Rio at Euro 2012

[whoneedsrio]

No not that Rio, this Rio. I thought I'd better put this thread in this forum rather that the Euro one itself, I want to keep it all in one place rather than be hopping from the outright threads to the group threads & then to the individual match threads. Any way I have some outrights in place which I'll deal with first & then the plan for the games. Group A The group of bored to death. The Poles are here because they are the hosts & will be under extra pressure due to that. The Greeks will still try to park the bus even though Rehhagel is long gone. The Czechs will struggle to score goals & only just kept the Jocks out of a playoff spot in qualifying. The Russians have the bulk of the squad that made the semi final four years ago, they don't let in many either but have forwards who can score in Kerzhakov, Pavlyuchenko & Pogrebnyak & some goals from midfield too. Not far from home so should have plenty of support, they can win the group. Group B The group of death. The Danes won't score enough but will put up a fight in the first two games at least. Portugal underachieve almost as much as England, now their golden generation has gone they look a one man band & Ronaldo to me is the typical playground bully, beats up the little kids & disappears when the big boys turn up. There is little between the Dutch & the Germans, I expect them both to go through & the Krauts might just sneak the top spot on goals with the Danes to play last. Group C The Spanish are not quite as good as they were but are still miles in front of the rest here. Whats left of any Quality in the Italian side creaks with age & There's not a lot in the younger players. Balotelli is as likely to get sent off as score & the stench of match fixing surrounds them yet again. Croatia & Ireland are both solid & if they believe then either could send the Italians back home early. Ireland do have some flair with McGeady & McClean, although I can't see Trapattoni starting both. Keane is still classy & I have a fancy that Shane Long could emerge, probably from the bench to score. Group D The French are now all in the same boat, facing the same way & all rowing in the same Direction, they have enough flair with Ribery, Nasri & Ben Arfa to trouble anybody & Bemzema should get plenty of chances. Englands best player can't start till the third game by which time the fat lady may already be singing. I think we will lose to France & the Swedes who are solid will beat Ukraine who like Poland are only here because they are hosts. I expect the French to beat Ukraine in the second round of games so we will have to beat the Swedes or that will be it & I would not be confident of that. The French to win this group then. The Russians would play the runner up from group B & I expect whichever of Holland/germany to see off Ivan. No idea whos coming out A in second but thats as far as they go. Spain will beat the group D runners up. & the French will beat the C runner up. The semi's then are Germany, Holland , France & Spain, not sure about the order. In terms of value I've backed France & a couple of finalist bets with a view to seeing where I stand at the semi stage. Bets. France to win Euro 2012, 20pts @ 11/1, the best price now is 10's so I'll base any returns on that. Germany/France final, 5pts @ 33/1, still available with Hills. Holland/France final, 5pts @ 50/1, still there with Hills & Stan James. Russia to win Group A, 40pts @ 6/4, still available with Sportingbet. France to win Group D, 40pts @ 13/8, best of 6/4 general & I'll base any returns on that price. Russia/France double, 30pts @ 6/6 & 13/8, best now both 6/4. I have a 300pt bank for the 24 group games & will be staking 2 x10pts singles & a 5pt double each day, any returns will be divided by two & half banked with the other half spread across the next five days. All will become clear as I go along, I hope:hope For the first two games then. I expect the Poland/Greece game to provide any early cure for insomnia & the Russians to beat the Czechs. Bets. Poland/Greece 10pt @ 23/10 to draw. Russia 10pts @ 5/4 to win. 5pt double, all at BetVictor. Rio.

[whoneedsrio]

Re: Rio at Euro 2012 A good start although the Poland/Greece game was a bit too exciting for my liking. After the first five minutes Russia looked good & are now 1/3 for the group. The 2 x 10pt singles & the 5pt double returned 92.63pts. I bank half & the other half is divided by five & spread across the next five bets, to allow for the odd pence this is 46.38pts banked & 5 x 9.25pts added to the next five bets. The next stake totals 34.25 then. Holland will want to get a win from the openner with bigger fish to come later in the group. Germany will also want to make a statement & can beat Portugal although I expect this to be quite tight. Bets. Holland to win, 13.7pts @ 3/4. Germany to win, 13.7pts @ 5/4. 6.85pt double, all BetVictor. Rio.