[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12 :lol one of us will be disappointed then Mirage.

[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12 May take one or two more as well but another quick one for me. Fernando Verdasco vs Nicolas Mahut- Mahut to win- 11/10 Ladbrokes- (4/10) Price is a little higher than most bookies are offering so I'll take a punt on the Frenchman here. Grass is where he plays his best tennis and over the next few weeks he'll be looking to pick up a fair amount of ranking points so he should right up for today. He beat Oli Golding in the first round which despite his inexperiences, is never an easy match, playing the home favourite in the first round. However he served well and never really looked out of his comfort zone. I'm still not 100% over Verdasco to what kind of mindset he is in at the minute. He looked to have got over that blip in form he suffered from a month or so back where he looked extremely poor, but he's got no points to defend on the grass, so if Mahut can get stuck in, he could well cause an upset in this one. If the Frenchman keeps his serve percentage up, he could make this an extremely tight affair, with a tie break or two, and Verdasco may well get frustrated as we've seen him do against Raonic earlier in the year. Backing the Frenchman in this one.

[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12

4 for me tomorrow for the men, haven't bothered looking at the women's matches so I'll leave those down to Pyscho. Milos Raonic vs Pablo Andujar- Raonic -4.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10)- WIN Viktor Troicki vs Mischa Zverev- Troicki -4.5 handicap- 11/10 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN Radek Stepanek vs Go Soeda- Stepanek -4.5 handicap- 11/10 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN Xavier Malisse vs Matthias Bachinger- Malisse -3.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN

Good day with all 4 comfortable winners, although must confess I lost 3 units in the tie break between Roddick and Lopez. Backed over 11.5 points but Lopez decided to not get his first serves in and that was curtains for that. Annoying how he's serving aces for fun now in the second set :lol. Anyways with the results today, gives me +12.63, that put with the Llodra unders yesterday brings me to +15.83 overall. Hope I continue in that manner and don't repeat what I did last week at the French Open.

[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12 4 for me tomorrow for the men, haven't bothered looking at the women's matches so I'll leave those down to Pyscho. Milos Raonic vs Pablo Andujar- Raonic -4.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) I secretly fancy Raonic to have a good grass season now the clay stuff is over and done with and we'll see once more how effective his serve is. The quicker surfaces really benefit the Canadian's game, with his big serve and huge forehand he is arguably the hardest guy to break serve off of in the game on the quicker surfaces. On the hard courts earlier in the year, he beat the likes of Fish, Verdasco and Youzhny, all accomplished top 20 players showing what a promising player Raonic is. Andujar is the typical clay court player, who prefers the slower courts and longer rallies, everything that won't happen tomorrow. He hasn't played on grass for a couple of years now and my guess is he's only playing here to pick up some cash before he goes back to his beloved clay. He'll struggle to do anything on Raonic's serve, and on his own, Raonic should be able to get a read on it and break a couple of times with his huge hitting. Only thing that is a slight worry is Raonic's back problem which he picked up a few weeks ago but he's had enough time to recover and I'll back him to do the job of the handicap in this one. Viktor Troicki vs Mischa Zverev- Troicki -4.5 handicap- 11/10 Bet365- (4/10) Do like the Serb in this one and he'll have recovered from that marathon match against Murray to be ready to go in this one. He didn't have a great grass season last year but he's improved his game considerably since then, and he should fare rather better this year. He already showed this year what he can do on the quicker surfaces, making a quarter, semi and final appearence on the hard courts, and what I like most about Troicki these days is his serve is extremely effective and alot of players really struggle to get a consistent read on it which will benefit the Serb on the grass courts. Zverev had a really poor end to the clay season, losing in a couple of challengers, and being beaten in the first round in Paris. He can produce some good result on odd ocassions the German, but I don't see him keeping up with Troicki's game and I fancy Troicki to win this quite comfortably in the end. Radek Stepanek vs Go Soeda- Stepanek -4.5 handicap- 11/10 Bet365- (4/10) Decent price on Stepanek here and although I'm not his biggest fan, on the quicker courts despite his age, he can still produce at a pretty high level and he should be too much for Soeda here. Stepanek has already got to an ATP semi this year, back in Brisbane, and has been competitive against the likes of Soderling and Federer. Soeda on the other hand has only made 2 ATP proper draws, getting knocked out in the early stages of both. He is predominantly a challenger player who when faced against regular ATP opponents, struggles to get any kind of result against them. This should be the case tomorrow and despite Stepanek missing the grass season last year, he's wily enough to adjust reasonably quickly and the 5 game handicap is achievable for him I feel. Xavier Malisse vs Matthias Bachinger- Malisse -3.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (4/10) Last one I fancy is Malisse to get the job done over his German opponent who despite having some grass practice last week in Nottingham, is a class below Malisse. Clay has never been Malisse's best surface so I'm presuming he'll be glad to return to the quicker courts of grass, where he had quite a lot of success on last year. Made the quarters at Queen's last year, and then a semi appearence in Holland, before losing narrowly to Sam Querrey in the third round at Wimbledon. It's his results on grass and the hard courts where he gets his main ranking points so he'll be wanting to match, if not better last year's grass results to maintain those points so he should be up for tomorrow and this week in general. Bachinger, similiar to Soeda actually rarely plays anything to a higher standard than challenger events so he'll have to raise his game from last week where he lost in the final in Nottingham. Malisse will be a step up in class from anyone he faced there and although Malisse is the kind of guy who will take a bit of time to settle into a rhythm on the grass, I fancy him to have one set where he dominates which should see the handicap through in this one.

[Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series Well that couldn't have gone worse to be honest. Started badly with Pollard not even playing, then Bravo couldn't better Simmons' 6 even though he played a cracking shot throught the covers to get off the mark. Then to round it off Kohli gets out cheaply, making both batsman bets losers, and a few behind Sharma in the outright. Hope that's the bad match over with and look to have 4 better games. -8 for me to start off though. Really hope Pollard is back for the remainder of the series.

[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12

Michael Llodra vs Jaroslav Pospisil- Under 18.5 games- 4/5 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN

First set was a struggle at times but came through comfortably in the end.

[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12 Michael Llodra vs Jaroslav Pospisil- Under 18.5 games- 4/5 Bet365- (4/10) Only just decided to take this one but I feel Llodra will win this comfortably. Pospisil only really plays clay challenger events where lately he hasn't had the best result in the world. He's only played one grass match in over two years, back in 09 so I'm not sure how well he will adapt to the quicker conditions of the grass after playing on grass for so long. Llodra has a good serve, which will benefit him hugely on this surface. He got to the quarters at Queen's last year, and followed that up by winning in Eastbourne. He should have quite a gentle warm up for the grass season and I see him winning no worse than 6-3 6-3.

[Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series Great start with Pollard not even playing :wall

[Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series I've taken two outrights in the end for the series. Virat Kohli Top India Series Batsman- 11/4 Bet365- (2/10) Agreed with Kev on this one and although I haven't got as good as price, 11/4 is still high enough for me to back him at. Already been mentioned that alot of the big guns are missing for India so alot of the runs with have to come through the likes of Kohli and Raina in particular, but the fact that Raina has been made captain, puts extra pressure on him, and with him batting down the order at 6, there could be a couple of matches where he gets only a short amount of time in the middle. Kohli will come in at 3, and will try and build the innings whilst others play around him. This kid is the real deal shown through his century at the world cup and his extremely healthy average, so I'll back him to lead the batting charts come the end of the series. Kieron Pollard Top West Indies Series Batsman- 12/1 Ladbrokes- (1.5/10) E/W- 1/5-1/2/3 Price looks huge on Pollard here. Granted he will have a couple of matches where there's a good chance he will get out early, but we've seen in the past that if he gets going in a match, he can hit sixes for fun, and score some heavy runs. He has spoken about wanting to impress in this series and do well for his team, so that should provide the motivation for some good performances. The WI batting lineup isn't the strongest in the world. Only two that stand out in the squad are the two Bravo's who are good cricketers, but without their talisman Gayle for at least the first game, I'll back Pollard to come good at some point in the series with the bat and if he comes in the top 3, there is some profit to be had.

[Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series]

