How much money do you realistically hope to be making from sports betting each week ?

As in average profit ? assuming that some weeks will be good other weeks bad, it will all average out in the end

for me it would be €500

not too much but not an unrealistic figure at the end of the day either but an extra 5 Bills at the end of the week is a modest enough goal to aim towards

What's yours ?

NHL Opening Night Lines Are Out !!

Opening lines for Thursday & Friday the 6th & 7th of October  from Bwin.com

 

Montreal -110 @ Toronto -110

  Over/under 5.5 @ -110

 

Philly +110 @ Boston  -130

  Over 5.5 @ +105 Under 5.5 @ -125

 

Pittsburgh +140 @ Vancouver  -170

  Over 5.5 @ +105  Under @ -125

 

Anaheim -130 @ Buffalo +110  (Helsinki)

  Over 5.5  -115  Under @ -105

 

NY Rangers +100 @ LA Kings -120 (Stockholm)

  Over 5.5 @ -105  Under @ -115

 

 

 

... [More]

Here are some over/under future prop bets for the coming MLB season

Taken from StanJames.com

Batters

Highest number of Home Runs
  Over 47.5 @ +115
  Under 47.5 @ -150

Most RBIs
  Over 137.5 @ +105
  Under 137.5 @ -138

Most Hits
  Over 214.5 @ -115
  Under 214.5 @ -115

Most Steals
  Over 64.5 @ -115
  Under 64.5 @ -115

Highest batting average to exceed .355 (must qualify for batting title)
 Yes @ +130
 No @ -170

Pitchers

Most Wins
  Over 20.5 @ -170
  Under 20.5 @ +130

Most Losses
  Over 17.5 @ +125
  Under 17.5 @ -163

Most Saves
  Over 47.5 @ +100
  Under 47.5 @ -130

Most strikeouts
  Over 240.5 @ -130
  Under 240.5 @ +100

Team Wins & Losses

Most wins by any team
  Over 100.5 @ -115
  Under 100.5 @ -115

Most Losses by any team
  Over 101.5 @ -125
  Under 101.5 @ -105

 

 

 

... [More]

Here's a list of changes I'd make to the UEFA European Championship Qualifiers

If I was UEFA President like Michel Platini     The same would also apply to the European section of World Cup qualifiers when they come around.As some of you may have already noticed the European games have been moved back a day from their usual Saturdays and Wednesdays to Friday and Tuesdays.This is to give the players an extra day of rest before going back to their clubs which is a good thing but Fridays are a strange day for matches and it also means that there are no more afternoon kickoffs like there were on Saturdays but countries do have the option to play on a Saturday if they so wish.I have a better idea to reduce the congestion during the footballing season and the number of games being played

Firstly there are too many footballing federations in Europe some of which aren't even in Europe to begin with, most notably Israel,Kazakhstan and other central Asian countries in the Caucasus region. OK you could make the argument that they're in between Europe and Asia but I can't see why Kazakhstan,Azerbaijan and possibly Armenia can't play in Asia.With the Armenian's & the Azeri's refusal to play each other due to their early 1990's conflict and ongoing territory dispute it would be the perfect solution to have one or both of them sent to play in the Asian federation.

Then I would go about making the European groups smaller like they do in Africa and Asia by having a set of preliminary qualifiers for the bottom fee... [More]

What leagues do you like betting on and why ??

A question for soccer fans & bettors in the forum, how do you choose the leagues that you bet on and what leagues do you follow closely from a betting perspective and also from a purely fans based outlook ?
Sometimes I think it can be hard to keep up with what's going on in the major European leagues never mind what's happening in the other less well known hotbeds of European football.For example on a typical Saturday you have over 100 games to choose from in England and Scotland alone and when you take into account the other major leagues across the continent like France,Germany,Holland along with the likes of Austria,Denmark, Belgium,Romania etc and not to mention the South American and rest of the world games, there are literally hundreds of games to choose from wagering wise.So how do you choose your favourite leagues and teams to follow ?

For me these are my favourite leagues to bet on (in order)and a brief reason why

1. English Premiership
  Has the best players along with the best TV and media coverage.Been following this league for years so I have a good knowledge of all the teams and players involved.Betting wise I think it is fairly predictable and it can be easy to find value with underdogs and totals.

