Bookies Blog

Newcastle United is one of the most unstable clubs in league football. No one, players and directors included, knows who is going to own, manage and play for the club next season. This speculation has led to the formation of a next manager market with a variety of potential managers being suggested as potential replacements for Alan Shearer.

Shearer is 2/7 favourite to keep his job, however, in the whacky world of Newcastle football club this cannot be viewed as banker, we have all learnt from experience that decisions most people view as absurd seem to make perfect logic to Newcastle directors and vica versa.

The latest boss to be connected with the club is Gianluca Vialli. Sky bet recently received a number of bets on the Italian. Today, Sky Bet spokesman, Helen Jacob said “This morning, out of the blue, we had a dozen requests for Vialli for Newcastle manager. We didn’t even have him in the betting so quoted 12/1, which was snapped up and he is now down to 4/1 second favourite behind Alan Shearer.”

It does seem absurd, Vialli hasn’t managed a team since 2002, when he lasted just one season managing Watford. It would seem like a bizarre appointment, especially as the club ownership is so uncertain, but you never do know what those Geordies are going to do next.

Other potential mangers include Darren Fergusen at 10/1, Mc Claren at 14/1 whilst King Kev can be backed to return at 40/1. The farcical northern club are 9/2 to win the Championship next season and they are as small as 11/8 to be promoted, however, if your looking for value, odds of 25/1 on the magpies going down seems a far safer bet.

The Ashes are upon us once more and there has been huge speculation over the outcome over the past few weeks. Australia have been pushed out to 2/1 to win the first test largely due to a Bret Lee injury after tearing a rib muscle in a warm up game. England, however, have very similar odds with the bookmakers but are available at 11/4 with Betfair.

There has been great speculation over the state of the pitch and how it will play. There is a very modern drainage system in place and so recent rain shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to the match. The bookies seem to take the view that the pitch might be one for the bat, the draw is the favoured result at 6/4 so we may well see the bowlers struggling to take wickets.

The series betting has also been turbulent, having been backed at a low of 1.57, the Australians are now trading at evens on Betfair to win the series whilst England, who have been backed at 9/2 are now top priced 9/5 with the bookmakers. Much of this is due to patriotic punting but England will hope to make the series one dominated by spin bowling. If they can do this then they will be in a real position to attack the Aussies who have depleted bowling line up, especially considering Lee’s recent omission from the squad.

Kevin Pietersen is 11/2 favourite to score the most runs during the series, whilst at 6/1 the more consistent Ricky Ponting might offer better value in that market. The Australian’s are placing many of their eggs in a Mitchell Johnson shaped basket in terms of bowling and at 3/1 to be top series bowler he poses the greatest threat to the England batting line up.

Mark Webber has declared that the Formula 1 world title is now Jenson Button’s to lose. The bookies seem to agree with this, he is top priced 1/3 with Bet Fred and it seems that if he can finish within the points throughout the rest of the season he should be able to retain his title lead.

However, in the build up to this weekend’s German Grand Prix Button is not such a heavy favourite. At 9/5 Button is second behind Vettel who is race favourite at 6/4, who have finally managed to out perform the Brawns at Silverstone three weeks ago. Mark Webber, Vettel’s team mate is available at 7/1 to win at the Nurburgring, whilst Brawn’s second driver, Rubens Barichello is as long as 12/1 to win his first race this season. The Red Bulls and the Brawns should fight an epic clash on Sunday, with Red Bull favoured to win the race at 10/11 and Brawn close behind at 11/10, there is almost nothing between the two teams.

The odds for pole position are almost identical to the ones for the race winner. Both the Brawn and Red Bull teams will be working incredibly hard to make sure modifications to the cars are effective and will especially be concentrating on protecting the cars brakes as the Nurburgring is known for its ability to wear down brakes and if mixed with wet weather, the track can often take casualties. The safety car is 5/6 to be used whilst Nakajima is 8/1 to be the first driver to retire. However, the Nurburgring is no Monaco so unless the elements really get going I wouldn’t expect the safety team to be working too hard this weekend.

Sunday’s race will really be a contest between Red Bull and Brawn, however, Ferrari are continually improving and have a very good record on the Nurburgring, having won there a record 19 time and with Kimi Raikkonen stating on pole last time the German Gran Prix was hosted there. Ferrari, however are outsiders for the race at 16/1 whilst Felipe Massa who was runner up in 2007 is 28/1 for victory.

