Sunday 11 April DAQMAN? HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE BACKING 381 LOSERS: Betdaq lays king Daqman celebrated a landmark yesterday, reaching a total of 500 lays since his column began: 381 have been successful, all exclusive to Betdaq. CONSISTENT 76% RAKES IN 1,898 POINTS PROFIT: His current sequence is on 16 out of 21 after Aintree yesterday for a 76% strike rate, which almost exactly tallies with his overall record
They boast the best point-guard in the NBA and could well finish the season as the second best in the West. Nick Shiambouros explains why the good times are rolling for the Utah Jazz. “Utah faces stiff competition from Dallas, Phoenix and Denver for the number two spot in the West. Only two games separate these four teams.” The Utah Jazz beat a determined New York Knicks team 103-98 on Thursday night with another impressive home display. The Jazz have climbed to third place in the West and have a real chance of ending the year as the second seed. A second place finish would guarantee they would not meet the Los Angeles Lakers until the Conference finals. They would also enjoy home-court advantage in the first round of the play-offs. In the second half of the season the Jazz have played as well as any other team in the West .
Its outsiders all the way for our man at this week’s two events, where Steve’s gone for the classic mixture of youth and experience…. “Gregory Bourdy has won in each of the last three seasons, and twice in this part of the world – the Mallorca Classic in ’07 and the Estoril Open de Portugal in ’08. He never quite threatened the leaderboard last week in Morocco but his 8th at the Dubai Desert Classic on his previous outing was a very solid effort and he certainly warrants support at 55.0 .” The evenings are lengthening, flowers are at last appearing, and I even heard the joyous sound of skylarks on my walk today. If all that wasn’t enough evidence that winter is at last behind us, the Race to Dubai returns to Europe for the first time in 2010. This week’s event – the 4th staging of the Open de Andalucía , is the first of six European Tour visits to Spain in 2010 and as so often the case with these Spanish events…. we’ve a new course to contend with
This Irish golfer has already written his name into betting legend by winning his home open at a starting price of 1000.0 – but can he reward this week at slightly reduced but nevertheless enticing odds of 120.0 ? “Lowry ranks well in the putting and birdie average stats. That must bode well for this week’s event in Andalucia, on a course which yielded a winning total of -24 when last seen on the European Tour 11 years ago.” It’s been almost a year since Shane Lowry pulled one of the biggest shocks in golf betting history , by landing the Irish Open at the maximum odds of 1000.0 whilst still an amateur. His performances since turning pro have revealed the lunacy of that quote, and he could still represent a bit of value at this week’s 120.0 odds. Granted he’s lacked consistency so far, but two of the Irishman’s last eight efforts would be very competitive at this level. He was third at the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament in Japan, behind imminent repeat winners Robert Karlsson and Edoardo Molinari. Better still, Lowry finished fourth in the high-class Abu Dhabi Championship , behind no lesser names than Kaymer, Poulter and McIlroy
All the early betting moves from Exeter, Kempton and Southwell Exeter 2:10 Apocal 2.24 out to 2.92 Minella For Food 7.4 in to 5.3 Calvary Twill 12.0 in to 6.8 2:40 Smoothly Does It 3.2 in to 2.48 Posh Emily 5.27 out to 7.0 3:15 Quilton 2.49 out to 3.0 3:50 Bernard 17.0 in to 9.4 5:00 Doctor Disny 7.4 in to 4.7 Kempton 2:00 Captain Chris 1.65 in to 1.35 Rollwiththepunches 3.75 out to 4.7 Devils Advocate 21.0 out to 100.0 2:30 Reland 4.0 in to 3.3 3:05 Ravethebrave 6.6 in to 3.1 3:40 Galaxy Rock 5.23 in to 3.85 Woolfall Treasure 4.03 out to 4.5 4:15 King Brex 2.24 out to 2.7 4:50 Zaarfanagar 16.0 in to 9.0 5:20 Good Company 2.48 out to 3.3 Southwell 1:50 Killard Point 7.4 in to 5.8 Phoenix Des Mottes 10.5 in to 8.4 Pacco 14.5 out to 23.0 2:20 Samurai Way 1.89 out to 2.32 Kilkenny All Star 12.5 in to 8.8 2:55 Thistlecraft 7.4 out to 9.6 3:30 Rozolenn 3.7 out to 4.3 Kaybeew 7.8 in to 6.2 4:40 Dolans Bay 5.1 out to 7.8 5:10 Southwell 9.0 in to 6.6
We all know the likes of Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan and Rory McIlroy have plenty of potential but which of the young guns present at Augusta this year is likely to come closest to wearing the Green Jacket, asks Paul Krishnamurty. “Still in his twenties, Mahan remains one of the best young Americans and 2010 could be the year when he really starts achieving as much as his potential suggests he should. Having been a regular contender without much luck for the past two seasons, Mahan landed a long overdue second PGA Tour title at the recent Phoenix Open.
