THE BERNIE THE BOOK COLUMN
A QUIET NIGHT IN BY THE TELLY – NOT WITH THE WIZARD OF WISHAW ON THE GREEN BAIZE
WINTER IS COMING!! No, not the chilling pre-curser to implied doom from Game of Thrones, but rather the long nights and cold days of sport in the winter months. And what can keep us warm until Spring and Cheltenham? Quite simply the prospect of a sizeable return on our investments and what better way than Snooker and the calmness but intensity of the green baize. The first leg of the big treble starts on December 1, with the UK Championship. And who is in better form than the Wizard of Wishaw who can cast his spell over the field.
Yes, JOHN HIGGINS has reinvented himself after losing probably a good stone in weight since he last appeared on TV. That weight loss has given him more energy and at a tasty 14/1,he is the headline act. The big three of Selby, O’Sullivan and Trump make little appeal at around the 3/1 -5/1 mark and I would rather go for the consistent pressure potting and tactical nous of Higgins. Pairing Darts with Snooker is akin to cheese and chutney and maybe we should lay down an early marker for the World Championship in late December before any price contrition. This is the Darts season with two majors over the next few months prior to the Worlds and ,at this early stage I would pick two against the field. The big green machine is clearly not the same unstoppable force of two years ago and time is now right on JOHNNY CLAYTON at 9/1 to add to his glowing reputation and power on the oche. My second pick (though only for
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small stakes is DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH to have a stellar fortnight. On his day he is irrepressible and at 14/1 he should throw deep into the tournament. The advised doubles (Snooker and Darts) pay 134/1 and 224/1 respectively. We have now reached the halfway point in the race to the Superbowl and a lot of teams can now be discounted. My belief is unshaken since last month and preference in the NFC is still The LA Rams at 8/1 and to a lesser degree, The Cowboys at 14/1 and the Buffalo Bills at 13/2 in the AFC. Keep the Bengals on your side at 33/1 (for small stakes) This is turning into a halftime report and now is the time to place our bets on Europe’s two major football com- petitions. The Champions League is getting interesting with the forthcoming Man City v PSG game highly likely to decide Group Winners and an easier path to the Quarters. As a team in the last 16 cannot play a team from its own Confederation and a team they’ve played already in the Groups, it is more important for PSG to win the Group as that discounts playing Chelsea or Liverpool and for that reason and a 2-0 victory already over Man City I think the 11/2 for Messi and Co is the way forward. I have already tipped LIVERPOOL at 9/1 (now 7/1) and they seem to be the right price. The Europa League picture is more mirkier as after the Group stage,the 3rd place teams in the Champions League become involved. It is not inconceivable that Barca may be in the pot! And for that reason the layers are going 12/1 the
field.How- ever that just makes the price more appetising and my two against the field at this stage are LEICESTER CITY at 16/1 and BAYER LEVERKUSEN at 25/1. In the Foxes case, they have a squad and team not far short of top 4 class and the slow start to the season seems to have been irradicated. I certainly think they will concentrate on a path to the Champions League next season by winning the Europa
and the 16/1 is a working man’s price. The case for Lev- erkusen is less bvious except they play with an energy that is infectious and while the Europa is beneath FC Holly- wood,that is not the case for the other German teams.
Until next time, Good punting Bernie the Book NOVEMBER 2021
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