Big Brother has been going for over a month now, we’ve already lost five and now we’re just left with the final ten house mates. Freddie, who is up for eviction, is currently bookies favourite at 7/4 to win the competition, the chilled out chap from Market Drayton is winning over the sympathy of voters as the rest of the house continue to bully him.

On Friday he goes up for eviction against Sree and the bookies really don’t reckon Sree has much of a chance of winning over the viewers this week. Sree is 1/150 with Paddy Power to be evicted, but can be backed at 1/50 with Betfair, so unless the public have a drastic change of heart it seems inevitable that Sree will be our 6th contestant to leave the house. The Business student from Hatfield often comes across as arrogant at the expense of Halfwit (Freddie) and therefore it is no surprise that bookies reckon Sree’s up for the chop this Friday. However, if you think Freddie is going to be ousted you can back him to go at top priced 16/1 with Corals or get odds nearer 40/1 with the betting exchanges.

There’s still a long way to go in this Big Brother, Freddie could still fall from favour and Paddy Power offer just 6/1 on a new housemate taking the cash prize. Other potential winners include Rodrigo and Siavash, both of whom are 5/1 with most bookmakers. The beautiful Dogface meanwhile remains 25/1 outsider despite support from the majority of male viewers watching the Endemol show. Unfortunately for both Dogface and Endemol, however, not even the 20 year old model’s great assets can draw in the male viewers this year.

After a dramatic fourth round that saw Andy Murray cling on to his championship hopes by the very narrowest of margins in a five set epic against Stanislas Wawrinka, there are now just eight men left in contention for the Wimbledon crown.

Layers were obviously unimpressed by Murray’s poor performance against the Swiss number 2 and have pushed him out from 15/8 to 11/4 for the tournament, with 3/1 available on Betfair. The bookmakers will be hit hard if Murray does turn on his form and win in the final, however, he has plenty to do before he can even begin to think about winning silverware.

Murray’s first challenge comes today against Ferrero, who he convincingly beat 6-2 6-4 in in last months Queen’s Club Championship. At 1-10 favourite bookmakers have priced the Scot as a banker to win on centre court today and on recent form, it seems that Murray will have a far easier time today than he had against Wawrinka on Monday.

Elsewhere in the quarter final draw, Lleyton Hewitt takes on Andy Roddick, which will see two veteran grass players fight it out in what should be an epic match. Hewitt is the 2/1 outsider in the match up and could hold some value, he won Wimbledon in 2002 and has been in impressive form this tournament, beating world no. 5 Del Potro in straight sets during the second round.

On the other side of the draw, Tommy Haas, at 31 years of age, takes on Djokovic, whom he beat in straight sets in the final of a warm up tournament in Halle. Therefore the odds of 21-10 with Skybet on Haas might be good value, who has certainly seen off some tough opposition this Wimbledon in the form of Marin Cilic and Igor Andreev. Meanwhile, Federer’s match up with Ivo Karlovic should be a formality for the Swiss. Karlovic seems to be a one trick pony with his impressive serving, however, Federer has the experience to deal with the serve and should dominate any resulting tie breaks.

Rafael Nadal’s decision to sit out Wimbledon has seen the prices of many players drop significantly, none more so, however, than Andy Murray’s and Roger Federer’s, who will both be hoping to make the most of the absence of last years champion from the tournament.

Federer is currently ¾ favourite to win the tournament, whilst Murray is 11/4 second favourite. The Scot’s price has been dropping ever since his win at Queens two weeks ago and he has been backed in from 6/1 to 7/2 on Betfair.

As usual we’ve tried to hunt down some each way value and as we have two fairly heavy favourites it shouldn’t be too difficult. Djokovic at 16/1 has a fairly easy journey to the semi finals where he would meet Roger Federer. Elsewhere, Marin Cilic, ranked 11th in the world looks pretty big at 150/1 with Sporting Bet. Despite a poor performance in the second round of Queens this year, he might be worth backing with the intention of laying him on Betfair as he progresses through the tournament.

On the opposite side of the draw both Del Potro and Roddick will be fighting it out to meet Andy Murray in the Semi Finals this year. The young Del Potro has had a very good year, reaching the quarter finals of both the U.S and Australian Opens and reaching the Semi Finals at Roland Garos. The greatest challenge to Del Potro will come through Andy Roddick who has an impressive record on grass, having reached two Wimbledon finals and won Queens four times. Both players are 20/1 and potential each way shots for the tournament.

