keeping slightly infront overall in that sphere even though at more than one stage I've been thinking of curtailing that arm of betting.
The snooker is back this week with the Sangsom Six Red Tournament in Thailand for decent prize money and I've largely followed the formbook with a few bets in the respective groups while plumping for a few outsiders in the outrights. Have got online coverage lined up for the semis and finals but hoping something else crops up so we can see some of the rest of the event, its always better if you can see how your money went up in smoke rather than hear about it (or is it) lol.
All the best for now and apologies for being a day late!
Rick

Going to the dogs!

2009-06-26T23:59:00.001+01:00

Well not literally (though Hull was quite tempting tonight for possibly their last ever meeting before enforced closure), but easily the worst week I've had on the greyhounds since I started punting on them in earnest perhaps about a year ago.
Thankfully in the same period the cricket betting has taken an upturn helped by Pakistan lifting the Twenty20 World Cup at 17/2, though if I had waited until after their unimpressive warm up campaign I believe I could have got 10s.
That said, perhaps I wouldn't have fancied them then, though it was always likely they would improve as the event wore on due to their stark lack of cricket caused by external reasons prior to the competition.
Unbeknown to me, one of their star performers in both the semi and final, Shahid Afridi had an unproductive spell at Derbyshire early in his career according to the local newspaper but he certainly showed his worth last weekend as Pakistan upset favourites Sri Lanka in an absorbing final.
I've carried that success into the domestic Twenty20 markets with four more successful bets, mostly opposing my own team Derbyshire who have gone from bad to worse in recent outings though I think I shall keep my powder dry for their final game at injury ravaged Yorkshire who are now out of contention themselves.
At least Lancashire and Sussex have made it through to the quarter finals so still something to shout about in the outrights, despite the non-qualification of the Tykes and Gloucestershire - though the latter are giving me a good run at big odds in the Friends Provident Trophy.
Went to Trent Bridge for the first time in ages last night and despite the hammering the Phantoms took in the field after setting an initially respectable total, must say I was really impressed with the venue, it certainly puts the County Ground into perspective thats for sure!
Back to the greyhounds and unfortunately it seems to have been a week when little went right with some sizeable losses totted up from various ante post markets.
After reporting a good Friday afternoon win in last weeks blog, the good fortune didnt carry on into the evening when Magna Venturer my remaining ante post representative could only managed second behind Derby finalist Ballymac Ruso who I opposed mainly because of the extended trip but he had the race well in the bag long before the final stages as it transpired.
Then came the Sky TV meeting at Newcastle which proved an absolute graveyard for the inside boxes with the first bend appearing far too sharp to take at any kind of momentum and with the outside dogs cutting back across practically all the red jacketed dogs were having to check or be baulked at this stage.
This put paid to my biggest stake on Farloe Reason as he came out of the dreaded one box and to make matters worse I fancied the winner Ardkill Tunoco on the day quite strongly with two slow starting dogs inside but for some reason didnt back him as it would have eroded any winnings on my original ante post picks.
I should really have supported my later inklings with hard cash if only to break even rather than sit and hope like a rabbit caught in the headlights in the middle of the road on a dark country road.
In the Angel of the North Oaks, Was Not Me one of my picks was bowled over at the bend while the other Plan lost about five lengths when checking yet was only beaten about a neck into third place which shows how unlucky he was.
And in the TV Trophy, Bubbly Eagle showed nothing like the sparkle of his semi final win when arriving on the final bend with every chance but despite not really getting the clearest of passages, he made very little headway on all the way winner Midway Skipper who was discovering her best form again after a spell off the track when in season.
At least I landed a 5/4 winner when Brimardon Star took the stayers event on the night but things took a downturn again when Ferdia Bound had his legs taken away from him on the last bend in the big event at Harolds Cross when challenging for second place and ended up dropping back to last before rallying to only miss out on qualification by a couple of necks. Not much use to me though.
I did have a couple of savers last week on Corporate Attack and Hello Hippy but will still come out of the event with a loss now and an even bigger one if neither of those two win it.
Adding in the ill fated single bets on the first round and it has been a very costly competition for me indeed!
A couple of competitions are still ongoing as I speak, in tonight's Irish Oaks at Shelbourne I'm hoping for a Skywalker Queen or Lady Glenard win though have a saver on favourite Maireads Fantasy to cut my losses should things go wrong.
And in the Cesarewich at Oxford (on Sky next Tuesday) I'm represented by Romeo Turbo and Melodys Comet but kicking myself a bit for missing He Went Whoosh who I almost included originally but due to doubts about his stamina decided to leave him out - needless to say he is now trading at odds on in most places after two impressive wins in the heats.
In other sports, the Essendon/Mayo double on the aussie rules and gaelic football markets romped home at around 8/15 though Derry as I half expected couldn't overcome their injury and suspension woes against Tyrone despite having alot of the possession but still felt it worth a dabble at the odds.
Tipperary, a 7/4 outright pick, scraped through into the Munster hurling final with a rather unimpressive win over outsiders Clare but at least it keeps me in with the chance of a payout when they meet Waterford next month.
Thats it for now
Catch you later
Rick

The agony and the ecstacy

2009-06-19T23:47:00.020+01:00

Well I think I've been through the whole spectrum of different emotions this week, agony, ecstacy, despair and everything else in between, but at the end of the day its only a game, even though I'd rather things stayed a bit more on an even keel at times.
I knew it was a bad omen talking about drains last week, as thats where most of my money disappeared in the Corn Cuchulainn heats at Harolds Cross last Friday.
I usually play the ante post markets on the dogs but as nothing pricewise materialised as the event drew near, I decided to have a few single wagers and of course everything I backed seemed to get second or third-itis.
Even when I went down the dual forecast route, they contrived to finish second or third behind some hitherto unheralded winner but at the end of the day I was £370 down which was rather silly for saying I had only intended to have a few small bets earlier in the day.
Anyway with the first round out of the way, one of the firms finally got around to pricing up and in a bid to recoup some of my losses, and also encouraged by my overall record on the Irish stuff, decided to up my stakes a little and back a few of my fancies each way to try to maximise any profits, something I rarely do except on the odd longshot.
I've just watched the second round tonight and of course all my each way dogs have immediately exited the competition encountering all kinds of difficulties in running, meaning that another £300 has gone west though I do have a potential profit still if Ferdia Bound takes the event with £100 at 5/1.
He finished second after himself getting into all sorts of tangles after a slow start but he is my last representative at present unless I decide to delve into the market again as back up.
I paid another visit to Monmore on Monday to the ongoing Ladbrokes Summer Festival and enjoyed a pleasant day watching my ante post picks perform somewhat better and had a fair representation going into this afternoon's finals.
The day before I spent a couple of hours at the local Pikehall harness races, I went there last year but knowing little about the form I just stuck to backing some of the course winners from the past meeting and it seemed to come up trumps on that occasion but worked out less successfully this time around (although if I'd hung around until the last race I might have gotten into profit eventually).
However there did seem an interminable delay while they were drug testing one of the winners which seemed to drag on for around 50 minutes and my patience began to wear a bit thin, surely they could have carried on racing while they were having their inquest.
Anyhow I departed after the seventh race, only to see quite a few still coming in with six races to go on the marathon card. Actually this was quite a good tactic as you were getting in free and seeing the higher class horses at the end too (the meetings tend to start with the lowest class races and work their way through).
Anyway back to the Summer Festival at Monmore and I actually decided to watch the finals in the sponsors local shop rather than travel down to Wolverhampton again and despite missing the bitches race by getting stuck in traffic (my only contender had been withdrawn lame anyway as it happens) it turned out to be quite an exhilarating 45 minutes or so.
First up Eye Eye Pickle (5/1) held on to beat Mountjoy Gold in a battle of the two Mark Wallis runners which I had both backed ante post in the dogs-only race and I was off to a good start.
Then in the main event for the stayers, the sometimes rogueish Droopys Zach (again for Wallis) put his best foot forward to show them a clean pair of paws and never see another rival to land a 20/1 punt (I had four others in the final as back up anyhow lol).
And in the 416m race which has a kamikaze run to the first bend, Droopys Cadel scooted out to make all and hold off the favourite Hillcrest Orion in the process landing a 25/1 voucher.
Adding up the winnings and subtracting the losses from my roster of ante post bets I concluded that I was £900 up on the afternoon which was nice.
There was a hectic midweek schedule too, starting with the Sky TV meeting at Hall Green. Droopys Bogart did the business for me at 14/1 in the Gymcrak final to add to the coffers but I also had a strong fancy for Ard Beauty at 7/2 early doors in the staying event due to a lack of possible challengers for the lead. As it happens my fancy did lead up but got collared on the run in by Dessies Blueboy much to my dismay.
Thursday saw the Cesarewich get underway at Oxford and with the books going 8/1 the field, I could only restrict myself to a minimum of half a dozen picks who all qualified as it happened though I didnt have the fastest heat winner He Went Whoosh who is now the new favourite at 3/1. I had considered him beforehand but wasn't sure he'd stay the trip.
And up at Newcastle, three events kicked off on the same day. Firstly, the Angel of the North Oaks which saw Plan and Was Not Me both make it through to the final for me though both finished close up seconds in their heats.
In the Tyneside Derby, actual Derby finalist Farloe Reason was another of my picks and he qualified in the runners up spot too along with kennelmate Affleck Elite while Mill Pinpoint also made it through.
And in the main event the TV Trophy, I had to include Bubbly Eagle after an eye-catching recent win in front of the cameras and he was the most impressive performer of the night as it happens, and is now heavy odds on from the opening quote of 2/1.
By the way in last Saturday's Irish St Leger final at Limerick my saver on Bar Blackstone prompted by the draw came to the rescue and I broke even on the event though it was sad to see original ante post favourite Timor Blue get badly injured after being bowled over from an unsuitably wide posting.
Elsewhere, my gaelic football outright bets continued to bowl along nicely as 125/1 shots Antrim shocked their more illustrious opponents Donegal with a one point win in Ballybofey. They now meet Cavan in the Ulster semi final though in reality the chances of them beating Tyrone or Derry in the final itself would seem exceedingly slim - thats why I had been hoping initially for an each way option when I saw the price - the bookies aren't daft though lol.
Cork also did the business against Kerry with a comfortable win to land the odds of 6/4 and I also have 13/8 about them winning Munster with rank outsiders Limerick the opposition in the final.
I also had a bit of a dabble on the 4/11 for Kildare to beat Wexford as they were being backed down at all rates earlier in the week (best price was 3/10 at the off) and although it was no cakewalk they did eventually take the spoils.
Its unfortunate Derry have been clobbered by the disciplinary panel for their exploits in the brutal match against Monaghan earlier in the Championship, losing a couple of their main players, as otherwise I would quite fancy their chances against Tyrone at decent odds.
The balance perhaps has tipped against them now however, especially with the Redhands at pretty much full strength, though the odds of 11/5 are so tempting I will still have a small dabble but with far less confidence.
I've also got a double in progress as Essendon defeated Melbourne in the AFL today and that rolls on to Mayo to defeat Roscommon in Connacht tomorrow, both were quite shortish odds-on chances though.
And in the cricket Pakistan (backed at 17/2) are through to the final against Sri Lanka so hoping for a payout there, though they will probably need to get the impressive Dilshan out fairly quickly and then fend off their highly inventive bowling attack too.
Typically I had New Zealand each way but have got win only on the Pakistanis, but they are the sort of mercurial team who on their day can perhaps be a match for anyone though sometimes being capable of a complete implosion too.
Sad to see that Setanta's rescue bid has seemingly failed tonight with the Russian investor unable or unwilling to conclude a deal and with the Premier League football package now taken away too, its hard to see how they can carry on from here which is a great shame. Whatever some may say about their experiences with the customer service, the channel did offer some diverse sport and for me it was quite refreshing to get away from an almost never ending diet of non stop football.
Anyhow thats it for now
All the best Rick

Two hours drain cleaning highlight of the week

2009-06-12T13:33:00.014+01:00

It comes to something when the highlight of my week is a two hour drain-cleaning event but things aren't quite that bad in reality.
Harolds Cross Greyhound Stadium in Ireland hosts the exotically-titled Accelerated Drain Cleaning Stakes tonight with eight first round heats for the stayers and the final due to be televised on Setanta TV in early July.
They perhaps wisely appear to have called it by its long standing title of the Corn Cucuhulainn in their television schedules however, assuming they stay on air that long that is.
As I speak there seems to have been a mystery backer moved in to save Setanta from the brink and I wish them good luck in their rescue of a company that seemed to be verging on down and out earlier in the week, so much so that I cancelled my subscription rather than risk another annual fee going west with little or no return.
I won't have any hesitation signing on with them again if they can secure their future, though perhaps in the current climate it would be better to pay monthly rather than in an annual lump sum as I have done until now.
I seem to be going dogs mad at the moment - on Monday I paid my first ever visit to Monmore Greyhound Stadium in Wolverhampton for the Summer Stayers Classic, as ever I picked a few ante post fancies (who thankfully all got through on the day) and perhaps the most impressive were the two market leaders Corrig Vieri, who admittedly tied up a bit near the end but showed electric pace, and Droopys Carvalho, who is awesome on the odd occasions that he does hit the lids.
Of course its usually free entry in the afternoon at the dog tracks and there was a reasonable crowd in attendance for a weekday, though the traffic and my hopeless sense of direction meant I only just got there in time for the first heat despite leaving myself a good two hours driving time.
I printed out an AA routefinder but as usual kept pre-empting the turn-offs and ended up down a deserted avenue more than once, I call it the scenic route!
Sky's Tuesday night meeting saw Hurleys Hero lift the Cock o The North which was an ante post pick for me at 8/1 (I unfortunately missed all the bigger prices being jack of all trades and maybe master of none lol) and also backed the champion hurdler Platinumlancelot on the night, albeit at the shortish odds of 2/5 (some were going 1/5).
This week the Sky cameras are at Hall Green in Birmingham for the Gymcrak final and I'm represented this time by Droopys Bogat (14/1), Centurion Enry (14/1) and Eye OnThe Storm (16/1) so hoping for another fair payout there.
The Coral Olympic is another interesting event just started at Hove with a few of the main protagonists from the Derby involved - over the longer trip I'd probably want to be against the likes of Ballymac Ruso and Glenard Sunrise so have sided with Thurlesbeg Joker (10/1), Cabra Boss (12/1) and Magna Venturer (6/1) though the first two both go from the first semi final with only two set to qualify in a tough heat.
Back in Ireland, I probably picked far too many in the Oaks at Shelbourne Park and lost half of them last time around, meaning I have four through to the third round - Skywalker Queen (10/1), Cool Cousin Suzy (16/1), Lady Glenard (20/1) and Home Belle (33/1) though over a shortish trip of 525yds alot seemingly depends on the start in that particular event.
Also the St Leger final is held at Limerick and although I have Chicken Supper (12/1) and Timor Blue (6/1) through, they aren't well served by the draw in boxes 4 and 6 respectively. In the circumstances I've had to have a saver on Bar Blackstone who looks well berthed in box two at 7/2 and can maybe lead on the inside.
I'm not sure whether it was the last event of the previous season or the first of the next but the Jiangsu Snooker Classic was held in Ding's birthplace of Wuxi City last week and my original decision to oppose the hometown man looked a bit sick when he reached the final.
However I needn't have worried as one of my outright picks young Mark Allen made amazingly short work of him with a 6-0 win to land a nice bet at 10/1 so my strategy paid off in the end it seemed.
One disappointing aspect of the event was the lack of betting opportunities overall (most firms seemed to withdraw prices after the first day, maybe due to lack of interest perhaps). I could understand the latter round robins not being priced up due to some suspicious games in the past but would have thought there should be some odds available for the semis and final of a World Snooker promoted event.
Another poor aspect was the difficulty in getting live feeds, the usual Sopcast channels seemed to be off-air and I eventually stumbled upon a website that needed a program downloading to view Guangdong Sports which eventually did the trick (despite originally depositing a Trojan Horse along with it!!)
Although it wasnt linked to that, the day of the final I then lost internet connection when the next door neighbour started broadcasting on my wavelength at 6am in the morning - can you believe it - and my computer kept trying to connect to the wrong modem but eventually I managed to sort it out - just in time for the snooker to go off air thanks to Ding's rather tame effort.
Not that I'm complaining - the next event is the Sangsom Six-Red International held in Bangkok in July - last year Paddies priced up the final (Ricky Walden beat Stuart Bingham) I seem to recall but shouldn't imagine there will be much betting available for that one either, even though I have found an internet feed already for the semis and final which are live on the National Channel 11.
My World Cup cricket picks are still surviving as I speak, despite New Zealand players dropping like flies with all kinds of injury problems and Pakistan fielding in general like they just had five pints of strong lager per man as a matter of course before they set foot on the grass.
At least they both seem to have been pitched into the easier of the two groups, Sri Lanka not withstanding.
In the gaelic football, Dublin sneaked through in the Leinster Championship with an unimpressive win over Meath but thats another outright bet still in the mix, and I also had a nice bet on Cavan at 6/4 to beat Fermanagh which they did by one point, I had them as favourites on my ratings though few other experts seemed to agree.
In Seanie Johnston however, they do have a real top class scorer which is worth its weight in gold and the visitors as usual struggled to convert some neat play into actual points due to wayward finishing.
The two Munster giants Cork and Kerry meet again this week after the latter forced a draw with a late fightback on their home patch but without injured talisman Keiran Donaghy they may struggle again I feel so have taken the 6/4 match odds about the Rebel county and 13/8 for the provincial championship too, a market I had originally ducked at first glance.
The aussie rules betting looks first in line for the chop at present as my big priced winner from a few weeks ago has been keeping me afloat of late, I had another loser today when Carlton at decent odds went down narrowly to St Kilda.
I'm now pretty much even on it for the year which was pretty much the case last term until I mis-read a stat from my spreadsheets and had a lumpy bet on the wrong team which then meant a silly chasing bet the following week and I ended up rather out of pocket, my discipine has been pretty strong since then though thankfully.
Anyhow, better get back to studying the drain cleaning...
All the best
Rick

No return on the Derby (or the Betfair forum!)

2009-06-05T18:16:00.010+01:00

Highlight of the last week was undoubtedly the Greyhound Derby at Wimbledon even though from a punting perspective it couldnt have turned out any worse - suppose that shows I'm just a sports fan at heart as it still made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the finish.
The ante post favourite Fear Zafonic had finally gotten his preferred trap draw in 1 and came away well, disputing it with raceday favourite Ballymac Ruso from the traps.
Ruso drifted into the middle before coming back at the bend, but brushed against Zafonic's backside and caused mayhem to himself and Farloe Reason, with their scrimmaging also baulking the wide runner Wise Thought - ironically all three affected were my remaining ante post bets!!
Meanwhile the trap 5 dog and 25/1 outsider on the day Kinda Ready (100s ante post) collided with Glenard Sunrise on trap rise but had the track craft to switch inside at the bend, avoiding the melee and giving chase to the leader though a good four lengths adrift.
In a barnstorming finish, the rank outsider ate up the ground on the run-in to get up right on the line in spine tingling fashion to land a first ever Derby for champion trainer Mark Wallis. What a brilliant race, almost as good as last years Irish Derby but for me that holds sway as I backed the winner that day lol.
The supporting card went rather better for me on Saturday though, as I landed the Derby Consolation Plate with Head ItOn Ellis. I saw this chap run a blinder earlier in the year when I was at Nottingham and he brought that form to the table at Wimbledon here to land a 20/1 outright bet (the 25/1 appeared after I had backed it typically lol). Have to say Ninja Jamie the favourite was a little unlucky in running - I also had him in my portfolio - but financially it was the better result as it stood.
Platinumlancelot also landed the Champion Hurdle as a 9/4 ante post punt, though as I had a couple of others too as safeguards, didnt make too much on that but the dog won in great style and certainly has exceptional pace for a jumper.
And to crown the night in style renowned stayer Vaticon Iona won the marathon by coming fast and late to mow down Go Amber Go in the finale for a great nights racing, theres really nothing I'd rather be doing than experiencing evenings like this even if I'm in my own living room at the time lol.
So overall I couldnt grumble even if taking the Derby as its own entity I lost a tidy sum - not helped by backing a non runner for £100 before the event even started!
I admittedly like to have a few strings to my bow in the ante post markets but it did me no good in the Scurry Cup Sprint event at Belle Vue as all my contenders have bowed out before the final, a bit of a rare event as usually at least one of my usual four or five sneak through.
But there was better news in the Cock O The North run at the same track with three picks reaching the final in Noelles Saka, Gabba Gabba Hey and Hurleys Hero. Sky will be covering both events conclusions in its programme on Tuesday.
Hall Green's Prestige Stakes is also underway and I go into the semi finals well represented at present whilst in the Irish St Leger semis I have three contenders in Timor Blue, Cabra Cool and Chicken Supper, though I remember that when the latter two were drawn in adjoining boxes in the Laurels final last year, they ruined each others chances so hoping the same doesnt happen this time.
It took the bookies a while to price up the Irish Oaks which looks extremely competitive and hence I think I have made a record number of picks with about eight running for me at this stage though all at fairly tasty odds so only needs one of them to win it for a nice profit.
When I was last with you my team Derbyshire had just scored back to back victories in the Twenty20 Cup but how things have changed since. Four successive losses have confirmed that those early results were somewhat of a flash in the pan and indeed things had changed so much that I actually backed Leicestershire to win last nights match at the County Ground, which they did at 13/10 despite scoring only 144.
The Phantoms' effort lacked any fluency at all with the bat and they fell 14 runs short in the end - perhaps I was lucky when I got the money at Grace Road by backing my home county in retrospect!!
In the outright market I'm faring reasonably well at present as Sussex and Lancashire head their groups, plus Yorkshire are also in a qualification place at the moment though Gloucestershire have bombed out in this tournament having performed very well in the Friends Provident previoualy.
In the World Twenty20 Cup I went in early with bets on Pakistan at 17/2, who have now drifted, and New Zealand at 11/1 who have contracted - I dont tend to watch international cricket as much as the county stuff so in a way they're educated guesses having looked back at the one day results for the last few months or so - at least these teams seem to have held their own against some of the better outfits during that time.
The Jiangsu Classic snooker is underway and now at the semi final stage. My picks were Mark Allen and Ryan Day both at 10/1 as they seemed to be in the weaker of the two groups and with the top two qualifying I wanted to be against Ding Junhui who hadn't impressed me at all of late.
However Ding has made it through despite an early loss to compatriot Li Hang. The home town favourite came back well after that setback and beat Ryan Day 2-0 in a shootout for a qualification place which means I am now only represented by Mark Allen who finished runner up in the section.
The other group saw Shaun Murphy at the head of affairs (he now plays Allen) with Marco Fu getting through too to meet Ding in the other semi.
Mark Selby didnt quite make it but nevertheless knocked in a 147 in the group stages so some consolation there.
In the gaelic games outrights Tipperary came through a stiff test with Cork to reach the semi finals of the Munster hurling championship and are now odds on (I'm on at 7/4) while in the football, Galway (evens) as I told you last week are in the semi finals of Connacht and Derry (11/2) likewise in Ulster after a fairly brutal match with Monaghan.
Finally I got around to contacting Betfair at long last to ask about why I had been banned from their forum and whether it was time to let bye-gones be bye-gones.
I quoted 1/2 to a betting buddy that I wouldnt be given the time of day and so it proved, they wouldnt say why I had been banned but just issued a terse semi-automated response that I wasnt getting back any time soon.
Yes I mentioned the word purple a few times but I would dispute that warrants a lifetime ban personally, whatever I have said away from their forum!
I emailed them back telling them they hadnt explained why I was originally banned but all they sent back was a customer service survey, to which I gave them 1 for their answer to my original question and 2 for how highly would you recommend Betfair to a friend, both out of 10, arent I a generous chap lol.
If you're a straight up football or horse player, get down the Daq is my advice - I'm still catching up the form for the gee gees but I'm determined to pump some money purple's way in the near future through these avenues - I'm not talking astronomical amounts but every little helps I'm sure.
And yes you may have to wait a little while longer to get a repsonse on the Daq forum but the clientele tends to be a little more polite than some others in the main and if you're struggling for patience you can always join a clique and synchronize watches, that'll do the trick I'm sure.
Catch you later - not on the Betfair forum though lol
All the best
Rick

Phantoms frightening the opposition

2009-05-29T15:37:00.008+01:00

Still in the middle of a hectic sport-watching schedule this week with the Twenty20 county cricket campaign now just getting into full swing and amazingly enough Derbyshire my local team for once getting off to a flyer with back to back wins, why didnt I take that 50/1 outright beforehand!
At least I partook in some of the 5/6 to beat Leicestershire yesterday which was never really in doubt from an early stage and the trip up to Durham before that was a very pleasant one too with the Phantoms again making short work of the pre tournament favourites no less.
Notts come to the County Ground tonight and that usually attracts the biggest crowd of the campaign so will be setting off early for that one and then Yorkshire are up at our secondary ground Chesterfield on Sunday which should also attract a healthy gathering.
The weather has certainly perked up too at just the right time and it was blisteringly hot down in Ruislip on Sunday when a bumper crowd gathered to see London (or Londain as it is in gaelic) put up a creditable show against the much more illustrious Galway in the first round of the Connacht Championship, though a late penalty concession rather put a spoke in the final scoreline with an eleven point loss.
The hurlers scored a comfortable win on Saturday over Fermanagh in front of a much more modest turn-out.
The highlight of the weekend was probably the Here and Now Show at Wembley Arena though, the last stop off for this particular line-up and it really was a great night. Howard Jones came across particularly well reeling off most of his repertoire of hits and surprisingly Altered Images and Clare Grogan who I never really took to back in the 80s sounded quite refereshing too, not to mention the old favourite Kid Creole too (though still no Bongo Eddie as the house band held sway). A much better show than the Christmas Party I attended when there was just a truncated line-up doing a few songs each.
Should also give a mention to old-stagers 10cc who I also saw a couple of weeks ago, led by only original member Graham Goulding nowadays though still with a couple of other band members who have been with them for some time and this also was a cracking nights entertainment for a very reasonable entry fee, great value for money.
On to the greyhounds and last weekend saw the final of the Ladbrokes 600 in Shelbourne Park and although I scooped the each way part of the bet with 20/1 shot Dundrum Minor finishing fourth, College Causeway my main selection found trouble in running and failed to catch Accordello on the run in, the latter holding on by a length. Ironically it was my old favourite Jemmy Doodlebeag, who I was hoping would do me a favour by holding up the eventual winner, who cut my selection off at the bend so perhaps serves me right for having such devious thoughts lol.
Elsewhere the Scurry Cup, Cock o The North and Irish St Leger are all underway but all eyes will be on Wimbledon on Saturday night for the final of the Derby.
I have three in the final, Ballymac Ruso and Wise Thought who are vying for favouritism along with the perhaps not so well drawn Farloe Reason. If Ruso can get clear as he has been doing in the last two rounds he should win but he may have to battle for the lead with the three other fast starting railers so in these circumstances perhaps the wide seed Wise Thought can skip around the outside to glory. Fear Zafonic the original ante post favourite has drawn his preferred box in one but even on his best form in this perhaps needs to improve a little, as with any dog here though if he gets a lead to the bend he would be a big player.
In the consolation plate, Ninja Jamie seemingly holds all the aces and ought to have too much pace for the opposition which includes my other bigger priced selection Head ItOn Ellis while the Champion Hurdle looks very open and I'm rooting for Platinumlancelot, The Other Outlaw or Freedom Man.
Finally the snooker also refuses to take a back seat and the invitational Jiangsu Classic starts in China on Wednesday with Ding Junhui attempting to defend his crown in his birthplace of Wuxi City though I've not really had a proper look at it yet.
All the best for now
Rick

Only the odd aubergine this week...

2009-05-22T13:38:00.026+01:00

As you may know I'm continuing my ongoing push to try and catch up with the horse racing form whilst keeping my eyes on every other sport imaginable but that conversely means that I never quite seem to manage it!
The closest I got was a week and a half behind last October but then the snooker season intervened and I'm now a couple of months off the pace again and attempting to wade through my backlog of Racing Posts - ever the professional!
It does have some benefits though as I still get to read the musings of the late great Sir Clement Freud (who sadly passed away in April at the age of 85) for a while yet - I liked the bit about his Cheltenham selections being stuffed like aubergines (though wish they had won for him) and Prestbury Park being such a great place to be, that is unless you held the slightest desire to remain solvent.
I remember him telling a story about a stand up show he did on one of his tours and at the end, apologetically in his usual deadpan style, he asked for the owner of a car of a certain number plate to stay behind afterwards and exchange insurance details as he had accidentally reversed into it in the venue's car park, the crowd thought this was a great encore and heady laughter rang down the aisles until he re-inforced that it was actually true and he was really inviting an offer for that person to step forward after the show!!
David Ashforth also tells us he's off to America (he's probably there now!!) and gives us his life story of how he got where he is today.
Thought I maybe ought to reveal a bit more of myself in that respect here, no not by unveiling my torso or putting up a mugshot which all the Racing Post journalists seem quite partial to - think I'd like to remain incognito just in case the selections didnt win myself, but its probably company policy or something like that.
I remember in my days as a nipper hating football with a vengeance until all of a sudden I decided I quite liked it and started playing at about the age of seven - a late developer compared with most - though a promising clogging career was cut short when I sold a backpass short in a school match resulting in the decisive losing goal and was never picked again. I tell a lie, I was a sub in the next match but the fact there was one sub too many on the bench that day perhaps should have told me I shouldnt really have been there and there was a miscommunication lol. What an unforgiving lot they were!!
I also propped up the school cricket team in the lower order and occasionally bowled too which was as well as our opening two batsmen seemed to play as if it was a test match and we often seemed to end up with no wickets down yet only having scored about four an over. I think I was a bit of an all or nowt bowler, mainly leg spin, on the right wicket I could skittle almost an entire team but on some of the smaller grounds I was despatched over the ropes to such an extent that the crowd ought to have had danger money.
As a batsman I accidentally devised a great way of getting rid of any short leg fielder as one particular unfortunate in that position had just got up from his crouching-down position when I missed a ball to the wicket-keeper and I decided to practice the shot again (I'd seen them do this on the TV), however he bobbed up just at the wrong time and I connected with my thick wooden bat right across his rather less thick head, hopefully no long term damage was done!
As I got bigger the weight of my bats tended to increase too but not in proportion unfortunately - I think I'd been watching too much of Beefy Botham at the time - and eventually my form deserted me mainly due to the fact that I could hardly lift the bat up off the floor before the ball had whizzed by straight on to middle stump!
My first betting interests came at around junior school stage, I think my first ever bet was in the Lincoln Handicap from memory - an each way which got placed - my grandma used to take the bets up to the bookies for me - and from that moment on I was hooked. I certainly remember backing Mon Fils, the 1973 2000 Guineas winner at 50/1 and my eyes boggled at the amount of money I got back from a piddling stake as it was in those days. I'm not sure the bookie in question was too keen on what were mostly akin to a shopping list of horses names, perhaps a penny on each one, but at least I didnt have to face the music. He apparently complained about it to my gran every weekend as she appeared through the door with something akin to a medieval scroll.
I also used to run my own snail racing cards in the back garden in a purpose made cardboard box, lovingly sticking miniature numbers on their backs with sellotape and then sprinkling them with water to get them to show an interest before placing them on the track. A full betting market was formed beforehand, all the form was published and remember one or two deluded friends used to come round to experience these big events too! My parents put a stop to these when one day the rebellious molluscs found an escape route from my disintegrating sodden box after a rainstorm and our rather leafy garden quickly became an unleafy one as the following weeks progressed.
I was almost exclusively a horse player until fairly recently when the fixture list seemed to be spiralling out of control and due to extra travelling with the amalgamation of working departments to an outlying area plus longer hours, I had far less time on my hands.
So I switched to sports betting and immediately seemed to hit a rich vein on the snooker especially, I think it helps having an insight into the game as I have played at an amateur level for many years and in my day have beaten such luminaries as one time World Championship runner up Nigel Bond no less (though modesty prevents me from mentioning it usually).
With new technology coming in and redundancies in the offing, it didnt take a rocket scientist to realise our typesetting department (for a branch of newspapers) was soon for the chop so I thought I'd try a few other sports and see how I got on with those in preparation for giving the betting a prominent role once the axe fell on the real job.
This also brought me around to the gaelic football which I always loved watching on World of Sport as a young un - they mainly showed it when all other sports were washed out - and now the dogs which I always felt a bit of a lottery but by playing the ante post markets you can still get some nice prices and hopefully have your picks progress through the various competition heats to the finals.
I've also tried some others - the rugby league has been aborted as I never really understood the tactical side of the game though reckon I would be better placed nowadays to profit, the ice hockey which I havent cracked as yet but am still working on it, aussie rules - this has been going OK this year and is a close relation of the gaelic football of course; and also the cricket which I'm pretty even on overall. Oh and also hurling of course, another gaelic game but not so far as successful for me as that variety of football. Plus the odd dabble for or against my own team Derby County when an opportunity beckons, its got to be some kind of advantage to see a team week in week out when the bookies are pricing up from afar.
Anyway with that in mind this weekend I'm off down to Ruislip to watch London's gaelic games teams in action - the hurling team who have been doing quite well at a moderate level take on Fermanagh in the Ulster Championship on Saturday afternoon whereas on Sunday a much bigger crowd will be in attendance to witness the gaelic football team up against Galway in the Connacht Championship. As you can tell from the differing geographical sections I think they just put London in where it fitted the numbers best!
To my delight I then noticed theres a Here and Now Party at nearby Wembley Arena on Saturday night so quickly snapped up a ticket for that and a great weekend is in the offing hopefully. Had originally been thinking of going down to Wimbledon that evening to see the semi finals of the Greyhound Derby as I still have some interest in that but couldnt pass up the chance to see Kid Creole (or for that matter The Coconuts) one more time so will be relying on Sky+ now for the dogs.
That said was thinking about calling in at Coventry greyhounds on the way back as an alternative but will see how I feel on the journey back as I don't want that backlog of Racing Posts to get too high!
Plus Tuesday sees the start of the Twenty20 campaign for Derbyshire's cricket team (who are priced up as 50/1 rank outsiders) and I'm off up to the Riverside with a few friends to see them take on the tournament favourites Durham and then back down to Grace Road, Leicestershire on Thursday.
Its not been the busiest betting week but after some deliberating I stuck with World Series Grand Finale winner in Portugal Shaun Murphy to double up in Killarney in the first leg of this series Tour and he obliged at 13/8.
It always looked a case of either him or Higgins once again but with the fallout of the World final maybe affecting the winner more than the runner up, I felt Murphy was the one to plump for at similar prices. Ken Doherty was a possible in his home country but you had to forgive him some very poor form and a stark lack of match practice in recent months so soon dispensed with that idea.
It turned out quite a decent earner as I also backed the Irish No 1 ranked youngster Jason Devaney to get top break of the wildcards at 13/8 which he did with a 55 (the next highest was only 29) and also got 11/10 Jimmy White to beat Ken in the semi and 2/5 Murphy to defeat White in the final (some were going as low as 1/7 for that scenario).
Had a bit of a stock-take on the snooker betting after the World Championships as the season as a whole didnt really go to plan - most of the profits were made from one big priced outright winner - and hopefully I've pinpointed a few areas of improvement from hereon in on the baize, perhaps I'd gotten a little complacent after doing so well on it from an early stage.
You may remember I had a bit of an inquest initially in mid season but didnt have the time to go into such depth and hopefully that has been addressed now.
On the dogs, Faypoint Man (an ante post pick at 6/1) landed the Oran Majestic Classic at Shelbourne last Saturday winning from one of my other selections Skywalker Queen in second place. And in the Ladbrokes 600, College Causeway, Dundrum Minor and Mid West Blue all made it through to this weekend's final though a big danger to all is Accordello, who did a flying time in the semi final from the front.
Perhaps an old favourite Jemmy Doodlebeag may help me out this time around by leading that one up in the early stages as otherwise he would be a very tough nut to crack if he sees daylight ahead of him.
The pessimistic view of my Derby picks wasn't entirely vindicated thankfully or at least not just yet as I still have three at the semi final stage. Ballymac Ruso and Wise Thought go in the first heat along with the one time ante post favourite Fear Zafonic (now narrowly deposed) and I also have Farloe Reason in the other heat.
Just hoping they can get through to the final at this stage though would probably settle for two of them making it. Have already lost about four or five contenders along the way of course so won't be making any astronomical sums out of it whatever and could be a fair reversal if it doesnt go my way (the withdrawal of Thurlesberg Joker without running didnt do me any favours).
Catch you later
Rick

