The Sports Betting thread

[Scott McFly]

My mate was tryna tip me Park to score first tonight at 20/1 but I stuck on Vidic instead. Header from a corner hopefully.

[IAceI]

My odds for Park to score in the 90 minutes are like 11/2 I think. Which are kinda short in my opinion, there's not much give in predicting winners/etc. unless you're willing to put quite a bit on, which is kind of the point of gambling I suppose.

It's why accy's are so appealing, small bets for big returns.

[Scott McFly]

I didn't mention it before, but I had Eto'o for first goalscorer too at 7/1 Just a quid though, but I've only got a fiver on altogether with Draw/Barca HT/FT and some performance points stuff with my Vidic/Eto'o bets. Still, that means I'm £3 up already.

[stokeriño]

I've put £5 on Chelsea to win the FA Cup on penalties (10/1), and also £5 on Everton to win on penalties (12/1).

This is purely so that I might have some sort of compensation in the event that I do have to sit through the hideous pain which is a penalty shoot-out again.

[TheArsenal]

Since tomorrow is the 1st August, and it's about a year since the last Betting Thread began, surely it's time for a new thread!

As there's a small community of us gamblers here on EWB, I thought it would be nice if we worked more as a team this year. So as well as celebrating our winnings, and crying when we lose, and cursing the one team that costs us the big accumulator win, I thought it would be good if we shared any good bets and odds that come up, and even shared betting websites for which sites are better for which sports (eg. betfair seems to be awful for odds on American Football)

It'd also be good to keep account of how we're doing in our betting - perhaps if you've got any goals or targets you want to reach over each month, or the season, or the year? Well this is the place for all that stuff and more, so as 09/10 rolls into action, let me say good luck every body.

[Scott McFly]

Target would be just to break even.

Quick question - I'm in the process of setting up a PayPal account (waiting for funds to transfer over from my bank account to PayPal) so I can use it with places like Steam, GOG.com etc. but I've noticed that online bookies like William Hill and PaddyPower say they accept it and you can use it to fund your account on there. I know you can use credit/debit cards, but since I don't have anything like that I was wondering if anyone's ever used PayPal for an online bookies and what their experience was?

To be honest, I like having a wander up to the actual bookies shop on a Saturday afternoon before kick off, having a chat with the people and all that jazz, so it might not even be something I'd use, but I was just wondering since I noticed it a few minutes ago.

[Baddar]

I'd imagine using PayPal on a betting site like Will's would be just as trustworthy as any other site you use.

Nothing beats picking up the money from the bookies though. It just feels better.

I'll wait until the PL starts before having a flutter.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Baddar D

[Liam]

Most places allow you to put money into your account directly from your debit card. However, some require you to prove you age (I can't remember exactly how, but it was a lot of pissing about).

And yeah, waiting till the PL starts before getting going....unless I see anything worth a cheeky acca on the first weekend of the Championship.

[Scott McFly]

Oh I wasn't worried about trusting the site or anything as I'd obviously trust William Hill, was just wondering if it was as easy as - sign up, transfer money from PayPal, start sticking bets on or if there was more to it than that. It would make sense to have some sort of age verification I guess. I can always just try it out with a tenner or so and see how it goes, but if I'm up near the bookies at any point (and I generally am anyway), then I'll just carry on there. As Baddar says, nothing beats knowing you've got some money to pick up and having it handed straight to you. Not that that happened too often for me.

But yeah, will probably wait for the PL to start too. Maybe even wait a couple of weeks in to see how things settle down.

[TheArsenal]

So what sites are you guys gonna be using this season? And are you aware of any sies that give better odds on certain sports than others?

Do you tend to shop around with your betting or stick to one site?

[Liam]

I don't really bet online. I do have a bet365 account, but I rarely use it. As I work for Corals, I have to chose between Ladbrokes and Hills for my bets. Usually go Ladbrokes, more due to their being a lot of them locally more than anything. Whilst I hate working for the company, I must say that if I wasn't working for them, I'd be betting in Corals, just much prefer the shops.

