Online Betting Pro, Author at Free Bets And Sports News.

2016 PGA Tour Winners Meet To Find Champion of Champions

Posted on 2017-01-04 by Online Betting Pro

Golf in 2017 is an exciting prospect. With the likes of Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy all beginning to embrace the rivalry amongst each other, and the return of Tiger Woods to a full season of play, golf fans have lots to look forward to.

The first taste of golf in 2017 is the Tournament of Champions, open to winners from last year’s PGA Tour season. The elitist nature of the tournament means we’re in for a highly competitive field and top-notch golf. Let’s take a look at the course and the players that are likely to be there or thereabouts on Sunday.

The Course

The Plantation course at Kapalua is the number one ranked course in Hawaii. Designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore it plays 7,411 yards and is a par 73 layout. Big fairways and big greens make for easy tee to green statistics, but undulating greens may make up for it. The course features massive changes in elevation offering plenty of downhill tee shots; tailor made for the big hitting pros.

The Defending Champion

Jordan Spieth was a comfortable winner last year over Patrick Reed (2nd), Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka (T3). It was, at a time when Spieth was winning everything though (Majors, Hero World Challenge) so it came as no surprise. Spieth’s 30-under total showed just how manageable the Kapalua course is if the wind doesn’t blow. Spieth’s at $6.50 to go back-to-back.

The Contenders*

Bubba Watson $17

The two-time Masters champion has now won on the PGA Tour at least once in six of the last seven seasons after winning the Northern Trust Open. Desperately hard to predict but on his day an absolute showman that is tough to beat. Though, can his day last for four.

Dustin Johnson $6.50

2016 was the year of the DJ. He took out his first major, the U.S. Open at Oakmont and had two other high-profile wins, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW Championship during the FedExCup Playoffs. Those three victories and 15 top 10s in 22 starts earned him Player of the Year honours for the first time. He should hit the ground running like he never left. Massive chance.

Jason Day $7.50

Australian Jason Day will make his 2016-17 PGA TOUR season debut at the SBS Tournament of Champions after being sidelined in the fall while rehabilitating a back injury. He’s never finished outside the top 10 here, but the injury is a major worry.

Hideki Matsuyama $6

Matsuyama leads the FedExCup standings on the strength of a second place finish at the CIMB Classic and a win at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. He also won the HERO World Challenge just to further underpin his potential to win here. Seriously consider for the win or each way.

Patrick Reed $12

Reed won this event in 2015 and finished second here last year so if you use course form as your guide, he’s as good a tip as you’ll find. Caution though could be exercised on his recent form – a pretty poor showing at the HERO World Challenge.

Brandt Snedeker $21

2012 FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker qualified to play in his fifth SBS Tournament of Champions with a brilliant final round at the Farmers Insurance Open, which saw some of the worst weather – and worst scoring – of the year. Performed well here last year – as he does in almost every single tournament he plays in.

*Odds from Bet365

The Winner

A strong field is always tricky to predict, so we’ll bank on course history and recent form to suggest Reed or Matsuyama will prevail in Hawaii.

The Relegation Battle – Which teams Look Doomed for the Drop?

Posted on 2017-01-042017-02-20 by Online Betting Pro

We are well into the second half of the 2016-17 Premier League season. This is easily long enough to know which teams are likely to be relegated. Half of the teams in the bottom six have changed their manager recently but history tells us that this tactic doesn’t always work.

The latest Premier League odds are quite revealing in who is likely to go down. Sunderland currently is 1-5 to be relegated. A combination of their current situation and the fact that David Moyes seems once again to be a manager out of his depth are the reasons behind why the bookies think Sunderland are doomed.

Given how most teams sack their manager as an act of desperation at some stage then it will be no surprise to see David Moyes get sacked if Sunderland doesn’t start winning soon. There is only so much that a new manager can do. If a team lacks overall Premier League quality then that team will struggle to survive. In some instances, it can be the manager’s fault or the fault of the players that don’t fancy a relegation scrap.

Can Someone “do a Leicester”

We can all remember the miraculous escape that Leicester City performed under Nigel Pearson the season before they won the title. The fact is that we only remember Leicester’s great escape because it happens so rarely. A team may ultimately avoid the drop but when they lack quality, they are simply incapable of shooting up the league in the second half of the season. The end result is they stay in the bottom six all the way until the final few days of the season.

