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Red and black is back

Today’s selection:
2pts Mark Williams -1.5 to bt Jamie Cope and Ryan Day to beat Matthew Stevens at 3.17 with Paddy Power

Well welcome back. Apologies for the lack of posts but haven’t been on for numerous reasons which include heavy workload, heavy chest infection and being heavily in debt. However, heavy workload has alleviated being heavily in debt so that’s sorted while heavy chest infection has been sorted with the help of some very heavy antibiotics. So all is good in the world. The more I write the word heavy the more it looks wrong…have checked dictionary and no, it’s right.

So it’s been a bit of a frustrating time as i’ve bet very little i.e just had the odd acca here and there for amusement but otherwise i’ve been pretty much flat out with work. Now I have a little break in the workload so have had the opportunity to look at betting markets once more. My main attraction this week is the Welsh Open snooker, I have stakes on the outright in Mark Williams, Mark Allen and Graeme Dott and all survived the first round. They have tougher opponents today, or at least Allen and Dott do, so i’m not overly optimistic that i’ll come through unscathed.

I’ve gone for a double at around the 2/1 mark today which I think offers value. Mark Williams is at the top of his game at the moment and I really can’t see how Jamie Cope will get three frames against him. Therefore will go with the bigger price on the handicap. I’m doubling that up with Ryan Day who has been performing pretty well this week. He beat Ronnie 4-2 last night and admittedly this could be a case of ‘after the lord mayor’s show’ today but I don’t rate Matthew Stevens and think Day will have enough in the reserves to come through.

Now i’ve got some time i’m thinking about focusing my attentions on creating a golf/snooker and maybe football tipping website. I like the ease of blogging but I think i’d have more fun and more hits with a proper self functioning website. I might have a little think about that today. Anyway, good luck if you’re having a bet.

Upsets on the cards

Saturday’s selections
2pts Cheltenham to beat Accrington at 2.25 with Bet365
1pt Blackpool to beat West Brom at 4.75 with Bet365
0.75pts West Ham to beat Arsenal at 7.00 with Victor Chandler
0.375pts e/w Nacarat to win the King George at 15.00 with Bet365
0.75pts Cheltenham, Oxford Millwall, Notts Forest, Ding Junhui to beat Jamie Cope at 18.68 with Bet365

Only a quick post as dashing down south to Bournemouth for a night tonight. Prices selected above aren’t necessarily the best where Bet365 are concerned as using my free bets so hence betting with them.

So to summarise, Cheltenham should win (I know i’m breaking my rule against betting on them) as they have a fully fit squad and striker Wes Thomas who’s back to his best again. Blackpool are worth a stab against the woefully out of form West Brom, Blackpool seem to be up for every match and 4.75 is too good. West Ham, may put on a real show for Avram in his last game (he shouldn’t be sacked as they were picking up recently) and at home have to be given at least a chance against the gunners, 6/1 is quite big I think.

Don’t usually tip up horses but Nacarat is good in the trends apparently so at 14/1 e/w he’s worth a tinkle. There’s also an acca for a little bit of fun too. Full update with results later tomorrow, Tottenham look a decent shout but I don’t oppose Utd very much so may not bet. Good luck if you’re having a bet.

Not so tough to endure

Today’s selections:
1.875pts on over 9 frames between Neil Robertson and Mark Allen at 2.1 with Bet365
0.625pts on exactly 9 frames between Neil Robertson and Mark Allen at 4.0 with Bet365

Well welcome back after an enforced cold turkey over the last week. It’s just as well that I didn’t have any surplus betting funds this week as the Masters snooker would have been a bit of a disaster with surprise result after surprise result. A lot of the snooker in truth has been dire and that’s probably being a little complementary.

Also been busy with work this week so it’s just as well that I couldn’t get involved as that would not have helped concentration knowing that i’d done my dough while trying to earn some dough.

Anyway, to today’s selection and the inspiration for the bet has come from snookerbacker’s blog (link on the right). It’s kind of a when in doubt bet on the total frames. This one really could go either way although the favourite Robertson would be my pick. However, i’m confident it will go close so the total frames bet is logical and the exactly 9 frames bit is a bit of insurance incase the match finishes 6-3 obviously anything less than that ie 6-2 and you’ve lost. The strange staking is simply because Bet365 have given me a free £50 match bet so i’ve £100 to play with and that’s how it splits up – £75 and £25. This should be a winning return to the blog.

Good luck if you’re having a punt.

Tough to endure

Result:
1pt four-fold featuring Southampton, Chesterfield, Northampton and Aldershot at 15.67 with Victor Chandler (loss 1pt)
Well one of the highlights of the snooker season – The Masters – starts today and I, unfortunately, have to keep the powder dry. I wasn’t paid when I was supposed to be so any surplus funds that I currently have have had to be diverted towards bills. Therefore i’m going to have to endure the agony of watching the Masters unfold without a single bet. It’s a bit like an enforced cold turkey. For the record I would have picked Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Williams as my outright selections (O’Sullivan has got a great draw). Watch those two playing out the final next Sunday – seriously i’d put money on it!

So that’s why i’ve not been on here much of last week along with the fact i’m busy with work and will be for most of the forthcoming week. So only a short post now but will be back with gusto towards the end of this week all being well. Good luck if you’re having a punt.

What to do?

Monday selection
1pt four-fold featuring Southampton, Chesterfield, Northampton and Aldershot at 15.67 with Victor Chandler

Very sad and shocked to read yesterday that IBAS’ Chief Executive Chris O’Keeffe has died at the age of 56. I spoke to him on numerous occasions for industry news items and he was a top bloke who would do anything he could to be of help. He will be sorely missed without a doubt.

