King of Ah Mengs

for being the best losers in the Champions League!

Seriously, it could have been a better game, if not for the referee’s meddling. Had he allowed the goal, gave Lehmann a yellow card, that would have made the match much more exciting. Instead, he nearly ruined the game by with loads of awful decisions to both sides.

Credit to Arse for defending throughout the game, but BARCA IS THE CHAMPIONS!!!!

With less than 30 days (and my WC-leave planned), it’s about time to re-visit the odds from Singapore Pools:

So what are the odds that have changed?

Brazil (from $3.50 to $3.20)
Considering other betting sites showing odds of up to $3.90, as usual, these odds sucks. If you really wanna grab Brazil, do it now.

England (from $7.20 to $8.00)
With Rooney’s injury & Owen yet to complete a full match, coupled with Ericksson’s mystifying squad selection, it’s no wonder the odds went up. Bet at your own risk.

Germany (from $7.50 to $6.50)
Odds shorten due to England’s movement, and not because of the optimism of Germany’s chances. Host nations may have won it 6 out of 18 times, but the Germans have yet to defeat a top international side for 5 years.

Argentina (from $9.50 to $8.50)
Same case as Germany, though Argentina looks to have a better squad. Then again, they’re in a Group of Death, and the last time they were in one, they lost out to Sweden & England…

Italy (from $9.00 to $11.00)
Rocked by betting scandals in the Italian league, could it be a distracting factor for the Azzurri? Only reason I could provide for the lengthening of odds is due to being in the same half as Brazil, and possibly an early meeting in the Round of 16.

There’s plenty of movements from other teams, but I believe that is due to the bookmakers’ adjustments of odds, rather than movement due to huge bets from punters. (Rumours has it that $2000 worth of bets would result in a change in odds.)

.
.
.
Special bettings have opened today, for punters to bet on the Group winners, & how far your favourite team might advance in the World Cup. Click here for the latest odds.

I shall not be touching on those bets, as I find there isn’t much room for error if you place bets on the favourites. To top the group, the team would have to win 3 successive games in their group (or at least 2 wins & a draw, with a good goal difference).

It is much better to bet on a team getting 3 wins instead of being a Group Winner. Why?

Here’s an example (bear with me, it’s a little mathematical here):

Brazil to top their group: 1.15
You bet $100, you’ll get $115

Let’s say Singapore Pools offer 1.05 for a win for all 3 matches (worst odds ever), and if you do compounding bets (aka winnings from 1 match are re-invested into the next match), the total odds would be:

1.05 x 1.05 x 1.05 = 1.157625
You bet $100, you’ll get $115.76

The chances of them offering such low odds are almost zero, so if you want to bet on a sure-Group-Winner, my advice is do compounding bets instead.

Of course, I ain’t no betting guru, so if you really die-die wanna place some money on the dark-horses, here’s some tips:

Sweden @ $3.00: Their weak link is defence, but they’ll be in a group with a Rooney-less England….and England have never defeated Sweden for a long time.

England OUT @ Round of 16 ($3.50)+ Germany OUT @ Round of 16 ($3.00): If you feel that Sweden can top the group (& Germany should top theirs), England will face Germany in Round of 16. One of them WILL BE OUT….hence sit back, and wait to collect your dough.

.
.
Time to save up for World Cup….don’t be too distracted by S.League or Friendlies.