What may surprise a few people is how Hull City are 1-4 to be relegated but Crystal Palace who is currently on the same points total are 13-8. This can only be because of Sam Allardyce becoming the new Palace manager and his great record of helping teams to avoid the drop. Generally speaking, what happens in the past is not guaranteed to happen again in the future which makes those odds wrong. Clubs hire “Big Sam” because they see it as a “get out of jail” card when they are in relegation trouble. The question is will the luck run out for Big Sam?

Which Teams are Likely to Survive

Let’s turn this equation on its head by looking at which teams are likely to survive. Based on the situation as it stands, any team not in the bottom six will likely stay up. This means teams like Watford, Burnley and Bournemouth will still be Premier League teams next season. It seems incredible that last season’s champions are on the list of relegation candidates. Leicester needs to start picking up points. They are still some way short of the points total they need.

Paul Clement seems to be reviving Swansea City’s fortunes of late. They are now 11/10 to survive with Betfred after being odds on just a few weeks ago. A big factor that needs to be considered is the fixture list. The teams that have a tough finish to the season really need to start picking up points within the next few weeks if they are to stand any chance of surviving.

The one saving grace for all of the teams in the bottom six is in how the other candidates are failing to pick up points on a regular basis. This makes it tough to call on who will likely stay up and who will likely disappear through the relegation trap door.

NFL playoffs: Steelers and Texans favourites in AFC Wildcard Round

Posted on 2017-01-022017-01-04 by Online Betting Pro

NFL fans have been treated to an exciting regular season full of twists and turns, but we are now moving into the business end of the season: the playoffs. We start with the Wildcard Round, which sees the two division winners with the lowest win records in each conference take on the two best runners-up. In the AFC the Houston Texans host the injury-hit Oakland Raiders in the first game, while the in-form Pittsburgh Steelers have home advantage against the Miami Dolphins.

Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans

It was all going so well for Oakland as they qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2002. But then they were rocked by the injury to star quarterback Derek Carr, who suffered a broken fibula and was ruled out indefinitely, and the odds on them winning the Super Bowl plummeted accordingly. In their last regular season game, Carr’s replacement Matt McGroin was hit by a shoulder injury, and they finished with rookie Connor Cook as QB. It cost them as they slumped to a 24-6 defeat against the Broncos, who were on a long losing streak and already eliminated. That caused them to slip from first to second in the AFC West as the Kansas City Chiefs won to leapfrog them at the death, so they go into the Wildcard Round after slipping from number two seed to number five and have to face the Texans, who finished 9-7 to win the AFC South and claim the number four seed despite having a worse record than the Raiders.

Without Carr, nobody is giving the Raiders much of a chance. They beat the Texans in week 11, but the teams are looking very different now. The Texans are 1.55 with Boyle Sport and that looks a good price, considering how depleted the Raiders are. The Texans’ quarterback situation is a bit uncertain too, as Tom Savage left Sunday’s game with a knock and Brock Osweiler came back in, so you might want to see who the starting quarterbacks are before placing your bet, but the Texans should cover a -3.5 spread at 10/11 with Bet365 if Cook starts. If they can’t beat a third string rookie quarterback, Houston fans will go ballistic.

Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are on a sensational seven-game winning streak and have been made third-favourites for the Super Bowl at 17/2 with Paddy Power. Despite that they only finished as third seed in the AFC and have to get through the Wildcard Round against the sixth-seeded team, the Dolphins, who finished 10-6 in the AFC East. The Steelers are on a roll and should be far too strong for Miami, who were crushed 35-14 by the New England Patriots in their last game. The Miami defence was run ragged and the offence was constantly under pressure, so the fans will not be full of optimism ahead of the trip to Pittsburgh.

Having said that, the Dolphins did beat the Steelers 30-15 in week 6, but a lot has changed since then and the Steelers have looked outstanding in their seven-match winning run. That is borne out in the odds, with the Dolphins huge outsiders at 7/2 with the likes of William Hill and Bet365, and Pittsburgh as low as 1/5 but best priced at 4/17 with 888 Sport and Unibet. The Steelers should win this one comfortably and that looks a good one for any accumulator bets. Injuries are looking good for the Steelers as Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell will play a postseason game together for the first time, while Miami’s defence is banged up and quarterback Ryan Tannehill – who put the Steelers to the sword in week 6 – is also injured. The spread on the Steelers is -9.5, a huge favouritism, and while they may not quite cover that they should win this one fairly comfortably.