Re: Cricket: West Indies vs India - T20 International & ODI Series Not usually interested in the international matches, but this series to me looks like an interesting one. Taking 3 in the first ODI tomorrow. Darren Bravo to beat Lendl Simmons- Evens Bet365- (4/10) Bravo is a batsman I like in this West Indies team and despite not having the best world cup, he still has a huge amount of quality and potential and I expect him to be the stand out guy in this team over the coming few years. He averages over 38 in the one day format, whilst he opened his test career with three 50s in his opening test series against Sri Lanka last year showing what a good player he is. He hit a run a ball 41 in the T20 match between the two sides, and on a decent pitch tomorrow, he'll be the one who if he gets in early, will look to bat through whilst others play around him. Lendl Simmons on the other hand is hugely inconsistent and is capable of hitting huge scores, and if he does that tomorrow then fair play, but so often he gets himself out cheaply and I'll back the latter tomorrow. He has been around for a long time now Simmons without really excelling and has struggled to hold down an International slot, and hasn't played test cricket since the WI played England a couple of years ago. His average of 21 in ODI cricket isn't the greatest, especially considering he is a specialist batsman which highlights the fact that he is prone to inconsistency. He only mustered 9 in the T20, and I'm backing the player who's more consistent and has an overall greater amount of quality in Bravo to outscore Simmons for the WI. Virat Kohli to beat Suresh Raina- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10) Also taking this batsman bet for India and I'm backing one of the most promising batsman in the world to start the series off in good fashion. He still hasn't reached his full potential which I see him doing in the next year or so, but he's already shown he can perform on the big stage, hitting a century at the world cup, and with an average of 44 in limited overs cricket, just shows why there is so much talk about this kid over in India. With no Tendulkar, Dhoni or Yuvraj, a lot of the focus will be on Kohli to score some considerable runs this series batting at no.3, and he is the kind of guy who thrives under this sort of pressure and I think it will suit him being the main guy in this Indian second string lineup. Raina will have even more pressure on his shoulders though, through being given the captaincy this series, and trying to lead this under strength Indian side away from home. I'm guessing he will down at 6 in the lineup, so if India are going along nicely, with the top order hitting some runs, there could be a possibiliy of the captain only having a few overs to hit out in, whereas Kohli if he gets in, could bat for the majority of the India innings and put on a big score. Just down to the expectancy of Kohli, and the fact that Raina will have that extra pressure of captaincy to cope with, I'll back Kolhi to outscore the captain in this one. Kieron Pollard performance 35 & over- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10) The big man is back for the West Indies tomorrow and he has spoken out at how he wants to make a big impact on this series. He's trained hard and wants to make amends for a not so great world cup in which he only took 2 wickets and hit only 2 50s. In this match though he plays in front of his home crowd which will give Pollard a boost, and this target can be achieved if the big hitting Pollard has a solid match. Of course we know about his huge hitting, in which he could cover the 35 points just with the bat, but he's also likely to bowl some overs, so there's always a chance of a wicket in there. Another dimension I like to Pollard though is his fielding. He's one of the best in the game, and will field in the important positions for the WI, so there's always a chance of a catch or two in the game for Pollard. Just feel he will have that extra motivation on his return to impress his home fans, and with a triple threat of covering this target, I'll back him to cover it.

[Tennis - The French Open]

Re: Tennis - The French Open

Tomorrow is D-Day for me then, and I'm desperately hoping for a good day to end on a high. If it goes wrong, well it goes really wrong. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer- Federer -5.5 aces handicap- 5/6 Ladbrokes- 10/10- WIN Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer- Over 7.5 breaks of serve- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10)- WIN

12 breaks of serve in total and Federer wins the ace battle 11-4. Really good final as well so all in all a perfect finish, although probably would have preferred Fed to win it. Anyways a final overall of +2.21 which is better than a loss but quite disappointed I didn't end up with a much healthier profit as at one stage I was up by around 18 units. However take that on the chin and be thankful I've not had a loss for the tournament. Glad the clay season is over now though and bring on the grass. Well done to everyone that made a profit this tournament. :cheers

[French Open livescore thread]

Re: French Open livescore thread Yeah came through in the end mate. 12 in total in the match. Fed covered the ace handicap as well so perfect end.

[Tennis - June 6-12]

Re: Tennis - June 6-12 My eyes almost popped out when I saw how many matches there were this week. All the excitement of the French Open made me forget about the grass openers. Was intending to go down to Queen's this week but time won't allow me in the end. Should be a decent amount of betting opportunities though let's hope.

[French Open livescore thread]

Re: French Open livescore thread Unbelievable time for the rain to come there, may just benefit Federer more.

[Darts: UK Open 2011]

Re: Darts: UK Open 2011

Like two more in the quarters this afternoon. Shocked to see the Power out, thought he would take that final leg, had the darts as well :eek Denis Ovens to beat Mark Hylton- 4/5 Sportingbet- (4/10)- WIN Wes Newton to beat Dave Chisnall- 8/11 Sportingbet- (4/10)- WIN

Both got the job done, Newton continues to impress me but let's hope Ovens pulls through for Kev. Overall +9.43 for the competition now.

[Cricket: Friends Life t20]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Nothing for me today. I'll wait for the matches this week to get involved. Should be plenty of opportunities about with some televised matches so I'll stay away till then.

