JENSON BUTTON has been left sweating for weeks on his future at McLaren and the latest odds suggest he will not be given a new deal.
William Hill are offering 4-11 that the British ace is driving elsewhere next season. It is 2-1 that he stays at McLaren and 50-1 that he wins the 2015 drivers’ championship.
Lewis Hamilton – still basking in the glory of his recent world title success – is 4-6 to win it again next season, with Nico Rosberg 9-4 and Fernando Alonso 10-1.
On today's sporting calendar Tiger Woods makes his much-anticipated comeback from a four-month injury lay-off at the Hero World Challenge event in Florida. Tiger is 16-1 for victory but the advice is to steer clear of him as he's unlikely to to conquer a star-studded 16-man field in his first event. Instead look to the likes of Bubba Watson, the Racing Post's 8-1 tip, and 7-1 favourite Henrik Stenson.
The first event of the 2015 European Tour schedule, the Nedbank Challenge, tees off in South Africa with European Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldso the 10-1 favourite in the 30-man field. Our golf expert Ace Venturer hasn't put tips up but will be booking Brooks Koepka at 16-1.
There's more fourth-round action from the UK Championship snooker – where defending champ Neil Robertson suffered a shock exit with defeat to Graeme Dott yesterday – while in the NFL it's Chicago Bears v Dallas Cowboys.
Post your own sporting tips and thoughts here.
TNF Dallas Cowboys @ Chicago Bears – Kick off 1:25AM
The Dallas Cowboys have given up 312 yards to RB’s in the last two weeks. Shady McCoy ran for 159 yards and a score in the Eagles 33-10 win at the AT&T on Thanksgiving.
Matt Forte is the Chicago Bears 1st string RB, with Ka’Deem Carey being purely back up only having 35 attempts and 154 yards all season compared to Forte’ 201 attempts. Forte has ran 459 yards in 5 games at the Soldier Field from 101 attempts this season, averaging 91.8 rush yards per game, 20.2 attempts, 4.5 yards per carry, scoring only 3 TD’s.
Forte hasn’t only been used as a RB, he has 78 receptions for the season with 650 receiving yards. 277 of those yards have came at the Soldier Field from 30 recs, averaging 55.4 yards in 5 games (6 recs per game) 9.2 yards per reception and 1 TD.
December is here and that means Romo goes on holiday. DeAndre and many others across the world knows this, so for me deciding a winner is a bit too difficult. The Bears have one of the worst defenses this season averaging 28.1 points a game given to the opposition. Only 0.1 less than the Titans. Jay Cutler doesn’t get put into the elite list of QB‘s in the NFL, but after a big loss he does usually come good, especially when he’s an underdog. Actually think the Bears might win this (sorry DeAndre, and Jerry) Their highest overall receiver on the season Alshon Jeffery is still questionable with a hamstring injury and TE Martellus Bennet has now been listed as probable (2nd overall receiver this season) WR Brandon Marshall who has 4 TD’s in 5 games at home this season had a poor game on Thanksgiving (but so did the whole team) Having only 42 yards from 6 recs against the Lions, we can cut him some slack as the Lions are 3rd overall this season against opponent WR’s. If Jeffery sits out then Marshall might be worth a prop yard bet (60.5 @ Skybet and Ladbrokes) going against the Cowboys who have averaged 13 yards per carry to opponent WR’s this season. Dallas are 6th overall against WR’s on the season but the past 2 weeks have risen to 22nd, giving 389 receiving yards and 3 TD’s.
Jason Witten (Cowboys) Anytime TD could be a good bet with the Bears giving up the most points to tight ends all season. With the most red zone targets (21) they are tied 1st with Jacksonville, the most red zone touches in the league (14) tied 2nd for the red zone go-to-plays (11) tied 2nd with the Seahawks on most TD’s conceded (10).
