Author: Online Betting Pro

I am a punter that loves to follow the horse both in Australia and the United Kingdom. I enjoy writing about sports betting and also casino, poker and bingo. In my spare time I like to keep fit by playing football and going for long bike rides. I also like to travel the world and see amazing place s and meet wonderful people along the way.

Super Rugby Round 3 Preview

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It’s that time of the week again, Super Rugby Round 3 Preview with odds from Sportingbet Australia.

Highlanders v Reds

Highlanders – $1.35

Reds – $3.25

James O’Connor’s return from rehab Europe is the major feature of Round 3’s opener at Forsyth Barr.  The Reds are the underdogs for their trip to Dunedin despite their strong performance against the Force last week, and will look to the former Wallaby to provide the inspiration.  The Highlanders have gone for Marty Banks instead of Lima The Highlanders will be without Lima Sopoaga who hasn’t trained all week.  Just one spot separates the two teams on the Super Rugby ladder so it should be a close encounter.  In the end we’re tipping the Highlanders backline to be the difference in a 11 point win to the home side.

Force v Hurricanes

Force – $2.10

Hurricanes – $1.75

The Force have an appealing record against the Hurricanes having won just 1 match in the prior 8 encounters.  However, 2015’s matchup could be a different story with the Perth franchise showing some okay form in their win against defending champions, the Waratahs.  That was balanced out with a subdued loss against the Reds.  The Hurricanes, who enter as slight favourites, had an immeasurably good run in South Africa winning both their road matches.  They haven’t found an attacking spark yet but should still be too strong for the Force.  Therefore, we’re predicting 2015 is not the year the Force get another win against the Canes.  Canes by 13+.

Cheetahs v Blues

Cheetahs – $1.65

Blues – $2.26

The Blues will be filthy the Cricket World Cup is taking away their beloved Eden Park fortress, and while New Zealand and Australia destroy the turf with a drop in pitch, the Blues will travel to Bloemfontein to try and get their 2015 campaign up and running. 0 from 2 is a poor return for a side packed with All Blacks and led by the mercurial Jerome Kaino.  They’ve moved Charles Piutau to centre, while the well-rested Cheetahs welcome back Springbok wing Cornal Hendricks.  The Cheetahs have never won their first two games of a Super Rugby season, but if they were ever going to do it this is the year.  We’re picking them to be as impressive as they were in Round 1 with a 6 point win.

Chiefs v Crusaders

Chiefs – $1.60

Crusaders – $2.36

The perennial clash of the New Zealand conference titans is at its sumptuous best this year.  A powerful Chiefs backline vs a dogged Crusaders forward pack makes for a gripping contest of contrasting styles.  The Chiefs have SBW and the form winger in the competition in James Lowe, whereas the Crusaders will rely on Richie McCaw and the improving Scott Barrett.  Dan Carter’s injury is offset by Colin Slade’s impressive form so we find this incredibly difficult to pick.  At the flip of a coin, we’ll go with the Chiefs by 5.

Rebels v Brumbies

Rebels – $3.00

Brumbies – $1.40

We’ll say it now – the Brumbies will win the comp this year.  Stephen Larkham will celebrate his elevation to the National coaching set-up with another backroom scripted win.  To do so, they’ll need to overturn a horrible run of just one win from their last four matches against the Rebels, and hope the Rebels can’t rediscover their Crusaders beating form.  Stephen Moore returns to captain the Brumbies, and Nic Stirzaker is coming back from suspension, in the two major additions to each side.  Brumbies to win by 8.

Bulls v Sharks

Bulls – $1.83

Sharks – $2.00

The bookmakers have predictably called this one to be especially close.  The traditionally strong Bulls up against the always there or there about Sharks, should in most years be the match that settles the South African conference.  But this year is different.  The Sharks have won one, the Bulls none, in surprising early season form.  The Bulls in particular have uncharacteristically dropped games at home, but get the chance to atone in Super Rugby Round 3.  The most exciting inclusion this week, is Ryan Kankowski the man mountain, who reruns from a Japanese rugby stint for the Sharks.  In a tricky decision, we will tip the Sharks by 6.

