Tuesday 30 December 2008

Another Year Over, A New Beginning

Well I hope all you guys had a good Christmas, and that your New Years celebrations will be even better. I did, I think; judging by all the empties on Saturday morning, and the fact that I vaguely remember either Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

One thing that has been evident (throughout December for me) is the fact that this time of year really does drain the finances, credit crunch or not. When a quiet night out costs near enough £50 in the pub and you leave still sober you realise it's time to change tactics; similarily when a taxi fare costs £20 you know you're in the wrong line of work, being taken for a mug, or probably both !

For this reason, after the holiday period finishes (January 5th for me), it's time for belts to be tightened, and money saved for the summer months when I intend to do a lot of motorcycle racing. I'm not quitting the booze altogether like Will plans to do for the best part of two months, just I'll be drinking carry outs from the supermarket. I know pubs are only trying to stay afloat, but I'm going to look after number one and stretch my finances further.

I also intend to play online poker regularly and seriously, with a view to making some steady, if not spectacular, profits. I still have a small roll in PokerStars, so that is probably the best place for me to resume. Regular updates will hopefully see my participation in this blog become more prominant.

Other plans for this year are still in the pipeline, I have 3 options for early Spring, with DUSoP being amongst them; but more of that nearer the time.

A quick reflection over the past year throws up a mix of emotions and memories for me, but it's safe to say 2008, whilst low key, has been a better one for me than any other since around about 2005. I had memorable visits to DUSoP in March, Dundee in November and also attended numerous motorcycle race meetings. My operation, while a time of great stress has been a resounding success, and I can proudly declare that in the 6 months and 1 week (to the day) since the surgery was performed, I have lost just over 12 stone ! That's more than the mass of most of the other Troop members !

I'll finish off there for now, but thanks to everyone who has participated in writing or reading the blog during its first year; let's hope 2009 will see more Scooping, and here's hoping one or more of us could carry off a big scalp down the bookies or at the casino in the near future.

Mountain Man

Happy New Year & 50 Day Challenge

Well another year is almost at an end and for me it has been a great year in many ways, possibly my best ever in terms of fun and enjoyment. It's a good time to be me!

I have however decided to quit alcohol for 50 days from 3rd January and will resume on Saturday 21st February. It will be tough and no-one gives me a prayer but I am confident I can last the duration and do it. This is welcome news for the Hat who can look forward to peaceful Saturday nights without drunken texts from me telling him I was chatting up his girlfriends mate in fatties! I look forward to losing lbs and gaining £££'s as a result. Others are welcome to join in the challenge although admittedly it is an impossible one to police!

Anyway here's to a happy, prosperous and profitable new year to all!

Saturday 27 December 2008

Welsh National - Chepstow 2.05

Don't have much time to write something up because heading off to a friend's for an Old Firm party - going to be very messy I think.

So anyways, got a extra bit of loose change after Harchibald won yesterday (got 9.8 on BF - thanks to boldie on blonde for highlighting Harchibald in this race so I had a look.

Pretty brutal going yesterday for Will below but I plan to help boost the Xmas wallet with:

High Chimes 10/1 BlueSQ (12.5 on BF)

Sea Diva 50/1 SkyBet (65 on BF)

GL everyone/anyone.

Friday 26 December 2008

Boxing Day Bonanza

Merry Christmas all. Hope everyone had a good one.

Its a bumper day of racing today with 8 UK meetings and 3 Irish.With so many meetings though I always think it is best to avoid the junk racing at the likes of Sedgefield and concentrate on the big meetings. I've had a look at Kemptons big meeting and I have 2 selections for today.


2.05 Kempton - 3pts win Punjabi at 2.52 (Betfair)
This horse has the Grade 1 form in the race and comes into the contest in the form of his life. In his last four runs he has notched 2 Grade One hurdles victories and 2 flat victories inbetween. Add to that the trainer is in ridiculously good form. There are some decent rivals but the likes of Snap Tie and Pierrot Lunaire have a lot to prove and other like Blue Bajan, Harchibald and Straw Bear are all held on form. At this price things look perfect for me and anything above Evens is a good bet.

2.40 Kempton 3pts Lay Kauto Star@2.26
OK so Kauto Star has won this race the last two years and has won a Gold Cup. However there are a number of doubts against him for me. He was beaten when he fell last time and whilst he won the time before look at the horse that he beat that day - Light on the Broom and you can disregard the form as worthless. His last 2 runs when second in the Gold Cup and at Aintree proved his best days are gone. Normally in this situation it can be hard to find viable horses to beat it but I think there are at least 5 horses capable, not least of all Voy Pur Ustedes who at 5.3 himself is great value.