Boston fightback fails in overtime

2009-05-15T12:47:00.014+01:00

It was certainly a late one last night as I stayed up to watch the Stanley Cup quarter final (or Eastern Conference semi final if you prefer!) deciding game between Boston and Carolina which didnt finish until something like 4.30am.
If you remember I'd backed the Bruins at 33/1 each way so another couple of series wins would pay the place part of the bet though I had tbh written them off somewhat when they went 3-1 down.
A couple of wins later though and optimism was renewed at 3-3 though it was always going to be a tough decider as the Hurricanes were not backing down and so it proved, going all the way to extra time before a rather soft rebound off netminder Tim Thomas left Scotty Walker to poach the winner for Carolina from close range.
It was unfortunate for Thomas who had been one of the stars of the season for Boston but also for me as my potential four figure winnings (had the ante post been landed) likewise disappeared into the abyss.
That said, I didnt really feel they looked like potential champions here with their attacking play perhaps lacking a bit of real top quality, too many pucks being fired rather predictably straight at the solid Cam Ward. Boston had looked very good around Christmas time building up a considerable buffer to land the Eastern Conference but perhaps peaked a couple of months too soon in retrospect.
Also looking back on the ice hockey betting for the season makes rather painful viewing and although I should really clip it from the roster, I have learned some lessons this time around and might give it a limited bash again next year depending on how the other sports are performing.
Russia did at least land the IIHF World Championship last Sunday to scoop my ante post bet of 9/4 with a 2-1 win over Canada but that event too recorded overall losses.
None of the World Pool Masters first round bets proved very auspicious either as Tony Drago disposed of an out of sorts Nils Feijen to scupper my double and then Fu Jian-Bo lost 8-7 in a decider to favourite Mikka Immonen. The event was eventually won by Brit Darren Appleton, a 9/1 outright shot, who defeated Holland's Nick Van Den Berg 8-4 in the final. There were perhaps luckily no prices available from the second round onwards as the compiler most likely had the weekend off thankfully!
Yet more woe came about when Mayo failed to overturn the -16 handicap deficit at New York in the gaelic football - in fact they trailed by four points to nil early doors - but despite eventually gaining an 11 pt lead at half time they eased off somewhat in the second period and the final margin was just 15. Hats off to the handicapper at Paddies, though he did later change it to -18 in line with most of the others!
It wasnt all doom and gloom though. The World Series of Snooker Grand Finale at Portugal turned in a profit, despite Graeme Dott losing 5-4 to Shaun Murphy in the semi finals when I'd backed him at 9/1 in the outright. I still plundered a few quid by supporting Higgins to beat Maguire at 5/6 in the semi (he won 5-3) and having seen that rather scrappy affair I also went in on Murphy to win the final at 11/10 which he did 6-2.
The new season of World Series starts just a week later in Killarney on Saturday with Murphy and Higgins again the main protagonists on paper though you wonder if they might have put their cues away for a week after a hectic schedule and also if Ken Doherty might have made an extra effort for this in his home country, though his recent form is hardly inspiring, losing to the 14-year-old whizz-kid Luca Brecel in Portugal last weekend.
The cricket bets also produced some dividends as I managed three out of three in the Friends Provident Trophy, Gloucestershire to beat Durham at 10/11, Sussex to do the same at 11/10 and Essex to defeat Glamorgan at 4/7 who all obliged.
Gloucestershire, a 33/1 outright pick, look set to qualify for the quarter finals as I speak, as they top their group with Yorkshire my other candidates vying for second place with Sussex at present.
Kent my Division 2 County Championship picks at 9/4 have also sprung to life in the last few weeks with an amazing win over Essex after being forced to follow-on and then making short work of Glamorgan to move into second place in the table with a game in hand.
I'll be having a look at the Twenty Twenty prices this week with that competition just around the corner, hopefully the weather will pick up as I have tickets for all Derbyshire's group games.
On the greyhound front, the majority of my remaining Derby picks made it through although I'm still far from confident in my portfolio there, I do think the Irish Derby at Shelbourne is a bit more of a fairer test for all types of dog as often the one in front at the first bend will go on to win at the Don if its a good un, which isnt really the type of race that tickles my fancy too much.
Speaking of Shelbourne, I have Faypoint Man at 7/1 and Skywalker Queen at 10/1 into the final of the Oran Majestic Classic and in the Ladbrokes 600, all my four made it into the semi finals though College Causeway and Dundrum Minor go head to head from adjoining stalls in one of them which isnt ideal, with my other contenders being Mid West Blue and Skywalker Night.
Finally, its ironic that betting was once considered one of the roots of all evil, yet perhaps now its becoming quite respectable when we see some of the supposed bastions of Parliament allegedly resorting to all kinds of skulduggery when compiling their expense forms. They're not the only ones of course, what with banks out for all they can get when you go a smidgeon overdrawn on one account for the odd day when they can see you have ample amounts in other ones which they themselves have recommended to you, parking fees springing up everywhere you care to look, insurance companies bumping up premiums until you show them you can get it cheaper elsewhere, speed traps designed to make money rather than the ultimate goal of safety, long hours for small wages, its all a bit depressing and cynical for me.
At least in our game its all upfront, you strike a bargain on the table and each side is happy before the off, no need for any shenanigans to try and increase your lot afterwards, hold on a minute though I'm forgetting Betfair and the premium charge arent I lol. I've honestly never heard anything quite so ridiculous as winning a string of straight bets and then being told to pay some of it back as you've won too much, I think that one still takes the biscuit! OK maybe traders are a different kettle of fish I'll concede.
Anyhow thats all for now, hope you didnt mind my Victor Meldrew moment there at the end (or has everyone forgotten who he is now lol!)
See you soon
Rick

Higgins defies age stats to lift World crown

2009-05-09T16:01:00.004+01:00

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

Even the banks are against me!!

2009-05-01T23:35:00.009+01:00

Hello, almost missed the Friday deadline again, had totally forgotten about the blog and then it suddenly came into my mind, might as well get it out of the way anyway, such enthusiasm!!
The World Snooker Championship betting hasnt been the greatest. I've eventually gone into profit on the match betting despite a pretty disastrous start but the outright and sundry bets I've had like player with highest tournament break, number of qualifers progressing, best qualifier, etc have all fallen flat on their face.
Coupled with that is the fact that when lumping on Shaun Murphy to defeat Stephen Hendry in the second round I accidentally went overdrawn on that particular account and incurred a three figure charge due to a couple of other transactions going through on the same day. At least I managed to get it reduced by half after ringing them up and putting on my Mr Angry voice but could have done with being a bit angrier I think!!
Its not out of the question that I could finish almost level but wouldnt be able to afford another loser for sure and I currently have Shaun Murphy as my latest bet once again (this time from available funds!!) and he currently leads Neil Robertson 9-7 in his semi final. John Higgins looks to have wrapped up the other one with a healthy lead over Mark Allen though the odds looked a bit prohibitive beforehand in that one so didnt play.
Another World Championship currently taking place is the IIHF ice hockey event. My outright picks Russia were surely weakened somewhat when Washington Capitals overturned a 3-1 deficit in the NHL play offs to qualify for the next stage and thus deprive them of three of their prospective best players. So Canada have understandably since shortened in the market. Both look set to qualify for the quarter finals with some comfort though the Russian defence is causing some concern (beating Sweden 6-5 after overtime in their latest match).
The Czech Republic my other picks have lost their last two group matches so I think they are probably up against it, whilst they should still qualify in fourth place they are likely now to play one of the top teams in the quarter finals.
In the match betting I'm pretty even so far but have enjoyed watching the games I have seen and it should only get better from hereon in with the weaker teams now beginning to bite the dust (do they have dust on ice rinks?)
In the NHL play off series betting as I mentioned earlier the New York Rangers rather imploded against Washington from a strong position so my 2/1 bet which was looking good at one stage didnt pay off in the end, however Carolina (5/4) rescued their series with a last gasp win over New Jersey, scoring two goals in the last couple of minutes to overturn a deficit in the deciding game.
In the next round I'm siding with my outright Stanley Cup picks Boston Bruins to beat Carolina in the second round best of seven series at odds of 8/15.
In the Friends Provident Trophy cricket my two outright picks Yorkshire and Gloucester go head to head this weekend at Headingley having both won their opening two games so at least one of them will be in a strong position and hopefully the loser of that game can kick on afterwards and maybe join them in the next stages.
My final gaelic football outright hope of last weekend's league finals went the way of the two others when Derry lost by three points to Kerry, which meant I also lost the +3 handicap bet which was tied. I think they were a bit unlucky however tbh as they lost their most dangerous forward Paddy Bradley early in the game and the referee tended to be very generous with a few of the Kerry frees in my opinion (though of course it could be the money talking!!)
And finally on to the greyhound racing. Commisserations to connections of Capel Wilson first and foremost, winner of his eight previous races and one of my outright bets for the Regency at Hove, he unfortunately broke his hock and will be retired forthwith, though at least he has a loving home with the owner to go to.
I did however also have Lorrys Options in my portfolio and he boosted the coffers a little by winning at 5/1 (ante post).
I shall be concentrating from hereon in mainly on the ante post market as opposed to individual races in dog racing as I feel it suits by style better as I always prefer to take the bigger prices for slightly lesser stakes than the other way around.
In the Peterborough Puppy Derby, I got two through to the final out of five original contenders. The final is live on Sky on Tuesday night and I shall be rooting for either Barnfield Rocky from trap one at 14/1 or Droopys Alvaro from three at 25/1 in what looks a very open event.
The first heats of this year's Greyhound Derby at Wimbledon were held this evening. I added Jesters Nap to my roster today and he qualified in second place behind the ante post favourite Fear Zafonic while my other one in action Wise Thought also filled the runners up berth from a horrible draw behind Windy Millar.
The heats continue tomorrow night.
In Ireland the Oran Majestic Cup second round heats take place on Saturday. I lost Barefoot Bryan from my opening gambit of dogs last week when he crashed out after interference but my other ones made it through so still go in pretty mob handed for the next stage. Also the Ladbrokes 600s starts on the same evening with the charismatic College Causeway the star turn after diverting here from the English Derby which had been mooted as his original target. He looked just about worth a bet at 6/4 best price if only to glean a bit of excitement along the way given his late running style while others I give a shout to at the prices are Mid West Blue at 14s and a couple of each way candidates in Dundrum Minor at 20s and Skywalker Night at 40s.
The curtain came down on another snooker season when I lost my club billiards final in the week, thereby failing to record a tenth success in the event which I suppose would have been a bit of a landmark, even though only a handful usually enter. It is played on a handicap basis and I had to give up 70pts which proved too much to turnaround. In fact half way through I had hardly made any impression at all but did come with a late run to reduce it to 20-odd before my opponent got the winning score.
Overall though not a bad season as our team finished fourth in the league and I did reach a couple of other individual semi finals too.
All the best for now
Rick

Hectic time as sporting interests converge

2009-04-26T15:40:00.008+01:00

Another late one this week as there's a lot of concurrent betting interests taking place at the moment. The World Championships are taking place in both snooker and ice hockey (which also has the Stanley Cup play offs in play) while the greyhounds continue unabated and then theres the gaelic football league finals being played out as I speak this weekend, the cricket getting into full swing with the Friends Provident Trophy and the aussie rules ongoing.
Thats without even catching up with the horse racing!!
The snooker hasnt started particularly well in the first week with the bet on the number of qualifiers progressing soon looking a non starter as the seeds enjoyed the upper hand in round one - the only ones to fall being Peter Ebdon and Joe Perry, the latter of whom was one of the few favourites I had backed in a single lol.
At least the five-strong acca of Ronnie, Higgins, Carter, Maguire and Robertson came in without too much fuss and I'm hopeful the second round will produce a better showing. Already weighed in are the 6/4 Hendry against Ding in an epic battle as well as the short odds about Day beating Bond, I dont often play at that end of the market but in this instance it did look a bit of a gimme over the long distance and so it proved.
Still have Day and Selby each way in the outright too along with a win bet on Maguire so with Ronnie out of the way since his loss to Allen, hoping for a decent showing from that trio in this and would also help if the Jester or Mags could top the highest break which currently stands at 140.
In the ice hockey as I speak I've recorded last nights action in the NHL play offs and not yet seen it but of my charges, Boston Bruins cruised through 4-0 against Montreal in the first stage so the 33/1 e/w bet is still a runner though Philadelphia were trailing Pittsburgh 3-2 last night while my other picks Calgary had pulled back to 2-2 against Chicago (all best of sevens).
In the series betting I opposed the Flames however and stuck Chicago in a double with Boston so at least I'm in a position to cover and also had bets at odds against on New York Rangers to oust Washington at 2/1 (currently 3-2 up) and Carolina at 5/4 to beat New Jersey (currently 3-2 down).
The IIHF World Championships in Switzerland also started this week, and a big factor is always to identify which players are missing from the rosters due to the clash with the NHL play-offs. Also the teams who exit in the first round of those quite often let their players go on to join the original squads at the Worlds so its a bit of a complex operation as a punter. However considering all options I decided to weigh in with Russia at 9/4 to back up last years success with a back up bet on the Czech Republic at 13/2, both could benefit if a couple of teams currently trailing do bite the dust in the play offs. Will also be looking for a bit of value in the point spreads, as the early stages are often mismatches with the big guns in the main taking on the minnows at highly restrictive odds.
The Allianz League gaelic football finals are played out this weekend and already two of my finalists Antrim and Monaghan have bit the dust rather disappointingly, losing out to Sligo and Cork respectively. I had been pretty confident about the former team especially but it wasnt to be on the day. As I speak Derry are taking the field against hot favourites Kerry in a repeat of last years Division 1 final so will be very disappointing if all three fail at the final hurdle.
There was a bit of a glimmer as I backed Tipperary on the +3 handicap against Down in the Div 3 final and they actually won the match in extra time and have done a similar bet on Derry too.
Overall though slightly disappointing that my outright picks havent so far produced on the day, though it may help me get a few more quid on on the net as seem to have been heavily restricted with a few of the firms after a good run, which has meant a trip to the shops where they will happily lay you (admittedly with slightly quizzical looks as they dont get much call for the GAA in the middle of England it seems!!)
My latest outright bet is Galway each way for the All Ireland hurling title, if they avoid odds on favs Kilkenny until the provincial final (which is a 66% chance) they will be kept apart from that rival until the final of the main event so it looked worth a gamble at the best price of 12/1 as I feel they do have some room for improvement on their league showing.
For this years cricket I've plumped for Hampshire in Division 1 of the County Championship, they had a good start with an early win over Worcester but since then Marcus North has been recalled for Australia and it is certainly a blow to lose his services after he originally came in to replace injured overseas player Imran Tahir.
After some dithering I was maybe swayed by the Racing Post's tip for Kent at 9/4 in Division 2 though have since seen some of their fans airing concerns about the depth of the bowling attack so hope thats not another lame duck I've been talked into lol.
In the Friends Provident I plumped for Yorkshire at 14s and Gloucestershire at 33s before belatedly realising the groups were no longer regionalised and they were both contesting the same section, at least two go through however so all is not lost .... yet!!
Had a nice winner in the aussie rules this week when Essendon scored a last gasp win at just over 2/1 against Collingwood but Sydney were a bit of a letdown as they slumped to a loss at bottom placed Fremantle at 4/6 but still finished up on the week at least.
The greyhounds overall were a bit of a loss maker this week, my finalists in the Easter Cup at Shelbourne could only managed third and fifth so no payout there while the sole representative in the Golden Sprint at Romford also didnt trouble the judge.
There was better news with Blonde Fern landing the Blue Riband at Hall Green at 16/1 however.
Also Capel Wilson, Lorrys Options and Hill Tipoki all advanced to Tuesday's Regency final so have half the field gunning for me there while have a multiple interest in a couple of other events at present the Peterborough Puppy Derby and the Oran Majestic Cup, the latest big event at Shelbourne.
The first round of the greyhound derby heats take place next week at Wimbledon and not totally happy with some of my early picks, especially Thurlesberg Joker who as the connections muted (all too late for me) was unlikely to run (and doesnt!), but will watch the opening heats for more clues and take it from there.
Currently I have Slip The Lark (not quite regained last years form after a lay off) 40/1, Head ItOn Ellis (promising pup but not done it yet against the older generation) 66/1, Bandicoot Tipoki (another promising pup but has been missing the break a bit) 50/1, Tyrur Hestor (electric pace but stepping up from sprints) 50/1 and Wise Thought (just getting back into gear after a break, proven in this class) at 25/1. As if those arent enough!!
Also have to mention my football team Derby who despite a horrendous injury list secured their Championship status yesterday with a 1-0 home win over already relegated Charlton Athletic, well done Nigel and the lads!!
Anyway thats it for now, all the best
Rick

Open look to snookers main event

2009-04-17T14:38:00.014+01:00

Well its been a pretty busy week but best to get it all out of the way before the onset of the fortnight of the World Snooker Championships which get underway at Sheffield on Saturday.
It's one of those years where nobody has been totally convincing so you could say it has an open look to it but if Ronnie O Sullivan is anywhere near his best you'd think that might be good enough unless someone can hit their very best form for this particular fortnight.
Anyhow at odds of around 9/4 I'm leaving him alone this year as you could get 4/1 last time around with perhaps a slightly easier run overall.
In the Rocket's quarter most of the players are in the attacking vein which should suit him but Ryan Day ran him close a few seasons back here and I backed him e/w at 40/1 for this earlier in the season, and thankfully he did return to some kind of form in China when he reached the semi finals before losing to John Higgins. If he gets past the dogged Stephen Lee, he would probably face Peter Ebdon and despite the latter's shock success in the Far East, I would expect the Welshman to have too much for him on this occasion.
As ever I'm picking AT LEAST one from each quarter lol, though have played five in this one, once again perhaps overdoing it slightly stakes wise but the odds are on offer for a long time so perhaps understandable in the circumstances!!
The second quarter was another one where I went in early, this time on Mark Selby again e/w at 8/1 and was not particularly happy to see him come out of the hat against Ricky Walden, who has won a ranking event already in Shanghai I seem to recall for some reason!! Selby has mainly flattered to deceive this season so its time for him to put some meat on the bones if he's to salvage something from it - as one of the supposed elite players he perhaps should avoid getting too bogged down in some of his matches and take it to the opposition.
I was undecided for a long while about quarter three, so suppose this must have been the most difficult to pick from. Eventually came down on the side of Mark Williams at 33s, who has shown slight improvement this year to probably rejoin the top 16, but he then put in a disappointing show in China, losing to the hitherto out of form Mark King 5-2. So I changed tack and decided to wade in on Ding Junhui too despite him trading at 16s after being 22/1 only a few days earlier without picking up his cue in the meantime.
When he did pick up his cue he produced one of his worst performances of the year in a very disjointed loss to young wildcard Xaio Guodong, a century break in one of the early frames being his only saving grace. He now goes into the event with his top 16 place in jeapardy, and at the end of the day I'd give him two pieces of advice.
One is to try to get that twitch sorted in his eyelid, it must be distracting for a professional snooker player and I'd be doing my utmost to eradicate it at all cost - apologies to him if he has tried and failed but there is a nifty trick with some sellotape that can help - I know cos I've done it myself!! The second is that at the end of the day you have to play without thinking of the consequences, its no good playing under extreme pressure, if you dont relax you wont produce your best so stay calm at all times and concentrate on this first and foremost. Its not always easy but its also something I want to try and bring into my game next season after throwing away a few matches near the end purely by being so tensed up, and that's just in the local league!!
The final quarter is surely set up for Stephen Maguire, who however has rarely shown his best form this term, which is a worry but does mean he is fairly fresh. He needs to click into gear but the draw gives him every chance of doing so up against the likes of his practice partner Jamie Burnett and the winner of Mark King and Rory McLeod.
In the match betting, I've plumped for outsiders Gould, Higginson, Walden, Hendry and McLeod at the odds available and also taken Perry and Ding (again before his China loss) to oust potting machines Cope and Wenbo.
One of the best value bets seem to be the McLeod highest break against King which is currently trading at 11/8. He's had at least nine centuries this season to King's one (in fact some quote him as having scored eleven though cant see where the other two are coming from myself!) and even if the Crucible nerves get to him he has plenty of time to get used to the surroundings over the long matches here.
Also took the earlier 6/1 about there being six or seven first round qualifiers progressing to round two, this has obliged in three of the last five years - as a safeguard I've had a saver on four or five too at 13/8 - according to published stats in the Racing Post there has never been less than four make it through in the last twelve years so hopefully there will be no damage done and the prospect of a big payout.
Some rather more speculative bets were in the "qualifier to go the furthest" and "tournament top break" markets, in the former I'm siding with Lee, Walden, Higginson and Greene and in the latter Selby, Maguire and Fu. I'm never afraid of backing a player in one market and opposing him in another depending on prices but I realise its not everybody's cup of tea.
Some of the first frame odds also looked a bit generous on the outsiders to me so have played these on McLeod 5/4, Gould 6/4, Higginson 6/4 and Greene 13/8, again hoping first time nerves dont scupper some of those.
And to round it off (though it was actually my first bet of the round) had an accumulator on O Sullivan, Higgins, Carter, Robbo and Maguire to oblige in round one which pays 2/1.
So as you can see plenty to go at over the next few days.
Elsewhere its been an up and down sort of week. My gaelic football treble came up last weekend though the handicap bet on Laois looked silly when Monaghan ran riot against them in the final league game, though at least I have backed them in the outright Division 2 market at 5/1, and they now meet Cork in the final. I've also got Derry at 8/1 taking on Kerry in the Division 1 decider and Antrim (who I added after the first set of games) up against Sligo in Division 4 at 3/1.
Nothing much appeals on the match betting front this week but have added a few outright bets for the summer. In the All Ireland Championship, I've sided with four who I hope will give a run for the money - Dublin 8/1, Cork 11/1, Derry 20/1 and Monaghan 33/1. The latter two meet early doors in Ulster so one of them will have to go the scenic route via the qualifiers but feel they might be capable of doing so nevertheless.
In the provincial championships I think Dublin at 6/4 ought to have just too much for the likes of Meath and Kildare now they have their full quota of players back and Galway with Joe Bergin back in the fold look reasonable even money shouts to oust their likely rivals Mayo. Ulster as ever looks very competitive but would just give Derry the edge - Vics lengthened their price to 11/2 last week on the back of Monaghan's big win but then only allowed bets of up to £4 on their website!! Not sure what the idea of that was but they are my main picks from the North with an outside bet on Antrim at 125/1 (now 80/1) which I admit is highly unlikely but they dont meet the real big guns in the section until the final - pity there was no each way available!!
My aussie rules treble bit the dust when Carlton lost their discipline near the end of their match with Essendon, resulting in a narrow defeat by just four points. A free right in front of the posts was crucial for the visitors at the end of the third quarter, following what looked a harsh decision against the home team resulting in a goal. So in the space of a few seconds there was a 12-point turnaround just as the Blues were getting into gear. This week I'm chancing my arm a bit and taking on the mighty Geelong with Adelaide at almost 11/4 on the exchanges - although the Cats have been winning they havent been totally destroying the opposition as they did for much of last year so this time I'm hoping they might be edged out of it.
Things have been pretty even steven on the dogs this week, have pulled most of it back after a tardy start to the week. Despite getting the ante post bet of Cabra Cool at 14/1 up in the Scottish Derby, a few other bets in that event rather whittled down the payout and the news that the vanquished favourite Thurlesbeg Joker was unlikely to go for the English Derby means another few bob down the Swannee unless theres a change of heart.
In the Easter Cup at Shelbourne, Oran Classic (8/1) and Tip and Tin (50/1) made it through to the final for me and have added Advantage Johnny (3/1) who looks to have a good makeup on Saturday night though will obviously be mainly cheering on my other ones.
The Blue Riband at Hall Green has seen my fancies Jogadusc Ace and Blonde Fern (both 16s) make it through to the last six - that will be live on Sky next Tuesday - while the semi finals of the Golden Sprint are held at Romford tonight where I have five in contention at present, but not the favourite this time for once!!
And the staying event that is the Regency kicked off at Hove yesterday with my four selections all making it through to the semi finals, would personally be surprised if the prize didnt go to one of the two at the head of the market here - Capel Wilson or Lorrys Options.
As I stated at the head of my post, its been rather hectic this week, started out on Monday with a trip to Pride Park to see the Rams play all the good football and somehow contrive to lose 3-2 to league leaders Wolves, it really was a travesty of a scoreline but symptomatic of the recent quality of defending, we now have just a five point buffer over the relegation places but hopefully can eek out another couple of points which should be enough for safety. There is an incredibly long list of injuries at present so it may not be easy getting over the last hurdle but Charlton Athletic the bottom team are still to visit us so that looks the one we should possibly be earmarking for success.
Went to the local point to point at Flagg Moor, reputedly the country's highest course, on Easter Tuesday and was good fun to be back at the races again after a bit of a hiatus.
The first race was a members event over the stone walls, the only event of its kind in the country, and very unusually featuring a pure Arabian bred amongst the contenders. I didnt play on that one but it went to Twist and Shout, who carried no less than 13st 7lb to victory and still had time to miss out a fence, turn back and jump it, and still overtake the others. That said, there seemed to be three different opinions as to which way they got onto the racecourse proper (they start out in the hills!) so you needed about six pairs of eyes even for as many runners!!
One of the best bets of the day looked to be Indian Rising in the next, so on seeing the price lengthen to 6/4, leapt in with my wedge of notes only to see it continue to drift right out to 9/4!! All the money was for the Classic Cliche horse Lake Baikal, who had a formline of PPP but that didnt seem to be deterring those in the know. As it happens my fancy led coming into the second last where the market rival was beginning a challenge but unfortunately went lame on landing so an unfortunate way to end what looked like being an epic battle up the run in.
I lost a bit on the next when favourite Noble Persian was turned over by Test of Friendship, who relished making all and grinding the opposition into the ground over this stiff 3m 4f course which really does test the stamina of those that take part with a few very sharp inclines along the way.
I had to wait until the fifth race for my next winner when previous course victor Opio obliged in a hack canter, admittedly at odds of only 1/2, but there was never really a moments worry as he toyed with the opposition and never came off the bridle under Tom Greenall.
As I was a few quid up on the last race and enjoying the day so much, decided to have one final flutter, again I couldnt really see past the favourite, which was the Pistolet Bleu gelding Aldea but after a sticky jump on one of the steep climbs leading up to the straight he had a little too much ground to make up and could only finish a length second to the six year old Father Owen.
But all in all great to be out and about at such a scenic venue, it might not quite be on a par with Hexham for beauty but when its less than half an hour home as the crow flies it will do for me!
Wednesday saw a trip to Sheffield to see 80s group Ultravox give their anniversary show an outing, by the end of the night everyone went home well satisfied after hearing their old favourites given an airing.
But on the Thursday one or two were not so happy after attending the "Legends of Snooker" event at Derby Assembly Rooms. The event started with Jimmy White taking on a "seventeen year old from the Milton Keynes area" and suffering an embarrassing drubbing in the one frame they played.
This was followed by what turned out to be the high point of the night but that wasnt saying a great deal when John Virgo came out and set up a few trick shots for the spectators to come out and play. These worked for the most part, but when Virgo himself took on some of the more testing ones near the end he hardly managed any of them!! That said he did provide a mildly entertaining commentary, though even this was hampered by a dodgy microphone which brought back memories of Norman Collier in his heyday (who by chance I am also going to see at Buxton later in the year as part of the Best of British Variety show!)
And of course we did get some bona fide impersonations of some of the stars of yesteryear like Terry Griffiths, Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins as well as a few humorous Tony Knowles references "I'll do an impression of him if one of the calendar girls in attendance wants to lie on the table".
There then followed an advertised break of 20 minutes which turned out to be more like 45 minutes, which seemed quite long after only just under an hour of the proceedings. One wondered whether some of them were finding difficulty getting out of the bar but eventually Jimmy re-appeared to take on the other legend no less than Alex Higgins, who received a tumultuous welcome as he came out into the arena looking surprisingly sprightly.
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent it was a bit of a mismatch nowadays, with Jimmy going for practically everything and Alex only mustering breaks of 20-odd at best and doing a surprisingly good impersonation of Griffiths himself when pontificating over some of the shots as if it was the World Championships. The referee looked frightened to death in case he upset Alex in some way and would mostly freeze as if caught in a time capsule no matter how ungainly the pose every time Higgins took to the table.
There was one particularly over exuberant spectator who repeatedly shouted "come on Alex" time and again and Higgins began to get more upset with this, eventually asking the referee to remove the spectator from the audience, with four or five in the crowd shouting "get him out" too. Personally thought this was a bit over the top for shouting encouragment at an exhibition (he was after all only yelling out between shots), and the referee just settled on a firm rebuke. In fact it might have become more entertaining if we saw a few shenanigans from Higgins, as I'm sure thats what brought alot of the paying customers in on the night anyway!!
Anyhow someone apparently got out of their seat to have words with the "heckler", but although I didnt see it myself, he instead tripped up and hurtled head first down the stairs into the railings that overhang the balcony which saved him from dropping down on the table below!
While this was very nasty, it also meant another long break in play while he was attended to by the medics (the time was already about 10.20pm and they had only gotten through three frames) plus people were getting restless, especially as one or other of the players was tending to leave the arena for five minutes at the end of the frame.
Eventually with no real prospect of Higgins putting up a meaningful fight and both of them producing some pretty low quality snooker in the main, we upped sticks and left with a few frames scheduled still to play. To me the night was far too stop-start and never really took off at all, plus thought the match between the undoubted legends desperately needed to be taken a bit more light-heartedly by the competitors than it was.
I suppose its difficult given Higgins' fiery temperament and frail voice after his battle with illness, but perhaps White should have been a bit more interactive with the audience himself to somehow get it going. As it was as one punter commented to me on the way out "that was the worst £17.50 I've ever spent, we should ask for our money back". And in truth it was hard to disagree, better to remember these legends as they were then I feel rather than tarnish the memory nowadays. Virgo I understand doesnt often appear on the bill with these two, but he at least was a bit of a saving grace on the day, but even then a bit like watching a comedian reeling off old material you already knew, and the whole event seemed uninspired and lacking in urgency.
Anyhow hope I haven't put you all off Saturday lol
All the best
Rick

Hotdog is scant consolation

2009-04-10T00:31:00.008+01:00

I'm back again, that was a quick week wasnt it! My current lack of form continued on the Sky dogs on Tuesday night I'm afraid with Capel Wilson my only real winner of the evening at 2/1 and my ante post picks failing to fire in the final of the canine Grand National. At least I covered my overall stake with the winner Hotdog Jack but with a few other losers on the night it was scant consolation. It's strange how you can do no wrong for weeks and weeks and then suddenly everything conspires against you all at once, but thats the way it always seems to work in the world of betting.
At least my aussie rules treble of Geelong, Carlton and Western Bulldogs came up last weekend and I've stuck with the same three teams in another treble this week, as well as backing the latter two at double figure odds for the AFL Grand final itself later in the year. Geelong obliged today as the first part of the bet so at least we're still alive and kicking at present with that one.
The gaelic football betting must be going better than ever as I seem to have been restricted to £25 on one bet I wanted this week at one of the firms, not sure if its a one off or that will be the norm. Suppose I'll have to contemplate travelling down to the nearest shop with a wedge of notes if this continues though thankfully at present there are alot of other options online.
Anyway after a loser or two perhaps they'll have a re-think you never know. This week I'm chancing a treble of Dublin, Derry and Sligo who all need to win for various reasons with the leagues coming to a close (apart from Division 4 who still have one week to go).
Laois dont have anything to play for up against Monaghan but they do seem to have improved a bit in their last couple of games while the opposition have had to work hard for their wins in the main apart from the last match when they comfortably beat Cork. Anyway with the +2 handicap I think I'll plump for Laois this time as a sort of cover for my outright Monaghan bet who are in a three way tussle to qualify for the final.
The Blue Riband and Golden Sprint greyhound heats start tomorrow at Hall Green and Romford respectively and they look pretty competitive but have had a dabble with my usual four or five in each and I'll possibly add to them depending on how it goes and how many I lose after the first round held today (Friday).
The Scottish Derby takes place at Shawfield on Saturday and there was a very impressive semi final winner in Thurlesbeg Joker in the week coming from last to first with a devastating turn of foot which really was something to behold. After that exhibition there was no doubt I had to delve into my pocket to take the 5/4 though I do still have Cabra Cool from my original ante post picks going from a favourable draw in trap one. He was a 14/1 shot at the start of proceedings.
I also had a bit on the Joker for the English Derby at 33/1 each way which looked a very good offer if he was actually going to run, though have since found the owners have expressed doubts that he is "the right shape of dog" for Wimbledon whatever that means! Perhaps the chunky bonus will tempt them if he wins up in Scotland.
The semi finals of the Easter Cup take place at Shelbourne the same evening where my original selections Shelbourne Aston (14/1) and Faypoint Man (10/1) are still in contention along with those added since Oran Classic (8/1 ave odds) and Tip and Tin (50/1).
As I mentioned at the foot of last week's blog there was good news as my old favourite Jemmy Doodlebeag was reported to have suffered nothing more than a case of cramp when failing to finish in one of the Easter Cup heats and he has already been back on the track with a trial at Cork a few days ago.
The NHL season is nearing its completion before cranking up again for the play offs and I'll have three representatives in Boston, Philadelphia and Calgary although Dallas were badly hit by injuries all season long and will miss out. The Bruins look the best chance of the three and seem to be re-discovering a bit of their early season form again of late so I'm hopeful of a good run there, which in fairness I've already had for a 33/1 shot.
The Flyers and the Flames tend to be useful scoring teams but not so hot at keeping them out at times so would be a bit surprised if they could go all the way but at least they'll keep us all entertained I suppose, and you never know in ice hockey.
Plus the IIHF World Championships in Switzerland are just around the corner too with the rosters being unveiled over the next couple of weeks. I'll keep an eye out on those for any clues for the outright market as I usually take a keen interest in this with an online subsciption for the games, as its not normally covered on mainline UK TV. That way you can watch them as and when you want as I'm sure you could probably wangle getting them for free somewhere but cant always guarantee being around at the time of the games, epsecially as it clashes with the snooker at Sheffield too.
Speaking of which been looking at all the exotic markets that come into existence once a year for snooker's main event and although I'm nowhere near as confident of picking the winner this year as I was last time around when I felt I'd got all angles covered, there are a few interesting punts elsewhere that are tickling my fancy somewhat. Anyway more of that next week.
Hopefully going to see the new Brian Clough film tomorrow "The Damned United" which seems to have gotten some decent reviews, though not endorsed my many of his closest acquintances it has to be said. And gonna cheer on the Rams at Hillsborough on Saturday as we still need a few more points to be safe which aren't going to be easy to come by judging on our 4-1 loss at Cardff in midweek, the injuries are starting to bite I feel.
Also while I still have some money left indulged in buying some tickets for Derbyshire's 20 20 cricket campaign this term - went last year and thoroughly enjoyed it all - so even decided to book a few of the away games this time around, its a long while since I've been to either Trent Bridge or Headingley and I've never yet been to Old Trafford (the cricket ground) or Grace Road, so should be interesting.
All the best for now
Rick

A week that went pear shaped!

