Off Colour Predictions

The overpaid BBC 'pundit' Alan Hansen has revealed the full extent of his research, picking three teams from Group B to reach the semi-final stage.

Nice of him to explain in reference to Spain, that being favourites 'doesn't necessarily mean they will win it'.

Top punditry there for you. From a betting perspective, international football is of little interest to me. With very few meaningful games at the international level, ratings and form are far less useful than in club football, and the format of the tournament is relatively new meaning that the data for the tournament is very thin. Backing Under 2.5 goals in the knock-out phase is one trend over the years, but we have to get through the group matches first.

Apparently having a nickname of 'Bluebirds' no longer means you play in blue.  Cardiff City revealed a new badge yesterday, and a new red home kit after 104 years in blue. They've not always played in blue though, as their first home kit from 1899 to 1908 was a rather fetching "chocolate brown and gold chequered shirt". Maybe red's not so bad after all.

Their Wikipedia entry has a line I found a little strange:  "Over the next two years Cardiff welcomed many of Britain's top sides to Cardiff, including Middlesbrough, Bristol City and Crystal Palace,"

There's a strange bot in play on the baseball these days. Above is how I amassed a small fortune while waiting for the NBA last night - the £3.23 is the key, as in an earlier game (right), the same bot was laying this amount. I'd take it, wait a few seconds, and the same bet would reappear. Slow work, but in the quiet MLB markets, there's some value bets to be taken it seems. Only £3.23 you may scoff, but they add up.