Football

As ever, there’s a busy football programme over the Christmas weekend. A west London derby kicks off the Boxing Day action in the Premier League as Chelsea host Fulham with the visitors available at a whopping 9/1.

Manchester City are 1/2 to win at West Bromwich Albion while neighbours and title challengers Manchester United have a straightforward looking fixture at home to Wigan Athletic. Stoke City are good value at 10/11 to beat Aston Villa at the Britannia Stadium while I also fancy Sunderland to bet Everton at 7/5.

Swansea are excellent value at 6/5 to get the better of QPR on Tuesday while there’s a tempting price of 7/2 on Norwich to beat Tottenham at Carrow Road.

Premier League Matches

There’s also an attractive looking match between two famous old clubs on Tuesday with Sheffield United 8/11 to beat Notts County.
Wednesday sees the Old Firm derby with Celtic 11/10 to beat Rangers. The SPL leaders are 5/2 to extend their lead at the top of the table.

Celtic v Rangers

Football Betting

Cricket

While we may be settling down after our Christmas dinner, there are a couple of festive Test matches this weekend.

Australia have warned former captain Ricky Ponting that he will need to improve his scoring if he is to retain his place and the 36 year old gets his chance as his side take on India in the first Test at the MCG. The match starts on Christmas Day.

The second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka kicks off in Durban on Boxing Day. South Africa won the first Test by a crushing innings and 81 runs and are 4/11 to go 2-0 up in the series.

Cricket Betting

Rugby Union

Domestic rugby returns over the Christmas weekend with some terrific matches in prospect.

The match of the weekend is on Tuesday as Harlequins take on Saracens. The Aviva Premiership leaders have won ten out of ten matches this season but may find it harder against the team in second place. Third play fourth on the same day as surprise package Exeter travel to London Irish.

Northampton should beat Bath on Christmas Eve while Sale will hope to beat rock bottom Newcastle on Boxing Day.

In the RaboDirect Pro12, leaders Leinster can consolidate their position at the top of the table with a win over Ulster on Boxing Day while Munster should beat struggling Connacht. There’s a Scottish derby as fourth place Glasgow travel to Edinburgh and a Welsh derby as Scarlets welcome second place Ospreys.

There are also a couple of fixtures on Christmas Eve as bottom club Aironi play Treviso while Cardiff Blues face the Newport-Gwent Dragons.

Rugby Union Betting

Horse Racing

The big race on Boxing Day is the King George VI Chase over three miles at Kempton Park. The legendary Kauto Star is bidding to win this race for a record fifth time although the 3/1 chance will have to beat last year’s winner and 11/8 favourite Long Run.
Master Minded is 5/1 while Captain Chris can be backed at 8/1.

Big Zeb is the 8/11 favourite to win the Paddy Power Dial-a-Bet Chase at Leopardstown for the third time in four years on Tuesday with Golden Silver and Noble Prince the best of the challengers.

Elsewhere there is racing on Boxing Day from Wetherby, Huntingdon, Ffos Las, Market Rasen, Fontwell, Towcester, Wincanton and Wolverhampton.

Racing Betting

Darts

The second round of the PDC World Darts Championship continues through Christmas.

After some early shocks – the elimination of former champion Raymond van Barneveld, seeds Mark Dudbridge and Jamie Caven and the well fancied Mark Webster there is plenty to play for.

Phil Taylor remains the 4/5 favourite to win his 14th world title with last year’s winner Adrian Lewis available at 6/1. James Wade is an 8/1 chance.

Darts Betting

Christmas and the New Year wouldn’t be the same without some top quality darts action. And that’s exactly what is expected as the 19th PDC World Darts Championships returns to the Alexandra Palace this December.

With £1 million in prize money, it promises to be another brilliant tournament. Can Phil Taylor bounce back from last year’s surprise quarter final defeat to regain his title? Can his protégé Adrian Lewis retain the trophy? Or can one of the leading challengers finally take the next step?

Lets! Play! Darts!

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The favourites

After his quarter final defeat to Mark Webster 12 months ago, many people thought that Phil Taylor’s time was up. However, The Power has since won the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts titles and is the 5/6 favourite to win his 14th world title.

It’s worth remembering that Taylor has only failed to reach two PDC world finals in 18 years and he has bounced back from defeats at the tournament before. The legend is 5/6 to win the 2012 title and you’d be brave to bet against him.

