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The Waialae Country Club in Maui, Hawaii is the venue for the first open ranking event of the 2011 US PGA season and the tour could be set for a stormy opening with high winds expected to batter the 7,068-yard par side oceanside course over the next few days. That will probably not favour several big-hitters in the line-up including Ernie Els (available at 14/1), though it’s hard to knock the recent record of the South African in this event. In the last seven years, the ‘Big Easy’ has won twice at Waialae and finished second, third and fifth on other occasions. He also comes here off the back of a win in the South African Open so can’t be left entirely out of calculations. Jerry Kelly (66/1 general) is another with a formidable record in this tournament. The winner of this as far back as 2002, he followed it with top five finishes in 2003 and 2004 and was third in 2008, though a modest 2010 has seen his world ranking slip from 21st to 90th over the last 12 months. Jim Furyk is a general 12/1 and is probably the one to beat on Maui this week after a steady start to the year in last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The 40-year-old from Pennsylvania won three times on the Tour in 2010 and it may be significant that he’s back into the swing a month earlier than normal. Steve Stricker (9/1 with Betfred, Coral, Paddy Power and totesport) normally hits peak form early in the year (he won in February last year) and is another for the short-list but I’m very interested in Britain’s Justin Rose at extrabet‘s 33/1. Last year was a mementous one for the 30-year-old as he achieved his maiden win on the US Tour. An outing last week will have blown away the cobwebs and it was noticeable how he got his game together after a poor first round. Rose will be targeting a better showing in the Majors this year and is a more rounded and confident player nowadays and a good showing on Maui would be a fine stepping stone – he must be a decent each-way bet this week.

There’s still another month to the start of the new Super League season but the 14 teams are already beginning to take shape and most bookmakers have markets for the Grand Final, Regular Season and which team will finish bottom of the pile. Wigan finally ended a 12-year wait for Grand Final glory when beating arch-rivals St Helens at Old Trafford last October and Skybet may have made a mistake in making Michael Maguire‘s side their 9/4 favourites to repeat the feat this autumn. They are 7/4 to top Super League at the end of the season with Skybet, extrabet and William Hill. Arguably, the Warriors were ahead of schedule in winning the Grand Final last season and their squad should prove even more formidable this year with the addition of Brett Finch, Ryan Hoffman and Jeff Lima, though there will be increased pressure on the likes of Sam Tomkins to repeat last year’s heroics. Given that the rest of Super League are now playing catch-up, however, 9/4 looks a big price. St Helens are next best with the layers at a general 10/3 but much will depend on how they cope with the retirement of Kieron Cunningham and the disappointment of losing a fourth straight Grand Final. The scope for improvement among their squad doesn’t look as great of that at Wigan, however, and they may also struggle to finish in front of Warrington this year. The Wolves, 4/1 in most places, have an excellent mix of senior pros and exciting youngsters like Rhys Williams and Richie Myler and are unlikely to be far away at the end of the regular season. Leeds never seemed to recover fully from their thrashing by Warrington in last year’s Challenge Cup Final but one can expect the former champions to come out with all guns blazing again this season and they are a best 5/1 with Stan James to recapture their crown.

The battle at the bottom should have a few twists and turns again this year with sportingbet unable to split Crusaders and Harlequins at 9/4 to occupy last place at the end of the regular season. Salford City Reds make some appeal in this market at 5/1.

The weather may have forced Kempton executives to put the King George VI Chase on hold for a day but the crowds will still flock to the Surrey track in the hope of witnessing history as Kauto Star makes his bid for an unprecedented fifth win in the Grade 1 event. Paul Nicholls‘ 10-year-old is available at 5/6 with several layers, with few punters put off by the fact that regular jockey Ruby Walsh is sidelined and proposed stand-in Noel Fehily has also succumbed to injury. Of course, having 2010 Sports Personality of the Year Tony McCoy as third choice is very much a plus but some have questioned whether the champion is the ideal replacement. McCoy’s tenacity has turned many likely losers into winners but Kauto Star seems to prefer the kid-glove treatment and, if past performances at Kempton are anything to go on, the Irishman will have to sit tight on at least one occasion during the two circuits of the track. There’s also the fact that the former Gold Cup winner is now rising 11 and one can expect a gradual lessening of his powers. So the question is – are any of this year’s rivals good enough to take advantage of the few chinks in Kauto Star’s armour?