[Darts: UK Open 2011]

Re: Darts: UK Open 2011 Like two more in the quarters this afternoon. Shocked to see the Power out, thought he would take that final leg, had the darts as well :eek Denis Ovens to beat Mark Hylton- 4/5 Sportingbet- (4/10) Backing Ovens for the second successive match here as his good form continues to impress me. A semi finalist here last year and he's playing solid enough darts to repeat that result. He's already beaten Painter and Andy Smith to reach the quarters, which should give him confidence to go with his form that he is bringing in from getting to the final over in Austria in the players championthip. Hylton hasn't beaten any world beaters to get this far and Ovens will be a step up for him. Denis is one of the most consistent throwers in the game and any slip ups from Hylton, Ovens will be there to make him pay and in the end I see him coming through this one. Wes Newton to beat Dave Chisnall- 8/11 Sportingbet- (4/10) Suprised to see odds as high for Newton here, a guy who has improved beyond recognition and now sits at number 8 in the world. He quit his day job to focus on his darts and it looks to have payed off as he is a guy you wouldn't want to be drawn against and he can beat any guy on the circuit on his day. He hammered Barney yesterday evening and already put out Van Gerwen before that, who can be a tricky guy to face. Chisnall who has arrived from the BDO has looked good in parts but from watching him, can always throw in some indifferent legs from time to time. It's his first main tournament in the PDC and early on, if Newton hits some big scores, he is bound to be under pressure and some nerves could kick in. Hard to go against Newton though and in my eyes should win this one if he plays how he has done in the past year or so.

[Tennis - The French Open]

Re: Tennis - The French Open Tomorrow is D-Day for me then, and I'm desperately hoping for a good day to end on a high. If it goes wrong, well it goes really wrong. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer- Federer -5.5 aces handicap- 5/6 Ladbrokes- 10/10 First max bet for me in a long while but feel it's appropriate here. I remember taking this bet on last year at Wimbledon, when Rafa played Murray. On that ocassion I backed Nadal with the (+5.5) handicap, but despite beating Murray in 3, he failed to cover the handicap and I don't see him doing it tomorrow. Federer leads the aces chart for the tournament with 59 aces in his 6 matches. Nadal has only mustered 23 in total, playing one more set in total than Roger as well, so that's an average of around 6 more aces a match in Federer's favour which is what the handicap is. Federer has played some super tennis this week, and against Djokovic he was back to the Federer of old, serving a hugely impressive 18 aces, against one of the best returners in the game. Nadal isn't as good a returner on serve as Djokovic is so if Federer serves like he did then, this handicap should be well within reach. Nadal's serve isn't the quickest in the men's game, and he'll be relying on spin and angles from his serve, which won't see him serve a ton of aces by any stretch of the imagination. I reckon he'll serve around 5-6 tops, even if a match is a long one, and Federer should be serving a fair number of them if he wants to stand a chance in this one. Against Murray, Rafa managed 2 aces, and in his matches before that, 4,2,1,6,8. The match where he served 8 was against big John Isner who isn't anywhere near as good as return on serve as Federer. Roger in his matches has served 12,7,10,8,4 and then 18 aces against Novak. If he goes into the double figures this handicap should be covered and I'm happy to take a max bet on Roger serving well tomorrow, like he did in the semi against Djokovic. Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer- Over 7.5 breaks of serve- 5/6 Ladbrokes- (4/10) This bet didn't work out in the women's final but I'm taking it again in a match which has the potential to be an absolute cracker. Hear there's thunder storms about tonight in Paris, and there is some talk about a potential disruption in the final tomorrow, which would be really unfortunate, but wouldn't allow either play to settle completely and the serve may be a bit disjointed for both. No matter if there is a disruption, I fancy both players to get a look at eachothers serve. Nadal will look to dominate Federer's second serve, whilst Rafa's serve isn't the best anyway, and he will look to dominate the rallies with his forehand, rather than play the shorter points. Interesting stat with Nadal's matches that every match excluding the first round against Isner, have had at least 8 breaks of serve in them. Even in 3 set wins for Rafa, there have been a considerable amount, and against Murray there were 9 in total, and if Murray wouldn't have blown so many break points, there would have been a few more. In the Federer Djokovic match, there were 8 in total, including a few in the opening service games of the match. Not convinced that either will win this in 3 tomorrow and it could go the distance, but either way there should be some cracking tennis on show, and I reckon both players will play some amazing shots in spurts, and I'll back the overs here.

[Tennis - The French Open]

Re: Tennis - The French Open

I must sound like a bit of an idiot for this after saying I wasn't touching the finals but Ladbrokes' final markets have interested me and I've ended up taking 2 for both the women today and men's final tomorrow. Let's hope I can end up with a profit for the slam. Will post the women first and then the men in a bit. Francesca Schiavone vs Na Li- Over 7.5 breaks of serve- 4/6 Ladbrokes- (5/10)- LOSS Francesca Schiavone vs Na Li- Over 3.5 aces- Evens Ladbrokes- (3/10)- LOSS

Went wrong today. Both were essentially lost down to Schiavone getting completely outplayed. -9.45 for me now, all down to the men tomorrow to see if this is a decent end to the tournament, or an utterly miserable one overall.

