Blue Square

Online bookmaker Blue Square have some great coverage for new account holders with them, thanks to their £25 sign up bonus. The bookie will match the value of your first bet on a new account with a free bet, up to the maximum of £25, which gives you a nice bit of free betting cash to enjoy with them. The Blue Square website looks good, feels good and is easy to navigate, and they are a great option when you are looking for handicap betting in particular. They really show up well with those sports betting options. So with them matching you first bet on a new account, with up to a free £25 bet, then they are worth some time looking at.

Blue Square also have a great “Can These Happen” Market if you like looking ahead for your football betting for 2012. There are some great options in this fun market, from Wayne Rooney growing a pony tail to Lionel Messi leaving Barcelona next year. Alright, some of those are out there, but naturally those are the market options with long odds. Looking at the more plausible options there are some great options which are worth looking at. Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli to be arrested is the market favourite at 2/1, while Harry Redknapp to be named as next England manager is trading at 6/4 with the bookie. Naturally there is a going to be a lot of interest in some big names moving clubs, and Fernando Torres to leave Chelsea next year is trading at Evens, while Robin Van Persie to exit the Emirates is priced at 7/4. It is a great market which makes you stop and think about just what may happen next year in your football betting. It is highly recommended to go and take a look.

The popular bookie also offers some great betting insurance on ALL Premier League football matches. Customers with Blue Square can get 0-0 insurance on all matches from England’s top flight, meaning that if a Premier League game ends in a 0-0 tie, then the bookie will refund lost stakes on the First Goalscorer, Correct Score, Half Time/Full Time and Player Special bets placed on that particular match. So there is some pretty good value and coverage in doing your Premier League football betting with Blue Square.

Get on defending champion Adrian Lewis at Boylesports and bwin‘s 9/1 for the PDC Darts World Championship, which gets underway at Alexandra Palace on Thursday.

Since the PDC and the BDO spilt in the 1990s, only the legendary Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor have successfully managed to defend their crown and some would argue that ‘Jackpot’ hasn’t been the same player since beating Gary Anderson in last year’s final. However, that’s a bit of a broad generalisation as Lewis, still only 26, has reached a couple of finals in 2011 and the fact that he’ll be playing on the first night of the championship, against Nigel Heydon, should help settle any nerves, not that the Stoke-born player has displayed many signs of apprehension in the past. He did, after all, become the first finalist to produce a nine-dart finish 12 months ago. I’d much rather have a flutter on Lewis rather than last year’s losing finalist Gary Anderson at shorter odds.

‘The Flying Scotsman’ regularly posts plenty of maximums but it’s consistency that you need in a tournament of this nature, which will extend well beyond the Christmas break before the winner is known. That’s where Anderson has always fallen short in the past. He was long odds-on to beat Lewis in last year’s final after breezing through the earlier rounds but that one below-par night cost him dear and one just gets the feeling that he’ll have at least one of those before this year’s event runs its course. Whether it will prove decisive is another matter, but is it worth the risk at the general 17/2?

Of course, the obvious bet is Phil Taylor, who has already had another terrific year and has laid to rest any thoughts of retirement. ‘The Power’ has already won six major titles in 2011 and only Blue Square, 888sport and Ladbrokes are prepared to offer Evens that a 14th World Championship won’t come his way over the next few weeks. The one worry is that he’s in the same half of the draw as Raymond van Barneveld and the ebullient Paul Nicholson. Van Barneveld (33/1 with Boylesports and Paddy Power) appears on a downward curve but Nicholson, who beat Taylor and Anderson in the UK Open earlier this year, isn’t short of confidence when it comes to facing ‘The Power’, though I know whose side the crowd would be on if both players justify their seedings. ‘The Asset’ can be backed at a general 50/1. James Wade, 11/1 with Boylesports and Paddy Power, has been the other attracting support but it’s difficult to see the winner coming from outside that group and we’re sticking with Lewis to produce fireworks again en route to a second title.

Most eyes will be on the return to action of Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Kauto Star and Long Run in the Betfair Chase at Haydock this Saturday but there’s also a terrific Grade 2 contest at Ascot in the shape of the Amlin 1965 Chase.