The Women’s singles looks to be a bit more open than the Men’s, Serena and Venus Williams are favourites at 5/2 and 3/1 respectively. Elsewhere Sharapova and Safina are both 12/1 and Kuznetsova at 20/1 could offer some value each way.

As the tournament continues, make sure you keep up to date with the latest odds in all the markets.

Men’s Match Index

Women’s Match Index

Women’s Winner

Men’s Winner

We’re down to the final four teams in the 2009 World Cup Twenty20 and some of the world’s greatest cricketing teams have fallen by the wayside. Most prominently, both India and Australia have failed to achieve anything in the competition, India having exited the competition in the Super Eight and Australia in the first group stage. This has cemented the view that expectations rarely come to fruition in the realm of Twenty20 cricket, much to the joy of the bookmaker.

However, the South Africans are still in the running, as they play Pakistan in the first semi final at Trent Bridge today. South Africa, who are often accused of choking at the semi final stage of tournaments, will be doing everything to beat there demons today and as James Milton jokes in today’s racing post, maybe they’ll even resort to Viagra to help them push on past the semis. They are favourites for the tournament at 13/8 and are heavy favourites to win today at 8/15 whilst Pakistan are 6/4 to win the tie.

The other semi final takes place tomorrow between West Indies and Sri Lanka which should be a far closer run game. Chris Gayle’s team have used their batting might to force their way through the tournament so far but bookies believe that they might find their maker in Sri Lanka and have posted them as 11/8 outsiders to proceed to the final.

However, as we know all too well, any two of these four could end up in the final. Nevertheless, it does seem that South Africa are deserved favourites; they have a well structured team and look as if they understand Twenty20 tactics. They have been composed throughout the tournament and rarely made mistakes with bat, ball or in the field, the same can be said of Sri Lanka who are yet to lose a match.

Sri Lanka, who are 5/2 second favourites have not yet played South Africa and if both teams were to proceed through the semis then it would make for an extremely exciting final. However, Pakistan and The West Indies are both 9/2 to win the tournament outright, which does seem a bit short for two teams who are so obviously inferior to their opponents. It seems that the value is in Sri Lanka, it is unlikely that Pakistan or The West Indies will have the ability to see off both Sri Lanka and South Africa. Meanwhile South Africa are too short at 13/8, so I believe the best available value is with Sri Lanka at 5/2, who have a very realistic chance of winning the competition.

Meanwhile there is still fierce competition in the top bowler and top batsman markets; Gul and Mallinga are battling it out for top bowler at 7/4 and 11/4 respectively. Whilst in the top batsman market Dilashan at 8/15 is odds on favourite, but final flourishes from Jacques Kallis 5/1 or AB de Villiers 7/2 could upset the market.

Click here to see all available betting on the Twenty20 world cup.

The U.S Open hasn’t been hosted at Bethpage for seven years, it is one of the toughest courses in the world, with the widest fairway just measuring an extremely narrow 28 yards. Add in the volatile weather conditions and some incredibly speedy greens, it is not surprising that Woods was the only golfer to score under par back in 2002.

Seven years on the bookies still have Tiger marked up as 2/1 favourite to win the U.S Open. The Bethpage is a tough course, and it is difficult to work out if you should be backing the long or short hitters; will the big hitters push the ball wide of the fairways but then again will short hitters even reach the fairway? In 2002 four of the shortest hitters on the course came in the top seven but the top three consisted of Woods, Mickelson and Garcia all of whom know how to hit the long ball.

Woods obviously has the class to win this but as always, when Tiger is short priced there is always some good each way value to be had. Ben Curtis performs well on tough courses and can drive the ball long and straight whilst his putting strokes show good consistency; at 125/1 each way Hills are offering a better price on both the win and place markets than Betfair. There are plenty of other good value outsiders and William Hill seem to be offering some very attractive prices, Vijay Singh is 70/1 with the next best bookmaker offering just 50/1.

It will be a difficult four days for all golfers involved. However, organisers have promised to bring forward tees if the weather starts playing up and the greens will still be fast, but nowhere near the 15 on the stimpmeter that they were back in 2002.

The final British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone before the move to Donnington Park fittingly has a Brit in contention to win the race. Jenson Button, having won six out of seven races this season is favourite to win the race at 5/6. Unfortunately, the chances of having two Brits on the podium are slim, Lewis Hamilton is currently a 66/1 outsider for the race.