Witten has scored a TD in his last 2 games against the Bears and all 3 of his TD’s have came from the opposing 1-19 yard line. Witten when scoring these TD’s in the redzone has also been the first TD scorer on all 3 occasions
Tony Romo recently spoke in an interview saying Witten may well go down as one of the best Cowboys ever. Both drafted into the Cowboys in 2003, they have grown together in this offense and Romo knows he can trust Witten, scoring a TD is all of his last 3 road games. You can back Witten Anytime @ 6/4 @ Skybet.
That’s pretty much going to be it for me for TNF as a winner is too hard to predict. Cowboys are the only undefeated road team this season but both teams now fighting for a playoff spot so with games running out its all or nothing for playoff places. The Bears have a good record against the Cowboys. December not always a good time for Dallas. Too much riding to pick a winner but if I was I’d take the Bears with the 3.5 start (pure gut, don’t take that as a tip) so I’ll take the following.
_______________________________________________________________
Main Bets.
Matt Forte (Bears) over 80.5 rushing yards @ 10/11 @ Skybet
Matt Forte (Bears) rush & rec total yards over 135.5 @ 10/11 @ Ladbrokes
Other Bets.
Jason Witten (Cowboys) Anytime TD @ 6/4 @ Skybet
£10 on Jason Witten (Cowboys) 1st TD scorer @ 11/1 @ Skybet
Good luck if you follow.
UFC 181 treble this weekend.
Urijah Faber
Tony Ferguson
Travis Browne
@ 12/10
Add Anthony Pettis to beat Guilbert Melendez for a 22/10 four fold.
I say it every time but I’ll say it again. A UFC fight can end in hundreds of ways for both fighters so keep stakes low.
***LOST***
I’m putting a $25 free bet on the following NBA 5 fold:
– Wizards, Spurs, Timberwolves, Celtics +4.5, Raptors +5.5 @ $2.72 odds.
*Sorry guys, couple of draws messed the acca up. 2 games finished 88-88, how weird is that!
Were is ace golf tips
Paul, Ace isn’t doing tips this week. He’ll be back once the full-size tournaments begin again
And the spurs were the ones i was most confident on… bad night overall
Lets see if today i can get it back
Pakistan v New Zealand first T20I
New Zealand @ 13/10. Good bet with Pakistan’s batting issues.
Jenson Button will not be in F1 full stop next year, mainly due to the shitty financial realities of modern F1. Button receives an annual salary of £17m+ unfortunately no-one will pay that in modern F1 unless they are serious title challengers and want the best driver’s, outside Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and William’s teams don’t pay salaries in general, what they do is sell a seat to whichever driver can bring the most corporate sponsorship with them, Daniel Kyvat had to bring £25m sponsorship with him to get his drive if reports are to be believed. That’s why Caterham had different drivers at different points too, they sell the seat.
With Jenson, ex world champ or not he will not be able or willing I would imagine to bring the required amount of sponsorship into a team.
Bottom line is money not ability is what gets you an F1 drive sadly, they’d be as well as having automated cars in the future as it’s all about the engineering anyway.
Attila you can’t have draws in basketball. UK bookies count overtime.
Sorry I forgot you’re in Australia. That’s a bit unfair if they don’t count overtime when you are.
matt hobar @ 5/2 seems decent
Dallas @ Chicago
The only thing these sides were giving thanks to on Thanksgiving was the final whistle, as they both suffered big losses. It is a must win for Dallas and I think they will win. I don’t like or trust Cutler and while Romo threw a shocker in last Thursday and this is the time of year were Romo struggles, he is 11-15 in December and often fails to deliver as Dallas miss the playoffs.
Romo as thrown 12 touchdowns on the road this season and prior to Thanksgiving had thrown 7tds in 2 games. Stafford torched the secondary last week and even Bell scored 2 touchdowns on the ground. Murray will feast on this depleted D line and I will be on the Murray wincast 6/5 William Hill.
I think both sides are betting on offence than defence and hopefully at home Cutler can put up some yards and now leave it all to Forte. It should be high scoring and we may see a few touchdowns. The line is set 6.5 at 5/4 at Ladbrokes and I will be on the overs.