Harden looks a great bet for MVP after breaking records

Posted on 2017-01-02 by Online Betting Pro

Houston Rockets guard James Harden pulled off a magnificent feat on the final day of 2016, earning an astonishing 53 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds in his team’s 129-122 victory of the New York Knicks. It was the first time any player has ever broken the 50-15-15 barrier and it effectively put him in a two-horsed MVP race with Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook, and it is set to be a fascinating battle in 2017. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have consolidated their positions at the top of their respective divisions and are on course for another NBA Finals showdown, with Cleveland gaining a psychological edge by beating them on Christmas Day. It promises to be another exciting year in the NBA, with plenty of value for punters.

MVP

Westbrook looked to have this accolade sewn up going into the festive period. The Oklahoma City guard is crucial to his team and has been dubbed Mr Triple Double this year thanks to his phenomenal stats. For the uninitiated, a triple double requires a player to hit double figures on points, assists and rebounds in a game, and Westbrook is averaging 30.9 points per game – the best in the league – along with 10.7 assists and 10.5 rebounds. The closest contender looked set to be LeBron James, but the Cavaliers superstar’s stats aren’t as high this season and he has been rested a fair bit, as evidenced in Cleveland’s defeat to the Pistons on December 27.

Now though Harden has muscled in, with a record-breaking performance. He became only the fifth player of all time to record a triple-double while also scoring 40 points, the others being James, Westbrook, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, but his points and rebounds put his performance a notch above. He has now become second favourite to be crowned regular season MVP. Some bookmakers are offering just 2/1 or 9/4 on him, but Bet Victor has a generous 4/1, which looks a great bet. This looks like a two horsed race now, and with 888 Sport offering 2/1 on favourite Westbrook, you can back both and make a profit if they remain at the top – which they should.

NBA Championship

The Warriors still have the best record in the league, with a win record of 85.3% and look unstoppable in the Western Conference, which they are just 4/11 to win with Sky Bet (although some may fancy a speculative bet on Westbrook’s Thunder at 40/1 with William Hill). But the team to really watch looks to be the Cavaliers. Their win record is not so good, at just 78.1%, but they are still comfortably leading the conference and have made a habit of resting James and losing without him. But when he plays, they are ferocious, as they showed by beating the Warriors 109-108 on Christmas Day. The Cavs were down 14 points in the fourth quarter but rallied to make up the deficit and win it at the death, with James in the driving seat on 31 points. They bested the Warriors in last season’s Finals, and look like they could do so again in 2017, so the 3/1 various bookmakers are offering on them looks a good bet right now. But the Warriors will take some stopping and also look good at 4/5 with Sky Bet. Again you can hedge your bets on these two.

Upcoming games

The Warriors face an out of sorts Bulls team on Thursday and can be expected to cover a high spread, while the Cavs should beat the Trail Blazers pretty comfortably on the same day. A huge game takes place on Friday between the Rockets and the Thunder, where will we see Harden and Westbrook go head to head. The Rockets got the better of them when they last played, winning by three points on December 10, and can repeat the feat here as they are on a roll at the moment.

Australia Face Selection Headaches Ahead of Sydney Test

Posted on 2017-01-02 by Online Betting Pro

Most of the talk in the lead up to the final cricket test between Australia and Pakistan has been around the composition of the two sides. Firstly, comes the retirement question of Misbah-ul-Haq. Secondly, is the characteristics of the Sydney pitch and how conducive to spin it will be, and consequently how that alters the thinking of the Australian selectors.

The questions are unanswered for now, but once known will form the nucleus of the key talking points about the dead rubber. We’ve highlighted some of the other key talking points below:

The Series So Far

For all the decent cricket Pakistan has played in the series thus far, they still find themselves down 2-0. After the heartbreak of Brisbane – falling just short of a record fourth innings chase – and the huge amount of time lost to bad weather in Melbourne, the touring side gave everybody reason to believe the series would still be alive. However, a final day capitulation for the ages – at the hands of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon – gave Australia their second win of series from as many matches.

Frustratingly, for Pakistan fans and for the cricket neutrals, the series has been competitive, with Pakistan missing a little bit of quality in the key moments (and relying on too many individuals).

The Teams

Australia (likely):

1 David Warner, 2 Matt Renshaw, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steve Smith (capt), 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Hilton Cartwright, 7 Matthew Wade, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Josh Hazlewood, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Steve O’Keefe

Debutant Hilton Cartwright is expected to replace Nic Maddinson to better balance the side and allow a second spinner to play. Whether that is O’Keefe (the incumbent) or Ashton Agar remains to be seen. Agar may be viewed as more of a batting allrounder and would allow for the three quicks to stay in the side, but that results in Matthew Wade batting quite high for someone who is short of runs.