2. Italian Serie A
  Again I have been following this league since the mid 1990's from the days of Channel 4's excellent live match coverage along with the weekly Gazzetta Football Ita... [More]

Thursday October 7th Opening Night Lines Are Out

Just a little over seven weeks until the NHL regular season is back and already there is a first look at lines for the opening night of the 7th of October.These lines are from Austrian sportsbook Bwin.com and they have posted moneylines,run lines along with totals for the opening night's 5 games.

October 7th

Carolina @ Minnesota  (Being played in Helsinki,Finland)

Carolina -$105
Minnesota -$115

Regulation
  Carolina +$150
  Tie @ +$300
  Minnesota @ +$130

Carolina +1.5 @ -$300
Minnesota -1.5 @ +$240

Over 5.5 @ -$130
Under 5.5 @ +$110

Calgary @ Edmonton

Calgary @ -$120
Edmonton @ +$100

Regulation
  Calgary @ +$130
  Tie @ +$300
  Edmonton @ +$150

Calgary -1.5 @ +$225
Edmonton +1.5 @ -$283

Over 5.5 @ +$100
Under 5.5 @ -$120

Chicago @ Colorado

  Chicago @ -$150
  Colorado @ +$125

Regulation
  Chicago @ +$105
  Tie @ +$310
  Colorado @ +$185

Chicago -1.5 @ +$205
Colorado +1.5 @ -$250

Over 5.5 @ -$130
Under 5.5 @ +$110
 


Montreal @ Toronto 
 
Montreal @ -$105
Toronto @ -$115

Regulation
  Montreal @ +$155
  Tie @ +$280
  Toronto @ +$135

Montreal +1.5 @ -$300
Toronto -1.5 @ +$240

Over 5.5 @ +$105
Under ... [More]

Dutch Jupiler League is back tomorrow night !!

    

The Eerste Divisie, also known as the Jupiler league, returns tomorrow night where it offers soccer bettors a full set of fixtures and the oppurtunity to get down on some action on a usually quiet Friday night.We also have the French Ligue 2 on Fridays as well of course  

The Jupiler league has a reputation as an 'over' league and indeed it is generally high scoring and the prices and goal lines offered by bookies reflect that.
In the 342 fixtures last season 210 went over 2.5 goals (61%) whilst 132 stayed under.This excludes games that were played by HFC Haarlem who folded in January of this year and whose season record was expunged.Also of note was if you took the over/under of 3.0 for every game, it would have ended up going 136 - 132 with a whopping 74 pushes.

I've no data on prices for these games but you can imagine a blind bet on the over in every game wouldn't have yielded much profit at the end of the season,so you have to pick your spots carefully. Don't forget the over is usually juiced heavily.Some teams do score more than others whether they are at home or away,also a top against bottom game usually sees more goals than a midtable clash as is the case in most leagues.
I hope to improve my knowledge of this league this season as it's nice to have a full set of fixtures on a Friday night to pick from and don't forget we also have the French 2nd division if we can't find enough poten... [More]

English Premiership Season Point Totals Are Out

Just under 4 weeks until kickoff and Pinnacle already have their EPL season points totals out.

Chelsea
  Over 83.5  @ -108
  Under 83.5 @ -108

Man Utd
  Over 82.5  @ -108
  Under 82.5 @ -108

Arsenal
  Over 75 @ -108
  Under 75 @ -108

Man City
  Over 73.5 @ -123
  Under 73.5 @ +105

Tottenham
  Over 69.5 @ +112
  Under 69.5 @ -131

Liverpool
  Over 63.5 @ -124
  Under 63.5 @ +106

Aston Villa
  Over 61.5 @ -108
  Under 61.5 @ -108

Everton
  Over 60.5 @ -108
  Under 60.5 @ -108

Birmingham
  Over 49 @ -101
  Under 49 @ -115

Sunderland
  Over 47 @ -108
  Under 47 @ -108

Blackburn
  Over 44.5 @ -108
  Under 44.5 @ -108

Fulham
  Over 43.5 @ -108
  Under 43.5 @ -108

West Ham
  Over 42.5 @ -108
  Under 42.5 @ -108

Newcastle 
  Over 41 @ -108
  Under 41 @ -108

Bolton
  Over 38.5 @ -115
  Under 38.5 @ -101

Stoke City
  Over 37  @ -125
  Under 37 @ +107

Wigan
  Over 34.5 @ -110
  Under 34.5 @ -106

Wolves
  Over 33 @ -108
  Under 33 @ -108

West Brom
  Over 31.5 @ -123
&n... [More]

Most controversial trades ever

With all the furore surrounding LeBron's move to Miami and the way the fans in Cleveland feel they have been betrayed, can you think of any other trades/transfers that have sparked such controversy ??