The latter sees the second appearance this season of the brilliant Master Minded and Stan James may have their fingers burnt if they hold steady on their 6/4 quote about Paul Nicholls‘ former champion chaser, who won the race 12 months ago. The eight-year-old disappointed on his return to action at Aintree when last of three. But that run was just too bad to be true as he’d trounced the winner, Albertas Run, over the same C&D in April when Ascot rival Somersby (5/2 with Blue Square and 888sport) was a well-beaten third. Henrietta Knight‘s seven-year-old did finally end a frustrating sequence of placed efforts in a small race at Kempton last month but had also had a rear view of Master Minded on two previous occasion last term prior to that Aintree race and it’s difficult to see him reversing that form if the Nicholls chaser is back to his best.

Perhaps the most interesting runner in the Ascot feature is the grey Medermit. It’s never easy for second-season chasers but he made a solid start to the new campaign when making the most of Captain Chris‘ mishap to land the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter earlier this month. He beat subsequent Arkle Chase winner Captain Chris fair and square at Sandown in February but was found wanting at both Cheltenham and Aintree in the spring suggesting he has a bit to find to trouble the likes of Master Minded and Somersby at Ascot. However bet365, sportingbet and Ladbrokes‘ 5/1 is probably a fair price given that he’s got a lot more scope than his rivals.

The Sawyer is a 100/1 chance with Boylesports and deservedly so as he appears to have a lot to find at the weights and isn’t getting any younger but there may be a few interested in Kalahari King at Boylesports, Paddy Power and William Hill‘s 8/1. Ferdy Murphy‘s charge has a Grade 1 win on his CV but is another who was a long way behind Master Minded in a couple of races last season. He should get a lot closer to Kelso conqueror Stagecoach Pearl (25/1 with Coral) on much more favourable terms however. But this is Master Minded‘s for the taking if he brings his A game to the table.

Martin Johnson has paid the ultimate price for England‘s controversial failure at this year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The coach and former skipper of the national side falling on his sword when it became obvious that he’d be forced to become part of a new coaching set-up as a condition of carrying on. Bookmakers have a had a market prepared on who will be his successor but are still largely divided on the respective odds of likely contenders.

Northampton coach Jim Mallinder is among the leading fancies for the vacant role and Paddy Power have him as short as 7/4. However, most other layers have him at 3/1 and 888sport have taken a firm view about Nick Mallet. They have the former Springbok and Italy coach at 9/4 following a glowing recommendation by South Africa‘s World Cup-winning captain John Smit.  Under the current set-up, however, he’d still have to report to performance director Rob Andrew and that wouldn’t go down too well with the forthright Mallet, which probably explains why he’s a 6/1 chance to with sportingbet and Paddy Power to get the job.

Johnson’s decision to quit was clearly unexpected by William Hill, who were offering 11/4  that Johnson would quit before the Six Nations just hours before his resignation but failed to take a single bet of note. They are currently among a number of layers hanging fire on betting on a new coach while the RFU is in a state of flux, but Skybet have nailed their colours to the mast of Graham Henry. He’s just guided New Zealand to World Cup glory and looking for new challenge having allowed his contract with the All Blacks to run down. The English RFU wouldn’t have to pay anyone compensation, therefore, and he’s already expressed a desire to return to the Northern Hemisphere. Henry is 7/4 with Skybet but can still be backed at 13/2 with 888sport and Blue Square.

Shaun Edwards is available at 50/1 with Skybet and Ladbrokes, even though he’s just signed a new contract with Wales and is looking for a way back into club rugby, while others quoted include John Kirwan (16/1 with Blue Square, 888sport and Coral), who has done a good job with Japan, and Ian McGeechan (a general 33/1) but too much water has passed under bridge to take Dean Richards‘ 25/1 quote from Ladbrokes seriously.

England’s brief tour of India has given coach Andy Flower a lot more to think about than he would have anticipated. Flower isn’t one for knee-jerk reactions and will take his time to digest what has occurred on and off the field in India but, inwardly, he must be seething that even England‘s senior pros have lost their discipline in the face of an Indian attack which they had treated with disdain on home soil just weeks earlier.