Adrian Lewis proved me and many other people wrong last year. I didn’t think that Lewis had the mental strength or the all-round game to win the biggest prize of all but the world number two proved lots of us wrong a year ago.

It’s been an up and down year for Lewis. He reached the Premier League final after defeating Taylor before losing to Gary Anderson and the semi finals of the World Matchplay but has gone out early in other tournaments. Before winning last year his World Championships record wasn’t brilliant and so I’d certainly look elsewhere for value this year.

Gary Anderson is another player who has had a mixed 2011. After narrowly losing the Players Championship final and winning the Premier League he suffered some quick exits in the main PDC events. I like the Flying Scotsman’s chances though and he could offer some value at 17/2.

James Wade has had a tough year off the circuit but there are many who feel that the talented Englishman is due a good run at the World Championships. Indeed, former winner Eric Bristow believes that Wade could be one to watch this year at 11/1. The Crafty Cockney said: “I’ve a sneaky feeling this year for Wade. He’s won every other major tournament there is, but he’s never really had a run at the Worlds.

“He’s too good a player not to have a good run at the Worlds one year, so I’m going to have an outside bet on Mr Wade this year.”
Ones to watch

With plenty of upsets at the World Championships it can pay to follow a couple of outsiders. Remember Kirk Shepherd in 2008 or Simon Whitlock in 2010?

Whitlock may be one to watch this year at a tempting 33/1. With a reasonably favourable draw – he’s slated to play Gary Anderson in the quarter finals, the world number five looks good value at that price to repeat his 2010 performance and reach the Ally Pally final.

I think the bottom half of the draw is wide open though with no one stand-out pick. There are doubts about both James Wade and Adrian Lewis and so it could be worth backing the likes of Ronnie Baxter, Mark Walsh or Wes Newton in the ‘to reach the final’ market.
Seventh seed Wes Newton is a 9/1 chance to emerge from the bottom half of the draw and with Terry Jenkins likely to be the toughest match Newton will face ahead of the quarter finals I think those odds could quickly fall.

The verdict

It’s hard to look beyond the dominant Phil Taylor to win his 14th world title even at the 5/6 on offer. If James Wade has put his personal problems behind him then he could be a challenger, with the likes of Mark Walsh and Wes Newton offering good value in the ‘to reach the final’ market.

With the ever increasing standard of world darts, I also like the 6/4 on there being a 9 dart finish at the tournament. Lewis hit a 9 dart in last year’s final, of course, while Brendan Dolan’s magnificent ‘double start’ nine dart finish at the World Grand Prix earlier this year showed that this previously tricky feat is becoming more common.

PDC Darts Betting

Round 1 of the 2011 Players Championship Finals gets underway on Thursday night at The Dome in Doncaster with fan-favourite Dennis Priestley (80/1) among thirty-two darts players competing for a first-place prize fund of £60,000.

The 2010 champion Paul Nicholson finished outside the top 32 in the order of merit so therefore misses out on the opportunity to defend his title although Mervyn King (28/1) gets the chance to go one better having been runner-up in the event last year. Phil Taylor (6/4) has been installed the short-priced favourite to emulate his victory of 2009. The current World Darts Champion Adrian Lewis (10/1) looks to add another high-profile win to his CV while Gary Anderson (4/1) hopes his darts games is in tip-top shape following the disappointment of losing to Lewis just a matter of weeks ago. Anderson and Lewis have been drawn in the opposite bracket so a re-match of the PDC World Darts Championship Final is a real possibility!

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James Wade (12/1) is always a popular pick amongst punters but his recent form is pretty poor and if he overcomes Mark Dudbridge (66/1) in Round 1, he faces a possible showdown with Phil “The Power” Taylor. Wade was knocked out of the tournament in his opening match last year so he may not even make it to Taylor! One player who had no such problem was Jelle Klaasen (25/1). The Dutchman hammered Gary Anderson 6-1 in the first round in 2010 and if he can overcome Colin Lloyd (22/1) this time round he looks to have an easy passage into the quarter-final stage of the competition, where he could face a rematch with Anderson. Simon Whitlock (10/1) tops the Players Championship Order of Merit and he tackles the number 32 seed Tony Eccles (200/1) in the opening round. Eccles hasn’t really cut it since his transition to the PDC circuit and Whitlock should have little trouble securing his place in the second round where he would face either Mervyn King or Co Stompe (66/1). Due to his 12th place seed, Mark Webster (25/1), who takes on Alan Tabern (100/1), faces the prospect of a showdown with Wes Newton (33/1) in the second round. Webster will have to do it the hard way as victory over Newton could then set-up a clash with Phil Taylor or James Wade. With a victory over Taylor already behind him, Webster, who I also fancy to win the Premier League Darts, looks tough enough to overcome his disastrous draw and he’s a cracking bet at 25/1 to win the 2011 Players Championship Finals.

