POKER BETTING LIFESTYLE
www.gx-world.com
SECCIÓN
media partner
MARCH 2011 UK £1.00
Worth Their Weight In Gold Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide
The Need For Speed
Man On A Mission
Let's Talk About Sex
Formula One Back In Business
Martin Jacobson Exclusive
Undercover At Killing Kittens 000
GX MARCH 2011
14
FIRST UP 06 EDITORIAL 08 NEWS
SPORTS BETTING 14 HORSE RACING: WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD
COVER FEATURE
Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide
22 CRICKET: THE WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Trading The Cricket World Cup
28 DARTS: JACKPOT AIMS FOR DOUBLE HIT Adrian ‘Jackpot’ Lewis Exclusive
32 FORMULA ONE: THE NEED FOR SPEED Formula One Is Back In Business
36 MEAT PIE, CUP OF TEA, HALF TIME TALK WITH TONY C
Cheltenham Festival
The Tony Cascarino Column
38 FOOTBALL: FINNIGAN’S FOOTBALL PICKS The Relegation Run In
22
28
POKER 42 SNOW ROLL IN THE ALPS Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush: EPT Snowfest Preview
44 MAN ON A MISSION Martin Jacobson Exclusive
46 LEX MARKS THE SPOT Poker: A Diverse Profession
4
2011 Cricket World Cup
Adrian Lewis Exclusive
CONTENTS
44
48 ARCHIE SHARK The Ramblings of A Hapless Gambler
50 RISE OF THE POKER AGENT Nick Ferro Interview
54 FROM A TO ZIMBLER AND BACK AGAIN Getting A Poker Coach
Man On A Mission
56 A CHIP AND A CHAIR Palm Beach Restaurant Review
58
58 WORLD POKER TOUR ZONE WPT Season IX Results And Schedule David ´Vampy´ Vamplew Q&A
62 THE UKPPL SECOND COMING The UKPPL Month In Review
STRATEGY 64 THE SUM OF ALL FEARS Bigger Buy-In Tournaments
David Vamplew Q&A
72
LIFESTYLE 68 LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX Our Man Undercover At Killing Kittens
72 GET YOUR KIT OUT Tron: Legacy, Welcome To The Future
76 SINGING FROM THE SISKIN SCRIPT Siskin Stick To Their Guns
80 GET YOUR BET ON March’s Best Bets
Tron: Legacy
82 THE FOX’S DEN The Revolution Is Here
5
Find us on
EDITORial
agazine
ok.com/gxm
www.facebo
Runners & Writers
Cyber Crime Does Pay
I
nteresting news landed on my desk last month, by which I mean my computer screen: Cybercrime is costing the UK upwards of £27 billion per year, with £1,000 being ‘stolen’ every single second. When broken down, the figures suggest the majority of this is being swallowed up by businesses and government while £3.1bn is taken from individual citizens. And in the time it’s taken you to read this opening paragraph, an uber-computer fiend who has been sitting in his den of geekery, probably wearing a beanie of some sort, has earned enough money to fund a two week stay in a luxury resort in Barbados.
Now while I don’t particularly care either whether this cyber criminal has nabbed a few bob off someone who I’ve never met and have no intention of ever meeting or not, what frustrates me is that no matter how hard I try, under no circumstances will I ever be capable of carrying out anything remotely associated with cyber crime. Anyone who has ever watched an episode of 24 will have seen how these cyber wizards are able to plug in USB devices into laptops before instantaneously breaking through Pentagon-like security and siphoning off all manner of classified material in milliseconds. My USB on the other hand, would be lucky if it was even recognised by the laptop and would never dream of thinking it would be able to lend itself to criminal activity. It’s so stupid it doesn’t even know what its own acronym stands for (it’s Universal Service Bus by the way, not that it helps much to know that). In all my days of non-attempted cyber fraud, the only scam I’ve ever managed to come up with is what I like to call the ‘old double lotto switcheroo.’ This scam, which in matter of fact is neither a scam nor a cyber scam, involves me buying two national lottery tickets with exactly the same numbers. Why would I be so stupid as to buy two tickets with the same numbers I hear you ask? Because, on the incredibly unlikely chance that my numbers actually come up on a rollover £30 million jackpot week, I’m going to be getting a bigger share of the money if someone else has also picked the winning numbers. Instead of splitting that £30m payout 50/50 with the other winner, he’s going to be heading home with a mere £10m whilst I’m getting £20m. Needless to say the ‘old double lotto sneakeroo’ hasn’t happened so far. The other scam I like to partake in, which again could easily be done under the trades description act by the National Board of Scamming, is to make sure there’s always somebody to my right when I cross the road. This way if ever I come across a speeding motorist who’s unable to stop in time, the unfortunate soul to my right will take the full force of the car leaving me to get away unscathed and able to buy my lottery tickets.* *Please note this scam only works in left lane drive countries. Scammers should also be careful when performing such a heist on certain one-way streets.