Long Run (13/2 with Stan James) is one possibility. Though beaten in the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March, the five-year-old is probably still improving and ran well at the weights when third on his reappearance. He won the valuable novice event over C&D at this meeting last year. Sizing Europe (14/1 in most places) is an interesting runner from Ireland having chased home Kauto Star at Down Royal over 3m last time. This easier course will suit and this sound jumper could easily make the frame if the pace isn’t too strong. That’s a distinct possibility, however, with front-runners Nacarat, Ollie Magern and Madison Du Berlais likely to take each other on. Albertas Run could appreciate the return to a longer trip having fought a losing battle with Master Minded over 2m4f at Ascot last time when falling. But Jonjo O’Neill‘s charge, 28/1 with Skybet, was only sixth last year and seems to be spring horse. Forpadydeplasterer (14/1 with extrabet) and Planet Of Sound (a general 16/1) are dubious stayers while The Nightingale (a general 25/1) is another trying a longer trip. That’s also the case with Riverside Theatre but there are indications that the six-year-old will thrive over this C&D. A very easy winner over 2m5f at the track on his reappearance, Nicky Henderson‘s gelding has undoubtedly more on his plate in the KIng George but at a general 12/1, he could be the value if Kauto Star isn’t quite at the top of his game.

Extrabet offer a great Long Term Premiership Spread Betting Market. If you are unfamiliar with Spread Betting, then there is a need to fully understand the risks involved. It is not the common method of betting in the UK, and it has been prominently used in North American sports. Still, it is good to be aware of the system, as knowledge can further your betting experience and opportunities. Extrabet really is one of the best online bookmakers when it comes to Spread Betting and it is well worth opening an account with them if you want to explore it. They offer some fantastic user guides to help you along, because they themselves stress that the risks are higher in Spread Betting. You stand to lose more than your stake, and while the profit margins can be much higher than fixed odds betting, there is always that balance. It is worth taking some time and studying this form of betting, but it is an option and here we take a look at Spread Betting on the outcome of the Premier League.

This is 60 Index market from Extrabet. What is an Index? Well, instead of picking outright winners for events, an Index will award points on an outcome. For example, in the current Ashes cricket series, 25 points are awarded for a Test Match win, 10 points awarded for a draw, and 0 points for a defeat. Those points are accumulated over the five Test Matches in the series, and you would find a quote on Extrabet for Australia and England, and it is your job as the punter to decide whether you think the points quote on the Index is too high, or too low. When you Buy in Spread Betting, you state that you think a team will pick up more points. If you Sell, you think the points total on a team will be lower. So, to the Premier League. The 60 Index works like this: The team finishing first is awarded 60pts on the Index, the 2nd team gets 40pts, 3rd gets 30pts and so on down a scale (listed in more details below). You will find a quote on each Premier League on this market, and you weigh up whether their quote Index points will be higher or lower in reality. For example, Bolton are quoted at 3-5 Index Points (which on the scale has them finishing in 8th place). If they happened to go and win the Premier League, they would get the 60 points on the Index. The 60 Index points minus the quoted higher price of 5 leaves you 55 Index points. You profit will be your stake multiplied by 55 (the difference between the final Index points and the initial quote). If you had a £1 stake, then Bolton’s success would fetch you £55.

There are high risks in Spread Betting, but this is a market which offers novices some kind of security blanket, because you can make good assumptions as to who will finish in the top six for example. On the Index, the places from 3rd to 8th are only decreasing in steps of 5 points, meaning that the potential loss is probably not too substantial. As said, there are risks as always in Spread Betting, because the more wrong you are with your stake on Spread Betting, the worse off you are going to be. The more right you are, and the more you are willing to risk, the greater the rewards as explain below. See also our Premier League Points Spread Betting feature…

Extrabet Long Term Premier League 60 Index

Points: 1st = 60pts, 2nd = 40pts, 3rd = 30pts, 4th = 25pts, 5th = 20pts, 6th = 15pts, 7th = 10pts, 8th = 5pts

Man Utd: 43.5-46.5

This means that Man Utd are pretty good value here. Why? Well, you need to weigh up the potential loss first. The Premier League is running pretty tight at the moment, but United are a strong team, unbeaten and you would expect them to be challenging for first place. Therefore, if you Buy their quote, even if they finished second and picked up 40 points on the Index, that is only a 3.5 point difference to the quote. That means if they finished second, you would lose stake x 3.5 but then you weigh this up against potential profit. The difference between the 60pts on the Index for coming first and the 46.5 on the quote, is 13.5 points. A £1 stake therefore, would fetch £13.50 for your Spread Betting. It all sounds good right, but the risk of them finishing third has to be looked at as well, as that would mean they only pick up 30 points. 43.5 from the quote minus 30 points leaves a big 13.5 point deficit, and you would multiply that deficit by your stake. That is how much you could lose. Really not worth Selling their quote for the difference of that 3.5 margin back to 40 points. However, if you think they are going to crash, then it would be.

Chelsea: 40-43

Makes for an interesting punt as well really. Can they get their act together and defend their title? If they can get the better of Manchester United again this season in the race, then there is a massive 17 points difference between the quote and 60 Index points for winning the league. That is a pretty good profit margin. However, as Chelsea are struggling for form, there is no saying whether they will get that back. Is it worth Selling their Quote, believing that they would finish third (giving 10 point profit margin) or perhaps fourth where they stand now (giving a 15 point profit margin)? This is the big tug of war in weighing up your Spread Betting. Remember that you can Buy if you think Chelsea will finish with more than the quote, or Sell if you think that they will get less.

