THE OPEN didn't quite prove to be the procession we expected for Rory McIlroy with Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler giving the Irishman a good fight.
However, watching the action I never had any doubts McIlroy would get over the line and it was nice of bookies to give us 2-5 when Garcia first reduced his lead to two shots.
In the end McIlroy was a deserved winner and there should be many more Majors there for the taking over the next few years.
I was delighted Fowler kept going to the very end to seal joint second place after I tipped him on the anteposts at 40-1. He has now finished in the top five in the first three Majors this season and is one to look out for at the US PGA Championship.
McIlroy is hot favourite for that event at 7-1 with bet365 and Betfred. Tiger Woods and Adam Scott are both 14-1 at BetVictor with Phil Mickelson 25-1 and Fowler worth backing each way at 28-1 with William Hill.
With The Open finished attention focuses on the Tour de France but of course that is Vincenzo Nibali's to lose and he is 1-16 at Betfred.
After posting two winners on the darts last night I'm having another go with three short-priced singles on the BetVictor World Matchplay in Blackpool.
Any other tips for the race as well as other sports such tennis should be put up here.
Darts tips
Anderson (10.20pm)
(2-5, Paddy Power)
Anderson most 180s
(4-6, BetVictor)
Lewis first 180 v Gilding (9.40pm)
(81-5, BetVictor)
In December 2020 we sadly 
Mr F …why is Tiger still getting the similar odds to guys like Adam Scott and Justin Rose in the majors? His game is erratic and I doubt if there’s much money going on him anymore
Bob H, it’s just because he’s Tiger. Bookies still fear him but I wrote him off at Hoylake and won’t consider him unless he shows some good form very soon.
Managed to treble my money with two of my picks, Fowler and Furyk placed.
Anyone watching Vincent van der voort, just flung the darts without aiming at the board. Should be fined for not trying like jockeys are at horses. What’s the difference??
the difference is jockeys who stop giving %100 during a race most of the time know the horse has nothing left, so stop whipping the horse when he/she knows it is unable to respond because it has gassed,the darts on the other hand dont feel pain.
Andy – didn’t see tonight’s game but in defense of VDV he does throw his 3 darts very quickly (in about 6 secs I think) so when he isn’t on it just looks like he is flinging them at the board. Could be wrong and he might have completely tanked it but guessing it looked worse than it was.
He missed a single 20 i think and just threw the last dart away in anger not the first and wont be the last to do,dont think you can call that not trying just losing his temper
Just an early tip as i dont see it last anyone with a skybet account they offer 4/5 on over 7.5 180s in the Wright v Bunting game this has all the makings of a classic two top players if they get going this will be covered with ease all other bookies have the line at over 8.5
I see that Paul Nicholson is priced at even money to beat wes Newton in 2nd round.
The way that Newton played last night it seems very generous as Nicholson was very solid in his first round match.
Wright -2.5 legs v Bunting 6/4
Nev – King v Huybrechts will hill have over 7.5 180’s at 5-6. What do u think? This should go around 16 legs and both can bang in the max’s.
On form would come in easy,but both not playing great at moment King has had a lot of injury trouble
Cilic to win Croatia open @ 3/1
Fognini (ha) robredo and seppi are the biggest threats here and wont exactly strike fear into anyone right now. Home advantage should help Cilic reclaim the title he won in 2012 and was unable to defend last year.
Ad – I was going to ask u your thoughts on Cilic for that tourney.
Simon in his and Monfils in Atlanta.
Might put a few quid on Cilic now that we both think the same on that one.
I won’t be putting any money on Monfils. While i’ll never doubt his ability to beat anyone on his day, i’ll never trust him to actually do it. And he hasn’t won a title outside of France for years. Isner usually steps up at the start of the U.S hard court swing so I’d tentatively pick him to win in Atlanta.
And probably Verdasco for me in Gastad.
Rangers @ Yankees
Yankees @ 1.53
Greene pitching well and Mikolas isn’t.
Nationals @ Rockies
Nationals @ 1.57
Rockies have lost their last 5 in a row and have quite a few injuries. Nationals have won 4 in their last 5 and Fister is in form.
Double @ 2.41
great tippin on darts lst nig dev be on again tonight
lol nev
180’s overs treble.
Adrian Lewis over 4.5 @ 8/11
Jamie Caven over 3.5 @ 10/11
Peter Wright over 3.5 @ 5/6
With the potential for up to 19 legs these players should be able to cover their overs.
