Alex69

HELLO, good evening and welcome to my blog. I trust you all enjoyed Whitlock crushing Jenkins last night. If this run of success continues I’ll be in the running for the next FORBES magazine Rich List. I can handle it. In my experience, the better connected you are, the easier life becomes.

My stigmata’s been playing up again lately. Bleeding nuisance it is. I was just preparing to peg out in croquet the other day and the next thing I knew there was blood all over the mallet. Frightful.

Still, I rose to the occasion and duly pegged out for my twelfth consecutive victory. It’s not a professional league as such, but the stakes are still high. My vanquished opponent ‘Dodgy’ Frank Smith gave me a bay horse, Gloof Akteree, for this particular victory, but the poor old nag was in dire straits – or at least it thought it was. It simply wouldn’t stop neighing Money For Nothing.

Once I’d cleaned myself up I treated Gloofy to some hay, a couple of sugar cubes, a carrot and a bucket of water. He’ll come in handy for my next game of polo as my last horse Dent’s Mamba was reminiscent of a jelly/sponge/cream/hundreds & thousands dessert laced with Jamaican rum - a trifle on the wild side.

I digress. Tomorrow’s football tip comes from the Championship. Poor old Micky Adams at Sheffield United – their fourth manager in seven months - just can’t buy a win. He’s inherited a poor side which has been stuck in a form vacuum for weeks. Portsmouth, conversely, are playing some of the best football they’ve produced since their ultimately triumphant FA Cup run in 2008 and are on a five-match winning streak.

TIP: Take the value on Portsmouth now as the Pompey Chimes will be ringing long and loud tomorrow. It won’t necessarily be pretty, but they’ll prevail over the Blades - providing the floodlights stay on long enough.

Good luck and happy punting!

Remember: Don't look a gift horse in the mouth – they suffer from horrendous halitosis.

HELLO, good morning and welcome to my latest blog. There aren’t many better things in life than being able to afford to buy the best stuff as and when you require it.

While some of us, such as myself, are gifted enough to coast along purely on our wit and wisdom, others aren’t quite so fortunate. I considered this earlier today when I was taking a brisk countryside stroll with my two pedigree beagles – Huckleberry and Baskerville. What better, then, than to provide you all with some more winning tips.

My darts blog success rate so far is 100 per cent as I tipped The Power to win last week, along with trading by laying the favourites in the other three matches. Anderson contracted before the off for an easy ante-post trade, Whitlock was up 4-1 and down 5-4 before eventually triumphing, while Barney prevailed over Lewis after a match which was only slightly more topsy than turvy.

Furthermore, as you all know I’m a pretty handy darts player myself, so I’d like to offer you some tips for tonight’s Premier League matches in Exeter. With Simon Whitlock rightly proclaiming that the league is ‘wide open’ there’s plenty of cash to be made this evening with astute punting. The hirsute Australian himself is where you should be looking to increase your betting bank. While Terry Jenkins is a hardened, experienced competitor, his ‘A’ game just isn’t quite there at present and The Wizard of Oz will be looking to capitalise on his impressive victory over James Wade in Belfast last week.

If you’re desperate for a punt on the other three matches, try laying the favourite in the Webster/Lewis and Anderson/Wade fixtures with a view to trading out in-running. In the final match of the night, between two of the all-time greats Barney and The Power, I’d consider dutching some close correct scores which is apt as I feel that a confident Dutchman can give Taylor a closer game than usual. The Power hammered The Bull last week, but Barney will prove a tougher clog to crack. The NAP selection, however, just has to be Whitlock to beat Jenkins. After all, thick, coarse, straggly beards beat thin, wispy moustaches every time.

In related news, congratulations to Wes Newton for securing a place in the Top Ten Rankings for the first time in his career, despite bearing a vague resemblance to cheeky scouse all-round entertainer Ray Quinn.

Good luck and happy punting!

Remember: In a game of stone, paper, scissors always choose ‘musket’

ENJOY your quaffing, followers!

"Oh the champagne is wonderful
Oh the champagne is wonderful
I love Dom Perignon and Bolly
Oh the champagne is wonderful!"

Congratulations to all of you who took my advice this evening. Enjoy your quaffing.

More tip top tips from Betfair's top toff tomorrow.

Remember: champagne tastes better than sour grapes.

HELLO, good evening and welcome to my blog. The expression ‘Follow the money’ is often heard on Betfair, but I prefer to tell my loyal band of followers, ‘Money follows me’ for I’ve had the knack of making filthy lucre ever since the day my parents bought me a Fisher Price Forgery Set.

