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2014 Premier League Darts Betting

2014-01-02T15:08:00.002-08:00

The 10 names to contest the 2014 Premier League Darts were announced just after Michael van Gerwen was crowned world champion for the first time, and it's fair to say there were plenty of talking points.

Not surprisingly, beaten finalist Peter Wright is included for the first time. Such is the nature of the Premier League, Wright is the sort of character who is ideal for this competition.

The selection of the 6 wild cards provided the main talking point. The qualifying criteria always seems to be a complicated process, and this year seems no different.

Premier League Darts Qualifying Criteria

The Premier League is now contested by 10 players over a 15 week period, with the bottom 2 players relegated out of the league at the end of Week 9's fixtures. The play-offs and final are to played at The O2 in London on May 22nd.

The qualifying criteria is made up of the top 4 ranked players in the world, and a mixture of wildcards picked by the PDC and Sky TV.

The top 4 players in the world rankings are Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Simon Whitlock.

They are joined by 4 wildcards picked by the PDC, who are Peter Wright, Wes Newton, Robert Thornton and Dave Chisnall.

And finally, Sky TV's 2 wildcard picks are Gary Anderson and Raymond van Barneveld.

It has turned out to be quite a controversial selection, with James Wade and Andy Hamilton unceremoniously booted out of the 10, with Barry Hearn pointing to Wade's medical issues as a reason for leaving him out.

In fairness to Wade, his medical issues didn't stop him making the 1/4 finals of the World Championship, and I think he is quite justified in feeling bitterly disappointed to be left out.

Premier League Darts Betting

No surprise to find defending champion and new world champ, Michael van Gerwen is favourite with most bookmakers. The Dutchman is a best price of 2/1 with Boylesports, where he actually shares favouritism with Phil Taylor.

Most of the other bookies have van Gerwen at around the 6/4 to 7/4 mark, with Taylor coming in at 2/1. After that comes Adrian Lewis at a best price of 5/1 with Betfred.

It appears that the bookies have it down as a 3 horse race, because the next 7 in the betting are all 16/1 and above. Wes Newton is the outsider, he can be backed at 66/1 with Betfred.

William Hill £7 Risk Free Offers

2013-10-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

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Titan Bet US Open Money Back Special

2013-08-16T02:41:00.001-07:00

Andy Murray is starting the defence of his US Open title on Monday 26th August and to mark the last Tennis Grand Slam of the year, Titan Bet are offering a Money Back special if Murray can retain his title.

If you place a bet on the 'Outright Winner' of the Men's US Open and your selection loses, and Andy Murray wins the title, you will get your money back in the form of a free bet token (up to a maximum of $/€/£25.00).

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This offer is open to new and existing customers and is the latest in a long line of Titan Bet specials that apply to existing customers. It's good to see a bookmaker who rewards loyal customers, rather than just offering out incentives to new customers.

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TitanCasino's Little Britain Slots Promotion

2013-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

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Latest Next Everton Manager Betting

2013-05-21T02:41:00.002-07:00

Victor Chandler have installed Wigan's Roberto Martinez as favourite for the next Everton manager. Spokesperson for Chandler, Charlie McCann said he expected Everton Chairman Bill Kenwright to make his move in the next 48 hours now the football season is over.

Wigan's Chairman Dave Whelan won't stand in the way of his manager, so getting permission or trying to prise Martinez away from Wigan is never going to be an issue.

Chandler have Martinez at 9/4 favourite, it is no shock to see the Spaniard leading the betting, but I get the feeling that this is based on nothing other than speculation and the fact that Martinez gets linked with just about any vacancy outside of the top 4 or 5 sides these days.

Martinez is also favourite on the betting exchanges, currently trading at around 3.6 on Betfair. This suggests to me that no major move has been made, as the exchange betting markets generally tell the story when things start happening behind the scenes.

Another difference of opinion sees Chandler make Phil Neville second favourite at 5/1.Neville can be backed at 16/1 on Betfair, with Jurgen Klinsmann, Alan Stubbs, Neil Lennon, Malky MacKay and Vitor Pereira all at shorter odds. All in all it appears no one really knows what's going on here.

My own personal take on this, is I would be looking for better value than what Martinez is. This is the sort of right sized job for someone like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Michael Laudrup.

The downside to backing Solskjaer is that Kenwright might feel he is again potentially grooming Manchester United's next manager, something I think he would be keen to avoid.

While with Laudrup, although he has shown no desire to get away from Swansea, he surely looks a good fit for Goodison Park. He is available at around 30/1 on Betfair - I've had a couple of quid on him at those odds.

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World Snooker Championship Betting

2013-04-19T17:54:00.000-07:00

This Saturdays see the start of the Betfair World Snooker Championship, and the return to snooker of Ronnie O'Sullivan after his self imposed sabbatical. It is also the start of another betting extravaganza with 17 continuous days of top quality snooker to look forward too.