Best bets:

Gary Anderson 4/1

Mark Webster 25/1

Darts Betting

Fireworks are expected for the coming Premier League Darts season and spectators don’t have to wait long for their first instalment after it was announced that on the opening night, at the O2 Arena in London, the newly crowned PDC World Champion Adrian Lewis (5/1) will take on the five-time Premier League Darts champion, Phil “The Power” Taylor (6/4). Lewis produced one of the most memorable displays in Darts history just a matter of weeks ago when he produced a stunning nine-dart finish on route to overwhelming Gary Anderson (5/1) in the PDC World Championship final.

If the incredible high standard of the world championship is anything to go by then two of four wildcard entries, Terry Jenkins (25/1) and Raymond van Barneveld (14/1), will need to step-up on recent performances if they are to stand any chance of success in the 2011. Barney’s game looked in bad shape during the world championship and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was to finish bottom of the Premier League Darts table this time round.

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After opening at the O2, the Premier League stops off is some top class venues around the UK including the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, the M.E.N. in Manchester and finally at the Wembley Arena on May 19th. Despite this being his first appearance in the Premier League, former World Darts Champion Mark Webster (11/1) won’t be overwhelmed and his current odds on offer are extremely generous! Another player who is overpriced in the betting this year is the 2009 Premier League Darts champion James Wade (13/2). Wade narrowly lost out to Taylor is last year’s final after The Power fired in two, yes two nine-dart finishes!

Aussie darts player Simon Whitlock (7/1) made his debut in the competition last year and finished a creditable second-place in the league table. Defeat to Mervyn King in the play-offs stopped Whitlock in his tracks but he showed his liking for this double round-robin format and he shouldn’t be dismissed this time round. An opening night match against world championship runner-up Gary Anderson isn’t the most ideal way to kick off your Premier League Darts campaign so it may prove worthwhile to hold off your bets on Whitlock until he goes into his second week showdown with Raymond van Barneveld at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham.

Premier League Darts Betting

BDO Darts Preview 2011

The BDO World Championships at the Lakeside are only a few days old, but already there have been enough shocks for a decade’s worth of tournaments. Seeds and previous winners have already fallen by the wayside, meaning that, mirroring the unpredictable PDC tournament, it is the most wide open field for years.

Seeds and shocks

Seven seeded players were eliminated from the competition in the opening round with a further two having been unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament already in round two. Most significant of these was second seed Stuart Kellett who was beaten 4-1 by Dutchman Jan Dekker in just 57 minutes at the Lakeside.

Last seasons’ semi-finalist Tony O’Shea was well fancied before his 3-1 opening round defeat to Ross Smith whilst seventh seed Ross Montgomery went down by the same score to fellow Scot Alan Norris. Brian Woods (seeded 11) and Scott Mitchell (seeded 15) were both whitewashed, by Stephen Bunting and Jan Dekker respectively.

There was also an opening 3-0 defeat for another one of the BDO’s big names. 2009 champion Ted Hankey averaged just 85.08 and was easily dispatched by sixth seed Scott Waites.

Wide open tournament

With just six seeds left in the tournament, the title and £100,000 prize is a realistic aim for all the remaining players. The reigning champion and number one seed Martin Adams features strongly in the betting although Wolfie had to be at his very best to defeat 2001 champion John Walton 4-3 after a sudden-death eleventh leg in their last 16 match. The 54 year old is 15/8 to lift a second successive title but admitted after his narrow win: “I felt like an old man up on stage tonight, I just had no strength in my arm to throw the darts.”

The favourite for the title is now Hankey’s conqueror Scott Waites. Whilst the 33 year old has been eliminated in the quarter final in each of the last three years at the Lakeside, he has reached two successive Grand Slam of Darts finals, beating the leading PDC player James Wade 16-12 in the 2010 final.