Arsenal: 35-38

Clearly the bookie is expecting Arsenal to finish in third place here, and that is understandable. Do they have the qualities to go higher? Potentially yes, if Chelsea do not get their act together and Manchester City run out of steam. Arsenal are definite challengers for second place, but the 38 quoted isn’t giving enough wiggle room for profit, when compared to the risk of them finishing in fourth. If they finished fourth than that could be a huge 10 point loss difference. You could of course Sell their Quote in the hope that they did finish fourth and then you would be in with a nice 10 point profit margin if they did.

Liverpool – 11.5-14.5

Interesting figure on the Reds, as this puts Roy Hodgson’s men around 6th or 7th. They finished in seventh last year, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of potential in them getting higher. They are interesting because they could go either way. You have to picture, Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Man City and Spurs finishing above them, that leaves them way back for 6th spot at best. If you bought their quote, 6th place rewards 15 points on the Index, so that’s just 0.5 of a point for profit. It’s highly unlikely they will finish fifth in the league or higher, so the biggest profit on Liverpool will be to see them fail. For a 7th place finish when Selling their quote, would give you 1.5 point profit, an 8th place finish would give a nice 5 point profit and if they finish lower than that, then that’s 11.5 x stake coming your way for taking the Sell option on them.

This is just highlighting the fun and the challenge that Spread Betting can provide. There are extensive markets on Spread Betting, and Extrabet provide fantastic coverage and service. Another word of advice would be to stick firmly to sports that you are knowledgeable about, and don’t be afraid to sit and study statistics to help you draw your conclusions. Doing so makes the betting picture on Spread Betting just that little bit clearer. Try Extrabet for all of your betting needs. They offer up to £100 in free bets when you open a new account with them. You will need to then confirm upgrading your account to take part in Spread Betting with the online bookmaker, because it is run separately from the regular sports book betting.

More information:
Bookies index

Premier League Spread Betting

With most of the Premier League action getting frozen out this weekend, it means that we head to the Christmas week with little action going on. Therefore, it makes a great time to sit back and ponder some football Spread Betting. Spread Betting is a higher risk form of betting, because you can lose more than you stake. The basics of Spread Betting, is that you are given a quote, say on how many points a rugby team would score in a match. You decide whether you want to Sell that quote, if you think that the team will score less than the quote, or Buy if you think that the team will score more than the quote. The more correct you are, meaning that if you have Bought the quote, the more points over the quote the team accumulates the bigger your profit margin. If you have Sold, then the more the team are under the quote, the more you win. The risk comes in getting the wrong outcome. If you have Bought and the points total ends up under the quote, then you are losing money, and vice versa. Still, it is such a popular method of betting that it may be worth getting to grips with. Here we take a look at the Premier League Points Spread Betting at Extrabet, and how you can turn their quotes into profit. The good thing about this market as opposed to picking an outright winner in your fixed odds betting, is that you can take any team in the league, and not worry about where they will finish in the league standings. You just need to make an informed and educated guess as to how many points a particular team could accumulate over the season. The amount of profit or loss will be down to the amount of unit stake that you place, as explained in more detail below.

Man Utd Spread Betting Quote: 79.25 – 80.75

Current Points: 34 from 16 played
Last Season Points Total: 85

Well, Manchester United are in the driving seat at the moment, still unbeaten in the Premier League this season. If they keep up the current kind of form, they would be expected to hit around 68 points from 32 matches, leaving six more to pick up points to head towards eighty. That is another 18 points available, added to the 68 projected points takes them in to the eighty. The things is with Spread Betting, if you think that the quote is pretty much accurate, then leave it well alone. This has to be good advice when looking at the quote on Manchester United. The math adds up to being about right, and the profit/deficit margins really aren’t worth dabbling with.

Chelsea Spread Betting Quote: 76-77.5

Current Points: 31 from 17 played
Last Season Points Total: 86

Their big match against Manchester United was postponed for Sunday, leaving things a little bit up in the air. That was actually a big three points which could have gone either way. With Manchester United running as favourites to win the Premier League now, simply down to the demise of Chelsea’s form, Spread Betting on the Blues makes for an interesting proposition. Will they be able to recover their form, and how long will it take them to do so? At the time of writing, Chelsea have picked up just nine points from an available 24 over the last eight matches. Eight matches is a huge portion of the season gone with points going begging for Carlo Ancelotti and his men, how soon can they redress the balance? What if they can’t pull themselves out of the slump for another four of five matches? That’s a lot of points still going begging. Buying Chelsea over 77.5 seems like a bit of a stretch to pick up profit. Double what they have now, and that’s 61 points from 34, leaving just four games to try and get over that 77.5 quote. However, if Chelsea rediscover their blistering form from early season and go on a hot streak of wins, then they could easily make it. This one will be all about form, and more unpredictable than Man Utd’s points tally.

