Australia V New Zealand ODI Series Betting

With Australia having just been given their biggest thrashing in years they're now greated by a site that is bound to cheer them up no end - a visit from New Zealand. If ever the Aussies could have cherry picked a series to help get them back to winning ways then surely this would have to be the one.



The Kiwi's have hardly provided stern resistence against the Aussies over the years and it's hard to see them starting now, the Aussies are seemingly in decline - or a transitional period - but should still be way to strong for a New Zealand team currently ranked 4th in the world over the best of five series.

Although the ODI's have a habit of closing the gap between the two sides i still see the aussies being way to strong and they can be backed at a best price of 1/4 with Betfair, which after recent events might seem to short so a more practical bet might be to back Australia to win the series 4-1 @ odds of 2/1 with Ladbrokes or Sky Bet.

For anyone wishing to back New Zealand they are available at a best priced 4/1 with Paddy Power.

There is a free bet available with all of these bookmakers to customers opening new accounts.

Have a free bet on the Australian Open

With Roger Federer about to take on Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open why don't you use this as an opportunity to claim a free bet for this years final.

There is a whole host of bookmakers offering free bets including a free bet with Betfair,
or a chance to bet free with £10 from one of the most trusted names in the industry, Ladbrokes. And last of all, a £50 Betfred Free Bet from the cash back king.

The choice is yours and with a guide on how to claim your free bets included in the pages on this blog it couldn't be easier.

Australian Open Final

Federer Vs Nadal Preview

With normal service resuming in the tennis world Roger Federer will take on Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open with Ferderer the odds on favourite. A Federer win on Sunday night will see him equal Pete Sampras with 14 grand slam titles and also go some way to avenging his defeat to Nadal in last years Wimbledon Final - the last time they met. Nadal is arguably yet to recapture the form he showed in winning his first Wimbledon title when at the time he looked invincible and as yet has never won a grand slam title on a hard court, he would also become the first Spanish man to win the title in Melbourne should he be successful.

Despite the head to head showing Federer 6 - 12 Nadal the odds seem to be stacked up in Federer's favour. For a start 10 of those matches were played on clay with Nadal winning 9 of them, of the hard court results it is 3-2 in Federer's favour with none of them played out at a slam. Federer has also had an extra day to recover and brushed off Andy Roddick in his semi-final without hardly breaking sweat while Nadal was made to work hard during a five set marathon.



Federer though dosen't believe that Nadal's five hour semi-final against fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco will have any effect on him claiming that Nadal has had an easy passage to the semi's and that his matches usually take longer as he takes his time out on the court, maybe a slight quip at the lenght of time Nadal takes between points. Nadal though said he's not sure how he will feel for the final saying "I'm going to try my best to recover my body and my physical performance but after a match like this, the next day you feel much heavier." Whatever his physical condition you can be sure that Nadal will drag his body round the court with all his usual blood and guts and hopefully make for a thrilling final.

Roger Federer can be backed at a best priced 8/11 with VC Bet - Click here for your Free £50 Bet!, i can't see that price lasting long though so you had better be quick. After that the best price is 4/6 with Betfair.

Nadal can be backed at a best price 6/4 also with Betfair.

There is a free bet available with all of these bookmakers for customers opening new accounts.

Free £50 bet with 888sport

The 888sport £50 free bets offer comes in three sections. First you need to open an account and place a bet of £15 at odds of evens (2.0) or greater, 888sport will then credit your account with a free £15 betting token.

For the second section you then need to place a further nine bets all at a minimum stake of £15 and at odds of evens or greater, you will then be credited with your second free £15 betting token.

Then for the third and final section you need to place a further five bets all at a minimum stake of £15 and at odds of evens or greater, you will then be credited with a free betting token of £20 bringing the total to £50.

You can redeem your free bets on your betslip from a dropdown menu to the right. The free bet tokens expire after 30 days. You have 90 days to complete the whole £50 free bet process from the time you place your opening £15 bet.



About 888sport

888sport.com is a Gibraltar based company and is part of the 888 group which operates www.888.com which is made up of poker, casino and bingo games. They have offices allover the world and employ over 880 members of staff. Over the years the 888 group has shown plenty of support for sport by sponsoring events, teams and individuals alike. They are the current sponsors of recent two time UEFA Cup winners Sevilla and previous sponsorship deals consist of the world snooker championship, premier league darts and middlesbrough football club shirt sponsor.