Either way, it will be two spinners and a new number 6.

Pakistan (likely)

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali.

The big talking point during the week was Misbah’s retirement. Whether he will continue and play in Sydney is still unknown at the time of writing. If he does call it a day, it will close the curtains on a tremendous career. He’ll leave the game as the most successful test captain in Pakistan’s history and will richly deserve the praise he receives.

The Key Players

Australia

Garry the GOAT (Nathan Lyon), is quickly becoming a cult favourite amongst the cricket-following public of Australia. The offspinner is lapping up the social media attention, although presumably, he’d like to be garnering the attention for world class bowling performances, not his nicknames. The Sydney test gives him such an opportunity. The SCG will turn, but will the turn be too slow for Lyon to be effective. If not he’s a key figure in the game.

Pakistan

Mohammed Amir has been good on tour but not great. Wickets are never easy to come by in Australia as has proven this time around for Amir too. He’s bowled nice spells, he’s beaten the bat countless time and has kept the scoring rate in check. However, Pakistan needs wickets from him and lots of them if they can sneak a win in the already lost series.

The Match Odds*

Australia – $1.42

Pakistan – $7.10

Draw – $5.90

*All odds courtesy of Sportsbet

The Prediction

Neither are likely to occur, but the money on a Pakistan win or a draw are very attractive. With the Sydney test dominated by wet weather last year, the draw could be the better of the two. Having said that, in the slow turner of Sydney, Yasir Shah could be a factor. The gambler says take a punt, the cricket pundit says Australia to win comfortably.

The Best Bets

Steve Smith to top score for the Aussies at $3.25 is hard to ignore. This bet isn’t like the Kane Williamson of NZ or the Joe Root of England. Place it every time and it should come good more often than not.

Alternatively, if you like fairytales (and better returns) bank on Misbah going out in style (if he doesn’t retire before the game) and top scoring. That’s paying $6.

Big Sam Aiming to Topple Title Contenders Arsenal

Posted on 2016-12-30 by Online Betting Pro

Crystal Palace will make the short trip across London to face Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on New Year’s Day. And new manager Sam Allardyce will be looking to dent the Gunners title ambitions with his Palace charges aiming to move away from the relegation places.

Allardyce aiming for upset

Allardyce, who sensationally left his dream job as England manager in September after just 67 days and one match in charge, will be looking to build on the 1-1 draw his Palace team achieved in his first match in charge against Watford before the Christmas break.

However, it will be a tough ask against Arsene Wenger’s men who have lost only once at home this season, back in August against Liverpool in their season-opener. Six wins and two draws since that defeat for the Gunners will do little to encourage Palace supporters that their team can topple their hosts after five matches without a win on the road.

Yet, encouraging signs were visible against Watford at Vicarage Road in Big Sam’s first match after replacing Alan Pardew at the helm. And the former Bolton, Newcastle and Sunderland boss will concentrate primarily on addressing Palace’s leaky defence which has already conceded 20 goals in just nine away games this season.

Arsenal overwhelming favourites for victory

With Arsenal trailing league leaders Chelsea by nine points already and with fierce rivals Spurs breathing down their necks just a point behind in the table, Wenger will send his team out looking for a convincing win to maintain their challenge for a first title since 2004. There looks to be little value for money in backing Arsenal for the win, however, with odds of just 1/3 on offer across a host of bookmakers. A better return looks to be available from backing an Arsenal win coupled with both teams to score, 9/5 with Coral amongst others.

Alternatively for Palace fans may be unwilling to bet against their team, enticing odds of 19/20 are on offer from bet365 for both to teams to score, a particularly interesting set of odds for punters aware that Arsenal, despite their strong home record, have conceded on average a goal a game thus far at the Emirates this season.

For the overly optimistic, betvictor are offering huge odds of 10/1 for a Palace victory, as unlikely as that may be, while a more realistic proposition comes from bet365, who price Palace in the Double Chance market to win or claim a draw at a very tempting 11/4.

With his record of never having been relegated from the top flight of English football and an injection of fresh enthusiasm sure to have Palace fighting for the cause, a winning bet on Allardyce’s Eagles could mean a very happy and lucrative start to the new year for punters across the country. Big Sam will have to be at his motivational best, however, if Arsenal is to begin 2017 in losing fashion.

Author: Online Betting Pro