Arsenal Spread Betting Quote: 75.5-77

Current Points: 32 from 17 played
Last Season Points Total: 75

The Gunners are still not deemed as being good enough to win the league, even though they should be strong challengers. Could well finish under the quote with a projection of 64 points from 34 matches. Still though, this one looks to be pretty much in the ball park of the quote. Can they top the 77 points to bring profit? Potentially of course, there are still twenty one matches to go, which means 63 points available, but unlikely to go too much beyond that to make this worthwhile.

Man City Spread Betting Quote: 70.75-72.25

Current Points: 32 from 17 played
Last Season Points Total: 67

On par with Arsenal, but can you pick out the better team? In a two horse race between the two sides, you would realistically go with Arsenal. So, therefore, that is why the unproven Manchester City are a considerable five points back in the quote to Arsenal, but they represent good value. If you believe that they could keep pace with Arsenal, and who is to say that they won’t go and spend big in the January transfer window to boost their chances, they would be able to accumulate points above the quote. It will be a big effort from them, as it would put them firmly in the hunt for the title. Seventy points has to be a realistic target for them to surpass, so there could well be some decent value in Buying Man City’s quote at over 72.25 points. They are improving, but could, by the same yardstick, blow it unless they sort out the Tevez problems. It is the unpredictability over Man City, just like Chelsea, which makes them potentially more profitable in your Spread Betting.

Liverpool Spread Betting Quote: 57.25-58.75

Current Points: 22 from 17 played
Last Season Points Total: 63

All sorts of problems at Anfield this season. Well, actually the problems have been away from Anfield, where Liverpool have found it incredibly hard to win this year. They have a decent enough home record though to suggest that they would finish somewhere between 50 and 60 points. However, there are serious questions about them, and they are just as likely to go on a hot streak as they are to go on a horrible skid. Doubling their figures to see 44 points from 34, really needs to be added to a little bit because they will pick up away wins at some points, so a figure around 50 is probably sound. Do they have enough to get all the way up to around 60 points though? If so, a turn around in fortunes for them, really would bring some good profit in buying them, but they need to be a lot better than they have been. Remember key factors of injuries and transfers. Liverpool are fragile with only Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres being really productive. More injuries to them will equal more lost points on the season.

Everton Spread Betting Quote – 50-51.5

Current Points: 18 from 17 played
Last Season Points Total: 61

Simply haven’t gotten their act together the season as expected and you hear most experts and pundits talking about them, and they are expected to reach mid table safety. Worryingly, they are one of the lowest scoring teams in the Premier League and they will continue to draw a lot of games. Going along at the current click, would see them around 36 points from 34 matches. Averaging just 1.06 points per game would put them around 40 points at the end of the season. Add a couple of good wins on top of that, and that still doesn’t hit the quote. Worth a little flutter in Selling on their quote maybe? Are they going to face that kind of trouble over the second half of the season, or will they come good?

Those are just some highlight options to help you get on your way with Spread Betting. The further you look down the list of Spread Bets on the Premier League season, you will find some interesting ones for yourself, based on your own predictions of how well teams will do. Take time to look around mid table teams, those which could go either way, there should be some good Quotes in there. Enjoy Spread Betting on football, but because cautious of the risks. Start off small and gradually work your way into the swing of things. If you are looking for the ideal Spread Betting destination, then Extrabet really should top the list. Open a regular account, which offers up to £100 in free bets, and just upgrade your account to include the Spread Betting feature on the site. You will be in good hands, and be sure to take time perusing the brilliant help guides available before you start betting in this format.

Well, fortunately the only freeze Down Under will be in England’s strong run of form against the Aussies, as the England cricket side look to salvage a draw from the third test. This raised an interesting opportunity to look at something a little bit different for your cricket betting. You can go to any online bookmaker and pick your outright odds on Series Winner, Test Match Winner, Top Batsman and so on, but there is a great alternative way to enjoy betting on the cricket Ashes, by taking a visit to Extrabet, who are one of the leading service providers online for Spread Betting. When you go and start trading on Spread Betting, the first thing you have to know is that you can stand to lose more than what you stake. There are greater risks involved with Spread Betting, and the systems take a little more work in studying, in order to try and avoid pitfalls. However, the flip side of all this, is that there are some fantastic opportunities to reap some very good profits. Here we take a look through the different betting markets for the Ashes, and which will apply to all cricket betting.