I can think of a couple from the soccer world especially Luis Figo's transfer from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid back in 2000, where on his return game to play against Barca at the Nou Camp,a pig's head was thrown at him    

There was also a player that played for a North London club whose move to another north London club back in 2001 was even more controversial, especially if you're a fan of the club that wears lilywhite shirts.        His name is Sol ...  

Anyone got anything else ??

World Cup Final Referee Special Bets

It all comes to a close tomorrow evening in Johannesburg and we will have a first time World Cup champion whether it be Spain or the Netherlands.As per usual most bookies will be offering every special bet imaginable from, who will be the first player to be caught offside,how many fouls will Mark Van Bommel commit,how many shots David Villa will have,who will be the last player to miss in a potential penalty shootout along with hundreds more.

I found a couple of special bets relating to Sunday's referee, Howard Webb,the first English officiator to take charge of a World Cup Final since Jack Taylor back in 1974, and there are a couple of prop bets that will look familiar to anyone who ever saw highlights of that final.There are also a couple of bets on offer that are reminiscent of Graham Poll's last ever international game in charge at the 2006 World Cup.

Howard Webb has given out 17 cards so far at this tournament including 8 in the game between Italy & Slovakia back in the group stages.He won plaudits for the way he refereed the Brazil/Chile game and ever since being overlooked for the quarter & semi finals he was favourite to be the man in charge for the big game itself.
Before the tournament began he was a best priced +$1600 with paddypower.com to referee the Final.He also refereed this year's Champion's League Final.

  Howard Webb Specials

To order a penalty to be retaken +$2500

T... [More]

Lampard's goal that never was and it was a winner !!

Well only if you placed a bet that Lampard would get on the scoresheet with Bet365 or WilliamHill, who paid out to anyone who had backed Lampard to score at anytime in yesterday's game against Germany.
Bet365 & Hills were offering +$350 and +$333 respectively for Lamps to break his World Cup duck yesterday.

One of the myriad of special bets offered yesterday was for England to score a goal by hitting the crossbar and for the ball to cross the line   This was offered at +$1000 by Ladbrokes.com and to the presumably very few people who took this bet, Ladbrokes paid out on even though it wasn't given,as you all know by now.

Who said bookies weren't always fair .

The top 5 bets you wish you already had on the World Cup

With the group stages already over and half way through the 2nd round, it's time to look back and reminisce about bets that we wished we had placed before the grand kickoff on June 11th.With several of the big ones already fallen and plenty of surprises along the way,here's a quick look at 5 of the best bets that may or may not have gotten away.

1.  Holland to win 9 points in Group E  +$3300
   Akin to placing them in a 3 team parlay in all of their group matches, the Dutch, who breezed through their European qualifying group with a perfect record, were heavy favourites to win a relatively weak Group E. At a best priced 1.62 to win the group the smart option would have been taking them at a massive 34.00 to win all their games and accumulate nine points in the process. 

2. France to finish bottom of Group A +$700
  Arriving in South Africa in controversial circumstances,it was clear from the beginning that something wasn't right with France.With Raymond Domenech confirmed to be stepping down after the tournament, along with his decision to omit certain players from the squad, this was always going to be a difficult tournament for Les Blues.In a group alongside the host nation and two decent Latin American sides, it wasn't going to be easy to qualify let alone justify favouritism in winning the group.After a drab draw with Uruguay,and a dismal performance against Mexico, the infighting in the camp got worse ... [More]

At what price will the draw in the Mexico/Uruguay match open at ?