[Darts: UK Open 2011]

Re: Darts: UK Open 2011

Wasn't intending on getting involved in the tournament but having one tonight. Denis Ovens to beat Andy Smith- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN

Ovens impressive again. Taylor in danger at the minute :unsure.

[Darts: UK Open 2011]

Re: Darts: UK Open 2011 Wasn't intending on getting involved in the tournament but having one tonight. Denis Ovens to beat Andy Smith- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10) Price just looks a tad big on Ovens here who's played consistent darts over the past couple of days. He's beaten two decent opponents in Painter and Walsh, a comfortable 9-4 scoreline over both which should give him confidence going into tonights match. The Pie man easily got through his first couple of matches, but earlier only scraped past a youngster in Reece Robinson by a single leg. Unless he ups that performance he'll struggle to match Ovens all the way, and I'll back the wily Ovens to carry on his impressive form and take this one.

[Tennis - The French Open]

Re: Tennis - The French Open I must sound like a bit of an idiot for this after saying I wasn't touching the finals but Ladbrokes' final markets have interested me and I've ended up taking 2 for both the women today and men's final tomorrow. Let's hope I can end up with a profit for the slam. Will post the women first and then the men in a bit. Francesca Schiavone vs Na Li- Over 7.5 breaks of serve- 4/6 Ladbrokes- (5/10) Finals of the slam are the rare chances I get to bet on breaks of serve and in this one today I'd expect at least 8 breaks of serve regardless of the winner. We see so often in the women's game a lack of mental strength which leads to both players consistently breaking eachother. Clay is the surface where breaks of serve occur the most in both the men's and women's game due to the server not being able to put as much pace as they'd like on serve, put that together with the windy conditions that we've seen over the past few days, then serving could be an issue for both girls, especially as both are pretty good at punishing anything short on 2nd serve. Although I expect both players to be right up for this one, given the ocassion, there will presumably be some early jitters going about for both which hopefully can provide a few early breaks. Looking at both players' matches over the past couple of weeks, the 8 breaks of serve needed in this one has been covered 3 times by both players in their 6 matches, but some of these matches where straightforward quickish matches in Schiavone's case. I wouldn't fancy either of these two to run away with this one and it should tight for the most parts, and I'll back both players to get a read on eachother's serve and return well. Francesca Schiavone vs Na Li- Over 3.5 aces- Evens Ladbrokes- (3/10) Smaller stakes for me with this one but the price is too high for what the bet actually is. In the past rounds, combining both players' ace counts, they've covered at least 4 aces in 4 out of 6 rounds so not 100% sure why it's priced at evens. In Schiavone's 4th round and quarter final match, she hit 10 in total, she if she gets going today she could well cover the target on her own. Li's serve when she gets it right isn't the worst either and she usually chips in with an ace every match. Although I fancy there to be breaks of serve a plenty, there will be momentum switches and that can always bring about aces on serve. Despite the windy conditions, we saw Federer nail a ton of aces yesterday, showing that it isn't a possibility to hit them if the first serve is right. Both are capable of throwing in the occassional ace so I'll back the overs here which can hopefully squeeze through. Aces and breaks of serve galore in this one would be perfect.

[Cricket: Friends Life t20]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 Really good day from my perspective with all 3 bets coming through. The Middlesex boundary count just came through after the match was delayed due to the floodlights failing. Luckily Murtagh hit that all important boundary in the final over to bring the overs in. +10 today though, cancelling out the dismal start yesterday and gives me +1.00 overall.

[Cricket: Friends Life t20]

Re: Cricket: Friends Life t20 And why's that? Think you'll find loads of the guys on PL who know their stuff about quite a few sports are some of the most profitable.

[Tennis - The French Open]

Re: Tennis - The French Open

I'm getting involved in both semis tomorrow, both of which potentially could be crackers. Rafael Nadal vs Andy Murray- Nadal -6.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (5/10)- LOSS Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic- Federer +5.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN

Should have been 2/2 really with Nadal missing the handicap by a single game, where he should have had most of it covered from the first set. Glad Federer won though, good to see him playing this well again. -2.09 today, giving me a final standing of -1.45 as I'm not going near the final. Really disappointing end to a tournament in which I started so well in but quite glad the clay season is over as it's always an unpredictable surface to call. Bring on the grass I say. GL to all who have something in the final.