Steve Davis introduced as Dennis Taylor

A moment of pure comedy happened at the Crucible on Wednesday as announcer Rob Walker made a classic gaffe as he was introducing the six-time world champion Steve Davis to the crowd during his quarter-final match with Neil Robertson.

Walker said "He was the ultimate king of the 80s with six world titles. Still a force to be reckoned with now in his 50s, Ladies and gentlemen, he's a legend… he's Dennis Taylor"

Walker then corrected himself as a bemused looking and laughing Davis came out to massive applause and laughter.

I would say Barry Hearn wouldn't have been too disappointed with the incident either. Hearn is looking for ways to improve snookers image and entertainment value.

Even the improvisation of Hearn himself couldn't have created a more entertaining moment than this.

Magnificent Steve Davis

Is Steve Davis the best snooker player ever?

That is the question I have been asking myself after watching him knock out defending Champion, John Higgins earlier today. And I think the answer is, yes he is.

A career now into it's 5th decade, and he is still fit to mix it with the games current best players. How many others that played in the 80's are still giving the top players a serious game today? Only the 52 year old Davis is, who was playing as far back as the 70's.

The likes of Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Willie Thorn, Dennis Taylor, John Parrott, etc, are all long gone off the scene.

It was great to see John Higgins applaud Davis at the end of the match in recognition of his performance. Higgins might not have been at his very very best, but he would have thought he was playing well enough to have beaten Davis.

Davis will now play the winner of Neil Robertson and Martin Gould, Gould is currently leading 11-5, could the nugget yet make the Semi-finals?

Davis is now 25/1 to win the tournament with Totesport and Sky Bet.

As I said in my last snooker post, world snooker, and the Crucible Theatre, could do with a shot in the arm.

Could Steve Davis be the man to provide it?

2010 World Snooker Championship Betting

Saturday sees the start of the 2010 snooker marathon from Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, with 17 days of intense snooker being played out for the games most prestigious prize.

Ronnie O'Sullivan heads the betting at 4/1 with Sky Bet, while John Higgins is 2nd favourite at 5/1 with Stan James and Totesport.

For the sake of the game in the UK, I hope that the tournament proves to be an exciting one this year. The games image as a spectacle is in danger, and as a result talk of moves to China threaten the whole history and heritage of snooker in the UK.

If the image of snooker could get a welcome boost over the next two weeks, and therefore in the long run bring in extra revenue and sponsors, then this talk of the World Championship moving would surely disappear.

Hopefully Barry Hearn is the man who can engineer this much needed upturn in snookers fortunes. I just hope he dosen't have to pin all his hopes on Ronnie O'Sullivan who can be unpredictable at best. If he is Hearn's only hope, then he has little.

I also hope O'Sullivan can make headlines for the right reasons. I don't want to see a repeat of the disrespect he showed at the end of the 2010 Masters when he just walked out of the arena in the middle of the presentations.

It not only disrespected Mark Selby, but the sponsors and the tournament as a whole.

Outright Winner Betting - Selective Players

Ronnie O'Sullivan is 4/1 with Sky Bet
John Higgins is 5/1 with Stan James and Totesport
Ding Junhui is 8/1 with William Hill and Ladbrokes
Mark Selby is 8/1 with William Hill
Neil Robertson is 10/1 with Stan James and Paddy Power
Mark Williams is 12/1 with Ladbrokes and Totesport
Shaun Murphy is 14/1 with Paddy Power and 888Sport
Mark Allen is 14/1 with Totesport
Stephen Maguire is 18/1 with Stan James
Allister Carter is 28/1 with Sky Bet
Jamie Cope is 40/1 with Totesport
Stephen Hendry is 40/1 with Stan James and Ladbrokes
Ryan Day is 50/1 with Sky Bet

Hills turn away two grand toff

A story that caught my eye this week was the one about a posh looking gambler who walked into a William Hill shop in Windsor and tried to place a two grand bet on the date of a royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Apparently staff suspected him beacause he was 'very posh, clean shaven, wearing a blazer and shoes'. Not the typical profile of a punter according to a Hill's spokesman.

Hills turned down the £2000 bet as they thought he might be a member of a the royal household, or a friend of Prince William, and are now apparently checking CCTV to see if he is recognizable.

The morale of this story is that if you are a toff in the know about a royal wedding, you must take some precautions to ensure your bet is accepted.

First you must borrow some scruffy clothes of a common peasant, maybe your gardener.

Then you need to drive a couple of hundred miles, not to a destination anywhere near a royal castle though. Don't forget to leave your two hundred grand car around the corner.

Don't shave and try to speak in a local accent. Maybe the waft of alcohol on your breath might help in fooling the Hill's staff into thinking you're just a drunk as well.

In short, look like a common stereotype gambler in the eyes of William Hill. Free Bets are available with William Hill and various other Bookmakers.

