Premier League: Back QPR to hit rock bottom again

"On paper at least, it's Redknapp's overpaid flops who have the toughest looking schedule, playing Arsenal and Liverpool with a game against relegation-fighting Newcastle sandwiched in between."
Recommended Bet: Back QPR to finish rock bottom @ 2.56/4

As the bottom two prepare for their long awaited Premier League departures, Christian Crowther assesses the 'Rock Bottom' market...

The race for the top flight wooden spoon is on! In the blue and white corner, we have Reading and in the, erm, blue and white corner also, it's Harry Redknapp's QPR.

If you support a team that wear Hoops in the Premier League this season, you'll no doubt be thinking twice before renewing your season tickets.

After a roundly depressing Sunday lunchtime showing on the box, which summed up two miserable campaigns perfectly, the 0-0 draw at the Madejski seemed a fitting way to end months of putting off the inevitable by sending the two teams into the Championship for the start of next season.

If it had been a boxing match, any referee worth his salt would have ended the contest at half-time.

As it stands, both sides are down with just 25 points apiece and only one goal the difference, keeping QPR just a whisker in front with three left to play.

Reading are favourites at 1.68/13 to finish rock bottom with QPR rated at 2.56/4 to return to the position they kept warm for most of the season.

This is the time to assess both clubs' respective form and run-ins then to search for clues. The form book does little to separate things as that Sunday stroll made it two draws and two defeats from their last four Premier League outings for both.

However, on paper at least, it's Redknapp's overpaid flops who have the toughest looking schedule, playing Arsenal and Liverpool with a game against relegation-fighting Newcastle sandwiched in between.

Arsenal are finishing the season strongly as they strive for a Champions League place and wounded Liverpool have clearly been galvanised by the Luis Suarez affair.

It's difficult to see QPR cultivating much success from these fixtures and a point looks about the best they could hope for as the reverse fixtures with all three opponents
produced none at all.

In comparison, Nigel Adkins' Royals have a slightly gentler looking list with trips to Fulham and West Ham split by a chance to host the outgoing champions Manchester City at the Madejski.

Although strong at home, West Ham represent one of the only five teams Reading have beaten in the league this season, while they also took a point off Fulham earlier in the campaign.

Recommended Bet: Back QPR to finish rock bottom @ 2.56/4

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Home And Away: Bottom to triumph over top in League One

Daily Tipping / Jonno Turner / 28 February 2012 / Leave a Comment

John Sheridan's January business has helped Chesterfield's survival bid

Jonno Turner is tipping a big upset in the third tier tonight, and also fancies Huddersfield to prevail at tempting odds away to Stevenage...

I went into my kids' school last week and said "chips and gravy please". "I think you're in the wrong place", the receptionist replied. "Look, I didn't name them, it was their mother".

Not to say that my other half likes food, but when her birthday arrived and she asked me for something that does 0-60 in five seconds, I bought her a set of bathroom scales.

We had our cake - and ate it - with a good start to the week yesterday which saw two winners from two. This evening, we're focussing on League One as we aim to extend that record to four from four.

Leaders Charlton travel north to Chesterfield for their rearranged fixture tonight, and Chris Powell's men will be in for a tough encounter with the hosts scrapping for their lives down at the bottom.

The Addicks have been excellent at home all season, but have started to show cracks of late on their travels, winning just two of their last five away from The Valley.

Chesterfield have been galvanised by some thrifty January signings by boss John Sheridan, and after a season which looked set for disaster a couple of months ago, now find themselves in a Wembley final and within touching distance of safety.

And the Spireites have lost just two of their last nine games going into this one, an impressive run which included a victory over third-placed Sheffield Wednesday in their last outing at the B2Net.

That win made it three consecutive successes for Sheridan's side on their own patch, and just one loss in six - form which the hosts will need to keep up if they are to stand any chance of climbing out of the relegation mire.

Clearly, the visitors are favourites, and rightly so. However, with Chesterfield playing so well at home of late, and Charlton showing signs of weakness for the first time this season, I think that the Spireites are massive odds at [4.5]. A tasty alternative to that may be the Chesterfield DRAW NO BET, which is available at [3.3].