888holdings PLC the groups holding company has since September 2005 being a London Stock Exchange listed company.

Premier League Round Up 19/01/09

After the latest round of games in which three of the big four won - only Liverpool dropped points, and at home again - it's Manchester United that seem to have gained the most ground in the eyes of the bookies. After two tricky games in a week against Wigan and Bolton they have now been trimmed into a general 1/2 or 8/15 and are a best priced 4/7 with Ladbrokes to take the league title again, they successfully negotiated what could have been a very awkward week against two teams in decent form which could easily have caused them to slip up.

Chelsea and Arsenal kept up the pressure with wins against opposition they would have been expected to beat but both made hard work off. Liverpool again were the big losers dropping points at home to Everton, that’s 2 points from 6 since Rafa Benitez’s outburst against Alex Ferguson and Benitez has now left himself open to the accusation that he lost the plot having a so-called ‘Keegan moment’.



Aston Villa kept up their challenge for a top 4 finish by seeing off Sunderland 2-1 in a tight game at the Stadium of Light, they’re still 3 points clear of Arsenal and are now within touching distance of Liverpool who lie in 2nd place, Villa are currently showing no signs of blowing up but now have lost Ashley Young for 3 games through suspension. It’s hard to see them maintaining a challenge though if they where to get injuries to the likes of Young or Agbonlahor as they have no natural cover for both.

Down the bottom is getting very tight again with only 6 points separating 12 teams from Hull who are in 9th place with 27 points to West Brom at the bottom with 21 points. West Brom and Blackburn’s recent good runs of home form has seen them both catch up with the main pack ensuring that all 3 relegation places are open again.

League Title Odds

Manchester United 4/7 with Ladbrokes.

Chelsea 4/1 with Totesport and Boylesports.

Liverpool 11/2 with Betfair.

Arsenal 40/1 with Sky Bet.

Aston Villa 49/1 with Betfair.

Free £25 bet with Stan James

Stan James are offering all new sign-up's a free bet of £25. To qualify you need to follow a link from an affiliate site (such as this one) to open your account. You then need to place a qualifying bet of £25, the qualifying bet must be placed on a sportsbook market at odd of evens or bigger.

Stan James will then credit your account with a free £25 bet within 24 hours of your qualifying bet being settled, when you wish to use your free bet you will need to tick the ‘free bet checkbox’ on your betting slip after making your selection.



About Stan James

One Stan James account gives you access to all of their products including Poker, Skill, Games and Casino saving you having to transfer money between different accounts. Your Stan James account also offers you live commentary on horse racing and an in depth football stats and results service.

Stan James claim to be the first bookmakers to offer in running betting and this is now available on most live sports. Stan James experience in these markets shows and you can always find interesting markets available for in running punters. They also have a 24 hours customer service phoneline to help with any queries ensuring that at all times you can gamble with total confidence.

Since 2000 Stan James have sponsored the PDC World Matchplay darts tournament held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, making them the longest running sponsors of a PDC darts tournament.

Free £100 bet with Sportingbet

Sportingbet.com are offering up to £100 of free bets in two parts to all new customers opening an account with them. The first free bet section is a straight forward free £25 bet, to qualify for this you need to open an account and place your first bet at £25 on a selection at odds of evens (2.0) or bigger.




For the second part you need to place a further ten bets all at a minimum of £15 each, again all at evens (2.0) or bigger (Multiple bets are allowed but must not contain selections priced at 1.5 (1/2) or below). After your ten bets you will receive another £75 worth of free bets. All free bets will be credited within 48 hours of placing your qualifying bets.


About Sportingbet

Part of the Sportingbet Plc group Sportingbet.com bookmakers started up in October 1998, it was previously known as sporting odds until a rebranding of the company. In 2004 the sportingbet group acquired ParadisePoker which is a worldwide poker experience operating in over 20 different languages. When you open your an account with either Sportingbet or Paradisepoker that one account will allow you to use your money in poker, sports betting, games and casino online meaning you won't have to deposit money into numerous accounts, simply deposit to one account and switch between all off the different products.

Free £25 bet with Paddy Power

Paddy Power is offering customers who sign up to their site through Betfree247.com a free £25 bet (if you go direct to Paddy Power you will not receive this offer and other affiliate sites may offer a lesser free bet, ie £10). After you’ve opened your account place a £25 bet single on the sportsbook (not valid for casino, poker etc) only and paddy power will match it giving you a free £25 bet.