Happy punting all.

Saturday 20 December 2008

Blades vs Palace - Preview

Sheffield United take on Crystal Palace tomorrow, with Neil Warnock returning to the club he supported as a boy and managed for seven years. His first match at the Lane since his departure was a scruffy, dismal game of football in the midst of the Bryan Robson era and he departed with a 1-0 win. This time, things should be even tastier, with United managed by Warnock’s long time number two, Kevin Blackwell – neither will want to lose, so expect a well fought, close battle.

Palace are the in form side, topping the form table with five wins and a draw from their last six matches, while United have struggled of late, losing three home matches in a row (albeit to Reading, Wolves and Burnley) – something which hasn’t happened since before Neil Warnock was at the lane – and scraping a last gasp point at Swansea, after a poor performance. It’s worth considering though, that Palace’s last game was a bit fortunate, a 2-1 win over ten man Doncaster, with a last minute winner and an earlier penalty, while other wins have come against Southampton, Norwich and Derby – four of the bottom seven sides - which slightly undermines their form.

I’ve always viewed Palace as a bit of a bogey side, but it seems we have an edge over them in recent years. In the last ten meetings, United lead six wins to three, with a single draw and if you consider two of those wins were last season, when Robson was in charge, the record doesn’t look so bad. However, in the last five league meetings at Beautiful Downtown Bramall Lane, Palace have managed three wins to United’s two, in a WLWLW pattern.

The teams are very similar this season, in that neither scores a huge amount of goals, often relying on set pieces and that we are in seventh, one place ahead of them by virtue of a marginally better goal difference. Their top scorer (Kuqi) has scored a paltry six times in the league and Beattie has scored ten, but four of those have been penalties – the stats suggest this is going to be a very even, low scoring contest, probably decided by a refereeing decision or a jammy set piece. I also expect Warnock to line up with a 4-5-1, making it tricky for us to score – they’ve been playing an attacking 4-5-1 of late, but Warnock always likes to flood the midfield away from home and be a little more negative, so they’ll likely dig their heels in and defend for 60 minutes, before opening up a bit if they’re still level. As we’ve struggled this season to break down sides attempting this, I really can’t see many goals in this one.

It is disgraceful that Palace can be snapped up at a best price 13/5 on the high street (Ladbrokes) and a gargantuan 3.9 on Betfair; it really is a massive insult to Neil Warnock’s side and any gambler worth his or her salt should be considering gobbling it up on principle. I wanted to lay United when I saw that we were evens with William Hill (a ridiculously short price) but it seems we’re 2.16 on the exchanges, which is a bit more fair. I still think it’s a bit short, but as I’m skint, I’ll be leaving it. If I could be certain Kuqi will start (hamstring niggle, late fitness test) I’d likely back them.

Of the last ten meetings, just three have finished with fewer than 3 goals, but for the reasons stated previously, I just can’t see where the goals are coming from in this and I’m snapping up a good chunk of the 1.9 on Betfair for the under 2.5 goals market. I’m also going to do something I NEVER do and have a cheeky fiver on the draw, because at 3.5 it looks pretty juicy to me.

Good post again by Scott, looking forward to seeing how his bets pan out. Good luck all!

Friday 19 December 2008

Football Crazy

Had a brief look at the games for tomorrow and a few stand out bets as I believe the bookies continue to price up some of the Scottish league games wrongly.

Kilmarnock v. St. Mirren 11/10 Betfair

Kilmarnock should be odds on here. Kilmarnock are decent at home, winning 4 of 8, whilst St. Mirren have a fairly poor away record this season having lost 6 of their 9 games. A lot of people point to the draw in these types of games but Killie haven't drew any of their home games this season and St. Mirren likewise in their away games. Should be a fairly comfortable home win.

Dundee v. Partick Thistle 6/5 totesport

My home team have been going well since Jocky Scott took charge. Dundee have won the last 3 encounters between these sides at Dens and should be taken to continue that trend. Dundee's home form this season has been good with a recent win over a strong QOS side and a draw against top of the league St Johnstone. Partick have only one 1 of their away games this season.

Morton v. Ross County 13/10 bet365

Think you can get 6/4 on Betfair if you ask and that is simply ridiculous. Neither team going great guns this season in a tight division where home advantage is a major factor. Morton have had some strong home results this season and will beat County.

Will also be having a piece of Blackburn (10/11) and Sunderland (11/4).