[IAceI]

I used to bet in Coral up the road before heading to the pub to watch me get it all wrong, but I do it by skybet now. Easier to use and just a few clicks, plus it allows me to look at home/away form and all that other jazz in other windows that I think is relevant.

I bet small and just stick an accy on most weeks with the hope of doing well. Sometimes I get a gut instinct on a Prem score, first scorer or something so I put something on there as well.

Might not bet on the 8th, because I dunno what to expect from the teams so might be a bit too risky.

[TheArsenal]

I mainly use betfair, although I may look elsewhere for my NFL bets this year. I used to use Ladbrokes but now I have a WillHill and Coral near me so may give them a go.

I think on the 8th there'll be some money to be made, even if it's small returns like a United win over Birmingham. Maybe a handicap worth looking at on that game.

[Liam]

8th being the day that the Championship starts, not the PL

Edited August 5, 2009 by Jushin 'Thunder' Liam

[Scott McFly]

9th being the day that the Championship starts, not the PL

Caught your edit Liam.

As I mentioned, I don't use websites at all so can't recommend any there. As far as actual betting shops, it's always William Hill. Not really due to location since there's a Ladbrokes next door to the one I use, but because Ladbrokes betting slips are annoying as fuck to fill out compared to Hills'. I used a Ladbrokes once to do some Champions League games on a whim and it took me bloody long enough to figure out how to mark what I wanted and then you had to write in the amounts yourself and numbers for draw/home win/away win. Then the slip you get back is fugly as hell since it's just a copy of your writing, which is all cramped due to the space you've had to write it in the first place. As opposed to Hills' slips, which are clear, easy to understand, mark your teams, mark your stake, bish bash bosh. No Coral or Betfred or anything else in the vicinity. In fact, there's another Ladbrokes and Hills along the street a bit (literally about 1-2 minutes walk tops), which seems pretty pointless to me, but whatever. But it's just habit to me to use the same Hills shop now and it's nice to support it since it's pretty small compared to the Ladbrokes next door.

Plus I always like having a wee chat with the guys in the Hills' and joking about being back to pick up my 8 team accy later on in the week.

[TheArsenal]

Well to kick things off, couple of singles for me tonight.

City to beat Rangers in a friendly.

Celtic to Qualify in the Champions League.

Total £4 stake. Will return max of £8.

[Baddar]

I use Betfred. One minute walk away.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Doubt I'll bet on the opening weekend, I'll see how things go for the first set of fixtures.

Had a punt on Sylvan Blake to finish top scorer at 100-1. I know it's more than likely never going to happen, but there's no harm in throwing a couple of quid on it and hoping for the best, so I'm not exactly going to lose a great deal.

Always use Ladbrokes, never anybody else. Plus it's good to use their card as well, because I know I can have a bet online and if I win anything, I can take the card straight up the bookies and get the winnings, which is about five minutes walk from here.

[TheArsenal]

Well to kick things off, couple of singles for me tonight.

City to beat Rangers in a friendly.

Celtic to Qualify in the Champions League.

Total £4 stake. Will return max of £8.

City lost.

Take half my team and still can't bloddy win. Ended up £0.14 down today. I'll make it back tomorrow.

[Pesci]

Started betting last year. At first it was a cheeky quid on 8 or 9 home games that just had to come in. Then it kind of escalated. Obviously I never won any of those, stupid tactic.

Towards the end I mastered the art of just sticking a fiver on three or four teams that pretty much always win and started to get some money back but I still ended up well down, by about £60 at least, probably more. Hopefully this season I'll be up by a fair bit. Think I'll take it slow to start and then if what I'm doing works, do two or three a week.

We had a Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred within walking distance from our halls. Started off in Ladbrokes but got bored of that when none of us won. Then we moved onto Coral, which has the best slips. Just nothing like that big bold print. We tried Betfred as well but it looked pretty ghetto. Nobody was ever in there and I could just imagine somebody pulling a cricket bat out from under the desk and telling me to fuck off when I went to collect my winnings. Plus we were going there so much by the end of the season that the woman who worked there knew us as regulars, which made me feel a bit like scum. In a new area this year and I think there's a Betfred on the main road so I'll have to get used to them I guess. My favourite would have to be Coral though.