Sportsbet Blog

With his long time nemesis, Tiger Woods, sitting on the sidelines, punters have launched a huge betting plunge on Phil Mickelson for the US Open backing the five times runner up into joint favourite at $13.

Sportingbet Australia CEO Michael Sullivan said Mickelson had been backed from $16 to $13 and would take out over $1m if he won his first US Open after being the bridesmaid so often in the past.

“The plunge started with a bet of $10,000 at $16 on Tuesday and then we took a bet of $40,000 each way at $15 on Wednesday and the money has just kept coming,” Sullivan said.
“Having finished runner up five times, you would think his chances of winning the US Open would be just about gone and this looks like his best chance of finally adding one to the trophy cabinet.
“With Tiger on the sidelines, Mickelson will be the big draw card this year and punters have no doubt he is the man to beat.”
Mickelson is joint favourite with Lee Westwood at $13 but Sullivan said away from Mickelson, punters were looking for a little value.
“We have taken bets to win $50,000 on Rory McIlroy at $21, Steve Stricker at $26 and Martin Kaymer at $29,” he said.
“There has also been good money for K.J. Choi and Hunter Mahan.”
Sullivan said the best backed of the Australians had been rising star Jason Day and the experienced Robert Allenby.
“Day is the shortest of the Aussies at $41 along with Adam Scott and he has been well supported while Robert Allenby has been backed from $126 to $101 with one bet to win $37,500,” he said.

Use the Sportingbet Promotional code BETFREE when joining to claim $150 in bonus bets. See the Sportingbet site here for more info on this offer.

US Open – Outright Winner
Sportingbet Australia odds
Phil Mickelson 13.00
Lee Westwood 13.00
Luke Donald 14.00
Rory McIlroy 19.00
Hunter Mahan 23.00
Steve Stricker 23.00
Dustin Johnson 26.00
Martin Kaymer 26.00
Matt Kuchar 29.00
Nick Watney 29.00
K.J. Choi 31.00
Jason Day 41.00
Adam Scott 41.00
Bubba Watson 41.00

Australia’s three highest ranked golfers, Geoff Ogilvy, Adam Scott and Robert Allenby are all the rage to win the 2010 Australian PGA beginning at Coolum tomorrow according to online bookmaker sportsbet.

In similar circumstance to last week’s Australian Open, Scott has been the best backed, in from $9.00 to $8.00, ahead of Ogilvy, while Allenby’s record of four Championship wins has him right on the money.

“It’s a tournament where the form player is hard to beat so Ogilvy deserves to be favourite, but those who dipped out on Scott last week have buttered up here” said sportsbet.com.au’s Matthew Campbell.

Allenby is the defending Champion while Ogilvy won the previous year so the money suggests that Scott may complete the trfiecta. The interest in the big three means that the rest of the talented field are at juicy odds especially since each way is paid for the first five.

“Everyone is expecting a big name to win, but this could be the time that Marc Leishman, Michael Sim, Matt Jones or even young Jordan Sherratt step up for a win. ” said Campbell

Scott and Ogilvy will again be paired together for the opening two rounds teeing off early tomorrow morning.

Market courtesy of sportsbet.com.au
AUSTRALIAN PGA CHAMPIONSHIP (Each way Top 5)
$7.00 Geoff Ogilvy
$8.00 Adam Scott
$8.50 Robert Allenby
$13 John Senden
$23 Michael Sim
$23 Matt Jones
$26 Richard Green
$34 Marc Leishman
$34 Jarrod Lyle
$34 Nick O’Hern
$34 Rod Pampling
$34 Jordan Sherratt

Australian bookmaker Sportsbet has refunded all bets on Dustin Johnson to win the 2010 US PGA Championship after he received an unlucky 2-stroke penalty on the final hole which cost him a place in the playoff.
“Johnson was very stiff and we think it’s only fair we refund punters who otherwise would also have been stiffed out of their cash,” said Sportsbet’s Haydn Lane.
In recent times Sportsbet has refunded bets on the Socceroos in the World Cup after dubious red card decisions cruelled their campaign, on the Isner/Mahut 70-68 fifth set Wimbledon marathon, and Michael Barlow for the Brownlow Medal after breaking his leg late in the season, while paying out early on Richmond to win the AFL Wooden Spoon after only four rounds and on Tiger Woods in the 2009 Australian Masters.