As everyone in cricket knows, India aren’t great travellers but thrive on the home comforts of slow, turning pitches on the sub-continent. Even so, the transformation among England‘s batsmen from world-beaters to prize chumps is hard to defend. Johnathan Trott has scored more than 2000 runs in international cricket over the last 12 months but has looked like a rabbit trapped in headlights over the five-match one-day series, while Kevin Pietersen has contrived to get himself out at the most inopportune moments. Excuses can probably made for Johnny Bairstow, who was seriously over-hyped after just one England innings and his time may come again, but how many more opportunities will the selectors give perennial failure Ravi Bopara? The bowlers don’t escape criticism either. Graeme Swann went into the series as the world’s number one limited-overs bowler but has looked largely disinterested and failed to assert any measure of control. Even the normally reliable Tim Bresnan has been flayed to all corners of the ground and there are signs that Jade Dernbach‘s variations have already been worked out. Only Steven Finn has emerged with any credit and England have much work to do if they are to improve a miserable World Cup record at the 50-over game in four years’ time.

India will feel they have proved a point after whitewashing England in the one-day series. M S Dhoni and his players had a torrid time in England over the summer and had been written off in some quarters. But this series has proved they have some youngsters ready to step into the shoes of their ageing stars. Dhoni and Praveen Kumar have proved themselves to be class performers and Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin clearly top-notch spinners under the right conditions.

So can England restore a bit of pride in this weekend’s closing T20 encounter in Kolkata? The tourists are, of course, reigning world champions at the short version of the game and only Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Stuart Broad and possibly Jimmy Anderson are likely to be missing from their best XI. Blue Square and 888sport offer 6/4 that Swann and his team-mates will go home with a victory under their belt, however, with India general 8/13 favourites to win again at Eden Gardens. One thing in England’s favour is that they can call up recently-arrived T20 specialists Alex Hales and Jos Buttler, though whether they’ll cope any better with the Indian spinners in a matter of conjecture. Buttler could be a decent bet at Ladbrokes’ 10/1, however, though Craig Kieswetter has to be fancied in that market at a general 7/2 if he gets away to a flier at the top of the order. M S Dhoni was undefeated through the entire one-day series and the Indian captain is 6/1 with Victor Chandler to be his side’s top scorer in the tour finale.

Sebastian Vettel is no bigger than 6/4 with Betfred and Victor Chandler to win a third successive Formula One world title after clinching the 2011 Driver’s Championship in the Japanese Grand Prix with four races to spare. The German only needed a point to secure another championship and he duly did so at Suzuka, finishing third behind Britain’s Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

Unsurprisingly the Red Bull driver is a hot favourite to complete the hat-trick in 2012 but there are signs that McLaren are beginning to close the gap on their great rivals and, having just signed a new contract, Button could well mount a more concerted challenge to Vettel next year. He is 9/1 with William Hill to win his second world title in 2012.

Ferrari‘s Alonso, already a two-time world champion himself, is second favourite behind Vettel at 9/2 with bet365 but what now for Lewis Hamilton. Continually courted by controversy this season, (he had yet another coming together with Felipe Massa at Suzuka) Hamilton needs to get his head down and concentrate on doing the basics as he’s just taking too many risks at the moment in an attempt to remain competitive and that level of  indiscipline is unlikely to be tolerated again next year by those holding the purse strings at McLaren, especially with the Brit’s contract up for renewal. Hamilton is 6/1 with William Hill to regain the Drivers’ Championship in 2012.

Incidentally, you can still bet on this year’s championship, without Vettel of course. Button, currently in second place, is 11/17 with bwin to finish as runner-up with Alonso at a general 7/2 and Vettel‘s team-mate Mark Webber a general 6/1. More immediately, Vettel is 13/10 with Blue Square and 888sport to win next week’s Korean Grand Prix, with Button 9/2 with the same two firm and Hamilton 5/1 at Victor Chandler. Alonso, winner of the inaugural race at the Korean International Circuit last year, is 11/2 at Paddy Power.

England‘s surprise defeat by an inexperienced West Indies team in their second T20 encounter may just have been a timely wake-up call. It’s all been too easy for England in all formats of the game this summer, neither Sri Lanka nor India putting up much of a fight. There are certainly more testing times ahead with five one-day internationals in India sure to prove more of a test of Alistair Cook‘s credentials as both a limited-overs player and a captain.

