I want to start this week with a massive massive thank you to the layers at BETDAQ and whoever launched the exchange in the first place – you really saved my bacon last weekend I can tell you! Go back in time a few years and my (perhaps too large) bet on the good old USA to win the Ryder Cup would have gone up in smoke, ended, kaput, goodbye (and maybe that is what I deserved), but thanks to BETDAQ I actually made a profit! Discretion is the better part of valour sometimes and with the Yanks trading at a much shorter price than my back price of 1.9, I managed to lock in the old guaranteed profit at 1.3 and boy, am I glad I did. The records show one of the best comebacks in the history of golf and I managed to be two faced enough to cheer the Europeans home – once my lay bet had been accepted on BETDAQ that is.

I would rather not talk too much about the football results (Manchester United let me down again for the treble), ditto the horse racing (I think my bets are still running) BUT on the bright side, I did alright with the age old theory of laying short priced favourites on a competitive Saturday’s racing. Not everything went my way (does it ever?), but out of twenty lay bets only eight won and I made a tasty four points to level stakes (though being me the stakes went up and down like a yoyo). Finally, I have already mentioned Sir Ivor Racing in a previous article and they were pretty sweet on the each way chances of Fury in the Cambridgeshire (29.0 to win and 8.5 the place with BETDAQ) and Idler in the lucky last (12.5 to win and 3.8 the place with BETDAQ), so I let my guard down and had a couple of bets. I think the Haggas horse could still be running as he was never sighted with a realistic chance, but the Johnston horse easily won the final race by no less than four and a half lengths to boost my balance once again, and I must remember to send Silvestre De Sousa a Christmas card this year.

This weekend I will be spending Saturday at the football watching Crystal Palace against Burnley (well, my doctor did tell me to avoid excitement!), but the smart phone and tablet will be in attendance so I don’t miss a thing or a punt should something unusual materialise. Mes amis, the best racing this weekend has to be in Paris, concluding with the Arc de Triomphe on Sunday but with some top quality action Saturday as well. No great surprise to see plenty of British challengers, but it is never easy to win over there with the style of racing not what our horses are used to (slow starts and sprint finishes), but that won’t stop me if the price is value! If you scour the internet looking for interview you will find Newmarket trainer John Gosden waxing lyrical about the improving Shantaram, and even implying that he would probably be their St Leger horse though that plan went a bit awry! Fact is he did not make it to Doncaster and hasn’t been seen since winning at Newmarket though quote suggest it was nothing serious so no need to see the 86 day absence as a major drawback. He does have a lot to do in the Prix Chaudenay with any number of serious rivals but with a price on BETDAQ around the 6.0 mark, a point could be risked without too much damage being done?

Back home in England, I have been patiently waiting for Ghurair to return to the fray after letting me down when only fifth n the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood, though to be fair he was only beaten a length at the line. With so much money at stake in the kitty for the Tattersalls Millions at 2.50pm, even Hamdan Al Maktoum has been tempted to drop this classic prospect in class to look for the rich pickings, so maybe the stories of recession in Dubai are true after all? He does have some serious rivals which can only help the price, probably headed by the Hannon pair of Havana Gold and Tamayuz Star but I will still have a point in the hope he is as good as they think he is, and if I can get a minimum of 4.0 on my beloved BETDAQ?

Moving on to the football (I am still sulking after last week), and the obligatory short price accumulator will be on again! I have decided to add Celtic to my list and even at odds of 1.4 they ought to boost the returns at home to Hearts, and if we add Manchester City (1.32 on BETDAQ to beat Sunderland), Chelsea (1.3 on BETDSAQ to beat Norwich), and (dare I risk it) Crystal Palace to beat Burnley at BETDAQ odds of 2.4 as a silly booster and we have a four fold accumulator that could just come off!

My single bets this week are both in Division One again when Swindon look good at 2.1 on BETDAQ to win away at bottom placed Bury and get their promotion campaign back on track, while Crawley look like amazing value with the BETDAQ layers offering up plenty of 3.9 at the time of writing which is too big to be resisted even if they are away at Brentford.

Other sports are pretty quiet this week punting wise though I suppose a favourites double on the Rugby Union Internationals may pay off – even though I have got them all wrong so far? New Zealand are invariably odds on who ever they play and although the 1.6 on BETDAQ is plenty short enough against a rejuvenated South Africa team they are still impossible to bet against, while the fact that Australia are a shade of odds against before playing Argentina says more about their problems than I ever could, but at 2.1 surely they can win this because if not, heads will have to roll?

This week’s suggested bets (odds correct at the time of writing):

Football Saturday
1pt Win accumulator: Celtic (1.4 BETDAQ), Manchester City (1.32 BETDAQ), Chelsea (1.3 BETDAQ), and Crystal palace (2.4 BETDAQ), for an approximately 5.77 return if successful.
1pt Win Swindon to beat Bury at BETDAQ odds of 2.1
1pt Win Crawley to win at Brentford at BETDAQ odds of 3.9

International Rugby Union Saturday
1pt Win doubles New Zealand to beat South Africa at BETDAQ odds of 1.6 with Australia to beat Argentina at BETDAQ odds of 2.1

Horse racing Saturday
1pt Win Shantaram 11.55am Longchamp Paris
1pt Win Ghurair 2.50pm Newmarket


Did you know that as well as checking the realtime prices on BETDAQ below – you can also log into your account and place your bets directly into BETDAQ from BETDAQ TIPS.

Bet via BETDAQ mobile below