online sports betting news

After last weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures, there are now 144 people left in Paddy Power’s Last Man Standing competition (tournament 15). 834 people entered three weeks ago, although some unusual results (such as Manchester United losing at home to Aston Villa) meant that the field was drastically reduced to 162 people. It appears that many people (like myself) went for Arsenal last weekend and, after a nervous opening, the Gunners’ 3-0 win saw 144 of us survive to week 3.

There’s a new tactic which could be deployed for the forthcoming set of fixtures (although I had already selected Liverpool to beat Wolves before thinking about it!). Namely that if you select a team who has a match postponed, then you automatically progress to the next round. Therefore, it might be worth waiting to see which games are in danger of not going ahead before making your selection.

A new competition starts every week, with £10,000 in guaranteed prize money available to the winner(s). In the first week, it’s better to take a small risk as you get a free entry if you are eliminated, while you have the option to include the draw during one week.

In addition, the Irish bookmaker have just announced some generous cashback specials for Boxing Day. The first one focuses on the Liverpool v Wolves match, where Fernando Torres will be looking to fire his team to victory. Paddy Power have offered to refund all losing 1st / last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles if the Reds number 9 scores the last goal of the game. On the basis that Torres is 3/1 to score the last goal, this is a decent offering.

The second offer is arguably more tempting, with Paddy offering to refund all losing 1st / last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles if Aston Villa win the match. I personally think that the Villans have a decent chance of landing victory at the Emirates after their recent success at Old Trafford, so this again represents good value. Put together with the Torres offer, there’s a reasonable chance of one of these outcomes happening.

Stan James have also got into the festive spirit as far as the Arsenal v Aston Villa game is concerned. Have a first goalscorer bet with this bookie and if the player fails to score the first goal but scores at any other time, you’ll get your money back as a free bet. Not bad if you think a few goals will be scored and it prompts me to back the excellent James Milner at big odds.

Meanwhile, we’re at the halfway stage of the football season and Victor Chandler have created some ‘half-time season specials’. The Gibraltar-based bookmaker offer an enhanced 9/1 that Chelsea, Newcastle, Leeds and Rochdale all win their respective divisions, while they also have a special price of 5/1 that Chelsea, Barca, Inter and Bayern Munich all win their domestic divisions.