This free £25 bet will then show in a drop down box on your betting slip on your next selection. Remember, to maximize the free bet amount be sure to make your first deposit and first bet at the full amount of £25. Please note that the free bet is not offered to customers who make their deposits using Moneybookers or Neteller.



Paddy Power is currently Ireland's largest bookmaker with over 180 licensed betting shops, add to that a growing number of shops in the UK and it obviuos to see that they are a major player in the gambling industry. With Paddy Power you can also play online poker, get a casino room, can play bingo with a 200% sign up bonus and also play games online. With Paddy-Power-dial-a-bet they operate Irelands biggest telephone betting service.

Founded in 1988 by three Irish bookmakers merging Paddy Power have fast grown a reputation for being extrovert in their attempts to generate new customers. A series of attention grabing humourous newspaper adverts have shown them to be forward thinking and adventuress, this is further proved with their "Punter friendly" and "Money back special" initiatives. The new saying is that gambling with Paddy Power you have three possible outcomes, win, lose or you get your money back. They are also a publicly quoted company, with listings on both the Irish and UK Stock Exchanges.

How to claim your free £10 bet with William Hill

To get your free £10 bet with William Hill you need to open an account via an affiliate site offering the free bet. When you go to click the William Hill link the banner should have a code (the one on betfree247.com is currently B10), make a note of this code and on your registration form place it in the ‘Promotional code’ box, this will validate your free bet.

Your Hill's free bet should then appear on your betting slip when you go to place a bet, you will need to select it from the drop down menu and then place your bet as normal. Free bets are usually valid for seven days, but will Hills they can vary their terms and conditions so be sure to check.



William Hill take bets on most major sports from all around the world, included is Baseball, Basketball, Boxing, Cricket - domestic and international, Football - English and European Leagues, Golf - both US and European tours, Greyhound Racing, Horse Racing (including virtual horse racing), Ice Hockey, Motor Sports, NFL and College football, Rugby League, Rugby Union and much much more.

You can open your Hill's account with a deposit of just £2 or the matching equivalent in one of eleven currencies which they now accept. You can deposit with William Hill using Visa, MasterCard, Eurocard, bank wire, personal cheque, Quick Cash (GBP only) and Neteller (USD, GBP, Euro, DKK, SEK and CAD only).

With William Hill you can also test your Poker skills, have access to a Casino Room and you can also get a £10 cash match when you play William Hill Bingo.

ABOUT WILLIAM HILL

With William Hill you are get seventy years of experience in the bookmaking industry, they have 2000 betting shops across the UK and Ireland making them the largest bookmaker by number of shops, in these shops - which cater for hundreds of thousands of customers - you have real time sports results and information from satellite coverage, you also get the daily numbers draw and if the horse racing is called off due to adverse weather or is just simply finished for the day you have over 7000 betting terminals and gaming machines to keep you occupied. Online Hills serve well over a quater of a million account holder they also offer punters an online casino, poker room, internet bingo and online games.

William Hill are both licensed and regulated in the UK, they are a FTSE 250 company on the London Stock Exchange, with hills you can bet with confidence, recognised as one of the leading betting organisations in the world they offer you a secure account with your own account number and login details, they also ensure that no-one else can access your account, they offer a telephone betting service and a dedicated horse and greyhound radio service along with a football punting service.

Is it slam time for Andy Murray?

With Andy Murray being made favourite for this years Australian Open we examine his chances and look at the stats from his previous encounters against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

In the head to heads Murray's record against Federer reads won 5(won 6 if you include the exhibition win in Abu Dhabi) and lost 2, against Nadal Murray has won 1(2 if you again include Abu Dhabi exhibition) and lost 5. But the real statistics as we are going into a Grand Slam is the 5 set head to heads, Murray has only played Federer once over 5 sets and that was in last years US Open final were he was comprehensively outplayed, against Nadal it reads lost 2 - one of those defeats was in Melbourne in 2007 - and won only 1 in last years US Open and that was over two days.

4th seed Murray of late seems to have the wood over Federer and dare i say Nadal as well who dosen't seem to have recaptured the great form he showed in the early to middle part of the 2008 season. Will this provide Murray with the mental edge having a good record against both over the recent months or will the two multiple grand slam winners experience and know-how in these massive tournaments help either of them to see off the plucky scot.