With both Mexico & Uruguay both locked at the top of Group A with 4 points a piece, and to play each other in the final game in this group next week (whilst France have to beat South Africa to stand any chance of progressing also needing this result to go their way),it won't be long until conspiracy theories start flying around about both teams,Mexico & Uruguay, settling for the draw in order to ensure progression to the last 16 and also eliminate France while they're at it.

What do you think the draw will open at here ??

-$150 ?  -$200 ?

Also anyone remember the first round game between Denmark and Sweden at Euro 2004 which opened at a very short price for the draw which it turned out to be, a favourable result for both sides eliminating Italy in the process 

Dodgy referee in charge of the England vs USA match

Brazilian referee Carlos Simon, who was suspended by the Brazilian FA for incompetence last season in his native country,has been appointed as referee for England's WC opener despite objections to him officiating at this year's tournament from figures within Brazilian football.

Some of you may remember Simon from the Germany/Sweden game in 2006 when he was captured on camera broadly smiling whilst sending off Teddy Lucic and also receiving a pat on the back for his troubles.

Shades of Ali Bin Nasser   (mr_bollox will know who that is)

Some interesting, and not so interesting, facts about the World Cup

Just a few more days now until the Greatest Show on Earth gets underway and while most of us have already selected our favourite antepost bets such as winner,top scorer,group winners etc there are a couple of facts that may or may not be relevant to placing a bet on certain markets at this years competition.Here's a couple of bits of random trivia that you may find useful,or not.

There was no hat trick scored in any game at the 2006 World Cup in Germany making it the first ever WC without 3 goals being scored in the one game.For this WC it's 1.22 that a hat trick will be scored and no hat trick to be scored is available @ 4.00.

Germany have won the most penalty shootouts in World Cup history, winning all 4 they have been involved in, whilst England have lost all 3 of their shootouts in 1990,98 & 2006.England are 4.33 to exit the tournament at any stage on penalties with extrabet.com.

Mexico have lost the most games at the World Cup with 22 losses in total out of the 13 tournaments they have qualified for.Brazil has the most wins at 64.

The record number of goals scored in a game is 12 when Austria beat Switzerland 7-5 back in 1954.It's 200/1 with WilliamHill.com that 13 or more goals are scored in any one game in this tournament.

Italia 90 & Germany 06 saw the most penalty shootouts with 4 a piece.The over/under on total # of SO's is 3.5 this time around with the over @ 2.00 & under @ 1.73.It'... [More]

The Greatest Players who never played in the World Cup

With the World Cup now kicking off in Johannesburg in a little over 2 weeks, most fans will be looking forward to seeing the best players in the World such as Messi,Kaka,C.Ronaldo,Rooney,Xavi et al. playing for their respective countries but there has been some great players down through the years who never made it to the World Cup for a variety of reasons.

One of the most striking differences between national and club football is that you can win everything from league cups & titles to the Champions League with your club but never get to make it to the World's biggest stage, that of the FIFA World Cup.Amongst the reasons for this is, that while you may be a very talented player coming from a relatively poor footballing country ( talent wise) that will never make it to a big international tournament.Or, injuries along with fallouts with national managers, or other coaching or playing staff, may have hindered your international career.

Here's a look at five players from the last 20 years or so who never made it to the Greatest Show on Earth

1. George Weah 
 
One of the best ever African players, who won the top 3 best player awards in 1995 from FIFA,UEFA & the CAF,never qualified for the World Cup with his native Liberia,who fell short in 2002 by just 1 point.Weah won league titles in France & Italy with PSG and AC Milan respectively,as well as playing for Chelsea,and is now a politician in his native l... [More]

Any here ever been reprimanded for betting during March Madness at work

I read there a couple of years ago about people who worked for the federal government or for big corporations who were caught betting on NCAA games over the internet or for running office pools who ended up being suspended from work,denied promotions or even fired  

Anyone here ever found themselves in a similar situation ??

What is the attitude of your boss and workplace when it comes to March Madness ??

Any sport you enjoy watching but don't bet on ?

Anyone here got any sports that they like to watch but never have  bet on ?

As for me I like watching Rugby League (not Rugby Union which I also watch and bet on) during the Summer,even though I've never had a bet on it.I'm not that into it but I generally watch a game or two at the weekends if there is nothing else on.I also watch a bit of snooker or darts but I'd have to be pretty bored and it would have to be the latter stages of a big tournament before I'd tune in.