Also sad to read that Pete Postlethwaite has passed away, I didn’t speak to him on numerous occasions but never saw him put in a dud performance, amazing actor.

Anyway, suppose we’d better have a bet in tribute to them both. Low stakes high returns is the way we’re going with Chesterfield likely to have the biggest test of the four selected but at (2.6) I thought it was worth throwing them into the mix. The others should be more comfortable with Southampton in pretty good nick at the moment.

We’re planning on popping out this afternoon to look at gyms. We do this on an annual basis. Basically it revolves around us looking at three or four gyms, settling on the most expensive and attractive option (ie Esporta in our case) attending religiously for two weeks, then just going to the cafe/restaurant there for a further two weeks. Then there will be a period of about a month when we don’t go at all before finally getting a doctor’s note requesting a cancellation of the membership on health grounds.

Near misses

Saturday’s results
1pt treble featuring Man Utd, Torquay and Chesterfield at 6.09 with Victor Chandler (loss 1pt)
0.75pt five-fold featuring Man Utd, Leeds, Millwall, Swansea and Chesterfield at 21.57 with Victor Chandler (loss 0.75pts)

Well yesterday was a day of near misses for me all round and the theme of last year seems to be continuing into this. My treble went down with just Torquay failing to win after leading 2-1. The five-fold was also one result short after Leeds could only muster a draw with the other four selections winning. To add to my misery I had a fun ht/ft bet for the game I went to watch (Cheltenham v Wycombe) and opted for Cheltenham to win first half and then covered the Cheltenham win second half and the draw. Anyway, Cheltenham were winning until the 44th minute and then Wycombe scored a corker and that’s when you begin to realise the luck is against you. I think if Cheltenham had held on until half-time i’d have been collecting on that bet.

Finally I also had a go at the football pools Premier 10 coupon. I managed to call the results of all seven premier league games correct (WBA v Man Utd wasn’t in the coupon) but fell short with the result of the Norwich v QPR game (I had QPR). You can still win something with 9 correct calls so need Chelsea and a Wigan win or draw against Newcastle to collect but the amount could be pretty insignificant.

So all in all 2011 could have started better. As I said before though pay-day is at the end of the week and then I can really get my teeth into January’s sporting fixtures, not least the Masters Snooker which starts next Sunday.

Happy New Year!

Saturday’s selections
1pt treble featuring Man Utd, Torquay and Chesterfield at 6.09 with Victor Chandler
0.75pts five-fold featuring Man Utd, Leeds, Millwall, Swansea and Chesterfield at 21.57 with Victor Chandler

Well Happy New Year and thank you for continuing to follow the blog. Hopefully this will be a prosperous new year for all of us. I need to sit down and summarise the end of last year and the first few months of the blog (which is slightly in profit for those months but need to update the spreadsheet which is a monotonous job I keep putting off). So instead we’ll post our selections for today which revolve around a treble and five-fold.

Because of the disrupted nature of the winter football programme I think it’s a little risky going in too heavily on singles as some teams have obviously had more football than others. You have to consider whether the break from football is a good or bad thing as we simply can’t be sure how effective training has been for those sides who haven’t had much football. Therefore, with a week to go before pay day, we’ll chance our arm with the above selections with minimal stakes.

Both bets include Man Utd who go to an injury depleted and out of form West Brom. Utd may not be storming on the road but this lunchtime fixture should be comfortable for Utd at a half decent price (1.7). The other two selections in the treble are Chesterfield who should have way too much for struggling Stockport and Torquay (2.3 and one of the bets of the day) to beat a Hereford side who I think are certainties for relegation now.

The five-fold includes a number of home Championship selections with Leeds and Millwall both in great form while maybe a slight risk in selecting Swansea but they do boast a great home record and rested a couple of players the other day. So I think the Swans will nick a win against the tough to beat Reading.

I’m heading off to Cheltenham Town today to watch us beat Wycombe Wanderers and no doubt i’ll have a bet for a little more interest. Good luck if you’re having a punt today.

End of the year

Recent results:
3pts Newcastle to beat Man City at 3.3 with Victor Chandler (loss 3pts)
1pt Newcastle to bt Man City, Reading to bt Bristol City and Wolves to beat Wigan at 12.35 with Betfred (loss 1pt)

Well the last set of results weren’t positive and I’m thinking of adding Newcastle to the set of teams that I should never back. Of the other teams that I should never back, Cheltenham produced a performance against Bradford (4-0) that i’d been predicting but unfortunately I didn’t have a single english pound on that one.

My betting funds are pretty limited now until I get paid in the New Year so i’ve only dabbled here and there with trebles and four-folds without any success. So it’s quite nice to wrap the year up from here (will post results in the next couple of days) and start afresh.

Away from betting i’ve been pretty transfixed by the Joanna Yeates murder and feel I know the Sky News team like they’re family. The landlord has been arrested on suspicion of murder this morning. If the only evidence we have of him committing the murder is his appearance and mannerisms then he’s as guilty as sin. Very odd bloke and bad hair to go with it. It’s always the way with murderers, you never get a Phillip Schofield type character who’s chopped up and eaten a human, by law you have to look a little odd.

I will look at the New Year’s footie in the next day or so and probably put up a little treble for a bit of interest along with results and a review of my betting and look at areas for improvement. Enjoy the rest of 2010!