Lions v Stormers

Lions – $2.50

Stormers – $1.54

Another Super Rugby Round 3 all South African affair sees the unbeaten and table topping Stormers face off against the Lions in Johannesburg.  The Stormers have gone with a similar side to last week and are hoping to continue their unbeaten run, which has been matched by only the Chiefs and Hurricanes.  The Lions are yet to going this year, they have the worst record in the competition.  Accordingly, they’ve sprung a major surprise and dropped Marnitz Boshoff and given a start to Elton Jantjies.  We don’t think the tactical move will help them get up against the Stormers, we’ll back them by 10.

This Week’s Multi

A head to head multi on our picks pays $25.32

A margin multi pays $1597.84

William Hill money-back offer on Supreme Hurdle

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The Cheltenham Special offers are coming thick and fast now with William Hill announcing a great money-back offer on the opening race of the meeting.

Paddy Power are offering money back on losing bets in the Supreme Hurdle and the Arkle Chase if the Willie Mullins-trained Douvan or Un De Sceaux prove successful. The offer applies up to £50 per customer.

William Hill are also focussing on the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle but will refund ALL losing bets, irrespective of the result, up to maximum of £25 per customer. The stakes will be refunded as free bets in your William Hill account and the offer starts from 8.30am on Friday.

You need to bet via mobile or online to claim back the £25 which must then be staked within 24 hours. Betting shop customers can claim a refund of £10 which must be invested in the following race at the meeting, the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Chase.

The Supreme will be a very significant race for bookmakers this year, even more so than usual. Mullins, top trainer at the meeting for the past two seasons, saddles 7-4 favourite Douvan who is the first of four (possibly five) favourites for the stable on the opening day. There will doubles, trebles and accumulators in their thousands resting on the shoulders of Ruby Walsh in the opener.

The big danger is Nicky Henderson’s L’Ami Serge who would be favourite in a normal year. He won the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown by 14 lengths and is unbeaten in three races since arriving from France. There was no disguising Henderson’s confidence in the horse at his recent media day at the Lambourn stables and there will be plenty willing to take the 4-1 on offer with a money-back guarantee!

Although there are currently 83 entries for the race, there are relatively few serious contenders. Several have entries in the other novice races at the meeting but Jollyallan will have his supporters with Tony McCoy likely to take the ride. Harry Fry’s gelding is owned by JP McManus and was just beaten by Garde La Victoire in a Listed race last time. You can currently get 9-1 about Jollyallan with William Hill.

Remember, the refund only applies up to a maximum of £25 per customer or £10 to retail customers. (Open to win and each-way bets)

Latest William Hill prices; 7-4 Douvan, 4-1 L’Ami Serge, 9-1 Jollyallan

Cricket World Cup: Day 14 Preview

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The Three Big Questions

What’s the go on four day test and 40 over one-dayers? 

Details have emerged of an ECB discussion paper that presents ideas on how to forward the game of cricket    that include reducing ODI games to 40 overs, and reducing test matches to 4 days.  The paper aimed predominantly towards the English County Cricket model (thus included a franchise focused domestic Twenty20 league) determined that the 30 year tradition of five day tests could be done away with to, presumably, reduce the costs of hosting each game and prevent fifth day attendance fatigue; create more room in the cricketing calendar for the Twenty20 league; make both formats more commercially attractive.  The changes make sense to us, but it will be interesting to see if they’re supported by other nations.  Any changes are likely to be a long way off though.

What’s happening between Shane Warne and Darren Lehman?

The Australian press have been jumping at any chance of a story this week.  David Warner’s “brain explosion” comments, and Josh Hazelwood’s genius comment that “we need to get McCullum out” have both been given too many pixels.  But, we understand, they need to be paid and there’s been no on field action for Australia for two weeks.  That’s why the so-called rift’s been blown out of proportion.  There are unlikely to be any deep issues running through the squad, and it won’t impact their play.  Don’t read anything into the comments.  All is well.

Will the real South Africa show up today?

Put simply, they have to.  South Africa are in real danger of butchering their World Cup chances.  They do not want to have to meet New Zealand or Australia any earlier than the semi-finals, but because of their poor effort against India they can’t afford to drop any more games.  They need leadership.  They need runs from Amla and de Villers.  They need Steyn.  In those three players they have the experience to get out of the mini-slump they are in, the ability to inspire the rest of their team and beat the West Indies comfortably.