With the seeding and the draw completed Murray if all goes to plan should meet Nadal in the semi-finals with Federer in the other half of the draw, meaning that he will probally have to beat both again if he's to be successful. Murray's opening match which shouldn't cause him to many problems is against Romanian Andrei Pavel who has been out of action injured since last February and is only in Melbourne on an injury-protected ranking.

With the five sets in play during this tournament it would surely be a massive ask to expect Murray to beat both Nadal and Federer in successive games so for this reason i wouldn't be backing him at the short price he is to win outright but a bet on him reaching the final may be good value.

Murray v Federer final is best priced 7/2 at both Ladbrokes and Paddy Power.

To win outright Murray is best priced at 3/1 with Sportingbet.

Federer seems to be the favourite now and can be backed at a best priced 9/4 with Paddy Power and Sky Bet.

There is a free bet available with all of the above listed bookmakers.

Murray Favourite for Aussie Open

Shock, horror a Brit is favourite for a Grand Slam tennis event (Ok he's joint favourite with some firms but even so) what’s going on? Absolutely amazing I never thought I would see the day! The bookies don’t normally get things wrong and let’s hope they’ve got it right again this time.

This shows that they are taking the young Scot very seriously and that his recent victories over Federer and Nadal are being taken into account by the bookmakers. But this is a grand slam and Murray hasn’t got the experience and know-how of the previous two mentioned, I know he reached the final of the US Open last year and hopefully this should help him in his quest to win this one.



The bookies are already scared as shown in his odds – already as short as 2/1 with some firms – fearing a massive payout if he wins in Melbourne. But their main worry is if he manages to land the big one at Wimbledon with Graham Sharpe of Hills already quoted as saying that he fears a payout of “millions if he goes on to win Wimbledon.”

Roger Federer though isn’t as bullish about Murray’s chances questioning the bookmakers decision to make Murray favourite claiming “He’s never won a slam…. It’s surprising to hear.” He then went on further to say "But winning a slam is a different animal. Not many guys have been able to win them over the last few years. Rafa and I have taken a lot of them. "It doesn't happen that easily but he has a chance like many other players." Hardly a ringing endorsement from the great man.

Nevertheless the bookies have spoken and they make Andy Murray the favourite.

Murray is a best priced to win at 3/1 with Sportingbet.


Federer is now favourite with most bookies best priced at 9/4 with Sky Bet and Paddy Power.




While Nadal is best priced at 4/1 with Totesport, Betfred and Betfair.

There is a free bet available with all of these bookmakers.

Forget Kaka Man City need midfield enforcer

The madness surrounding Man City’s apparent massive bid for Kaka is surely undermining manager Mark Hughes relegation fight. Surely this can not be a Hughes attempted signing, from what I’ve seen of City lately they badly need a midfield enforcer prepared to put his foot in where it hurts and get the crowd going, someone prepared to fight for the cause – dare I say a Robbie Savage type of character.

On one hand Hughes – if the press are to be believed – is attempting to sign players such as Bellamy, Parker and Santa Cruz, trying to build a team. Whereas on the other hand apparently a delegation representing the club are in Milan trying to secure a massive deal to bring Kaka to Eastlands, WHAT!!!!! Does anyone really believe that Hughes has sent them there with the instructions not to come back without the player? How is this transfer policy affecting Hughes? Is Hughes in charge? Does Hughes even pick the team?

Dietmar Hamann has just been ruled out for up to three months and from what I can see a far more productive signing would be bringing in someone like Scott Parker to shore up the midfield and protect the back four – Kaka is not going to fulfil this role – and probably another defender. The signing of Wayne Bridge although possibly overpriced seemed a sensible team building one, bringing in a calm head to help steady the ship during this troubled period.



City would appear to be trying to run before they can walk, surely they need to steadily build and put themselves in a position where they are regularly challenging to qualify for European football before they can start attempting these types of signings. If Kaka where to agree to come it would be surely for financial reasons only, he would be turning his back on probable Champions League football next season (Milan missed out on qualifying for Champions League this season as well) while in his footballing prime and all for his love of Man City I don’t think.

A far more sensible approach would be to let Hughes build a team to keep City up and then in the summer - as the owners seem hell bent on signing big names - look to recruit these big signings. For a start bringing in a player on huge wages at the moment might upset the dressing room, with the perilous position City find themselves in that is the last thing Hughes needs.

If you think Man City could go down they are best priced at 22/1 with Sportingbet which looks like a good value bet for a silly couple of quid.

Best priced after that is 20/1 at Boylesports, Blue Square and Totesport.