This year sees the start of Betfair sponsoring the tournament, to market, sorry mark this, there is a Betfair Golden Cue on offer for the top break this year, as well as £10,000. Let's hope all runs well at the Crucible between 3pm and 5pm on the three Saturday's the tournament runs for (any regular Betfair users will know what that means).

Current world number 1, Mark Selby isn't even the bookies favourite, despite already winning the UK Championship and The Masters over the past 6 months. This is probably down to the fact that Selby has only managed to make one world final (losing 18-13 to John Higgins in 2007), so hasn't the track record when it comes to this longer format of the game.

On the whole, the bookies can't separate four men in the betting, Mark Selby, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Neil Robertson.

O'Sullivan seems (on the whole) to be just about favourite at 5/1 to 6/1, quite surprising since he has been out of snooker for so long. 2010 champion Neil Robertson is second favourite at 11/2 to 6/1. Some bookies have them as joint favourites, but on the whole the majority have O'Sullivan priced up at half a point, or one point shorter than Robertson - with the exception of Ladbrokes who have Robertson as favourite.

Mark Selby then comes in third favourite at 11/2 to 13/2, but again (like with Robertson) - showing just how open this tournament looks on paper - some bookmakers have Selby as joint favourite with Ronnie.

Judd Trump makes up the top four quartet, he is 13/2 to 7/1, like Selby, Trump has one final appearance, losing 18-15 to John Higgins in 2011. The field is then all in double figures.

For each-way bets, all the main online bookmakers are paying out on half the odds for a top two finish, basically getting to the final (to state the bleeding obvious).

Some bookies are giving incentives to try and gain our custom. BetVictor will refund all losing outright winner bets (up to a maximum of £50.00) placed pre tournament if defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan wins the world title.

Ladbrokes are also offering money back as a free bet if O'Sullivan wins the title, up to a maximum of £25.00. As well as this they are also money back on losing match bets if your player loses in the deciding frame, again as a £25.00 free bet.

While Paddy Power are offering money back on losing outright match bets if a century is scored in the last frame of that particular match (bets have to be placed pre match and maximum refund is 100£/€).

Free bets can be used to bet for free on the snooker with. All three of the bookmakers listed above are offering free bets that can be used here, as well as new tournament sponsor, Betfair. Alternatively cash made from matched betting can be used, either way it is a bet for free.

Latest Relegation Betting

2013-04-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

Working on the assumption that Reading and QPR are already relegated (according to the online bookmakers' odds), Wigan's defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday leaves them as 11/8 favourites with the bookies to join them and be the third team to go down this season.

Wigan are now three points behind Aston Villa, Stoke City and Sunderland, but they do have a game in hand on all three. Of the three, only Villa (-24) have a worse goal difference than Wigan (-21), Stoke are -13 and Sunderland -8.

This basically means that Stoke and Sunderland have a one point advantage over Wigan and Villa, as level points would see Stoke and Sunderland safe on goal difference.

The fact that Wigan need to win their game in hand just to achieve parity, and that they need to finish on more points than either Stoke and Sunderland, is probably what is making them favourites for the drop.

Villa's form has picked up a bit lately, but with a young inexperienced side I wouldn't be laying them to go down at odds of 4.4, as they currently are on Betfair.

Stoke City are another side not used to fighting a relegation battle. There is a perception that they are perhaps too good to go down, but I wouldn't be buying into that as they are on such a poor run, they are under serious pressure and as I already said, they are not experienced when it comes to relegation fights.

Norwich are another team who should be looking over their shoulders. For a good few weeks now I've got the impression that Chris Hughton has been trying to draw his way too safety.

Sunderland will be revived by their recent 3-0 win over Newcastle, but they are still in the thick of the relegation fight. I suppose they have a manager with a good fight in him if nothing else.

Latest Relegation Betting

Reading - 1/150
QPR- 1/50
Wigan - 11/8
Aston Villa - 3/1
Stoke City - 9/2
Sunderland - 13/2
Norwich City - 9/1

The 9/1 on Norwich looks like it could be value. As I have already said they have been in a negative mode now for a few weeks. If all of a sudden they find themselves in the bottom three and in need of a win, could they be relied upon to get it?

It all depends on Wigan though. They are currently four points behind the Canaries, so have a bit of work to do to put real pressure on Chris Hughton's men.

US Masters Betting

2013-04-10T16:40:00.001-07:00

It's (apparently) spring time, the clocks have gone forward, and the US Masters is upon us again. I always regard this tournament as the starting gun for a summer of magnificent sport, and on paper the Masters looks to have the potential to be a great appetizer for the next few months.

