NFL Playoffs (Championship Weekend)

NY Jets; +7.5 & game total under 39.5 - 3.55

New Orleans; -3.5 & game total over 52.5 - 3.60

Second last week of the NFL, and the last games before the Superbowl.

New York's D has been crazy throughout the playoffs, and the Colts O stuttered last week even though they won comfortably. Both sides defense has been good all year, and the Jets run game will let them control the clock, keeping the game close. I think Indy will win in a low scoring close game, but the 7.5 point head start is too good to ignore.

Going for New Orleans simply because it's at their home stadium, and the noise will be intense, throwing off the Vikings offense play calling and allowing the NO defense to get to Favre. Both sides have great running games, which should keep the scoreboard ticking over. The only way this game doesn't go over the points is if the Vikings choke and play terribly.

Break those tips up if you wish, I am just looking for value with the in game multis.

NFL Playoffs (Week 2)

New Orleans; -7.0

Indianapolis; -6.5

Dallas/Minnesota; Over 45.5

New York/Chargers; Under 42.0

GREAT DAY, 3 OUT OF 4, WITH ONLY THE TERRIBLE COWBOYS LETTING ME DOWN. How can 1 team score 34 and other other 3 in a Playoff game, damn Cowgirls.

2nd week of the NFL playoffs, with 4 pretty tough games, especially in regards to betting lines and totals.

New Orleans are fresh and ready to fire, and will score heavily, while their opponents the Cards, despite winning last week, will miss Boldin as a second receiving option against the better NO defense.

Indy "tanked" their last 2 games, blowing a perfect season in favour of refreshed players, and I for one think this will work, this week at least, against the worst team left IMO, Baltimore.

Dallas and Minnesota is a tough one, but I believe there will be plenty of scoring, so the over seems good to me.

In the final game, the Jets have the best D in the NFL, and that's the highest points total offered on them in ages, so I'll take it and hope their D performs.

Tough week, hopefully a profit is incoming.

Australian Open (Tennis)

Rafael Nadal / Kim Clijsters - 21.00

First bet for the Australian Open, with a winners double between 2 of the favourites, which at 21.00 has been reducing in price rapidly with injuries to other players from both draws. Nadal won last year, and if fully fit, is the best player in the world, while Clijsters is fit and firing.

Sydney International (Tennis)

Leyton Hewitt; -3.0 games - 2.00

Hewiit faces Baghdatis, who is pretty ordinary form, and while I predict Hewitt to win in straight sets, the line seems like the more secure bet, and is comparable in its return to a straight sets bet anyway. As long as Hewitt's back/hip doesn't worry him, he will win easy.

Wow, Hewitt was terrible after taking the first set, eventually losing in 3 sets.

Sony Open (US PGA Tour)

Zach Johnson - 17.00 WIN

David Toms - 31.00 E/WAY

Rory Sabbatini - 23.00 WIN

Week 2 sees the Tour still in Hawaii, for the Sony Open.
*Johnson is the defending champ, and that worked out well last week, and at 17.00 seems value.
*Toms has won here before, and although failing to win last year, was around the mark consistently.
*Sabbatini is my pick from the players last week, and has 2 runners up here, if you can afford the extra, take him each way too.

Sydney International (Tennis)

Mardy Fish; 2-0 sets, 2.75

Bet of the day for all Tennis matches, with Mardy Fish playing the on again off again Aussie Carsten Ball, who really struggles against any top player. Fish was top 20 in the world before an injury mid last year dropped him to outside the top 50.

6-4, 7-6 win to Fish.

NFL Divisional Weekend.

Indianapolis Colts; -6.5 - 1.91

The one bet that stands out early on. I didn't rate the Ravens going into this week, and I still don't, although they will score, so the overs may well be a good bet too. The Colts should take care of them next week, it's the Chargers the Colts have to worry about.

Proift/Loss Statement.

After running this blog for a few weeks, I thought I'd give my second Profit/Loss statement regarding all the bets I have placed on this site.

At the time of the last statement (15th December) the site was running at a 4.50 units loss.

After calculating the bets placed and their subsequent losses or winnings, the current statement says;

Winnings - 19.31

Losses (bets placed) - 21.50 (includes 4.50 carry over)

2.19 LOSS.

After a shaky start, I am starting to recover, and with all the bets placed, a slight loss isn't too bad at this stage.

Over the coming weeks there will be bets on Tennis (Oz Open), NFL (Playoffs), Golf (weekly US PGA) and the odd Soccer and Cricket bet.

Continued luck to all, and my "skills" will really kick in once the AFL season starts.

NFL Wild Card Weekend.

Green Bay Packers - 2.00

Philadelphia Eagles + 3.5 - 1.91

New York Jets - 2.40

New England vs Baltimore OVER 42.5 - 1.91

Seeing as it's playoff time, I thought I'd give a tip for each NFL Wild Card game.

The Packers are my "tip of the week", as I see them as having all 3 areas of strength over the Cards, Defense, Rushing and Throwing.

I'm not confident at all about the Eagles after last weeks "blowout", but I believe coach Andy Reid might have been foxing a bit, not really caring who he played this week. The Cowboys have a habit of choking in big games, as this should be close.

The Bengals/Jets game is hard to judge, both teams are clearly the worst 2 that have made the playoffs, and the Bengals have struggled since the death of Chris Henry. At home, the Bengals will be hard to beat, but the Jets have the best D in the NFL, which is always dangerous in January.

New England are almost certainties in my mind, but the odds are too short unless you want to bet big, so the overs seem a good bet. Despite losing NFL leading receiver Wes Welker last week for probably 12 months, the Patriots will still score at home, while the Ravens have been surprisingly high scorers in recent weeks, and their D has let big scores in too. 42.5 seems unders to me, so I'll take the overs.

P.S: A little warning, the playoffs are tricky at the best of times, so think long and hard about how much you can "afford to lose" before placing a bet this week.

Interesting Fact: The last 4 Superbowls have featured teams (4 in total) who have played in the Wild Card Weekend, with 3 actually winning it all.

SBS PGA Championship (Golf)

Geoff Ogilvy - 9.00

Nick Watney - 17.00

First event on the US PGA tour for 2010, with only 28 players competing due to the entry to this tournament only being available to last years winners on the tour. Without most of the big names, Ogilvy has a great chance to go back to back, having won by 6 last year. Although no USA player has won at Kapalua in 10 years, Watney was 2nd on par 5's last year overall, and with more par 5's on this course then normal, his odds seemed very good.

Dangers are Steve Stricker, Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera.

A big thank you to Geoff Ogilvy for starting 2009 so well, for all of us.