2009-04-05T23:59:00.010+01:00

First of all apologies (to my one reader) about the lateness of the blog this week, have just been so busy studying so many different betting markets the last few days that I havent had time for anything else until now. Not that it has done me much good as its been one of those weeks where most things seem to have gone pear shaped, I had just been thinking everything had been going too well so suppose its not entirely unexpected as I got the feeling it was overdue.
At least I won my final league snooker match of the season (on the black, no miscues this time!!) although it didnt do our team much good as we slumped to a 4-1 defeat. We'll have to see how much damage that has done to our league position when the tables are published as I was hoping we would hold on to fourth place which would be a decent season though it looks rather doubtful now after a poor run-in.
Anyhow personally I managed 13 wins out of 19 including cup matches so thats quite respectable though a bit down on last year when I probably won a few more of the close frames.
Back to the betting and it was all going pretty well until around half way through the week, a couple of the wildcards had obliged at decent odds in the China Open and my three gaelic football bets had all done the business too.
There was some disappointment when one of my favourite dogs Jemmy Doodlebeag appeared to get injured in his heat of the Easter Cup at Shelbourne, he missed the break, then went out of camera shot around the bend and didnt cross the line but have been unable to gain any details since. He did me a good turn by winning the John Casey Open earlier in the year at big odds so do hope he can recover though clearly it doesnt look good if he was stopped in his tracks so suddenly.
I have dropped a line to the owner giving my best wishes and asking for any news but we'll have to see if anything is forthcoming, the money is of secondary importance to me in such matters anyhow.
Ante post favourite College Causeway also crashed out that night, being knocked to the ground in his race and this weekend Ballymac Bondi also failed to qualify. I do have Faypoint Man and Shelbourne Aston however, and also added Tip and Tin plus Oran Classic in the meantime.
In the dogs version of the Grand National at Wimbledon, I have three representatives in the final via Nebuchadnezzar, Platinumlancelot and Distant Legend and also added Hotdog Jack today as he has drawn his favourite rail position and is now jolly with a few of the books so backed him to save my stakes on the others.
Also the Scottish Derby at Shawfield got underway and while I got Slip The Lark, Head Iton Ellis and Cabra Cool through to the semi finals, a couple of others have been lost, namely Ballymac Ruso who made a shock first round exit and also Ja Mann in the second round.
But as you can see it was going reasonably on the dogs until I went and spoiled it by experimenting on some lower class graded racing at the weekend (I usually bet mostly in open races on dogs you can see in action either on the net or TV) and made a fair loss though it may have been different but for backing four second placed animals. Plus the couple of winners I did have I had lesser stakes on than some of those who were beaten, hence I didnt really get alot of benefit from them.
In future I will stick to the tried and trusted, as this only exacerbated a rather disappointing China Open snooker event from a punting prospective. I've maybe started to pick a few too many in the outright markets just lately, or perhaps its because I've backed a couple of them each way but my outlay here was a little higher than it should have been and as none of them threatened to win it, I was always going to be up against it in the match betting.
This took a turn for the worse when Gerard Greene who I had backed at a juicy 9/4 against Neil Robertson, couldnt hold on to a 4-3 and thirty point lead in the next, apparently getting a kick on the pink which cost him the frame as Robbo cleared up thereafter to take it into a decider.
Also Mark King showed no signs of the very mediocre form he produced in the recent Championship League winners group as he ran out a convincing 5-2 winner over Mark Williams, who I had backed to overcome a minus 1.5 frames handicap.
I followed the two winning wildcards through to the first round proper too and although Tang Jun and Yu Delu put up decent fights again, this time they couldnt quite manage victory against Ebdon and Dott respectively.
I also chanced Fergal to grind it out against the Rocket but at massive odds of 4/1 he too succumbed 5-3.
The second round odds didnt appeal too much yet I still managed to squander a sizeable sum when Neil Robertson capsized 5-1 to Shaun Murphy, who he had usually done well against in the past and then, against my original thoughts, due to popular consensus on the forums I joined in with backing Dave Harold to beat Peter Ebdon, which as I had half expected he didnt!!
Kicking myself somewhat for this I then decided to try and get it back by backing Ronnie O Sullivan to win 5-1 or 5-2 in the correct score market against the young wildcard Xaio Guodong but he ultimately failed to do the latter on the final black in frame seven before getting home 5-3 in the next, which is what tends to happen when things are conspiring against you.
Stuart Pettman dragged some back by upsetting Graeme Dott at 9/4 but in the final I lost about the same amount by backing John Higgins -1.5 frames and then inplay when a frame down at the half way stage in the final against the previously out of form Ebdon, who to be frank I wouldnt have picked in a month of Sundays for the outright.
It just goes to show how risky it is punting on the World Championship match prices before this event was played out as for instance Ebdon was being looked upon as somewhat of a spent force but now he has a bit of wind in his sails again, while Ryan Day similarly after a lean patch must have gained some confidence from his run to the semi finals.
There was also a massive shock in Aintree's Grand National (for the horses this time!) with the 100/1 shot Mon Mome keeping the bookmakers happy, though if you look far enough back in his form, he did finish second in a Welsh National a couple of years ago so for those that delved a bit deeper there would have been a great reward awaiting. Unfortunately, I'm currently a bit of a part timer on the gee gees so didnt go to such depths, and the half dozen I narrowed it down to (had a bit on each) never really seemed to be in the thick of things, though My Will ran a decent race in third place under a fairly high weight. It was asking a bit much to pick the winner for the fourth year in a row I suppose but it heaped a bit more misery on a woeful few days punting.
Hopefully I can get back to basics and things will swing back in my favour. Still would like to get back into the horses full time but dont want to bite off more than I can chew and with the snooker, the dogs and the gaelic games all on the roster (along with a bit of aussie rules) its difficult to devote enough hours to the nags but thats what I'm trying to do, though still have a backlog of form videos as ever which has gotten even bigger during this latest snooker tournament and will probably be astronomical after the World Championships!!
Anyway gotta find time for some sleep now!!
All the best
Rick
Update: Good news at the end of the week anyhow. The owner of Jemmy Doodlebeag contacted me to say that the dog is fine, he just cramped up coming out of the traps and couldnt finish the race, hopefully he will soon be winning more races pretty soon.

33/1 Prince makes all in Gold Cup final

2009-03-27T23:59:00.003Z

Thankfully the end of the local snooker season is nigh as after changing my tip for the second time in as many weeks I then contrived to miscue on the final black in our league match this week and miss it altogether, the first time I can remember doing it at such an important stage in over 30 years of playing!! I had been planning to file it down somewhat the day before but being as I wouldnt have chance to have another practice beforehand, decided to leave it and it came home to roost when I was left right under the baulk cushion shooting the length of the table at the end.
So its petering out a bit into a disappointing end to the campaign, however we should finish around about fourth or fifth despite losing the match 3-2 overall and we would probably have more than settled for that before the season started given the overall quality of the team.
The last game comes this Monday against the third placed team in the league away from home and then just have an individual club billiards final to play in mid April before all the serious competition is done and I can have my summer recess!
There is one fun competition at the club over the summer months with teams of two drawn out of a hat consisting of one seeded and one unseeded player who play each other followed by a doubles match at the end, aggregate to count, but doubt I shall be putting any practice in for that as I really like to have a complete break during the close season. I love the game and the competition but like to have some kind of goal at the end of the week to make the practice worthwhile, otherwise I feel I would tend to go through the motions a bit.
Its been another pretty good week overall on the dogs betting, when I last left you the final of the Tote Gold Cup at Shelbourne was about to be run and it was a happy ending for me as the 33/1 ante post shot Swords Prince made all without a moments worry and I also had a bit on the day too at 13/8 (even though he drifted to 2/1 surprisingly on course).
Plus followed that up with a couple of nice 2/1 winners on the same card thanks to Dundrum Minor via a thrilling photo finish in the 600 yards final and then Coolamber Prunty in the stayers event who showed a nice turn of foot around the final bend to go past the odds on favourite.
The Ladbrokes Spring Festival heats and final were held at Monmore in the week and while I nabbed Corrig Vieri at 9/2 ante post in the 630 metres event, my other picks in the three other races all failed to show their best form in the final. However did back Kellsboro Reject at 2/1 in the 480 yards final to at least recover my other stakes in that particular event.
Two very interesting events begin on Saturday night with the heats of the Grand National at Wimbledon and also the Easter Cup at Shelbourne which both boast a high quality of entries.
The National has one particular heat with four of the main fancies all running against each other - Winkys Don, Bomber Bailey, Nebuchadnezzar and Distant Legend with only three to qualify for the next stage.
Nevertheless, I think whichever ones do get through could take some stopping so I've included the last named three in the ante post market at 12/1, 13/2 and 16/1 respectively along with Platinumlancelot at 12/1 too. There are a few slight worries about some of them - the trip for Nebuchadnezzar is a little shorter than he would prefer while the Irish dog Distant Legend jumped too low at a recent trial (our hurdles are higher than the Irish versions) but still has cracking pace on the flat nevertheless.
In the Easter Cup it really looks a mouthwatering prospect and I've weighed in with some old favourites - College Causeway (7/1), Shelbourne Aston (14/1) and Jemmy Doodlebeag (50/1) along with a couple of new kids on the block Faypoint Man (10/1) and Ballymac Bondi (20/1). The last two are very talented young dogs but in keeping with the majority of my picks tend to do their best work in the second part of the race. Perhaps of my "squad" only Jemmy is likely to be up there early doors if he can produce his best breaks.
Speaking of breaks, the China Open snooker swings into action on Monday and a couple of players going there in fine fettle are Judd Trump and Mark Selby who contested the recent Championship League grand finale at Crondon Park with Trump eventually prevailing 3-2 in a fine spectacle.
My original thoughts on the outrights when looking at the draw were to plump for Ricky Walden (50/1), my Shanghai hero, returning to the country of his greatest success and Mark Williams (33/1). Mark King's lacklustre League showing increased confidence in Williams so I stuck with those two, just think Walden (who plays a wildcard first) is well used to playing Joe Perry as they have contested many Pontins matches over the years and with the winner facing perhaps a lacklustre Hendry they could make some inroads.
However having seen how well Trump (40/1) and Selby (7/1) had been performing, it seemed folly not to include them too, especially as Judd faces the completely out of sorts Peter Ebdon assuming the Bristol youngster gets past his wildcard match first. Selby starts with Stephen Lee and then perhaps Graeme Dott. One advantage for those two is that the tables out there have tended to be on the slow side, which might help them having played most of the previous week on the rather sluggish Crondon Park baizes.
I think I've probably spent far too much on the outright market as I've also included Shaun Murphy at 14/1 since he seems to have a comfortable enough starter in the wildcard Cao Xinlong in round one after the latter's intended opponent John Parrott was unable to travel due to a bad back.
The Chinese event will hopefully provide a few more clues for the upcoming World Championship too though conditions and players mindsets will probably be quite different for both of these events.
The gaelic football betting continued in the ascendency with my short priced Antrim / Kerry / Cork / Sligo accumulator coming in paying 7/10 and also the handicap picks Tipperary, Limerick and Waterford all doing the business at 10/11, evens and 11/10 respectively (though as all three of them won off scratch perhaps I sold myself short there!!)
And the aussie rules season proper got underway on Thursday with a winner as I plumped for Carlton at 4/5 for their trip to Richmond which resulted in a very easy win too.
Thats it for now, all the best
Rick

Bandicoot lands Puppy Derby at 4/1

2009-03-20T14:55:00.009Z

Well another week gone by and looks like the weather is beginning to pick up as I sit in the sun drenched conservatory this Friday afternoon as we bid goodbye to the winter for another year.
Have been taking stock a bit this week and although quite a few things could have gone better over the last few months, the betting has certainly picked up just recently so hoping I can continue in that vein for the future.
One regret is that I didnt capitalise on 9k worth of investments in the world of stocks and shares, scattered here there and everywhere by my bank who take a cut for their expertise but these I see are now worth only 7.5k when I could have cashed them in for another 5k just over a year ago. I could cry but I'll try not to think about it instead!!
The good thing is I can leave the money where it is at present and no damage is done, I'll certainly want a minimum of my initial investment back so as soon as it reaches that figure again (assuming things eventually do pick up!) I will be withdrawing it and depositing it into a normal account from then on. I much prefer the betting markets as I understand them far better, and even if I dont I still feel as though I've had a run for my money half of the time!
Suppose its a good time to invest more but sick of hearing about how the market is dropping like a stone every day of the week so a normal bank account will do for me in the future along with any betting profits that may come along. At least I'm the architect of my own downfall if things go pear shaped which is some consolation lol.
For once there was no snooker betting to fall back on this week so it was mainly down to the greyhounds and the gaelic football to bring home the bacon and thankfully the upward trend has continued for now.
The last time I published the blog I had three contenders in the Tote Gold Cup semi finals at Shelbourne and although Slip The Lark and Ballymac Bondi both failed to make it, at least I have a live chance with the current favourite Swords Prince who was an ante post pick at 33/1 and won his semi final in impressive fashion. If he can come out of the traps in such style again, he will surely take some beating if in the same kind of form.
Monmore held the final of the Puppy Derby on Thursday night and two of my ante post picks fought out the finish as Bandicoot Tipoki at 4/1 fought off my other contender Kinda Ready (8/1) by three quarters of length despite once again not coming away to the best of his ability by all accounts.
And in the Pall Mall semi finals at Oxford on the same day, although Soviet Maldini was found wanting and Bandit Blue had a nightmare run in only finishing fourth (despite perhaps looking the best dog in the race) my second round addition Brickfield Class at 10/1 came home first in his heat so goes into the final from trap five live on Sky on Tuesday night.
Also had a few "on the night" winners which kept things ticking over with the aforementioned Swords Prince (5/2), Tyrur Louis (6/4), Dundrum Minor (17/10), Hello Hippy (5/4), Faypoint Man (4/5), Youghal Rebel (1/2) and Capel Wilson (4/5) all obliging though there were of course a few losers too.
Had originally intended the dog betting to be a bit of a stopgap while I caught up on the horse form but so successful has it been, will almost certainly be continuing with it now, especially the ante post markets which seem well worth a flutter. Of course the more sports you take on, its harder to keep up with them all and hence still a bit behind with the nags though the focus will be firmly on Aintree in a fortnight for the Grand National as I attempt to pick the winner for the fourth year in a row!! (OK I admit I usually pick four or five selections but still not a bad record I think after having a barren time of it since Freddie Starr's Minnehoma in 1994).
Looks like my biggest priced winner Silver Birch could be back again this year, he did the business at 50/1 a couple of years ago which was a great thrill, I'd also backed the second that year in the fast finishing but ultimately ill fated McKelvey at 20/1, so it was a win win situation as they came towards the line.
The gaelic football bets surpassed themselves last week too as managed to get five bets out of five up including my banker Galway/Kerry double and the midweek win for Kilmacud Crokes at 15/8 in the All Ireland Club championship final against Crossmaglen Rangers at Croke Park.
Perhaps should have had more faith in England's only NFL outfit London, who I backed on the +7 handicap against Waterford in the Division 4 encounter at Ruislip, yet they surpassed most peoples expectations by actually winning the match 0-09 to 0-08 at odds of 6/1.
Snooker returns next week in the form of Matchroom's Championship League with Group 7 and the final winners event Group 8 taking place at Crondon Park to find out the Premier League qualifier for next year. Priced most of the matches up for those today and also finally got around to doing the World Championship first round games, though with the League and the China Open still to take place before then, will probably keep my powder dry and wait for more clues in the meantime.
Hoping Ryan Day can rediscover some form soon as he was an early season pick for the Crucible at 40/1 but he has been struggling to win any kind of match since before the turn of the year so would be nice if he could have a bit of a run as he does have a reasonable draw at Sheffield if he could find his A game.
On the local snooker front, as I mentioned last week I had the re-match with the promising youngster in our second semi final clash in a matter of days and once again it went his way though this time he didnt play anywhere near the standard he reached the previous week. Unfortunately though after building a 2-0 lead I fell away rather miserably to a 3-2 defeat with a worrying implosion that I found impossible to arrest as the match progressed. It hadnt helped that I was playing with a new tip which seemed far too spongy for my liking and all the confidence seemed to drain out of me the more I messed things up, anyway no excuses, half of the game is in the head and on this occasion I just didnt seem relaxed enough to play to my best.
Looking back to the days when beta blockers were banned from the sport, a few of the prominent players of the time had very rapid declines thereafter which certainly points to the fact that keeping control of the emotions is a massive part in being able to play the game well in pressure situations and on this occasion I failed the test for whatever reason.
Anyway onwards and upwards
All the best Rick

Snooker betting hits purple patch

2009-03-13T19:20:00.014Z

Well after a decidedly dodgy spell on the snooker betting it all seems to have come together in recent tournaments with decent profits on both the Welsh Open and the recent World qualifiers now taking me to record profits for the year so far, which has taken much longer than anticipated after backing Ricky Walden at both 100s and 125s (but not for nearly enough money lol) earlier in the season.
Since then seemed to hit a spell where I just couldnt get any consistent profits out of the match betting but had to keep the faith and perhaps getting a bit more of a grasp on some of the inconsistencies of certain players now the season is nearing its conclusion.
I went up to Sheffield to see the final pre-Crucible round of the World Championships and was rewarded by a speeding ticket on the Sunday morning - suppose it was a fair cop - but a bit galling to be hauled in by an unmarked police car on a near deserted motorway where there was no serious danger at all in my humble opinion. Also an average speed in the eighties seems hardly excessive on the motorway nowadays in comparison with others so feel a bit unlucky with that one, however had a narrow escape with a speed camera flashing me and never hearing anything else about it a few months ago so suppose I deserved my come uppance!!
Once there I saw my old sparring partner Nigel Bond who used to play in our local league making hard work of his match with Mike Dunn - he actually lost the session I watched 5-4 after being 5-2 down - but he eventually pulled out all the stops in the afternoon to make it through
10-7.
I shall refrain to mention that I once beat him myself due to my prevailing modesty (nor shall I mention that I actually scored over a hundred points in one of the frames, that would just be too much like blowing my own trumpet!!).
The other games I saw on the Sunday saw Jamie Cope taking advantage of quite a few errors from Paul Davies without really looking totally convincing and also Andrew Higginson defeating Michael Judge in a very scrappy affair.
I went up for the afternoon session on the Monday and Tuesday. On the first of those days Ricky Walden got the better of Anthony Hamilton with some decent scoring in the balls in the concluding frames and also saw the conclusion of Mark Williams' comfortable win over Tom Ford with a fluent display, he was certainly flying around the table, sometimes playing as many as four shots as opposed to just one in the next cubicle.
The crowd was mainly gathered around the Judd Trump - Stephen Lee match which meant I couldnt get a good view of that one - Lee progressed 10-8 from 5-1 down to once again deny the youngster a place in the final stages of the big one.
On the final day to my surprise there seemed to be an even bigger crowd with plenty of Lee Spick fans from the Mansfield area there to see their man up against the Nugget Steve Davis who himself had an army of supporting grannies and after an intriguing battle it was the old stager who came through 10-8. I had actually supported him at 8/15 in the betting here on the back of his previous impressive run in the Championship League but he found it much more of a struggle this time. One thing he has admitted to himself is finding difficulty in adapting to the speed of the modern ultra-fast cloths - and it was certainly evident here as he ran out of position with alarming regularity. Crondon Park is pretty much renowned for having rather sluggish tables in comparison so that perhaps half explains his better performance there.
There was also a very decent match between Ian McCulloch and Rory McLeod. Despite some heavy scoring from the Preston potter, McLeod maybe made fewer unforced errors overall and this was probably one of his best ever performances to win 10-7.
My best bets odds-wise in the final round were Martin Gould to beat Matthew Stevens at 5/2 and Gerard Greene to beat Ken Doherty at 6/4.
I also finally cracked the "to qualify" market with the first profits of the season from that sphere - Walden (11/8), Holt (13/8), Higginson (2/1) and Greene (7/4) all obliging which was exactly half of my portfolio of bets.
The draw for the final stages was made the following day and the odds were out in a matter of minutes with a few of the firms. Still havent gotten round to pricing them up yet as there are a couple of other tournaments until Sheffield but did have a bit of an accumulator on some of the more obvious favourites as the prices on these tend to shorten in the run up if it stays consistent with previous years.
In the outright market had already backed Ryan Day (before he lost form!), Stephen Maguire and Mark Selby and while I was fairly happy with the draw for the first two (though Lee is no pushover), not sure I would have picked Walden out of the hat for the Jester in that one.
To make up my usual policy of one from each quarter, have backed Mark Williams at 33s since the draw. Although he fails to meet the criteria that all recent winners have been under 33 years of age, he has a winnable starter against Hendry and then ought to get chances against either Ding or Liang, given their open styles of play. The alternative would probably have been Ding but wouldnt be surprised if his compatriot gives him a real fight there with the local rivalry, the match should certainly play to each others strengths.
On to the dogs and I lost outsider Priceless Johnno and new addition Tyrur Kenny from my Tote Gold Cup ante post roster but Slip The Lark, Ballymac Bondi and Swords Prince all made it through by winning their respective heats at Shelbourne last Saturday. Lark was either lucky or unlucky depending on how you look at it, as he looked booked for second when the leader Ja Mann, with the race seemingly in the bag, inexplicably jinked across the course, almost carrying my selection out with him, but luckily he just managed to maintain enough momentum to cross the line at the head of affairs.
In the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby, Bandicoot Tipoki and Kinda Ready made it through to the final by finishing first and second in their heat on Thursday though my other pick Droopys Quinta narrowly missed out on qualifying in third place in her heat.
And in the William Hill Pall Mall which started on the same day, I lost Royal Warrior but the impressive Bandit Blue and rather-less-so Soviet Maldini still made it through. Have since added the four year old veteran Brickfield Class to the roster too as he showed excellent pace to win his heat, though will now contest the same heat as Bandit Blue himself.
The gaelic football bets last week started off woefully with both Tyrone and Down losing narrowly on Saturday night - maybe the abysmal weather had a bit to do with those results - but Mayo and Cork obliged the following day as did London on the handicap so finished up pretty much all square on those.
Also had a dabble on the Aussie Rules pre season showcase final the NAB Cup by backing outsiders Collingwood but they had no answer to the fire power of favourites Geelong who cranked it up a gear here after some narrow wins in the previous rounds.
Nevertheless a very good week overall on the betting.
On the local snooker front, we have a two week break from the league for competitions before completing our final two matches of the season. I lost one of my semi finals last night 2-0 against one of the most promising players on the local circuit, he knocked in breaks of 45 and 30 so leaves me with something to think about as I play him in another semi on Monday!!
Oh for some of that form from the day I beat .... no sorry I wont mention it again!!
All the best for now
Rick

A smashing week in more ways than one!

2009-03-06T23:59:00.004Z

Last week didnt start too well when soon after finishing the blog entry, I proceeded to sit on my glasses which ended up causing £320 worth of damage, i.e. they needed to be totally replaced so I needed to find a few winners and luckily thats how it transpired.
The World Championship snooker qualifiers at Sheffield were my main source of interest and they are played off to their completion on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday whereafter there will be a draw to see which qualifiers face which of the 16 seeded players who are already through to the Crucible.
I went along to the Institute of Sport last Saturday and in fact Sunday too as the last match between Jamie Jones and Atthasit Mahitti didnt finish until around 12.45am, but it was worth the wait in the end as my man Jones brought home the bacon in a 10-9 win. In fact, all the deciders went my way for once which makes a lot of difference obviously, remember earlier in the season in one tournament when 9 out of 10 went against me. This time all five went in my favour, as well as a couple more in the "to qualify" market I had dabbled in, making it seven out of seven in effect for the week! Having said that, every one will probably go against me now for the next three days!
My best wins in the match betting came from Lee Spick at 7/4 against Adrian Gunnell and a nice hat trick of successes for young Daniel Wells who I backed at 6/4, 13/8 and 2/1 to beat Li Hang, Ian Preece and Marcus Campbell respectively (all in final frame shootouts). Plus I had a nice 3/1 winner when Wayne Cooper edged out Scott Mackenzie, you've guessed it, 10-9!!
Not sure what the future holds for Scott as, in this months Snooker Scene magazine, he says if he didnt qualify for the Crucible he would pack it in, as it is not proving cost effective for him in the lower echelons of the rankings. Of course players winning the very first qualifying round receive absolutely nothing for their efforts so you have to win two rounds before any money starts coming your way, and even then its obviously fairly modest amounts.
I still have five out of eight left in my "to qualify for the last 32" portfolio - namely Trump, Walden, Holt, Higginson and Greene but do need at least three or four to progress to ensure a profit as my three at bigger odds all bit the dust.
Running concurrently with the World Championships this week was Matchroom's Championship League event with Groups 5 and 6 being held at Crondon Park. I got lucky in this too by selecting Mark King to win the first group at 9/1, my theory being that recent form has not been such a big factor in previous events and he had reached a final there in the past so perhaps quite liked the intimate type atmosphere.
My pair in the second group didnt fare so well though as Graeme Dott could only finish fifth and Matthew Stevens was beaten in the semi finals by eventual winner John Higgins so on this occasion the favourite actually did the business. The old Nuggett Steve Davis put up a sterling show to finish top of the group but failed to get a look in in the final itself as Higgins reeled off a series of impressive breaks to win 3-0.
Nevertheless, Davis showed enough there to have the layers slashing their odds for his match with Lee Spick in the pre-Crucible qualifier next week, as the early 8/13 quickly disappeared and 8/15 is now best price available which I still think looks a good deal on that kind of form.
I've got tickets for the three days up at Sheffield, will mostly be going up for the concluding evening sessions though might do the morning instead on Sunday as I usually hit the baize myself that night for a weekly practice session with one of my team-mates.
While touching on that subject, we had a great 5-0 win this week, our first whitewash of the season, against another of the teams in and around us in the league table and that puts us nip and tuck with our other team from the club now with two games left to see who can have bragging rights over the summer months! Not that I play any snooker over the summer so they will have to shout pretty loud from half a mile or so away!!
Had a great weekend on the greyhounds last Saturday when all three of my picks at the big Crayford meeting went in, Lorrys Options (4/1 ante post and topped up at 9/4 on the day), Nebuchadnezzar and Special Liberty (both 9/4 too) all doing the business.
Plus had a nice 3/1+ double at Harlow on Wednesday thanks to Ranch Pacific and Bubbly Rambo, and got all four of my ante post selections through in the first round of the Tote Gold Cup at Shelbourne. Also added another one to the portfolio there as Tyrur Kenny caught my eye having a troubled passage and running on well into third so hopefully with the quintet I have there it gives me a strong hand.
The Puppy Derby at Monmore also started on Thursday and the three selections made it through round one - Bandicoot Tipoki (4/1) finishing a close second, Droopys Quinta (20/1) third in the same race and Kinda Ready (8/1) winning his heat with something to spare.
One blemish was Mountjoy Gold losing out tonight in the Poole Golden Crest but that one had the worst of the draw really and the writing was on the wall anyway after a sluggish start from the traps.
Only had one bet on the GAA last week and that was in the hurling where I thought Wexford might overcome their -4 handicap at Antrim at evens but nothing was further from the truth and despite leading by 9pts at one stage, they capitulated to an eight point defeat against what is not normally recognised as the home side's strongest line up, with several of the better club players still not taking the field just yet.
Also my final aussie rules NAB Cup outright bit the dust when Essendon went the same way as one of my other picks Richmond by being beaten by Collingwood, so no luck in that market this year.
The gaelic football returns in Ireland this week with a vengeance after a quiet couple of weeks for the county teams, this time I'm tieing my colours to the mast of Tyrone, Down, Mayo and Cork plus cant resist a bit on good old London who have been given a +14 handicap against Sligo by one of the books and the signs are that they have an improved team this year so they ought to have a fair chance of staying within that margin if so.
In fact last year London defeated the same opposition in extra time in the Tommy Murphy Cup consolation event but the visitors will certainly have a stronger line up on the field on this particular occasion.
Anyhow, I shall say goodnight before what is left of my once proud glasses drops off the end of my nose!!
All the best for now
Rick

Rams run comes to an end minus Commons

2009-02-27T23:59:00.001Z

Just back from a trip to Doncaster to see the Rams lose their first league match in five outings this evening at the Keepmoat Stadium, a bit of a disappointing performance after some great showings in recent weeks but maybe not a total surprise as our main playmaker Kris Commons was out injured with a calf strain. With the only like for like replacement in the hole just behind the forward line, Giles Barnes, currently on loan at Fulham it was hard to see who was going to come up with the magic to keep us firing on all cylinders and so it proved, though goalkeeper Stephen Bywater will probably feel he should have had the home team's winning goal on reflection.
So it was double misery on the sporting front for me this week as our snooker team slumped to a third successive defeat in the local league, this time 4-1 with myself having a bit of a nightmare too. It was one of those frames where everything that could go wrong did, and everything my opponent came up with turned into a bed of roses, though in fairness the way I was playing I may not have won anyhow even if Lady Luck had dealt me a better hand. One bright spark was that our new recruit knocked in a nice 31 break to banish memories of his premature concession the week before, the acid test now is how his temperament holds up the next time he's twenty behind.
On the betting front I came out of the Welsh Open snooker nicely ahead and the early stages of the World Championship qualifiers have started off OK with wins for Tony Knowles (2/7) against Ali Bassiri, Wayne Cooper (3/1) against Scott Mackenzie and Daniel Wells (6/4) against Li Hang, the latter two on final frame shootouts, which I dont seem to have had the best of luck in this season so nice to see it changing at least for the time being.
Stephen Craigie after being well in contention at the interval, couldnt keep it going against Lee Spick however and was the first loser. Robert Stephen and David Grace, two of my other picks at the odds, could soon be joining him as they will need to claw back from very difficult positions tomorrow.
I've also got Jamie Jones and Kuldesh Johal in the match odds tomorrow both at 6/4 starting out against Atthasit Mahitti and Jin Long respectively. Hoping to get up to the Institute of Sport at Sheffield at some stage tomorrow to see some of the action, as indeed I will be doing next week for the final round of matches before the Crucible itself.
Nice to see old Tony Knowles as a non tour qualifier upsetting the odds with a fine 10-9 win over Stefan Mazrocis, there was no fluke in the win either as apart from a couple of frames near the end when the Dutch-Latvian found his breakbuilding touch, the old stager had mostly been outscoring him fairly convincingly.
I've also had one last crack at trying to break the "to qualify for the last 32" market - at least this time there were a selection of bookies pricing this up instead of just one so maybe there was a bit more value flying about though whether I have found it is another matter.
Picked eight in the end - in price order Judd Trump 11/10 (seems to just have Lee to beat), Ricky Walden 11/8 (looks between him and Hamilton), Michael Holt 13/8 (might have a bit too much for Dominic Dale), Gerard Greene 7/4 (decent odds against out of form Ken, though the latter in Championship League action this week, keep em peeled), Andrew Higginson 2/1 (must have a chance against the likes of Judge), Barry Pinches 4/1 (found a bit of form recently after a poor start to the year, has Gunnell and S Davis to beat), John Parrott 4/1 (Swail maybe overrated by the oddsmakers after he reached the Welsh final, his breakbuilding was still modest) and Andy Hicks 7/1 (maybe value with some books keeping Jimmy tight in anticipation of a few of his fans bets). Of course there are other players I havent mentioned who could also upset the applecart for any of those above but just listing who I thought were the main protagonists.
The Championship League also reconvenes on Monday at Crondon Park with Groups 5 and 6 being played off this week - new arrivals this time are Matthew Stevens, Mark King and Ken Doherty who come in to join the remaining players from the last round John Higgins, Jamie Cope, Mark Williams and Barry Hawkins.
After saying I wasnt going to get involved until the semi finals, I'll probably still take the opportunity to price up the league matches after all, have done a bit of re-thinking and hopefully might be able to tweak the betting strategy to become more successful in this. Last year I did OK in it but went into it in a bit of a half hearted way this season from a betting angle and therefore no surprise the bookies have come out on top so far. Then again it all depends on whether the price is right!
There was an embarrassing moment on the greyhounds last weekend, if you recall I had spent most of the week complaining about a reserve carrying my money against my wishes when it replaced my original selection in a race at Coventry. Eventually I succeeded in getting my stake refunded yet this week the same reserve Kenpo Star was actually going head to head with my original selection Swift Ninja again at the same track.
Needless to say the reserve finished in front of it which maybe shows I had the better deal last week after all if only I'd seen it, though in fairness Ninja is a dog that has to lead as he seems to possess all the trackcraft of an elephant on ice when he has to run in and around other dogs.
The Golden Jacket at Crayford (the final of which is tomorrow) also only spawned one qualifier for me in Lorrys Options with the other three who were all drawn in the same heat biting the dust with ante post favourite Midway Skipper who had no luck in running being one of them.
In the supporting card, I've also given a chance to Special Liberty who showed a decent turn of foot when winnning on one of the Sky cards recently and also Nebuchadnezzar who I backed for the Springbok but this longer trip should be more suitable on reflection, he also has the 6 box this time and as he usually goes right, this at least might have the effect of keeping him on a straighter route.
Unluckiest loser of the weekend for me was undoubtedly Barefoot Bryan in the Joe Dunne Memorial puppies final, he looked all set to take the prize when as a renowned strong fininsher he was a length behind leader Oakfront O Seven at the final bend and surely odds of 1/4 would have been looking generous at the time. However to my disbelief both dogs took the exact same line from the bend and my selection ran right up the backside of the leader, losing all momentum until it was too late when he rallied strongly but to no avail.
Another big event in Ireland starts tomorrow with the Tote Gold Cup heats, I've picked out four in the ante post market, Slip The Lark (8/1), Ballymac Bondi (25/1), Swords Prince (33/1) and Priceless Johnno (66/1 e/w).
I've also had a couple of small dabbles on the Derby, I missed best price on both but wanted to see the connections confirm that the Blue Riband event was in their plans before parting with any cash, so once again I've been tempted by the aforementioned Slip The Lark who doesnt know how to run a bad race and also a dog I saw in the flesh at Nottingham last week annhiliating his field, Head ItOn Ellis, who admittedly is a bit inexperienced but has plenty of talent. These were available at 50s and 100s the day before I backed them but the confirmation of their plans sent the prices tumbling before I could get on but 40s and 66s is still something to get excited about if they are in contention at the business end. Suppose at this stage of proceedings though you're just happy if they actually make the race.
Finally in the aussie rules football I lost Richmond Tigers from my NAB Cup outright picks when they were beaten by Collingwood Magpies this weekend, I had half anticipated this though by adding Essendon Bombers at 7/1 who seemed to face a slightly preferable match with Brisbane Lions, though they did ultimately make quite hard work of it, only winning by two points at the end. A plus for Essendon is that they had lots and lots of injuries last year so they are almost certainly better than what they could manage last time around , they too must face Collingwood now so hoping they can fare better than the Tigers in that respect.
All the best for now
Rick