This will be the 77th Masters tournament, former Green Jacket winner Sandy Lyle is the lucky man who gets to hit the first ball this year. Of the 93 man field, the top 50 and those within 10 shots of the leader will make the cut this year, as opposed to 44 in the past.

The course has four par 5's and this year is 7,435 yards long. All this points to suiting the big hitters, but there is a lot more to winning the Masters than a big booming drive.

Statistics are important when picking a winner. For example, American players are the form players at the moment having dominated the US PGA tour over recent months. Martin Laird's win last week was the first non American winner on the US circuit this year.

Also only a small group of players have won on their first couple of visits to Augusta, Charl Schwartzel being the last, who won at his second attempt in 2011. Schwartzel is 28/1 to repeat that win this year.

2011 was also the year Rory McIlroy chucked away a four shot lead and capitulated on the back 9 of his final round. I know that he bounced back and won the 2011 US Open a few months later, but I believe the burden of pressure he will put on himself to right that wrong could hamper his chances.

It's being billed as Rory V Tiger, and quite sensibly Rory played that down yesterday by comparing his record to Tiger's and pointing out that their records are so different, that the two men just can't be compared.

I thought this was a smart ploy by McIlroy, the last thing he needed was to (innocently) say the wrong thing and have the media stoking things up between himself and Woods. It showed maturity from McIlroy, that he is thinking about his conduct and (presumably) his game, which is a good sign after his early season struggles.

In the betting, Tiger Woods is the favourite, mainly at 4/1 or 9/2, he is as short as 3/1 with one layer.

I believe the odds for a Woods' win is a tricky one for punters. On current form it looks a great bet, but on current 'major' form, he could never be backed at 4/1.

From a positive perspective, over the past few months Tiger has looked like the Tiger of old. He looks comfortable with himself again, like he has put all his troubles behind him and has finally moved on.

He is winning tournaments again, he is back at the top of the rankings and his putting has improved no end recently. There is also four par 5's on this course which will suit Woods, and he has won here 4 times previously. So 4/1 is a good price on him?

I'm not so sure, if he was 8 or 9/1, I'd say he's definitely worth a shot, but 4/1 looks too short to me. It's a tempter on current form, but I'd definitely be taking a cautious approach to Woods who hasn't won a major since 2008. Could that extra bit of pressure to win a major and complete his rehabilitation prove too much of a burden? Even for the great Tiger!

US Masters Betting (selected few, with best prices)

Tiger Woods 9/2
Rory McIlroy 12/1
Phil Mickelson 21/1
Justin Rose 20/1
Keegan Bradley 25/1
Adam Scott 25/1
Charl Schwartzel 28/1
Lee Westwood 28/1
Dustin Johnson 28/1
Louis Oosthuizen 28/1
Bubba Watson 40/1

This year most bookmakers are paying out for a top 5 finish (1/4 of the odds) in the each-way betting. Sportingbet, Paddy Power and 888Sport are all being more generous and paying out on 6 places, so it makes far more sense to bet with one of those if you are doing each-way bets.

Of those bookies, there is currently a Paddy Power Free Bet of £50.00 available to new customers who wish to open an account and take advantage of their 6 places in the each-way betting, the free bet can be used to bet for free on the Golf with as well.

Next Manager To Leave Post Latest Betting

2013-04-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

It came to no surprise to me tonight to see that Tony Pulis leads the way in the next manager to leave his post betting. He isn't favourite though, 'No Manager to leave before the end of the season' leads the betting and is odds on favourite with Skybet, at 4/7.

Tony Pulis comes in next at 9/4, then it is Harry Redknapp at 16/1, Paolo Di Canio 20/1, Rafa Benitez 20/1 and the rest at 50/1 and beyond.

Skybet are currently the only bookie offering odds on this market, and judging by the odds it looks like they believe it to be a two horse race.

I can only assume that they are looking at the situation with Stoke and thinking that the board might hit the panic button and do what Sunderland did, basically hope that a new manager can give them that short term lift and propel them too the win or two that will surely see them safe.

Working on that theory is there really any difference with Chris Hughton at Norwich? And he is 50/1. Roberto Mancini is also a 50/1 shot. If Manchester City lose heavily tomorrow night (in the Manchester derby) and then crash out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals, what chance he might go when their season is all but over?

Betdaq 0% Commission on the Grand National

2013-04-06T03:37:00.000-07:00

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There may not be too much to shout about in the shape of Grand National Free Bets, but at least we can console ourselves with the fact that Betdaq are offering 0% commission on any winnings we may make on the big race.

This offer is open to both new and existing customers as well.

There seems to be a bit of a sustained marketing attempt from the purple betting exchange since it was bought by Ladbrokes earlier in the year.

Betdaq are now offering up to £200.00 in free bets (based on accumulating commission), they are offering new customers and reactivated accounts their first month commission free, and the first UK horse race every day is also commission free.