£10 returns £60. Live on Sky Sports from 7.00pm.
bingo- looks good them picks,what do you think about gary Anderson over 4.5 180’s.1/1 bet365?
That also looks good Kop185 mate. I was gonna take Anderson over 4.5 but went for Caven over 3.5 instead. Reckon Anderson should cover it though.
cheers pal,im on it!
Matchplay Darts
Wright v Bunting
The tie of the first round for me sees reigning BDO world champion Bunting taking on the European champion Wright. This is a 50-50 game but if pushed I would lean towards Wright who has more experience on the big stage and will cope with the heat better. Wright has finally settled with his darts now and the word is he is banging in the maximums. Is line is set at 3.5 various at 5/6. This game could have plenty of legs so I will take the overs and O4.5 maximums at 5/4 BetVictor.
WRIGHT O3.5 MATCH 180s 5/6
WRIGHT O4.5 MATCH 180s 5/4
Good luck if your having a bet
Lewandowski starts for Bayern Munich around fringe players.
What’s everyone think of willy hills bundle today, all the favourites to win, Wright Huybrechts Anderson and lewis at 10/3 !
I think coral are doing the same at 18/5
Betvictor instabet is 4/1 fellas, about 10 mins left.
Gilding over 2.5 180s v Lewis 5/6 Coral,This guy is capable of running Lewis very close if not beating him if he turns up but i think safest bet is the 180s
Over 16.5 legs in Anderson v Caven 11/10 coral,should be a close game
Nev, do you think Caven will hit over 3.5 180’s?
Tour de France stage 16
After today’s rest day we have 3 days in the Pyrenees. Tomorrow is the easiest stage and quite an interesting one because the finish is after the decent.
I will be on below match-ups, winner in capitals:
PERAUD v Pinot
NIBALI v Valverde
Double @ 2.35 price with Unibet
Peraud and his team already tried to take some time from Pinot in the decent last week. Pinot is not very good in the decent and had some serious mental problems with it in the past. When they tried it last week you saw he had to let them go.
Nibali is maybe the best on the decent of the whole bunch. He tries to take time on his rivals every day and if he has some meters on top of the last mountain he should finish in front of Valverde.
ROGERS v Roche
COSTA v Van den Broek
Double @ 2.34 price with Unibet
Rogers is one of the favourites for me to win tomorrow, he already won two very hard stages in the Giro. Think Rogers will try to be in the break away. Roche is already with his head in Paris and loses minutes in every stage, can’t see him finish with the first tomorrow.
Costa is also very good in the decent and think he will try to go for the stage win . Van den Broeck said today his tour is over and I can’t see him doing his utmost to get a result tomorrow.
Anderson v Caven
Total 180s over 8.5 @ 6/5
Both of these guys are capable of smashing the 180s in, I expect this to be a close game too so with both talented players should see plenty of 180s. I personally thought the line was going to be 9.5 so think we’re getting even better!
Absolute joke, both throwung accurate darts but opting to go for 18s and 19s….. just makes the punters look like idiots. Wonder how much the bookies influenced their choices…..
I’m gonna post this every few days until the respective seasons start…
American Sports Pre-Season Bets
NBA Tips
Rookie of the Year – Jabari Parker of the Milwaukee Bucks (10-3)
Eastern Conference Champions – Chicago Bulls (13-5)
Western Conference Champions – Los Angeles Clippers (4-1)
NBA Finals Champions – Chicago Bulls (17-2), Los Angeles Clippers (10-1)
NFL Tips
To win AFC Championship
New England Patriots 3/1
To win Super Bowl XLIX
New England Patriots 8/1
Rangers @ Yankees
Yankees @ 1.53 *LOST*
Nationals @ Rockies
Nationals @ 1.57 *WON*
Double @ 2.41 *LOST*
Disappointed as all the Rangers runs came from Greene errors. Also Yankees head bases loaded in the 5th and couldn’t convert.
Astros @ A’s
Under 7.5 @ 1.87
Kazmir allowed no runs and only 3 hits in their win against the giants.
Oberholtzer only allowed 2 runs off 11 hits in their win against Red Sox.
Nationals @ Rockies
Nationals @ 1.61
Last nights game finished 7-2 and I expect the same tonight. Although there head been some concern of the fitness of Zimmermann, Rockies are putting out Flande, who’s only 3 mlb starts have been less than impressive.
Double @ 3.01
‘Super single’
Nationals -1.5 run line @ 1.95
She reasons as above.
Im going to have a go on Zverev to beat Montanes @ 13/10 w betfair.
