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I’ve already pinpointed Huddersfield Giants in the Super League this year and I’m prepared to stick with Nathan Brown’s team as the big guns enter the fray in the Challenge Cup. The Giants have made an encouraging start to their Super League campaign and are now as short as 10-1 to top the table in the regular season. Their defence has been particularly impressive, conceding only 40 points in their five outings at the time of writing including a shutout against Hull KR on the road. Facing the same opponents in the next round of the Challenge Cup, Huddersfield will be confident in making progress as they aim to go one better than their heart-breaking defeat by Warrington at Wembley last year and Betfred and William Hill look a bit big at offering 16-1. Bradford Bulls could be interesting as they are a team likely to progress the more they play together. They need to up their work-rate in the opposition’s half but Steve McNamara is steadily getting his team to tick the right boxes and they are also a decent bet at the same price. Holders Warrington Wolves are a best 7-1 (Boylesports, Betfair and Ladbrokes), but it may be worth taking on Leeds (7-2 with Blue Square, 888sport and William Hill) after being pulled out of the hat to face Hull at the KC Stadium. St Helens, winners of the trophy four times in succession in the Noughties (don’t you just detest that word) are the same price with Skybet and Boylesports, while early Super League pace-setters Wigan are quoted at 15-2 by Betfred. The Warriors should be too strong for Sheffield Eagles in round four but it remains to be seen if their defence will be able to maintain its high work rate and discipline beyond the spring. We’ll stick with the Giants again but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Wolves also went close again to retaining the cup.

Considering the Paddy Power Imperial Cup at Sandown is always a tremendously competitive handicap hurdle on paper, favourites have had a particularly impressive record in recent seasons. In the last 10 years, five market leaders have been first past the post and, of course, there’s a big bonus awaiting the winner if they go on to success in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham next week. That all bodes well for Qaspal, who still holds an entry at the Festival and is probably improving more quickly than the handicapper can reassess him. Not only that, Philip Hobbs‘ gelding has already won at Sandown and will again have Tony McCoy in the saddle. With Qaspal (a general 9-2) only carrying 10st3lbs, the partnership should take all the beating, although there aren’t many obvious front-runners in the 26-strong field which is a slight cause for concern. Ruby Walsh rides Pepe Simo (7-1 with Skybet, Totesport and Victor Chandler) for champion trainer Paul Nicholls. But he has a lot of weight for a novice and I’d be just as interested in stablemate Pistolet Noir at more than three times that price (a general 25-1). Still only a four-year-old, connections paid a handsome sum to buy him out of Nick Williams‘ yard after he won at Cheltenham in November and he has to be of interest in his first handicap off a mark of 137. Another relative lightweight that appeals at a big price is Cheshire Prince. A regular winner on the flat, the Desert Prince gelding has taken well to hurdles and has already scored twice at Huntingdon (latest success has worked out well) this season. He appeared to find two and a half miles beyond him at Doncaster last time but was still far from disgraced and a return to a stiff two miles is very much in his favour. As he hails from an unfashionable yard, bookmakers may have been guilty of underestimating his chances and I’ll be having a little bit of the 33-1 that Skybet, Betfred and William Hill have priced him up at. The sponsors, by the way, are guaranteeing you’ll be paid at the best price if taking their current odds on the race.

Ladbrokes‘ PR officer Ciaran O’Brien has been showing some solidarity with traditional market rivals William Hill this week, echoing the comments made by William Hill chief executive Ralph Topping about the rumoured moves to increase tax on betting turnover. Topping told a leading newspaper that any raising of the percentage that high street firms have to pay in duty could lead to wholesale closures among betting offices, with more than a thousand already at risk due to a general fall in the number of bets being wagered by punters coming in off the street and the fact that the average stake per slip is also on the decline. William Hill have recently released their financial results for 2009 which showed that net revenue for the company was up, though net profits actually fell. That was largely due to the funding required to cement their tie-up with Playtech, though there are already signs that their online market share has been heading in the right direction since the deal was struck and there are plans to expand the firm’s in-play markets in 2010. Fixed odds betting terminals and in-house gaming have also been on the increase but one sometimes has to question for how much longer the big bookmakers will be willing to subsidise betting offices as we know them. Nowadays, most people have a computer and some form of online access and there are countless ways to watch the big events on the internet while having a bet. There’s even the fall back of telephone betting and satellite TV. Food for thought certainly, especially if your job is in one of those thousand betting offices staring at the abyss.