Boston have been impressive of late but a trip to Texas will provide a stern test of their championship credentials. Meanwhile, the Spurs can expect an equally tough time against the Hawks
Our man swerves the favourites this week as he plumps for some big hitting, big priced selections at Doral “Alvaro Quiros made his debut here last year and took to the place like a duck to water before fading to finish 13th. He’s certainly prone to more than the odd bad hole and I was bitterly disappointed with his finish at the Dubai Desert Classic, but he deserves a bit more respect than the layers are showing and 60.0 is definitely too big.” It’s the second World Golf Championship event of the year this week, the CA Championship , staged at the TPC Blue Monster, Doral, Florida. This is the fourth staging at Doral – prior to that it was known as the American Express Championship and was a nomadic event, last staged at the Grove in Hertfordshire in 2006. There’s more than three years course form to peruse though as up to and including 2006, Doral played host to the Ford Championship. The Blue Monster hasn’t been a monster for years now and low scores are commonplace, despite recent course changes to try and toughen it up. Since Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma ravaged it back in 2005, taking out thousands of trees, although GIR (Greens In Regulations) is still an important stat, big hitters have enjoyed improved results, and I’ve focussed a lot of my attention on them this week. The sensible place to start is with defending champion, tournament favourite, and renowned tee-ball bomber, Phil Mickelson , who isn’t an awful price at around 11.0 . He’s had a slow start to 2010 but does seem to be improving with every tournament and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him contend, but I’m going to leave him for now as I feel there’s better value elsewhere
It’s a rattled crossbar and a shook post, as Hunter Mahan blasts through the field to leave our man feeling sick… “When three players trade at odds on and you’ve got two of them for a bumper pay-out, I think you’ve every right to feel aggrieved when the other one wins! I’d rattled the crossbar and shook a post but I’d not collected the big money and it took me some time to nod off last night, and if the truth be told, that sick feeling’s still not quite gone!” I’d written in Tuesday’s preview that I could end up feeling sick at the end of the week and unfortunately, that’s exactly how I feel. Hunter Mahan , who was a 75.0 pre-event chance, and was matched in-running at 490.0 , before starting the final round at around 28.0 , blasted through the field to win the WM Phoenix Open by a single shot, denying me a bumper pay-out…. My Bets I had plenty of chances going into the weekend but after Saturday’s third round my only realistic hope was Rickie Fowler, backed pre-event at 110.0 . Mark Wilson, backed at a huge 350.0 , had shared the halfway lead but after birdying the 7th he made three bogeys in five holes and was never a threat after that. Last week’s winner, Ian Poulter threatened to make a run at the leaders yesterday and I backed him at 60.0 , after he’d birdied holes three and four, but his run petered out on the back nine but there was better to come from another in-running wager… Y E Yang had started the day fully six shots back, and after shooting just one under par on the front nine, he was hardly a threat, but when he holed out from a fairway bunker to make eagle on the 10th it was a different story. I was fortunate enough to scramble aboard at 70.0 , and as he continued to progress, with birdies at the next four holes, I topped up at 38.0 and again at 11.0 . By the time he reached the 16th tee he was trading at odds on, hitting a low of 1.71 , and the only realistic danger looked to be my man, Rickie Fowler
It’s been a poor week for Steve, as he draws a blank in both events, but has he learnt anything for the future? “And to really rub salt in the wounds, I checked back on my records to see that I’d backed Poults in this event in each of the last five years!” As darkness descended late on Saturday, a missed Camilo Villegas putt from inside three feet on the fifth extra hole, meant that he and Paul Casey had to return early yesterday to finish off their protracted semi-final. And having been locked together for so long, it took very little time to separate the pair – the Columbian hooked his tee-shot into the desert and that was that
