THE BERNIE THE BOOK COLUMN SPONSORED BY
Working towards giving our customers the extra edge
A NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
GIANTS TO WIN THE NFC 9/1
As midwinter fast ap- proaches it is time to fill up our ante-post vouchers in time for Christmas and the hope of maturity in 2011. In this column this month there will be an update on where your money should go but I also want to tip the balance in your favour by sharing with you my do’s and don’ts of sports betting in the hope that these salient rules will make your betting more en- joyable and profitable. Some seem obvious but you will be amazed at how the obvious is often overlooked. firstly to this month’s tips.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL FROM SEPTEMBER’S COLUMN
Now that the big kick off is nearly upon us, and as alluded to before, my three against the field in Superbowl are HOUSTON TEXANS (40/1 Stan James), NEW YORK JETS (14/1 General) and on a left field note,SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (33/1 General).
Regular readers will know that Bernie the Book knows his Amer- ican football. The above paragraph was published before the NFL season began and the eagle eyed among you will know that the Jets are now 6/1 favourites, the Texans are top of the AFC South and are top priced at 20/1 and, sadly, the 49ers have under performed! However, now the season is eight weeks old and in full swing it is time to re-assess our portfolio. Clearly the AFC is significantly stronger this year than the NFC but our ini- tial ante posts have put us in a strong position and I can’t see any other team (save for the Ravens) challenging in this Con- ference, so far better to turn our attention to the weaker NFC in the hope that my following two against the field meet ei- ther the Jets or the Texans in the Superbowl. Quids in! My main fancy are the NEW YORK GIANTSwho are available at around 20/1. They have the experience, they won the Super- bowl in 2007, and are beginning to dominate the NFC’s strongest Division (NFC East). Secondly and slightly left field and only mentioned here because they look strong in the tra- ditionally weaker NFC West are the SEATTLE SEAHAWKS who are available at 80/1 with BetFred and 66/1 general.
PAGE 96 THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF BETTING
As promised over the next two issues I will detail down my 10 golden rules for sports betting; some may seem obvious but if you follow them your betting dividends will increase year on year. Here are the first 5.
1. SEARCH FOR THE VALUE We live in an age of instant access to information and any event has a range of prices from an endless number of bookmakers. Each one’s price varies due to their opinion and liabilities and therefore rule Number One is ALWAYS TAKE THE BEST PRICE AVAILABLE. In order to do this you need to ensure you have an account with all major firms, some of which only trade by phone or computer. The difference between 6/4 and 13/8 might only be one eighth but in percentage terms it is a mammoth 12.5% and just think how that added value, for no extra effort, adds up over a period of time.
But
2. INTRODUCTORY AND ONGOING OFFERS Linked in many ways to Point 1 you will find that most book- makers are clamouring for your business and in that respect and highlighting no firm over another, you will soon realise that certain firms give you that extra value. One leading firm offers settlement on a bet of first past the post or amended result. Another gives you free bets if your winner returns at odds of 4/1 or better on certain races. (You will appreciate I am not ask- ing of you the impossible). Another, in an attempt to gain col- umn inches and free advertising invariably pays out on results before the event has taken place! This happened most recently when PaddyPower declared Europe winners of the Ryder Cup before a ball had been struck! As this event went down to the wire, who would you have rather bet with? Obviously this was- n’t known before the eve of the competition but the point I am making is that by being aware of these grand gestures and put- ting yourself in that position rather than just taking the same price on the High Street you leave yourself in a position to profit. In addition all firms will make some introductory offer to entice your business. So shop around.
3. ANTE POST IS EXCELLENT VALUE BUT BE SELECTIVE
Readers will know in order to get a better price I often advise backing ante post. A portfolio is often built up but please be selective because I rarely advocate (unless the price is so tempting) backing ante post on horse or dog racing. Why? Quite simply unlike a sportsman or sports team that is com- mitted to an event, horses are prone to injury, to different tar- gets, to the form of the trainer at the time of the race, the state of the ground; there are just too many imponderables. Backing Chelsea, for example, for the Champions League or FA Cup will always give you a run for your money but just look at the in- juries and non-attendance last year at Cheltenham for many of the leading fancies. Hurricane Fly was joint favourite for the Champion Hurdle yet sustained an injury a week before the race and all those ante post vouchers were lost. The penalty of ante post is that you lose your money if the horse is withdrawn but you always know Chelsea will compete in the FA Cup!
PHTM NOVEMBER 2010
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