If anyone else has any fancies please post them in the comments.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Wimbledon 9.45 - Oaks Final



Tonight sees the final of the Oaks at Wimbledon and I've picked out a decent priced selection to hopefully make us a bit of cash. Ravello Drive comes from trap 5 tonight and has been improving throughout the heats. Indeed in winning her semi-final she managed to post the fastest time of the round, and in the quarters ran a fast 28.66 managing to beat Droopys Quinta (T1 tonight) despite crowding at the first corner.

In tonight's race there isn't much to separate the early pace of traps one to three and I forsee slight crowding at the start there leaving opportunity for the wide traps to take advantage. T4 Adamant Mojo boasts probably the best early of the six and it could lead up but I expect both the selection and the favourite in T6 to get a good run in behind.

Ravello Drive has very good middle stage pace and I expect she will quickly assert her authority over T4. There is the chance that T6 could nip ahead of the selection at the first but only a small chance and even still I believe Ravello Drive will have the power to get by Dangerous Lady round the final bend.

Selection:

Wimbledon 9.45 - T5 RAVELLO DRIVE

4.7 on Betfair at time of writing

Saturday 13 December 2008

Saturday Soccer

Aberdeen v. Falkirk 1.98

Ross County v. Livingston 2.04

Peterborough v. Oldham 1.95

Rochdale v. Bournemouth 1.74

Nottingham Forest v. Blackpool DRAW 3.22


Obviously going to win the lot on these. Especially big on Aberdeen. Banker imo.

Real Madrid are upwards of 5/1 tonight - just like Arsenal the other week you simply have to have something on them at that price against anyone.

Thursday 11 December 2008

Classic!

Thanks to Amatay for posting this on blonde. There is a very decent chance this could be the greatest...

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Winner!

I am the winner of the Scoop Troops £10 Betdaq Challenge!

Woot!

Now if they would only let me withdraw, bastards.

Day 8 ...........All In!

Yes it has come to an all in for my balance of £9.33. I'm feeling good about this one and have gone all in on the below:

Werder Bremen Vs Inter Milan - Over 3.5 Goals@3.30

A win would take me up to around £30.00 and bring me back in the game. If I lose then Kenny will surely be crowned winner.

Day 8 Kenny

You knew this was coming, my best strategy is to play for cheaps at the moment, so I went with:

Notts Forest 0 - 1 Sheff Utd.

50p bet at about 8.

(since i'm now an expert at picking scores)

Monday 8 December 2008

Day 6/7.........Desolate

After £3 bets on draws in yesterdays Everton/Villa Game and then tonights West Ham/Spurs games I am down to £9.33. I guess I need to go all in tommorow to stay in the game as £1 bets are no longer good enough after Kennys outrageous luck. This ain't over by a long shot though.

One Time Please

I'm All In....

Roma ((Tue) Roma v Bordeaux (Sky) - Match Odds) - (Not settled)

Over (2.5) ((Tue) Panathinaikos v Anorthosis Famagusta (Sky) - Under/Over - Goals (2.5)) - (Not settled)

Barcelona (-1) ((Tue) Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk (Sky) - Asian Handicap (-1)) - (Not settled)

Pays about 7.5

Scott's Round-Up

Was sure the Everton v. Villa game would be an unders. Obv not. That cost me a bit. Had a bit on 1-1 tonight, nope.

Left with £2.50. I'll be all in 2moro.

Looks like it's a 2 horse race now - rich boy Ken v. Will.

Day 6/7 Kenny

I forgot to put a bet on yesterday - oops!

So that means I must put a bet on at 5-1 or greater.

I've went with Spurs 2-0 vs West Ham for £4.06 at 15 something returning over £50 profit!

Highly unlikely - but still - It'd be awesome if it happened!

Saturday 6 December 2008

Day 5

Had a quid on 2-0 Man Utd, no good.

Balance is £10.21. Will have the bet wrapped up if Pacman wins early tonight.

Day 5 - Torrid

I put a £5 double on Liverpool and Stenhousemuir. OF course its no good, bringing my balance to £4.06 and a desperate situation.

Day 5.....back in business

Just the one bet for today and after starting the day on just £7.63 I knew I needed to make it count. My bet was £5 on over 3.5 goals in the Barcelona-Valencia match. Final score 4-0 Barca scooping me £7.66 and taking my balance to £15.33 and hopefully the top spot back after relinquishing it yesterday.

Friday 5 December 2008

My Birthday Bet - Scott

It's my birthday so obv not got time to stidy anything cos drinking and shit so looked at the next market and picked the favourite....