I have another tremendous tip for you this evening. Chelsea versus Manchester United is the fixture in question. With Alex Ferguson rudely ruling out Chelsea from this season’s title race, the stars from Stamford Bridge will be desperate to prove that they can beat the Red Devils, even if it proves to be nothing more than an eminently repairable slow puncture in United’s title bandwagon.

To win a match, dear followers, one must score more goals than the opposition. Football is a simple game and to this end the obvious ‘Score At Any Time’ shouts are Lampard (free-scoring midfielder and penalty-taker) and Torres (world-class World Cup-winning striker desperate to open his account in his third match for his new club).

Bear in mind that Ancelotti has yet to name his starting XI so wait until it’s announced before making your decision as regards Torres, but pile into Lampard now before the price contracts any further.

Good luck & happy punting!

Remember: Having riches is nothing to be embarrassed about.

HELLO, good evening and welcome to my special half-time update blog live from Success Towers.

The lay to back shout on Stoke is working out like a dream, my loyal followers, with the Potters drifting from an ante-post 1.87 all the way to 2.4 already and the half time draw/full time Stoke shout is still on.

Just to remind you all, here's an extract from my post this morning...

While Stoke are no oil painting as a side (if anything, an early Hieronymous Bosch), there’s a certain aesthetic beauty in backing them at home as, to cut a long story short, it means more champers come ten o’clock. They may not roar into an early lead, but mark my words they will win, come Hell or High Throw. Laying to back is probably the best route for a risk-free return as their aerial bombardment will eventually see the Baggies staring into the Britannia Ground’s floodlights like amateur astronomists once too often. If you fancy some slightly riskier entertainment, back draw half-time, Stoke full-time.

Good luck & happy punting! More tip top tips from the top tomorrow.

Remember: Rome took a fair old while to build, but people still go to visit the Colosseum.

HELLO, good morning and welcome to my blog. I trust you all had an exciting weekend. After a ‘just about even’ Saturday (excellent trade on the Preston/Burnley game, moderate trade on the England rugby match and, quite frankly, a snooze-fest on the Millwall/Forest fixture) it’s time to launch ourselves headfirst back into the champagne lifestyle we all love.

Let's take a look at tonight's Premier League fixture - Stoke (pushing for a Europa League spot) v West Brom (relegation candidates).

Poor old West Brom started the season like the Road Runner on steroids, but since the turn of 2011 they’ve lost five matches*, one manager and a lorry-load of momentum. Stoke, on the other hand, have managed to claw their way up the Premier League table with the help of the belligerent, battering-ram brand of football we’ve come to expect from Tony Pulis’ teams.

While Stoke are no oil painting as a side (if anything, an early Hieronymous Bosch), there’s a certain aesthetic beauty in backing them at home as, to cut a long story short, it means more champers come ten o’clock. They may not roar into an early lead, but mark my words they will win, come Hell or High Throw. Laying to back is probably the best route for a risk-free return as their aerial bombardment will eventually see the Baggies staring into the Britannia Ground’s floodlights like amateur astronomists once too often. If you fancy some slightly riskier entertainment, back draw half-time, Stoke full-time.

(*The Baggies’ quintet of reversals this year include an embarrassing 1-0 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Championship no-hopers Reading)

Good luck and happy punting!

Please note: feel free to trade out at any point in-running, depending as ever on the size of your church halls and the liquidity of your betting bank.

Remember: You don’t look at the mantelpiece when you’re stoking the fire.

HELLO, good morning and welcome to my blog. I feel a little strange this morning having lost on my over 2.5 goals tip in the Notts County v Charlton match last night. With the score at 1-0 to Notts County and the second half only a few minutes old, the normally reliable Bradley Wright-Phillips missed a penalty for Charlton which became a microcosm of his side's finishing throughout the game as it seemed to drain the Addicks’ whole team of confidence. They had another good penalty shout turned down later, while the rest of Notts County’s attacks were thwarted, one way or another, by the Charlton defence. It was the first time Charlton failed to score in an away league match since September.

Ce la vie, followers, we live and learn.

Onto today’s action and I’ll focus first on the rugby union Six Nations. I still believe England’s championship credentials are about as convincing as an Etch-A-Sketch Birth Certificate because of their massive over-reliance on Chris Ashton. France, who have hated us ever since the Guerre de Cent Ans first kicked off in 1337, will have wised up to this so I expect a very closely-fought first half. With this in mind...

LAY England before the off with a view to trading out in-play.

Football-wise, there’s plenty going on and my tips are all based on maximising value from the unpredictability of the Championship. To this end, I have a pair of tasty tips for you all, my growing band of loyal followers.

BACK Millwall to beat Nottingham Forest at the New Den. While Forest are rock-solid at home, with an unbeaten run that Cloughie would have been proud of, they’re brittle away and with the Lions still harbouring hopes of a play-off spot I can see Millwall shading this one.

