Final Four Analysis of NCAA Basketball Tournament

The article BetRepublic.com presented at the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament described the parity that existed this season, and the weaknesses of all four number one seeds, advising sports bettors to caution against loading your final four with them.  One of those number one seeds, the tournament favorite, Kentucky, went out in the second round, emphasizing the point we made.  And, adding an exclamation mark to our premise, two other number ones, Syracuse and Kentucky, were eliminated this weekend, leaving Duke as the only surviving top seed.

Thus, the final four is made up of a lone number one - Duke (at odds of +150), one number two seed, West Virginia (+200) - and two number five seeds - Butler (+400) and Michigan State (+450).

Who is going to win it all?

Perhaps there is a clue provided on the divergent paths each has taken to get here.

Odds seem set against the top seeds this year, so suspicion tells me that perhaps Duke, which had the highest odds of the four number ones entering the tournament, might be the next to go out.  They have had the easiest road to the finals, needing only to beat number sixteen Ark. Pine Bluff, number eight Cal and an undersized number four Purdue team that was without star playmaker Robbie Hummel.  They beat number three Baylor to get to the final four, but the Mountaineers of W.Virginia will be their first real test and at odds of only +150 I don't think there is value in the Blue ... [More]

FA Cup Tips

Today’s major sporting events come from the world of English football and we’ll be previewing the biggest three matches from this evening’s fixtures. Read on as we look at the FA Cup Quarter Final Replay between Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham as well as two of the night’s four Premier League matches.

Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham:

When these two sides last met they played out a 0-0 draw at Craven Cottage in what was an exciting and action filled encounter. Spurs ‘keeper Heurelho Gomes was outstanding in the first leg and is the reason that these two sides are meeting to play for a place at Wembley to meet Portsmouth in the FA Cup Semi Final and with Fulham having a poor record on the road, they will believe that they can advance to the final four stage.

Spurs are unbeaten in their last ten home games in all competitions while Fulham have only won one of their last ten away games – the win being at Accrington Stanley in the cup. These two sides also met at White Hart Lane on January 26th in the league, with Spurs coming out 2-0 winners. With these formlines I feel that Spurs will be ones progressing to Wembley.

www.BetRepublic.com Recommends: Tottenham Hotspur -1 on the match handicap market @ 17/10 with Roman Pavlyuchenko to score anytime (should he be fit and start the match) @ 10/11.

Manchester City v Everton:

This match is a b... [More]

Premier League Picks

We’re coming into the final stretch of the English football season and today’s biggest sporting events come from the top two leagues. In this article we’ll be previewing the day’s only Premier League fixture as well as two matches in the Championship that feature two of the three teams pushing for automatic promotion to the Premier League.

West Ham United v Wolverhampton Wanderers:

This game is an incredibly important game for both sides. They sit 17th and 16th in the league respectively and a win will move West Ham six points clear of the bottom three while a Wolves victory will see them seven points clear. There’s no doubting that both sides will be going for this game, especially as a draw won’t be much good for either side. How will the game go though?

West Ham are the favourites as their home form has been impressive of late. Before losing at home to Bolton at the weekend, they had won three and drawn two of their previous five games. Wolves have lost three of their last six away games, but have won one and drawn one of their last two. They could argue that they should have beaten Aston Villa at the weekend too. With both sides going for the game I can see this being open and entertaining, but I feel that it will end level.

BetRepublic.com Recommends: Back the draw @ 23/10 with both sides to score @ 10/11 with William Hill.

Doncaster Rovers v Newcastle United:[More]

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Cheltenham Gold Cup Tips

There is some major sporting action this weekend as the Cheltenham Festival and the Six Nations Championship concludes this Friday and Saturday respectively. In this article we’ll be previewing the major happenings from these two illustrious events – the Cheltenham Gold Cup and France v England. We’ll also be looking at the biggest football match of the weekend as Manchester United take on Liverpool at Old Trafford.

Cheltenham Gold Cup:

The totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Class A Grade 1 chase run over three miles and about two furlongs. It is open to horses aged five years old and upwards.