Today’s Matchup

South Africa v West Indies, Sydney Cricket Ground (Sydney – fine weather predicted), starts 2:30pm local time

South Africa – $1.30

West Indies – $3.50

Enigmatic West Indies vs Failing Favourites South Africa – This one could be tough to predict.  South Africa desperately need to rediscover some form and avoid another loss.  The West Indies on the other hand are in form, they should be confident and depending on what Gayle turns up could be Cricket World Cup contenders.

An indication on how this one might go could come from when the two teams met very recently in South Africa prior to the World Cup.  South Africa won the ODI series comfortably – many people forget that because AB de Villers’ 31 ball hundred stole most of the headlines – and that’s probably the same way this match will pan out.

Darren Bravo, Suliaman Benn and Vernon Philander are all expected to miss the match through injuries.

Today’s Bet

AB de Villiers to Score 50 – $2.35.

This is great money for de Villers who scores 50’s for fun.  Take advantage off his early Cricket World Cup woes and lump on this one.  Won’t need too much crease time to deliver 50.

Odds courtesy of Tom Waterhouse.

Cricket World Cup: Day 13 Recap

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No upsets on Day 13 of the Cricket World Cup, but for the second day in a row and associate nation matchup made for compelling cricket.  The Afghanistan / Scotland nail biter was in stark contrast to the one-sided matchup across the Tasman between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Check out our take on the two games:

Day 13 Results

1. Afghanistan v Scotland

Afghanistan justified their favourites tag and created World Cup history when they beat Scotland by one wicket.  Their first ever World Cup win was a nervous affair that had more twists and turns than an NRL cocaine scandal.  A fine 96 from Samiullah Shenwari saw them bounce back from a precarious 97/7 to deliver an emotional win that justified their involvement in world cricket.

Earlier, Scotland had again struggled with the bat on a zesty Dunedin surface.  Happy to throw the bat at any width, but reluctant to tighten their games in accordance with the movement on offer, the Scots just got to 200 for the first time in a World Cup.  The innings featured plenty of 20’s and 30’s on the scorecard but no standouts.  In fairness, 210 could have been much worse when they were 132/6, but Alasdair Evans and Majid Haq hung around to see out the overs.  The Afghanistan quicks, who are in actuality a formidable opening pair shared seven wickets between them in a Boult / Southee like performance.

In response Afghanistan almost made an alright hash of their run chase.  Starting aggressively, perhaps in the pursuit of a net run rate improvement, they raced to 40 in just 7 overs, mainly thanks to Javed Ahmadi, before their first lost wicket derailed their momentum.  Royally so too.  They lost 7/55 to leave their pursuit of a first win nigh on impossible.  Shenwari finally found some support in Hassan and Zadran to get them home.  His three consecutive sixes of Haq broke the back of the chase and although he couldn’t see them all the way home, was the obvious man of the match.

Afghanistan 211 for 9 (Shenwari 96, Ahmadi 51, Berrington 4-40) beat Scotland 210 (Shapoor 4-38, Dawlat 3-29) by one wicket

2. Sri Lanka v Bangladesh

Big second wicket partnerships are all the rage in 2015 Cricket World Cup and Sri Lanka didn’t want to be left behind.  Hence Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara combined for a baby mammoth 210 run stand to end Bangladesh’s hopes of causing an upset.  We say baby mammoth, because Gayle and Samuels have redefined the levels of mammoth.

Dilshan and Sangakkara used all of their experience to manoeuvre their side to a competitive total and register personal milestones of their own.  Sangakkara celebrated his 400th ODI with another ODI century, and Dilshan recorded his 21st.  In posting the challenging target, they took advantage of sloppy fielding and catching from the Tigers, something their captain, Mashrafe Mortaza, said was the losing of the game.

Bangladesh were 92 short of the target when they were bowled out in the 47th over.  At 100/5 the match was essentially over, however Shakib, Mushfiqur and Sabbir were able to get some late batting practice in.

Sri Lanka couldn’t afford a loss and didn’t.  It may have been nice to get Matthews, Karunaratne and Chandimal some batting practice to ease the reliance on their big three.  But a win is a win.