25/1 Hamilton & 20/1 Corrig boost coffers

2009-02-20T23:59:00.002Z

An eventful week to say the least. Most of my time has been spent fighting the loss of my stake on a dog race at Coventry last Sunday night when my intended bet on the hot favourite Swift Ninja was transferred to rank outsider Kenpo Star who came in as reserve after my initial selection was withdrawn.
Having originally thought my money was safe as is usually the case if the dogs name appears on your betting slip, I contacted the firms customer service rep and she confirmed I would be OK. Having read their small print just prior to the off though I wasnt so sure and emailed them to say I definitely didnt want this bet win or lose so at least they had it in writing.
The next morning of course they followed their rule book and did an about turn saying it was settled as a loser, saying I had contacted them too late, but the fact remained this was a very deceptive way of operating with the dogs name appearing on the betting slip rather than the trap number, by which method they were settling the wager.
Eventually after some wrangling, and having taken some fellow forumites advice and contacted IBAS and Matt Chapman himself of Atthreraces fame, both parties managed to come to the agreement that I would be reimbursed the full amount having initially been offered a £20 free bet.
So a sensible conclusion but not sure why dog punters should be railroaded into backing these reserve dogs anyhow, to my knowledge it doesnt happen in any other sport. For instance in snooker how would you feel if your money was down on Ronnie O Sullivan only to find that Hugh Abernethy (no disrespect to the Scot) had taken his place at a moments notice.
The replacement dog actually ran quite well, finishing a close up fourth, but why on earth should I be forced to back something I knew nothing whatsoever about, at least you should get the option to say "no reserve" which is indeed the most common scenario with the majority of firms.
The other dog bets, while mixed have still seen an overall profit on the week. Corrig Vieri of course landed the Swindon Arc on Thursday which meant a successful 20/1 ante post bet even though my other finalist Shaneboy Luke at the head of the market could only trail in last of the six runners after a slow start.
I also backed both Magna Dave and Killough Belles at 6/1 and 8/1 respectively in the Gorton Cup final the same night at Belle Vue but they were both thwarted in a three way photo by the favourite Royal Warrior who just held on by a diminishing neck and a head.
I was looking forward to the Crayford Golden Jacket staying event heats on Monday having had a few ante post picks but having checked the sponsor Ladbrokes' online site it seemed they were not showing them on there. That meant they would probably more than likely be screening them in their shops on SIS and I seemed to recall they were the track bookmakers at Nottingham greyhound stadium who were also racing that night.
However, after making the hour long trip I found to my chagrin it was William Hill, so my memory must be playing tricks on me, which meant I missed all the Crayford action as they did not have it on their menu, then of course when I got back home I found out Ladbrokes had screened it on their website all along!!
At least my four outright picks made it through to the semi finals but with three of them drawn in the same heat and only two possible qualification places, it still didnt all work out to plan. Midway Skipper the ante post favourite who is unbeaten at the track must take on my other picks Capel Wilson and Greedy Bridie while Lorrys Options is the other representative.
At least I saw a decent prospect on the track at Nottingham with Head Iton Ellis winning in fine style, admittedly a 1/3 shot on the night, but was visually very impressive and paid a big compliment to Bandicoot Tipoki who has beaten it twice in the previous three meetings between the puppies.
Over in Ireland Barefoot Bryan was the only ante post to make it through to tomorrows Joe Dunne final at Shelbourne having been backed at 6/1 and couldnt resist going in again at 2s after what was an eye catching run in the semi final, whilst only finishing third, it was highly creditable after meeting all kinds of trouble. Just hope he can avoid that fate this time around.
The gaelic football bets didnt start off too well last weekend with odds on shots Armagh and Meath both letting me down, the former had two of their better players carded when holding a five point lead and the loss of these seemed too much to handle as Laois came back to land the spoils. Derry did oblige on the Sunday though and after some pondering also decided to risk outsiders Dublin at home to a weakened Galway team in the hurling which bore fruit with a 7/2 winner.
Also had a nice bet on my own team Derby to see off Blackpool in the midweek football, and after being made to fight hard for most of the match, the tide turned in their favour near the end with some classy goals in a 4-1 victory. Off to Forest again tomorrow morning for the big re-match following our 3-2 win at the City Ground in the FA Cup only a couple of weeks ago.
The aussie rules teams are continuing to play out the NAB Cup pre season tournament and I managed to get Richmond (12/1) through to the next round to play Collingwood but North Melbourne were beaten today at Carlton.
On to the snooker and the Welsh Open and the coffers received a major boost today with Anthony Hamilton winning the first quarter at 25/1, thanks to a hard fought victory over hot favourite Mark Selby this evening.
That was a very welcome winner, as the Championship League event run by Matchroom just prior to this hadnt really gone to plan but this one is now looking much better.
As I speak Neil Robertson is also heading for the semi final with a comfortable win over Marco Fu and at 25/1 in the ante post market there hopefully might be another payout there.
Have had a bit of a saver on Ali Carter at 5/4 also just now as he looks the most likely other contender with outsiders Hamilton and Joe Swail making up the semi finalists.
In fact along with a few others almost backed Carter too at the start of the event at around 16s but in the end preferred to risk Graeme Dott at bigger odds from that section.
The match betting has been pretty even steven, have had some good winners like Fu to beat O Sullivan at nearly 3/1 on the exchange, Gould to beat Hendry at 21/10 and Judge to beat Day at 2/1 but the main profits will be coming from the quarter and/or outright markets.
Our own snooker team lost our second match in a row this week with a 3-2 defeat to another mid table side. Our wayward new signing set the tone for the night by reverting to type and rather imploding in the first frame of the evening, he almost won the award for most ridiculous concession in the history of the league when he started unscrewing his cue when only 19 behind with 51 on the table!! After being encouraged to continue, he then just smashed the balls around a few more times leaving easy pots before once again offering his hand when only requiring one snooker on the colours. I told him I want a bit more effort next week or else!!
Anyway must get off to bed as its offically Saturday!!
See you soon
Rick

Casper lands the 66/1 each way punt

2009-02-13T22:11:00.010Z

There was good and bad news in the final of the Springbok greyhound novice hurdle at Wimbledon on Tuesday night. My ante post picks seemed to have differing chances having reached this stage, with my original 11/2 shot Nebuchadnezzar now quoted at 4/5 and Deanridge Casper initially at 66/1 still the outsider of the field but now into 16/1.
Unfortunately the odds on favourite never fired at all being slowly away and then swerving right from the start and found himself in amongst some of the other dogs which he didnt seem to like, finishing a never dangerous fourth. There was some joy though as Casper came away in second place and although he stumbled after one of the hurdles losing some momentum which resulted in him being overtaken for that position, he still finished a creditable third to bring home the each way money at a quarter of the odds. The winner Bomber Bailey put up by far his best performance of the event with the quickest time of all the heats so there can be no complaints about the justification of the result on the night.
In the delayed Arc heats at Swindon, both my picks Shaneboy Luke and Corrig Vieri made it through to the semi finals, the former finding trouble in running but still managing to do enough for third place while the latter (who I also backed individually at 8/11) won comfortably in a heat weakened by two withdrawals.
Over in Ireland at Shelbourne Park, the John Dunne Memorial saw the loss of ante post favourite Faypoint Man from the event after he was badly impeded but my other picks - Barefoot Bryan, Mardocs Foster and Skywalker Queen - all sailed through convincingly with successes on the night in their individual heats. They do battle again this Saturday in the semi finals.
I also had a couple of other winners on Wimbledon's Sky card on Tuesday in the supporting races with Lorrys Options obliging at 11/4 and the ever reliable Flying Winner doing what she does best at 8/15.
So all things considered another excellent week on the dogs, just wish the same could be said for the snooker.
Unfortunately I rather half heartedly got involved in Barry Hearn's event the Championship League which this week held Groups 3 and 4 which act as feeders for the Premier League proper. Having priced up the matches, I found very few differing odds from the layers but I decided to take on a couple of players who had been struggling in the qualifying matches lately, Barry Hawkins and Stuart Bingham. However as it happens they both performed very well, Hawkins qualifying for the semi finals of both Groups while Bingham went one step better and actually won Group 4 as the rank outsider beforehand priced at 9/1, beating John Higgins in the final. Higgins himself was awful in the opening group but then suddenly transformed overnight into the player we know he can be while others like Neil Robertson were very inconsistent, losing eight frames in a row at one stage then coming back to win 4-0 in his next match.
All in all I think its safe to say it was pretty much a bookies benefit, perhaps laying is the way to go but that means returning to Betfair, something which I'm reluctant to do until they get their house in order. So instead think I'll explore other avenues and perhaps only join the Championship League markets at the semi final stages in the future when its a straight best of five shootout. I did notice the totally out of sorts Ken Doherty is in the next group so it is tempting to go against him from the start but judging by the events of this week he'll probably win it lol.
At least the Welsh Open is on the horizon next week and the home players have done exceptionally well in qualifying with almost a full complement - Ian Preece and Paul Davies battled through to reach the first round proper while the likes of Mark Williams, Matthew Stevens and Dominic Dale - now commuting from Austria - have all had their last qualifiers held over to the venue just in case.
On to the outright market and as usual I'll be picking one from each quarter. The first quarter looks stronger at the top end with the likes of Selby, Perry and Williams in the mix. Therefore I'll look to the bottom of that section and as both Peter Ebdon (especially) and Ryan Day have been struggling a bit in the last few events I'll risk a few quid on both Anthony Hamilton (25/1) and Michael Judge (28/1) to win the first quarter, as if they both won they would play each other in round two in a match that could go either way for a quarter final place. Of the two, mainly because he was trading at bigger odds at the time, have plumped for Judge in the outright market with an each way bet at 200/1 (now into 150s), ever the optimist!!
In section two most peoples eyes will be drawn towards Ali Carter but I feel I've given him enough chances of late, he's flattered to deceive for most of his career and he rather lost the plot at the business end of both the UK and the Masters when my money was down. Therefore I'll take Graeme Dott each way at 66/1 to try to get his career back on track, at least he is a proven winner in the past unlike Carter and did show a bit of the old form in the recent Masters match which he lost narrowly to Stephen Maguire. He starts out against Mike Dunn before maybe taking on Carter in round two, if the latter can beat old stager Jimmy White in his opener.
Shaun Murphy is probably the other one to consider from this section, but although he looks to have a good draw, his form still didnt seem totally convincing in the UK even though he won it and he looks short enough in the betting for me. Plus his opening opponent Barry Pinches seems to have at last found some form this season with good wins over Judd Trump and Jamie Cope in qualifying.
In quarter three Maguire and Ding are on a collision course towards the top end of that section so again dropping down below Mark Allen at 25/1 catches the eye, starting off against Joe Swail which he ought to have a fair chance of coming through before taking on either Stephen Hendry or Martin Gould, another one he shouldnt be frightened off nowadays.
And finally into the fourth quarter Ronnie O Sullivan should see off Steve Davis but could then face another grinding type of opponent in either Fergal O Brien or Marco Fu so maybe best to give him a swerve at the odds and decided to give Neil Robertson a bash at 25/1. He comes up against Jamie Burnett first, who played exceptionally well in qualifying for this but doesnt usually follow it up nowadays in the main venues.
Anyhow thats the prognosis and at least they're decent prices so hopefully they won't all bomb out at the first hurdle!
In the match betting have stuck mainly with odds against chances even though there look to be some obvious short ones, in a first to five given the inconsistency of some of the players this season I wouldnt have total faith in them all doing the business.
Amongst those I've played are Hicks 11/5, Gould 21/10, Judge 2/1, Hamilton 6/5, O Brien 7/4 and Harold evens along with a double of Allen and Williams on the opening day paying 6/5ish.
Coverage is on BBC Wales and Eurosport.
Finally theres a full programme of the National League in the gaelic football circles as long as the weather doesnt intervene. Armagh opened up their campaign with a fine away win at Wexford a fortnight ago and taken the 2/5 for them to see off Laois who disappointed against Kildare.
Also like Derry at 4/9 to follow up their success over Mayo with a win over Westmeath and will risk Meath who didnt show alot in a heavy loss to Cork but this looks a more realistic proposition against Fermanagh and the 8/11 odds were too tempting to resist.
Thats all for now,
See you soon Rick

Gould-en ending to Welsh Open qualifiers

2009-02-06T21:19:00.012Z

Well it seems a long time since I last did the blog but its only a week, had plenty of ups and downs in that time that it seems a lifetime!!
The main stresses came about via the recent Welsh Open snooker qualifiers which were held in Prestatyn. With three books pricing them up for the most part, there were plenty of opportunities but after making rather a monumental blunder half way through I just about came out of it intact after a nerve-wracking end to the final match of the final round.
First up I got involved in Sky's "to qualify" market which is constructed by one (or maybe even two) of the more knowledgeable compilers in the business so there are certainly no easy pickings and hasnt been one I have been able to get on top of so far.
Nevertheless upped my outlay this time and despite getting a fair few through to the final round, they began to drop like stones, Tom Ford was beaten 5-2 by Steve Davis, Stuart Pettman by the same score to Michael Judge and Ricky Walden 5-1 to Fergal O Brien (had also had double the stakes on the man from Flintshire to compound matters).
That meant if Martin Gould went under to Nigel Bond, I had lost my whole portfolio, amounting to something like £850 but in a tense finale he edged out my former fellow local league player 5-4 to land the 9/2 odds which I had also topped up at 10/11 in the match betting markets.
The tension wasnt all down to that however as mid way through the event I had what can only be described as a mad moment by lumping on Judd Trump in a variety of bets, singles and combinations to beat Barry Pinches, who I had seen hopelessly out of touch in the Masters qualifiers before Christmas losing to Lewis Roberts, a rookie on the tour.
However on this occasion Pinches wasnt missing when he was in, compiling a 136 break amongst three frames he won practically in one visit to oust Trump 5-3 with the Bristol youngster failing to qualify for an event proper for the first time this season.
I started off by putting Trump in a sizeable treble (the other two both won in a canter of course) but then decided I wasnt content with that, having a single with both the original compilers and then PP when they opened at a slightly better price, getting combined odds of about 1/3.
Of course I also had him in my "to qualify" bets too, so the whole schamoodle totted up to about £900 which is far more than my average stake resting on one outcome.
Hopefully I have re-learned a lesson not to link one match to many different bets, to be honest I have done this in the past and shouldnt be going over the same mistakes so will have to write these rules down and stick as rigidly as possible to them in future.
I think the main motivation was actually travelling to see some of the matches like the Masters qualifiers, I wanted to make the most out of what I saw, in this case an out of touch Pinches, so was trying to capitalise on that too quickly when of course the reality in snooker is that things can change very quickly in a few weeks.
Anyhow luckily the rest of the matches went pretty well with some decent winners at odds against - Ian Preece winning twice at 2/1 against Andrew Higginson and Stuart Bingham - plus Paul Davies obliging at 9/4 against new dad Barry Hawkins. In the end I was in profit on the match betting somehow but the "to qualify" market bets cancelled that out.
In some ways it was an opportunity missed as it should have been a big earner but in the circumstances I was happy enough to come out of it with no damage and a lesson learned.
The Championship League cranks into action again next week with Round 3 so will be compiling some prices over the weekend, the new players this time are John Higgins, Neil Robertson and Barry Hawkins who come in to join Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, Joe Perry and the ever present Ali Carter.
While on the subject of the baize our own local league team as expected found the visit of the current leaders too much to handle but we put up a decent show with a narrow 3-2 defeat. With myself losing on the black and another of us on the pink it could even have been a grand victory but we'd have settled for two points beforehand. The young lad I brought in at the start of the season is starting to impress a bit now with three successive wins and seems to have gotten over his temperament problems for the time being anyhow, though now of course one of the other teams at the top has been showing an interest in getting a hold of him for next season. I told them we want at least £1-m and nothing less, plus he will lose my coaching skills too of course lol!!
My individual defeat ended a run of eight successive victories which was much needed after a bit of a dodgy start but I blame it on going out cavorting in the snow with our border collie, some of the drifts up on the moor were coming up to my waist and by the time I had waded up there and back again I was stiffening up by the time of the match. I started to feel aches where I didnt know I had muscles and the cue action felt awful, in the circumstances not really sure how I managed to stay in contention so long. Anyway no matches to report next week as the team we were due to play have disbanded, if they had seen me playing last week they would probably have gotten back together again very quickly as they licked their lips at the prospect lol.
On to the dogs and have just witnessed my two ante post picks in the Springbok at Wimbledon get through to the final.
Was cursing my luck when both Nebuchadnezzar (11/2) and Deanridge Casper (66/1 ew) were drawn in the same heat with only two qualifying but straight from the traps they were at the head of affairs and had the race between them off the final bend, the shorter priced dog always holding sway by a couple of lengths or so.
With the favourite falling in the first heat, both should have a good chance of being in the money on Tuesday on the live Sky card so thats an exciting one to look forward to.
In the Arc at Swindon, my four ante post picks were halved after the first round heats but favourite Shaneboy Luke (4/1) and Corrig Vieri (20/1) both made it through to the next stage.
And in Ireland after watching the first round heats of the Joe Dunne Memorial puppy event at Shelbourne, I came up with a four dog portfolio from the next round onwards consisting of the impressive Faypoint Man (4/1), fast finishing Barefoot Bryan (7/1) plus kennelmates Mardocs Foster (16/1) and Skywalker Queen (20/1) who fought out a close finish in one of the heats last weekend.
The opening weekend of the gaelic football leagues was mixed from a betting viewpoint with two losers cancelling out two winners. In the outright markets, both my Division One picks Derry (8/1) and Galway (10/1) won their opening matches, as did Monaghan (5/1) in Division Two and Louth (8/1) in Division Three while Wicklow (7/2) earned a creditable draw travelling to one of the other likely challengers Antrim.
The hurling comes to the fore this Sunday and I have ignored the more obvious claims of Kilkenny to go with Galway (6/1) and Clare (20/1) in Division One outright. Not sure I will be having any bets in round one though as most of the teams are depleted at this stage of the season and its all a bit up in the air as to how the teams will cope.
There is a skeleton football card with Division Four only but again at first glance nothing much stands out.
In the traditional football world, I enjoyed a fine victory for my team Derby County at local rivals Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup 4th round on Wednesday, despite getting caught in a horrendous traffic jam en route which meant we missed the first 10 minutes (including the opening Forest goal) it was all worth it in the end.
Was panicking a bit on the way back to the car though after our win as we found ourselves amongst a host of angry locals and then My Dad, who had come with me, apparently completely oblivious to the situation, started asking me questions about who I thought played well for Derby at the top of his voice (he also had his earphones in for the radio and didnt realise how loudly he was talking). I ignored him anyway and scurried off ahead, leaving the Forest fans wondering who he was talking to lol.
Anyway on the evidence of Wednesday I'm laying both Plymouth (who host Derby) and Forest (who entertain QPR) on Saturday. Both teams I'm taking on have injury problems and Derby have played some very good football under Clough in the last two or three games while QPR were quite impressive at Pride Park a few games ago with their new signings fitting in pretty quickly it seemed.
Finally the aussie rules season gets underway this weekend with the pre season tournament the NAB Cup staging its first match between West Coast and Collingwood. A fair few of the teams dont consider winning the be all and end all in this knockout event so perhaps there is leeway to find an outsider who is at least trying to do the business. Therefore I've gone with two improving teams from last year Richmond Tigers at 12/1 and North Melbourne Kangaroos at 16/1, although they are both away from home which does seem a bit of a negative looking at past results in the cup.
Speaking of which I had a rather bizarre dream about kangaroos last night but will refrain from the rest of the story or I think someone will be trying to get me into a straightjacket pretty soon!
Anyway, onwards and upwards
All the best for now
Rick

Doodlebeag scoops the prize

2009-01-30T16:20:00.014Z

I find it quite interesting that the figures Betfair released a couple of weeks ago (which I have just gotten round to in my outdated Racing Post) show that they were in fact performing very healthily pre the premium charge era which makes their claims they needed everyone paying "their fair share" for the good of the future now look rather spurious to say the least. As I said then and I say it again now, however they dress it up this is against the ethics of punting and a very selfish greedy decision, of this there can now be no doubt.
Anyway I've been ranting enough about this on the Betdaq forums so dont want to get bogged down with it on here but it seems most of BF's press releases can be taken with a pinch of salt nowadays as its spin, spin and more spin for the most part I'm sad to say.
I notice the Racing Post are urging everyone to sign the "get racing back on the Beeb" petition following their decision to axe the majority of jump racing in the future barring the Grand National, but they were rather less urgent when the matter of the premium charges reared its head, in fact there was hardly any criticism at all about the whole thing in the paper which was very disappointing.
I agree however it is in every keen racing fans interests to maintain as much terrestial coverage as possible for the sport to prevent it slipping further out of the limelight as sports betting continues to challenge on the horizon. I openly admit I have gone more down this sphere myself in latter years but have always had it at the back of my mind I would one day return to the nags when I had the time, which hopefully is fast approaching (only two weeks behind with the form now chaps in the ongoing saga lol).
The dogs have proved a great boon though since I started betting seriously on them in the last six months or so and I watched a great final of the John Casey Open in Shelbourne on the net last Saturday night where I had my each way ante post vouchers still running on Jemmy Doodlebeag at 40/1 and The Other Achill at 50/1.
And what a cracker it was with Jemmy bouncing out of trap four and cutting across to the rail in front of the three inside dogs to take the lead at the first bend, thus negating a tricky draw and then holding on gamely from the well backed Acordello to win by a short head in the home straight. Certainly the latter dog is one to watch as he looked sure to go by on the home turn but this is where Jemmy's stamina really kicked in and he would not be denied.
As a bonus my other pick The Other Achill, who had slipped back into his old habits and started very slowly, ran on strongly into fourth place which was enough to secure the each way money at a quarter of the odds to supplement the winnings.
You cant beat the excitement of a night like that, I said it when I picked Shelbourne Aston at 40s+ in the Irish Derby and I'll say it again here, even though the stakes were slightly smaller this time, the adrenalin rush is just fantastic.
The latest greyhound ante post market is the Springbok for novice hurdlers at Wimbledon, which is obviously not the easiest to pick from with some of the better dogs on paper not always jumping too well but have initially gone with Nebuchadnazzar at 11/2, who I saw staying on well when short headed in one of the trials and seems to have recovered OK from a recent fall the time before, plus Deanridge Casper e/w at 66s which is a much bigger price than some other books. He won a recent trial in decent style too. The heats start on Saturday night and quite often the best time to go in is after you have watched the opening round where quite often a couple of dogs can catch the eye at decent prices.
My team Derby County take on Coventry City in the football tomorrow and this is a massive match for the Rams having now slipped into the bottom three, plus we are offloading Giles Barnes on loan to Fulham it seems so the rest of the lads will hopefully step up. Must admit I've risked a dabble here at 5/4 as I saw the Sky Blues in the return fixture earlier in the season and wasnt overly impressed in a 1-1 draw (they equalised in the last minutes).
Football of the gaelic variety gets underway at a county level this weekend with the National Football Leagues reconvening.
Have had a few dabbles on the outrights (where the odds differ from my ratings from last year), though most teams are not at full strength just yet, and also will be having a few punts on the match betting which turned out to be quite lucrative last year.
There are though new experimental hardline rules coming in this time around which could mean a fair few early baths so perhaps wise not to go too mad with the stakes at present.
The London team are usually the whipping boys of gaelic football but did manage a win against Sligo in the consolation event The Tommy Murphy Cup last year so that should give them a bit of encouragement, plus there has apparently been a bit of an exodus of players over here from Ireland in the close season which might boost the numbers of the squad.
They start off with a home match against Leitrim at Ruislip on Sunday and might try to get down if at all possible, have got my new replica shirt at the ready to join the one man and his dog in the crowd (unless the Leitrim faithful are out in force)!!
The snooker returns with the Welsh Open qualifiers in midweek, the China Open rather petered out with a hit and miss final day but made a reasonable profit overall despite Barry Hawkins carrying my money and throwing in a stinker, losing 5-0 to David Gray who had seemed well on the downgrade. Of course I had forgotten the Hawkins family had just had a recent addition and this may well have been in a factor due to a lack of practice time for one of the less natural players on the tour.
Our own team continued our good run with a 3-2 win over the supposed No 1 team at the club in a local derby match but with their captain sadly unavailable due to a family illness it was a very muted atmosphere in the circumstances lacking the usual rivalry and banter. We take on the current league leaders next week so that might be a bridge too far but having won eight out of eleven matches so far, anything else is a bonus from here.
See you soon
Rick

First the bad news, hope you're not in a rush!

2009-01-23T12:11:00.020Z

Just wondering about whether to deliver the good news or the bad news first this week as theres plenty of the wrong sort and not so much of the other!!
OK will get the woes out of the way first. As you will now know my opposition of Ronnie O Sullivan in the later stages of the Masters tournament last weekend proved futile as he easily disposed of a limp Ali Carter in the quarter final and then went on to edge Mark Selby in the resulting final 10-8.
This brought me back to one of my original rules of snooker betting, that is never be too taken in by one performance and this is where I probably slipped up with the Carter bet after he had looked ultra-impressive in beating Peter Ebdon 6-0 in the previous round, the 10-0 h2h with O Sullivan was obviously eating into his mind during the quarter final and he eventually imploded with a series of wild thrashes in desperation as the match slipped away from him.
The final itself was one lost by Selby I feel rather than won by O Sullivan, certainly the Jester had numerous opportunities to put the match to bed, in fact there must have been four or five frames where he only needed one more ball to win them yet he somehow managed to let them all slip through his grasp. So not alot wrong with the bet in this one looking at it from the long term (I took odds of nearly 9/4) but still dont get paid for a narrow miss on this occasion, though did make a bit of profit on the tournament as a whole.
The Rocket did look close to implosion at one stage of the match in particular, where personally I felt he was doing an exaggerated mimicking of the time Selby was taking around the table, taking four and a half minutes over a buckshee saftey shot at one stage (including pouring and sipping a glass of water) which to me looked rather poor sportsmanship as he was losing the match at the time. Perhaps I'm just an old fuddy duddy lol but he does wind me up sometimes I have to admit!
I have decided to abort the ice hockey betting again, I've had about three goes on the NHL this season and none have proved fruitful in the longterm, had a couple of good weeks after spotting some trends from earlier this season but that strategy turned to dust as many results were just not what the formbook would have suggested beforehand and all the good work of the previous fourteen days was eradicated. My last proper bet was on Boston Bruins who were leading 4-2 against St Louis Blues with a minute and twenty seconds left, yet they somehow managed to concede twice including a goal a tenth of a second before the end of normal time (which for my money should have been disallowed anyway for high sticking), so that is when you know your luck is out. A shootout loss ensued and as Ladbrokes offer a stake refund for all such bets (to be used on NHL) I had to semi-reluctantly have another dabble which also fell flat on its face!
I still might have a few plays on the IIHF World Cup when that starts in April as I usually pay a subscription and watch all the games online plus perhaps with the wider diversity of standard in that particular competition it might be more fathomable.
Also my expected lift for my football team Derby County last weekend against QPR (following the instalment of Nigel Clough as manager) didnt materialise as they slumped to a miserable 2-0 defeat. Perhaps as someone said to me they got their lift the week before when he was sat in the stands but still this was disappointing for his first proper game in charge.
He did take a big risk by ditching the successful formation implemented by departed caretaker Chris Hutchings in the previous match and returning to the one favoured by Paul Jewell which had performed miserably in the main.
There was much more encouragement on Tuesday night though with a spirited effort in the 4-2 defeat at Manchester United (4-3 loss on aggregate) in the Carling Cup semi final and if they can carry that into tonight's match with Nottingham Forest they might be more competitive. Its certainly a game we dont want to lose, especially as the sight of our pugnacious ex-manager Billy Davies in a red scarf running down the touchline with his arms aloft would be quite sickening!!
I notice he is having a pop at our chairman in the papers again, saying he wasnt happy with the amount of times they met up but in all honesty I feel he engineered his own departure from the club to save face when things were going pear shaped in the Premiership. To ask for £40-million was quite ridiculous for a club of Derby's stature at that stage of development and I think he thought it would be better for him if he got out without a relegation on his cv. Given the amount of time it took another club to employ him though not sure that particular plan worked too well!!
The greyhound racing pretty much held its own. Droopys Carvalho won the Coronation Cup final at Romford to land the ante post odds of 3/1 and I also got The Other Achill and Jemmy Doodlebeag through to the John Casey Open final at Shelbourne tomorrow, both each way the first four places at 50/1 and 40/1 respectively so that is quite exciting.
Jemmy has won his last two heats with a flying start and he does stay very well (this trip probably a bit on the sharp side really) but perhaps doesnt have the ideal draw in four though could still nick a place if he doesnt trap out maybe.
The Other Achill ran a fine race in second to Kildallon Maid in the semi final, taking a bad bump and still closing rapidly on the winner in the straight and should have no excuses here as the sole wide seed. He often used to ruin his chance at the lids but has been coming out much better in this event, hope it can continue in the final.
Was reading a David Ashforth column in the Racing Post early in the month and have found he used to use the same method of looking at race results that I now use for the dogs online, that is I get the results section up, click on the meeting and time with my hand firmly in place covering the screen and then edge it up gradually from sixth upwards until I eventually reach the winner, which gives you an impending feeling of excitement as you progress if the name of your dog hasnt yet been unveiled, of course its a bit of an anti climax if instead of being the winner your dog was a non runner though lol!! At least it proves I'm not mad then unless we both are!!
Returning to the snooker and the China Open qualifiers are being held at Prestatyn(!!) at the moment, and thankfully have managed to claw back some money on these up to now.
I had a double on Kuldesh Johal and Peter Lines in the first round on Wednesday that paid 7/10 for a fair amount which saw them both score 5-0 wins and also took Robert Stephen at evens who overcame Supoj Saenla 5-1. Matt Selt got rather bogged down in his match with the grinding Andy Lee though and he lost 5-3 as my 4/7 bet bit the dust there.
On to Thursday and I went with a few lesser known names against some more illustrious but struggling opponents and on the whole it worked. I stuck with Johal and Stephen again and they both won 5-4 from being two frames down against Barry Pinches and Liu Song respectively while Aditya Mehta easily overcame the veteran David Roe 5-1 which made three decent winners at 11/10, 7/4 and 5/4. There were two losses though as Mark Joyce went under 5-3 to Scott Mackenzie at 4/5, reaching the Masters qualifier final doesnt seem conducive to doing well in subsequent ranking events as Kurt Maflin found out last year; and the the other vanquished was Lewis Roberts (7/4) who lost 5-3 to David Gray.
Couldnt see many bets today and the only one I picked was Ricky Walden at 8/15 who had little trouble in overcoming Andy Hicks 5-1 so hopefully things are picking up again!!
Will have to give a mention to our snooker team before I go as we managed a superb 3-2 win over the reigning league champions on home baize on Wednesday night, following up our win against them in the cup match group section and we consolidated our place in fourth position in the league which is some feat really as I was expecting us to be struggling at the bottom.
Perhaps I'm just too much of a pessimist sometimes. Suppose when you think like that though anything you gain is a bonus, its alot better than being continually disappointed!!
All the best for now
Rick

You win some, you lose some

2009-01-16T16:25:00.008Z

One of those up and down weeks which kept swinging to and fro on the betting front. Started off on a poor note as I was still recovering from being bedridden all last Friday and perhaps being starved of action for 24 hours, flung myself into a few bets without really researching them too well, which usually only results in one outcome, empty pockets for a while!!
Certainly taking 1/2 for Shelbourne Aston in the second round heat of the John Casey Open didnt do the coffers any good and as the dog was baulked and could only stay on into fourth place, I also lost the 5/2 outright market bet too unless there are two withdrawals come Saturday's semi finals (in which case he would take his place as one of the reserves).
The other ante post market bets at much bigger prices (Jimmy Doodlebeag and The Other Achill) both actually won their heats but went unbacked at decent odds, they still have their work cut out in the semis though as only two qualify from the three heats which is a bit cut-throat in a high quality event like this.
In Sky's Tuesday night action, as I half expected Romeo Maldini confirmed his recent lacklustre displays in finishing out of the money in the Prestige Stakes, the way he ran the last three times seemed to imply he wasn't handling the track at Hall Green too well but he had won well there prior to this event so it was all rather puzzling. Also my small stakes outsider failed to make the top three so all the outright market money drew a blank in this one.
It wasnt all doom and gloom however and on the supporting card I managed to back a couple of winners Capel Wilson and Swift Jade both at 6/4. The latter looked a bit of a rogue in that she swept up to the leaders at a hundred miles an hour (OK a slight exaggeration!) a couple of bends from home but then seemed quite content to run alongside the other prominent dog so in the end it was a headbob on the line, though luckily it went in my favour.
As I speak I've since backed three winners and a runner up since then with Gorteen Dancer (2/1), Midway Skipper (4/6) and Birchwood Sylv (3/1) obliging and Vatican Skye being rather unlucky in scrimmaging before a strong finishing second at 2/1.
Looking at the ice hockey I've still maintained an upward trend though it has only been a gradual success rate this week, I probably staked too much on one of the unsuccessful doubles I had which set me back a bit but have managed six out of nine winners overall, though all of them at odds on admittedly. In fact was up until 3am last night watching some of the online streams though not sure it was worthwhile in the end as I fnished £25 up for the night!!
As for the Masters snooker the two match bets were landed as Ding beat Murphy at odds against with a 6-4 win for the Chinese plus Ali Carter as expected had little trouble in disposing of Peter Ebdon which now means the h2h for that particular matchup is 7-0 to the man from Tiptree.
Have followed up with a smaller bet on him to beat his nemesis Ronnie O Sullivan tonight, who he trails 10-0 in h2h. Admittedly it looks a tall order in front of the Rocket's very own partisan crowd, but so impressive was Carter in the last round the 15/8 for this match looked too tempting, plus Ronnie is playing with a new cue in this event which may be a slight inconvenience to the great man (not sure if it would be that markedly different in all honesty given the cuemaking technology at hand nowadays).
Ding unfortunately bowed out of my outright portfolio with a 6-4 defeat to John Higgins last night in a high quality encounter, certainly there was lots of encouragement to be had in defeat for him and John probably played to his most consistent standard for a couple of years in that match so disgrace there.
Our own snooker team won our re-arranged match 3-2 in midweek so we go outright fourth in the local league (in the end we were two players short through illness and unavailability and we brought in a couple of decent reserves anyway). I actually whitewashed my opponent for the first time I can recall in all my matches over many years but we did get some bad news that we had narrowly missed out on qualification for the semi finals of the cup competition despite all three teams in our group winning one game each.
The Clough Revolution hopefully continues apace tomorrow afternoon when Derby entertain Queens Park Rangers at Pride Park, given the likely atmosphere around his first actual match in the boxseat I think the wave of euphoria might carry them through to another victory and I've taken the 2.48 available on the Daq for the Rams (minus commission).
Thats all for now, onwards and upwards
Rick