Disgraced golfer Tiger Woods finds himself in a peculiar spot this weekend going in to the Players Championship. After a dismal display at Quail Hollow where he uncharacteristically missed the cut the bookies have given him his longest tournament odds in almost 3 years with Sportsbet willing to pay $8.00 if he can take out the title. This amazing payout comes in spite of Tigers unprecedented run of 258 weeks as the games number one ranked player and could be a great time for punters to cash in. Tiger has undoubtedly been under a lot of pressure of late with experts saying that it is showing through in his swing. But you can never ever right off the man that is quite simply the greatest golfer of all time and with Sportsbet offering you up to $200 in free bets on top of these great odds it is an opportunity that you simply can not miss.

Tigers amazing odds caused me have a little look around the sporting world to see if there was any other good outside bets going around and found a couple that could tickle you taste buds. The French Open Tennis tournament is nearly upon us and we find the usual suspects Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer pitted in as hot favourites paying $1.40 and $4.50 respectively. Novak Djokovic is third favourite at $13, but what about Aussie open finalist Andy Murray? You can find him further down the list with Sportsbet offering a whopping $51 for him to take out his first major. While I seriously don’t think that he will win a small bet on him making the final could be well worth it.

Another good looking bet is $6.50 for Australian F1 driver Mark Webber to win the Spanish GP. His Red Bull car has looked the business this year and with a little bit of luck he could very well be sitting a top of the podium. But watch out Lewis “Doughnut King” Hamilton.

Leading online bookmaker Sportsbet will refund all bets placed on the outright winner of the 2010 US Masters if Tiger Woods wins.
“It’s fair to say Tiger’s preparation hasn’t been ideal and we’re happy to take him on this week, so much so that we’re prepared to refund bets on everyone else in the field if Tiger wins,” said Sportsbet’s Haydn Lane.

“Taking a stance against Tiger is normally folly for a bookmaker, but we see this as our chance to finally get one back on him.”
Sportsbet is also offering the best price available on Tiger to win the Masters, currently at $6, with some other bookmakers posting as little as $4 on a Tiger victory.
In novelty markets, Sportsbet is offering $3 on Tiger to score 16 or more birdies at Augusta, $15 on him leading from start to finish, and $41 on him re-entering the clinic during the tournament.

In November last year, Sportsbet paid out early on Tiger Woods to win the Australian Masters after two rounds when he was three strokes ahead. Woods faltered in the third round to share the lead with two others, before he shot clear on the final day to win the tournament.

If you haven’t already got a Sportsbet account now is the best time to signup. You get the Tiger refund promo and up to $200 in free bets. See the Sportsbet site for more info on this great offer and to place your 2010 US Masters bets.

All markets and odds courtesy of Sportsbet
2010 US Masters Outright Winner
$6           Tiger Woods
$14         Phil Mickleson
$15         Ernie Els
$17         Padraig Harrington
$23         Retief Goosen
$23         Lee Westwood
$26         Steve Stricker
$31         Paul Casey
$34         Jim Furyk
$34         Camilo Villegas
$34         Ian Poulter
$34         Anthony Kim
—————————
Australians
$41         Geoff Ogilvy
$71         Robert Allenby
$81         Adam Scott
$201       John Senden
$251       Mark Leishman
$351       Nathan Green

TIGER SPECIALS
Will Tiger Woods make the cut at Augusta?
$1.15     Yes, he will make the cut
$5.25     No, he will not make the cut

Where will Tiger finish at Augusta?
$1.80     First to fifth
$4.50     Sixth to 10th
$7           11th to 20th
$3.75     21st of worse
$41         Back at the clinic during the tournament

Front-running Tiger
$15         Tiger to lead after each round and win the tournament

Tiger’s Round 1 score at Augusta
$19         64 or less
$15         65-66
$4.80     67-68
$3.50     69-70
$3.75     71-72
$4.25     73-74
$4.50     75 or more

Tiger Woods vs The Field
$6           Tiger Woods
$1.11     The Field

How many Birdies will Tiger hole at Augusta?
$17         0-6
$6.50     7-9
$3.50     10-12
$2.85     13-15
$3           16 or more

To see the full US Masters betting options and latest odds checkout the Sportsbet website.

On June the 15th the worlds best golfers will compete to take out the coverted US Open golf tournament at Bethpage State Park Golf Course in New York. The US Open is considered by many as the best golf competition on the tour, and it always attracts alot of attention from all over the world. Millions of dollars are lost every year from people betting on the outcome, so here at sportsbetblog.com.au we are going to give you some inside knowledge of the course and which of the likely contenders you can put your free bet from Sportingbet on to win 109th US Open.