Nacarat’s demolition of a 20-strong field in last year’s Racing Post Chase at Kempton will live long in the memory and Tom George appears to have specifically prepared his charge for a repeat bid 12 months later. I’ll accept that the grey is closely matched with top weight Madison Du Berlais (9-1 with Victor Chandler) on their run together behind Kauto Star in the King George over the same course and distance in December but David Pipe’s gelding disappointed at Cheltenham next time and it remains to be seen if first-time blinkers instead of his usual cheekpieces will re-ignite his enthusiasm. Nacarat, on the other hand, has plenty going for him here not least the fact that Tony McCoy, on board for two of his three wins over fences in this country, is back in the saddle. This is a race in which the classier chasers towards the head of the handicap have dominated in recent years so Nacarat, set to carry 11st8lb, is firmly in the preferred weight range and may still be a bit of value at Paddy Power’s 4-1. There has also been support this week for Emma Lavelle’s Kilcrea Castle (into a general 6-1), who was third to The Sawyer over 2m6f at Ascot last month. But I can’t see any reason why he should overturn that form with runner-up Miss Mitch, despite having a slight turnaround in the weights. The Alners’ mare has never won over 3m under rules but she gives every indication the extra distance won’t worry her and looks a cast-iron each-way alternative at 7-1 with sportingbet. With Paul Nicholls‘ Fistral Beach (6-1 with William Hill) set to race from out of the handicap proper, the pick of the lightweights may be Oedipe. He was only 10th in this last year but was much more like his old self when fourth on his belated reappearance at Sandown earlier this month and is now dangerously well handicapped on the form he showed when landing a valuable handicap at Aintree in April 2008. Providing he doesn’t get too far behind in the early stages, a small each-way saver at a general 14-1 could reap some reward.

The weights for the John Smith’s Grand National in April were published this week and, as always, they’ve invoked optimism and disappointment in equal measure. Trainers who have been pleasantly surprised by the weight their charges have been allotted are usually, understandably, coy about revealing their feelings but those who feel the handicapper have served them an injustice are never slow in letting those involved know about it! One such is Mouse Morris, who has all but already ruled out former Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition (quoted at 20-1 by Blue Square and 888sport) telling the Racing Post he was, "more than a bit baffled and very disappointed" having been given 11st1lb. Former winners Mon Mome (33-1 with Stan James), Comply Or Die (a general 25-1) and Silver Birch (a general 50-1) remain on track for the big race, however, as do Tricky Trickster and Niche Market, first and second in Newbury’s Aon Chase. The former heads the early ante-post market at a general 12-1, while the latter can be backed at a general 16-1 along with Dessie Hughes‘ Irish raiders Vic Venturi and Black Apalachi, first and second in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse and both already winners over the Grand National fences. Coral will give you odds of 2-1 that an Irish horse wins the race again in 2010 and another interesting runner from the Emerald Isle could be Willie Mullins’ Arbor Supreme. Successful in long-distance chases at Punchestown and Fairyhouse in 2008 and usually at his best in the spring, the eight-year-old has been lightly campaigned this season and  is by no means overburdened with 10st8lbs. He can be backed at 40-1 with sportingbet, Coral and William Hill. Big Fella Thanks (20-1 with Ladbrokes and William Hill) looks to be the number one hope of the powerful Paul Nicholls yard but I like the early look of Character Building at 33-1 with Victor Chandler, Ladbrokes and William Hill. John Quinn’s grey, winner of last season’s Kim Muir Handicap Chase at Cheltenham, proved his stamina when runner-up in the 4m National Hunt Chase when only a seven-year-old and looks to have been campaigned with an Aintree bid in mind this term.

Miko De Beauchene, 10-1 with sponsors Blue Square and 888sport to win this year, managed the feat and Dream Alliance can follow in his hoofprints in 2010. What am I talking about? The Coral Welsh National/Blue Square Gold Cup double! Philip Hobbs has been unstinting in his belief that his gelding would one day develop into one of the country’s leading staying chasers and Dream Alliance finally appeared to come of age at Chepstow in December. Runner-up to subsequent Gold Cup winner Denman in the Hennessy in 2007, connections of the nine-year-old than had to endure a frustrating sequence of runs in which Dream Alliance failed to complete. But it transpired he had a tendon injury that required complete rest, indeed there were fears that the horse may never race again. But, after 18 months on the sidelines, he delighted his trainer with a second over hurdles in November and proved he was back to his best when storming to victory in the Welsh National, beating Silver By Nature, Le Beau Bai, Miko De Beauchene, Ballyfitz and Coe in the process. Now some would argue that a few of those behind have every chance of turning the tables here with the winner racing off a 9lb higher mark and Le Beau Bai (6-1 with Blue Square and 888sport) has won over hurdles since to prove his wellbeing. But I think Dream Alliance (7-1 with Blue Square, 888sport and William Hill) will be even better over this slightly shorter trip and could yet prove he is a high-class stayer. Of those behind at Chepstow, Coe (a general 7-1) is arguably the most interesting this weekend as he travelled strongly for a long way in front before tiring and has a decent record around Haydock. Another with a proven track record is Our Vic (20-1 with Victor Chandler and Stan James) who had 2009 Grand National winner Mon Mome (a general 12-1) trailing under a similar weight over 3m here last month. His welter burden may bog him down over this extra half-mile, however, and a more interesting each-way prospect could be Nick Williams‘ mare L’Aventure (a general 16-1) who is a former Welsh National winner herself. She won over 4m at Kelso in December so clearly retains plenty of ability and is the type to run a big race off a light weight in the mud around here.