England have spared Jimmy Anderson the potentially punishing trip to the sub-continent but have recalled Kevin Pietersen to the one-day squad, which is a mixture of established players and some of the youngsters who have impressed in recent games. Along with KP, Warwickshire pair Ian Bell and Johnathan Trott will add weight to England‘s middle-order and Ravi Bopara finally seems to be playing with confidence at international level. Their experience should allow youngsters like Jonny Bairstow and Scott Borthwick time to find their feet. Borthwick will be one of three spinners on the plane to India and will provide back-up for Graeme Swann and Samit Patel. There is also a first call-up for Surrey’s Stuart Meaker while the selectors give another chance to Chris Woakes, even though he looks to have fallen down the pecking order in the fast-bowling department behind Jade Dernbach. The latter seems to have firmly established himself in England‘s one-day side now but it remains to be seen how effective his unique mix of slow balls, bouncers and full-length yorkers proves on the slower Indian pitches.

India were embarrassed by England over the summer and will be determined to regain some lost pride in this one-day series – their fanatical fans certainly won’t tolerate another whitewash! There is a good chance that MS Dhoni will be able to call on several of those forced home early from their summer tour at home and that number will almost certainly include Gautam Gambhir and Harbajhan Singh, who have both been playing in the T20 Champions League, and Praveen Kumar. Kumar was easily India’s most consistent bowler in England. But there are reports that Sachin Tendulkar is still struggling with a toe injury and neither Virender Sehwag nor Yuvraj Singh are likely to be ready in time for the series opener in Hyderabad.

Bookmakers have India as favourites with home advantage, with Blue Square and 888sport‘s 4/6 currently the best price on offer. But there may still be some mental scars remaining following the summer and this is by no means a weak England squad. Most of them have experience of conditions on the sub-continent  and they could be a decent bet at Stan James‘ and Ladbrokes‘ 11/8 to take the overall spoils again. A 3-2 correct score in favour of the visitors is available at 11/4 with Stan James.

Quite what the thinking was behind arranging a couple of T20 matches against the West Indies at the end of a long summer is open to debate but England‘s weary warriors must drag themselves into a action for a final time before heading for India for next month’s one-day series against the world champions.

The exercise has been further devalued by the fact that both teams will be much-weakened by the absence of many key players. For England, T20 captain Stuart Broad and his vice-captain Eoin Morgan are both sidelined so selectors are using the matches as a further opportunity to cast the eye over several promising youngsters. Jos Buttler showed just what he was capable of for his county in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Final, while Jonny Bairstow produced a man-of-the-match performance on his international debut in the final one-day victory over India. Both will be aware that there are only seven T20 fixtures planned between now and next year’s World Cup. Jade Dernbach, so adept at bowling variations, already looks to have cemented his place in England‘s one-day squad for the foreseeable future and it will be interesting to see how a very inexperienced West Indies team cope with his back-of-the-hand slower deliveries mixed with 90mph bouncers.

If England have been badly hit by absenteeism, the Windies have been decimated. Adrian Barath, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Ravi Rampaul are among of a host of their bigger names on duty in the Champions League in India while Chris Gayle, who has shone so often against England, is still in dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board, as is Sulieman Benn. Coach Ottis Gibson is putting a brave face on matters and there is just a chance that a few of his likely debutants could be inspired by a first visit to England but the hosts, who are T20 world champions and have already beaten one-day world powers Sri Lanka and India this summer, should really have too much class and Jimmy Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Steven Finn will be aided by conditions under lights at the Kia Oval.

Johnson Charles may be the brightest prospect of the Windies young batting line-up and is 5/1 to be his side’s leading run-maker in the first T20 with Blue Square, totesport and 888sport. Ravi Bopara has finally found his touch in England colours and can be backed at can be backed at a general 9/2 to be the hosts’ top scorer. There is betting for England‘s leading wicket-taker at the Kia Oval but with five bowlers priced between 5/2 and 7/2, this market is probably best left alone. England are 4/5 to win the two-match series with Ladbrokes but can be backed to win 2-0 at 5/6 with bet365 if you want to take on the English autumn weather.