GB appoint Leon Smith

Congratulations and good luck to Leon Smith, who today was confirmed as the man with the unenviable task of being the new captain of the Great Britain Davis Cup team.

Why Leon Smith ahead of the likes of Greg Rusedski you might ask? Well, I'm not too sure.

Could it be the fact that Smith used to coach Andy Murray, and knows him well, whereas Murray is known to not be too keen on Rusedski?

Maybe some shrewdy at the LTA realised this and thought Smith has more chance of getting Murray to play in the big clashes against the likes of Turkey and Lithuania.

Can't think of any good reason why Murray might wish to skip such mouth watering ties as these when he could be wasting his time preparing for a Grand Slam.

Smith has also become the head of men's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, or to give it, it's proper title, Roger Draper's scapegoat.

Best of luck, Leon.

No Green Jacket for Westwood

Lee Westwood's 71 on Sunday night was never going to be enough for him to win his first major. For me, Westwood never reached the heights of the previous three days as his driving and putting came unstuck. All this allowed Phil Mickelson to win his 3rd green jacket.

A record of third, third and second in his last three majors for Westwood sounds impressive. But you have to wonder if he is ever going to get accross the finishing line.

He threw away a great chance at last years Open Championship, I thought he lost he nerve on the final day there. Did that happen here as well?

I think it did a bit, but it's hard to take anything away from Mickelson, who was magnificent with his 4th round, bogey-free 67.

Mickelson's shot through the trees out of the pine straw to the 13th green was just out of this world, he then somehow missed the eagle putt from about 7-8 feet, but still birdied the hole.

That was the time when you just knew it wasn't to be Westwood's day.

The sight of Tiger Woods, 3 putting from about 8 feet on the 14th hole was amazing, it all but finished off his slight challenge. He did well though to finish fourth after his 5 month absence.

After been the joint halfway leader, Ian Poulter's challenge also fizzled out with 74 and 73 over the weekend. Despite all the early promise, he was disappointing in the end.

Golf majors are hard to win, and no one gives you anything easy. Westwood was shown by Mickelson that you have to do it over 4 days, as well as Lee played over the first 3 days, it wasn't enough. Mickelson is a true champion and when it mattered he upped his game, and that was the difference.

Come on Lee, you can do it!

Can Lee Westwood finally win a major and cap the best period of form in his career so far?

Can Westwood's putting hold out for one more day?

It's been great so far this week after previous performances when he didn't look like he knew which end of the club to hold.

For the last 2 years or so it hasn't been a problem getting the ball from tee to green, it's what has happened on the green that is generally the problem.

It was remarkable on Saturday to see both, Westwood and Poulter at the top of the leaderboard and the last pairing. How ofter have we seen two Englishmen in that position on the 3rd day of a major? Just a shame Poulter fell away.

If Westwood can win it, he can say he did it the hard way. He will be partnering Phil Mickelson, and will also have Tiger Woods breathing down his neck, any success Westwood might have will be well earned.

Westwood (-12) and Mickelson (-11) are the leaders, and the two bookies favourites. Sky Bet are the best price and can't seperate them both at 13/8. They will go out as the last pairing in Sunday's final round.

Woods is still hanging in there at -8, and is still dangerous. A Woods surge could put unbearable pressure on the rest of the leaderboard, it wouldn't be the first time it cracked a fellow pro mentally. He can be backed at 9/2 with Sky Bet, Totesport, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and William Hill to pull off another victory.

Can't wait to see what happens, come on Westwood, you can do it.

Sporting Round-Up

What a weekends sport is has been so far, and there is still Sunday to come.

Barcelona took Real Madrid apart at the Bernabeu, it could and should have been 3 or 4-0. Think Father Ted will be looking for a new job at the end of the season unless Barcelona throw the league away.

Martin O'Neill must wonder what he's got to do to get a penalty and opposition player sent off at Wembley. James Milner was lucky that John Terry's tackle didn't snap his leg in half, clearest red I've seen in ages.

As for Iain Dowie, he's now lost 3-2 to Portsmouth, and 4-1 at home to Burnley. Hull deserve to go down for those two results alone.

In the Heineken Cup, Leinster won a tight exciting contest against Clermont, thanks mainly to the useless kicking of Brock James for the French side. Munster did their usual thing, and overpowered Northampton 33-19.

In the days other Quarter-final, referee George Clancy - the Howard Webb of Rugby - decided not to give Ospreys a clear kickable penalty in front of the posts in the last minute after a deliberate knock-on. As a result Ospreys lost 29-28 to Biarritz.

In Friday night's boxing Audley Harrison was at it again, it took him 12 rounds to finally knockout out Michael Sprott. Had to laugh at his claims that he is closer to fighting one the Klitschkos than David Haye is. Although I do think it is probably Audley trying his best to get a fight with Haye.