Editor Fred Palley fred@gxglobalmedia.com Art Director Isabel Ferrer Magnusson Contributors Nathan Chilcott Michael Gales Peter Sharkey Paul Zimbler Alex Hammond Lex Veldhuis Matt Finnigan Peter Webb Cyrus Dailami Tony Cascarino Tony Hargreaves Nick Pryce Christian Zetzsche Web Editor Michael Gales michaelg@gxglobalmedia.com Sports Pictures Press Association Web Developer John Davison Carlos Pérez Business Development Alex Soro alex@gxglobalmedia.com Marketing Manager Andrew Capel andrew@gxglobalmedia.com Online Marketing Albert Vellvé albert@gxglobalmedia.com Printer Printerman Distribution GOLD KEY MEDIA ISSN 2042-342X
May all your profits be large ones. Fred Palley
GX International Editions
GERMANY
6
SPAIN
USA
CHINA
ITALY
FRANCE
NEWS Pakistani Trio Banned For Spot Fixing
T
he trio of Pakistani cricketers found guilty of spot fixing on last summer’s tour of England have been handed lengthy bans for their roles in the scandal. Former captain Salman Butt has been banned for ten years with five years coming in the form of a suspended sentence, Mohammad Asif has been given a seven year ban with two of those suspended, and 18-year-old Mohammad Amir has been banned for five years. The hearing took place in Doha, Qatar and came after Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service charged the players and their agent Mazhar Majeed with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments and conspiracy to cheat. The charges relate to the Lord’s Test last August where Asif and Amir both bowled deliberate no-balls during England’s win. Butt was punished for knowing
of the agreements and for failing to report them He was found not guilty of deliberately batting out a maiden over yet was found guilty of failing to disclose the offer to do so to the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC has said it will not be appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in light of the results, but admitted they were disappointed to hear of Salman Butt’s role as a pundit on Pakistan TV’s Channel 5 for the 2011 World Cup, and are investigating whether the role breaches the terms of his suspension. Meanwhile Indian police acted swiftly to arrest nine men in connection with illegal betting syndicates on the World Cup and confiscated 28 million rupees in Mumbai and Delhi. Sports betting is currently illegal in India yet is believed to be a multi-million pound industry nevertheless.
Peter Eastgate Returns
2
008 World Series of Poker champion Peter Eastgate shocked the poker community last summer when he announced he would be taking an indefinite break from the game that made him millions. But after less than a year away from the felts, the Danish pro has announced he will be returning to the tables having found a new sense of purpose during his time away. Eastgate released a personal statement through PokerStars last month and said: “Last summer I decided that I wanted to stop playing poker and catch my breath and find out who I am and what I want to do with my life. Over the last eight months I have had a chance to reconnect with my friends and most important, my family.” The Dane then went on to add: “When there is no financial pressure it can sometimes be
8
Foxy Bingo Head Goes Awol
hard to get motivated to move forward as a person. I feel it is important to constantly grow as a person and for a while I didn’t feel I was moving in the right direction. Having had time to think about my life and future I feel I have figured out how I can combine playing poker with a healthy life outside of poker.” The 2008 world champion played at EPT Copenhagen last month before competing in the NBC Heads Up Championship. He also explained the reasons behind his decision to sell his gold bracelet on eBay last summer: “I was not trying to devaluate the WSOP name. It was not sold to make any kind of statement. It was sold to raise money for UNICEF and I am very proud and thankful that the sale raised £100,000.” Eastgate became the then youngest ever world series of poker main event champion in 2008 when he won $9,152,416 aged just 22.