Spread Index Betting

Just a quick explanation of what you can expect to see when you see something being advertised as an Index. Let’s take the Series Index as our example for this Ashes betting. Instead of just picking outright odds on an event happening, or more importantly, not happening, an Index in your Spread Betting will award points on certain outcomes. Extrabet offer 25 points to any team which wins a Test Match, which gives 10 points to England and Australia if they draw or tie. So, with the sides drawing the First Test and England winning the second, England currently lead the Index with 35 points, with the Aussies on ten. Here is how the Series Index for the Ashes work. England’s Series Index is currently priced a 71-74. So what does this mean? With Five Test Matches in the series, the potential at the start was for any team to pick up a maximum of 125 Index Points (5 x 25 for each win). With this price of 71-74, you have to decide whether you think England will score more than 74 points in the Index system, or less that 74. As this is Spread Betting, you place a stake, say of £1 on England to score more than the 74, so you are Buying. Now, if England finish the series with three wins, one draw and one loss, they would have 85 points at the end of the series. Your profit margin will be the difference between the 85 points scored, and the higher Index spread point of 74. So, 85-74 is eleven, so that is 11 x Stake (in this case £1) so you have won £11. Similarly, if you think England wouldn’t hit 71 points, you would have Sold (just like trading) at a £1. If England just one win and one draw on 35 points, that is hefty £36 profit (71-35). However, if you had Sold like that and England finished above the Index threshold, you would have lost a multiple of your stake for every point over that England finished. This is the risk of Spread Betting. With this knowledge in hand, let’s look at the Extrabet Spread Betting on the Ashes and weigh up the prices.

Series Index

(Win 25pts, Draw/Tie/Abandoned 10pts, Loss 0pts)
Australia: 42-45 (that’s going to be in the ballpark of one Test match win and a couple of drawn matches)
England: 71-74 (That’s around two wins and two draws on the lower end, or three wins on the upper end)

England have looked the better side throughout the Ashes series so far, but the Aussies won’t lie down. They are showing a bit of fight back in the Third Test, and it will be unlikely that they go through the five match series without winning a Test. Bookies have generally been fancying a drawn outcome on the series, so a win each and three draws would give the sides 55 points each. Two wins and a draw would be 70 points.

Match 25 Index:

This is the same principle as the Series Index, but you will see the 25 Index used for individual Test Matches. The points systems is the same as in the above Index, but of course, with this being an individual match, no team get gain more than 25 points. So, with Australia being at 18.5-20 on the 25 Index after day three, and in a strong position to win the match. There was still profit to be made on Buying them at that point (in this case the five Index points x stake) if the Aussies win, but if England fought back for a win and you Sold on the Aussie 25 Index, the ten Index points given for a draw would have left you with a 8.5 x stake for selling on that 18.5-20 price. This method of Spread Betting is a great way to bet on cricket, but you need to keep up to date with the bookie though, as prices will naturally change throughout the day as the game progresses. For the first time in the Ashes series, England started the match as favourite. But it’s the Aussies who have a bit of momentum going. The action and your cricket betting can turn in a flash.

Team Runs

This is more of your familiar Spread Betting, where you are betting on the total points scored. This is pertaining to one innings though, not the entire match. This is where the risks of Spread Betting may be highlighted a little bit more. England have ran up some massive scores in the Ashes Series so far, but it only takes one bad innings for your Spread Betting to take a tumble. For example, the Aussies were quoted at 308-323 in their second innings at Extrabet, so if you thought that figure was too high and decided to Sell, because Australia have struggled to hit 300 in their past few innings, then you may think you are on to a winner. If they then rack up 500 runs in their innings, that is a potentially big loss you have taken on. However, if you had bought, thinking the Extrabet spread was too low and that the hosts were due a big knock, there was some massive profit to be earned. Imagine Buying at £1 and the Aussies ran up 550 runs. That would be 550 minus the spread of 323, leaving you £227 in profit. Big rewards. Big risks. Be sure that you understand fully the risks of spread betting. You don’t just stand to lose your stake as in fixed odds betting, your losses could well exceed your stake.

Other great Spread Betting markets for cricket and the Ashes series in particular at Extrabet, are Wicket x, which puts on a spread for how many runs will be scored for a particular wicket, while Player Performance Spread Betting enables you to try and make some profit on who you think will seriously be one of the men of the match. A bit like the Series Index, Player Performance awards points throughout the match for certain feats. A player will get one point for each run they score, twenty points for a wicket, ten points for a catch and the wicketkeepers get a nice twenty points for completing a stumping. That is one of the more fascinating markets. You can also find quotes given on the Batsmen and Bowlers for the series and individual Test Matches. This relates to how many runs you think a particular batsman will score, and how many wickets a particular bowler will take in the match or series.

If you are fully in tune with your Spread Betting, then Extrabet provides you the opportunity to win a little extra with their Ashes Leaderboard competition. Simply put, the person who makes the most points on Ashes Spread Betting, will be in line for the first prize of £1000. In every test which is played, the is a first prize on offer of £350, £150 for second place and third place brings home £100. The Overall Ashes Leaderboard prize has that massive £1000 for 1st place, £500 for 2nd, £250 for 3rd, £150 for 4th and £100 for 5th. Every point that you earn Spread Betting with Extrabet on the Ashes, will go towards your total. Your losses will be subtracted from the total. The person with the highest total at the end of the Ashes (or an individual match) gets the top prize. Qualification criteria is one bet per Individual Test, or eight Spread Bets throughout the entire Ashes series. So, with some clever Spread Betting, there is still time to make up some ground on the Ashes Leaderboard. The Spread Betting section of Extrabet is separate to the regular Sportsbook, and while new customers can earn themselves up to £100 in Free bets when opening a regular account with Extrabet, you will need to confirm the upgrade of your account to encompass Spread Betting as well. Understand the risks of Spread Betting fully before getting too deep.