Southampton vs. Portsmouth is one of the most intriguing matches of the FA Cup Fifth Round. This is a crucial derby match between two neighbours, with financial problems plaguing both sides recently. Southampton were saved  from going out of business by a last minute take over, whilst Portsmouth managed to get a stay of execution from a winding-up order. Portsmouth are bottom of the Premier League and in all sorts of problems both on and off the field. They are being taken to court by previous owners, Sol Campbell, and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. They players have been paid late on four occasions, and they are about £60 million in debt. Now the FA Cup, in all its wonder has thrown them into battle against their rivals, who will look to claim a giant scalp. Southampton are hanging around mid table in League One, and recovering from their financial problems, but they could heap more misery upon the Portsmouth fans if Alan Pardew’s men can proceed to the last eight at the expense of Premier League side Portsmouth.

William Hill are offering a free £10 bet when you place a minimum £20 on the 90 minute market for Southampton v Portsmouth. The free £10 bet will be applied to any market on the FA Cup tie of Man City v Stoke. Irrespective of whether your bet on the Southampton v Portsmouth game wins or loses, you will still be eligible for the free £10 bet on Man City v Stoke.

William Hill Prices:
Southampton win: 7/4
Draw: 23/10
Portsmouth to win: 6/4

William Hill are also offer some great Bet Bundles, with Saturday Certs looking the pick of the action. You can get odds of 53/10 on Celtic, Chelsea, Leicester, Morecambe and Real Madrid all winning in this pre-made accumulator coupon. There is also a Championship bankers coupon, a Sunday favourites, Sunday’s FA Cup Favourites and a Sunday Evening Treble to chose from. These provide great ways t make quite accumulator bets, by backing firm favourites at good accumulated prices. By opening a new account with William Hill by following the Online-Betting.me.uk exclusive link, you can earn yourself a free £25 bet. This offer is open to all new accounts being opened, only if you take advantage by heading to William Hill from here and using the special code.

It’s probably fair to say that the Winter Olympics didn’t figure too highly when British bookmakers were compiling their list of potentially lucrative sporting events in 2010. Full marks to a few, however, who have priced up most of the major competitions and have made an effort to attract UK punters unfamiliar with many of the athletes by also quoting on things like which country will top the final medal table and what will be Britain’s eventual medal haul. One also gets the impression that a few of the odds compilers are rather fencing in the dark when it comes to some of the markets and there are opportunities for backers with a little knowledge to back up their judgement. For example, all talk pre-Games in the women’s alpine skiing events has centred around Lindsey Vonn. Undoubtedly, the American is a talent as a record of nine World Cup victories this winter suggests. But bookmakers seem to be almost brushing under the carpet the fact that Vonn has a shin injury which may yet mean her missing the Olympics. One would presume, therefore, that the blonde pin-up would be concentrating her efforts on winning her favourite event the downhill (for which she is a best 2-1 with Paddy Power) rather than risk all in the women’s combined which contains a slalom section. Now I can’t profess to having an insight into the best technique for the slalom but I’m pretty sure all that twisting and turning at high speed is the last thing you’d need if your shins were aching. Slalom, anyway, isn’t Vonn’s speciality and she shouldn’t be able to challenge Maria Riesch in the women’s combined. Riesch has finished on the podium in six of her last seven World Cup starts overall and has made the frame in four of seven slalom events, while her likely main rival hasn’t even managed to complete in three of this winter’s races in the more technical event. Riesch can still be backed at 2-1 with betfred to win the women’s combined, that price will almost certainly contract in the days ahead. The men’s downhill is the Games‘ blue riband event with skiers bidding to carve their name on a role of honour that includes superstars like Jean-Claude Killy, Franz Klammer and Fritz Strobl. Didier Cuche is the market leader (9-2 with coral) as he bids to become the first Swiss winner of the Olympic downhill since the great Pirmin Zurbriggen in Calgary in 1988. Home favourite Robbie Dixon has been showing up well in training on the Dave Murray piste in Vancouver as he bids to emulate Ed Podivinsky, the only previous Canadian to have won a medal in the downhill, and might be worth an each-way interest with coral at 25-1 as he is only half that price with many of the other leading layers. But this could be the competition in which young gun Carlo Janka finally comes of age. The 23-year-old Swiss showed what he is capable of when winning three World Cup races in as many days in Colorado at the start of the season and, with Cuche slightly hampered with a broken thumb and desperate to succeed in what is probably his last Games, may be able to cash in on the weight of expectation on his team mate’s shoulders. The 14-1 on offer from Victor Chandler and William Hill is simply too good to resist.