I
f there’s one good thing that’s come out of bingo in recent years, then the Foxy Bingo character is surely it. So it’s with disappointing news that reports of a theft filtered through last month concerning Foxy and, more specifically, his head. Foxy was on show at the 2011 London Affiliate Conference at Old Billingsgate, yet had his head stolen by a hardened criminal and is still yet to turn up. Given the sentimental value of the head, which appeared in the original Foxy Bingo TV advert, a £500 reward has been slapped on Foxy’s head with an ‘ask no questions hear no lies’ return policy. While the conference was a deemed a huge success with over 2,500 people turning up, this dark cloud over proceedings proved that some people really would lose their head if it wasn’t screwed on. Elsewhere in the world of Fox, London’s Fox Poker Club hit the 10,000 membership mark just four months after opening its doors to the public. Located on Shaftesbury Avenue in London’s west end, the capital’s newest club has been a major hit in the poker community with a string of regular tournaments as well as playing host to several other major poker events. Chris North, managing director of the Fox said: “To have welcomed 10,000 members in such a short space of time is fantastic, and the whole team at the Fox Poker Club in association with PKR.com sees it as a massive reward for all the toil and perseverance over the last year.”
NEWS Brits Clean Up At European Poker Awards
A
nother year and another triumph for British poker players at the 2011 European Poker Awards. Held at the Aviation Club de France over Valentine’s weekend, the 10th awards ceremony saw Jake Cody, Liv Boeree and James Bord all bag gongs for their success on the felt over the past 12 months, while England’s Nick Nzeremeta also picked up a trophy in the form of the Lifetime Achievement award. Jake Cody was the hero of the night as he first took down the Rookie of The Year ahead of David Vamplew and Toby Lewis before going on to win the biggest prize of the night, the Player of The Year award. Cody was deemed the worthy winner ahead of Sam Trickettt and Theo Jorgensen after he won the EPT Deauville last January before adding the WPT London Classic to his trophy cabinet in August.
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree won Europe’s Leading Lady award following her EPT San Remo triumph last March to top off a fine year for the Kent based astrophysicist. And it was James Bord who made it a hatrick of titles for Brits when he won the Outstanding Tournament Performance of The Year award for his sensational Word Series of Poker Europe win in September. Scotland’s David Vamplew was a touch unfortunate to have missed out after being nominated for both the Rookie of The Year and Outstanding Tournament Performance awards, yet was up against unsurprisingly stiff competition for both. Norway’s Andreas Torbergsen won the Internet Player of The Year award whilst Tony G took the Poker Personality award ahead of Jesse May. Gerard Serra Reamero won the Poker Staff Person of The Year award.
Gorr Triumphs Down Under
A
68-year-old grandfather from Melbourne proved too much for the world’s best pros when he took down the Aussie Millions Main Event in January for a cool AUD$2,000,000 at the Crown Casino Melbourne. David Gorr topped a 721-man field to secure the title and fended off the likes of Chris Moorman and Patrik Antonius on the eight-handed final table at the end of the seven day main event. The grandfather of five went into the final table low in chips yet managed to progress
to the heads-up stage where he came up against British pro Jamie Keys. Unlike his cricketing counterparts, Keys was this time unable to outwit the Aussies on their home turf and was forced to settle for second place and AUD$1,035,000 for his efforts. The final table was played within a purpose built film set inside the casino called Studio 3 with footage streamed around the world live on the internet. A raucous crowd of 500 spectators also squeezed into the studio to watch as Gorr scooped the biggest win of his poker playing career.
9
NEWS World Series of Poker Shake Up
T
he schedule of the greatest poker show on earth has been announced and changes are afoot in both America and Europe for 2011. Having been held in London for its opening four years, the World Series of Poker Europe will have a new home this year in Cannes in the south of France.
make up the 42nd World Series. The major addition to the line up is the $25,000 HeadsUp Championship with the higher buy-in heads up events of the WSOPE, the PCA and the Aussie Millions having proved hugely successful in recent months. Its addition has heralded the dropping of the $25,000 Six Max Championship.
The move will see the WSOPE become officially branded as the World Series of Poker Europe Presented by BarrièrePoker.fr and will take place at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette between October 7th – 21st. As part of the new arrangement with the WSOP, the Barrière Poker Tour – which begins in April and spans seven French locations – will serve as qualifying rounds for the main event.
Other notable changes will see the $50,000 Players Championship move from the opening event in 2010 to far later in the calendar as the 55th event. A late registration law has also been added which means players will be able to buy-in during the first four levels of play in all tournaments except the Main Event.
