BDO World Championship Tips: Wilson could Bully no.1 seed out of the tournament

"Wilson has beat Bunting on two of the three occasions that they crossed paths in 2012."

Back Wilson +1.5 sets @ 2.01/1

Jaymes Monte picks out his best bet from Sunday's Lakeside action as the 2013 BDO World Championships roll into a second day...

Having failed to qualify for last year's BDO World Championships Stephen Bunting heads into this staging of the event as the number one seed and second favourite for the title. The Bullet won the 2012 World Masters, 2012 Zuiderduin Masters and multiple smaller events over the past 12 months to catapult himself up the rankings and into contention for Lakeside glory.

But number one seeds don't have a particularly good track record at Frimley Green and Bunting has been handed a tricky opening round draw against an in-form James Wilson.

Wilson, a Bullseye winner more than two decades ago, has only recently picked up his darts again but is already beginning to make waves in the BDO. The 40-year-old reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 World Masters by beating Alan Norris and Scott Mitchell, amongst others, and has won the Jersey Classic and England GP of Darts Grand Final this season. He has also beat Bunting on two of the three occasions that they crossed paths in 2012, including in the Lancashire Open final.

As number one seed you'd expect Bunting to be the strong favourite, but he is too short at odds of 1.364/11 given the class of his opponent, and can be taken on in both the Match Odds and Handicap markets.

Wilson +1.5 sets is a 2.01/1 chance and the 3.613/5 about him going on to win the match is simply too big.

Recommended Bets:
Back Wilson to beat Bunting @ 3.65n/a
Back Wilson +1.5 sets @ 2.01/1

There are no comments on this article.

Amazon Sports Center

Ivory Coast v Sudan: Tournament favourites to make winning start

African Cup Of Nations / James Eastham / 21 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

Ivory Coast has some outstanding attacking talent in their squad

"Of course, all tournaments throw up upsets, but there’s no point opposing Ivory Coast because there’s no evidence that Sudan are good enough to earn a win or draw. The problem, as always with short-priced favourites, is how to make them pay."

James Eastham believes Ivory Coast will avoid any slip-ups against rank outsiders Sudan on Sunday afternoon.

Ivory Coast v Sudan, KO 16:00 GMT, Eurosport, Match Odds: Ivory Coast 1.23, Sudan 19.5, The Draw 6.6.

Even the most casual observer of African football would describe this as a mismatch. A look at the markets tells you how far apart Ivory Coast and Sudan are.

Francois Zahoui's Ivory Coast are [1.28] to win Group B, and as short as [2.74] to win the tournament. Sudan are [17.0] outsiders to win the pool, and last in the outright betting at [300.0].

They may hail from the same continent but a glance through the two squads tells you these nations inhabit different footballing worlds. Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and Cheick Tiote are among the most high-profile members of Ivory Coast's party; in contrast, Sudan's 23-man group was drawn entirely from their domestic league, with all but four players coming from Al Hilal and Al Merreikh.

Of course, all tournaments throw up upsets, but there's no point opposing Ivory Coast because there's no evidence that Sudan are good enough to earn a win or draw. The problem, as always with short-priced favourites, is how to make them pay. The [1.23] on Ivory Coast winning in 90 minutes will be too skinny for most bettors, so I've scoured the markets for more appealing alternatives.

My favourite three selections are Ivory Coast to be leading at HT and FT ([1.71]), Ivory Coast with a -1.5&-2.0 start on the Asian handicap ([1.96]) and Ivory Coast to win to nil ([1.67]). Thirteen of 23 wins (57%) have been to nil in the first round of matches at Africa Cup of Nations tournaments dating back to 2004, but I'd make the chances of Ivory Coast winning while keeping a clean sheet here bigger because Sudan are weak opposition.

Backing Ivory Coast (whose chances of victory are analysed by Michael Lintorn here) on the Asian handicap is also a good call, as you'll make money as long as Ivory Coast win by two goals or more. Considering the attacking riches in their squad - Drogba, Seydou Doumbia, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho, Max Gradel and others - they are capable of running up a three- or four-goal winning scoreline.