This year's Gold Cup is being billed one of the most thrilling spectacles in racing history since it will feature a classic rematch between two-time Gold Cup victor Kauto Star (2007 and 2009) and the 2008 winner Denman. These two horses are so far ahead of the rest on their official ratings that it is impossible to contemplate that one of them won't win. Paddy Power have Kauto Star leading the field with odds of 4/6 with Denman coming in at 4/1. They are followed by Cooldine and Imperial Commander at 8/1.

Kauto Star is the class of the field and is odds on to win the race. However, this year’s festival has been a good one for the bookies so far with very few favourites winning races. Will the highlight of the festival turn out the same way? If it is to happen then I can only see Denman beating Kauto Star past the post.

www.BetRepublic.com Recommends: B... [More]

Thursday Betting Preview: Cheltenham Festival

Today is Day Three at the Cheltenham Festival and we’ll be previewing the day’s biggest race – the Ladbrokes World Hurdle – in this article along with the two games in the Europa League that feature the two remaining teams from the Premier League.

Ladbrokes World Hurdle:

The highlight of Ladies Day at the Cheltenham Festival is the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. This race is a Class A Grade 1 hurdle run over three miles. It is open to horses aged four years old and upwards.

Paddy Power have last year’s winner, Big Bucks, as the favourite to be victorious again this year at odds of 8/13. Big Bucks is a massive favourite to repeat his 2009 success with his closest rival in the odds being Tidal Bay at 7/1. He is closely followed by Karabak at 15/2. The next nearest horse is Sentry Duty at a massive 14/1.

In the BetRepublic.com Ladbrokes World Hurdle preview, posted on February 21st we have recommended that you back Tidal Bay each way. If, like the odds suggest, Big Bucks walks this one and gets his second successive victory, like Baracouda in 2002 and 2003, then Tidal Bay looks a certainty to finish in the top three and give you a winning bet at better than evens.

BetRepublic Recommends: Back Tidal Bay each way at... [More]

Champion Hurdle Tips

Today’s biggest sporting action centres around a town in Gloucestershire, England as the Cheltenham Festival for 2010 gets underway today. We’ll be previewing day one’s biggest race – the Champion Hurdle – as well as the two games being played in the Champions League tonight in this article.

Champion Hurdle:

The Champion Hurdle is the highlight of the first day of the Cheltenham Festival and the most prestigious hurdle race run all season. It is open to horses aged four years old and upwards, and is always run at a fast and furious pace.

According to the current odds with Extrabet.com the winner of the 2009 Supreme Novices' Hurdle, Go Native is the favourite to win the race at 4/1. He is clear of his nearest challengers Solwhit at 6/1 with joint third favourites Binocular and 2009 Champion Hurdle winner Punjabi at odds of 7/1.

Head of PR at Extrabet.com, Chris Shillington has this to say:

“All the statistics point to Solwhit as the most likely winner at 6/1 on Extrabet however Go Native still has all the public money at 18/5. Admittedly there are some injury worries however what's for sure is that no clever punters are on Binocular at 7/1. Talking of clever punters the whispers are that Starluck at 12/1 could be the surprise in the pack with last year's winner Punjabi has done little wrong to be considered at 7/1.”[More]

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BetRepublic Wednesday Sports Betting Preview

BetRepublic.com Wednesday Sports Betting Preview

By Antony Jordan

Wednesday sees Day Two of the four day Cheltenham festival and also two matches being played in Europe’s elite club football tournament. We’ll be previewing the Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham as well as both of the Champions League fixtures.

Queen Mother Champion Chase:

The Queen Mother Champion Chase is a Class A Grade 1 chase run over two miles. It is open to horses aged 5 years old and upwards. It is the highlight of the second day’s action at Cheltenham.

Unsurprisingly Paddy Power have made Master Minded the favourite to take be first past the post. He is the winner of the last two Queen Mother Champion Chases and is looking to book his place in history by becoming the first horse to claim a hat-trick of wins. Master Minded is available at odds of 5/6. Second favourite to win is Kalahari King @ 9/2 followed by Twist Magic at odds of 15/2.