Success on the dogs but not on the baize

2009-01-09T23:59:00.001Z

A belated entry tonight (its actually 1.30am on Saturday morning) but thanks to the wonders of technology I can date the blog as Friday so as to make out Ive beaten the deadline, perhaps I ought to wait until the winners have gone in and then post retrospectively lol, wonder if anyone would notice!!
Havent been too well today so spent most of the day in bed apart from belatedly nipping up the snooker club to put up some draw sheets, it seems whatever it is has affected most of our team as we are already looking like being three players short for next weeks match so will be ringing around tomorrow (or today!!) to try and drum up some reserves, failing that will have to cancel this match for the second time this season which probably wont go down too well with the opposing captain!!
The Championship League snooker down at Crondon Park was a bit of a damp squib from a betting viewpoint, its difficult to be dogmatic about anything over such a short format (four and five frame matches) so my new streamlined approach aimed at better value bets doesnt work so well in an event like this. The trouble is that where a firm are out of line with your viewpoint, they tend to be so on every single match for that one particular player you disagree on, and of course its unlikely he will be winning them all so its a bit of a quandary.
Anyhow I belatedly latched on to the fact that Peter Ebdon was struggling here as a late replacement for Barry Hawkins and opposed him in all three of his matches on the second day of Group 2 which brought me about level but then opposing Mark Allen in the semi final and final proved costly as he defeated both Ali Carter and Joe Perry.
Carter really does seem to have a mental block when it comes to getting over the line at the business end, he seemed to have a great chance here to reach the final but even though Allen wasnt really playing anything fantastic, Ali reserved his worst performance of the whole event for the semi final match. Perry set off with two centuries to go 2-0 up with three to play but then began to splutter and finally capsized 3-2, missing chances in all the remaining frames.
Still the vanquished may not be too worried as the longer you can stay in this competition, the more money you will make and the opposition does tend to get slightly easier on paper as the event progresses, so still plenty of time to reach the final showdown Group for which the winner will qualify for the Premier League proper.
On to the Masters and the thing to take out of this week for me was that Ding was playing exceptionally well (despite losing in both semi finals) and that Murphy and Ebdon were struggling rather badly. So being as Ding is up against Murphy in the first round, have taken some of the 6/5 and 11/10 for the Chinaman there and also gone in on the 8/13 Carter up against Peter. Seems I am not alone in those views as the odds have since contracted on both players. Have also stuck with the same players in the outrights, Ding was just over 13/1 on Betdaq and have also backed Carter each way a 18/1 even though there is a big chance he will have to beat his nemesis Ronnie in the second round.
Was considering backing Hendry for his quarter with the match practice from the Championship League behind him but he didnt show enough to get me interested, out of that quarter Robbo probably looks the most interesting but not decided yet whether to have any more interest in the outright market.
Elsewhere had a very good week on the ice hockey again so hopefully the NHL betting has turned a corner after a less than impressive start in the opening couple of months and also had an incredible run of success on the greyhounds, at one stage backing eight successive winners, and then ten out of twelve overall in the same run, including the Tote Gold Collar winner at Harolds Cross last Friday night Have Some Cop at 8/1 on the Tote.
In the ante post market, I got Droopys Carvalho through to the Coronation Cup final at Romford, though another semi finalist Dangerous Lady unfortunately withdrew taking my money with her; Shelbourne Aston returned to the track with an impressive success at Shelbourne in the John Casey Open and have since added Jemmy Doodlebeag and The Other Achill to my portfolio at big prices there. Also Romeo Maldini has reached the final of the Prestige Stakes at Hall Green despite a couple of blips with slow starts and trouble in running and he will most certainly have to get himself organised much quicker in the final itself if he's to be fulfilling his potential. As well as being on the favourite in this event I have added outsider Swift N Hasty at 33s who also qualified but needs to reach the first three places for a payout.
Got a bit bogged down with some clerical work from the last meeting at the snooker club the last few days so have once again slipped behind with the retrospective form study for the gee gees and I'm still on Boxing Day so sometimes wonder if I ever will catch up!!
Can't leave without mentioning my football club Derby County, they certainly made me sweat at The New Lawn last weekend when landing my 4/5 bet on them to beat Forest Green, but the last minute penalty did the trick after at one stage they trailed 2-0 to the non league team.
But The Rams really turned on the style on Wednesday night with a fine 1-0 win over the World Champions Manchester United in the first leg of the League Cup semi final though this time they went unbacked by me at least at 13/2 (apparently much bigger available on the exchanges).
New manager Nigel Clough was in the stands watching and it really was by some distance the best performance of the season, admittedly against a less than full strength visiting side, but it still had a very high number of internationals in their ranks, and indeed Rooney and Ronaldo were brought into the mix for the last half hour too.
Anyway all the best for now
Rick

Cup run in the balance

2009-01-02T13:06:00.010Z

No snooker betting this week but our team were in action in the second and final group match in our local league cup competition, we had won the first match against last years league champions by 43pts so a win would put us through to the semi finals or perhaps even a narrow defeat would be sufficient with the best second placed team from the three groups also qualifying but that would be dependent on other results.
We had beaten our opponents 4-1 in a league fixture at home so they were bringing out a couple of big guns for this one in the shape of a couple of reportedly hundred-break men, though both had been handicapped by the league committee as giving up 28pts per frame.
The first of these players came up against our rather wayward new signing who decided after missing an early sitter that this was not going to be his day and became increasingly defeatist in his attitude, eventually losing by 52pts (despite the original 28pt buffer) and biting off his tip in true Ronnie style at the end. Rather more worrying is the fact that he has spotted Michael Holt playing in one of the other clubs he frequents and seems to be now holding him up as a role model temperamentally!
We were 70 behind by the time I came to play the other hundred break man but one thing I have managed to learn over the years is that if you dont leave them on they cant pot them and actually played my best team game of the season, at one stage leading 91-2 with just the colours left but unfortunately I didnt pot any further balls and that ended up being crucial as my winning margin was cut to 62.
With the opposition holding an eight point lead, their fourth man won by three and our last man won by one (he needed pink and black to take us through) but at least it gives us an outside chance of progressing which we wouldnt really have expected after the original draw.
On the betting front, with the lack of opportunities I returned to the ice hockey markets and actually enjoyed a great run with six winners out of seven so hope that it can continue as I had started the NHL season in less than impressive style when some of last years trends didnt seem to be carrying forward this time around. The face off areas have been moved this season in certain circumstances so its probably this factor that has caused a bit of a changearound in retrospect.
I also backed Villa to win at Hull in midweek at evens and sat through a dull as dishwater match, much the same as many at Derby have been over the last couple of years it has to be said but eventually the result was right for me when Ashley Young's cross was deflected into his own net by one of the home defenders. I was cursing a bit when ref Mr Bennett pointed to the spot for a Hull penalty though with about three seconds left I made it but after consulting with a linesman the decision was rightly overturned.
I'm fearing the worst for my team Derby tomorrow at Forest Green to be honest, as I said last week have got tickets for the match and sounds like it will go ahead with the pitch being covered for the last few days. However, after consulting the prices, 4/5 for us to win in 90 mins looked too tempting to resist, some of the compilers had Villa this very price against Hull for a match between two teams in the same league so with ourselves three tiers above the opposition tomorrow, had to give it a bash more in hope than judgement though!!
Paul Jewell has resigned and been replaced by his assistant Chris Hutchings for the next two games, his track record hasnt been so great up to now, plus we have a fair few injuries and suspensions to cope with so everything is in place for a tough match down there with the opposition battling for everything on an icy pitch.
Have also increased my bankroll on the greyhounds with a few of my usual favourites, again a fair few have been odds on but they have mostly been class animals up against also rans and in the main the majority have come out on top.
The Prestige Stakes for stayers starts tonight at Hall Green with the classy Romeo Maldini the hot favourite at 6/4 in the ante post lists. I'll probably have some of that even at what appear prohibitive odds at first glance as it would be a major shock if he doesnt go very close indeed as long as he stays out of trouble. In fact might concentrate mainly on the staying division for bets as if your dog does get baulked at some stage, there is often still time for it to get going unlike some of the races over the shorter distances.
Shelbourne Aston the Irish Derby winner returns after a bit of a lay off in the John Casey Open at Shelbourne on Saturday night and it looks a high class entry with the likes of fellow Derby finalists Headleys Bridge, Tyrur Laurel as well as the promising bitch Kildallon Maid in the mix.
Plus only a week behind with the horse racing form now (regular readers will know I have been straining every sinew to catch up, well almost anyway). Should mention I drew a blank in the Arima Kinen Grade 1 Japanese race with my bets last weekend, probably the one lowlight of the week.
In the end the filly Daiwa Scarlet made all to justify favouritism but had put a line through her due to her outside pitch, seems she got a fairly easy lead though and spent most of the race on the inside rail where she most likes to be, in front. My nearest charge was the Japan Cup winner Screen Hero who gave chase in second but seemed to run out of gas and faded into fourth place while course specialist Matsurida Gogh was pushed very wide around the final turn and weakened out of contention.
Anyway better get the map out for Nailsworth!!
All the best for now
Rick

Looking back on 2008

2008-12-26T00:30:00.008Z

First of all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone, will have a look back over the last 12 months betting at the end of this but until then lets concentrate on the last week.
Firstly the news I heard today that the bloke who once nabbed my £350 winnings at Wolverhampton racecourse in 1999 is now starting a seven year stretch for fraud having done a runner with £16m worth of college funding. Don't want to go into great detail but you can find the bones of it on the Betdaq forum, he apparently had an account with the oncourse bookie in question and must have somehow persuaded them it was his bet rather than mine. When the tape recording was replayed in front of the ring inspector the bogus punter wouldnt admit that it was my voice rather than his so a very unsavoury character, as indeed was the bookies ledger man who destroyed my ticket in a fit of panic probably.
Anyway on to the current betting and I forgot to mention last week that Europe landed my Mosconi Cup bet with a very comfortable 11-5 success over the USA in Malta the week before last, the result was never really in serious doubt and there does seem to be a changing of the guard in international pool just lately with the Americans looking like they need to oust a few of the old guard. Certainly bad boy Earl Strickland was very muted both on and unusually for him off the table too.
In the UK snooker I had a good run from two of my outright bets who reached the semi finals but despite being favoured by the bookies in their respective matches, both Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire bit the dust and Shaun Murphy eventually lifted the trophy after winning a deciding frame shootout with Marco Fu in a scrappy final.
Made a decent profit over the whole event though with a more selective approach and the next event on the baize will be Matchroom's Championship League in the first week of January which acts as a qualifying tournament for the Premier League proper next season.
On the greyhound front my ante post picks fared less well than the on the day race bets. Hello Hippy could only finish third in the Ted Hegarty Marathon final at Harolds Cross in Ireland where the brilliant Flying Winner gained all the plaudits with a record breaking romp. Hippy's chance was totally ruined by a terrible bump early in the race though that knocked him from third back to last place and he did well to at one stage regain second before tiring on the run in. Would have been a much better spectacle had he avoided any crowding but its all part of the sport.
In Britain Boherduff Monti was also baulked in the final of the Nottingham Sprint Cup, finishing fourth behind old stager Horseshoe Ping in a bunched finish so no luck there either.
However did pick up some winners over the week at varied prices of 1/5, 4/6, 8/11, 8/5 and 4/7 so mainly shortish ones but kept me in front overall (obviously some of them were SP so were unknown at the time of the bet, one problem with the dogs when compared with the horses).
Had a winner and a loser on the ice hockey but will probably concentrate mainly on the more successful teams I have backed in the outrights as and when I fancy them in a bid to erode my current deficit in the NHL betting markets though will again be pretty selective.
Since the central defenders got injured at Derby County Football Club, I have aborted my laying of the opposition on our travels after just one reversal which is just as well looking at the results since then. Have got tickets for our trip to non league Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup third round tie which should be interesting closely followed as it is by the two-legged League Cup semi final with Manchester United for which I shall also be attending for both matches.
Will also maybe have a dabble on Japan's high profile Arima Kinen Grade 1 horse race at the weekend at Nakayama with course specialist Matsuridah Gogh trying to win it for the second year in succession up against last years runner up Daiwa Scarlet and Japan Cup winner Screen Hero, whose sire won this weekends event twice in the past too not to mention the consistent Meisho Samson also in opposition. None of these have fared fantastically well in the draw for stall positions though.
Looking back over the year, a satisfactory one from a betting standpoint. Highlight from a monetary aspect were the 125/1 and 100/1 bets landed on Ricky Walden for snooker's Shanghai Trophy event but for pure adrenalin rush Shelbourne Aston's 40/1+ success in the Irish Greyhound Derby has to come tops with a spectacular last to first rush. Also enjoyed Viewed's Melbourne Cup success at 33/1 though that was a smaller stake and didnt get top price either as the horse surprisingly drifted on the day in his home country.
Had a good year on the gaelic football betting including Tyrone's final win as underdogs against Kerry as well as backing Tipperary for their Hurling League success at decent odds.
The aussie rules, rugby league, cricket and ice hockey didnt go quite so well but have kept records which might highlight where I've gone wrong on those if and when I want to continue with them, am operating a watered down service currently on the NHL lol!
Hoping to recapture my glory on the horse racing markets in 2009 after a bit of a hiatus, the loss of Superform is a bit of a blow to me as it was a great publication in my eyes so have been looking around at some of the online alternatives, though will still keep the formbook annuals on hand too.
Which brings me on to the saddest aspect of the betting year, Betfair succumbing to greed and introducing the premium charge in September which was surely never designed to threaten the winnings of ordinary formbook punters. Can understand them wanting some kind of cut from traders who arent taking an opinion or hooverers after an event has finished but imo there should be no realistic chance of an ordinary bettor falling foul of these charges which doesnt seem to be the case at present.
However the firm dress it up this is tantamount to stealing in the latter case, I was winning money from bookies long before betfair and as I've said before all I want is a basic exchange without too much gimmickry (the latter of which often causes costs to be passed on the poor old punter himself).
I still reckon myself that with the holy grail now seeming to lie in-running for many punters, it is to an extent this type of betting that has caused the company to react in this way, and as I have only ever had a handful of these kind of bets in my life dont see why I should be subject to the new charges. Anyhow, we all have our own slant on how we are affected but at the end of the day betfair arent prepared to make any changes in the short term which left no realistic alternative for punters like myself than to move to a rival and have been mostly happy so far on the Daq, long may it continue!!
Anyway back to those mince pies
All the best for now
Rick

Back on form for the time being

2008-12-19T17:24:00.012Z

Feeling a lot happier this week after a better run of results on the betting so its always a bit more pleasureable compiling the blog matter in those circumstances. Have been a bit more selective on the snooker betting which has meant fewer bets but higher stakes and it seems to have come off this time around so far anyway.
Thats not without a few of the early handicap bets going astray though which was probably a knee jerk reaction after having a bad run on the UK qualifying matches, i.e. some of the bets were probably struck without a proper thinking through in a fit of pique in a typically half-hearted attempt to try and claw back some of the recent losses instead of looking at the overall picture.
My main bet was on Ali Carter to beat Peter Ebdon at 8/11 which were unbelieveable odds for me, Peter's form has been pretty woeful this year and he has won very few matches and here he was up against one of the bright new stars of the game, surely "The Captain" had to be shorter than that over a best of seventeen, more like a 4/9 shot for me.
Carter is also flying the flag in the outright market as I speak, leading Marco Fu 5-3 in the first semi final, as I said at the start of the event I somehow had an inkling this might be his tournament and the way he got past Mark Williams in the quarters (the Welshman suffering a decisive kick in the final frame) seemed to back that up. Nevertheless, you can never write Fu off and he stole the last frame of the first session from well behind on the final black, saving him from going four frames adrift which would have been a long haul to get back from.
Slightly kicking myself now that I didnt choose the higher stakes option when backing him each way at 33s, almost doubled the amount I was having on but dont usually like to increase stakes due to hunches so stuck with the normal amount, would still be a decent draw though.
Stephen Maguire was another I backed at 9s although didnt check the exchanges rather sillily where much bigger prices were available apparently but I had already had enough on by the time I found this out, especially in view of his sketchy recent form.
There are a few players not quite taking the bull by the horns though, neither Mags nor Higgins had been at their best in recent outings and was surprised to see the younger Scot touching 2.16 pre commission on Betdaq so had to have a bit of that. Was still making him 4/5 favourite myself as for me Higgins had been mainly winning due to iffy performances from his opponents (OK Ding made a maximum but has been found wanting tactically in the last year or so, and thats one area where Higgins tends to excel).
Not saying Maguire was any better in beating Burnett (in controversial circumstances) and Robertson (in a scrappy encounter) but you had the feeling the odds would have been the other way around just a few months ago.
My other outright pick Judd Trump exited quietly in the first round to Mark King on the final frame but did seem to have a couple of decent chances to take it and he admitted afterwards he was quite disappointed with his performance, he has had a good run of late though and you can't win them all I suppose.
On the local snooker front, our team were put in our place by the current league champions on their own patch, as I suspected they gained their revenge for the shock beating we gave them in the cup, fielding a much stronger team and winning 4-1 though I did manage to salvage personal pride by winning my frame on the black in a Higgins-esque tactical battle (i.e. not a great one for the spectators to watch, which were of Prestatyn-like proportions anyway!!)
On the greyhound front, my faith in the Tote system was restored when Coventry St Leger winner Swift Ninja was returned 4/11 as opposed to 1/6 with the books at Sheffield on Saturday night and registered a runaway success and later in the week the Leger form was franked again when I was on Barnfield Brooke to win at 9/4 on the live Sky meeting at Wimbledon on Tuesday.
Unfortunately my Oaks ante post bet Droopys Quinta could only manage third from a poor draw (seemed to track wide from an inside pitch) with success going to longshot Meenala Amy who made all from the unlucky runner up Ravello Drive.
Saddest sight was at Galway on the Golden Jacket final night though when the usually strong finishing Oakleaf Tom went badly lame in one of the consolation races when carrying my money, not heard the prognosis but didnt look good at all as his leg gave way underneath him on the final bend.
Also returned victoriously to the ice hockey betting in the NHL with a successful double in the week plus the unfashionable Boston Bruins are looking real Stanley Cup contenders this year as they continue to hold sway in the Eastern Conference with matches in hand to boot so the 33/1 each way voucher about a month into the season looks money well spent.
My other picks Philadelphia Flyers have gradually improved into fourth spot after a poor start and Calgary Flames likewise in the Western Conference, now up to third. Perhaps its best not to mention Dallas Stars, but they finally hauled themselves off the bottom with two victories in a row this week and aren't totally out with the washing yet (the top eight from each section go through to contest the end of season play offs).
Away from the punting, just been down to London for a couple of days, the main reason to see the extravaganza that was "the Here and Now Christmas Party" though have to say was a bit disappointed with how things transpired. The day before I set off I got an email through saying the first band would go on stage at 11pm and the show would end at 2am, so that was my main reason for booking a hotel firstly. Also I'm a bit old for hanging around in a disco environment nowadays so decided to time my arrival just before the bands took centre stage at around 10.30pm, there were supposed to be DJs spinning 80s music the rest of the night.
However firstly the Docklands Light Railway was encountering a delay which meant I didnt get there until 10.45pm to see that Belinda Carlisle was already into her set and Curiosity Killed The Cat had already finished their slot (which I'm not sure was a good or bad thing in retrospect, only joking if anyone is a big fan!).
Would have been very angry if I had missed either Belinda or The Kid, but even though I was lucky in that respect, surely the performers should have been given more stage time as opposed to the DJs. With doors opening at 8pm and closing at 2am, no reason at all why they couldnt all have done full sets of an hour or an hour and a half as per the norm.
As it was Belinda did around five or six songs and Kid Creole a measly three, which is understandable at the multi-artist events that are the norm for this type of show, but surely not when it was such a truncated line up as this.
In fact all three acts had come and gone within an hour and a half and the info was totally incorrect about what time they were going to appear to boot. Fair enough, the changeover time between acts was very swift with a house band playing for all three, but that also meant one of the most charismatic performers Bongo Eddie was missing for what must be the first time I can ever remember from a live Kid Creole show.
Hope he is well anyhow, perhaps he thought it wasnt worth his while for just three numbers. Suppose the scantily clad Coconuts were some compensation though and both the Kid and Belinda were on fine form, what little we saw of them (the show was actually done and dusted by 11.45pm and the DJs moved in for the rest of the night, at least it saved me a surplus taxi fare as the trains were still running).
The 02 looks very spectacular too in the night sky, glad it has been put to good use since the Millennium Dome became extinct, perhaps would make a good snooker venue someday if the crowds ever come back!!
Made myself look a complete numpty at the hotel however as I forgot all my PIN numbers when paying for the stay with my credit card, this after forgetting which room I was in on my return from the show, had narrowed it down to three (which is better than I can usually manage on the betting front) but didnt really want to end up in the wrong bed or else funny things might have happened!!
Was pretty impressed with the hotel I must say, had hundreds and hundreds of rooms, its own in house television channel which even had the option for adult films if you should wish.
I found out these were optional extras on your bill though when my finger accidentally slipped down on to the select button on the remote control, must have been my hands perspiring from all that dancing, would much rather see the highlights of Maguire v Higgins anyway!!
Footnote: Glad I didnt increase my Carter stake now lol!!

Big priced fancy loses out in photo in Japan

2008-12-12T23:55:00.010Z

Currently feeling rather unenthusiastic about the blog, not sure if its the time of year but am posting alot on the Betdaq forum anyhow so you tend to be repeating alot of the stuff.
Looking back over the week, Ballymac Ruso won the Cotswold 480 greyhound final at Monmore though with a non runner the 11/4 morning price I took was depleted somewhat.
Elsewhere Midway Skipper could only manage third in the Coventry St Leger having checked up at the final bend, as I half expected on the day Swift Ninja came out and made all although there was a valiant effort from the previous years winner Barnfield Brooke who only lost out in a photo after a strong late surge.
In the Nottingham National Sprint, Boherbradda Mac finished lame and out of the money unfortunately after meeting trouble again though Boherduff Monti did qualify for the semi final in second place to give my 11/2 voucher an extended run at least for the time being!
Droopys Quinta who I backed at around 12/1 for the Wimbledon Oaks ante post has made the final with an inside berth but with challengers for the early lead the new favourite is wide runner Dangerous Lady who might have an uncontested journey around the outside hence the change in prices.
The Golden Jacket event drew a blank at Galway however as all my charges went west in the semi finals though as only the final is televised (on Sunday) cant tell you any more than that.
And in tonight's Ted Hegarty Marathon at Harolds Cross I lost Navan Blue who finished a disappointing fourth in her semi final (though cant comment on the run as lost the pictures unfortunately) but Hello Hippy, taken at 10/1 ante post, was a convincing winner of her semi final.
Flying Winner is the one they all have to beat and recorded the fastest time for the second week running, though if Hippy can get out of the blocks and away from the other runners a bit quicker than he has been doing, still feel there is some improvement in him and doesn't have that much to make up on the clock from tonights times.
In last week's Japan Cup Dirt, after studying all the form I was frantically searching for somewhere to place a bet and eventually did so, and was oh so close to landing a big priced winner with Meisho Tokon who lost out by a head after coming with a strong late run only to be pipped by the rejuvenated Kane Hekili who was a previous winner of this very race coming back from injury after a single prep run. At least the each way part of the bet was landed at a tasty 13/2 even at a fifth of the odds!!
Need to be catching up with the domestic form pronto now, I know I keep saying it but really want to be in the swing of things for the New Year so will give the big Sha Tin meeting a miss as there is likely to be alot of diverse international form on show for that one, though usually like to side with the locals in many of these type of events.
My Mosconi Cup bet on Europe was a fair sized one for me at 6/5 and they currently lead 5-3 after the first two days. Tony Drago in his home country has made a few errors to hand the visitors a couple of their points, and although his potting was excellent in his singles match with Earl Strickland, he kept going in off from the break off which is usually costly at this level.
The USA do look to be cueing better than they were last year, so alot depends if Drago can conjure up some of last years brilliance again and also how rookie Mark Gray comes through the remainder of the match.
In the UK Championship snooker which starts tomorrow, I'm backing Ali Carter 33/1, Judd Trump 40/1 and Stephen Maguire 9/1 in the outrights, the first couple each way, but it seems no one is really showing day in day out consistency at the current moment in time. Suppose you could say Trump is on a great run but most of it has been at a slightly lower qualifying level.
Ronnie looks to have a good draw so should go close but the odds of 5/2 look rather tight overall so would rather look elsewhere even though it may well be folly to do so.
Have chanced my arm on a couple of accumulators and a few of the shorter priced favourites to beat the handicap so trying to put some fun back into the betting after a bit of a shaky patch where I havent really been deriving much enjoyment from it. Alot of those bets were on the qualifying matches and not sure I will persist with those after this year, for one I need more time for studying other sporting markets and with only a couple of books pricing up the percentage is often against you. The other way of looking at it is that there may be more chance of a rick or two, though I think that diminishes as the season goes on.
Suppose it might be a case of keeping my eye out for the odd bet but perhaps not going in on some of the more marginal plays which I could easily have gotten wrong.
Hopefully have pinpointed a couple of things that will get my match betting back on track anyhow as have probably had my worst year yet on that front, though landing the big Walden outright has compensated for that of course.
Before I go dont forget its 1% commission on all in running UK and Irish horse racing on the Daq!! (until the end of March at least)
Anyway onwards and upwards, looking forward to seeing my favourite band Kid Creole and The Coconuts not to mention another rare treat Belinda Carlisle in concert this week in London, but until then will have to get studying!!
Oh and we managed to win again at snooker 3-2 this time against another decent side so we continue to surprise at least for the time being, though we are up against last years champions on their own table this next week.
See you soon
Rick

Skipper through to another St Leger final

2008-12-05T16:29:00.006Z

Had a bit of the dreaded lurgy this week so wasnt up to posting on Monday but thinking about it probably best to go weekly anyhow as you can get too much of one mans ramblings as an ongoing diet I tend to feel, hence will probably just do the Fridays from now on, next step to go monthly perhaps lol.
Starting off from where I can remember I got Oakleaf Tom into the semi finals of the Galway Golden Jacket greyhound event but lost the other two selections who both finished in fourth place with only the top three qualifying. Have since added Imaal Master to the portfolio at 16s and topped up a bit on Tom at the same price.
Midway Skipper also got through to the final of the Coventry St Leger with a last gasp success in her semi final last week but once again the time of Swift Ninja in another heat was slightly better so that one may take some stopping in this weekends conclusion, a fact not lost on the layers with Skipper still available at the original price prior to the first heat. Both got flying starts last week although Skipper ultimately came from off the pace but alot will depend on how they get away, at least my selection has her preferred rails draw.
In the Cotswold 480 at Monmore, my initial selection Dotlands Hit Man finished a disappointing fourth in his heat, fading tamely on perhaps the worst part of the track but Irish Derby finalist Ballymac Ruso can still be backed at 11/4 for the final and was quite impressed with the way this one came from off the pace to land one of the semi final heats so had to have a dabble there.
My punting assault on horse racing's Japan Cup was foiled by the 50/1 shot Screen Hero - I had narrowed the field down to five and they filled the next five spots in unison, though the ones I backed were actually fourth, fifth and sixth so close but no cigar as they say.
The UK Championship snooker betting has been rather up and down, once again starting off with most of the results going against me before pulling it back and then slipping slightly behind again, certainly some of the results have seemed a bit hard to fathom and on this occasion with the longer matches the best bets have seemed to be the pretty obvious ones at shortish odds which isnt always the case on the baize.
Might have a wander up for tonights session though still have a few sniffles so will see how I feel in an hour or so's time, looking for Mike Dunn (4/7) to come back against Joe Delaney from 5-3 down and also Marcus Campbell (5/6) to overcome Rob Milkins.
This afternoon have backed Jimmy White at 6/5 against Rory McLeod (currently 3-2 down) and Ricky Walden to beat Mark Davis at 2/5 (currently 3-2 up).
Managed to turn out for our own snooker team this week and it was worthwhile in the end with a 4-1 win against a team pretty much in the same boat as us in the league (around about the halfway mark) so that should nudge us up a bit, think my score was about 41-32 so you can tell from that it wasnt a classic and need to be scoring a bit heavier than I have been doing in the opening stages of this season.
Anyway might top up with another LemSip before I decide whether to venture out, all the best until next week
Rick

Trump to make Masters debut

2008-11-28T23:29:00.003Z

Almost forgot about the blog lol, went to a works reunion to see the inhabitants of the old typesetting department of about 18 months ago, only about a quarter of them were there this time - they seem to have a do every couple of months - so its best to pick and choose rather than go to every one of them unless you want to become an alcoholic!!
It was good to see some old mates anyhow though didnt feel so great today as a consequence of having one too many, hence the late blog entry at an unearthly hour!
After the disastrous start to the Masters wildcard snooker qualifiers, I managed to recoup the majority of the losses by latching on to Judd Trump from the last 16 stage onwards and backed him in every round since, culminating in a 5-2 win over Ken Doherty in the semi final at 5/6 and a 6-1 thrashing of surprise finalist Mark Joyce to justify odds of 2/5.
Still finished a bit down and of course the outright market was a loss maker too but it looked much more manageable at the end than it did after a couple of days of the tournament when I hadn't backed a single winner!
The second wildcard is to be nominated soon and Ricky Walden would appear to be the favourite at the moment after lifting the title in Shanghai, he's also won minor events in Belgium and Thailand this season too so would be a worthy recipient.
In last night's Premier League backed Stephen Hendry in the draw no bet market against Ding but no damage was done as in fact all three matches finished 3-3, this means Mark Selby plays Hendry and Ronnie O Sullivan takes on Joe Perry in the semi finals. Still have the Jester in the outright market at 13/2 though lost Ding last night.
The Irish greyhounds I mentioned in the last blog are in action at Galway again over the weekend in the Golden Jacket event though I'm relying on some outsiders this time so fingers crossed that one or two of them can get through to the next stage. Also Midway Skipper goes in the semi final heat of the Coventry St Leger which features four winners from the first round.
Also in horse racing the Japan Cup is run in Tokyo on Sunday morning so will be scouring the videos on Youtube probably tomorrow to try and assess the international form, managed to get the Melbourne Cup winner at big odds via that route and also was on Admire Moon last year in the Japanese event.
In the NHL Boston Bruins have gone top of the Eastern Conference and enjoyed a thumping 7-2 home success over the New York Islanders earlier this evening so looks like I may get a decent run for my money with my 33/1 each way bet struck a couple of weeks ago. Philadelphia Flyers are up to sixth place after a slow start so hopefully they can consolidate in the top eight who qualify for the end of season play offs.
In the Western Conference the Calgary Flames are currently in fifth place carrying my money but Dallas Stars have been very disappointing so far, their defence continuing to creak and are currently bringing up the rear, though it is far from irretrievable at present.
All the best for now,
Rick

Trump to blow away Jin

2008-11-24T23:37:00.009Z

The dodgy spell of form leading up to the previous blog has continued into the last few days unfortunately, had just been thinking at the end of last week that things had been going pretty well and then along comes the dreaded run that rocks you back on your heels again.
Despite being warned about betting on the Masters snooker qualifiers due to the lack of prize money on offer, I ploughed on regardless and to be honest endured a nightmare run of early results which left me little hope of coming out of the event on the right side of things.
As you can see from the last blog's bets they all went belly up including Matthew Selt's capitulation from 3-0 up against David Gray, eventually losing on a re-spotted black.
Eventually bagged some winners on the third day but not before eight successive losing bets which is about as poorly as I have started in a single snooker event I think (four of them on the deciding frame), though still not losing as much as I did in last year's World Championship qualifiers at the Institute of Sport, bring back Prestatyn I say (actually they do still hold the minor qualifiers there).
Overall though am still a fair bit down on the event and made a slight loss again today despite backing Judd Trump at 11/10 to beat Jamie Cope in the clash of the young hotshots which he did 5-2. The Shotgun hasnt quite kicked on since reaching those two ranking finals the season before last and is still hovering provisionally just outside the top 16 when most would have been banking on him getting there by now, there is still time of course.
Will stick with Trump at 4/11 against Jin Long tomorrow, he seems to be getting his teeth into this one, having earlier beaten the other Stoke potter Dave Harold and it looks a tough ask for the Chinese cueist who has earned some creditable results this year on his return the tour. Having said that he has been taken to final frame deciders by Lawler, Bond and Gould so has not had things all his own way and this looks by far his most difficult encounter.
The other matches look pretty much priced up on the ball so not playing on those but Matthew Stevens is enjoying another decent run here and comes up against Fergal O Brien, Andrew Higginson takes on Mark Joyce and Stuart Bingham is going for his third win in this event and plays Ken Doherty.
The outrights all bit the dust by the end of the second round, Liang Wenbo lost surprisingly 5-4 to rookie Daniel Wells who has enjoyed a good set of results this week, Barry Hawkins was hammered 5-0 by Joyce, while Li Hang and Michael Holt were edged out 4-3 by Martin Gould and Atthasit Mahitti respectively.
John Higgins won the latest leg of the World Series in Moscow, beating Ding Junhui 5-0 in the final but this time the event was not televised on Eurosport so there were no betting markets, not sure I could have predicted such an emphatic win for the Scot there though.
Our own snooker team had a good win in the cup against the current league champions, though we did play them at a good time when three of their better players were unavailable for one reason or another, still not performing with any consistency personally though, making hard work of some frames I would have eaten a few years back, its certainly true that as you get older it seems to become especially difficult to knock in the long balls.
Its slightly easier to knock them in at pool and noticed the Mosconi Cup is almost on the horizon again featuring everyones favourite villain Earl Strickland who is now into the veteran bracket but shows no signs of becoming more phlegmatic. The Americans were pretty disappointing on home territory last year making a number of unenforced errors and in Tony Drago's backyard (its played in Malta this time) I'd fancy Europe to come out on top again at the odds of 6/5.
Jeremy Jones comes into the USA team to join Strickland, Johnny Archer (who struggled last year), Shane Van Boening and Rodney Morris so only one change there as Corey Deuel is left out. Europe comprise Drago, Ralf Souquet and Niels Fiejen with Finn Mika Immonen and ex snooker pro Mark Gray replacing Konstantin Stepanov and Darryl Peach.
On to the dogs and noticed Midway Skipper was running again in the Coventry St Leger heats at the weekend so backed her in the outright market at around 3.37 after commission, had to use Betfair as no one else was offering the market so at least it was a decent bit of initiative by them on this occasion.
She won comfortably enough but the time was not one of the quicker ones of the night so will be interesting to see what transpires in the future heats. Also backed her for the heat, the Post forecast of 4/5 looked generous but as expected she was returned much shorter at 2/5.
That price looked pretty good though compared with a bet I had on the online tote, the idea is that you pay £5 to see the race meeting's webcast and get your fee returned after you have staked the same amount. I didnt realise if you did it in the opposite order though this doesnt apparently apply, so after the dividend was declared at 1.05, despite backing a winner I got £21 back having handed over £25 to start with!! Suppose these things even out as I once backed a loser at Leicester races on the tote and found that not a single player had picked the winner so all stakes were returned much to my surprise at the time.
Have also gotten involved in the Golden Jacket event at Galway in which ante post favourite Shelbourne Aston bowed out after being baulked at the weekend. Broadacres Turbo is the new jolly and has twice gone close to the track record but having seen some of the dogs previous runs think it might be worth taking him on at the prices available.
Had a couple of each way bets on The Other Sonic at 33s and Oakleaf Tom at 25s, a quarter the odds for the first four in the final, both should be staying on strongly over this 575m trip and if the pacier dogs meet any trouble the likes of their type could capitalise.
Also added an even bigger outsider with The Other Achill at 100s, this one tends to start a bit slowly which is a bit offputting but is fairly unexposed over the trip, having run mostly over a bit shorter until this event but was a creditable close up third to Tyrur Laurel last time, and has shown a good turn of pace in some of its races.
All the best,
Rick

Skipper wins but its downhill from thereon!