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Latest Premier League Darts Betting

2013-04-03T16:44:00.002-07:00

Week 9 of the Premier League darts road show comes from Brighton, and on the night being billed (or over hyped) as 'Judgement Night' two players from four will be relegated out of the competition, cutting the field from ten to eight.

Quite where two of Adrian Lewis, Simon Whitlock, Wes Newton or Gary Anderson will be relegated too is anybodies guess, as I'm not sure that Barry Hearn has started a darting version of the Championship yet. I get the feeling that along with 'Judgement Night,' being 'Relegated' sounds a touch more dramatic.

So which two players are most likely to get kicked out of the Premier League on Thursday? Not Adrian Lewis for me, way too much has to happen with the other matches, and that's only if Lewis loses against Barney. Lewis is also unbeaten in his last four PL matches now, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull another performance out of the hat when/if he needs too.

Simon Whitlock is a man in trouble for me, for two reasons. First, I can't see him getting anything of van Gerwen. And second, I have a sneaky feeling Wes Newton could get something in his match against Andy Hamilton. Although I'm reluctant to ever write off Whitlock (it's like writing off the Germans for me), I just think he looks doomed. I am though, prepared to have egg all over my face if Whitlock does what I know he is well capable off.

As I have already stated, I can see Wes Newton getting something against Andy Hamilton. Newton was dead and buried last week against Gary Anderson and lived to survive another day. He also won the European Darts Trophy last weekend, so is now all of a sudden carrying some form. It's got that feel of one of those ridiculous great escapes about it for me.

As for Gary Anderson, he is done for. The same old problem is back for Anderson, and he threw away his Premier League participation last week for me, when he chucked away the match against Newton. Anderson has to win just to have a chance.

Don't get me wrong, he is capable of hammering James Wade on Thursday, but he is equally capable of getting hammered. On present form you would have to go with the latter of those two equations, personally I just wouldn't go near an Anderson match with a betting slip at the moment.

I think that Gary Anderson and Simon Whitlock will be the two to get Relegated on Judgement Night!. Or as I would describe it, get eliminated on week 9.

Week 9 fixtures and Premier League Darts Betting odds...

Gary Anderson 5/2 - Draw 4/1 - James Wade 10/11
Phil Taylor 8/15 - Draw 5/1 - Robert Thornton 4/1
Wes Newton 15/8 - Draw 7/2 - Andy Hamilton 6/5
Adrian Lewis 13/8 - Draw 15/4 - Raymond van Barneveld 11/10
Michael van Gerwen 8/15 - Draw 9/2 - Simon Whitlock 4/1

Looking at the matches from a darts betting perspective. And of the outsiders, I would have to think that Robert Thornton is a far better 4/1 shot, than Simon Whitlock is. Thornton can beat Taylor, who hasn't always been at his best in this competition this year for me.

At times Taylor has looked distracted and a bit shoddy, two descriptions I wouldn't normally use to describe Phil Taylor's darts. Michael van Gerwen has gone slightly off the boil a little bit lately as well, but I still think he will be too strong for Whitlock.

As I already said, I think Wes Newton can get something off Andy Hamilton. I wouldn't like to call Barney V Lewis, but at a push I would take Lewis, and I can't back Gary Anderson with anybodies money.

Maybe a small wager on a value roll up made up of a draw between Newton and Hamilton, and Lewis, Thornton and van Gerwen to win at odds of around 89/1. A long shot I know, but why not, it is a bet for free after all (with money made from matched betting).

More Next Manager Betting

2013-04-01T03:11:00.000-07:00

Martin O'Neill's sacking as Sunderland boss seen another next manager market come up on Betfair, and it disappeared nearly as soon as it had appeared with the immediate appointment of Paolo Di Canio.

Even though I had heard it reported that Di Canio was in Sunderland for talks, I still thought he was worth a lay at odds of 1.17, as I believed there was still plenty that could potentially go wrong.

I seen it as a relatively cheap and minimal risk lay. First, how accurate was the rumour of him being in Sunderland? And even if he was in Sunderland, I still wasn't convinced they would give him the job.

Added to that, I won a few quid on the recent next Reading manager's market, so I had a few pounds to invest/lose.

I believed it to be a bonkers decision to sack a manager of Martin O'Neill's stature and experience at this time of the season, and then give the managers job to a premier league novice, with limited managerial experience full stop.

I thought maybe Sunderland had a more experienced manager in mind, and that they maybe wanted to speak to Di Canio just to sound him out, in case their first choice didn't materialise.

A couple of hours after placing my lay I noticed on Twitter that Di Canio had been given the job, so I quickly got on to Betfair and managed to back him for the job at 1.07, and get nearly half my money back.

I then watched the price crash to 1.01 in a matter of seconds afterwards.