Waites is the sixth seed and with ranked players falling all around him in the bottom half of the drawer, it looks like only 18/1 chance Dean Winstanley may stand in the way of a first BDO final appearance.

So what of the remaining players?

Last season’s beaten semi-finalist Martin Phillips is an 9/1 chance and the Welshman sneaked past fifth seed Joey ten Berge 4-3 in round two. Phillips plays 8/1 third favourite Gary Robson next, but both potentially face Adams in the semi-final.

An outside bet could be Alan Norris who is in what looks like the weakest quarter. The 28 year old faces Jan Dekker in the quarter finals with only one match then standing between the 28 year old and his first final. Norris will have to improve to progress, but in an open field the 50/1 could prove decent value.

Verdict

Before the tournament, it looked like reigning champion Martin Adams was the one to beat. However, after being pushed the distance by Walton and following his own admission that he was not in the best shape, it may pay to oppose the number one seed.
Scott Waites is deservedly the favourite, and in the weaker half of the draw I really fancy the 33 year old to come through and prove that his 2010 Grand Slam of Darts win was not a flash in the pan.

Back Waites at 6/4 to win his first BDO World title.

Darts Betting

Football

The league takes a break this weekend as the FA Cup becomes the priority (or an unwanted distraction) for the nation’s top teams.
Leeds United travel to Arsenal on Saturday lunchtime with Simon Grayson’s side hoping to repeat their third round heroics of 2010. Leeds are a better side then they were a year ago when they defeated Manchester United at this stage, and are 12/1 to secure another Cup shock.

Arsenal v Leeds

Stevenage are 11/2 to see off visitors Newcastle in Saturday’s late kick-off whilst Sven Goran Eriksson’s Leicester City are 5/1 to get one over the Swede’s former side, Manchester City.

Stevenage v Newcastle
Leicester v Man City

Manchester United host struggling Liverpool on Sunday lunchtime and are 8/13 to prevail. Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to ring the changes with a league match against Spurs on the horizon, and so Liverpool could sneak a draw at 14/5.

Man Utd v Liverpool

It’s also the third round of the Scottish Cup this weekend. Berwick Rangers caused one of the biggest giant-killings in Scottish football history when they knocked Rangers out of the Cup in 1967 and the Borderers are 18/1 to beat Celtic at Shielfield Park.

Berwick v Celtic

Football Betting

Cricket

After the excitement of The Ashes, this weekend’s Test cricket comes from another Southern hemisphere location. New Zealand are good value at 11/8 to see off a wandering and homeless Pakistan in Hamilton.

New Zealand v Pakistan

Elsewhere, after their excellent Test series, South Africa face India in a Twenty20 international in Durban.

South Africa v India

Cricket Betting

Tennis

After the bizarre spectacle of watching Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal launch the 2011 ATP Tour season by playing ankle deep in water on a floating tennis court the season is now under way in Doha. The world’s two leading players are clear favourites for the Qatar Open with Nadal available at 6/5 and Federer at 7/5.

Robin Soderling is the favourite to take the Brisbane International title with big names falling in both the men’s and women’s events. Fernando Verdasco and Sam Stosur have already been beaten by lower ranked opponents leaving Marion Bartoli as the highest ranked woman left in the draw.

Tennis Betting

Golf

After a three week break over Christmas, the European Tour resumes this week with a strong local field at the Africa Open. 2009 champion Retief Goosen is the 5/1 favourite whilst fellow South African and reigning champion Charl Schwartzel is an 11/2 chance.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year, Chris Wood, is worth watching at 35/1 although it may pay to take a watching brief as a clutch of new Tour players look to impress.

The Hyundai Tournament of Champions features winners from last seasons’ PGA Tour and there’s a strong field in action. Geoff Ogilvy is the 15/2 favourite whilst Ernie Els may be good value at 8/1 after his win at the South African Open before Christmas. Graeme McDowell is the 12/1 third favourite whilst Ian Poulter is 16/1.

Golf Betting

Rugby Union

Munster consolidated their strong position at the head of the Magners League last weekend with a 35-10 victory over Ulster and the 8/5 tournament favourites have a straightforward looking home tie against Glasgow this Saturday. Third place Leinster appear to be their most likely challengers although they face a tricky tie against fourth place Ospreys on Friday evening. The Scarlets travel to Edinburgh whilst the Cardiff Blues play Aironi Rugby.