2008-11-21T21:49:00.003Z

Well lets start with the good news, Midway Skipper won the Kent greyhound St Leger on Monday night to land the 13/8 ante post voucher though not without a few scares, having been buffeted, bumped and hampered at least four or five times during the race but in the end her stamina came into play and she eroded a five length deficit in the last quarter of the race and squeezed through on the final bend to pull clear up the straight. A fine effort indeed.
Thats where the good news ends though as regards the betting. The other ante post in the sprint had alarm signals warning in my brain after the draw had been published, with my picks drawn next to each other in far from ideal boxes. As it happens, they didnt mess with each other but the 4 dog impeded Boherduff Monti in 3 and Bohebradda Mac totally missed the break in 2 and was brought to his knees at the first bend, race over. Should really have had a bit on the early morning 9/2 about outside dog Frosty Lee for whom the race looked set up for as the only wide seed and likely to lead with it too.
In fact it was a case of not having the courage of my convictions again when after fancying Ronnie was a bit too short in Thursday's Premier League snooker action, I was halfway towards placing a small bet on the draw before deciding to keep my powder dry and of course it ends up 3-3. The one bet I did go ahead with was John Higgins at 1.75 against Joe Perry on the draw no bet market (he had a 3-0 h2h record going into the match and Perry was showing signs of going off the boil of late). However, nothing of the sort materialised in the match and Perry was soon home and hosed winning the first four frames with the minimum of fuss as Higgins safety play was strangely awry, maybe rushing things slightly with the shot clock in operation.
He did eventually find some form to add some respectability at 4-2 but not much use to yours truly or himself as he is now out of the competition.
My outright picks are still in with a shout though. Mark Selby heads the group and needs a draw in his last match with Joe Perry to stay there, and thus avoid Ronnie in the semis.
Ding Junhui needs to beat Stephen Hendry to qualify with the Scot needing just the draw, a year on from Ding's barnstorming 6-0 win over the Scot I'm not so sure he can dish up another performance of that ilk this time around but fingers crossed.
Went up to Sheffield to see a couple of the Masters qualifiers snooker matches today in fact, and as ever whenever I attend the venue all my bets lose. Admittedly three of them were minimum stakes outsiders anyhow, the closest to an upset was Paul Davison at 6/4 who lost 4-3 to Rory McLeod in an unsurprisingly marathon battle that lasted over four hours.
I was the sole spectator in the booth occupying the Anthony Hamilton v Andrew Pagett match and this was another game that rather ambled along though as Hamilton won it 4-0 it finished a good bit earlier. The small bet I had on the Welshman never really looked likely after he had broken down in the forties in the first frame and lost it on the black, after that the Sheriff always looked to have too much class and scored much too heavily for his opponent overall.
It was interesting to note the clashes of styles in cue action, Hamilton really giving it plenty on the backswing, cueing up two or three times before addressing the cue ball while Pagett was very much in the Dave Harold mould, with little or no backswing before he plays the ball, which is certainly not to his advantage on the power shots as it can look a bit jerky.
My perceived treble in the afternoon became a double when Chris McBreen withdrew from his match with Andrew Higginson but my slight doubts about Gerard Greene were unfounded when he romped home 4-0 against Michael Georgiou to land the first part of the bet.
I was watching the Barry Pinches v Lewis Roberts match needing a win for Norwich's finest to give me the money but unfortunately he was always making hard work of it against a previously winless opponent in the pro ranks, missing a number of straightforward pots.
Roberts for his part looked fairly confident in amongst the balls given his less than impressive record so far but perhaps sometimes came out second best on the safety exchanges. However with Barry misfiring somewhat, Roberts led 3-1 and things looked bleak but as the youngsters cue arm maybe tightened a bit looking for that first win and Pinches drew on his vast experience it soon become 3-3 and all to play for.
Pinches held a good lead for a while in the final frame and things looked rosey as he was 35 up with two reds on. However this lead was slowly being picked off until surely the game was over with Barry only needing a straight green from a slight angle into the middle pocket.
But no, he somehow contrived to miss it and Roberts stepped in with an impressive 25 clearance (though the black wobbled for a good few seconds before dropping) which gave him his first professional win, and probably deserved too overall, even though it did not do my coffers much good.
After that setback following a three hour battle, my stamina reserves were giving out and with no bets in the evening matches decided to come home with my tail between my legs, still may get up bright and early tomorrow though for the £5-million Scoop 6, must be worth a few quid of anyone's money!
Oh yes and four outsiders for me tomorrow in the snooker to try and claw back some of the losses - Li Hang 11/10, have backed him as a longshot in the outrights given a reasonable draw and must have a fair chance against out of form Martin Gould; Jamie Jones 13/8 admittedly not a lot to recommend him this season but had shown some promise last time on the tour and Andrew Norman seems to be a bit jittery at present; Matthew Selt 11/8, actually had him vying for favouritism here as David Gray seems way out of touch in his recent matches and finally Stephen Craigie at 7/4, beat Stuart Bingham in a recent pro am when reaching the quarter finals and probably underestimated a bit against Dave Gilbert.
All the best for now, will speak to you after I have collected my £5m on Monday lol
Rick

Hawk eyeing Masters wildcard double

2008-11-17T18:54:00.009Z

Not the busiest of punting weekends with the Bahrain snooker tourney rather petering out from a betting viewpoint, just didnt see many value bets towards the end, part of the reason admittedly being that the players involved seemed to have rather unreliable profiles, certainly wouldn't have fancied Stevens or Robertson to be contesting the final on recent form, but with the withdrawals of a fair few of the top players, someone had to win it of course, though not convinced either of these would have been there had everyone turned up.
The Masters wildcard qualifiers get underway on Friday when I will probably be in attendance though with it being held in the World Snooker Academy itself you are I believe limited to watching one table at a time.
There is an outright market already up at Skybet but since the Walden win my confidence has evaporated somewhat with a host of first round exits, this betting game's a great leveller!
As usual I shall stick to the tried and tested formula for me anyway of one pick from each quarter. Walden himself doesnt have the most straightforward of runs at this level though if it was a ranking tournament you'd probably think he had a decent draw, however will ignore him as he could play Stevens fairly early on, assuming Matthew turns up this time (was in the draw last year and ended up not travelling). Will take Wenbo at 16/1 from that section anyhow, he ought to beat Chuang and then should get chances against the similarly open Michie and also has a good record against O Brien if he plays him in the next round, plus Fergal has seemed out of form so far this year, otherwise might have considered him.
My main pick is Hawkins also at 16/1 in the second quarter, he won this last year and might be able to repeat Bingham's feat of winning it twice in succession, could play Cooper, Joyce and Swail in the early rounds which should be winnable before things might get a bit tougher.
The third quarter was nearly a no bet with the likes of Cope, Trump and Harold all due to clash in the top half of this section, however the bottom half conversely looks quite weak with the out of form Bond and Norman in there so will have a small speculative e/w punt on the Chinese youngster Li Hang at 175/1. He could easily reach the QF without having beaten too much and at least things would be getting exciting then, remember Kurt Maflin reached the final of this last year but was still relegated off the tour at the end of the season.
In the fourth quarter, not convinced by the form of one or two of these, the possible match up of Bingham-Hicks could go either way I feel on this years form so looking down the bottom Michael Holt at 20/1 seems to be playing reasonably OK not withstanding his 5-4 loss to Milkins from 4-0 up in his last match! He plays Atthasit Mahitti first up and then Dubliner Ken Doherty who has continued to struggle to find any semblence of form this year, next up would probably be Dave Gilbert so certainly the chance is there for the Hitman to progress.
Will probably end up going to see the first and last day (if I can get a ticket for the final), have a few matches in mind but usually end up following the ones where I've had a bet, we'll have to see if anyone prices up the individual matches later on.
On to the dogs and Midway Skipper goes for me in the Kent St Leger final tonight at Crayford, she's now into 4/7 after starting at 13/8 in the ante post market but wont bother laying off, hoping she will find the gaps as she tries to come trough the field with her usual late run, it isn't the best of draws for a railer out in trap 5, but as she usually comes from behind anyway, it might not be as problematic as it would be for a front runner. Indeed she managed second in the St Leger itself from this very box.
Got a double up paying 11/10 on the Nottingham dogs on Saturday night, featuring a short priced pair - Boherbradda Mac who I'd actually inadvertently missed backing for once in midweek, but he obliged comfortably in one of the sprint heats at 2/5 while Wise Thought shook off sickness scares by obliging at the early price of 1/2.
Also took Mac in the outrights for that sprint with Betfred (the final is on Thursday) with 2pts @ 5/2 plus 1pt on Boherduff Monti @ 4/1 who qualified in second place from the other heat, that race will be televised on Sky as part of the Eclipse meeting.
Unfortunately they are drawn next to each other in the final and as they are without doubt the fastest dogs in the race, just hope they dont impede one another and hand the race to something else, would certainly have preferred something else in between them.
Had one more bet in the outright football markets by adding Reading at 9/4 for the Championship following their 2-0 win at Sheffield United, they do seem to be getting up a head of steam and although Wolves have a seven point cushion on them at present, there is a long way to go yet. Leeds who I had backed for League One after putting on a great show at Derby, then slumped to a home loss to Huddersfield, proving once again its a funny old game!!
Can't go without mentioning that I actually managed a 51 and 30 in last night's final frame of snooker practice against my usual opponent which while nothing earth shattering is quite good by my standards nowadays, the trouble was the rest of the evening I was struggling to pot a ball, its another funny old game!!
All the best
Rick

Boherna proves he is the best

2008-11-14T17:14:00.006Z

The punting highlight of the week came in Wednesday night's All England Cup greyhound final held at Newcastle and televised live on Sky where my original outright pick Boherna Best landed the odds of 9/2 by bravely holding the sustained challenge of main danger Dotlands Hit Man in a great duel which lasted almost from the first bend.
Really enjoying the dog betting as its usually been very much secondary to the horses in my previous years but its certainly proving worthwhile getting involved in some of these ante post markets while I've been catching up with the nags.
The Bahrain snooker betting has been very up and down but never really threatened to go one way or the other and as I speak one bet in the final could either mean an overall profit or otherwise.
The outrights were a flop again with most of them going out at the first hurdle, admittedly Maguire did reach the quarter finals, though he was tournament favourite anyway so better was expected following Ronnie's withdrawal.
Looking at some of the results in the match betting, very happy to come out of this one intact as any kind of form seems to have been temporary and a number of past h2hs have also been rather misleading along with recent form, which could hardly have pointed anyone in the direction of the likes of Stevens, Robertson or Allen. Even Hendry was being totally written off just a couple of weeks ago given some of his displays early season.
Having played the game at local level for around 30 years now, I know how quickly things can change at this game, myself having a great win at the weekend over one of the top county players and then performing like a complete novice when losing 2-0 to a veteran journeyman in one of the other events!! Sometimes the ball fall nicely and your cue arm gets flowing and at other times they all seem to go awkward and you just cant find any rhythm for love nor money.
Saw a great performance in the Football League Cup on Tuesday by Leeds United against my team Derby, admittedly the Rams won the game 2-1 but were totally outplayed for 70 minutes having taken an early 2-0 lead, surely on this performance the visitors will go very close indeed to securing the Division One title if they could just iron out a few defensive wobbles.
So invested a bit at 9/4 which were bigger odds than I would care to lay after that and also stuck Reading and Leeds in a promotion double for their respective divisions which pays around 17/10.
Boston Bruins have been proving a stubborn team to overcome in the NHL in the early season exchanges so had an each way bet at 33s to complete my roster for the Stanley Cup, have two picks in each division now and though my original fancies have hardly had the best of starts, still a long way to go yet.
Have rejoined the Racegoers Club for the forthcoming year, hoping that I'll be able to get out to the horsetracks again at least once a week, and at least the outlay on membership there will reduce the admission costs for the year which on first glance look a bit steep compared with what I used to pay two or three years ago when I was a regular.
Suppose I'll still be taking advantage of the exchange prices (on betdaq, where else!!) but getting out and about and seeing the horses in the flesh seems a worthwhile exercise once a week if only to avoid becoming a couch potato, plus having done all of the previous 59 existing tracks in person, still need to catch up on Great Leighs and indeed Ffos Llas when that materialises.
Will probably attend some of the Masters wildcard snooker qualifiers next week too which are held at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, failing that the UK Championship qualifying rounds are in the same building a couple of weeks later which I've already booked for on a few days.
All the best for now,
Rick

My very own giant killing act!

2008-11-10T10:30:00.004Z

Feeling pretty good this morning but nothing to do with the punting, came up against one of the best local players last night in one of the league knockouts and despite an indifferent start to the season, pulled off a big shock by winning 2-0 against a guy who has already knocked in a couple of 120+ breaks for his team. Admittedly I did receive 28pts start, but still thought I did OK given that he knocked in breaks of 35 and 56 in each frame. In fact the last time I saw him play a couple of years ago he hammered Nigel Bond 2-0 in an exhibition match so even though I did the same about 25 years ago, still well pleased with the result.
The league campaign took a turn for the worse last week when he lost 4-1, we were handicapped a bit by the fact that our one unbeaten player was on holiday but that said the reserve won in his place so no excuses. I let slip a thirty point lead in my frame but almost rescued it by potting a decent blue before missing a fairly easy pink with the black sitting over the pocket, not sure if it was a twitch but must be one of the easiest match balls I've missed a league game so felt a bit sick for a while after that.
Haven't had a great start individually to the season overall with only two wins out of five league games plus losing as a stand-in for our other team too so have alot to do at this stage to keep up my lifetime record of always winning more than I've lost in a single season.
Back to the punting and just missed out in the Waterford Masters greyhound final with my ante post pick Ballymac Under finishing second to Slip The Lark who I had supported in the previous two big Irish events. All looked set fair when my charge came out of the traps in front but around the second bend he seemed to check, not sure if he was caught slightly from behind, but the Lark went two clear and from then on just held on by half a length on the run in as my charge struggled to find an angle to challenge off the last bend. Lemon Zamora finished best of all to be a neck away in third.
Cabra Cool who I had added to my roster before the final given his plum draw, injured a hip the day before so was pulled out but at least the money was returned this time.
Also had a treble on Saturday which was thwarted when I picked the wrong one in a two dog run off for the final place in the All England Cup final at Newcastle, the other two obliged though both were at shortish odds.
Midway Skipper goes in the semi finals of the Kent St Leger tonight at Crayford in direct competition to his nearest outright market rival Black on Air so theres not much room for leeway with only the top two qualifying, he was impressive in the last round though and hopefully can come with his usual wet sail up the run in.
Currently keeping ahead in the Bahrain snooker tournament, had a four timer on the pros against the wildcards which obliged without any duress and also took on the local's "top" man Habib Subah with Mark Davis at what looked decent odds of 4/11 in a single and he won 5-0 too.
Since then its been up and down, Barry Pinches obliged at very generous odds of 6/4 to beat Graeme Dott, lacking practice and not long out of plaster on his broken wrist, 5-3 but two other odds against shots were beaten with Ken Doherty losing 5-3 to Barry Hawkins (losing the first frame on a respotted black) and rather more convincingly Stuart Bingham crashing 5-0 to Matthew Stevens. Not sure about Stuart's temperament when he gets a few frames behind, have seen him implode similarly on occasions in the past, will be interesting to see if Matthew can build on this success but not the easiest match next up against Ryan Day who has usually had the better of him in the past.
Have also backed Ricky Walden tonight at 10/11 to confirm his recent good form against the still inconsistent Stephen Hendry and also a small dabble on Marcus Campbell, fresh from his 147, at 12/5 to try and upset struggling Aussie Neil Robertson.
Plus a double (pays 4/5) on Joe Perry who takes on Rod Lawler tonight and Stephen Maguire who plays Mark Davis tomorrow, although Mark won 5-0 against Habib, he did make a few errors in that match and would probably have to step up a gear on that showing against the Scot .
The outright bets were off to a woeful start however, with Cope, Fu and Murphy all biting the dust at the first attempt which leaves Walden and Maguire only, both of these yet to play.
Anyway back to the horse racing tapes for me now, the all weather season is here and I still havent quite caught up with all the form, I can see money slipping away so better get back to the office lol.
All the best
Rick

Wheres that other horse, oh its won!!

2008-11-07T10:49:00.008Z

The end of another hectic week and thankfully the ship has been rerouted back on course after the largely unsuccessful foray into North American Sports for the past few weeks on the NHL, apart from one solitary weekend that is!!
Didnt have lots of time on Monday what with the committee meeting at the snooker club and all that goes with it but did spend an hour or so on Youtube looking at some of the significant Aussie races like the Caulfield Cup in the build up to their big one, the Melbourne Cup run early on Tuesday morning UK time.
In the end settled for the main bet on Nom De Ju with smaller each way bets on Ice Chariot and Viewed and it was the latter who did the business, though my return was somewhat smaller than the Aussie tote returns of 40-odd as I had it with the traditional bookies over here.
Had been thinking it might be backed over there as one of their own with legendary trainer Bart Cummings' great cup record also to boot. As it happens there was no money pre race and could even have got around 50s on the exchanges but was seeing it more from a place perspective rather than the win angle so only ended up with 33/1, must have more confidence in myself in the future!!
That said, it was a bit of an anti climax as I watched the replay on arising on Tuesday (no I didnt watch it live!) as I thought the Aussie commentator was calling home "Bude" rather than "Viewed" and was wondering what happened to my third selection when it suddenly clicked!!
Even then wasnt sure what had won the race, the Cumani horse Bauer was closing with every stride in the final furlong and strength in the saddle from Blake Shinn certainly looked a factor to me in the driving finish, even though in retrospect he admitted he may probably have gone for home a fraction too early.
I also backed the greyhound I have been following Boherbradda Mac in the sprint at Nottingham on Monday night and he did the business again, scoring comfortably but at rather shorter odds than expected, being returned at 2/5 as opposed to the morning forecast of 4/6, though as usual with the bread and butter dog markets, no early prices were available.
On that theme, the semi finals of the All England Cup were run at Newcastle last night and Boherna Best qualified impressively though I lost my other two ante post picks who both finished fourth, with only the top two dogs qualifying. Am kicking myself a bit for not backing Dotlands Hit Man when he was 10/1 a few days ago, he won in fine style too in the quickest time of the night so does look a real danger though his price is now as short as 6/4.
Elsewhere have added Cabra Cool to my Waterford Masters roster at 9/4, he has the plum draw in Saturday's final with the no 2 dog a possible non starter due to injury so that would be even more in his favour if it transpires that way. My other pick Ballymac Under at 9/2 has a middle draw but has all on to lead both Cabra and Lark to the first bend the way they are trapping currently.
Had a quick look at Sky's "The Dogs" programme last night and was impressed by Midway Skipper in the Kent St Leger first round heats, scooting away from them around the sharp Crayford track so, having backed her as a saver when she was runner up to main pick Bubbly Totti in the official Leger itself, had to give him a chance for compensation in this at 13/8.
Had a good night on the Premier League snooker yesterday, backed Ding to continue his good record against Joe Perry in the opening match and he obliged 4-2 at the very decent odds of 13/8, his breakbuilding was stuttering a bit but he did at least knuckle down in the tactical exchanges and did enough to see off a largely out of sorts opponent.
In the other match, backed Hendry for the highest break at 4/7 and though its a type of bet that usually has me squirming in my seat right until the very end, on this occasion the Nugget never really looked like piecing together a meaningful contribution and the Scot had the three best contributions of the encounter with an 83 and a couple of 70 odds.
Did have a throwaway few quid on Davis to win the match at 11/2 just in case the lacklustre side of the inconsistent Hendry came to the fore and he did actually have chances in a couple of close frames so the 5-1 was probably slightly flattering in the end, all in all a good night though.
The Bahrain Tournament starts tomorrow with the local wildcards taking stage against the lower ranked qualifiers, though having seen some of their highest breaks being publicised, they dont seem much better than me at my peak so wouldnt expect too many of them to be winning if any.
In fact Habib Subah is supposedly the best of them and the last time he played on the main tour he lost all seven of his ranking matches, six of them by hefty scores, and didnt fare much better in this summer's Sangsom six red international where he won only one of his five group games against someone I've never heard of from Singapore. That apart he lost 5-1 to Joe Swail, 5-3 to Dene O Kane, 5-2 to James Wattana and 5-1 to Tom Ford so hardly seems in the best of nick, the 4/11 for Mark Davis at Paddies looks rather overpriced to me.
Working on the supposition that Habib is the best local, had to have an acca too so have gone against the two with the lowest breaks and the other supposedly inferior Bahranian which means a four timer on Davis, Pinches, Lawler and Campbell paying nearly 2/1.
Have left out Milkins as he seems to be a bit unreliable in the last year and decided to leave out Dunn as he is up against Saudi's No 1 who has a top break of 143 which is decidely better than I could ever manage and couldnt find a great deal of info about him either!
Two other first round proper bets so far, took Bingham to beat Stevens at 11/10, not sure why he is odds against there as Matthew has shown nothing like his best form for a good few seasons.
Also Lee to beat King at evens, Mark has a had a poor start to this year with defeats to McManus, Bond, and Parrott already and only a final frame win over Jimmy White to shout about. Lee hasnt been in great shape either but did beat Andy Hicks 5-1 last time out and he had been showing some reasonable form in the lower echelons this year.
On the outrights, backed Fu at 20s when the first rumours appeared that Ronnie may not bother with the event, he now has a much smoother route if he can get past Dominic Dale in round one, who did beat him 5-3 in their last meeting however.
In the second quarter, taken Cope at 20s and Walden 25s, two up and coming young uns and would rather be with them than the old stagers in the section like Ebdon and Hendry who may find motivation and consistency a problem nowadays.
In the third quarter, gone with Murphy at 9s, though his form this year looks poor, he was incredibly unlucky against Gunnell in his last match when all sorts of things conspired against him and he did win a decent minor event in Germany beating Mark Selby 4-0 in the final so does have some silverware on the table already.
Had to include the new pre tournament jolly Maguire too in the fourth quarter at 6s, had 2pts on him and 1pt on the others, on form he only looks to have Perry to worry about in this section and Joe looked rather out of sorts last night against Ding at Newport.

Woeful weekend on the ice

2008-11-03T11:58:00.005Z

Glad to see the back of this weekend as must have been the worst set of punting results since starting this blog!! Unfortunately ploughed on the NHL and continued to be on the wrong side of the results, often by the odd goal, so will have to call it quits as you can only go so far before your head starts bleeding when banging it against a brick wall, there do seem to be some underlying trends to the matches but every time I seem to back one of them the opposite seems to happen!! Anyway as much as I enjoy the sport of ice hockey the matches tend to finish far too late in the early hours and if I'm going to concentrate on the horse racing as is the plan this winter theres no way I can be affording any lie ins with plenty of form study to fit in before the off which is often around noon in the all weather/jumping season.
Have just had time to add Calgary Flames to the outright lists e/w for the Stanley Cup (30/1) however as they seem to be gradually improving as the term goes on and were unlucky to lose to San Jose in last years first round of play offs.
Will maybe give the IIHF World Cup a look when that starts early next year as I often take out a subscription to watch all the games and over a short timespan cant do too much damage with the punting which is a bonus, though seem to recall that this year most of the NHL players will be unavailable to their countries due to a clash of dates.
I also had the misfortune to back England in cricket's Stanford 20 20 for 20 or whatever it is called and then witnessed a totally abject performance as the top line batsmen somehow contrived to get themselves out to a succession of bizarre shot selections, surely a case of too much too soon instead of building a decent platform. At least there was a bit of humour watching the man himself Mr Stanford prancing about in front of his own personal cameraman acting like some overgrown schoolkid on speed for the most part.
The tin hat on the weekend was put firmly in place by a certain Mr S Atwell who refereed the local derby between my team Derby and rivals Nottingham Forest on Sunday. He managed to produce possibly the worst performance I've ever witnessed from any official in forty years of watching top flight football with a host of inept calls from start to finish culminating in bizarrely disallowing two tremendous Miles Addison headers in the final minute of injury time.
The first one was scrubbed out when he blew his whistle for handball against a Forest defender seconds earlier but after Camp had saved the penalty, he was soon picking the ball out of the net again only for a shrill whistle to deny the Rams a second time.
I've watched the replay twenty times over and there is absolutely nothing that could be remotely considered as as a foul by any Derby player whatsoever, the only thing I could see was a Forest man with both hands around our unpronouncable Polish international so maybe he was going to give another penalty, then realised how ridiculous it would have been and invented a free kick to the defending team instead!!
To be honest he had already gotten on my wick by being persistently conned by the Reds No 16 who continued to throw himself to the ground every time someone came within ten yards of him with the ref falling for it hook line and sinker time and again, even booking his closest marker for supposed persistent fouling!
Even the Forest sending off looked highly suspect with a yellow card looking the most suitable punishment so if this official is supposed to be the great white hope for the Premier League as he is billed I suggest some of the top brass at the FA should reconsider rather hastily as I think he would be out of his depth in the Bognor Regis and District beach five a side league on that showing.
About the only chink of light I could find was that Ballymac Under qualified for the Gain Waterford Masters greyhound final on Saturday, finishing second to the impressive Cabra Cool in his heat, but with that arch rival getting the plum draw again for the final, he will have his work cut out to overturn the form and might have to get involved on the Buckley dog too dependent on prices.
Slip The Lark is the other high profile qualifier but might just be getting a bit jaded now after a succession of tough races though can never be ruled out if he can get to the front.
Anyway got a busy day today as we have our quarterly committee meeting at the snooker club and as secretary still have to write up the notes from the last meeting from three months ago, hope my shorthand stands up to inspection from that date, otherwise I'm in trouble!!
All the best
Rick

Hendry overturns Higgins Grand Prix form

2008-10-31T13:14:00.006Z

It's that time of the week again to update the blog and been a very busy one too, plus the money has been rolling in so long may it continue.
Have been playing mainly on the Bahrain snooker qualifiers and managed to get 12 out of 18 bets up in my favour, plus many of them at attractive prices too, though the main disappointment on the final day was Joe Swail's heavy defeat at odds on against the previously out of form Rob Milkins.
Though as Rob had also defeated Joe 9-1 a few years ago perhaps it wasnt so much of a shock after all; anyhow overall its probably one of the most financially successful forays into the booths of Prestatyn that I've managed, and all that even with only one bookie pricing up too due to Paddies giving it a miss for some reason.
In yesterday's Premier League, the good run continued with Stephen Hendry landing the 11/4 draw no bet odds in his match with John Higgins, running out a 4-2 winner to overturn his defeat to the same player in the recent Grand Prix.
There wasn't alot going for Hendry on recent form but his price looked too big for me to resist here, especially with John having been primarily concentrating on organising his own World Series event in Warsaw last weekend where he was Master of Ceremonies.
That said, Hendry looked much more at home in this match than at any other time this season and remained focussed even when referee Paul Collier wrongly called a push shot against him at a vital stage of the fifth frame, eventually getting a second bite at the cherry and pulling out a tremendous clearance to the black to go beyond recall.
The other match saw Ronnie O Sullivan leading Mark Selby 3-1 before the Jester scrapped his way through the final two frames to earn a draw which puts them both in prime positions in the league table along with Joe Perry, the others looks to be fighting for one place now.
The ice hockey betting has again taken a turn for the worse after the weekend rally so getting close to the stage where I have to seriously consider whether to continue with it, but will keep going for a bit as its early days yet, have been on the wrong side of a few narrow losses this week though.
Another thing is the NHL games are often streamed online and it keeps me up half the night which would be no good if I want to up bright and early working out the form for the days horse racing come the all weather season, for instance was 3am when I went to bed last night after watching Florida v Ottowa and St Louis v Carolina!!
The greyhounds have been pretty kind to me over the past few months so have had a couple of dabbles in the All England Cup at Newcastle, backing Boherna Best at 9/2 (yes I missed the best price) and Motto Star at 20/1, both qualified in the first round heats last night.
Also had a small dabble on Ballymac Under at 9/2 in the Waterford Masters which holds its semi finals at the weekend, he's in by far the toughest of them though.
On the local snooker front our team kept the good start going with a 3-2 win on Wednesday away from home. I myself was beaten but it was probably the best I've played so far this year as I managed a 29 break but unfortunately my opponent was on the top of his game too, knocking in 30, 18, 27 and 16 in four visits to the table (91 points in all) which is a bit too much for me nowadays!!
The Rams have their big match of the season on Sunday against local rivals Nottingham Forest so that should be the highlight of the weekend ahead, not sure I will be betting but the 3-1 win over Norwich in midweek was probably the best performance so far this season, for once we showed some real attacking flair to match our grittiness.
May be meeting an ex workmate from my time on the keyboards at a local beer festival on Saturday night so hopefully I wont overdue it with the early kick off the next day!
Anyway see you soon
Rick

NHL comes to the rescue!!