And I've also made a decision to add NBA basketball to that list.I'm more or less done betting basketball for this season and I don't know if I'll be back betting it next year.I'll still watch a few  games each week but no wagering.I'll probably turn my attention to Ice Hockey for the next few weeks, until baseball arrives anyway.

 

What's your favorite part about betting baseball ?

I know there are a few hardcore baseball fans here in the forum who would still watch even if they couldn't bet on it but for me I only bet baseball because it's a summer sport when there is little else on,only this year we got the World Cup which ends in early July though,but what I really love is the sheer volume of games that are played.

In baseball you have action every single day,at least 12 to 15 games on a daily basis so you are totally spoiled for choice in regards to moneylines,totals,1st 5 inning lines,runlines etc.Some people see the number of games being played as a negative and that there's too many games and it's impossible to keep up with stats,update your records etc but I just think you can always find at least 3 or 4 bets that you absolutely love every day of the week.

The bookie remember has to put out a line on every game (and will make mistakes), you however, don't have to bet every line, you can just sit back and cherry pick your favourite bets and be on the way to having a profitable season whilst enjoying the action.

Will Nets lose a game by more than 68 points this season?

It is possible with the way they're playing.I think that one team will want to humiliate them at some point over the next couple of months.And with the way Dallas blew out NY last weekend I think it is possible it could happen to the Nets.

I emailed my book to get a price on this special prop bet but they didn't want to know.Also wanted to know a price on them finishing the season with 8 wins or less but again to no avail.Probably would end up being poor value anyways.

Anyone think they'll set that record and get blown out by 68 or more?

What's Your Sports Betting highlight of The Decade?

As the decade draws to a close over the next 10 days or so, what has been your most memorable bet from the past 10 years? It doesn't have to be a bet that gave you the most profit but a bet that provided exceptional value or gave you the greatest satisfaction in winning.

Mine would have to be France vs England at Euro 2004 in soccer.The bet I placed was England to be leading at half-time and France to come back and win the game @ +2800. I talked a work colleague into placing the same bet who was sceptical but just when the bet looked like being a loser France scored two very late goals to win the game and all through the 2nd half I still had total confidence in it becoming a winning wager.There was also a great atmosphere at the bar where we watched the game.Even though it was only about 300 euro I won, it was my first sizeable win and truly got me started in sports betting.

NBA Head to Head Most Regular Season Wins

Here is a futures bet from UK based Ladbrokes.com for the upcoming NBA season.It pairs and groups certain teams together as to who will get the most regular season wins.

Toronto Raptors vs Washington Wizards

 Toronto  -$150

 Washington +$110

Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers vs Memphis Grizzlies

 Golden State   +$162

 LA Clippers    +$150

 Memphis     +$175

Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks vs Philadelphia 76ers

 Chicago    +$162

 New York  +$175

 Philadelphia +$162

New Orleans Hornets vs Phoenix Suns

 New Orleans  -$175

 Phoenix   +$125

Detroit Pistons vs Miami Heat vs Atlanta Hawks

 Detroit +$175

 Miami  +$162

 Atlanta +$162

Houston Rockets vs Dallas Mavericks

 Houston +$100

 Dallas -$138

Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trailblazers

 Denver +$163

 Portland +$120

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics

 Cleveland -$150

 Boston  +$110

 

 

 

 

... [More]

Early Lines for Opening Night Oct 27

Most Regular Season Wins Head to Head Match Bets

Found this futures bet on UK bookmaker Ladbrokes.com. It puts certain teams against each other to see  who will win the most regular season games.   I don't know if they'll have all teams available,maybe in a couple of weeks but I'll just post these lines anyway see what you guys think   Toronto Raptors vs Washington Wizards   Golden State Warriors vs LA Clippers vs Memphis Grizzlies Chicago Bulls vs New York Knicks vs Philadelphia 76ers Chicago +$162 New Orleans Hornets vs Phoenix Suns Detroit Pistons vs Miami Heat vs Atlanta Hawks Houston Rockets vs Dallas Mavericks Denver Nuggets vs Portland Trailblazers Cleveland Cavaliers vs Boston Celtics  ... [More]