Bethstate Park boasts five of the best golf courses in the world Blue, Black, Red, Green and Yellow. The 2009 US Open will be played on the Black course,the same course that caused so many problem when the tournament was last held there in 2002. On that occasion it was Tiger Woods who took home the $1,000,000 winners cheque and I am sure there will be a lot of money riding on him to do the same this year.

Tiger Woods $3.75

The Black course is renowned for its deep bunkers that surround the greens and the large oak trees that line the fairways, making accuracy rather than distance a must straight from the tee. This is where Tiger has the upper hand on probably every other golfer out there, the guy can do both. He literally has every shot in the book and also has the power to back it up. The only plus side for the rest of the field may be that Tiger has only played in five tournaments since having reconstructive knee surgery last year, failing to win any of them. The man himself also admits that he is not driving the ball anywhere near as well as he was before the surgery. Tiger is actually sitting 136th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy percentage at 57.6 percent thats (129/224) of fairways hit. It is this that could be the great mans undoing.

Phil Mickelson $10.00

With Tigers recent injury and lack of wins it is pretty hard to believe that he is such a strong favourite. This makes Mickelson at $10 an amazing bet, he has a fantastic short game and is in great form having already won two titles this year. It is because of this that I will be putting all my money on big Phil Mickelson to put one over on Tiger and finally win the US Open after four second place finishes in 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Sergio Garcia $26.00

Sergio is a golfer with a lot of talent and he has seven PGA Tour titles and eight European titles to prove it. But despite being considered one of the best on the tour Sergio has never been able to turn it on for the major championships. He has made a slow start to 2009 failing to even make the cut in a number of tournaments, but you can never right off the man they call El Nino. At $26.00 Segio is well worth a  punt to get his first US Open title under his belt.

Stuart Appleby $81.00

Stuart Appleby is the most fancied of the Australian contingent, but the truth is that Appleby has had a pretty shocking start to the season finishing in the top ten just once from 13 tournaments. I feel that Appleby doesn’t really have what it takes to win the US Open this year, but at Sportingbet.com.au you can take a quarter of the odds, thats $20.00, that he will finish in the top five. Deffinately worth a free bet.

As I mentioned in my last post, Tiger Woods’ win over the weekend at the Arnold Palmer invitational at Bay Hill has confirmed his position as hot favourite to claim his fifth title at Augusta next weekend, which would put him into outright second for titles won behind Jack Nicklaus.

But Tiger won’t be the only show in town, with a couple of other golfers looking to create their own piece of history.

Can Harrington Claim Another Major?

Padraig Harrington stormed home in the second half of 2008 to defend his British Open title before claiming the U.S PGA just three weeks later. He is now in a position where it is possible for him to hold all four golf majors at the one time, a feat that has been achieved once before by Tiger Woods, and which the press have already christened ‘The Paddy Slam’.

Harrington seems to have grown more comfortable at Augusta over the last two years with a 5th and a 7th place finish to his name. He has had a sluggish start to this season and by his own admission has probably not played as many tournaments as would be ideal before The Masters.

He is trying not to burn himself out too early in the season, preferring to focus more on defending his titles later in the year. His 20th place finish at Doral two weekends ago was a good sign that his game may be coming together at the right time, but he may find it very tough to continue his impressive streak at the majors.

The Great White Shark Back For One More Shot

The other interest story of the tournament will be the return of Greg Norman to Augusta for the first time since 2002. I’m sure Norman has mixed feelings about his relationship with the place – kind of like a girlfriend that keeps screwing you over but you still manage to find an excuse to go back for one more shot at the title.

The Shark is sure to be much more relaxed this time around and hopefully this will allow him to play like he did last year at The British Open. I think the least his fans will be hoping for is for him to make the cut…any more than that will just be icing on the cake.

So Who Are The Contenders?

Phil Mickelson

He has managed to hit some form at the right time with his win a couple of weeks ago at Doral. One of Lefty’s strengths is his short game, which allows him to claw his way out of some tricky situations and is a real asset around Augusta. He has been installed as second favourite, and is the only other player under $10 in the betting

Geoff Ogilvy

The form golfer so far this year, the unassuming Aussie has proved himself to be the world’s pre-eminent match play golfer and will be looking to further strengthen his reputation as a player who produces his best performances on the big stage.

Sergio Garcia

One of the best ball strikers in the game, the Spaniard is always going to struggle at the majors because the kid can’t putt as indicated by him being ranked outside the top 150 putters on the tour.