2008-10-27T11:39:00.006Z

Well in the end it wasnt such a bad weekend though the profits came from the most unexpected source. When I last left you I said I was considering whether to puruse the NHL ice hockey match betting as it hadnt exactly gone to plan so far, in fact Friday's loss for San Jose at Flordia meant I'd only picked four out of sixteen winning bets.
However decided to throw the dice once more on Saturday and managed to pick six out of eight matches correctly which puts me close to being level again so no panic for now.
Hopefully Edmonton will improve the record at home to Boston tonight, they've won both of their games in their own rink so far this year while the visitors struggled to overcome lowly Atlanta in their last game.
Noticed that none of the books have priced up the local derby between the two New York teams Rangers and Islanders so far so presume there is some kind of injury news that they are waiting for there though cant find any reference to it myself at the moment!
My two outright picks Dallas and Philadelphia both had rickety starts, leaking far too many goals but while Philly show signs of picking up with a couple of straight wins, the Stars are still letting in far too many at present, hopefully they can work on it and they're only eight games in to an eighty-two game season.
On the snooker front, outright pick Mark Selby proved a big flop in Warsaw's World Series leg with a couple of very poor performances in beating the local wildcard unconvincingly and then losing 5-3 to Ken Doherty. In fact the local players were about on a par with my standard, so maybe I should change my name to something more exotic and I would have a chance of appearing live on TV!
As I pointed out beforehand it looked a straight battle between Selby and Ding for the trophy but unfortunately I picked the wrong one on this occasion, the Chinese player defeated Steve Davis 5-1 before disposing of Doherty 6-4 in the final thanks largely to a 64 clearance in the decisive frame when he had trailed 0-63. At least did take some of the 4/9 on offer there to ease my losses but from a punting point of view this World Series competition has been hard to work out with the likes of Dott winning the last leg in Berlin despite coming into the event totally out of form.
Ken will be buoyed by a return to the limelight here after strutting his stuff unsuccessfully in Prestatyn mostly this year, though he still missed alot of easy balls which he cannot afford to do if he is ever to start climbing the ladder again.
Elsewhere Ryan Day continued his good recent form by beating Jamie Cope 6-4 in the final of the Austrian Open and Mike Hallett is in line for a return to the pro circuit at the age of 49, having reached the final of the latest PIOS event (the secondary tour) which puts him into the qualifying places, though there is still a way to go yet.
In today's Bahrain Championship qualifiers, had a couple of dabbles this morning on Rodney Goggins at 8/11 and Robert Stephen 15/8. Goggins currently leads Michael Georgiou 3-1 while Stephen is 2-2 with David Grace.
This evening have gone with Stephen Craigie 6/4 against Simon Bedford and Wayne Cooper 15/8 against Li Hang. Noticed Craigie had a good run in a recent pro am, reaching the quarter final and beating Stuart Bingham en route before losing narrowly to Leo Fernandez. Bedford has done well since his return to the pro ranks this year but put in a poor showing in the Grand Prix after qualifying to meet Peter Ebdon, losing 5-1.
Cooper has been a regular captain of the England amateur team and is not that young for a new pro but he has battling qualities and chanced him at the odds against the probably more talented Chinese youngster.
Our own team hit the baize again tonight hoping to improve our record of two wins in the first three matches, had a few frames last night against the new signing I brought in pre season and he beat me for the first time 4-3 so at least he is improving or maybe its me deteriorating, heaven forbid!! Time will tell no doubt...
Had a few flutters on the nags at the weekend with the Breeders Cup taking prominence, though had limited time to study on Saturday due to going to watch the Rams play at Coventry in the footie.
Backed a couple of winners on Friday including my nap Stardom Bound at 15/8 who won well from my other each way pick Dream Empress, just wish I'd done the exacta!! Also picked Ventura at 7/2 so finished off a fair bit in front. The Saturday undid the good work somewhat though when in Australia's big race the Cox Plate I only managed one each way success out of three bets with Zipping finishing in second place at 9/1, just finding the pace of the race against him and getting going all too late. Also Street Boss got a bit of a troubled run in the big sprint at Santa Anita later on though would have been hard pushed to live with the powerful finish of Midnight Lute anyway who defied a layoff to win here for the second year running.
Looking forward to the Greyhound St Leger final now tomorrow night anyhow, will report back on Friday.
See you soon,
Rick

Easy wins for O Sullivan and Perry

2008-10-24T11:21:00.003+01:00

Its been mainly a case of sitting on my hands since last Monday with no snooker to go at apart from last nights Premier League which looked priced pretty accurately so have been once again catching up with the horse racing form ready for an assault in the new all weather season.
The prices about the favs in last nights action soon looked very generous however with Ronnie O Sullivan making short work of an out of form Steve Davis 6-0 at 1/3 and Joe Perry doing a similar job on Stephen Hendry, dropping just a single frame after being backed in from 8/5.
There are two events starting on the baize this weekend, the non ranking Austrian Open will act as match practice for a few of the pros no doubt though planned coverage on the internet site Cue Sport TV has fallen through due to technical problems but at least we can see John Higgins' brainchild event the World Series on Eurosport as it moves on to Warsaw in Poland.
This is the final qualifying round before the Grand Final which is held in Moscow in about a months time where 16 competitors will be involved as opposed to the normal field of eight.
Although originally I think the idea was to have an extra leg and only those who reached at least one semi final qualified, due to a clash of dates with the main tour I believe all the pros have been guaranteed a final place, assuming Dott is fit again after his broken arm mishap.
On the face of it this weekend's event looks to offer a great chance for Mark Selby to take some silverware, with Doherty and the Nugget struggling somewhat of late (admittedly the Nugget has reached a couple of ranking quarter finals but didnt greatly impress in doing so) his only realistic opponent would appear to be Ding, who himself has been struggling to find his best form and continuing to show weaknesses in his tactical play to boot.
Ding beat Selby 6-5 in the final of the Jiangsu Classic in the summer but was helped by an outrageous fluke in the decider when he would otherwise have almost certainly lost but the Jester took his revenge in this years Premier League with a barrage of hefty breaks to win 4-2 from 0-2 down.
Selby has flattered to deceive so far in the ranking events, looking quite good in some of the early skirmishes before often being edged out 5-4, he would be especially disappointed to lose in this manner to Ryan Day in the Grand Prix when he missed match ball red rather carelessly and his opponent cleared up.
So perhaps with these slight failings in the back of his mind, he will want to cement a tournament success more than most here and think I will have to side with him though only a couple of books have currently priced up, his odds ranging from 13/10 to 10/11 as I speak.
I did have a slight interest in the aforementioned Premier League matches last night as doubled up the Ronnie highest break with one of my ante post picks in the Greyhound St Leger Bubbly Totti to try and top up my winnings on Tuesday night should he justify favouritistm.
Totti was again impressive in the semi final last week, this time missing the break and being slightly impeded but still powering past the rest of the field to be a good few lengths clear at the line with my other pick Midway Skipper staying on into second place. The original ante post favourite Lenson Joker was eliminated from the other semi final after finding trouble in running and also picked up a muscle strain it later transpired.
The draw for the final has Skipper who is really a railer out in trap five so that is hardly advantageous to her but should give Totti in six plenty of room to work with, especially as my other pick is usually a slow starter so all looks set fair for the favourite next week.
Have had a few dabbles on the NHL ice hockey but not really particularly successfully so far, am analysing the results and not sure yet if I will be in it for the long term but have taken the so far impressive San Jose Sharks at around 4/6 tonight to emerge victorious from their long trip across to Florida tonight, hopefully it will turn around and if not will concentrate on other avenues!!
On the personal front, we managed another win in the local snooker league, defeating a team of newcomers 3-2 so we have started much better than I had originally expected though wouldnt imagine our opponents from the other night will be winning too many matches come the end of the season.
I've still heard nothing about what I thought was a speed camera flashing me on the way home from Nottingham the other night so maybe it was a firework after all, but not counting my chickens on that one just yet, even though its now over two weeks since, still think it would be very harsh though if I was nicked as I said its not a populated area at all and did used to be a dual carriageway all the way along at one time.
Anyway fingers crossed
See you on Monday when the Bahrain snooker qualifiers also start
All the best
Rick

Respectable position in the end

2008-10-20T18:45:00.006+01:00

Have had a think about the blog and will probably update it twice a week from now on, probably Mondays and Fridays so as to be consistent, gives me a chance to look back on the weekend and also from a midweek perspective looking forward by using these days.
The last time I left you I was enduring a hard time of it in the Grand Prix but at least managed to claw back to a respectable position at the end although still came out with a slight loss, if Day had beaten Higgins in the final would have finished a bit infront though, he certainly had chances to do so but didnt quite fire on all cylinders for the duration of the match.
Still managed to get seven winners out of my last nine wagers in the competition and it was badly needed after the hole I got myself into, didnt help with a couple of chasing bets which I should have learned to have cut out by now, this was the difference between winning and losing on the event in the end.
Judd Trump at least gave me a bit of excitement in the outright market too, losing 6-4 to Higgins in the semi final after at one stage pulling back to 4 apiece. With the FA Cup-style draw though it was always going to be difficult to pinpoint the winner, though overall the format was pretty well received and expect it to continue next year.
During the event made a couple of outright wagers for the World Championships too, backing Selby and Day both each way at 8/1 and 40/1 respectively.
Its not something I particularly like doing so far away from the event but in Day's case anyway it was a wise move as he is already down to a best of 33/1 in just the odd place only, the first seed he would meet is Ebdon who looks to be on the wane.
Selby's first seeded opponent is Dott who is currently out of action with a broken arm so it remains to be seen how long it takes for him to recover, but he hasn't been in the greatest of form anyway prior to that.
Having taken the price though might have been a bit premature with that one as an early exit in one or two of the upcoming events could mean he may go a point or two bigger, it remains to be seen. He wont be featuring in Bahrain anyway due to Premier League commitments along with Ding, Higgins and probably the Nugget too.
The Irish Laurels greyhound final ended in despair for me with my biggest ante post bet on Slip The Lark being thwarted up the home straight, my selection finishing runner-up to the rank outsider on the day 14/1 shot Cashen Legend by a neck.
Lark was maybe a little unlucky in that he was carried wide by nearest challenger Tyrur Laurel who got up his inside and then swung towards the outside to leave a massive gap for the winner to storm through and pass them both in the straight. Laurel was a head away in third place.
My other two finalists were both caught up in the bumping at the start between the inside three boxes which always looked an accident waiting to happen with their respective draws and they trailed in fifth and sixth.
Had a couple of dabbles in the English St Leger too before the second round heats, backing Bubbly Totti at 3/1 and Midway Skipper at 16/1. They both qualified for the semi finals, Totti impressively beating the long unbeaten Lenson Joker who now surrenders favouritsm to my pick who is now best at 5/4.
Skipper had a troubled passage in his heat but still flew up the home straight and was well clear after the line, but on the line itself he was just pipped in the runners spot. Couldnt really understand why he has been lengthened to 20/1 on the back of that as it looked a good run to me.
My two picks both go in the first heat of the semi final tomorrow night at Wimbledon in a five dog contest due to a disqualification so ought to get plenty of room to work with.
Away from the betting, our snooker team suffered our first defeat last week 3-2 against one of the title contenders so it was still a decent effort on paper though the standard was very poor to be honest with myself as culpable as any, some of the shots missed were beyond belief I have to say and maybe putting too much pressure on myself as captain to get the team off to a good start.
So will try to relax for this Wednesday's match which is against a new team to the league so therefore totally unknown opposition and not sure what to expect there.
Anyway will be back on Friday
See you on the Betdaq forum
Rick

Tale of woe at the Grand Prix so far

2008-10-16T11:24:00.008+01:00

Well its turned out to be a pretty good time to have a break for a few days with the blog as the results have taken a decided turn for the worse, just when you think its all hunky dory something jumps up to bite you on the backside in the betting jungle, when has it ever been any different!!

All my Grand Prix snooker outright picks that played in the first round exited at the first attempt, Mark Allen was absolutely awful in his match with Michael Holt and was trounced 5-1, Neil Robertson somehow contrived to lose to the Nugget 5-4 despite the latter's highest break being only forty-odd, Shaun Murphy had a nightmare run of the balls and lost 5-3 to Adrian Gunnell who had probably the highest number of flukes ever witnessed in a pro game and of course had already lost Barry Hawkins last weekend 5-3 to Joe Perry.

At least Judd Trump got a bye, but I already knew that and he got past an out of touch Perry last night 5-2 to reach his first ever quarter final, dont seriously see that he will be winning it though as he wasnt overly impressive himself.

The match betting hasnt gone too much better as I drew a blank with my first six (mostly outsiders) including three 5-4 reverses. Made the cardinal sin of jumping in on a couple of short ones though, backed Robbo at 1/2 after seeing Davis' 6-0 defeat to Selby in the Premier League despite the fact that the price was probably only around the right mark - and then even worse took 4/11 for Murphy to beat Gunnell after having a few pints at the snooker match, in a desperate bid to get a winner under my belt!

Of course both these latter instances came back to haunt me and put me further into deficit for the tournament, if only I'd let my own prices do the talking and kept strictly to the overlays I wouldnt be so far in arrears for this event!

Have since had winners with Parrott 13/8, Ding 1/2 and Davis 10/11 so hopefully on the comeback trail.

For todays bets have taken Cope 5/6, Fu 12/5 and Day 13/8.

Cope has a rematch of his World Championship meeting with Ebdon when he had it in the palm of his hand in the final frame and let it slip due to an unnecessary attempt to split a couple of reds when there were enough points on anyway, he finally went under 10-9 but must have a good chance of revenge against Ebdon who hasnt impressed too much this season.

Fu has a good record against Ronnie and has actually won more frames than the Rocket in all their meetings combined (6-6 with one draw in the last 13 meetings) so odds of 12/5 certainly looked attractive, plus O Sullivan looked rather below par in the early frames of his match with Liang Wenbo.

Going with Day mainly on the price, had him a bit shorter at 6/4 myself but will clearly need one of his best performances to prevail against the in form Jester. They have met twice in non ranking events and its 1-1 with each recording a 3-1 success.

The World Cup of Pool didnt produce any further bets but the USA defeated England in the final fairly comfortably to lift the trophy for the first time.

In tonight's live greyhound racing on Sky I see the cameras are venturing to the ultra sharp Sunderland trap which usually means alot of trouble at the first bend. Nevertheless, couldnt resist a bet on my old friend Bohebradda Mac at 10/11 in the sprint, he is drawn towards the outside which might help him get a clear run as he occasionally just missed a tick at the break before powering through at half way.

The Post are making an issue of him not having won in four visits here, but he has been runner up on every occasion, being beaten very narrowly in some of those runs despite not always getting the run of the race so no reason why he can't notch a success on the track for me.

Anyway, will be back in a few days

All the best,

Rick

Ante post greyhound picks qualify for final

2008-10-12T11:54:00.011+01:00

The remaining quarter finals of the World Cup of Pool in Rotterdam were sorted out last night with USA holding off a spirited fight from minnows Austria to win 9-7 and book their place against pre tournament favourites the Philippines who easily defeated the Japanese duo 9-2 which meant my money went west in that one (or should I say east!!), overall though I'll have made a fair bit of profit and its been interesting pricing up a pool event for the first time, though dont think I will be playing at the prices in the semis.
On paper you'd think the winner of the Philippines-USA clash ought to defeat whoever comes through between China and England but it is a tournament that has thrown up quite a few surprises, the final is played tonight so will keep an eye out to see how its priced up just in case theres another opportunity.
In the Grand Prix snooker at Glasgow, my first outright bet Barry Hawkins bowed out at the first hurdle, losing 5-3 to Joe Perry, he had every chance and in fact lost the last two frames on the final black from positions where he really ought to have taken more advantage, but seemed to be in a rather negative frame of mind instead of kicking on from a position of ascendancy, thats probably why he's never won any ranking events in the past tbh.
Perry himself will have to play much better in the rounds to come while in the other match John Higgins had no problems with a 5-0 win over Anthony Hamilton.
As I said yesterday I'm backing Robbo and Gilbert today and my other first round bets will be on Burnett 11/4 (against low in confidence Ding), Bedford 2/1 (against out of form Ebdon), Harold 6/4 (in the form of his life) against Carter and Parrott 13/8 (beat Ken 5-0 last time out) against Mark King (who lost 5-0 to Selby last time out).
Obviously some of the players I'm backing are not likely to take the stage by storm themselves but am relying more on the more renowned players' current lack of form or confidence to hopefully get some decent prices landed, not that I'm particularly confident about any of them!
The Irish Greyhound Laurels semi finals were held at Curaheen Park in Cork last night and I'm pleased to say all my three ante post bets made it through to the final next Saturday.
Cabra Cool showed good pace to the first bend despite slightly anticipating the start and overtook Tyrur Laurel who had led early. Laurel showed a good turn of foot to rally on the final bend however to sweep past my fancy and take the spoils, he is a dangerous dog when he traps well but he only seems to do this intermittently. Cabra qualified safely enough in second place.
In heat two Chicken Supper got a flyer from the traps but Slip The Lark's electric early pace soon saw him in the lead at the first bend and it was great to see my two picks lead the pack for the duration of the rest of the race. Lark as he usually does tied up a bit near the finish but was always holding sway.
In the final, Cabra Cool has drawn box 2, with the early paced Solinus inside him thats not ideal plus there may be the prospect of bumping as my pick usually tends to edge left from the gate.
There is in fact great pace all the way along from 1-4 plus Laurel if he decides to trap well on the night. Its a pretty good draw for Slip The Lark in 4, he certainly wanted to be on the inside of Laurel and ought to be able to lead that one to the first bend and once again has Chicken Supper on his inside who he soon headed last night despite getting coming out of the traps initally slightly behind that one.
The outside dog is Cashen Legend and he will be hoping there is a bit of trouble at the bend so he can come around the outside, though is unlikely to have the pace to stay with a few of them early doors, especially as it seems to be more of a front runners track.
However it didnt all go to plan as decided to have a couple of NHL bets on Boston and Colombus, who had both won their opening away games of the season so took them to follow up on their travels, though they were both beaten which isnt a good start to that sphere.
In fact unless I can find time to price up the matches, its probably not a great idea to get involved as I have proved time and again the profits seem to lie where you can work out your own odds and make your bets accordingly where there are overlays.
Admittedly where horse racing is involved I only tend to do this very roughly but its usually been enough to keep me ahead of the game in the past.
Anyway as I said yesterday, I may just post a couple of times a week on the blog from now on and with the Betdaq forum now available, I'll hopefully be able to chat on there as well if I find time amongst all the betting imponderables!!
Will probably catch up with you in midweek
All the best
Rick

China and England through to pool semi final

2008-10-11T15:25:00.008+01:00

Now the Daq forum is up and running I might update this blog a little less frequently, perhaps a couple of times a week would be ample but not going to say for definite as tend to do things as and when I feel, certainly need more time available to bring in the betting on the horses though.
Currently watching the Perry v Hawkins match which has been a pretty moderate standard, whoever wins will have to up their game massively to stand a chance of lifting the trophy, its currently 4-3 to Joe and as I had the Hawk as one of the outright bets thats not the score I was looking for.
Tomorrow in the match betting I've backed Neil Robertson to beat Steve Davis at 1/2, was originally not overly tempted by that price but having seen the Nugget struggling awfully in a 6-0 Premier League loss to Mark Selby on Thursday, I've decided to have a dabble on the Aussie, though he isnt usually one who fills me with confidence at odds on.
Have also had a few quid on outsider Dave Gilbert at 15/8 against Stephen Hendry, the Scot has yet to win a match this season so while this should be where he opens his account on paper, his confidence might not be that high at present so thought it worth a go.
Had a couple of winning bets in the World Cup of Pool earlier today, backed holders China at 4/6 to beat Italy which they did 9-2 and also took 11/10 on England to beat my outright picks Germany (who had been less than impressive in the last round) and they also obliged 9-7. This of course means I have drawn a blank with my three outright bets but the match betting profits have more than compensated luckily.
Those two now meet in the semi final tomorrow, while tonight the other two quarter finals take place with big outsiders Austria taking on the USA and favourites the Philippines up against Japan. The latter team have played pretty well for the most part in this format so have put a bit on at 9/4 in the hope of an upset this evening.
The Irish Greyhound Laurels semi finals are run tonight and my three hopes Slip The Lark, Cabra Cool and Chicken Supper will hopefully be in the thick of the action, if I can get a couple through to the final itself will be more than happy.
Will certainly report on those tomorrow anyhow.
All the best
Rick

Siding with the outsiders in Grand Prix

2008-10-10T15:31:00.006+01:00

The Grand Prix snooker gets underway at Glasgow tomorrow lunchtime with just the two matches before it gets into full swing a day later with half a dozen games taking place, the first day cut short as I explained yesterday due to an adjoining building's Queen tribute concert which has created an unfortunate clash.
The draw hasnt worked out particularly kindly for those looking for a outside dabble with many of the more likely outsiders coming against some of the better seeds and also some rather unfancied pairings meeting at the same time.
Would still prefer to be on the side of the better priced players in this event which has a unique FA Cup style draw once this round (which has been seeded) is out of the way, this means someone like Ronnie could meet Maguire or Selby with immediate effect so perhaps wise to steer clear of those at the head of the betting. With this format, anyone could end up with either a very difficult or very cushy passage.
Indeed, the last time this format was used I believe Canadian Bob Chaperon won the event for his only ranking title which encourages the idea of picking some long priced contenders.
Don't think I can manage anything as extravagant as a 125/1 pick this time around however.
Going through them, Shaun Murphy did win the Paul Hunter German Open a few weeks ago but has done little else, however he does have the class to find his feet at some stage this term and took the early 16/1 for starters, he starts with Adrian Gunnell in round one.
Mark Allen and Neil Robertson are both priced 33/1 and up against Michael Holt and Steve Davis respectively they ought to have a good chance of progressing to the open draw, both have the raw talent to take advantage of any weaker opposition they might encounter along the way even though Robbo has been disappointing for the last year and a bit since he won those two ranking titles. The Aussie did lead Ricky Walden 4-1 last week though before succumbing in a decider so at least went close to putting out the eventual winner.
Barry Hawkins has been pretty solid this year and at 66/1 I'll give him a chance here, he has a more difficult starter with Joe Perry, who is another sort I wouldnt argue against backing, but can see this being a tight match and with the Hawk a fair bit bigger in the outright betting I'll side with him.
Those are the main four but have also thrown a few quid at Judd Trump at 50/1, mainly because he is likely to get a bye due to Graeme Dott's broken arm; Dott is apparently looking at the possibility of playing but doubtful he would be able to do himself justice in any case even if he does turn up. Trump is almost certainly not ready to win a tourney like this yet, but with a draw of this nature its probably worth taking a chance he could have it all his own way if the balls come out favourably.
Will be keeping the powder dry on the opening day with John Higgins a short favourite to beat Anthony Hamilton and Perry taking on Hawkins in the above mentioned match which looks priced fairly accurately.
Last night's Premier League produced two 6-0 whitewashes with Rocket Ronnie trouncing Ding and Mark Selby having all too much for the Nugget; Ding's defeat continues a worrying decline in form for him and he could be in real danger of dropping out of the top 16 come the end of the season, which no one would have predicted a couple of years ago when he was just breaking in.
Some of these heavy defeats to Ronnie over the last couple of years seem to have really destroyed his confidence and his tactical game shows little sign of improvement in this time either.
In the World Cup of Pool, I backed Italy today at 5/4 and they did the business with an 8-0 win over Thailand, my outright picks Germany also made it through 8-6 against Poland, though I did have a saver on the opposition in the match betting at decent odds just in case.
Just one more bet today in that event, have taken Russia at 5/2 to pull off what would be a massive shock against Philippines though again going more on the price than any great expectations.
Had a mixed day yesterday with Russia and Japan winning but Spain losing a 7-2 lead to succumb 8-7 to Croatia, outsiders Switzerland losing by the same score to China and Belgium losing the last three frames to lose 8-6 to Austria, who are performing very well with the only female in the competition Jasmine Ouschan amongst their ranks.
Still as I said at the start its the first time I've priced up an event like this so any money won will be a bonus and in a pretty decent position at the moment overall.
Thats all for now anyway,
See you soon on the Betdaq forum perhaps,
All the best Rick

Holland B shock second favourites Taiwan

2008-10-09T12:15:00.011+01:00

As you know I was out last night but coming back home was surprised to see my remaining pool bet of the day did the business when 11/4 outsiders Holland B surprised the second favourites for the competition Taiwan with an 8-5 win plus my remaining outright pick Germany comfortably progressed past Qatar.
That said, some other things didnt go quite so well last night. The Steve Coogan show at Nottingham was a bit hit and miss as previously reviewed elsewhere, was expecting a bit more of Alan Partridge to be honest but he was only on for about twenty odd minutes in the whole show in his usual kind of environment, though he did appear in a play as Sir Thomas More while under the Partridge guise and thereafter a song and dance routine but still not his usual kind of scenario.
So was expecting a little better overall plus on the way home got the dreaded flash of what appeared to be a speed camera going off at the end of a dual carriageway where there never used to be one, the first time I ever been clocked and a bit miffed really as dont think I was doing anything remotely dangerous as its not a populated area at all, its apparently a 40 speed limit now after doing some enquiries and I was probably doing nearer 50.
To be honest had left my contact lenses in a bit longer than normal and my eyes were getting so tired I had just decided to kick on and try and get home just in the very area where the new camera appeared to have been situated grrr.
Lets hope it was just a large firework but heavy odds on that I get a letter from the local Constabulary within the next ten days or so I'm afraid.
Have had a few more flutters on the World Cup of Pool today, going for all three favourites this afternoon in Spain, Russia and Japan as had them all slightly shorter than the men at SJs plus later on will be playing outsiders Switzerland at 5/2 against China and my main bet of the day on Belgium at 5/6 (now 8/11) who take on Austria late this evening.
As I alluded to yesterday no real fancies on the Premier League snooker tonight, if anything would say the outsiders are slight overlays but on current form not really tempted to back Ding and hard to see the Nugget overcoming Selby either.
Did look at the Ding highest break option at 6/4 against Ronnie, given his record in that sphere last year at first glance it looked reasonable but then found out in five previous meetings between the pair the Rocket has notched the best break on each occasion.
Suppose you could say a bet on Ronnnie at 4/6 therefore looks OK but I dont really want to be taking shortish odds on those kind of markets personally.
Will be watching the early days of the NHL most probably unless theres a standout price, no bets today anyhow, last year the home teams seemed to be winning most of the early matches so will be interesting to see if that trend continues this year.
Will have a look at the Grand Prix snooker tomorrow as it is due to start 12noon in Glasgow on Saturday, though its a truncated programme on the first day with just two matches due to a Queen tribute concert being held next door apparently, so much for the planning!!
Reminds me of the day I went to Prestatyn to see the UK qualifiers a couple of years ago when the playing times were drastically altered due to the "Tidy Weekender Rave" taking place at the same camp and described by promoters as "dirty smut action with lustful ladies and super studs"!! - unbeknown to me at the time of course.
I cant help wondering if I would have come up to scratch, wondered why I was getting some funny looks that day, perhaps it was for the best that I stayed upstairs concentrating on the alternative delights of Hugh Abernethy against Rod Lawler well out of harms way until all the ladies were tucked up in their chalets.
Anyway before I get into any more trouble I'll say adios for now
Good luck
Rick

Poland land the odds for main bet of day

2008-10-08T18:08:00.005+01:00

Just a quickie today as will be off out to see Steve Coogan live tonight at Nottingham, have just seen a review of the show which it said was a bit hit and miss and there is an independent observation by a member of the public who isnt greatly impressed so hope it turns out rather better than those opinions seem to suggest! Its billed as "Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters" and apparently lives up to its name so at least you can't argue with that!!
The pool bets have gone pretty well so far, France were beaten 8-5 by Canada which wasnt such a great start but trickshot master Vincent Facquet was apparently feeling very sick so that wouldn't have helped much, sounds like they had chances but couldnt put them away.
Things picked up thereafter with outsiders Poland (my main bet) and Austria both winning at odds of 5/4 and 3/1 against Thailand and Vietnam respectively which puts me well ahead on the match betting so far.
The other one I had today was Holland B who I took at 11/4 against one of the tournaments favourites Taiwan so not really expecting that one to be landed but was just attracted by the favourable odds on offer. Also my remaining outright hopes Germany take on Qatar and if they dont make it through I will have drawn a blank in that sphere before the first round has ended, oh dear!!
Have been working out the Grand Prix odds and outright bets so I'll give a few thoughts on those over the next couple of days, also the Premier League returns after a week off tomorrow with Ronnie taking on Ding and Mark Selby up against Steve Davis, though looking at the early odds will probably be keeping my powder dry.
The NHL also gets underway on American and Canadian ice tomorrow night (there were four matches in Europe last weekend to showcase the league) and as I said a while back I hope to be having the odd flutter here and there as that progresses..
Anyway better get off and find a parking space!!
See you soon
Rick

Betdaq forum gets lift off!

2008-10-07T21:06:00.008+01:00

For those of you who don't yet know, the Betdaq forum is now up and running, its been very busy on there today so it bodes well for getting a strong customer base in the future, certainly I've had no trouble getting matched in the pre event markets I play on, and in some cases the Daq prices have been significantly better. Of course I dont tend to bet inplay so those involved with that side of things may need a little more time to make things viable. Anyway you can read the forum at http://forum.betdaq.com/Group1.aspx but you need to hold an account to post.
As you know I had a few bets on the pool this week and looks like the outright side of things is going to be a damp squib with Finland already out, losing 8-4 to Korea after going 4-0 down without potting a ball I think it said. Admittedly the Koreans won one frame with a fluke and another with a golden break according to the Matchroom website but not much consolation for me anyhow.
Another of my outrights Holland A are struggling as I speak, 5-1 down to local rivals Belgium, who as a late replacement surprised the Dutch B team last year in round one so they are looking at a memorable double. At the price of 11/4 I did have a small bet on them in the match odds so at least that will ease the burden of the outright loss if they do push on from there.
My other match bet Switzerland always held sway in their match with Hong Kong and came home 8-5 winners but as far as the outright market goes it looks like my last remaining hope will be Germany even at this early stage.
Have had small bets on outsiders France, Austria and Holland B tomorrow to go with my main bet on Poland so we will see what lies ahead there.
As I told you yesterday we started the snooker season proper last night and we actually managed a 3-2 win which was a pleasant surprise, my new signing came up trumps as he produced his best snooker on the match night itself, I scraped a win despite struggling for any rhythm and we also won another frame on the black so nice to get one under our belts in what could be a tough year overall.
And finally its time to say
Punting highlight of the week: Cleary has to be Ricky Walden (probably punting highlight of the lifetime too lol).
Punting lowlight of the week: Cant be too worried about anything after that win but suppose Youmzain finishing second in the Arc instead of winning it, would have loved to have withdrawn my ante post Betfair winnings in £10 notes just to tot up their administration costs as a final parting gesture lol.

Biggest ever windfall

2008-10-06T09:52:00.009+01:00

Well its great when a plan comes together and the money invested in the pay per view channel Cue Sports which covered the recent Belgian Open Snooker event proved worth its weight in gold when it pointed me in the direction of a certain Ricky Walden.
He won that event playing some very impressive snooker indeed culminating in a 4-0 whitewash of the ill fated Graeme Dott in the final and followed up yesterday in the Shanghai Masters event, beating Ronnie O Sullivan 10-8 in the final to land my bets of 100/1 and 125/1 respectively for my biggest ever windfall.
I must admit when it reached the semi final stage and he was up against Mark Selby I thought his goose was cooked at 1-4 down but he showed great battling spirit and a very sound match game to come through and follow it up with a solid victory against an admittedly below par Rocket in the final.
Its certainly been a great month so far what with the big Irish greyhound derby success too so at least it gives me a fair bit to work with in case the dreaded losing run is lurking behind the next corner!!
In fact chancing my arm a bit this week as decided to have a go at pricing up Matchroom's World Cup of Pool event that starts tomorrow and runs through until Sunday, Sky Sports usually show highlights of all the games a few months down the line but it might be even more interesting if they could summon up a bit of live coverage, certainly there did seem to be a fair few shock results last year so might be worth their while to look at giving this international event a higher profile.
In the outright market thought Finland looked overpriced at 28/1 e/w (one third odds), they were only just beaten 11-10 by China in the final last year and in Mika Immonen and Markus Juva have a well established partnership and a reasonable draw to boot.
Along with them have also punted the home nation Holland A (Nils Feijen and Nick van den Berg) at 14/1 and Germany (Ralf Souquet and Thomas Engert) at 9/1, though at a third of the odds just took the win only option with those.
Have generally kept my stakes smaller than usual here as have only started betting on the pool in the last year or so, did manage to land a nice each way bet on Roberto Gomez at 40/1 in last years World Championships and still reckon he would have lifted the trophy had they not changed the table before the final, he really did have the soft break off shot down to a tee until then.
There were three first round matches particularly where my odds differed a fair bit to those of the bookmakers though (only Stan James / Bet Direct have prices at present).
Switzerland performed well here last year, beating Hungary 8-5 and USA 8-6 before falling to Finland in the quarter finals; at 11/10 they looked worth a punt against Hong Kong who didnt take part last year, one of their players interestingly is main tour snooker pro Andy Lee's brother Lee Chenman.
I also like Finland at 5/6 against Korea, couldnt understand why they arent favourites for this one with the Koreans bowing out tamely 8-2 to Canada last season and having also having lost Ryu Seung Woo from their line up.
Both the above matches take place on the opening day tomorrow but on Wednesday Poland also looked too big at 5/4 for their match with Thailand. The Thais missed last year and have a totally new partnership this time around with neither player having featured in the event before, Poland keep the same line up as last year (including the very capable Radoslaw Babica) when they were unlucky to come up against a decent England team in the first round yet put up a brave fight, only going down 8-6.
There was some heated debate on the Betfair forums again yesterday, this time I'm not alluding to the premium charge for once, though no doubt there was plenty said about that too. This time it was Richard Hills' ride on my pick Youmzain in the Arc de Triomphe that was under scrutiny with various posters saying he would have won had he gone for the gap and others saying the winner Zarkava would have hosed in anyway.
I think theres no definite answer to that one, you could run a horse race many times over and get different results according to luck in running on the day and certainly if Youmzain had got his run earlier and the gap hadnt opened like the red sea for the French filly when it did, the result could have been different.
Hills commented he didnt think he could have beaten the winner himself, but rather think that was to guard himself against any possible criticism of his ride, though to be fair to him you just cant go forcing your way through horses in France as you are soon likely to be disqualified for the merest indiscretion the way their rules work.
At least by taking the each way option at a quarter the odds managed to secure enough for a bag of chips on the day.
We start our local snooker league campaign tonight with a local derby against our No 1 team so lets hope we can somehow scrape a victory as there don't seem to be too many easy games on the horizon looking at who's in there this year, as I've said before as long as we can keep off the bottom that will be a result!!
All the best
Rick

Three through to Laurels semi finals

2008-10-05T12:42:00.005+01:00

The big horse race of the day is the World renowned Arc de Triomphe and had an ante post bet a few weeks ago at just over 14/1 on last year's second Youmzain, at least he has shown he is suited by the hurly burly of the race itself and acts on the track (was second last year) though his draw towards the outside could have been much better.
That said he usually does come with a late run so might not be the inconvenience it would be to a more prominent runner, will be hoping for a bit of pace to the race to bring the finishers into play as theres always the chance of it being a fairly slowly run event in France due to the way races pan out over there traditionally.
Almost went in on the favourite Zarkava when she was trading around 7/2 but she sneaked another run without me noticing and was soon 7/4 so had to leave that one out of the equation, she is up against the colts here too so however impressive she has been this will almost certainly be a tougher test than previously.
The Youmzain bet was one of my last ones on Betfair so if it did come in think I'd draw it out in £10 stages just so it costs them a bit more in administration costs, its the least I could do lol. Also topped up with an each way bet with the traditional bookmakers too.
Theres some good stuff about the Premium Charge on the forums today, keep up the fight lads, but no sign of any kind of u-turn as yet which means that you still have no real idea of the actual odds you are taking if you are caught in the net any time, its hard enough sussing out what is value and what isnt without some incomprehensible formula kicking in a few days down the line and knocking a good slice of whatever odds you did take. While ever this process is in effect, I simply will not bet there and urge you to do the same if at all possible, it flies against the whole ethos of successful betting strategy.
The Irish Greyhound Laurels quarter finals were held last night and I managed to get three out of my four remaining contenders through into next Saturdays semis.
The one to miss out was Good Boy Errol who I added as an each way outsider last week but he missed the kick and could only stay on into fourth place in his heat.
Its the top three that qualify and my other selections managed to do the business, Cabra Cool was an impressive winner in heat two as he flashed out of the traps and led throughout. Chicken Supper was hampered by the winner at the start and was perhaps a bit lucky to sneak into third place on this occasion when two dogs were involved in scrimmaging at the first bend and both ended on the deck.
Meanwhile in the big clash of the night in heat four, the top three in the ante post market went head to head and despite a bit of a tardy start, my pick Slip The Lark showed fine pace to lead around the first bend before eventually tiring on the testing surface due to heavy rain during the evening and being edged out by Side Bet on the run in.
That was good enough anyhow and hopefully he will get more favourable conditions in the remaining races to come.
He seems to have a much more favourable draw in the semi final, though with one of my other bets Chicken Supper immediately on his inside, just hope they can both get the run of the race.
In the other semi next week, Cabra Cool has drawn the inside pitch and will need to get one of his usual flying starts with another early paced dog Solinus in the number two box.
On to the snooker its currently 5-5 between Walden and O Sullivan so still have some hope for my outright bet; the bet I had at big odds for the first frame for Ricky didnt materialise though as he never managed a point, converesly he went on to win the next three frames, typical!!
Might just go up to the snooker club tonight for a couple of frames to top up the practice for the first match of the season tomorrow which is a local derby against the team that beat us 3-1 in the friendly last week, cant see anything but a similar result this time around though unfortunately!!
All the best for now
Rick