On the other side of the Atlantic meanwhile, the 2011 World Series of Poker schedule has been released with 58 events set to
The series will kick off on May 31st and will run until just nine players remain in the Main Event on July 19th. For a full schedule visit www.wsop.com
Walker Strolls To Record UKIPT Win
G
areth Walker bested a UK record field of 1,058 players to be crowned champion at the Nottingham leg of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour last month. Held at Nottingham’s Dust Till Dawn, Walker fended off the huge field during the four-day event to take home a handsome £109,000 pay-day. Walker went into the eight handed final table in decent shape before three players busted relatively quickly. David Heaton’s A-J walked into the K-K of Chris Dowling and Romano
Pizzo won his race with Ah-Qh against Thomas Rolfe’s pocket sixes. Then a huge pot saw Dowling himself eliminated when both players got it all-in with A-Q; Angell with one heart and one diamond, Dowling with one club, one spade. With both expecting a split pot the suits turned killer as four rolling hearts handed the pot to Angell and a £19k cheque to Dowling. UKIPT regular and Day 3 chip leader Mike Hill was next to go, moving all-in with nine high at the wrong time with Pizzo holding a full house. Pizzo then saw off Bettingen with his pocket Jacks holding against the latter’s K-T. The Italian by this stage had built up a huge stack but proceeded to lose it in the early hours of the morning. He eventually shoved all-in with A-5 against Walker, but the latter, who had accumulated chips throughout the day, called with A-7. The seven kicker played as the river came down and left Brett Angell and Walker to battle it out heads-up. Walker was lucky to hold a chip advantage after seeing his K-Q beat Angell’s Aces three-handed. And Angell suffered further heartache heads-up. He got his money in as a huge favourite with J-T against Walker’s 9c-6c, but Walker flopped a flush draw and Angell was drawing dead by the turn.
10
Sumo Body Blow As Wrestlers Admit Fix
T
o some the ancient sport of sumo wrestling is a sacred pastime that originated as a way of entertaining the Shinto gods and is held in the highest regard as Japan’s national sport. To others it’s just a bunch of fat blokes trying to push each other over whilst wearing silly underwear. Unfortunately for those in the former category, it seems many more will now join the later following a hugely damaging match fixing scandal which has rocked the sport to its very bones. Up to 13 wrestlers have been implicated in a scandal where wrestlers agreed to throw matches in exchange for cash. The discoveries became known after police investigating last summer’s illegal betting scandal confiscated several mobile phones belonging to wrestlers. The Japan Sumo Association (JSA) has acted by cancelling next month’s sumo tournament in Osaka – the first time they have done so since 1947, when the stadium was under reconstruction following damage from World War II. The cancellation is expected to cost the JSA over 1.3 billion yen (around $15 million) in ticket sales and lost revenue. JSA chairman Hanaregoma declared the tournament could not take place with allegations hanging over the wrestlers and that all would be done to bring those involved to justice: “We cannot and should not hold the tournament under these circumstances. Until we can completely root out corruption in the sport we cannot appear in the sumo ring. We will do everything we can to establish the facts as quickly as possible.”
NEWS The End of The Silvio Fox?
C
ould this girl be the downfall of Italy’s most powerful sex symbol? Karim El-Mahrough, more commonly known as Ruby Heartbreaker, is the girl at the centre of Silvio Berlusconi’s latest sex scandal with the AC Milan owner facing ever more pressure to start behaving like the Prime Minister he’s supposed to be. Yet with news the Italian stallion has been indicted on charges of paying for sex with a minor and abuse of his office, bookies have opened a market on when the Silvio Fox will leave office. William Hill have him priced at 4/1 to leave his post as Italian Presidente del Consiglio by the end of March with AprilJune available at 9/1. The international playboy however, is priced at an overwhelming odds-on 4/11 to stay in power until the end of 2011 and beyond. Midnight on December 31st 2011 will be the cut-off time, meaning that anyone backing the Italian to ride out the year will have ample reason to crack open the champagne corks when the new year comes in if he does so. Bunga Bunga anyone?