My prop bet is Dez Bryant. I took Calvin Johnson against this secondary last week and he had it won by half time. Now its Dez turn, it is a must win for Dallas and if Romo can get back to the way he was playing prior to thanksgiving and Dez who had two touchdowns in both games prior to thanksgiving he can pile up the yards. His line is set at 80.5yds and like Megatron he could be closer to 100yds. It is 10/11 Ladbrokes.
MURRAY ANYTIME WINCAST 6/5
O6.5 MATCH TOUCHDOWNS 5/4
Prop Bet
BRYANT O80.5yds 10/11
Good luck if your having a bet
Nice write up chief. Did my best on the preview part but will always be easier following and calculating stats for me. Don’t think either of us are wrong in our picks. l’ll take your Dez yards. Already on the total to go over but you’re probably right on the 6.5. I didn’t like Murrays total tonight. Bears ok on rush D but every game is different. Any football bets tonight mate? I don’t like the card.
Thurs NFL. My main bet is Dallas -3.5 I cant see the Bears keeping up with a Dallas team that badly needs to keep pressure on the eagles. Also backing Dallas -9.5 @ 11/5. Romo’s yrds of over 247.5 against a poor secondary is also too tempting, so il have a bit of that too!!! Cmon the boys!
Good job I got on Houston early. -4.5 to -7 in 3 days.
Good luck WA mate.
Jordan – Fortes Rush yards are 78.5 on b365 at 5/6. Thought u might like to know
So they are! Cheers Iddy it doesn’t show me that on oddschecker for some reason? http://www.oddschecker.com/american-football/nfl/dallas-cowboys-at-chicago-bears/total-rushing-yds-matt-forte
R u on Forte and Chiefs tip of Bryant for the yards??
Goodluck with ur selections Jordan. I was looking at Witten alright after reading ur post. He’s 11/10 on pp anytime scorer. I’m thinking of backing his yrds over 40.5 What u reckon? Seems short since the bears have a poor TE coverage
Been staring at his yards for a few days now with the Bears TE defense, but I’m not sure. Is Witten targeted further back down the field often? Going by his TD stats it looks as if he only gets targeted in the red zone. Not surprising being 6 ft 6 I suppose. I think the TD is a better shout WA.
Iddy I’m on all my bets posted and Dez yards on a smaller bet. Both QB‘s might be horrible, we don’t know how Romo or Cutler will bounce back so hoping its the run game that makes the difference, for the Bears obviously :D
Good luck fellas all the best :)
Jordan do you use Twitter?
I don’t mate why’s that?
I check twitter for football line ups but nothing more than that.
Yeah Jordan ur probably right mate. Murray & Bryant are gonna get majority of yrds. il follow u with TD anytime. Fingers crossed Romo brings his A game and Dallas get plenty of TD’s!
I think Murray goes under his total tonight but would take a brave man to back it. Good luck mate. I’ll be cheering Forte on every drive and Witten in every red zone play haha
NBA
Cleveland Cavaliers
Portland Trailblazers
Golden State Warriors
NHL
Tampa Bay Lightning
Detroit Red Wings
Toronto Maple Leafs
All 6 to win pays 5.52
Good luck!
Nfl Thursday
Chicago +4 to win
On this is tough call to make very little between the teams so getting 4 pts starts makes decision easier for me. Just feel Chicago had tougher matches of late as their division is very tough and competitive trust me I’d sooner face philly, Washington and giants than green Bay detroit and the mighty vikes. Dallas spread is always off as they are the peoples team, need proof? Look back over the last couple months Dallas only covered one spread and that was against jags which they probably could have done with me under centre.
Recent losses to Washington and philly and barely limping past giants plus the seemingly hatred of Christmas where Dallas always fall away is making me happy to take Chicago plus 4 with paddy.
Onto players and stats, matt forte is a great player and had they handed the ball to him last week when leading they may not have lost maybe they didn’t as the lions have a tough front line but Dallas is awful against the run, if coach doesn’t give the ball to forte he wants shooting. Forte does as much damage out the backfield so am chancing him first td at 15/2 with paddy.