It never fails to amaze me that darts has become such a popular spectator sport! Let’s face it, the game hardly lends itself to a viewing public who have to watch the action on giant TV screens because they are so far away from the oche only a bird of prey could possibly see what’s going on without visual aids. Then there’s the average darts player – hardly perfect specimens of athleticism, are they? But the sport has somehow transformed from a game played between mates at the pub or club into a worldwide phenomenon staged in front of thousands at venues like London’s Alexandra Palace, now the traditional home of the PDC World Championships. The sport is even endorsed by intellectuals like Stephen Fry nowadays and there’s sure to be plenty of interest among bettors in this year’s Christmas jamboree.

Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor is bidding for a 16th world title over the Festive period and it’s no surprise that he’s no bigger than 4/6 (general) to retain his crown. However, there have been a few cracks appearing in the champion’s armour over the last couple of months. Beaten by Steve Beaton in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam Of Darts, the real Phil Taylor just never turned up when he and James Wade were amazingly beaten by unranked Spain in the recent World Cup. ‘The Power’ also has a tricky draw at Ally Pally, with former world champion John Part a possible second-round opponent and the likes of Co Stompe (a general 125/1), Adrian Lewis (a general 33/1) and Simon Whitlock potentially lying in wait. Whitlock, the fourth seed, is particularly interesting. ‘The Wizard’, losing finalist 12 months ago, can be backed at 16/1 with sportingbet. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that Taylor has still won six major titles in 2010 and is probably still the one to beat so it is with some reluctance that I am overlooking him in favour of James Wade. Rated a 9/1 chance by extrabet, at only 27 ‘The Machine’ is a comparative novice on the world stage but he arrives at these world championships as the in-form player on the PDC circuit having won the Grand Prix and reached the final of the Grand Slam in recent weeks. If everything goes according to plan, the Hampshire-born player shouldn’t encounter serious opposition before meeting Raymond van Barneveld (a general 14/1) in the semi-finals and has to be a bit of value on that basis alone.

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona are still the bookmakers’  favourites for the Champions League ahead of the draw for the last 16, set to be staged in Zurich next week. Pep Guardiola‘s team qualified from Group D in a canter and were even able to field a largely second string against Rubin Kazan in midweek. Tougher tests now await Barca, with the possibility of a second-round clash with either Arsenal or holders Inter a distinct possibility, but Messi and company are undoubtedly the most attractive club side in world football on their day and there are likely to be plenty of takers for the current 5/2 available from several layers for them to regain the trophy.

Inter clearly aren’t the same team under Rafa Benitez as they were under Jose Mourinho and are 10 points off arch-rivals Milan in Serie A. They were also edged out of top spot in Group A of the Champions League by Spurs, conceding 11 goals in six games in the process, and can currently be backed at a general 25/1 to win Europe’s premier club tournament for a second successive year. Tottenham themselves are now into a general 18/1, the same price as Arsenal (Coral) after the Gunners failed to secure a seeding for the last 16 draw, despite a 3-1 victory over Partizan Belgrade in their final Group H match. As well as Barcelona, Arsene Wenger‘s men will now go into the pot with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Schalke.

Chelsea still topped their section despite losing their 100 per cent record in this season’s competition against Marseille. Their current run of form is a big worry for Blues’ fans but there are too many world-class players at Stamford Bridge for it to continue for much longer. If it does, Carlo Ancelotti may not be in charge when the knockout stages start in February and extrabet, Paddy Power and Victor Chandler have all pushed Chelsea out to 11/2 to win the final at Wembley in May. Manchester United, meanwhile, are available at 9/1 with Victor Chandler and on betfair, despite securing top spot in their group and only conceding one goal so far.

Real Madrid are currently a best 7/2 second choice with layers, despite being battered by Barcelona in the Primera Liga recently while other traditional European big guns Bayern Munich, losing finalists in 2009, are a general 16/1 and Milan can be backed at 25/1 with sportingbet. At the other end of the scale FC Copenhagen, who have reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history, are 200/1 with Betfred, extrabet and Stan James.