Even though I lost on this trade, it was a low risk bet that I believe I had plenty more to gain from, than lose. Obviously it's always disappointing to lose, but I'm not going to dwell on this and wonder if I could have done things differently.

These next manager markets can be dangerous and can be volatile, but if you are careful and bet tactically, you can make money out of them.

As soon as a next manager market comes live, I lay all candidates at odds on as soon as possible and then just leave it. Usually I will get two matched.

Gus Poyet traded odds on for the recent Reading job, what happened there just goes to show how many obstacles there can be in the way before an appointment is finally made. That's why I didn't mind laying Di Canio.

This appointment has surprised me though, I know that in the world of football betting nothing should surprise me by now, but even I would never have believed Sunderland would trust Di Canio with keeping them in the Premier League.

It looks like a short term, panic decision to me. Someone at the club appears to have thought 'let's try and give the team a boost or a kick up the backside, and hope it has an immediate impact.'

They appear to be banking on the hope that to bring in a new manager now will give them a temporary lift, the new manager bounce effect, and get Sunderland the points they need to make them safe. In short, bring in another year's TV money.

It may well work, Di Canio might keep them up, but O'Neill might have kept them up as well, we will never know now.

Free Bets on the Grand National

2013-03-23T05:05:00.002-07:00

It's not far away now, on 6th April 2013 the Grand National will take place at Aintree so time is running out for the chance to bet for free on the showcase race of the national hunt season.

Why is time running out for a Grand National free bet? Well because in general the bookies usually withdraw their free bet offers during the week of the Grand National.

Why do they do that? Well I believe it is because they know damn well that most punters will have a few quid on a horse that week. So with that in mind, they don't need to bother offering a free bet to entice a punter to open an account.

When all is said and done, why bother to give a free bet away for opening an account, if the punter is probably going to open the account regardless?

This is why I recommend that anybody wanting to open an account to bet for free on the Grand National would be wise to make their move over the next few days, possibly before March is out.

Start looking for a bookie now, but be careful as some require you to use your free bet within 7 days of opening your account. So to make sure you are covered, find a bookmaker that gives you 30 days to use your free bet from the day you open your account.

At the moment Betfred, BetVictor, Blue Sq, Boylesports, Paddy Power and Stan James all give you 30 days to use their free bets in.

At the recent Cheltenham Festival I noticed that a lot of the bookmakers reduced their free bet offers, rather than withdrawing them all together. Maybe they will follow that protocol for the Grand National, I'm not sure?

All I can go on is what I have witnessed over recent years and that is that a lot of them will withdraw their free bets altogether.

Paddy Power (there is currently a £50 Paddy Power Free Bet available to new customers) are the main player in bucking that trend as they tend to accept loss leaders. Maybe with them involved in offering incentives, certain other bookies will keep their bet for free offers open - but just to be on the safe side, if you want to secure a Grand National Free Bet I would act soon.

Gus Poyet Odds On Favourite to be Next Reading Manager

2013-03-20T18:13:00.000-07:00

Interesting to see that Gus Poyet is now the odds on favourite to be the next Reading boss after the ridiculous (in my opinion) sacking of Brian McDermott.

I know that these markets are generally driven by rumours. Rumours sometime that are false, and rumours that are driven by insider information. The trick is trying to work out which is which.

I haven't a clue if this Poyet rumour is false or not, but looking at it in the cold light of day I wouldn't be touching this bet at odds on with a barge poll.

Here are some reasons why. Reading are likely to go down, Brighton have a slim chance of coming up, and the Chelsea managers job will be going in the summer.

The positive to jumping ship to Reading is he would be working with a club equipped for the Premier League. If/when Reading go down, he would probably expect to come back up with them next season.

And if Brighton don't get promoted this season. Who would represent the best chance of gaining promotion next season? Poyet would probably think Reading.

The negative is that there is a slim chance Reading and Brighton could swap leagues over the next few months.

Onto the Chelsea, job and while I don't see Poyet getting it, he must harbour hopes of landing it.

Would joining Reading now virtually rule him out of the Chelsea job running? Or would Poyet see it as an opportunity to do a good job at Reading for 3 months, possibly perform a miracle and keep them up, and in doing so he would impress Abramovich enough to maybe get the big job?

I can see reasons for Poyet staying at Brighton, and I can see reasons for him moving to Reading.

If this gamble on him is based on speculation and not insider knowledge, it could be a very risky bet. For me there is enough doubt in there to steer well clear of it.

Next Premier League Manager To Be Sacked

2013-02-18T01:23:00.000-08:00

As off today Roberto Mancini is still the favourite out of all the managers listed, but he is not the market favourite.

As the January transfer window has come and gone, the bookmakers seem to be off the opinion that owners and chairmen are less trigger happy, as we see 'No Manager To Leave' (this season, obviously) take over favouritism in this market.