11
NEWS Temptation Triumphs Over Passion
A
s Super Bowl fever gripped much of the US last month and Christina Aguilera forgot the words to her beloved national anthem, those in the know kept their eyes glued to a different but equally important American Football game, the Lingerie Bowl. This year’s final, the eighth of its kind, saw the Los Angeles Temptation beat the Philadelphia Passion 26-25 in an enthralling game in Las Vegas. The notorious match in which the all-female teams play in only shoulder pads, helmets, footwear and underwear, drew in a packed crowd at the Thomas & Mack Centre and certainly lived up to its billing as the hottest game on the planet. While the GX snapper was struck down with flu this time out, we’ve dug up some pictures of Temptations’ 2009 final against Seattle Mist just in case you’d forgotten how the action panned out.
12
NEWS
13
Cover feature
Cheltenham Festival Preview
Whether it’s the early morning starts in the depths of winter, the constant travelling from renewal to renewal or the endless mucking out of the stables, in the world of jumps racing all roads lead to Cheltenham. But which beasts will be worth their weight in Gold at this year’s festival, asks Cyrus Dailami?
T
he annual Cheltenham Festival is without doubt the pinnacle of jumps racing. From the minute that newborn foul is delivered into the world, dreams of its name cemented into the history books of Prestbury Park may commence. Well over 200,000 people are expected to pass through the turnstiles this year, with a jaw dropping £500,000,000 wagered over the four day extravaganza. All four of last year’s big race winners are battling to regain their titles in the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, World Hurdle and Gold Cup. The four horses concerned: Binocular, Master Minded, Big Bucks and Imperial Commander, have excellent chances. But like every year of jumps racing there are new kids on the block, future champions in the making and determined trainers in the mood for big success. The highlight of the March meeting is without doubt the Friday Tote Sport Cheltenham Gold Cup. This year’s renewal must be one of the
most wide-open, competitive Gold Cups of the last decade. The Denman vs. Kauto Star bandwagon has been blown out of the water with an impressive list of 3 mile performances this year. It is fitting to start with the brave performance of this year’s Hennessy winner. Diamond Harry was produced perfectly by shrewd trainer, Nick Williams, to win the Newbury showpiece in the opening months of the season. Although the bay gelding was carrying a mere 10 stone, he travelled powerfully throughout the race to win well. The drying ground appeared to be too fast in last year’s RSA, and connections of this horse will be doing the rain-dance to ensure the Friday conditions fall in his favour. Daryl Jacob’s mount rates as a big player, and its record after an absence of longer than 50 days ofF the track reads 1/1/1/1. He goes there with a solid chance and can only improve for the experience in his hardest race to date. For the regular Cheltenham faithful the Neil Mullholland-trained Midnight Chase
has become somewhat of a punters’ favourite. The fearless 9-year-old adores the course and put up some brave weight carrying performances to win 3/3 races at headquarters this semester. Although the horse is having a three month break between his last run and the Gold Cup, he has never been out of the frame at the Gloucestershire racecourse. The great Kauto Star will forever be remembered for the stylish successes in four King Georges and two Gold Cups. He will also be remembered for his fall in the 2010 showpiece and his lacklustre performance in the 2010 King George. With the 11-year-old far from his best and many promising youngsters coming through the ranks, it would take a phenomenal training performance from Paul Nicholls to lift the crown again. The champion trainer’s other mounts Denman and Pride of Dulcote seem to have better chances on paper. Denman put up a bold performance in this year’s Hennessy,
15
Cover feature
carrying top weight and far from disgracing himself in 3rd. The horse has been kept off the track since that valiant display and reports from Ditcheat seem to be positive in the build up to March. Pride of Dulcote was tipped up at big prices by Tom Segal a.k.a. Pricewise, so one must respect his chances. But missing his prep run would have to be a concern. The horse has limited experience over fences, and the merciless 3 mile 2 furlong test separates the wheat from the chaff immediately.
The Irish contenders Pandorama and Kempes appear to have solid claims after winning the Lexus and Irish Hennessy respectively. The worry with the former would be the fragile nature of the horse. Having been withdrawn at the start of a race due to bleeding and being ruled out of a race due to illness, Noel Meade is left with heavy questions to answer. Kempes won the Irish Hennessy well, however, his love for very soft ground and no course form at Prestbury Park is a worry.