Audley's remarks were not as ridiculous as Bernard Hopkin's, who after beating Roy Jones Jnr on the senior's circuit, said he next wants to fight David Haye.

In the US Masters, this must be Lee Westwoods best chance to date to win a major. Ok, so he's got Woods and Mickelson breathing down his neck so it won't be easy, but he is in the form of his life at the moment.

Shame that Ian Poulter fell away, but as Englishmen we can't be too gready. Afterall we had the two of them going out as the last pairing on Saturday. And thats unheard off these days.

And finally, at last he's done it. The remarkable Tony McCoy has won the Gran National, he did it on Don't Push It, and apparently it cost the bookies around £10 Million, so it's a double result.

Congratulations to AP.

Paddy Power Grand National Offers

As usual Paddy Power seems to be the only bookmaker trying to grab the initiative, this time they have a series of offers for the Grand National to attract the punters.

They are offering Faller Insurance, where you can back your horse at a slightly lower price, (ie, a 7/2 shot would become 3/1 with insurance) if your horse (with insurance) then falls, you get your money back.

They are also offering 5 Places on all Each-Way bets. And on top of all that they have a £20 Free Bets offer.

If you place 5 bets of £10, that will be matched with a Free Bet of £10. Repeat the 5 bets of £10, and Paddy Power will give you another Free Bet of £10.

Tight Bookies remove Free Bets for Grand National

The Grand National is the day the bookmakers traditionally fill their boots when a third of the adult population go out and place a bet on the big race.

They make a fortune from all the house wife, and once a year punters, who stake a couple of quid on a horse they like the name off, or their mate down the pub told them would win.

Not content with just bagging all this money, the bookies tightness shows through with the removal of their free bet offers.

Here are this years offenders.

Worst of the lot is Sky Bet, who have removed their free bet offer for just under a week, from Tuesday 6th til Monday 12th, quite staggering.

Coral have removed their free bet from 4pm on Friday til 9am on Monday.

Totesport have no free bet offer from 5.30pm on Friday until 4.30pm on Saturday.

Ladbrokes have removed their free bet offer for the whole of Saturday.

At least Paddy Power have bucked the trend with a series of offers, including a £20 Free Bet offer, Horse Faller Insurance and 5 Places on each-way bets.

What A Friend for Fergie

Alex Ferguson wasn't long getting back to winning ways when What A Friend, a horse part owned by Fergie won the Totesport Bowl at Aintree on Thursday.

Ferguson, a sore loser on Wednesday, was clearly delighted with the win. He got that carried away he even gave an interview to the BBC on Radio 5 Live, after the race.

Fergie generally won't speak to the BBC after they did a programme investigating one of his sons activities when he was working as a football agent, dealing with some Man Utd transfers.

On Thursday he couldn't contain his delight though. It's amazing how much his mood changes when he's winning. Did he forget he dosen't speak to the BBC? Or did the sort of over excitment shown by Rafael against Bayern Munich the previous night, get the better of him?

Either that or he forgot to bring Mike Phelan with him to conduct the interview.

Tiger cut after Day 1

At times it looked as if Tiger Woods had never been away, he played a controlled round today and is at -4, two shots behind the leader.

The bookies have now cut him from 6/1 at the start, to 5/2 with Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, 888 Sport, Blue Sq and Betfred. Some firms have him as short as 2/1.

For England, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are up there, Westwood on -5 is a best price of 8/1 with Bet365, Skybet, Paddy Power, Stan James, Ladbrokes and Sportingbet. Poulter is on -4 and is 16/1 with Sportingbet, 14/1 with most others layers.

Padraig Harrington at +2, a full 8 shots behind leader Fred Couples is a massive 100/1 with Bet365.

The other big hitter on show is Phil Mickleson, he is on -5 and is 6/1, 2nd favourite with Hills, Coral, Ladbrokes and Stan James.

I'm still sticking to my call that Woods is too short, I know he is well placed at the moment, but if he didn't represent value at 6/1, then I'm hardly going to back him now at 5/2.

There is still a long way to go, and a lot can go wrong in the remaining three days.

Is Tiger Woods value at The Masters?

He's a best price of 6/1 with Ladbrokes at the moment, a day before the start of the tournament. He has been as short as 3/1 with some firms when he first confirmed he would be playing in this weeks event, which was just ridiculous.

For me he dosen't represent great value to win his 5th Green Jacket this weekend. I think that Woods is just using this tournament to ease his way back into the world of golf after his 5 month break. The controlled enviroment of The Masters is the one place he is guaranteed no heckling or abuse, or no tabloid celebrity style press to annoy him.

Tiger generally plays a tournament the week before a major, so if he is serious about winning the event I think he would have come back earlier and played a warm up event. If ever he would have needed one, it would be this time.