BACK Preston to beat Burnley in the Lancashire derby at Deepdale today. Phil Brown has had his knockers, especially since his ludicrous on-pitch half-time rant during his tenure at Hull City. He’s no mug when it comes to managing Championship sides, however, and his team has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, underlined by their battling draw at the City Ground on Tuesday where they struck deep into injury time to steal a point on the back of a home draw with table-toppers QPR.

Please note: feel free to trade out at any point in-running, depending as ever on the size of your church halls and the liquidity of your betting bank.

Good luck and happy punting!

Remember: Wise men don’t need advice, but fools won’t take it.

HELLO, good morning and welcome to my blog. A well-meaning pensioner who’d been queuing for a bus since his teens once told me: “All good things come to those who wait,” and I have to say that’s it’s about blinking time that my blog became one of the featured ones, so congratulations to Peter Powers-Thatbee at Betfair for promising to click on the Feature Alex69’s Blog button in return for me continuing to share my wisdom with you.

Having a featured blog was never my intention, but I’m happy to take the kudos and acclaim because, let’s face it, I’ve always been a roaring success in everything I do, including my recent three-month African safari where I wowed the natives with my lion impressions.

Not all of you will have been following my blog since it began on February 16, so when I say to you all that I can make you richer I’m sure there’ll be a few sceptics among you. I have countless stories about winning and being successful while retaining charm, charisma and chutzpah along the way, but for the time being let me draw your attention to some of my winning tips so far.

TIPS POSTED LAST NIGHT
Eight matches have been played in this season’s Premier League Darts without a single one throwing up a draw, so I’m going against the form and recommending you to lay the favourite in three of tonight’s four matches - Anderson/Webster, Whitlock/Wade and Lewis/Van Barneveld.
The obvious BACK bet, however, is to get on Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor who should have enough wattage to ease past Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins comfortably enough.

Comment – Anderson drifted before the off, therefore was an easy trade, Whitlock was a great lay to back shout as he led 4-1 at one point and Barney prevailed over Lewis for a simple, straightforward no hassle win. Furthermore, Taylor breezed past ‘The Bull’ to make it four out of four.

TIPS POSTED 21 FEBRUARY
BACK West Ham to beat Burnley in the FA Cup tonight. At just under even money, here’s a fantastic opportunity to virtually double your cash as an established Premier League outfit takes on a very average Championship side. West Ham are struggling against relegation, granted, but those bubble-blowing Hammers love a good FA Cup run and, like Portsmouth last season, can continue to progress, despite their abysmal league form. Burnley, on the other hand, have a poor away record and their two ‘star’ (ahem) signings - Charlie Austin and Marvin Bartley - are both cup-tied.

Comment – West Ham won comfortably 5-1 and could have even been traded out before the off if necessary as their odds contracted from just over evens to around the 1.8 mark.

TIPS POSTED 16 FEBRUARY
LAY Rangers to beat Sporting Lisbon at home on Thursday 17 February. While Rangers are strong at home, Sporting Lisbon, who compete in a much stronger domestic league, have an excellent away record and are as likely to give the ball away as the Coalition Government are to drastically reduce fuel charges.
BACK Under 3.5 goals in tonight’s Wigan v Bolton FA Cup match. Neither of these teams could score in a house of ill-repute and I’d be very surprised if this one turned out to be one of the all-time classic FA Cup games.

Comment – if you’d have had the testicular mass to lay Rangers in-running you’d have won handsomely as they were winning 1-0 until the last minute. Bolton, meanwhile, won 1-0 to make it another easy wheelbarrow load of cash. 

I digress. I need to prepare for a posh night out with some successful friends, so here’s a...

TIP FOR TONIGHT

BACK Over 2.5 goals in the Notts County v Charlton match
Fifteen matches at Meadow Lane have seen 35 goals scored at an average of 2.33 per match, however Charlton’s 14 away games have generated a whopping 50 goals, at an average of 3.57 per game. These two figures, of course, my learned friends, average out at 2.95 goals per match. At I write this, over 2.5 goals is backable at 2.08, which represents a fantastic opportunity to more than double your money.

Good luck & happy punting!

Remember, one man’s value is another man’s rip-off.

HELLO, good afternoon and welcome to my blog. Hope this post reaches you all well. Having successfully landed a number of football tips over the last few days, I’m turning my attention to the sport for noblemen of excessive girth – darts.

