Lets Play Darts!

OK so the last set of bets clawed back 0.66 pts of our deficit to leave us 1.99pts down. There’s a lot on this weekend and I’m probably not going to get a chance to cover everything but there are definitely some good bets about. I’m going to start this weekend’s preview in the graveyard of talent that is the SPL as we have the first Old Firm clash of the season on Sunday.
2pts Rangers @8/5 (Ladbrokes): Hovering around the 6/4 mark on the exchanges this is easily big enough to make a play on the home team when there is little to choose between the 2 sides in what will as always be an electric atmosphere.
1pt Boyd to be first goal scorer @ 6/1(Boyles): Boyles cash back special this weekend is money back on the first, last and anytime goal scorer markets if there is someone sent off in this game. Usually this is not enough to overcome the margin on these sorts of markets but in a game where there is about a 30% chance of a red card you could nearly pick any man on the pitch and play this market. The reason for putting Boyd up is a combination of the favourite long shot bias effect (generally bookies have less of an edge on shorter price events than on longer odds events – punters effectively pay a premium for higher variance for some perverse reason!)and also to help reduce variance.
2pts 1st half to be the highest scoring half Almeria v Barcelona @ 11/5 (Boyles): I have to admit I’m stealing this tip from Mike Holden’s excellent blog on sportinglife.com which is always worth a read before you get stuck into your weekend football betting. Barca start fast and can wind down in the second half when the game is in the bag. Don’t expect Almeria’s resistance to last very long in this one.
3pts Phil Taylor to win the Darts Grand Prix @ 4/6(Boyles): The unusual format of this event can lead to some shock results in the first couple of rounds however Taylor is a prolific winner of this event (as with most darts events) and as reigning champ 4/6 seems a fair price. The offer of our money back on a loser if anyone should hit a 9 darter during the course of the event makes this worth our while.
1.5pts Wade to win the Darts Grand Prix w/o Taylor 10/3 (Boyles): I have been struggling to find the seeding for this event but on the reasonable assumption that he won’t meet Taylor before the final all going well I’m happy to take a chance on him making the final 2. Deserving of being favourite in this market and this also has the advantage of money back on a loser if we get a 9 darter.
Lay to lose 1pt Man Utd 1.22 (Betfair): You don’t hear of many people getting rich opposing the devils at Old Trafford but there is always a first. The 1/5 the bookies have chalked up seems a little too dismissive of the pretty solid looking Sunderland we’ve seen so far this season. Yeah this is probably money down the drain but at this price I can’t resist opposing a Man Utd side that I am not yet convinced by.
There is a great weekend of racing on in Longchamp this weekend and although I unfortunately haven’t had much of a chance to look over the form yet, but even if you don’t have a bet make sure to see the superstar that is Sea the Stars if you can. The one thing I would advise to look out for is crazy prices on Yeats in his race versus Kasbah Bliss. Expect a bit of French xenophobia with KB being over bet hopefully leaving us plenty of value with Yeats. If I get a chance I’ll post a proper racing preview but the imminent prospect of jumping into a dark underground river for some black water rafting makes it a pretty long shot. Gamble safely!