Forpadydeplasterer is available at 10/1 despite showing his winning ability by beating second favourite Kalahari King by a short head at the Grade A The Irish Independent Arkle. Can he defy his odds and take the win? In the BetRepublic preview of the Queen Mother Champion Chase our experts suggest backing Kalahari King each way and we’re sticking with this re... [More]

Watch Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks NBA Live Stream

NBA Regular Season: Atlanta Hawks vs Washington Wizards Live Streaming

NBA match between Atlanta Hawks at Washington Wizards the game play on March 11, 2010, BetRepublic TV on Today, 7:00 PM ET.

Last month, the Atlanta Hawks were unable to make it into Washington D.C. due to a winter storm.

They are facing a different kind of challenge heading into the rescheduled matchup.

The Hawks will try to avoid losing three straight for the first time in more than two months when they visit the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.

Atlanta (40-23) is making its first trip to the nation’s capital this season after the originally scheduled matchup Feb. 6 was postponed because of a blizzard which left two feet of snow in the area.

Atlanta would have gone into that meeting on a two-game winning streak, but heads into Thursday’s contest having dropped two in a row. The Hawks have been held to fewer than 100 points in both of the road losses after averaging 115.3 points during a four-game winning streak. They are coming off a 99-98 loss at New York on Monday.

After rallying from 10 down, Josh Smith had a chance to put Atlanta ahead, but his shot was blocked with 1.7 seconds left and officials ruled upon review that Al Horford’s short jumper came after the buzzer.The inability to convert late came after the Hawks blew a ... [More]

Germany vs England Live Streaming Hockey World Cup 2010 Semi Finals

Germany vs England Hockey World Cup 2010 Live Match 11th March 2010

England vs Germany 2010 Mens Hockey World Cup Match
Date: 11 March 2010, 18:05 Venue: Dhyan Chand National Stadium

Germany vs. England Live Hockey is the first semifinal of FIH World Cup 2010 held in India. The FIH World Cup 2010 is continuing in India this year. Favourite teams are Pakistan, Germany, Netherlands, India and Australia. But Australia, Germany, England and Netherlands have reached in Semifinals of FIH Hockey World Cup. This is the first match of semifinals of this hockey world cup 2010.

Watch Hockey World Cup 2010 Germany vs England Live Streaming Online here. First team from Pool A Germany will take on second team from Pool B England tomorrow, March 11, 2010. If the reigning champs Germany continue their good form they can beat England successfully tomorrow.

Watch Germany vs England Hockey World Cup 2010 Live Match

However, England will be quite happy to have come thus far in the tournament and it will be their first semi-final at world cup level after they have lost the World Cup finals to Australia in 1986.

Germany, has had ample experience of playing several semi finals and Markus Weise, the German coach believes that his team will ... [More]

Australia vs Netherlands Hockey World Cup 2010 Live

Australia vs Netherlands Live Streaming Hockey World Cup 2010 Semi Finals

Netherlands vs Australia 2010 Mens Hockey World Cup Match
Date: 11 March 2010, 20:35 Venue: Dhyan Chand National Stadium

Watch Hockey World Cup 2010 Australia vs Netherlands Live Streaming Online here. Australia will take on old rivals the Netherlands in another semi final of the FIH 2010 World Cup on Thursday, March, 11, 2010. The winner will go to finals and play the winner of the Germany v England match on Saturday, March 13, 2010. The Kookaburras have met the Netherlands last in 2009 at the Champions Trophy and the Australia won that match 7-2.

However, both the teams met head to head 8 times during world cup and both the teams share 4 wins each.

Australia get the ticket of semi-final by killing Pakistan on March 8 from Pool B by 2-1. On the other hand, Netherlands come to the semi-finals by defeating Korea Holland 2-1 on March 9 from Pool A. The winner from this live hockey between Australia vs. Netherlands must get the ticket for Final competition against any team of England vs. Germany on March 13 in Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010.