19:50 Wolverhampton - Win Market BACK 9 Rag And Bone 2.59 £1.00

Kenny Day 4

For some reason I was only able to put a minimum of £1 on this treble:

1. Montpellier (19:00 Montpellier v Guingamp - Match Odds)

2. Troyes (19:00 Dijon v Troyes - Match Odds)

3. Fc Eindhoven (19:00 Fortuna S. v Fc Eindhoven - Match Odds)

anyway - Its 17-1 so lets hope it comes in shall we?

Day 4....... on the verge of tilt?

OK so I thought having a nice lead I would easily extend that by backing On Raglan Road in the Sandown 2.00 for £4 at 1.72 to win an easy £3. I should know better than to back a horse of Howard Johnson, a trainer with the most expensive yard of horses in the country, yet only one top class horse. Hasten to say the old dog Junior beat him and away went my £4. I then placed 50p on Quaddick Lake in the Sandown 3.40 at 24.0 but that one is still probably running as we speak!

So my next move and last bet of the day takes me to Germany for some Bundesliga action:

Tsg Hoffenheim to beat Bayern Munich at 5.80 for £2. (also putting some of my own cash on this)

Thursday 4 December 2008

The Troop's £10 Betdaq Challenge

Anyone nipping onto the blog over the last few days will be wondering what the hell is going on. Basically we're having a mini sports betting challenge where we start with £10 and have 2 weeks to win it alllllll! See here: http://thescooptroop.blogspot.com/2008/12/scoop-troop-betdaq-10-challenge.html

It's nearing the end of day 3 and everyone seems to be doing ok - well no one is bust yet!

Challengers edit this post with your end of day 3 balance in a league table styleeee!

-will should be ahead as his bet won.

1. Will £14.17
2. Scott £12.21
3. Kenneth £10.06
4. Dom 1.50

Wills Day 3 pick

After yesterdays tilt effort by Scott succeeding the pressure is on me to up my balance. Therefore today I placed a whopping £4 on Hamburg to beat Slavia Prague at 2.52. As it stands they are 1-0 up with 15mins to go. in which case my balance would be up to around £14. If not I'm down to £4 and scraps. Word out.

Scott - Day 3

Reference 522595618
Event 19:45 FC Copenhagen v Rosenborg
Market Match Odds
Selection BACK Rosenborg
£0.50 @ 6.8

Over (2.5) ((I/R) A Villa v MSK Zilina (Latest 1-2) - Under/Over - Goals (2.5)) - (Not settled)
Over (2.5) (19:45 Valencia v Club Brugge - Under/Over - Goals (2.5)) - (Not settled)

£1.50 Double

Kenny's Day 3

Seeing as though I'm in 2nd place at the moment, I think its time to get adventurous with a high odds bet:

(copy + pasted from BetDaq)

Reference 522538058
Event 19:45 Mansfield v Oxford Utd (Setanta)
Market Correct Score
Selection BACK Mansfield 1-0

Potential Profit £4.00

Wednesday 3 December 2008

Dom's Day 2

Sorry I didn't get chance to post my selections up this morning. In truth, my picks were a bit rushed, I was tired last night and only had a quick skim and I got up late this morning, so I didn't have time to find much better. I took the worst of it odds-wise on a couple of them too.

Here's another shot at my Day 1 summary:

Here's what I had today:

19:50 Kempton - Casual Style - £0.87 @ 3.75 - Lose £0.87

I liked the look of this, though I know it's not usually sound to follow favourites at Southwell on the AW. I went for an 87p stake, I can't remember why. Watching th erace, it seemed to have a decent turn of foot but some other horse ran across it. It didn't seem brave enough then to go between the increasingly narrow gap. Given how comfortable the winner looked, I dunno if it would have got there or not, but I think it may have excuses.

Man Utd HT/FT - £1.25 @ 2.55 - Win £1.94

Was getting a little concerned about this, but Tevez broke the deadlock on 36 minutes, to a sigh of relief from me. He went on to get three more in a 5-3 win. Scoop!

Watford vs Spurs Over 2.5 - £1.26 @ 1.82 - Win £1.03

This was nailed on, for me. Most of the last few meetings between these have been ridic high scoring, Watford are awful at the back and through the team, Spurs have a dodgy goalie... if Spurs hadn't have been so wasteful today, it could have been like the Man Utd scoreline. I nearly took over 3.5 at a big price and am glad I didn't, as it needed a late goal for Spurs to secure a 2-1 win.