He can get away with it in smaller tournaments, but once the heat is on at a major, his flaws are exposed and his technique breaks down all the more. Would need to be close to perfect from tee to green to give himself a chance. He has the length off the tee, and the crisp iron play to do it but it still may not be enough.

The Young Guns

After fantastic seasons in 2008, Camillio Villegas and Anthony Kim are yet to hit their straps in ’09 but both players have the game to match it with the best come Sunday

Who”s Got The Edge In The Stats

If you’re the sort of punter that loves to use stats to help you make you’re decision, then for The Masters you can’t go wrong by looking at who the hot putters are. If you can’t roll the rock you’re going to find it very hard to win on these extremely tricky greens.

Both Mickelson & Ogilvy are ranked in the top 15 for their putting…but then again so is David ‘yep, I’m still playing golf’ Duval. So who knows

I’m going to go with Ogilvy. No Aussie has ever won the green jacket, and Ogilvy represents our best chance by far. Scott and Allenby are both poor putters and no other Aussie has really shown any signs of being in the sort of form needed.

If you are keen for a bet on Ogilvy I just noticed that Canbet have him at $23 at the moment while the other two major bookies have him at $17 – and you can also get yourself up to a $100 free bet when you sign up.

The practice rounds begin on 6th April, with the main event kicking off on the 9th.

Good Luck

Crooksy

How good is it to have Tiger Woods back? Unless you’re one of his competitors obviously – what he did to Sean O’Hair at Bay Hill yesterday has got to leave a very big impression on a relatively young golfer. Although O’Hair is the owner of two tour titles he was unable to hold his nerve yesterday, squandering a five shot lead over the rampaging man in red.

Finding Form With The Flatstick

It wasn’t completely his fault…Tiger’s Scotty Cameron putter had a lot to say as well, draining putts down the stretch that would drive a heart through the toughest of men. He sank a 26ft birdie putt at 15 to draw level with the 26 year old, before sinking a 16ft birdie putt in failing light on the 18th to claim his 66th career title.

Up until yesterday Woods had looked steady in his return from a potentially career threatening knee injury without looking close to his dominating best. But as is his style, a little drama was all it took to bring out the competitive animal in the world’s greatest golfer.

Tiger Hits His Straps At Best Possible Time

And what a time to find that sort of form, a week out from The Masters. Bay Hill is one of Tiger’s favourite playgrounds having won there on five previous occasions. He could not have asked for a better event to play at leading in to the first of the years majors.

It’s funny, I was just looking at the odds for The Masters yesterday after players had finished their third rounds and it looked like Tiger might struggle to be in contention on the final day. I noticed Woods was at about $3.50 to win at Augusta the following week, with Mickelson his closest rival just under the $10 mark. My immediate thought was that those were ridiculous odds even for Tiger. He’d not really shown enough to warrant such a price.

Hold on a second while I remove my foot…there that’s better. The bookies (as is often the case) had it about right.

Although I do think that when it comes to Tiger they are so scared of being burned they immediately offer the lowest possible price they can get away with. With his victory over the weekend they have all the justification they need to offer such a low price.

So can you even consider betting against Tiger to win this week at Augusta?

Of course you can, but as always when you bet against him, you are taking a risk. On the other hand you aren’t really getting value for your money if you do place a wager on him.

What to do, what to do…

Well one thing you can do is look for bookies that offer a market on who will win with Tiger taken out of the field. I had a quick look tonight and couldn’t see anyone offering it just yet, but once the bookies have their markets framed a little later in the week it may be worth checking out.

It’s amazing to think that in the sport of golf, traditionally considered one of the toughest to dominate week in week out, a man who has just come back from surgery is priced so low in the markets that it makes it almost impossible to bet on him. And yet he is so good that punters who have been burned in the past are scared to back against him.

This then forces bookies to offer manufactured markets based on him not being considered to encourage punters to bet, something that is usually only seen in team sports such as the English Premier League where the big 4 are often taken out to create a separate market.

What About The Aussies

Geoff Ogilvy can’t be in much better form, if I’m going to risk some money against Tiger, I might as well do it on an Aussie. Adam Scott is struggling, Allenby hasn’t won in the U.S since 2001 and no other Aussies really impress.

Apart from the betting, all eyes will be on The Shark, as he takes another stroll around one of the world’s great courses. It will be good to see him in action and all the fans will be hoping he can show at least some of the form we saw at Royal Birkdale last year.