Jay cutler can’t help himself trying to be the star and he should have some success. Love taking the second best receivers on a team as if u got megatron in your team golden tate has easier match up, if u got nelson in your team cobb gets easier match up. Same here as Marshall will continue to have the most attention leaving Jeffrey to have another big game. Jeffrey anytime scorer pays 10/11
Finally I can’t leave Dallas out and make them seem totally inept as they are not. Scenes of dez arguing with the coaches over not getting the ball just summed them up last week. There is no doubt dez is one of the best in the business so who covers him? Kyle fuller who is good. However fuller is out so dez should dominate for Dallas who will find it tougher to run tonight, jarred Allen looked good of late so will be hunting down de Marco Murray.
Summary. Tips Chicago +4
Alshon Jeffrey anytime scorer 10/11
Dez Bryant over 83.5 yards
Matt forte first td 15/2
Jordan as always I expect to wake up to your play by play coverage whilst I await the mrs making me a brew in bed. Good luck guys
Just done write up on nfl but it’s awaiting moderation probably cos it’s more like a novel so to summarise bets are
Chicago +4 10/11
Jeffrey anytime 10/11
Bryant over 83.5 10/11
Forte first td 15/2
Running out of time before game and tips moderated
NBA TREBLE
New Orleans Pelicans +14.5
Cleveland Cavaliers ML
Indiana Pacers vs Portland Trailblazers to go Over 187
Pays @ 1.50/1
gone reasonably ‘safe’.
where the hell is de andre.
Wondered where your tips were Lee! And Finchy?
IND PACERS @ POR TRAIL BLAZERS
OVER 194.5 POINTS
LSU @ WEST VIRGINIA
WEST VIRGINIA TO WIN
DOUBLE 11/8
if this bet is not going to win then I’ll take a break from basketball. However it should win, my most confident bet this month so far.
fiddler the NBA has been an absoloute nioghtmare so far betting wise. so many freak results lately.
I’m taking Bryant and fonte yards and fiddlers bball tip tonight. Good luck fellas.
I must have used a dodgy word Jordan, don’t forget my min by min commentary it should go something like this..
Td forte
90 yard pass to Bryant
13 yard td to Jeffrey
Chicago win
Nice write up Lee. Good luck and I’ll keep the commentary to big plays only haha
Good luck everyone for that matter. All hail the prop bets!
Enjoy the game mate should be good one
Dez bryant to reach his yards seems to be the most fancied bet lads?Think he can make it if Romo has a good day?
Yeah IVX1 it probably looks the best prop bet 2nite. Bears have a bad secondary & bryant is romo’s main target
Yeah IVX1 it probably looks the best prop bet 2nite. Bears have a bad secondary & bryant is romo’s main target
Wtf!! It was 0-0 when I last saw it! Lesson 1, never fall asleep during a game. Lesson 2, never doubt DeMarco Murray to reach his rush total whether its 50 or 500. Lesson 3, the Cowboys want the playoffs this season. Probably a few other lessons in there somewhere. Tipped Marshall to get his yards @ 60.5 in my preview and apparently he went to hospital in the 1st quarter. On 61 yards…
Supposedly Forte fumbled for the Cowboys to take the 21-7 lead. Can’t say many of my bets are looking good but well done chief as you’re going 3 for 3 at the moment. Sorry lads.
Murray on 177 rushing yards, 49 receiving yards. Ffs…
Well done too WA! Last time I back a team with a losing record, even for props. I just couldn’t back the boys after that performance against the Eagles but can’t compare them to the Bears. Signs were there and I’m a fool for backing. Hopefully a better day Sunday. For me anyway. Apologies again boys.
Just for clarification.
Forte over 80.5 rush yards **LOSE** 26!?!
Forte over 135. rush and receiving yards **LOSE** 100
Witten Anytime **LOSE**
£10 Witten 1st TD @ 11/1 **LOSE**
S**t show!