Red Devils

Some people really shouldn't have betting accounts. The Betfair Forum had this question on it today

What's the difference between "Half Time/Full Time" and "Win Both Halves" -if Team 1 wins half time and full time, then they have also won both halves, eh?

With a joining date of 22.Jan.11, he does have the excuse of being a new kid in town, but really. Sharp minds indeed.

With the abandonment of Bologna v AS Roma, I had just two strong draws this weekend, with both ending up as home wins. One weak draw winner from four, so nothing to shout about unlike Peter Nordsted and his Drawmaster system which produced two winners from two League One selections.

The best pick of the weekend was probably Lorient, who as I mentioned, I had priced at 1.57. When I backed them on Friday morning, the price was 2.06, but following my post, or perhaps it was Football Elite's selection of them, they came in to around 1.9. Still value, and they duly won 2-0. Real Sociedad also won 2-0, but I lost half my stake as Lille could only beat Lens by one goal, and Lecce cost me all of my stake as they finished 1-1 with Cesena (to a 93' goal...ouch).

In an effort to reduce the Premium Charge this week, I also had a couple of FA Cup trading dabbles - on Manchester United to beat Southampton which was a nerve-wracking time but came out OK in the end, and on Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur, which didn't.

I backed both winners in the Australian Open Singles events, and had one of my best cricket wins in the Pakistan v New Zealand ODI. Once I know that I am (almost) definitely going to pay the PC for the week, I become a little more relaxed about my betting. Certainly not reckless, (I'm not as stupid as I look, something that was a great relief to my Mother), but there's a certain devil-may-care attitude to the bets which stops at midnight on a Sunday. The PC really should be a little more of a 'rolling' charge.

As a Surrey boy, it's a little galling to see two Sussex teams into the FA Cup Fifth Round, and the Red Devils of Crawley Town now face a trip to the other Red Devils in Manchester - the biggest game in their history (Crawley Town's history that is, lest there be any doubt).

Some early NBA games today with the Los Angeles Lakers hosting the Boston Celtics in a rematch of last season's final. Both sides had awful performances on Friday, with the Lakers -13.5 favourites at home to the Sacramento Kings, not only failing to cover the spread, but losing the game SU. Regular readers of this blog will have made money on this result.