Commission: 6p

Balance at the end of day 2: £8.42

Hopefully these pics will work this time.

Day 2 - Scott

End of Day 1 balance: £6

Only one bet today for me....

19:45 Standard Liege v Sampdoria - Match Odds BACK Standard Liege 2.44 £6.00

Gonna ship it all.

Kenny - Day 2

After failing to win against burnley, I may never back arsenal again.

Balance at the start of Day 2: £8

Todays bets: £2 Double on Man Utd (win) AND Under (3.5 goals) Tottenham v Watford.

If this fails I'll have to start 50p betting. A win will see me over the £10 mark.

The leader of the packs day 2 selection

I had a good look at todays racing and nothing really struck me as a good bet except the below:

2.05 Fairyhouse- Merry Cowboy - £1 @ 7.6

My balance before this bet was £10.39.

Possibly some football picks to follow later.

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Tonight's winners for the winner

19:45 Burnley v Arsenal (Sky) - Asian Handicap (+1) BACK Arsenal (-1) 2.49 £3.00

19:45 Stoke v Derby - Correct Score BACK Stoke 1-0 8.2 £0.50

19:45 Burnley v Arsenal (Sky) - Half-Time/Full-Time BACK Arsenal - Arsenal £0.50

The adventure begins

Ok so you will have all got the smacktalk texts from me last night and I mean business. I plan on playing sensible for the first couple of days but may end up throwing in a £5 bet by Friday if results don't go my way.

I have placed a 50p bet on Arsenal to win 2-0 at 9.5 as my first bet.
For my second bet I have £1 on Under 2.5 goals in the Stoke - Derby Game.

Will post my balance tommorow once the winnings for the above are both paid in ;-)

Challenge Accepted

I've got my £10 in - and it isn't lasting long!

a £1 bet on trap 2 at Perry bar was unfortunately no good.

My saving grace might be if Arsenal win today, I'll finish at £9.84
If they don't - I'll be £2 down!

£10 Challenge - Dom's Day One

And they're off!



I had a little look at the racing last night, there's not a huge amount on but one took my eye at a good price. Spic 'n Span in the opening race of the day, the 11.50 at Southwell, looked huge at 6.3 so I broke out the ATR video archive. I wasn't hugely impressed with the front two in the market, Maid Of Ailsa and North South Divide and Spic 'n Span has some C&D place form, though is yet to win. As the place and e/w terms weren't available last night, I stuck 50p on to win and woke up to discover that a withdrawal had left my odds reduced to 5.86, but that's not so bad considering you can only get 3.9 as I type! I have decided not to back it to place, as it's hardly worth wasting one of my three bets, especially given the market move.

I also knew that Arsenal travelled to Burnley for the Carling Cup, as I changed the football display in the window at work yesterday :D I opted to put 4-0 to Burnley, which is 33/1 with William Hill, but I won't be backing that in the challenge. I will be half-rolling it on the Arsenal win though, as they had way too much for a Sheffield United side that was admittedly missing a couple of key players, but that was essentially full strength. I feel we're better than Burnley and it scans that the Arse shouldn't have a huge problem, even at Turf Moor.

For my third bet, I've gone for an early tilt at glory, with a £1 (min bet with Betdaq multiples) treble:

Satwa Street (14:00 Lingfield)
Titan Triumph (15:00 Lingfield)
Arsenal to win (19:45 vs Burnley)

The odds on that? 20.72!

Good luck, ladies.

Monday 1 December 2008

Scoop Troop Betdaq £10 Challenge

I will be joined by fellow Scoop Troopers Will, Ken and Dom in a small sports betting challenge to run for 2 weeks which should be pretty comedy. Rules and details below. If I miss anything or make mistakes then someone point them out asap.

1) The challenge will run from 00:01 on the 2nd of December and conclude at 23:59 on the 15th of December.

2) All players must deposit £10 into Betdaq. Betdaq has been chosen over Betfair as the min bet on Betdaq is 50p compared to Betfair's £2.

3) Each player must place between 1 and 3 bets on each day of the challenge on any of the markets available on Betdaq. Players who do not bet on a certain day must bet their remaining balance the following day on something 5/1 or bigger.

4) The aim of the challenge is to make as much profit from the initial £10 as possible.

5) Prizes: The person with the largest balance on Betdaq as at 23:59 on the 15th of December will be declared the winner. The winner wins 100% of the remaining players' Betdaq balances.

6) Players must post evidence of their balance and bets as much as possible.

Game on bitches!!!