Aviva Premiership leaders Northampton suffered a surprise home defeat by Harlequins last weekend which meant that Leicester Tigers leapfrogged the Saints into top spot. The pair meet at Welford Road on Saturday in a mouthwatering encounter which the home side might just edge.

London Irish’s tumble down the table continued after their last gasp defeat to Bath and they face a difficult away tie at third place Saracens on Sunday. Elsewhere, Harlequins play Wasps and Gloucester host Exeter.

Rugby Union Betting

Horse Racing

The Welsh National (2.00pm) finally goes ahead at Chepstow this Saturday and the race, as ever, features a large, competitive field. Synchronized is the 5/1 favourite with Maktu a 7/1 chance and Dance Island available at 10/1.

Chepstow also hosts the Grade 1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle whilst there is also a grade 1 race – the Tolworth Hurdle – at Sandown.

Elsewhere there is racing from Sedgefield, Lingfield Park and Wincanton.

Racing Betting

Darts

The BDO World Championships concludes this Sunday at the Lakeside. It has been an unpredictable tournament with seven seeded players and 2009 champion Ted Hankey all being eliminated in the opening round.
Scott Waites looks a strong 6/4 favourite to lift his first world title with last year’s champion Martin Adams a 15/8 shot.

Darts Betting

It would be fair to say that the standard of the PDC World Darts Championship improves every year. Indeed, looking at the qualifiers for the 2011 tournament, there are some great players conspicuous by their absence. 2008 finalist Kirk Shepherd failed to qualify, as did three time finalist Peter Manley and the ever popular Wayne Mardle.
Whilst the usual suspects lead the outright betting, our job is to try and find some decent value in the first round of a very open championship.

Short priced favourites lead the way

The betting for the first round of the PDC World Championships follows a simple pattern. Other than the eight preliminary round matches (the winners of which face a seed in the first round proper) the betting features a short priced (generally seeded) favourite against an odds-against outsider.

Backing the likes of Robert Thornton, Steve Beaton, Mark Webster and Jamie Caven against an unseeded challenger might therefore seem like a no-brainer, but therein lies the path to financial ruin.

It may be tempting to throw a lot of short-priced seeds into a profitable accumulator, but history shows that this has seldom paid dividends. The main problem with this approach is the ‘penalty shootout’ nature of the early rounds at the Alexandra Palace. The first round is a ‘best of five sets’ which means that a player who makes a slow start can be a set and a half down after five or six legs of darts. It is then a long way back to recover that sort of deficit in a ‘first to three’ contest.

In the 2010 tournament, 8 seeded players were eliminated in round one, including ninth seed Dennis Priestly, thirteenth seed Mark Walsh and eleventh seed Colin Osborne. In 2009 it was even worse, with 12 seeds falling at the first hurdle, most notably fifth seed Terry Jenkins, fourth seed John Part and tenth seed Colin Lloyd.

As Sid Waddell once famously commented: “This stage has swallowed up more seeds than Tweety Pie.”

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Finding value in some talented outsiders

Whilst Phil Taylor may have dominated the tournament over the best part of two decades, unseeded challengers have performed surprisingly well. Both Mark Webster and Simon Whitlock were unseeded as they made their way to the last four in 2010 (Whitlock eventually lost in the final to Taylor). Unseeded trio Paul Nicholson, Co Stompe and Jelle Klaasen all reached the quarter finals in 2009 whilst Kirk Shepherd was an unseeded finalist in 2008.

Picking an unseeded player to progress through the tournament is a tough call. I would have been inclined to watch Mensur Suljovic although the Australian is schedule to face a potential finalist, James Wade, in round two. Suljovic can overcome 31st seed Michael van Gerwen in round one, however, and is evens to do so.
One player who is in a good vein of form is 1995 BDO World Champion Ritchie Burnett. After a barren period, the Prince of Wales reached the semi-finals of the John McEvoy Gold Dart Classic in October before reaching the finals of two consecutive PDC Pro Tour events. Burnett plays Alan Tabern in round one and is a good value 13/8 to prevail.

A treble to consider

Whilst a long list of short priced favourites is unlikely to reap much in the way of profits, a carefully chosen treble may be the play. And, there are three players that I am confident will stamp their mark on the competition and who I expect to reach the latter stages.