Hopefully two days off is enough time for the wonderkid to have recovered both physically and emotionally from a fantastic run to the Hamburg semis. His serve and power should give him the edge over Montanes if he is playing near the level he’s reached in recent weeks, and his quality defence should help him sink his teeth into his opponents service games.
Montanes has only played twice in 2 months and been beaten on both occasions by less capable players than Zverev.
Also putting a small stakes bet on Delic to beat Cuevas @ 3/1. Cuevas’ form cannot be argued with and this is based on very little other than home advantage and the fact Delic is in pretty good form himself.
Gonna have a go at a darts treble tonight
Whitlock o5.5 180’s
Hamilton o5.5 180’s
MVG o6.5 180’s
@5.3
Tour de France stage 16 result:
PERAUD v Pinot
NIBALI v Valverde
Double @ 2.35 price with Unibet LOST
ROGERS v Roche WIN
COSTA v Van den Broek VOID
Double @ 2.34 price with Unibet
Nice tips Dazzler! Cheers got 7/2 on the Double.
Cheers Cobramint.
Astros @ A’s
Under 7.5 @ 1.87 *WON*
Nationals @ Rockies
Nationals @ 1.61 *WON*
Double @ 3.01 *WON*
‘Super single’
Nationals -1.5 run line @ 1.95 *WON*
Not so good on the darts-
Whitlock o5.5 180′s *WON*
Hamilton o5.5 180′s *WON*
MVG o6.5 180′s *LOST*
@5.3 *LOST*
Disappointed with White vs MVG. MVG wasn’t on it and White couldn’t prolong the game long enough for the overs to be given a chance, with only 17 legs played.
Marlins @ Braves
Braves @ 1.53
Eovaldi it’s winless in his last 4 starts and have up 8 runs in 5 innings in his last start.
Santana struggled the previous 2 months but is currently 3 wins from his last 4, averaging 3 runs off 6 hits, which should be enough to see the braves win.
Red Sox @ Blue Jays
Red Sox @ 1.91
Dickey is on a run of bad form losing 6 of hid last 7.
Buchholz is currently 3 wins from the last 4 since his return from injury.
Double @ 2.93 skybet
One to look out for, no markets yet and possibly only come up in play.
Padres @ Cubs
Cubs to be winning after 5 innings.
If it’s offered should be at least evens. Cubs have rookie Wada on the mound who lost his first game 5-6. Thing is he was relieved after 5 innings and was leading 5-1 at the time, so the bullpen collapsed resulting in a lose.
Tour de France stage 17
Sorry, no time for a write up.
I will be on below match-ups, winner in capitals:
NIBALI v Pinot
TEN DAM v Zubeldia
Double @ 2.48 with Unibet
Tour de France stage 17 result:
NIBALI v Pinot
TEN DAM v Zubeldia
Double @ 2.48 with Unibet WIN :)
Padres @ Cubs
Over 6.5 @ 1.73 skybet
I’m a bit disappointed that Ladbrokes have only set 1st 5 innings @ 1.87 for the cubs. Small stake on this.
Also interesting that the lines started @ 1.91 for both teams and padres have drifted slightly to 2.02 and cubs shorted to 1.83, purely down to public money going on the cubs.
Marlins @ Braves
Braves @ 1.53 *WON*
Red Sox @ Blue Jays
Red Sox @ 1.91 *LOST*
Double @ 2.93 *LOST*
Padres @ Cubs
Over 6.5 @ 1.73 *WON*
1st 5 innings @ 1.87 for the cubs *LOST*
Not the best day yesterday. 2/5 so down overall.
Padres @ Cubs
Padres @ 1.91 coral
Ross has lost 4/6 but that’s not been down to his pitching. With the Padres scoring 8 runs last night, if they can give Ross that kind of run support tonight Padres can make it 2/2 in this series.
Also Jackson has given up 16 runs in his last 3, all resulting in defeats for the cubs.
Indians @ Royals
Indians @ 1.87 coral
Kluber is on the mound for the Indians and going for a 4th consecutive win. Last time out he pitched 8.2 innings only giving up 2 runs and striking out 10.
Duffy on the other hand is trying to avoid a 4th straight lose. He hasn’t been pitching badly (only giving up 8 runs in the last 3 defeats) but the Royals are struggling to score (only 11 runs in the last 5, 7 of which scored in one game against White Sox).
Double @ 3.57 coral
Marlins @ Braves
Marlins u3.5 runs @ 1.8 only available at bet365 at the moment.
Total runs u7.5 1.83 coral