No Manager To Leave is favourite at a best price of 5/2 with SkyBet and William Hill. That is followed by Roberto Mancini at 11/4 with SkyBet, whereas Hill's have the Italian as joint favourite with No Manager To Leave, with both priced up at 5/2.

After that it is the usual suspects with Sam Allardyce 8/1 and Rafa Benitez 9/1 (down in 4th place, wow), both prices are at a market best with Stan James.

With regard to Mancini, I think his odds reflect the fact that the bookmakers think he might be sacked in the summer. With the big name they will obviously be looking to bring in to replace him, probably still in a job until then.

Even so, if they crash out of the FA Cup and the gap at the top doesn't close, then when the season is over from a footballing perspective, Mancini could be very vulnerable.

As has been the case with this market all season, names have come and gone. I do expect it to calm down a bit now, although a panicking chairman down at the bottom could yet pull the trigger in a last ditch attempt to save his side from the drop. So watch this space.

All of the online bookmakers listed in this post have free bets available. These bets are down the right hand side of the website and can be used for making money by using the matched betting method, all of these free bets offer us the chance to try and bet free, or as close as possible.

Next Manager To Leave Betting

2013-01-19T03:29:00.000-08:00

I don't think too many people outside of the loop seen the disgraceful sacking of Nigel Adkins coming, I certainly didn't.

Martin Jol was the big mover in the market, he was backed in from 20/1 to 3/1 (2nd Favourite behind Paul Lambert) at the start of the week. Adkins was around 6/1 at the time.

I get the feeling the Atkins' decision was taken a few weeks back, and the club's Executive Chairman, Nicola Cortese, was waiting for the right time during the transfer window to sack Adkins. He probably pencilled in just after the Chelsea match as he was probably expecting Southampton to get hammered at Stamford Bridge.

Not only does Cortese look stupid, he was probably the only Southampton fan (and I use the word fan loosely) who didn't enjoy the comeback at Stamford Bridge.

In the interests of balance, no matter how ruthless the decision looks.... he seemed too harshly sack Alan Pardew in the past, and look where the changes he made back then have taken Southampton too now, so maybe he deserves the benefit of the doubt? Only time will tell I suppose.

Anyway, back to the 'Next manager to leave his post betting,' and only two layers have a price up at the moment. Skybet go 2/1 Paul Lambert, 11/2 Martin Jol, 6/1 None.... while Ladbrokes can't separate Lambert and Jol, and have them both at 7/4, with Alan Pardew next at 9/1.

Ladbrokes currently have a £50.00 Free Bet, click here if you wish to claim it.

Skybet have a £10.00 Free Bet, click here if you wish to claim it.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed on this page to customers opening new accounts, these can be used to bet free with.

Luis Suarez to score against Norwich again today?

2013-01-19T02:41:00.003-08:00

Norwich seem to be the favourite Premier League team for Suarez to play against, he has back-to-back hat-tricks against them and looking around the betting sites today, it seems to be the tipsters banker selection for today's football fixtures.

He is a stand out 3/1 to score first with Coral and BetVictor, he is 9/4 and 5/2 with most other online bookmakers. To score any time he is 8/11 with Coral which seems a stand out price, as he is as short as 4/9 with other layers.

To score another hat-trick, Suarez is 16/1 with BetVictor, he is as short as 6/1 with other online bookmakers.

It would be fair to say there is a variety of different prices available for Suarez today. Don't forget, Coral have a great free bet offer of £50.00 available at the moment.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed on this page to customers opening new accounts, these can be used to bet free with.

Premier League Winner Odds Movement

2012-12-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

Today saw another big move in the odds to win the Premier League as Manchester United extended their lead over Manchester City to 7 points with their last gasp win over Newcastle United at Old Trafford. And while they were doing that, Manchester City's title hopes faded again with defeat at Sunderland.

The best price with a small selection of online bookmakers for United is now 2/5 favourites, and City are 2nd favourites at around 4/1 now. The biggest mover of all seems to be Chelsea who are now available at between 6 and 8/1. While Arsenal are available at a token 80/1.

With the fact that United generally get stronger after Christmas, it's hard too see City catching them. But they still keep going behind in games, and I keep asking myself can they keep coming back and winning from losing positions? And at the moment, the answer is yes.

But the other factor in this, is that City don't look capable of putting a run together. In a way, United could be there for the taking if they keep conceding like they have been, but City look incapable of catching them.

So could Chelsea be dark horses? My immediate answer to that question would be no, but if they make a couple of decent January signings, then who knows.

Realistically though, they would surely need to go unbeaten for the rest of the season and would need to put an outstanding run of about 10 or 11 wins together, in their next 12 games to stand any chance.