Raking it in with Ricky

2008-10-04T18:07:00.006+01:00

One of the better punting days today as Ricky Walden landed the each way parts of the 100/1 and 125/1 bets I had on at a third and a half the odds respectively with a 6-4 win over Mark Selby in the opening Shanghai Masters semi final this morning.
As expected I didnt rise with the cockerel but managed to surface in time to watch the recorded highlights of the early frames on Eurosport before they actually switched live for the final two frames, things were looking bleak when Selby led 4-1 but Walden has shown himself the comeback king this week and for the third successive match came back from a very unpromising position to take the spoils.
His final opponent will unfortunately (for me and him perhaps) be the in form Ronnie O Sullivan who edged out Stephen Maguire in the later match 6-5 with a couple of very big century breaks to boot, only saw the early stages of this match as my Chinese feed started to stutter so will catch up with the conclusion on Eurosport tonight, it aint quite the same when you already know the result though!!
Just hope there is a reliable feed for tomorrow's final (again starting at 6am) as not sure there will be too much of it shown live on TV, havent looked at the schedules yet but being told on various forums that its mostly recorded highlights.
Did take a bit of 11/10 yesterday about Ronnie so made sure of a profit in the outright win book, though of course the each way bet on Walden would have more than covered the other bets too.
Also decided to back Ronnie on the -3.5 frames handicap at 4/5 just in case the match turns into the procession that the odds are insinuating, though Walden does have a good all round game and isnt likely to be drawn into the potfest that the Rocket would probably prefer.
In fact their only meeting in the 2006 UK Championships saw Walden at the brink of victory, leading 8-7 and only being denied by a clearance from Ronnie in the next which he took on the final black before adding the decider for 9-8.
Another bet I've had is 2/1 Walden to win the first frame at Sporting Bet which does seem a bit over the top and in fact the offer soon disappeared, now back into 13/8 which is more in parity with other firms.
However slowly Ricky has been getting out of the traps in his recent matches, having been a prolific winner in minor tournaments in the last few years hopefully he won't be too phased by the early stages of his first ranking final here.
Elsewhere I did finally get my football bet matched on Derby's game as the price contracted again, plus I edged my lay offer on Norwich out to a maximum 2.56 (all on the Daq of course - where else!!) and it was rewarded when the Rams earned a 2-1 win.
In fact, listening to the first half it sounded like they should have been out of sight but instead held a tenuous 1-0 lead and when Roy Carroll brought down Leroy Lita for a resulting penalty, his dismissal meant the Rams were down to 10 men for most of the second half, plus saw their lead cancelled out from the spot kick too.
I wasnt feeling quite so confident at this stage but they gradually quelled the storm and sub Nathan Ellington came on near the end to sneak the winner after a mistake by the home goalkeeper. The league table must be looking a good deal better for us now after a nice run of six or so unbeaten games.
The quarter finals of the Irish Greyhound Laurels take place tonight so will let you know how well (or otherwise) my ante post picks fare tomorrow along with a look at the Arc, even though I havent really made much further progress with studying the racing form while this latest snooker tournament has been on, then again if they are all as successful as this one, perhaps it doesnt matter so much!!
See you soon,
Rick

Prospects bleak for new season

2008-10-03T23:55:00.006+01:00

Feeling very tired tonight so just a quickie if thats OK, now where have I heard that before!!
Actually the reason being I've just had nine frames of snooker with the new signing I secured yesterday for our snooker team though as he hadnt played for many months perhaps its no surprise he only managed one double figure break in that time, maybe he wont prove to be the shrewdest of acquisitions after all (especially with his previous temperament doubts) but I can always sack myself half way through the season if things are going badly lol (or should I say when things are going badly looking at the squad on paper!!)
Managed to get two out of the three bets up today, Ricky Walden made a very slow start against the Nugget but from 2-0 down won the remaining five frames, he was admittedly aided by a fluked pink in the sixth frame but for which it could easily have gone 3-3. He now meets Mark Selby who saw off Marco Fu 5-3 from 1-3 down, in fact the Hong Kong cueist probably didnt make the most of his chances after the interval so though he gave me a run for my money at 15/8 perhaps will feel its one that got away.
The other winner I bagged was Stephen Maguire who edged out Ryan Day 5-4 in a tit for tat battle of pretty open snooker for much of the time. Mag will however have his hands full in the semi final against the man of the moment Ronnie O Sullivan who saw off Mark Williams 5-3.
For tomorrow was tempted by Ronnie at 1/2 but decided to leave it in the end and just backed Selby at 4/11 (admittedly no great value) but more particularly to cover my each way outright bet on Walden.
Just wondering about whether to back Ronnie at 11/10 in the outrights too before I hit the sack and then will guarantee at least some kind of profit out of that market (already have the other three), though am really more of a gambler at heart than one for closing out with a profit.
Suppose if I do tend to hedge my bets its more often in the later stages of a tourney where I stand to win a fair amount on the other options.
The snooker starts at 6am tomorrow with no live action guaranteed on Eurosport, could get up early to watch the Sopcast feed but might settle for the highlights instead looking at the time!!
Was considering laying Norwich against the Rams on the Daq but missed an opportunity at 2.53 before I went out and not sure I really want to go as high as 2.6+ with one of our central defenders out injured, plus the home side have just acquired Leroy Lita on loan from Reading and was quite impressed with him a couple of years ago unless he's lost his way in the interim.
Anyway before I nod off at the computer I'll say adios
All the best
Rick

Walden back from the brink

2008-10-02T18:46:00.006+01:00

Well it was looking a bit bleak earlier in the day when both my snooker picks were 4-1 down in the Shanghai Masters but luckily Ricky Walden found his feet eventually and came through strongly to beat Neil Robertson 5-4, taking the final frame in fine style with a single visit, as indeed he had done in the last round against Stephen Hendry.
Its starting to look a bit exciting on the outright front with Ricky, priced at 125/1 now up against veteran Steve Davis and in with a great chance of reaching the semis, so would be only one match away from landing the each way part of the bet at high odds.
Unfortunately some of my bet was struck at 1/3 odds 100/1 (Stan James / Bet Direct) though before Ladbrokes came in with the higher price later on at 1/2 odds; hope the former practice doesnt become the norm in snooker as does seem a rather retrograde step for the punter in such a big field, for most of the week though they were top price about Walden.
Looking at the match odds 4/6 also looked a decent price too to keep the winning run going against the old stager tomorrow; certainly Davis has had little luck or joy in previous meetings between the two.
In 2005's China Open, the Nugget banged his head very hard on a metal door frame and had to concede half way through the match with Ricky already leading 3-0. A year later the qualifiers for the same competition were being played at Prestatyn and Davis didnt realise he had to play a preliminary round so ended up forfeiting the match - by the time he found out it was of course too late.
Plus in this year's Paul Hunter Classic in Germany Walden scored a 3-1 win.
Another outright bet Mark Selby also made it through in the second quarter with a 5-0 win over Mark King. He could yet face Walden in the semis though has a tough match with Marco Fu first. I've actually taken some of the 15/8 available about the Hong Kong man who beat Andy Hicks today 5-2 and usually raises his game against the better players too.
In the other half of the draw, my first casualty on the outright market was Joe Perry, he lost 5-3 to Ronnie O Sullivan but was maybe a little unlucky in that there was a controversial decision in frame three after the Rocket had failed to escape from a very difficult snooker but didnt leave any chance of potting the yellow either.
Most referees would surely have had the balls replaced there after giving a miss and just wondering if Brendan Moore's decision was influenced by the fact he had warned Ronnie for swearing a few minutes earlier and didnt want to be seen to be penalising him unduly.
Anyway Ronnie ended up winning the frame and going 3-0 up when 2-1 would have made it so different, in the end Perry did have chances later on though which he failed to capitalise on.
The Rocket now takes on rejuvenated Mark Williams who saw off Jamie Cope despite the latter knocking in a 147 in the early stages of their match.
Stephen Maguire made it three outright bets into the quarters with a 5-3 win over Stuart Bingham and I've had a bit on at 8/11 for his match with Ryan Day. You could argue Day has been the more impressive of the two in this event so far but the last time they met I was on Mag at 8/13 when he won 6-5 in the China Open semis last year so strictly on the prices then and now it looks worth a bet.
P.S. Late news just in, captured a new signing for the forthcoming snooker season, a bit of a young Alex Higgins type who went off the rails a couple of years ago but is now back on the straight and narrow with lots of potential ... oh dear, hope I'm doing the right thing here lol.
All the best,
Rick

The bananas are on me

2008-10-01T23:42:00.010+01:00

Well Big Dave came up with the goods with a gritty 5-3 win over local hero Ding in today's televised Shanghai Masters encounter early this morning; in the process landing the rather juicy odds of 11/4.
Although Bananaman perhaps didnt need to down too many yellow uns today to see off a fairly tepid Ding performance, he certainly had the right kind of gameplan and the frustration in the home players game was soon evident as he failed to find any kind of rhythm during the match.
With Ding out of the way, it does open a chink of light for my big priced outright pick Ricky Walden in the top section, if he could sneak past Neil Robertson he would have a great chance of making at least the semi.
Walden is on a great run of results at present, and in fact the main worry is that he is due a loss, he has won a couple of qualifiers at Prestatyn, two rounds here and lifted the Belgian Open for good measure in between where he knocked out Robbo en route.
That win shows he shouldnt have too much to fear from the Aussie and I make it a pretty even contest so took the 6/5 Walden in that one; Robbo beat an out of sorts Fergal O Brien in the first round but not sure that is the strongest of form lines.
Andy Hicks served up a big shock by beating Shaun Murphy 5-1 today so will give him a chance to confirm that showing at 7/4 against Hong Kong cueist Marco Fu, who usually tends to get bogged down in matches where he starts a strong favourite, seeming to prefer the underdogs tag.
My other bet from today didnt fare so well with Mark Williams easing out Ali Carter 5-2 but from a price perspective the right one won I suppose!!
We had our first snooker match today with a friendly against the No 1 team at the club (I have joined last year's rock bottom placed No 2 team as captain if you recall). As expected we struggled somewhat and lost 3-1, I managed to scrape a win but it could be a long hard season on that showing and that was with our supposedly weakest player not turning up!!
Still looking around and making a few phone calls to try and strengthen before the season starts proper next week but there seems a general malaise about all the decent players in the area, does make you worry where snooker will be in a few years time, particularly in the more rural areas.
Anyhow, better get some shut eye
See you soon
Rick

Honourable draw for Rams

2008-09-30T23:02:00.004+01:00

Just back from the big match at Pride Park this evening with Derby forcing an honourable draw against promotions favourites Birmingham City thanks to a late Stephen Davies goal. Brum went ahead in the first half rather against the run of play but it was a good battling effort from the Rams and they re-inforced my belief that they will be difficult to beat while once again lacking a little creatively. Hopefully Giles Barnes will be a big help in this sphere when he eventually regains fitness after a knee operation in the summer, also winger Kris Commons is having to sit it out with a hamstring strain at present.
The snooker bets went fairly well today, with three out of five coming up trumps, Joe Perry made short work of Matthew Stevens while the Nugget Steve Davis ousted reigning champion Dominic Dale and Ricky Walden edged out Stephen Hendry, who remains winless in three matches this year.
There was a narrow loss for Jimmy White against Mark King on the final frame after leading 2-0 and 4-3 whilst Fergal O Brien succumbed a little more easily 5-2 to Aussie Neil Robertson.
The majority of matches look priced up fairly accurately tomorrow so will only be playing on a couple of them. I was tempted by Ryan Day at 5/6 and Marco Fu at 4/6 for their respective matches but they havent really gotten into the thick of things yet this season and might still be on the rusty side so decided to leave those, having adjusted my own odds accordingly after a re-think.
One player getting plenty of table time is Dave Harold and I couldn't resist a small flutter at 11/4 on old Bananaman himself against the rather unpredictable Ding, certainly if the Stoke potter could make it a tactical battle the Chinese cueist could be found wanting, though if he was at his best the home town player could just as easily make short work of it.
I've also had some of the 5/6 about Ali Carter to beat Mark Williams, his form has been quite decent since the World Championships and he was unlucky not to beat Ronnie O Sullivan in the recent Northern Ireland semi final where the final red down the cushion rattled agonisingly in the jaws.
Williams has fought back a little in the last year after a slump in form but was edged out of the Grand Prix qualifiers by Simon Bedford last week so might not be in the most confident of moods here.
Graeme Dott has apparently pulled out of the tournament with a broken wrist (through playing football) according to the latest rumours so Jamie Cope gets a free passage therefore into the next round should that be confirmed.
Elsewhere the NHL ice hockey season gets underway at the weekend, they are taking the opening matches to Prague and Stockholm this year after a successful visit to London last time around when I saw Anaheim play Los Angeles at the 02 Arena.
Have had a couple of each way outright pokes at 20/1, two improving teams from the latter end of the year in Dallas and Philadelphia, the first named who came on leaps and bounds after changing their coach and the latter team also are boosted by the return of one of their star players after long term injury.
They both reached their respective Conference finals last year before being defeated and in recent years that has been a good pointer to a subsequent lifting of the Stanley Cup itself soon afterwards.
Finally my car CD player was returned from the workshop today, remember it had previously not been ejecting properly, well it does that now just fine, the only trouble is it misses out the rather more important bit of actually playing the contents first, grrrr, looks like it will be winging its way back to them in the post tomorrow!!
Punting highlight of the week: Probably Durham landing the ante post County Championship Division 1 bet at 9/2 with a fine win at Kent at the last gasp.
Punting lowlight of the week: 9 out of 10 deciders going against me in the Grand Prix snooker qualifiers a few days ago.
All the best
Rick

Whirlwind does the business in Shanghai

2008-09-29T18:16:00.003+01:00

Well the wildcards didnt last long in the Shanghai Masters, blink and you would have missed them, Ah Bulajiang was closest to causing an upset as he took Judd Trump into a final frame shootout before going down 5-4.
Jimmy White and Andy Hicks both did the business for me to justify their position as 4/6 jollies, the White-Guodong match was featured on Eurosport and the youngster looked very nervous in front of the TV cameras for possibly the first time, which coupled with a steady performance from the Whirlwind, ensured a comfortable passage for the old stager.
He now meets Mark King tomorrow and no reason why if he shows that kind of consistency he couldnt spring a surprise so took the early offer of 6/4 there, admittedly his long game was still a bit suspect but he looked much more confident in amongst the balls than he has been in the last year or two, probably thanks to some decent results down at Prestatyn.
In fact tomorrow I will mostly playing the underdogs, also hovering around the 6/4 mark too are Steve Davis and Fergal O Brien and I've snapped up those prices too.
Davis plays last years winner Dominic Dale but neither player for me justifies any great faith on current form, Dale didnt appear in so many summer pro-am tournaments this time around so is unlikely to have the same kind of advantage as last year when he largely caught everyone cold.
Fergal O Brien hasn't set the world alight either so far this year, with a tepid performance against Michael Holt on TV in Northern Ireland and a defeat to Andrew Higginson in the Grand Prix last week but Robbo has been a traditionally slow starter to the season himself of late. He lost early doors to Ian McCulloch in Belfast and also got turned over by Michael Judge and Ricky Walden well before the business end of minor events in Leeds and Antwerp.
Following on from my large odds bet on Walden in the outrights, I've had to take him at 6/5 to upset Stephen Hendry in the match odds too, Hendry has had very little table time so far this year and will surely be very rusty, winning only one frame in each of his matches with Stephen Lee in Belfast and Mark Selby in last week's Premier League. Walden meanwhile has been appearing in practically everything that's going and as I said elsewhere has already lifted minor trophies in Thailand and Belgium.
The one favourite I'll play is Joe Perry, taken the early 8/11 to beat Matthew Stevens; Perry has been very good at punishing mistakes in the last year or two and Stevens still seems a good way off the form that took him to the higher echelons of the game a few years ago, he was beaten 5-2 by Dave Gilbert on his last outing in Prestatyn.
Going back to the Irish Greyhound Laurels event I mentioned at the weekend, I've decided to add an each way bet on 100/1 shot Good Boy Errol, he stayed on strongly into second place behind one of my other selections Cabra Cool in one of heats on Saturday night. With the track favouring front runners, he seems an unlikely winner but with a quarter the odds the first four in the final if he could sneak through it looks a good value bet. Certainly he put up a good show a couple of days ago, being buffeted out of his stride early on but still closing on the winner into the straight so who's to say what would have happened with a clear run.
Have also topped up a bit on favourite Slip The Lark, he has a bit of nightmare draw with the nearest two in the betting also in the same heat next week but this means his odds have in places remained largely unchanged so its now or never as regards backing him for a decent profit or to remain a marginal winner on the book.
He was impressive enough for me on Saturday, slightly missing the break but showing searing pace to take it up by the second bend, if he gets it right at the traps this track should suit him, the one worry being that he got a few bumps from Tyrur Laurel in the first round and they are both drawn in the same traps this time around.
With early paced Kryptonite on the inside too theres not much room for error in this one.
All the best,
Rick

Mac back on track at Nottingham

2008-09-28T11:46:00.005+01:00

A pretty good night on the greyhounds last night, Boherbradda Mac justified my faith in him after an unlucky run on Monday night at Nottingham, he revisited the track in fine style with a four and a half length success in the sprint final, returning at odds of evens, slightly less than the 6/4 forecast in the papers but unless you're on the track theres not alot you can do about it, thats one reason why the horses are more of a viable medium than the dogs long term.
Looking at how the three bookies on track were pricing up last Monday, I did expect the SP to be a little shorter as they all seemed to slightly undercut the forecast price of the favourite on every race before pushing out the outsiders nearer the off.
Over in Ireland at Cork the next round of the Laurels heats were taking place and I managed to get three out of my four picks through to the quarter finals.
In fact I was wishing I had played on the individual races on the night too as Chicken Supper (10/1), Cabra Cool (3/1) and Slip The Lark (4/6) all recorded highly impressive victories. The one low point was when Allmightyjack, drawn in the same heat as the first mentioned, started slowly and then got knocked out of the race in scrimmaging.
I found the price of the first mentioned winner particularly surprising, he was also available at 100/1 again too in the outright before this weekend (I got bits of it elsewhere and more on at 66s before it reappeared) but he has looked just as impressive as most of the other winners in the two races he's run so far.
There were a couple of others to catch my eye from off the pace last night and might consider adding one or both of them to my portfolio, although it definitely seems a front runners track in the main with most of the winners leading from start to finish all the way through the competition so far. Also its perhaps best not to read too much into the times last night as the track seemed to be getting progressively slower as the night wore on.
On to the snooker and the Shanghai Masters gets underway at 7am UK time tomorrow morning. This is one tournament where Rocket Ronnie doesnt tend to excel, usually throwing caution to the wind in his approach perhaps because in his subconcious he doesnt really want to spend too much time so far from home for what is not the best prize money ever seen on the tour.
Therefore in his section, I have to give Joe Perry a chance at 40/1, he has looked an improved player in the last year, winning Barry Hearn's Championship League competition and reaching the World semi finals along the way so its maybe not impossible now that he could pick up the odd ranking event. For good measure he also beat Ronnie in the recent Premier League meeting of course and starts off with a winnable looking match with out of form Matthew Stevens.
The other possibility here was Jamie Cope but his form seems to be very sketchy in the last year and a half, and he hasnt really blossomed into the finished article as yet, despite oodles of initial promise.
In the top section, Ding looks the most recognisable contender at first glance in his own backyard but his form of late hasnt looked particularly inspiring, losing to Mark Davis in Northern Ireland and struggling somewhat in a 3-3 Premier League draw with John Higgins.
He did win the Jiangsu Classic in the summer in the town of his birthplace but at the odds had to look elsewhere, he also has what could yet be a tough match against in-form Bananaman Dave Harold in round one.
Therefore will give Ricky Walden an e/w dabble now available at 125/1, he has already won minor events in Thailand and Belgium since mid summer and now just needs to transfer that type of form to the ranking event arena. Admittedly he has to play the local wildcard Zhang Anda in a preliminary round first but could then face the pretty rusty Stephen Hendry who hasnt really got started yet this season so could be off and running to a flyer in what looks a weakish quarter.
As I've alluded to in the past there does seem a breakaway group of serious contenders for most of the events however and I'll have to include a couple of those to make up my four against the field - namely Mark Selby at 8/1 and Stephen Maguire at 9/1. Selby looks likely to face promising youngster Judd Trump in round one but his safety game ought to see him through that one after which he could get the chance for a revenge mission with Mark King, who deposited him from the World Championships last backend, so will have plenty of incentive.
Maguire meanwhile has an awkward looking starter against his big friend Barry Hawkins but if he could get throught that one (and I anticipate a hard fought match) his draw would open up a bit from thereon.
In tomorrow mornings wildcard matches, I wouldnt get particularly carried away, the younger brigade usually manage to avoid upsets in this sphere I've noticed but they all seem priced accordingly so I've chanced my arm on a couple of 4/6 shots who nevertheless send a few shivers down the spine in doing so lol.
In what seems likely to be the early televised match, Jimmy White takes on Xiao Guodong and will be out to avenge a 5-0 thrashing in the qualifiers at Prestatyn last year at the hands of the young lad who has since won the Paul Hunter English Open in the summer despite being relegated off the tour at the end of the season.
The only real name of note he beat there was Joe Perry however and White's own form has seemed more consistent so far this term so will give him the benefit this time around despite the disadvantage of the travelling.
Will also take Andy Hicks over Li Yuan, the latter ran Marco Fu close last year in the wildcard rounds, losing only 5-4 in a scrappy encounter but it was more a case of Fu struggling rather than anything startling from the Chinese cueist so will keep faith with Hicks who beat Michael Judge, Dave Gilbert and Kuldesh Johal to get this far.
Spare a thought for Mark Allen too as you hit the sack tomorrow night, as he will take on the winner of the Liang Wenbo-Atthasit Mahitti clash at 3.30am our time on Tuesday morning which can hardly be to his advantage, he would normally be excluded until the last 32 stage, but gets pushed back a round due to the fact Dominic Dale won here last year.
See you soon,
Rick

Cats disappoint but Durham take title

2008-09-27T18:08:00.006+01:00

The aussie rules season bowed out today with my pre season bets Geelong Cats failing to hold on to their mantle as flag winners as they suffered a miserable defeat to a hard working Hawthorn side this morning. They certainly had enough chances to convert the match into a win but several individuals picked the worse possible time to suddenly become wasteful in front of the posts and in the end they were beaten by 26 points despite outscoring their opponents 34-25.
Certainly the Cats have been the best team over the season as this was only their second defeat but it always counts for little in a Grand Final and so it proved again, this will probably be au revoir to my betting on the AFL for a good while as it hasnt been particularly successful, especially in view of the ante post bet going down too.
Another ante post bet Wigan also narrowly went under to Leeds in the Super League semi final last night, they put up a brave show under intense pressure for much of the game but didnt really threaten enough at the opposite end of the pitch.
There was better news in the third of the long term wagers though as Durham lifted the County Championship Division 1 at odds of 9/2, going into the final set of matches I was rooting for either themselves or Somerset to do the business while Notts slipped up.
Hampshire really have improved in the second half of the year and they comfortably saw off Notts and with Somerset slumping in front of their home crowd against Lancashire, it was left to the North Easterners to complete an easy innings victory over a demoralised Kent side to take the spoils.
As you may have read the other week I'm on Rainbow View for the 1000 Guineas at 8/1 and she has now shortened to 7/4 after another impressive win in a Group race at Ascot today, this time against a slightly better class of opposition, and I'm still actually kicking myself I didnt get the 20/1+ that was available after her debut run after which I promptly forgot about it, thats the trouble with concentrating on so many sports at once, a problem I intend to rectify with a pruning this year.
Having said that, having now lost some of the summer sports, I am planning to have a punt or two on the NHL ice hockey which starts very shortly as long as I can fit it in along with the horse racing and snooker betting.
There was another good win for my team Derby County today with a 2-0 success at QPR and although I didnt play this time in view of the Londoners strong home record previously, I do think we will be a money spinner on our travels this year if you lay the home opposition as we are more designed to spoil than create at present, as I've mentioned before the lad Miles Addison is a real strong presence in the centre of the park.
The Irish Laurels greyhound heats continue tonight so I'll watch those hopefully tomorrow morning courtesy of greyhound data website and report back any successes or otherwise, will also give my old friend Boherbradda Mac another chance tonight in the sprint final at Nottingham, he cost me a few bob on Monday with a sluggish start but if he can get a clear run he must be in the shake up and seems more reasonably priced in the forecast at 6/4.
Will also give the Shanghai Masters snooker a bit of an airing tomorrow as that starts early on Monday morning, albeit with the local wildcards taking centre stage.
All the best for now,
Rick

Blowing away the cobwebs on the baize

2008-09-26T14:35:00.005+01:00

Just a couple of quick notes about this week's Grand Prix qualifiers, I promised to let you know the progress of the Whirlwind Jimmy White, and unfortunately for him and his fans he let a 3-0 lead slip against Michael Holt before going down 5-3, so the decision to leave him out of my fancies for the qualification market was justifed in the end, even though was very tempted at 20/1.
A more worried man at the moment however must be Ken Doherty whose alarming slump in form saw him lose 5-0 to veteran John Parrott who is perhaps better known nowadays as a BBC pundit than for making much progress on the green baize lately. This follows a 5-1 defeat to the Whirlwind in the Shanghai qualifiers and a 4-1 loss to amateur Gary Britton in John Higgins' World Series event. It must look a long way back for Ken now to get back into that elite top 16.
I went up to the club today to blow the cobwebs away for my own start to the snooker season in the humble surroundings of the Darley Dale and District League.
I always have the summer off which means a very rusty start at the beginning of the next season but I think it helps keep it fresh when it re-starts rather than grinding on through the hot summer days (or otherwise lol).
I hope its nowt to do with me but most of our team from last year have fallen by the wayside, the captain in his seventies has retired through loss of form, and two of the better players have dropped out due to work commitments which means myself and another lad we roped in from another club last year were all that were left.
As it happens one of the other teams who finished bottom were short of players so we joined up with those and I was made captain, but it looks a thankless task to galvanise the troops to much greater heights than avoiding finishing on the basement again even at this stage!!
Our presentation evening for the last season takes place tomorrow which I'll be attending, our disbanded team won the "B" Division honours and I somehow snaffled most wins in the division with 16 out of 18 but with the time consuming horse racing betting taking centre stage this year, dont see myself getting anywhere near that percentage this time around, as I'm pretty sure I will be practicising far less frequently.
I managed to muster a 19 break this morning in around three quarters of an hour so its fair to say I have left a bit to work on lol, oh for the days when I could take on the likes of Nigel Bond and give him a decent game, though he seems to be another one struggling this year so far.
Super League outright picks Wigan go to Leeds tonight in the semi final of the play offs with St Helens awaiting the winners and once again I think this is where they are likely to be found wanting, though also thought that when they won in France last week against the Catalans I admit.
Just a quick glance at the cricket and Notts look as though they will be needing a decent score tomorrow to win their match with Hampshire at present which suits me just fine as my hopes Somerset and Durham also battle for the title down to the wire.
The Cider men seem to be struggling somewhat though and looks like Durham are in pole position to take advantage of slip ups with a sizeable first innings lead in their match with fading Kent.
Finally good luck to another of my outright picks the Geelong Cats who take on Hawthorn Hawks tomorrow morning in the AFL grand final, if they can stop Buddy Franklin the dangerman in the opponents line up, they must have every chance of emerging victorious, having only been beaten once in the regular season.

Deciding frame woe for 9 out of 10 fancies!

2008-09-25T23:59:00.002+01:00

I'm cheating a bit by including this entry as Thursday as its now past the witching hour, such was the longevity of tonights Premier League snooker event at Derby which I'm just back from witnessing, maybe that shot clock ought to be changed to 15 seconds instead of 25!
The Davis-Perry game was the main culprit, finishing a fair bit later than would normally be expected in this format, though the result went my way with Joe emerging a 4-2 winner after the Nugget had taken the first frame quite impressively.
Thereafter however his game went gradually downhill, perhaps tiredness creeping in after playing in Prestatyn at 10am in a Grand Prix qualifier with Tom Ford. Perry was steady rather than spectacular but it was more than enough on the day.
The other match didnt exactly speed along either, Mark Selby showed flashes of why he is now one of the elite players of the game but did miss a few, however Hendry has had little match practice this season and looked very rusty indeed, so was unable to make any real impression on the game. In fact Selby's 5-1 win was rubber stamped by a fine last frame steal where he needed two snookers on the colours.
The aforementioned Grand Prix qualifiers were a bit of a nightmare, although it swung to and fro all week long, I ended up a fair bit on the wrong side, thanks mainly to an incredible sequence of deciding frame losses for my men.
In fact out of 10 matches I had gotten involved with that went down to a deciding frame, nine of them went the wrong way which does tell you its not going to be your week, but you have to take it on the chin and hopefully luck will even itself out over the year.
Can't see I did too much wrong in theory and probably just a quirk of nature but suppose with the limits on takeouts at Sporting Bet during the week I maybe had a disproportionate amount on some favourites and wasnt allowed enough on the outsiders that won, which would have made a substantial difference to the week.
This is always the problem where stakes are limited, in some ways I suppose you should adjust all stakes accordingly rather than let some of them stand at your normal levels and be forced to have minimal amounts on others.
In the Skybet "to qualify" market I was also blighted by 5-4 defeats with four of my five picks losing by that scoreline though admittedly some at a rather earlier stage than I had anticipated!! The improving Ricky Walden at 6/4 reversed the trend but overall still finished a few quid behind on that market too.
Elsewhere the outright cricket bets are still in the balance, Hampshire are putting up a good show against Notts and lead by ninety odd with just one second innings wicket down. Somerset who would be my best winner (at 10/1) are stuttering too however and are only twenty odd in front with two second innings wickets down at home to Lancashire. My second hope Durham (9/2) are in the best position of the three at the moment, sixty odd ahead of Kent with four first innings wickets still in hand. But everything to play for yet going into day three.
I'm currently looking at the NHL ice hockey markets and might be playing on those over the winter along with the snooker and horse racing, though the latter does take up alot of your time so not sure how viable it is to run too many sports alongside it.
As I said at the weekend, the gaelic football has been a big success over the summer and that will also be starting again early in the new year with the GAA League programme which builds up to the All Ireland Championship.
Also the aussie rules and cricket finish this weekend - I'm not sure theres too much money to be made from the cricket unless you follow it religiously or go in-play, I'm only a casual fan really and the way its generally priced up pre-match shows its a very open sport with even the hottest favourites rarely much shorter than around 8/13, though that means its hard to get massive prices about the underdogs either of course.
I think the way forward with alot of these sports is a very selective approach when there looks to be something outstanding, but its certainly well advised to narrow your portfolio down to two or three you can really specialise in.
Not too much stirs my blood more than a great horse race I have to admit and I dont have quite the same passion about winning a bet in most other sports as I do on the nags (though the last antepost greyhound win was pretty enjoyable!) so as I say that will be to the forefront this winter on the allweather especially and will build around it from there.
Anyway, off to bed now, hopefully dreaming about one of my fancies actually winning a final frame decider for a change, lol!!
All the best,
Rick

Gentleman fancied to see off the Nugget

2008-09-24T11:36:00.008+01:00

Off to see my first live snooker of the current season so far tomorrow night in Derby as the latest round of Premier League snooker matches come to town.
Although John Higgins was originally on the bill as Joe Perry's opponent, there seems to have been a switch around for whatever reason and Perry now faces veteran legend Steve Davis, now 50 years of age.
Gentleman Joe's form has been much improved over the last 12 months or so, hard to pinpoint why at such an advanced stage of his career but perhaps seems to have got some new found confidence after a string of decent results, and playing regularly in the Championship League, a competition designed as a feeder for this, no doubt helped him enormously.
The Nugget meanwhile has maybe struggled a bit to keep his motivation levels since dropping out of the top 16 and perhaps now plays more for the enjoyment factor.
Its also interesting that Davis has to play a Grand Prix qualifying match with Tom Ford at Prestatyn in the morning of this event before travelling to Derby so he may not be in the greatest frame of mind by the time the second match gets underway.
Anyhow with Perry available at 20/21 couldnt argue with a bet at that price.
That said however, he still needs to win four out of six frames so as is often my preferred option, I took the 1/2 in the draw no bet which is often a good safety net in this competition formula (though I see that has now been cut to 4/9).
The other match sees Mark Selby take on Stephen Hendry; Hendry has seen little action so far this season, with this being his first Premier League outing and also losing 5-1 to Stephen Lee early on in Northern Ireland so might be a little on the rusty side.
Selby for his part took to the shot clock like a duck to water with his new style quicker cue action so perhaps he should have the edge but the odds do seem to reflect this and will probably abstain from having a punt there.
In the Grand Prix last night I pulled back to be about level with a 3/1 winner through Aditya Mehta and Vinnie Muldoon obliging at 15/8 though with the takeout restricted to £120 on those markets at Sporting Bet, didnt get as much on as I would normally have done.
Today gone with Gerard Greene 8/15 (currently 2-3 down to Jin Long as I speak!), Muldoon again 7/4, Matthew Selt 13/8, Jamie Burnett 5/6 and Mark Davis evens.
Also have Greene, M Davis and Ricky Walden in my "to qualify for last 32" picks though lost Barry Pinches and Liu Song yesterday from this market, both of those players seemingly struggling this time around so far.
As I said before almost added Jimmy White to this roster at 20/1 and half wish I had done now as he is currently 3-3 with Michael Holt so every chance with one more match to play if he is successful here.
Will let you know the outcome of this and more tomorrow
All the best
Rick

Betdaq narrowing gap on Betfair

2008-09-23T18:10:00.009+01:00

I think I've been pretty restrained on here talking about all things Betfair but with the charging formula kicking in this week, its nice to read that there at last seems to be a gradual move towards a levelling of the playing field between the once dominant exchange and its nearest competitors like Betdaq.
That's what alot of the quoted stats on their forum seem to point to anyway (at least on the pre event markets) and hopefully there will be good viable competition for the punters pound over the next few years to stop company fatcats taking advantage of what they see as a monopoly position.
Not that I'm planning to read the forum too much from now on as I think I will go into a self imposed ban of all things Betfair.
Got a relative to post up an account and logged back on to the forum under another name but soon got censored again despite being very careful not to criticise too heavily or mention any competitors this time. It seems they are just banning anyone at random who is likely to give off the slightest amount of dissent at their heavy handed implementation of this charge.
Obviously its their forum but in the second instance I feel I did not break any of their rules in question so just shows the pomposity of these people, denying free speech about a situation they brought on entirely themselves.
The latest arcade gimmick is another case of wasted money for me though no doubt the company will see the benefits of plenty of mug's cash through this avenue, they seem now to be a mug punter's dream, its impossible even to work out the price of a fancy at the time of the bet without having to factor in a 20% takeout later on, making it much the easier option to go elsewhere.
I for one haven't got time to be working out complicated formulas which get in the way of the real business of picking winners at value prices.
Unless you're an in running player, can see little option but to leave them to stew in their own mess and join the ranks of the purple ones at Betdaq or else WBX who still might have something to offer on selected markets.
On the betting front as expected the snooker bets all looked a bit iffy this morning and I fell a bit behind but as I speak the situation is looking up a bit so might end up somewhere near level after the second day of the Grand Prix qualifiers.
Will preview the Premier League tomorrow as I will be making the trip to Derby to see the Nugget Steve Davis play Joe Perry and Mark Selby take on Stephen Hendry.
The County Championship cricket final round starts tomorrow and with teams' motivation perhaps largely differing according to whats at stake will probably leave the match betting but will be hoping Nottinghamshire slip up and allow either Somerset or Durham, my outright Div 1 picks currently lying second and third, to overhaul them when it matters.
Certainly it looks like one of my two will have to win while Notts are held to at least a draw in their home game with improving Hampshire, that match is televised I think on Sky Sports.
Anyway its that time again to say:
Punting highlight of the week: Probably Tyrone winning a stirring battle with Kerry in the All Ireland gaelic football final at the odds of 15/8 at the weekend.
Punting lowlight of the week: Blowing some of my winnings at the dogs at Nottingham on Monday night after a spur of the moment decision to attend without having done the requisite homework!!
Thought for the week: The futures bright, the futures purple!! (hope so anyway, lol)
All the best,
Rick