Sri Lanka 332 for 1 (Dilshan 161*, Sangakkara 105*) beat Bangladesh 240 (Sabbir 53, Shakib 46, Malinga 3-35) by 92 runs

Champion Hurdle Ante-Post Preview

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The Champion Hurdle is the feature race of the opening day of the Cheltenham festival and the betting market suggests that a new champion will be crowned on March 10th.

Faugheen has been at the head of the market all season and remains unbeaten in eight races for Willie Mullins. The gelding won the Neptune Novices’ Hurdle last year over two and a half miles and has won his trials at Ascot and Kempton this season. The form of both races is open to question, particularly the Christmas Hurdle where Irving and Sign Of A Victory both ran way below expectations.

When we think of the greatest hurdlers such as Sea Pigeon, See You Then and Istabraq, we think of their brilliant hurdling technique as well as their speed. Faugheen has not been entirely convincing at his hurdles this season and this will be his first real test at two-mile championship pace. Odds of around 5-4 look decidedly skinny.

Plenty of people will be hoping to see the old warrior Hurricane Fly win the race for a third time having been successful in 2011 and 2013. It would be truly remarkable to reclaim his title for a second time but it is by no means impossible. He has beaten the reigning champion Jezki three times this season and yet is still available at 8-1 with most firms. Hatton’s Grace (1951) and Sea Pigeon (1981) are the only horses to have previously won this race at the age of eleven and there is no doubt that he is in their class.

Jezki has had a similar campaign to last season when everything fell right for him on Champion Hurdle day. He looked held when being brought almost to a standstill at the final flight at Leopardstown and may be better suited by being held up at the back of the field. He was passed on the run-in by another Mullins runner in Arctic Fire and he could easily be good enough to sneak into the frame.

He was just beaten in the County Hurdle last year but has gone up nearly a stone in the official ratings since. He tracked Hurricane Fly’s run through last time and similar tactics could see him finish in the money at Cheltenham. The New One has won all five races since his unlucky run here last year when hampered by the fall of the ill-fated Our Conor. Like Faugheen, he won the two and a half mile novice at this meeting and is arguably a better horse over that distance.

Arctic Fire @16-1 Stan James

Each-way ¼ odds, 1,2,3 (Non-runner – no bet)

Local Time to boost classic claims in UAE Oaks

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Local Time could put herself in the picture for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket by winning the UAE Oaks impressively at Meydan on Thursday.

The daughter of Invincible Spirit has won her last five races for Trainer Saeed bin Suroor who is looking for an incredible tenth win in the race. Last year he won the UAE 1000 Guineas and Oaks with the smart filly Ihtimal. She was only beaten three-quarters of a length at Newmarket behind Miss France and finished an unlucky fifth in the Oaks at Epsom. Tragically, she met with a fatal accident on the gallops in January.

Hopefully there will be a brighter future for Godolphin’s latest star filly who would need to be supplemented for the Newmarket classic. That is by no means unlikely and she looks impossible to oppose in the Oaks with stable companion Good Place her nearest market rival.  James Doyle partners the favourite with William Buick aboard Good Place, an improving daughter of Street Cry who should appreciate the step up in distance.

She has been slowly away in both of her races in Dubai this winter but will have plenty of time to settle in this small field. The only realistic danger to the Godolphin duo is Mike de Kock’s Shahrasal who was third in the UAE 1000 Guineas. It is difficult to see any reason why Local Time cannot confirm the form and I don’t see the extra furlong and a half posing a problem.

There are plenty of familiar names in action on Thursday’s card including Outstrip and Safety Check in the Zabeel Mile. Outstrip has been disappointing since winning the Breeders’ Cup juvenile in 2013, although he did finish within three lengths of Kingman last season. He was slowly away here last month and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the grey fitted with some headgear at some point during the summer.

His stable companion Safety Check was an emphatic winner of a Group 2 here last month but steps up to a mile. Six of his seven wins have been over seven furlongs and he could be vulnerable over this distance. Brendan Powell’s Dark Emerald is on a hat-trick while Johan Strauss, Darwin and Short Squeeze are others with claims in a very competitive event.

Local Time 1000 Guineas Newmarket @40-1 888Sport