It's a tall order, but stupider things have happened.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed on this website to customers opening new accounts, these can be used to bet free with.

Premier League relegation odds

2012-12-23T12:08:00.000-08:00

Aston Villa's short lived revival came to a more than abrupt ending today with their (narrow) 8-0 defeat at Chelsea. They were on the back of a good run by their standards, but today's thrashing has seen them come back in to a best price of 9/2 to be relegated, with Ladbrokes.

There is a bit of a so called reverse 'Big 4' in the relegation stakes, with Reading, QPR, Southampton and Wigan cut adrift with the layers.

Reading are a best price of 1/7 and as short as 1/11 with some online bookmakers while QPR are 8/13. The bookmakers seem to think they are both already gone.

With Wigan and Southampton, the odds are a bit more competitive. Southampton are 3rd favourites at 5/6 with most online layers, and Wigan are a stand out price of 6/4 with BetVictor, and between Evens and 11/8 with most of the rest of the field.

Villa look to represent value at the moment. Despite their good run lately, I still think they are in danger as they have such a young inexperienced side. In my view they are only a long term injury for Christian Benteke away from being in serious relegation trouble.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.

Next Manager to be sacked

2012-12-22T16:25:00.000-08:00

Brian McDermott still finds himself as the favourite to be the next manager sacked in the premier league. He is 5/4 favourite with BetVictor and is 6/5 with Skybet. Martin O'Neill is second favourite and is out at 11/2 with some online bookmakers after Saturday's 1-0 win over Southampton.

Over the past few weeks this market has seen Nigel Adkins, Martin O'Neill and Brian McDermott all backed in to favourites, and all trade in to around the Even money mark, meaning another result for the online bookmakers.

Amazingly (for me anyway), Arsene Wenger was third favourite a couple of weeks back, he is now out to 16/1 on the back of three straight premier league victories.

Nigel Adkins is another manager to drift in the betting on the back of a decent run of results. He was favourite a few short weeks back, and he is now out at sixth favourite at 20/1, longer odds than both Wenger and Roberto Mancini, when only 3 to 4 weeks back, he was around Even money favourite.

Just goes to show the fickle nature of this particular market.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.

A Quick Update

2012-07-14T17:19:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't posted for a while, as it is downtime before the start of the new football season I have been trying to catch up on personal issues like tax returns and all the loose ends attributed to being self employed, all really interesting stuff!!

Anyway, I just wanted to let all my handful of readers know that I am still around and I will be picking up where I have left off fairly soon and cashing in more free bets and blogging about it. I will also be back on the case of trying to find more great offers and bringing them to all 3 or 4 of you :)

While I'm away, don't forget there are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website, so why not take advantage of them in the meantime. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.

Another £50 Free Bet from BET365

2012-06-30T04:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday's Euro2012 quarter-final match between England and Italy seen yet another £50 Free Bet for existing BET365 customers to be used in-running, which meant more profits for us.

To qualify for this bet all you need to do is place a pre match bet and then place a bet in-running for the same amount (as your pre match bet). If the in-running bet then loses, BET365 will give you the in-running stake back. The maximum amount you can bet to qualify is £50.

So last Sunday I backed the draw pre match at 3 (2/1) on BET365 for £50 to win £100, I then layed the Draw on Betfair at 3.05 for £50 (£47.50 after commission) to lose £102.50, which meant I got back £150 either way, but it cost me £152.50 to place the bets, meaning a loss of £2.50 on the qualifying bet - which is good value in my opinion.

So with the qualifying bet safely in place I waited for the match to start and had planned to back Over 2.5 goals when it reached 2/1 (this is my favoured method of cashing in this free bet), which wasn't to take long. The problem was, BET365's site had crashed, which meant I missed this price.

Anyway, that got fixed and at half time I managed to use my £50 Free Bet with (BET365) on backing no goals at 3.5 (5/2), giving me a (potential) return of £175, (£125 winnings and my £50 stake back).

To cover this and guarantee myself a profit I layed 0-0 on Betfair at 3.8 for £16 (loss of £44.80) at HT, I then layed more at various staged intervals (rather than all at HT) as I fancied 0-0 anyway. The second lay came about 5-10 minutes into the 2nd half and was for £11 at 3.5 (loss of £27.50), before again doing a small lay in the final 5 minutes of £10 at 1.21 (loss of £2.10).

This gave me a total Betfair loss of £74.40, with a green upwards of £30 after commission (don't have exact figure) had it not finished 0-0.

As we all know, the game finished 0-0, meaning I won £125 from BET365 and I lost £74.40 on Betfair. As I had already lost £2.50 on my qualifying bet, this meant I made an overall profit of £48.10, taking the risk free money pot up to £700.15.

And the good news doesn't stop there. Because of the problems experienced with BET365's site crashing during the 1st half of the game, they have generously credited my account with £50 to say sorry. I have to say that I think this is very generous and I have to applaud BET365 for great customers services with this magnificent gesture.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.