Four times previous winner Ronnie O’Sullivan is a best 11/4 with Blue Square, Paddy Power and 888sport to win the UK Championships again in Telford over the next week following his demolition of Shaun Murphy in the final of the Premier League last weekend. When in the mood, there is no doubt that ‘The Rocket’ is in a class of his own. But the draw hasn’t exactly been kind to the man from Essex, who once famously walked out of a quarter-final match against Stephen Hendry at the Telford International Centre. Also in O’Sullivan’s section of the draw are holder Ding Junhui (18/1 with Boylesports), the fast-improving Tom Ford (a general 150/1) and a back-to-form Matthew Stevens. The Welshman, 70/1 with Boylesports and Eurosport) has qualified for all 12 ranking tournaments this season and has shown an increased maturity of late. World Open champion and world number one Neil Robertson could easily emerge unscathed from the bottom half of the draw so an each-way bet on the general 8/1 could return a dividend but, for the winner, we are going to concentrate on the second quarter. John Higgins couldn’t have wished for a more successful return to the big time after serving his controversial ban. The Scot won a tournament in Germany on his return to action and reached the final of another in the Czech Republic. Clearly his exile has blunted neither his ability nor enthusiasm and Higgins will feel he has a point to prove in Telford this week. At a best 10/1 with Boylesports and sportingbet, bookmakers are erring on the side of caution but with probably only Mark Selby barring a possible quarter-final place, there are worse investments this week. Of the remainder, Mark Williams (12/1 with extrabet) and Shanghai Masters winner Ali Carter (18/1 with bwin) are worthy of respect but we’ll stick with Higgins to continue his renaissance.

San Francisco 49’ers v Denver Broncos Spread Betting: Sunday’s annual visit to Wembley for the NFL, sees the San Francisco 49’ers square off against the Denver Broncos in a regular season match. This isn’t the greatest showcase which the NFL could have sent across the pond, as both teams are sitting bottom of their respective divisions, but that having been said, it should be an exciting affair because both are desperate for points. The NFL is keen to make a big presence in Europe, as that means more revenue, and talks over having a European league will raise its head again, as one of the most popular betting sports hits the capital. With massive squads, massive guys and trunks full of protective gearing, American Football is followed with religious fervour in the States, even at grass roots high school level. While the Superbowl is the pinnacle of the game, the equivalent of the FA Cup final, there is a lot of swagger, bravado and showmanship about the game, and with all the stops and starts during play, a match can rumble on for hours. It also provides a wealth of great betting opportunities.

So let’s taking an American Football betting preview on the big Wembley showcase, starting with the San Francisco 49’ers. Even if you don’t really follow the NFL action, you have probably heard of the 49’ers. It’s just one of those things in sport. What sucks for them really, is that they have lost their starting quarter back, Alex Smith who has a separated shoulder. The quarter back is the attacking maestro with the ball, who calls all the shots and runs the game for the offence. The 49’ers have even overlooked their back up quarter back David Carr who had a bit of a nightmare filling in against Carolina, throwing an interception pass which lost them the match, so San Francisco have called upon Troy Smith to start the match. This Smith didn’t even make an impression during training camp, so it’s a surprise that the team are pulling out such desperate measures. As sports betting followers will know, form is everything, and that is one thing which the 49’ers do not have right now. Out of their first seven matches of the new season, they have won just once, and have a 1-4 match record in the last five. While their defence hasn’t been whole heartedly solid in enough matches, what is worrying for the team, is the offence not scoring enough. They aren’t the worst offensive team in the National Football Conference at all, but they certainly aren’t the best. While teams have posted upwards of 150 points in their opening matches, San Francisco have just teetered over the 100 mark. They have a terrible away record of losing all four played on the road this season, this game is a little different. It is almost a chance, on neutral ground, to wipe the slate clean and get their season rolling. Already they have a lot of catching up to do in their division, NFC West. A crucial game for the San Francisco 49’ers, but with all that having been said about them, they actually go into the match as favourite. That is not strong favourites, but when you look across betting lines, they are fancied to tip the match, even with their quarterback problems, which doesn’t say too much about the Denver Broncos. Main threats should come from Frank Gore who is the leading receiver for the 49’ers and Vernon Davies who has four touchdowns to his name this year, and leads the way in receiving yards. The defence is conceding an average 23.1 points per match this season, the offence is average 16.1.

Denver have done slightly better than San Francisco this season (and they are in the tougher conference), albeit by winning one more game than Sunday’s opponents have done. Yes, that gives them a record of two wins out of seven this season, but the one stat which stands out, and why the 49’ers are being tipped to edge this NFL Wembley showdown, is that Denver have the second worst defensive record in the whole of the NFL, having conceded 199 points in their seven matches. They are currently on a three game losing streak though, including an absolute embarrassing hammering by the Oakland Raiders last weekend, where the Broncos were played off the park in every aspect of the game. That was a severely brutal loss of 14-59, and the Broncos looked completely demoralised and out of shape, allowing Oakland to set a franchise record for points. There is immense pressure now on their head coach, and they need a big response at Wembley. One of the weakest aspects of their game is the running game, which is frankly, paltry and the 49’ers defence shouldn’t have too many problems coping in that department. However, when the ball is in the air, the Broncos have done OK, with main threats coming from Jabar Gaffney and Brandon Lloyd (3 touchdowns). Denver is scoring an average of 19.7 points per game this season, and the defence is shipping a frightening 28.4 points per match. It’s clear from those stats to see where their problems lie, but there is a silver lining as Denver hold a pretty good pass defence, which may just shut down any aerial threat from San Francisco.