Bet 1: Chesterfield (HOME) to win @ [4.5]

What do you get if you cross Sweden with Greece? Flat pack furniture you can't afford.

We're staying in the third tier now as Huddersfield travel to Stevenage, with new Terriers boss Simon Grayson looking to make it two wins from two.

The visitors shocked football by relieving boss Lee Clark of his duties a fortnight ago, but their new man got off to the best possible start with an impressive win against Exeter on Saturday, and Town will be hoping that Grayson can provide the boost which will see them claim automatic promotion.

But the Terriers have been patchy to say the least, with this weekend's three points their first in four games, and as such they need to build on that win to stand any chance of challenging for second as we reach the business end of the season.

Stevenage is never an easy place to travel to, and much was said about their style of play under ex-boss Graham Westley, which has been described as at worst cynical and at best effective.

But the Hertfordshire side have struggled recently, and are winless in three, going into this game on the back of consecutive defeats.

Anyone who saw their stalemate with Spurs will know what a tough side Stevenage are - and the hosts are still bang in with a shout of the play-offs, but will need their form to turn - and quick - if they're to stay in touch with Carlisle.

Unfortunately for them, I see this as a Huddersfield win - with the Grayson factor playing a massive part in the visitors upturn in form.

Bet 2: Huddersfield (AWAY) to win @ [3.1]

Jeff Stelling's beloved Hartlepool travel to Bury tonight for a clash in England's League One this evening. The match odds market is a bit of a conundrum with both sides pretty evenly matched but Paul Robinson thinks goals are assured....

Jonno Turner is counting on big wins for the teams doing the chasing at the top of the Portuguese top-flight and Dutch second division......

The Inside Man continues to use his inside knowledge to find the best bets from this weekend's over/under 2.5 goals markets....

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Top and bottom pair in Omaha

Pot Limit Omaha / Marcus Bateman / 20 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

Omaha is a very relative game, and nowhere more so than when we deal with hands like top and bottom pair.

This is one of the true devil hands in Pot Limit Omaha, and one which can get you into more trouble than perhaps any other. It's difficulty arises in both how strong it can be, but also how hugely weak it can be against certain ranges, a state of affairs that can lead to many players being completely bamboozled by the hand when they get involved. As with most poker spots, careful player observation, board texture and bet analysis is crucial to staying on top with this hand, and below I want to look at two different examples of how to play this hand.

Situation one:

You min-raise Jc10c5h6h on the button, and get re-raised pot by a tight player in the big blind. Stacks are 40bb effective. You elect to call, and the flop comes out: Jd5c8s. He leads pot into you, leaving himself about 20bb back. What should you do?

Situation two:

A loose and tricky player raises 3x under the gun, and gets two callers before you elect to call with Jc10c5h6h on the button. The big blind also calls. The flop comes out: Jd5d8s. The big blind leads out for half pot, the under the gun raiser folds, and the second of the two callers raises pot after the other folds. What should you do?

In situation one, we have a pretty easy all in. The board is pretty dry, we have a tight player whose range is basically over pairs, the odd set, and some complete air - which is a very easy range for us to get all in with our hand. Any two pair plays well against just an over pair, and even if they end up having any set other than jacks, we still have two outs to make a better full house, and some vague runner runner quad possibilities (slim obviously, but worth considering in the context of their very weak range).

In situation two however, our hand has changed dramatically. We not only have a lot more players to the flop, but we also have a much wetter flop with the flush draw out, and a lot more dangerous looking action in front of us. Two players who were passive pre-flop have just kicked off a raising war in front of us, and despite having the same hand we did in situation one, we have a pretty easy fold here.

We are invariably up against sets and huge draws at very best here, and often we will be as close to drawing dead as is possible in PLO vs our opponent's likely ranges. Against many of their ranges, we have just two outs, and sometimes none (just imagine how badly we play against two hands like middle set and a flush/straight draw here, or worse - top set and a draw, where we will need running quads to win).

Omaha is a very relative game, and nowhere more so than when we deal with hands like top and bottom pair. Good players are masters of sniffing out value with this hand when it exists, but also in having no qualms simply throwing their hand into the muck when they are obviously very far behind - a point it is crucial to master when attempting to get your hand around this action packed game.

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