John Part is the only player other than Phil Taylor to win the PDC World Championships on more than one occasion. Despite falling to 32nd seed, Part faces a qualifier in round one and, word is that the Canadian has been practising harder than ever for this tournament. A win would see him face Taylor in a repeat of that epic 2003 final and Part should have enough to get past either Per Laursen or Boris Krcmar.

Gary Anderson is another that I expect to go well at the Ally Pally and the Scot has a favourable draw with only Mervyn King and an out of sorts Raymond van Barneveld likely to stand between him and a semi-final berth. Anderson also plays a qualifier – either Matt Padgett or Morihiro Hashimoto – in the opening round.

Finally, I expect this to be the year when James Wade makes a serious challenge for the PDC title. Whilst the talented Englishman has yet to reach a PDC final he has won the Grand Prix and Championship League in 2010 and comes into the tournament in good form. He can exact revenge for the recent embarrassing World Cup defeat at the hands of Spain by beating Antonio Alcinas in round one at 1/8.

A treble on Part, Wade and Anderson is therefore my call for round one.

PDC Match Betting

PDC World Championship Darts

It’s the equivalent of football’s World Cup Final (everyone watches the final regardless if they love darts or not!) and you can be guaranteed that there is no bigger sporting spectacle around this Christmas than the PDC World Championship Darts.

15-time world champion Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor (8/15) is the Lionel Messi of world darts and the games meteoric rise in recent years is down solely to his dominance of the sport. Due to his working class background, Taylor has built a tremendous rapport with darts fans worldwide and sports ‘Mr NiceGuy’ will have his hoards of fans in support at the Ally Pally when he goes in search of his 16th World Championship Darts title.

However, Taylor hasn’t been at his fluent best lately and if he slips up on route to the final it could be the world’s number two darts player James Wade (15/2) that takes full advantage. Both players teamed up to represent England at the recent World Cup of Darts and surprisingly they got eliminated in their opening match against Spain, so any complacency either player had will be well and truly destroyed ahead of the PDC World Championship Darts.

Since the inaugural PDC World Championship Darts event in 1994, there have only been four winners. One of those successful enough to be crowned PDC world champion is Raymond van Barneveld (11/1). The Dutchman has returned to form of late and he could set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against Wade, if both make it that far. Another player fortunate enough to win this event is John Part (125/1). The Canadian’s odds are extremely generous although if he overcomes his opponent in the first round he faces a showdown with Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor. Oh yeah, we shouldn’t leave out the only other winner of the PDC World Championship, Dennis Priestley (250/1).

One darts player who will be popular amongst punters is last year’s beaten finalist Simon Whitlock (12/1). ‘The Wizard’ is in good form and has a seemingly straight-forward passage into the semi-finals so at the odds on offer he could be the value bet to be crowned this year’s PDC World Champion. Other players worth noting in the betting include this year’s UK Open runner-up Gary Anderson (16/1), recent Players Championship winner Wes Newton (100/1), former number one darts player Colin Lloyd (100/1) and 2008 BDO World Champion Mark Webster (28/1).

Best Bets

Mark Webster 28/1
Simon Whitlock 12/1
Raymond van Barneveld 11/1

PDC World Championship Betting

The draw for the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts has been made and 15-time world darts champion Phil Taylor, who is 2/5 favourite for the event which starts on Saturday, has been drawn into a tricky looking group which compromises of former world champion Ted Hankey (66/1), PDC under-21 world champion finalist Michael van Gerwen (100/1) and the in-form Wes Newton (40/1).

Five-time world darts champion Raymond van Barneveld(10/1) finds himself in Group F alongside former number one Colin Lloyd(50/1), the 2009 Dutch Masters winner Darryl Fitton(66/1) and this year’s Women’s World Championship finalist Tricia Wright (1000/1).

The world’s number two darts player, James Wade (8/1), faces a straight-forward assignment in the group stage after being drawn with Tony O’Shea (40/1), Vincent van der Voort (125/1) and Justin Pipe (200/1). The same can’t be said for the 2010 PDC World Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock (10/1) who faces some serious opposition in the shape of Colin Osbourne (80/1), Robert Thornton (100/1) and the 2010 Lakeside World Championship runner-up Dave Chisnall (40/1). Ouch!

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Group Betting

It’s not surprising that Whitlock heads the betting in Group A at 4/7, however, he faces a tricky opening match against Englishman Dave Chisnall and if this year’s BDO Championship runner-up can gain the upper hand, then it’s worth punting Chisnall to win Group A at the tasty odds of 9/2.