Best Bet: Ivory Coast to win to nil @ [1.67]
Other Recommended Bet: Ivory Coast -1.5&-2.0 Asian handicap @ [1.96]

* James Eastham's tips for betting.betfair.com made a profit at both the 2010 World Cup and 2011 Copa America

James Eastham expects tournament dark horses Burkina Faso to make a winning start against Angola on Sunday....

Jonathan Wilson returns with his first African Cup of Nations diary of 2012 as he weighs up the chances of two of the tournament minnows......

Tobias Gourlay expects his pre-tournament picks, the Lions of Senegal, to start as he hopes they will go on against Zambia this weekend...

Amazon Sports Center

Sunday Poker Tournament - $400k GTD

Grand Series of Poker / Dave Allan / 27 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

The major Sunday poker tournament on Betfair on February 27th is the $400k Guaranteed Event 1 of the Grand Series of Poker commencing at 20:00 CET.

The deepstacked event kicks off the exciting Grand Series of Poker and has a buy-in of just $190+$10. Betfair players can earn up to 100,000 in sponsorship should they finish in the top three of any of the main events - more details here.

If your average buy-in is smaller then why not check out the GSOP-Mini schedule. Tonight's feature is the $40k GTD event with a buy-in of just $20.

Click here for full details of all the GSOP and GSOP-Mini Events

Sign Up at Betfair Poker and play the GSOP

The major Sunday poker tournament on Betfair on February 27th is the $400k Guaranteed Event 1 of the Grand Series of Poker commencing at 20:00 CET....

The sixth edition of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) kicks on on Sunday 27 February and will run until Sunday 13 March and whilst we are aware that each site on the Ongame Network will be running this fantastic...

There is plenty of noise going around at the moment concerning the GSOP but what exactly is this GSOP they are talking about? The GSOP is an acronym for the Grand Series of Poker, a series of games hosted on...

Betfair website

Preparing for the Betfair Live! Tournament

Poker News / Editor / 08 February 2011 / Leave a comment

I quickly learned everything I needed to know. If I should get poisoned at the tournament I need only eat a lot of salt, then head straight for the gadget kit in my spy car.

When they asked me to enter and write about a poker tournament I said "Maybe." Three seconds later, after quickly realising that this probably wasn't the best time to be playing it cool, I said "Yes." When I found out there'd be free massages I ran all the way home and started baking a basket of my best "Please Let Me Do This" muffins. The muffins were a disaster. They failed to become anything more than a muffin soup (patent pending), but it didn't matter, because everyone else was either too busy or in Argentina.

I had just one question:"What is poker?" But before they could give me an answer I had an even better question: "Just how free are these free massages?" The answer was "Very." Safe in the knowledge that I might soon be free of the crippling pain which has haunted my neck for the past three months, I found myself trapped in a Rocky style training montage, but instead of running up and down steps and punching dead cattle, I was reading the Wikipedia page for Texas Hold'em and watching Casino Royale. I quickly learned everything I needed to know. If I should get poisoned at the tournament I need only eat a lot of salt, then head straight for the gadget kit in my spy car.

I began to plot my strategies for the tournament. From what I could tell, based on all the films I watched, the winner usually showed their hand last and did so in a dramatic fashion.
I just need to make sure that it's always my turn to show my cards last. This can easily be achieved by initiating a game of musical chairs.

My only real concern is which persona and costume I'm going use. I assume most people will go for the obvious James Bond/Tuxedo combo or the Loud Mouthed Texan/Cowboy hat. I'll probably go for the Brothel Madame who doesn't take crap from anyone/wedding dress setup, just because I found the dress in a skip the other day and I can't imagine when else I'll ever get to use it.

According to the leaflet they gave me there's £37,000 of prize money and 170 players each paying £250 to enter. If nobody seems to be having fun I'm sure we can all agree to just cut our losses, call it a draw, take £217.65 each and go see a show together. Les Miserables is on around the corner.

So I'll see you at the Fox Poker Club on February 12th and 13th for Betfair Live! (I don't know if it's live like "You're live on TV, please don't swear" or live like "You've got to stop living your life like this. What would your father say if he could see you now?)

Betfair website