The Tour Championship at the East Lake Club in Atlanta, Georgia is just about the last big tournament on the US PGA Tour this year and the final play-off for the FedEx Cup. By definition, it features the most consistent players in North America this year. Tiger Woods has won it twice, as has Phil Mickelson, most recently in 2009 when beating Woods by three strokes. Sadly there wil be no Tiger this year, but Big Phil can be backed at 25/1 with Blue Square and 888sport and last year’s runner-up, Luke Donald, is sure to be popular.

Donald is still world number one and likely to remain so whatever happens in Atlanta this week. The 33-year-old Englishman is a general 7/1 to go one better than 12 months ago and remains in terrific form, even though tournament success had eluded him since winning the Accenture World Matchplay in February. He’s finished third in the Deutsche Bank Championship and fourth in the BMW Championship already this month and undoubtedly deserves his place at the head of the ante-post market. With only 29 rivals, those odds are certainly attractive.

Only those filling the top 30 places in the FedEx Cup points table are entitled to compete in the Tour Championship, which means last year’s winner and two-times runner-up Jim Furyk misses out along with 2008 winner Camilo Villegas. Webb Simpson, easily the most improved golfer on the US Tour this year takes part, however, as he currently leads the points table ahead of Dustin Johnson with England’s Justin Rose moving into third place with last week’s sensational victory in the BMW Championship. Simpson also head the US PGA Tour money list and can be backed at a general 12/1 at East Lake, while world number five Johnson is 20/1 with Skybet and sportingbet and Rose 22/1 with bet365.

Nick Watney, third in the US money list, is definitely worth a second look at Paddy Power‘s 18/1 as he’s already won twice on the Tour this year and was fourth in the Players Championship, while Charles Howell III looks overpriced at the general 45/1 further down the lists. Howell, a native of Atlanta, probably knows this course better than anyone playing this year and has had a decent 2011, despite failing to record a tournament sucess. He’s only missed the cut in four of his 27 tournament starts in the States this year and has twice finished runner-up in this event. This event has a very open look about it and he appeals as the each-way value.

But for the toss of a coin, the Ladbrokes St Leger could easily have been known as the Rockingham. Which, incidentally, is the name of a hotel just a mile down the road from Doncaster racecourse, though I doubt a name change would have made much difference to the history of the world’s oldest classic, which has been on the go since 1776. Nine runners are due to face the starter this year, including dual classic-winning filly Blue Bunting who competes against the colts for the first time in her career. Already sucessful in the Irish Oaks and the English 1000 Guineas, she has pacemakers Rumh (another filly) and Genius Beast to help her out on Town Moor and deserves respect  as it was her proven stamina that saw her get the better of Vita Nova in the Yorkshire Oaks last month. Dettori’s mount is a 4/1 chance with Paddy Power and Victor Chandler.

Impressive though Blue Bunting‘s credentials are, however, the one to beat may well be Sea Moon. Despite only going into the Great Voltiguer at York off the back of wins in a maiden and a handicap, Sir Michael Stoute‘s colt blew away opposition which included Irish Derby runner-up Seville, who re-opposes at Doncaster, and today’s rival Genius Beast. There is almost certainly more to come from one so lightly-raced  and, at 13/8 with Blue Square, sportingbet and 888sport, he will attract a few big punters. Being closely related to previous St Leger winner Brian Boru and out of a mare that won the Park Hill, it’s hard to see him having problems with the longer trip.  Masked Marvel kept on dourly to beat Census over 1m5f at Newmarket in July, though only a head separated the pair at the line, and can be backed at a general 8/1 for last year’s successful trainer/jockey combination. But the runner-up may well have got up at HQ had he not strayed off a true line and Richard Hannon’s colt has since beaten Brown Panther and Buthelezi in the 1m5f Geoffrey Freer at Newbury, reversing Ascot running with the former who would probably prefer a softer surface.

Census (a general 5/1) is clearly very tough and is likely to make Sea Moon work a deal harder that he did at York but Olivier Peslier is still fancied to get his mount home in front.