There’s a cracking night of hot, sweaty, tattooed action in prospect ahead of us this evening at Belfast. I represented the University of Geneva at darts back in the day so I know what I’m talking about. I vividly recall one fiercely-contested final against a rather hirsute gentleman from Wilderswill - Roger ‘Bullseye’ Frei – who was uncannily accurate with his finishing. He had me on the rack at 4-0 in a best of nine contest until I fought back with characteristic bravery. With the match tied at 4-4 and his large following baying for blood I simply had to win, as the prize on offer for the winner was a bespoke matching glockenspiel and cuckoo clock set, hand carved from Norwegian wood.

Frei had the darts and threw a swift and solid ton-forty to start. With the scorer scribbling away like a turbo-charged Samuel Pepys, I stepped up to the oche and fired my first two darts into the treble 20 bed, but I suffered an unfortunate bounce-out to leave the scores Frei 361, Sixtynine 381. At his next visit, Frei slammed another two darts into the treble 20 bed then nonchalantly flung one into the bullseye, scoring 170. I wouldn’t say I was feeling the heat at that time, for Denis Ovens wasn’t within easy reach, but I knew I had to up my game.

I strode confidently up to the oche and flung my fourth dart of the final leg. It landed in the treble 20 bed, but covered it so I had to go downstairs for the treble 19. This I nailed, twice, to put a bit of pressure on Frei’s next throw. With the scores at Frei 191, Sixtynine 207, my opponent scored a disappointing 60, with each dart ending up right on the wire. The crowd was roaring its support, so I switched to southpaw for show, but over-egged the first dart which fortuitously landed in double top. I scored single twenty with the second and managed a treble with the third for an accidental Shanghai to leave 87.

Frei had three darts at 131 to win it by this point, however, and I’ll give him his dues he hurled his first arrow slap bang in the middle of the treble 20 to leave 71 with two darts. He confidently hit treble seven with his next to leave bullseye, his favourite double. Judging by the noise at this point you’d have thought that the Swiss Federal Chancellor had just announced his PIN number over the tannoy.

Unbelievably, Frei missed the bullseye by the width of a caterpillar’s nose hair. Checking out on 87 was far from a formality for me, however, with my nerves jangling like Bobby George’s jewellery. Distracted by a glint of light off someone’s Swiss Army Knife I somehow contrived to pull my first dart so badly it nestled into little twelve, leaving me two darts at 75. I held it together enough to get 25 with my next, leaving bullseye to win.

I’ll leave it to you, my loyal followers, to work out what happened with my throw at the 50. Suffice to say, my matching glockenspiel and cuckoo clock set still has pride of place on my marble mantelpiece and brings back a lot of happy memories.   

I digress. Here are my tips for tonight...

Eight matches have been played in this season’s Premier League Darts without a single one throwing up a draw, so I’m going against the form and recommending you to lay the favourite in three of tonight’s four matches - Anderson/Webster, Whitlock/Wade and Lewis/Van Barneveld.

The obvious BACK bet, however, is to get on Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor who should have enough wattage to ease past Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins comfortably enough.

Please note: feel free to trade out at any point in your lay bets, depending as ever on the size of your ging-gangs and the solidity of your betting bank.

Good luck and happy punting!

Remember: Trebles for show, doubles for dough.

HELLO, good evening and welcome to my blog.   

People have often asked me why I don’t put prices on the tips I provide. The simple answer, my followers, is that you can’t put a price on love, for I blinking LOVE punting. It’s up there on the Official List Of Life’s Greatest Joys alongside fast cars, the best cocktail bars and sliced bread, freshly baked by my head baker ‘Crazy’ Joyce Illingworth.

Furthermore, as I may have mentioned once before, one man’s value is another man’s rip-off and what might seem an outrageously generous price to me might seem parsimonious to the next (ill-informed) man.

The road to being a high-roller has been a tough one, rather like trying to deny you’ve got stigmata when the palms of your hands keep bleeding.   

Despite coming from a highly-privileged background I have had to spend time on the streets, with working-class people. In fact I’m a very accomplished street footballer and regularly outplayed the scruffs I had the misfortune to face. I enjoyed my time as a street footballer immensely, but I just got sick and tired of my team-mates dribbling into cul-de-sacs.

I digress. I don’t have any immediate tips for you as my spreadsheets have had to undergo a major virus check in the wake of some jealous idiots in cyberspace trying to hack into my much-feted statistical database. Don’t worry though, followers, I represented England under-15s at Tron and I soon gave them a good virtual whipping.

Tonight’s Medium-term tip

BACK: A 147 break to be made at the 2011 Snooker World Championships

With the standard of snooker universally accepted to be at its highest ever level, a dozen of the competitors at The Crucible are more than capable of scoring maximum breaks. With 31 matches to be played over the course of two weeks from April 16, at least one player will make the perfect visit to the table and justifiably take their place in snooker’s hall of fame.

Good luck and happy punting!

Remember, betting success can only be gained by resolution and determination.