Bookies Blog

Daniel was finally kicked off the X Factor at evens, but the real story from Saturday night as Diana’s poor performance. She has now been pushed out to 13/8, whilst our JLS bet is looking good at 5/1 - tipped up at 7/1 just 1 week ago.

Our 8/1 tip, Martina Navratilova is now best-priced at 13/2, but the betting headline belong to George Takei. Ant & Dec have tipped him to win the show, and the bookies are taking no chances by cutting him to 11/4. The question is, will all the Star Trek fans actually pick up the phone to vote?

William Hill have cut John Sargeant to win Strictly Come Dancing from 66/1 to 16/1. His increasing popularity means that he now figures in the betting market, but Austin Healy is still the 11/8 favourite.

In the wonderful world of political betting, Labour’s resurgence appears to be continuing. Hills have seen interest from punters who believe the next general election will be between January and Jun 2009, forcing the bookmaker to go 11/4 from a previous 5/1. Alternatively, if you think that Gordon Brown can carry his recent momentum into next year, why not back 2009 as the year of the next general election at 13/8.

In the Premier League Arsenal have been eased all the way out to 33/1 by Betfred, following their home defeat to Aston Villa.  Mark Hughes is now 3/1 joint favourite along with Roy Keane in the next Premier League manager to go market. There is also betting available on the next Watford Manager.

Remember to head straight over to bookies.com before betting on a ‘special‘ market.

X Factor Winner Betting

I’m a Celebrity Winner Betting

Strictly Come Dancing Winner Betting

Monday Night NFL: Bills v Browns

‘I am tempted to side with Cleveland’. This is what happens when you bet with your head instead of your heart! The Browns upset the Giants 35-14 - no need for the generous 9 point start offered by Coral. The New York Giants have now been eased out to 15/2 in the Superbowl market.

Plenty of tennis action to get your teeth stuck into this week, including the Madrid Masters and the Zurich Open. In Madrid it looks set to be another tussle between 11/5 Federer and 9/4 Nadal. I’m not tempted to have a bet in the winners market, because Federer’s shock return may compromise his fitness.

Ginepri is an expensive player to follow, and incredibly over-rated. Let’s have a small win bet on Llodra in today’s afternoon showdown. Ginepri hasn’t been able to reproduce his French Open form, which saw him make the last 16. 5/4 is a decent price for Llodra whose Singles game has come on leaps and bounds.

Meanwhile in Zurich, Venus Williams is the 5/2 favourite but I prefer 7/2 Jankovic. The Serbian was an impressive winner of the Kremlin Cup and is in blistering form, but like Federer, she may be fatigued.

William Hill aren’t taking any wagers above £100 in the 3:50 at Newcastle, labeled by the bookies as a ‘bad each way race’.  The favourite, Princess Rainbow, is available at 1/4 to back with Paddy Power. Never mind that it’s a maiden, but with 8 runners, we’ll be looking for other horses to fill in the 2 other places. 33/1 Golondrina was staying on after her previous maiden over 1m1/2f. She acted reasonably over soft ground, and could well nick a place. Small stakes, as the favourite looks rock solid.

Our Melbourne Cup hope, 16/1 Mad Rush, lines up in Saturday’s Caulfield Cup. The Luca Cumani trained winner of the Old Newton Cup will face a stern test against 7-time Group 1 winner Weekend Hussler.

Recommendation:

1pt 5/4 Llodra to beat Ginepri

1pt each way Golondrina (3:20 Newcastle)

Compare the odds for these markets at bookies.com:

Newcastle 3:50

Superbowl Betting

Madrid Masters: Winner Betting

Madrid Masters: Llodra v Ginepri Betting

Zurich Open: Winner Betting

A great weekend for this blog!

Italy odds-on favourites against Bulgaria? “I certainly won’t be having any”. Result: 0-0.

7/5 France? “Romania will create problems. Small draw bet.” Result: 2-2.

2/7 England/England HT/FT Result? “England have stuttered this year”. HT Result: 0-0.

We have more World Cup qualifiers to get our teeth into mid-week, so remember to read our betting advice before you compare the odds on bookies.com.  Incidentally,  I notice that Ladbrokes are now offering 14/1 for our Winchester in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, I will be topping up our each way bet. Any doubters are advised to watch his recent Group 1 romp in the Secretariat, helped by the application of blinkers.

Today we focus on the NFL fixture between Cleveland and the New York Giants. British readers remember that this match will be televised on Channel 5, as well as Sky Sports 1 at 1.30am.

The 2/7 Giants notched up an impressive 44 points against Seattle last week - without wide receiver Plaxico Burres. The team has been in rampant form, outscoring their opponents by an incredible average of 19.5 points in their four victoires, meaning that they have shortened to 6/1 for the 2009 Superbowl.

Meanwhile, Cleveland have only scored 46 points in their four games, and only have a victory against the dire Cincinatti against their name. It has been 5 years since they appeared on Monday night, but a staggering 15 years since they won on a Monday night. Not only do the Browns have history against them, but quarterback Anderson looks nervy, tightend Kellen Winslow is out of action and the offense has been drawing blanks.

Punters would be advised to cast an eye over the pre-season exhibition match between the two teams that took place on August 18. The Browns were losing 3-30 following numerous errors, but ended up only losing the match 34-37. The handicap betting is restricive, but I am tempted side with Cleveland, especially as some firms are allowing them a 9 point start.

More appealing however, in the Total Points betting. Despite the impressive form of the Giants, this match will hopefully be under 43.5 points which is available at 10/11.  Cleveland’s last ten games have been under the Vegas Line, meaning that we will also have a small interest in the Quadpick market: Giants and Under 42.5 points at 5/2 with Stan James.

Recommendation:

2pts 10/11 Under 43.5 Points

1pt 5/2 Quadpick: Giants and Under 42.5 points

bookies.com compares the odds from a wide range of NFL markets. For example, tonight you can compare odds on Highest Scoring Quarter or even Longest Successful Field Goal.

Browns v Giants Betting

Browns v Giants Handicap Betting

Browns v Giants First Touchdown Betting

Browns v Giants Total Points Betting

Browns v Giants Quadpick Betting

Superbowl XLIII Betting