It all adds up to what should be a relatively low scoring match, with neither team exactly looking prolific. Both teams will be hugely disappointed with the way the seasons have gone so far, but looking at things on paper, the San Francisco 49’ers look to have that extra edge in quality, if they can get their game going. There will be a lot of pressure on Troy Smith coming in at quarterback, but perhaps the neutral venue will ease some of that pressure and allow him to relax a little bit. Smith is someone who hasn’t held down a starting job for over three years. Can he find space to work with against Denver’s decent pass defence? If the 49’ers look to run the ball, there really doesn’t look to be much of a threat coming from there, which all adds up to a bit of parity in this match, and why the Moneylines for San Francisco 49’ers v Denver Broncos is running pretty close. Looking at the match up, there really isn’t a clear favourite, as neither team look as if they can be trusted to put out a complete performance for the entire matches. Is there enough offensive skills to take advantage of defensive lapses on either sides? The upshot is, that Denver are slight underdogs because of their losing streak, coupled with the beat down which they received against Oakland. This actually makes for interesting American Football betting, as taking Denver in a spread here, may just pay off.

As this is a North American Sport, let’s take a look at betting on the San Francisco 49’ers v Denver Broncos match from a North American betting perspective. That means looking at Spread Betting, for which we will head to Bodog for some fantastic coverage.

San Francisco 49’ers v Denver Broncos Point Spread
First and foremost let’s look at the spread for this one. Across the board at moneylines, you are only going to find a spread of one point. The San Francisco 49’ers are -1, meaning that they are starting as slight favourites and need to win the match by beating that one points deficit. The match is expected to a very tight encounter, but going Under on the Broncos looks a decent punt actually. So, here you can place a wager on the Niner’s to “cover the spread” by winning the game, or back Denver to beat the Spread by taking them in the positive of +1. Remember that with spread betting, you need to bet on the correct side of the spread to win money. You place your stake and the more right you are, the more you will win. Read on for more about spread betting.

San Francisco 49’ers v Denver Broncos Totals
The match total on this match at Extrabet, is running at 41-44 currently. This market is for the total points scored in the match, and if you look at the average scoring stats above in the preview, you can see why it is where it is. This is spread betting still. You decide whether you want to buy or sell units. If you buy, then you want the Totals score to be over the spread. So if you buy at £1, for each point over 44, you will win a £1 profit. However, for every point under the Totals spread of 41, you will lose £1. This is the risk and reward of spread betting! Alternatively, if you think the score is going to be Under the Totals spread, then you can sell. For every point under the Totals Spread, you will win whatever stake you laid down, but if the game goes over the Totals Spread, you will lose for every point over. If you look at Bodog, you will see things presented slightly differently. Again, in this market, you need to decide if you want to go over or under, and both options are set at a price of -110 at Bodog. What does that mean? Well, because the figure is in the minus, in moneyline terms that is the amount which you need to stake in order to win back £100. So, in order to win £100, you need to place a bet of £110. Naturally not everyone wants to have such a large punt, so if you placed a £11 bet, you would win back £10, so you can work out your percentage of the moneyline that way. Not a lot of value in it, simply because the match is expected to be tight. However, going over is looking like the way to swing on this one, because Denver have gone Over the points total in five of their last six matches, and four of the last six matches against San Francisco have gone Over the totals. A nice betting trend to swing along with. Remember, with Spread Betting, the more right you are, the more you will win. The more wrong you are, the more you will lose. This is the risks and rewards of betting the North American way.

San Francisco 49’ers v Denver Broncos  Supremacy
For this market, we go to Extrabet, who are a brilliant online bookmaker offering both spread betting and fixed odds. A supremacy bet is a winning margin bet. For the San Francisco 49’ers v Denver match, there is a San Francisco/Denver Supremacy of 0-2 (the first named team is the one with the supremacy). What does this mean? Is means that you need San Francisco to win by more than two points because the bookie thinks that San Francisco are 2 points better than Denver overall in scoring. What this essentially says, is that the 49′ers are going to be two points better than San Francisco in the match. So, if they win by two points you have hit parity and don’t win, but for every point over a two point winning margin, you will be earning yourself some profit. So, if you have staked £10 on a San Francisco Supremacy of 2 points and they win by three points, you will win £10 profit. If they win by five points, then you will win £30 (i.e., the winning margin minus the supremacy taken multiplied by your stake).

Fixed Odds
Of course, there are plenty of good fixed odds options on the match if that is the way you want to go for Sunday’s big game.

Bets Odds on Outrights for the match are:
San Francisco 49’ers to win 20/23 at BetFred
Denver Broncos to win 21/20 at Bet365

Frank Gore 1st Touchdown Scorer: 4/1 at ExtraBet
Vernon Davis 1st Touchdown Scorer: 7/1 at ExtraBet