Many of us won’t need reminding that the highlight of the National Hunt season is taking place in March, with Cheltenham providing us with four days of high quality horse racing that represent one of the busiest periods of the UK betting calendar.

Starting on Tuesday 16th March and finishing on Friday 19th March, this four-day period will see the bookmakers really go to town with their free bet offerings. With so many people wanting to bet on the Cheltenham Festival these days, you will see many bookies increase their new customer bonus, while existing customers can also expect to see a few emails in their inbox which offer them a free matched bet.

It doesn’t matter if you’re not the world’s biggest horse racing enthusiast as the bookmakers don’t always specifically require you to place qualifying or free bets on a particular market. Therefore, if you’re predominantly someone who bets on soccer, tennis or cricket, then you can often simply take advantage of the firms wanting to appeal to the many potential customers who will be betting on some or all of the twenty-six races that are being run at Cheltenham.

It’s particularly worth keeping your eyes peeled for what William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral are prepared to offer new and existing customers. The ‘Big Three’ in terms of UK high street presence aren’t renowned for being overly generous with their free bet offering, although horse racing is a hugely important sport for these firms and we might expect to see them double their current £25 free bet offers or even quadruple them. Therefore, this might be the perfect time to open an account with these bookmakers if you haven’t already done so.

As far as betting on the Cheltenham Festival is concerned, the races are very competitive and it’s hard work to make a profit. If you are looking to place some horse racing wagers and increase your balance, you need to be disciplined and only pick a handful of races in which to place a bet. There are many ‘bankers’ that get tipped ahead of the Festival, although previous years have shown us that very few of these good things actually finish first in their race!

The highlight event of the week is the Gold Cup, which takes place on Friday 19th March. There’s the exciting prospect of Kauto Star and Denman going head-to-head once again, with Paddy Power offering a best price 11/8 that the former wins this race for the third time, although it was Denman who won the event in 2008. Ladbrokes offer 9/4 that no other runner lives with the high cruising speed of the Paul Nicholls horse.

Dunguib runs in the first race of the Festival and will be heavily backed to get the punters off to a flyer. Paddy Power and Coral both offer 5/6 that there plenty of hats thrown into the air as the horse passes the post in first place, and this appears to be one of the few occasions where an odds-on favourite merits the price.

Pool-based betting platforms across the globe may be about to face a new rival for their product. The Tote in the UK and the PMU in France just be just two of the big names under attack with the news that Sportech, the Liverpool-based football pools operator who own the Littlewoods, Vernons and Zetters brands, have bought out US gaming and systems provider Scientific Games for more than £50million. Scientific Games Racing are a giant in their field, providing automated tote systems and equipment for off and on-track racehourse and greyhound betting around the world. Sportech will now have a stake in pool betting systems in Europe, North America and South America and there is a rumour that one of their first moves will be to offer the UK Tote a place under their rapidly expanding umbrella. A familiar name involved in the deal is prominent national hunt racehorse owner Trevor Hemmings. Hemmings, owner of 2005 Grand National winner Hedgehunter, is underwriting the deal via his investment company Newby Manor along with several of Sportech’s other major shareholders including the Bank Of Scotland and software developers Playtech, who are also heavily involved in the development of new online gaming ventures with William Hill. Bet365, meanwhile, have fallen foul of the UK Advertising Standards Authority over a free bet promotion they were running in conjunction with Channel 4 Racing. Their ads were offering punters the potential to have free bets throughout Channel 4’s coverage, providing they kept backing winners at odds of 4-1 or higher. But several punters complained that, in actuality, bet365 were refusing to honour their promise, stopping the free bets after one race. The bookmakers claimed that their promotion was being exploited in certain quarters, with some customers using their free bet to lay off their selection on the betting exchanges and thus ensuring they were in a no-lose situation. However, the ASA found that bet365 hadn’t specified in their advertisement if the free bet was subject to special terms and conditions so was therefore liable to mislead. The ads have subsequently been banned.