Phil Taylor is 1/7 to land the odds in Group H but I look the like of the in-form Wes Newton, who catches the eye at 15/2. Taylor’s prodigy Adrian Lewis is evens to win Group E ahead of Scott Waites(11/4) and Co Stompe(10/3). Despite being 1/2 to take Group F, Raymond van Barneveld is far from a shoe in, especially up against Colin Lloyd (5/2) and Darryl Fitton (11/2).

Outright Betting

James Wade 8/1

Recently beat Phil Taylor in the 2010 Championship League Final and whenever ‘The Power’ decides to call it a day, Wade will be the undisputed number one darts player. Apart from O’Shea, who he should really make light work of, Wade has a handy group to overcome so sit back and enjoy his cosy ride into the finals

Wayne Jones 40/1

Jones is in cracking form this year and his recent performance in the Championship League warrants respect, especially in front of his home crowd (Wolverhampton)

Group Betting Selections: Dave Chisnall (9/2), Wes Newton (15/2) & Co Stompe (10/3)

2010 Grand Slam of Darts Betting

Welcome to our weekly column where we try and seek good value in some longer odds bets.

One shot in the South African Open was all that stopped us from a lovely pre-Christmas profit on South African Darren Fichardt. His score of 278 saw him tie for sixth place, frustratingly one place off an each-way payout which I tipped here at 50/1.

2pts Tony O’Shea to win the BDO Darts World Championship at 3/1

Whilst the BDO World Championships might be like the Uzbekistan FA Cup in comparison to the PDC’s Champions League, there is still something terribly addictive about watching the darts on the BBC from the Lakeside Country Club.

Whilst the standard might not be in anyway comparable (anyone see Australia’s Tony Fleet throw probably the worst leg of pub darts anyone had ever seen earlier this week?) there are some good players in the tournament and none more so than number one seed Tony O’Shea.

The likeable Northerner showed a wobble in his first round match against Robbie Green but has looked comfortable since. He lost agonisingly in last year’s final (7-6 to Ted Hankey) and at 3/1 I’d back him to go one better this time around.

Darts Betting

1pt e/w Stephen Ames to win the SBS Championship at 16/1 (e/w 1/4 odds, 1,2,3,4)

The SBS Championship kicks off the US PGA season and boasts a field who all won on the PGA Tour in 2009. Steve Stricker and Geoff Ogilvy lead the way in the betting, but with both in single figures I like the chances of Canadian Stephen Ames.

Based in Hawaii over Christmas, Ames has had three weeks to acclimatise. He also has good form in this event finishing just one shot off the lead two years ago. Furthermore, he won in Florida in November using the new grooved clubs which have become compulsory in 2010. With a win under his belt with the new clubs (whilst many others are getting used to them) he is great value to win at the Plantation Course.

Golf betting

1pt Green Bay Packers to win Superbowl XLIV at 22/1

After a disappointing start to their campaign, including two painful defeats to the Minnesota Vikings at the hands of former Packers legend Brett Favre, Mike McCarthy’s side have been on a great run of form since their 17-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys on 15th November.

The Packers have won eight of their last nine matches including, crucially, a convincing 33-7 victory over play-off rivals the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix stadium last week. With an 11-5 season record the Packers have returned to the play-offs for the first time since 2007, albeit as a wild card.

Bearing in mind their excellent recent run of form I fancy the Packers to triumph in Florida on 7th February at Superbowl XLIV at 22/1.

American Football Betting

1pt Cameron Jerome first goalscorer and Birmingham to beat Man Utd 1-0 at 80/1

Manchester United have lost an unprecedented seven matches this season in all competitions. The one common thread that links all these defeats is that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side failed to score in each of them. When United have scored, they haven’t lost.  This once again showed last Sunday when a terrific Leeds side left Old Trafford with a 1-0 win and a place in the FA Cup fourth round draw.

United travel to Birmingham City on Saturday with the Blues on a terrific run of form. Alex McLeish’s men sit eighth in the table, just a point behind Liverpool and have kept a clean sheet at St Andrews in five of their last six games. Six of their last nine games have finished either 0-0 or 1-0 to the Blues.

I think this could be a really tricky match for United. Cameron Jerome scored the winner for Birmingham in their last league match at Stoke and whilst Lee Bowyer has also netted three times in 1-0 wins I’m going for the tall hitman to inflict further misery on Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

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