It is not, however, a fore gone conclusion. Vettel and Weber are both extremely competitive drivers and are keeping Red Bull in the race to keep up with the Brawns. The two Red Bull drivers are far closer together with just one and a half points separating the two. Vettel can be backed at 5/1 and Webber at 11/1 to win the race and you can be sure that both drivers will be relishing the chance to make the most of any mistakes by the Brawns.

Despite being 5/6 for the race, Button is 7/4 for pole, now having won twice from further down the grid. Meanwhile, Vettel is 9/4 for pole, having performed well in previous qualifiers. Therefore, if you fancy Button, it might be worth backing him for pole and if you want to back Vettel, 5/1 for the race seems far more generous than 9/4 for pole.

There are also plenty of other markets to look at, including winner without Button, fastest lap and first car to retire. To look at all the formula one markets click here.

It’s the eve of the Royal Ascot Festival and there’s plenty of excitement surrounding the greatest flat racing meet in the world, with over £3.5 million up for grabs in prize money and even more money up for grabs off the bookies.

Tomorrow kicks off with the Queen Anne stakes. It is measuring up to be an extremely competitive race with Gladiatorus, Paco Boy and Main Aim all very short at 9/4, 7/2 and 9/2 respectively whilst Aqlaam 10/1 and Alexandros 9/1 have both been backed in from 12/1 over the weekend. It’s a tough one to pick and bookies will be receiving wagers on all fronts, the only certainty it seems is that it will be a terrifically exciting start to the weeks racing.

Later in the day the St James’ Palace stakes seem to be a more punter friendly race. It has an odds on favourite in Mastercraftsman who has been backed in from 5/4 to 5/6 over the weekend. However, there will be heavy competition from both Delegator 9/2 and Evasive 11/2 who will both be challenging on the faster ground. In the 2000 Guineas in May Mastercraftsman convincingly beat delegator, however, the faster ground along with the bigger price at Ascot tomorrow is sure to attract a bit of money for the second favourite.

On Day 2 the Royal Hunt sees a huge field and all runners are still not confirmed so make sure you bet No Runner No Bet. As with most big fields there is the potential for some great each way betting. The favourite Forgotten Voice who is presently 9/2 is in great form, racing twice this year and winning both races. However, the fields in these races were far smaller than the one Forgotten Voice now faces and the competition will also be a lot fiercer on Wednesday. As far as favourites go Forgotten Voice is far from a banker and it may be wiser to back some of the bigger priced horses each way. Axiom at 16/1 with Tote and SkyBet is great value; betfair is presently trading him at 14/1. There has been money for a few other horses and it’s worth watching the markets to try and get some value before all the prices drop.

Thursday Brings the Royal Ascot Gold Cup and the feature race of the festival in the form of the Royal Ascot Gold Cup. Yeats is looking to make this his fourth win in a row at the Ascot Gold Cup and at 9/4 favourite the bookies seem to fancy his chances. However, there are some people worrying that he may not quite be the horse he once was. He ran poorly at the Vintage Crop Stakes in April and also failed to place in the Qatar Prix du Cadran in October. He faces some stiff competition in Patkai 3/1 who at four years old is half the age of the great Yeats, whilst both Geordieland 3/1 and Veracity 13/2 will be challenging for the Gold Cup as well.

The Coronation Stakes on the penultimate day looks to be a fight between Ghanaati 11/4 and Elusive Wave 3/1. This will be Ghanaati’s fourth ever race, but she has already begun to build an impressive CV with an emphatic victory at the 1000 Guinneas in May, winning by 1 ½ lengths. Meanwhile three year old Elusive Wave is also in impressive form this season and will be looking to challenge Ghanaati hard. However, as long as the ground stays fast it does seem that at 11/4 Ghanaati will be the horse to beat.

The final day brings the Wokingham Stakes and the Golden Jubilee. The Wokingham handicap can appear to be a bit of a lottery and with a 7/1 favourite that’s no surprise. However, in the last ten years three favourites have won and therefore a bet on either High Standing 7/1 or Jimmy Styles 8/1 might be sensible. The Golden Jubilee sees JJ the Jet Plane as 7/2 favourite. However, once again it is a difficult race to call as the race consists of just a six furlong sprint, which, along with the large field, can often result in shock outsiders victoring over classier horses.

We’re in for quite a week at Ascot this year, so make sure you keep up with the market fluctuations on bookies.com. Market fluctuations can be caused by the weather, by draws and by withdrawals so make sure you keep up to date by regularly checking the latest odds here.