Paddy Brennan savours the moment after riding Imperial Commander to Gold Cup victory in 2010
Long Run has serious superstar potential. This horse is a machine. Stealing the King George crown and spoiling Kauto Star’s party confirmed his presence on the big stage. The main problem with this horse was his jumping fluency. This seems to have been corrected by the recent work ‘eventing guru’ Yogi Breisner has put in at Seven Barrows. Despite many opinions that this horse was unable to act at Cheltenham (having lost there twice), he still put up very gallant performances for a 5-year-old. Coming 3rd carrying 11 stone 10 lbs in a rough race like the Paddy Power and 3rd in an RSA on his third run on English soil is nothing to be ashamed of. This horse will be left unscratched on many punters’ race-cards. Write it off at your peril. The horse that could confirm his dominance of the 3 mile chasing division is reigning Gold Cup champion, Imperial Commander. The star spangled black colours worn by Paddy Brennan and trained by the underrated Nigel Twiston-Davis lowered the colours of the well-fancied Paul Nicholls pair last year. The son of Flemensfirth has won at the festival twice before, and quite frankly loves the undulating pastures of Cheltenham. Its record fresh is unrivalled, winning a staggering seven times when turning up at the racecourse after a break of 50 days or more. Although the price is available at a slightly skinny 7/2, he has justified his place at the top of the market and will be a tough nut to crack.
16
Cover feature Gold Cup Forecast 1. Imperial Commander 7/2 2. Long Run 7/1 3. Midnight Chase 22/1
The Best Of The Rest Three other races from the festival that are worth throwing a few crisp twenties at are The Albert Bartlett, The Neptune’s Investment Management Hurdle and The RSA Chase.
ALL RISE FOR THE jugde The Albert Bartlett is a 3 mile race for Novice Hurdlers, and there could be a future Gold Cup star lurking in the pack this year. Emma Lavelle’s Court In Motion is one of the most impressive novices of the 2010/11 semester. When reportedly running flat in the Challow Hurdle at Newbury, he still ran a solid race to be beaten home by only one rival. Reports from jockey Sam Thomas and trainer suggested he was undercooked for that fog-filled appearance to the Berkshire track. The next racecourse appearance was truly scintillating. The Mr. Mustoe-owned gelding destroyed his eight rivals on the bridle. The outing to Warwick can only be described as a racecourse gallop. This horse remains the best value bet of the festival. 6-1 is a truly brilliant price and it would not be surprising to see Lavelle’s stable star sent off at a very skinny price on the day.
worth a few bob The Neptune Hurdle is one of the big races at the four-day event, run at a frantic pace over 2 miles 4 furlongs. Many entries in this year’s longer race have been plotted in an attempt to avoid the seemingly bombproof Cue Card in the 2 mile novice event. This has made the 2011 renewal very competitive, with plenty of dark horses lurking in the remaining entries. It seems the Irish have an incredibly strong hand in the novice hurdle division. First Lieutenant, So Young and Oscars Well all have exceedingly strong claims from over the Irish Sea. However, Lambourn based trainer Nicky Henderson may just have the key to this event. Bob’s Worth has the most likeable attitude of any horse this year. The horse’s innate ability to out-battle his rivals when upsides, eyeballing them and kicking on, is second to none. Winning twice at Cheltenham this term shows his aptitude to act at the track and trip, winning against solid yardsticks on both outings. You could do far worse than this 11/2 shot with the never say die attitude and it would be a great surprise should the horse not at least make the frame.
by this year’s RSA favourite, a horse that he rates far inferior to his RSA entry. One must excuse Jessies Dream’s last run. The horse was stuck in the mud in a muddling threerunner affair and will be seen to much better effect on sound ground come March. The form with Magnanimity and Realt Dubh appears easy on the eye, both have won graded races subsequently to their meetings with the David Johnson owned horse. The Grand National winning owner will be hoping his new acquisition will be worth the Euros he paid to prise the horse away from its previous owner.