Paddy Power Phone Account Profits

2012-06-30T02:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, this is the first of two decent earners I made during the Euro's that I need to update the site with.

To start with, going back to the Sweden V England group game on 15/06/12, I made a nice return using Paddy Power's enhanced price offer on England for all new phone accounts.

England were on offer at 100/30 (compared to the general price of around 5/4) to anyone opening a new phone account, at the same time they were available to lay for between 2.4 and 2.5 on Betfair.

The maximum bet you could place (with Paddy Power) was £100, so we (my Missus) phoned up and opened a new phone account and placed £100 on England at 100/30, guaranteeing a return (from Paddy) of £433.33.

I then went on Betfair and layed England at 2.46 for £180. This left me with a red of £262.80 on England, and a green on Sweden or the Draw of £171 after commission. This meant that my total outlay for the bet was £363.80, and I was guaranteed a minimum return of £433.33 before a ball was even kicked - no matter what happened in the match.

Breaking that down, this meant that had England not won, I would have lost my £100 stake with Paddy (by the way, the Paddy Power free bet is for £50), but I would have won £171 on Betfair, giving me a return of £71.

Or if England won (which they obviously did), I got £433.33 from Paddy Power, £100 stake back + £333.33 winnings, and I lost £262.80 on Betfair - leaving me with an overall profit of £70.53.

This takes the over all free easy money profits pot up to £652.05

I have noticed on Twitter that Paddy Power sometimes do offers like this through their Facebook page for existing (I think) customers, so it could be something worth keeping an eye on.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.

Profits with Bet365, £50 Free Bet

2012-06-17T16:45:00.001-07:00

Apologies for not posting sooner, been a busy few days for me, but that's no real excuse for the length of time since my last post.

Last Sunday week, 10th June, Bet365 did another one of their £50.00 free bet offers for existing members, this time on the Spain V Italy game.

This time I made sure I cashed in and made a nice profit (unlike the last time). I matched my pre match qualifying bet up by backing Spain on Bet365 for £50.00 at 4/5, while I layed Spain on Betfair for a small loss of £2.14.

Then in running I used the £50.00 free bet to back Over 2.5 goals at 2/1, standing to win me £100.00. I then layed Over 2.5 on Betfair for £23.75, leaving me a red of £58.75.

This left me standing to gain more money (£31.25) in the unlikely event of the game finishing Over 2.5 goals. I was happy with that, as the price to lay Over 2.5 goals was too high and I was losing value, that's why I settled for only taking £23.75 in the event of Under 2.5 goals coming in.

Anyway, there was a quick fire two goals midway through the 2nd half and this allowed me lay Over 2.5 goals more cheaply for another £9.73, at a cost of £8.00.

This left me in the position of winning £100.00 from Bet365 if there was Over 2.5 goals, while I would have lost £68.48 on Betfair, a profit of £31.52.

Conversely, it left me in the position of having £33.48 green on Betfair, should it finish Under 2,5 goals - as it eventually did.

Remember I would get my £50.00 back from Bet365 no matter what, as it was a risk free bet.

In the end I won the £33.48 on Betfair and got my £50.00 back from Bet 365. Taking away the £2.14 I lost matching up my £50.00 qualifying bet, this left me with a nice profit of £31.34, taking the risk free money pot up to £581.52.

Remember, Bet365 run these offers quite regularly, it is well worth getting an account just for these offers alone.

If anybody has any questions regarding the techniques I use to profit from these offers, or if I've not explained it very clearly (more than likely the case) in this blog post, then feel free to leave a comment and I'll try and explain things in more detail. Please feel free to ask any questions.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.

£88 Free Bets offer from 888Sport for Euro 2012

2012-06-07T15:44:00.002-07:00

If you haven't already got an 888sport account and are planning on placing a lot of Euro 2012 bets, then now could the time to get one and cash in on their Euro 2012 free bets offer. Their usual free bets offer is for £50, but over the course of the football tournament they are upping it to a nice looking £88.

888sport online betting

I've looked at the offer though and it looks like very hard work, a total of 22 bets is required at odds of Evens and better - this is why I stated above that it could be right for you, but only if you are planning on being a busy gambler over the next 30 days.

So in a nutshell, if you're planning on having a lot of bets at Evens or better, then this could work for you - otherwise just wait until the offer finishes and the free bet reverts back to the straight £50 free bet, as this is a much more straight forward (and my preferred) way of cashing in the offer.

Be sure to check the Terms and Conditions before getting involved and rest assured, I will be keeping my eye out for more Euro 2012 offers.

There are free bets available with all the bookmakers listed in the column on the right hand side of this website. These can be used to bet free with by customers opening new accounts.