Never the less, I still wouldn't back against him (he is 6.8 to lay on Betfair). If anyone can come back after all what has happened and show the mental strength to win, it is 'The Tiger'. I will though, adopt a watching brief and if his odds go out to something stupid over the first couple of days I might invest a small wager on him. I just think 6/1 is too short at the moment.

In fairness to him, he impressed me in Monday's press conference. He answered nearly all the questions asked of him, and generally always looked in control. He still had a level of control over the press, and kept his cool with them, showing a high level of dignity when asking the press not to bombard the other players with questions about him.

A request, which unfortunately they ignored.

I felt this was a far more assured public showing than his previous stage managed events. I also felt that I warmed to him more with the way he answered the questions, unlike before.

I have heard some people saying maybe Tiger has lost his aura of invincibility, only time will tell. Another question for me is, had it already gone? Did he lose it when he lost to South Korea's YE Yang in last years PGA? The first time Woods failed to win a major he led after 54 holes. For these reasons I probably won't back him this year.

Real Madrid cost me again!

As I'm sure you can tell from the blog title, I didn't have the greatest weekends gambling this week, although in hindsight it could have been a lot worse, so maybe it was a good weekend after all.

After losing a few quid conducting a draw laying, with cover, experiment on the Man Utd V Chelsea game, I got into the Saturday afternoon fixtures.

Got stuck into Arsenal after half an hour, as they were still 0-0. Was on over 2.5 goals, then got on over 1.5 as cover and also laid 0-0 in the last 10 mins to cover the lot. As you well know Nicklas Bendtner scored a 90+ mins goal, which got me off the hook, so was very releaved.

Then, while still breathing a sigh of relief I heard Phil Thompson shouting that Arsenal had a breakaway attack and that Samir Nasri had blown a great chance, a great chance that is, for my over 1.5 goals bet to come in and turn it into a great winner.

Anyway, after that I needed a late goal to get me off the hook in the Cardiff V Swansea match as well, so was lucky in both those games.

Ended Saturday in profit after backing Barcelona on 'Any Unquoted Score' on Betfair, layed off at 3-0, and as is usually the case when you go by the book, the 4th goal went in about 5 minutes later.

Got it totally wrong on Real Madrid on Sunday, my big loss of the weekend. Went in big on 'Any Unqoted', then had cover on 'Over 2.5 goals'. Was looking good when Higuain made it 2-0 in 76th minute.

Just needed one more quick goal for my cover bet to come in, and to also hopefully be able to try and cover, some, if not all of my 'Any Unquoted' bet. Guti hit the bar and then Ronaldo missed a sitter from 5 yards out, I wasn't impressed.

Cost me about £20, but it was probably some justice for all my lucky breaks on Saturday's games. Clawed back a fiver on the Athletic Madrid V Deportivo game with 'over 2.5' goals bet, and stood to win a few more quid if Athletic had got the 4th, as had 'Any Unqouted', before laying it off for a risk free bet.

All in all, it could have been better, but it could also have been a lot worse. Very frustrating though. One thing I did get right this weekend though, was I stayed well away from Scottish football, although I did lose on Rangers on Tuesday night.

Whilst on Twitter on Saturday, I noticed that 'Boatrace' and 'Clare Balding' where in the trending topics, I couldn't help but think that this was quite ironic, given Balding's boatrace. Wonder if she might expose this years winning Grand National jockey to any personal defects that he might have? We shall have to wait and see on that front.

Premier League Darts - Week 8

Phil Taylor is now a best price of just 1/3 with Coral, Hills, Ladbrokes, Stan James and Sportingbet to win the 2010 Premier League darts title.

Taylor has dominated from the start this year and is a clear leader at the top of the table. The main problem with this bet is (not just the short price) that the winner of the league dosen't win the title.

The Top 4 play-off (finals day) format leaves Taylor vulnerable to getting beat by a one off performance, like what Mervyn King did to him in last years Semi-final.

Back to the present, and Taylor easily beat Barney 8-2 on Thursday, following up his week 7 victory over Adrian Lewis (8-4). When are Sky Sports going to stop hyping up the Taylor V Lewis fixture as some kind of explosive encounter.

Taylor thrashes Lewis every time, it is not even a proper contest. As soon as Taylor gets a couple of legs in front, Lewis drops his head and packs up. Mervyn King is the only man out there who pushes Taylor and gives him a real game at the moment.

Ronnie Baxter is continuing his good form, he looks almost certain for a Top 4 finish this season, his 8-5 win over Simon Whitlock was a massive result for him as it puts clear daylight between him and 5th place.

By the way, Andy Goldstein badly needs a haircut, or even a hairstyle for that matter, what a state he looked on Sky presenting the programme.