The last fence The Cheltenham Festival never fails to live up to its reputation. Rarely is there a more passion-fuelled, anticipated and celebrated event in the sporting calendar. Many divisions this year look stronger than ever. The Irish are bullish about their big team. A team that will make the two hour ferry journey over the Irish Sea. Dreams will be fulfilled and hopes will be shattered. Money will be won and pride will be squandered. May the best horses prosper. May the best jockeys win. Cheltenham.
jessie in dreamland
Festival Selections
A race which appears on paper as the best betting race of the festival, is The RSA Chase. The favourite, Time For Rupert, has been put into the market at a ridiculous price of 5/2, so it is only natural to look for an opposition. This selection is Gordon Elliot’s Jessies Dream. At 8-1 this horse represents brilliant each way value. Gordon trained a horse beaten into second
Gold Cup Imperial Commander / Long Run / Midnight Chase Albert Bartlett Court In Motion (Best bet of the week) Neptune Management Investment Hurdle Bob’s Worth RSA Chase Jessies Dream
17
SPORTs BETTING
18
SPORTs BETTING
In Play Horseplay At The Cheltenham Festival
Trading Places
Over half a billion pounds is set to be placed over the four days of racing heaven this month, which means there’s plenty of money for the savvy trader to make, writes betting expert and Bet Angel MD Peter Webb
F
or many punters the Cheltenham Festival can be one of the most difficult places to make money due to the competitiveness of the racing. However, there are countless opportunities to trade in and out of races, both pre-race and in-play, which means profits can be made regardless of the result. Doing your homework on the runners and riders ahead of the festival should put betters in good stead for when the greatest show in horse racing gets underway.
Day One Tuesday 15th March 2011 1.30pm 2.05pm 2.40pm 3.20pm 4.00pm 4.40pm 5.15pm
Stan James Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Irish Independent Arkle Chase Festival Handicap Chase Stan James Champion Hurdle Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle Centenary Novices’ Handicap Chase
2m ½f 2m 3m ½f 2m ½f 3m 7f 2m 4f 2m 4½f
Day One Highlight Stan James Champion Hurdle The Stats
(Last 10 renewals with most recent results on right and in bold)
Winner’s Age 8, 7, 9, 7, 8, 8, 7, 5, 6, 6 Winner’s SP 8/15f, 10/1, 9/2, 33/1, 7/2 jf, 7/4f, 16/1, 10/1, 22/1, 9/1 Fate of Favourite 1st, PU, 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 6th, 14th, 3rd, 10th Winning Distance 4, 3, 11, 5, nk, 1, 3, 1, nk, 3 ½ Previous run 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st
Hurricane Fly, Peddlers Cross, Mille Chief and Oscar Whisky all hold sound claims and it promises to be a hugely exciting race. However, what can we do to ensure we make a profit? Well, the key to winning the hurdling crown is finding a horse with the rare mixture of speed to hold his position early on, and the stamina to last up the hill. It’s very rare that winners come from far back, so you want a horse that likes to race up with the speed. Harchibald is the most high profile Champion Hurdle ‘bridle’ horse in recent years when he travelled like the winner but couldn’t get past the gutsy Hardy Eustace in 2005. There’s an argument that Hurricane Fly could be this year’s Harchibald and Peddlers Cross the 2011 Hardy Eustace. Willie Mullins’ runner has yet to run at Cheltenham, never mind the Festival, which is a big negative as 15 of the last 19 winners had finished first or second at the Festival previously. He is also sired by Montjeu, who hasn’t sired a festival winner in 31 attempts, while he has been winning slowly-run, small-field races in Ireland, rather than the hustle and bustle of a big Cheltenham field going at full pelt. Peddlers Cross is still unbeaten and has enormous potential. He won last year’s Neptune Investment Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival, which was won by Istabraq and Hardy Eustace before going on to taste Champion Hurdle success. He’s the kind of horse that will probably come off the bridle coming down the hill, but will stay, so is an ideal in-running trade. Both Binocular and Menorah are solid and travel well, so they aren’t necessarily good in-running trades.
Key Trends
23 of the last 27 winners won last time out. 16 of the last 22 winners had winning form at Cheltenham. 15 of the last 19 winners had finished 1st or 2nd at the Festival before.
, Analysis All the talk in the run-up to last year’s festival was the Gold Cup, but this time around it’s all about the Champion Hurdle. Binocular, Menorah,
Advice Hurricane Fly – back-to-lay Travels beautifully and could come there cruising, but has shown a tendency to jump to his right and he may struggle to quicken on Cheltenham’s notorious undulations. Peddlers Cross – back-in-running The apple of Donald McCain’s eye remains unbeaten and is tremendously gutsy. Isn’t short of speed and will be staying on when the others have cried enough.
Peter Webb is MD of Bet Angel, providers of software for advanced use of betting exchanges. He also runs seminars on advanced techniques for sports exchange users. For more information and to download free software visit www.betangel.com
19