Crooksy

By claiming victory for an Australian team for the first time in six years in last weekends World Club Challenge, the Manly Sea Eagles have fired out an early warning to rival clubs that they haven’t let any complacency creep into the camp over the off-season.

Back-To-Back, Can It Still Be Done?

No team has won back to back premierships in the last decade and it has become a much more difficult achievement than in previous eras. The days of the rugby league dynasty would appear to be over – just don’t tell the boys from across the bridge.

Compared to the high player turnover seen at some other clubs, Manly has managed to retain the core of the team that was so dominant during the second half of season ’08. The most obvious loss has been Steve Menzies, with three of his team mates following him to colder climates.

Replacements have arrived in the form of a couple of signings with great potential in Chris Bailey and Tony Williams. While neither of these is an established match winner, they have the potential to do great things this year in a team that will create plenty of opportunities to impress.

Manly fans will be quietly rejoicing at the announcement of Tim Sheens as the next Australian coach. Des Hasler was on the short list but is now able to focus his attention on doing what no other coach has done since Wayne Bennett in 1998-99. He has quickly developed a reputation as one of the more astute coaches in the game

Along with Brisbane and the Storm, Manly will be hit hard by the mid-season representative fixtures. They have managed to avoid this in the past couple of years, with their players flying under the radar. They are well and truly out in the open now with  four of the squad making their debut at international level last year. You would expect somewhere between five and seven of the Manly squad to feature during the State Of origin series this year depending on form and injuries.

Plenty Of Strengths, Very Few Weaknesses

110-12…that was the for and against for the Sea Eagles in last year’s post-season. It takes a complete team to rack up those sort of numbers. Attacking options aplenty are combined with a tireless defence. Rivals looking for weaknesses will need to do their home work because they aren’t readily apparent.

The bookies have installed Manly as pre-season favourites, with the Melbourne Storm close behind. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Melbourne drop down in the betting early on in the season, but it is very hard to see Manly getting off to a slow start and they are definitely the team to beat this season.

Current Odds To Win The Premierships – $4.25

Crooksy

There is a great night of Aussie sporting action ahead with two finals of interest as well as the Australian cricket team assuming  a commanding position heading into the fourth day of the first test in South Africa.

World Club Challenge

First up we have the Manly Sea Eagles playing the annual World Club Challenge against last year’s champions, the Leeds Rhinos. Australian teams have a terrible history in this event – at the moment they are on a run of five consecutive losses. So it is understandable to see the reactions from league people in England when people such as Manly chief executive Grant Mayor apparently speak on behalf of the NRL and call the Super League a “second-tier” competition.

While it may be true that this is the view held by the majority of league supporters on this side of the pond, it is a poor example of gamesmanship for a ranking official to state as much in a week that should be all about the sporting event that brings together the top teams from both competitions.

Bookies have installed Manly as favourites at $1.70, against the $2.10 on offer for the Rhinos. If you’re a betting man who values history this may be good enough for a punt on the Rhinos, with Australian teams traditionally struggling in this match

World Matchplay In Arizona

If you were to be asked who has the winningest record at The Accenture World Match Play Tournament, the lions share of fans whould guess defending champion Tiger Woods would have to be the man. Well he’s close, but there’s one golfer ahead of him – Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy who will be contesting his third final in this event tonight against Englishman Paul Casey.

Both players have already notched up their first win of the season and as such it would seem their good form has continued this week. Ogilvy’s game has improved every day, and his 4 and 2 win over Stewart Cink in the semis included three birdies and an eagle in the last four holes to completely shut the American out.

He has proved himself time and again to be one of the games great matchplay exponents and when asked the reason for this, he explains his success has much to do with his ability to handle the pressure moments, which occur with more regularity during a matchplay tournament

“You could go all year and not have a must-make putt. I’ve had 15 this week,” Ogilvy said. “So we play golf to put ourselves in these situations. It’s so enjoyable to hit good shots and to get those situations. You feel the pressure as much in the first-round match on the 13th hole as you do sometimes on the 13th hole on Sunday.”

Paul Casey is no slouch himself in the format, as evidenced by his victory at the 2006 HSBC World Matchplay event and his strong showing this week. And he’s comfortable playing with Ogilvy – the pair are good friends and members of the same golf club, Whisper Rock in Arizona.

In fact the two of them ventured across to Tucson together last week to check the course out for the first time. They are both finding it a little surreal to have each progressed to the final where they will play each other again – this time with just a little more at stake than a friendly wager.

The bookies have installed Ogilvy as a firm favourite, and you’d have to agree that is where the smart money would be.

Crooksy