The Pittsburgh Steelers overcame the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 to win their 6th Superbowl title in Tampa. Santonio Holmes clinched victory for the Steelers in the dying seconds on the game, with a 6-yard touchdown reception.

Heartbreak for the Cardinals, but at least readers of Bookies Blog were rewarded for backing them +7 in the Point Spread market.

Holmes was crowned MVP at odds of 15/1, dispelling the myth that MVP always goes to the winning quarterback. The 2/1 favourite was Ben Roethlisberger, who was denied the first touchdown with a challenge.

The Steelers are now the general 9/1 favourites for Superbowl XLIV, but I wouldn’t back a team with single figure odds at this early stage.

The New England Patriots are best priced at 10/1 with totesport, although Stan James make have them as the 8/1 market leaders.

The Arizona Cardinals are 33/1, but I’d be more interested in either the Eagles at 18/1 with Bet365, or the Titans at 20/1.

The 2009 NFL season begins on September 10, with Superbowl XLIV taking place Febraury 7th 2010 at Dolphin Stadium, Florida.

bookies.com compares NFL odds between the leading UK bookmakers:

Superbowl XLIV Betting

The big game is upon us, this Sunday is the 43rd edition of the Superbowl, the climax of the NFL season. Coverage on BBC1 starts 11pm on Sunday night, and the game will be watched by over 100 million viewers worldwide. As one of the betting highlights of the year, bookies.com is featuring a staggering 165 betting markets on the game.

The Arizona Cardinals go in as the 23/10 underdogs, but have been back this week in from 12/5. The Cardinals are often referred to as a finesse team that likes to throw the ball a lot, although the stats show that they are pretty balanced in terms of yardage and running. One of the reasons they are being dismissed is their slow running back, Edgerrin James.

Canbet’s market on James’ rushing yards tells it all, 37/50 for under 43.5 yards. Some punters will also be concerned at the Cardinals’ season, which they finished with 7 losses. Favourite backers beware, the Giants turned over the 1/5 Patriots in the last Superbowl.

Pundits think that that the Cardinals are going to have to throw it to have any chance against the heavily favoured 2/5 Pittsburgh Steelers.

Willie Parker is back for the Steelers, and will be leading their ground game. He is 7/1 with Paddy Power in the Most Valuable Player market and a short 4/5 for over 80.5 rushing yards with the Irish firm.

Backing the Giants +12.5 at evens was one of best bets of last year, and I’m tempted by 10/11 for the Cardinals +7 with Blue Square in the Points Spread market.

Ben Roethlisberger is going to have a lot of plays to run and is unsurprisingly the 2/1 favourite to be Most Valuable Player. His side’s offense has been unconvincing, which puts me off taking them at -7.

MVP often goes to the quarterback, but if we’re looking for exceptional value, I reckon it’s Anquan Boldin at 25/1 with Ladbrokes. Larry Fitzgerald, 17/2, will attract a lot of attention from Pittsburgh, and I reckon that Wide Receivers hold the value in the MVP market. Only problem is that you have to pick one on the winning team!

Recommendation:

3pts @ 10/11 Cardinals +7 (Blue Sq)

1pt @ 25/1 Anquan Boldin to be MVP (Ladbrokes)

bookies.com is the first place to go to compare odds on Superbowl XLIII:

Cardinals v Steelers Money Line

Cardinals v Steelers Point Spread

Cardinals v Steelers First Touchdown Scorer

Cardinals v Steelers Total Points Betting

Cardinals v Steelers Most Valuable Player Betting

Superbowl XLIII Specials

Cardinals Specials

Steelers Specials

Player Specials

With the Giants out of the running, there looks like no stopping the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have played great defence throughout the regular season and looked good in last Sunday’s 35-24 win over the Chargers.

Following that win and the Giants’ exit, they have been well supported to win the Superbowl. Paddy Power are one of 2 firms to offer 6/4. They are generally available at 2/5 to back for this Sunday’s match against the 2/1 Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens are a weak 9/2 for the Superbowl – should we be writing them off?

Willie Parker has had a tough season because of injury, but against the Chargers the running back carried 27 times for 146 yards and bagged a couple of touchdowns. He is the 11/2 favourite in the First Touchdown Scorer market this weekend, closely followed by McClain, who is 6/1 with totesport.

The resurgence of Willie Parker is important for betting on the NFL, you need to catch the teams on the rise – which is why the Steelers are being backed in the Superbowl market.

Parker and the Steelers may not have it all their own way against the Ravens, who have a very aggressive defence. When the sides last met, Parker was closed out, meaning that he could only manage 47 yards. The Steelers have history on their side, because the Ravens are 1-7 from their last 8 trips to Pittsburgh. In this season’s playoffs, 6 out of 8 have gone to the visitors, but the Steelers were one of 2 home winners.

If you think that the Steelers will win, but you’re not confident about lumping on at 2/5, there are other markets to look at. You may fancy over 34 points at 10/11, or 20/23 for the Steelers to be ahead at both half time and full time. 10/1 for Overtime loos like a big price, but ideally it should be even bigger.

The Point Spread market gives the Ravens a +6 start. If I had to choose between 10/11 for Ravens +6 or Steelers -6, I’d probably take the first. The Ravens only lost by a combined margin of 7 points in their 2 matches this season.

bookies.com compares odds on all NFL matches:

Superbowl XLIII Winner Betting

Steelers v Ravens Money Line

Cardinals v Eagles Money Line

Steelers v Ravens Point Spread

Steelers v Ravens Quadpick Betting

Steelers v Ravens Overtime Betting

Steelers v Ravens First Touchdown Betting

Steelers v Ravens First Team With a Coach Challenge Betting

The New York Giants, 3/1 favourites for the Superbowl at the moment, take on division rivals Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs this Sunday. Unsurprisingly the Giants are a fairly warm order for this enconter, with most of the bookies offering 4/9. I can see no value in that price whatsoever, because Sunday’s match looks like a potential banana skin.

The Eagles have a 9-6-1 record this season, but more importantly they finished with an impressive 4-1. There was much to like about their 26-14 win over Minnesota, and they are currently 8/1 shots for the Superbowl. They came up with the big plays when it mattered most, including a 71 yard catch-and-run touchdown by Westbrook, who is 5/1 to score the first touchdown.

The Eagles are into 7/4 to win the match from 2/1, but the price could be cut again before the match. Never mind about Eli Manning or their 12-4 record, they dropped 3 of their final games. The 34-28 victory over Carolina came in overtime, and they have lost to the Eagles at The Meadowlands before this season. Favourite backers will probably be relying on the return of running back Brandon Jacobs.

If I haven’t convinced you to back the Eagles, then take a look at the Point Spread market. In what should be a close encounter, most bookies are giving the Eagles a +4 head start, at odds of 10/11. If you want something to bank on, why not give them a +13 start with Stan James at odds of 1/4?

Recommendation:

1pt @ 7/4 Eagles

2pts @ 10/11 Eagles +4

bookies.com compares odds on all NFL matches:

Superbowl XLIII Winner Betting

Giants v Eagles Match Betting

Giants v Eagles Point Spread Betting

Giants v Eagles Total Points Betting

Giants v Eagles First Touchdown Scorer Betting

Giants v Eagles Overtime Betting

Giants v Eagles Quadpick Betting

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

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

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