The Netherlands have had an impressive tour initially when they won 3 matches against Argentina, New Zealand and Canada. However, the last 2 matches have not been in their favor when they tied a 2-2 with Germany and went down 1-2 against Kor... [More]

FA CUP QUARTER FINAL BETTING

The top sporting action comes from the most prestigious cup competition in British football – The FA Cup. This weekend sees the four Quarter Final matches being played with the winners going to Wembley for the Semi Final games.

Portsmouth v Birmingham City:
This game looks to be an interesting contest, with the match odds not really matching the outright odds. Birmingham City are 11/1 to win the FA Cup compared to Portsmouth’s 20/1, yet Portsmouth are the slight favourites to take victory in this game at 8/5 compared to Birmingham’s 7/4. The match odds are not surprising as Portsmouth have one win in their last six home games, while Birmingham have only won one of their last four away games and have lost their last three away league games. However, the midlands side have been drawn away from home in every round of the FA Cup so far this season and with Portsmouth off-field problems getting worse every week they will feel that they can win this game and reach the new Wembley for the first time.

I recommend backing Birmingham to win this game at 7/4 with more than 2.5 goals to be scored @ 13/10.

Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur:
Despite Spurs being joint second favourites with Aston Villa at 4/1 to lift the FA Cup this season they are going to have a tough time in this match as Fulham have won their last five home games and have only lost once in their last seventeen games at Craven Cottage. Spurs away form is inconsiste... [More]

WEC-47 Picks: Bowles vs. Cruz Final Card Live

WEC-47 Picks: Bowles vs. Cruz Final Card Live

Well, the lines are up for this weekend's WEC-47: Bowles vs. Cruz in Columbus, Ohio. The event is being broadcast on Versus. Initially I was really looking at Cruz but now I'm favoring Bowles over Cruz for the Bantamweight title and then Torres over Benavidez in a good match as well.

Online sportsbooks have the numbers set at Cruz +205 to Bowles -255 and Benavidez +215 to Torres' -275.

WEC-47 will feature Bowles' first Bantamweight title defense since his KO of Miguel Torres. Bowles shouldn't have an easy fight though, as Cruz' only loss so far was against Urijah Faber. Bowles will favor the ground game and especially submissions. Even though Bowles has become dangerous on his feet, I'd look for him to either take Cruz down or knock him down and then work the submission. I wouldn't expect it in the first round though as Cruz has good wrestling skills and is very tough as well.

I’m predicting a later round submission for Bowles.

Torres shows up with everything. I think if it wasn't for the KO by Bowles, he would still be reigning for a while. This time out though he gets to show us his defense against a solid grappler. Benavidez stands a chance here, but in the end may just be outclassed by Torres. That's no slight to Benavidez either. I expect Torres' experience and skill to allow him to see the opening and work another submission victory. We'll see if Torres can start building the comeback sho... [More]

Tuesday Sports Betting Preview

By Antony Jordon

Bangladesh v England – Second ODI
Republic of Ireland v Brazil

We have only two major sporting events taking place today as Bangladesh take on England in the second One Day International of their three game series and Ireland take on Brazil in an International Friendly at the Emirates Stadium – home of Arsenal Football Club.

Bangladesh v England – Second ODI:
England will be looking to wrap up the One Day International series with a win at Dhaka today, as a win will give them an unassailable 2-0 lead with just one game to be played. England triumphed by six wickets on Sunday at Mirpur. Bangladesh put themselves in an excellent to claim a win against England for the first time ever as Tamim Iqbal hit 125, but they were all out for just 228 as his team-mates could not match his endeavour. Captain Alistair Cook and Paul Collingwood were England’s saviours with 64 and 75 Not Out respectively.

Will England repeat this performance today? As touched on above, Bangladesh have never beaten England and the odds show this fact, with Bangladesh at best odds of 6.0 to win the game, while England are priced at 1.19 to as low as 1.12 in places!

How do we get value from this game then? The BetRepublic.com cricket expert –Ed Hawkins – suggests backing Eoin Morgan as the top England batsman. You can check the best cricket online betting odds... [More]