"There’s always someone out there who is confident they can get one over on you and it’s a constant battle to try and stay one step ahead.
EVERY betting shop regular has experienced the agony of a burst coupon. I don’t mean the kind experienced by David Beckham after the Old Trafford flying boot mystery. I’m talking about the "one that let you down" after the other nine bankers on your ten-team accumulator have come up trumps. Every bit as painful as a Predator in the face.
Thousands are undeterred by such instances of woeful bad luck, and it doesn’t stop them making the weekly pilgrimage to their local bookmakers to place their faith in another batch of ill-fated teams with a horrible tendency for leaking injury-time goals.
Despite its potential to drive you round the bend, the weekend fixed odds coupon remains one of the most popular bets around, and when it is replaced in the summer months by long lists challenging you to become an overnight authority on the Australian leagues, you are left pining for the arrival of the big one - the ante-post coupon.
Thankfully, the climax of one season and the publication of odds for the new campaign is growing ever shorter. No sooner have you consigned last year’s dog-eared betting slip to the bucket, then bookmakers are back seducing you with a fresh batch of odds and 101 different ways to lose your cash before a ball has even been kicked.
Never has the range of football bets been so vast, and so varied. Bookmakers are being forced to delve deep into the grey matter to satisfy punters’ increasing demand for novel, imaginative wagers, and the Elgin-based firm Crossbet is rising to the challenge.
A copy of the new Crossbet booklet for 2003-2004, boasting "Ante-post football: does anyone do it better?" landed on The Scotsman sportsdesk this week, and it has already sparked heated debate about who is going to be the winners and losers of the season ahead.
The same arguments raged this time last year, of course, and unless you put your money where your mouth is, it doesn’t cut any ice to say that you always fancied Rangers to win the treble or Porto to win the UEFA Cup.
The victory of Porto saved Crossbet, and countless others within the profession, a massive pay-out on Celtic, but the firm also had to absorb some heavy losses on well-backed sides such as Morton to win the Third Division, Portsmouth to win the English Division 1, and Ruud van Nistelrooy to finish top scorer in the Premiership.
"Morton were the team we were cursing most," said Crossbet owner Colin Ross. "Not only were they in almost every accumulator, they were snapped up at 25-1 when they looked out of the title race with five weeks to go.
"We obviously had our losses on Rangers, but St Johnstone were well fancied to come straight back up, while in England, Cardiff and Ipswich failing to win their divisions saved us ."
Crossbet, who now send their ante-post booklet to more than 1,000 captivated customers in the UK, have chalked up Rangers at 10-11 to retain their SPL crown this year, with Celtic at even money, while the current market leaders for the three SFL divisions are Falkirk at 5-2, Alloa 7-2 and 10-3 joint-favourites Stranraer and Peterhead.
Outwith the Old Firm, Hearts are again rated the best of the rest, although odds of 180-1 reflect the likelihood of an SPL upset, with Kilmarnock next best on 350-1, Dundee and Aberdeen 400-1, Dunfermline 500-1, Hibs 550-1, and 600-1 and above on the remainder.
While the prices for an outright win are usually first to catch the eye, the handicap list, where all teams are available at 8-1 (9-1 in the SPL) giving or receiving points to their rivals at the outset, always generates a high level of interest.
For example, back-markers Rangers begin the season a massive 53 points behind Partick and Motherwell, although last season they finished 62 and 69 points respectively in front of those teams.
Odds are also available on teams finishing in the top five (Hibs at 11-5 and Dundee United at 13-5 look tempting), or finishing in the bottom two (Thistle and Motherwell at 5-6 appear solid enough bets).
There is also betting without Rangers and Celtic (Hearts at 9-4 lead the field), and a number of match bets (Hibs 11-10 to finish ahead of 8-11 Dunfermline has the look of a decent bet), and in all divisions Crossbet will accommodate bets above or below the number of points you think a team will finish on.
The most open title race, on paper anyhow, appears to be the Second Division, and it may pay to oppose the favourites Alloa with either Morton (6-1), Arbroath (10-1) or Hamilton (11-1), while East Stirling’s dismal season in the Third Division last year, sees them the highest priced of any SFL side at 50-1.
In England, Manchester United are 6-4 to give Sir Alex Ferguson another title, while West Ham head the Division 1 list at 11-2, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday are 7-1 joint favourites in the second, and Cheltenham lead the way in the third at 13-2.
Ross, who has been an odds-compiler for six years, added: "We try to be as imaginative as we can with our ante-post betting, and it can be great fun.
"There’s always someone out there who is confident they can get one over on you and it’s a constant battle to try and stay one step ahead.
"With no World Cup or European Championship this year, people need something to get them interested in the summer, and that’s why we try and give them something to work on as early as possible."
For that, I don’t know whether to thank or curse them, because it’s not even July, and I’m pinning my hopes on a raft of yellow betting slips already.
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/sport.cfm?id=681312003
EVERY betting shop regular has experienced the agony of a burst coupon. I don’t mean the kind experienced by David Beckham after the Old Trafford flying boot mystery. I’m talking about the "one that let you down" after the other nine bankers on your ten-team accumulator have come up trumps. Every bit as painful as a Predator in the face.
Thousands are undeterred by such instances of woeful bad luck, and it doesn’t stop them making the weekly pilgrimage to their local bookmakers to place their faith in another batch of ill-fated teams with a horrible tendency for leaking injury-time goals.
Despite its potential to drive you round the bend, the weekend fixed odds coupon remains one of the most popular bets around, and when it is replaced in the summer months by long lists challenging you to become an overnight authority on the Australian leagues, you are left pining for the arrival of the big one - the ante-post coupon.
Thankfully, the climax of one season and the publication of odds for the new campaign is growing ever shorter. No sooner have you consigned last year’s dog-eared betting slip to the bucket, then bookmakers are back seducing you with a fresh batch of odds and 101 different ways to lose your cash before a ball has even been kicked.
Never has the range of football bets been so vast, and so varied. Bookmakers are being forced to delve deep into the grey matter to satisfy punters’ increasing demand for novel, imaginative wagers, and the Elgin-based firm Crossbet is rising to the challenge.
A copy of the new Crossbet booklet for 2003-2004, boasting "Ante-post football: does anyone do it better?" landed on The Scotsman sportsdesk this week, and it has already sparked heated debate about who is going to be the winners and losers of the season ahead.
The same arguments raged this time last year, of course, and unless you put your money where your mouth is, it doesn’t cut any ice to say that you always fancied Rangers to win the treble or Porto to win the UEFA Cup.
The victory of Porto saved Crossbet, and countless others within the profession, a massive pay-out on Celtic, but the firm also had to absorb some heavy losses on well-backed sides such as Morton to win the Third Division, Portsmouth to win the English Division 1, and Ruud van Nistelrooy to finish top scorer in the Premiership.
"Morton were the team we were cursing most," said Crossbet owner Colin Ross. "Not only were they in almost every accumulator, they were snapped up at 25-1 when they looked out of the title race with five weeks to go.
"We obviously had our losses on Rangers, but St Johnstone were well fancied to come straight back up, while in England, Cardiff and Ipswich failing to win their divisions saved us ."
Crossbet, who now send their ante-post booklet to more than 1,000 captivated customers in the UK, have chalked up Rangers at 10-11 to retain their SPL crown this year, with Celtic at even money, while the current market leaders for the three SFL divisions are Falkirk at 5-2, Alloa 7-2 and 10-3 joint-favourites Stranraer and Peterhead.
Outwith the Old Firm, Hearts are again rated the best of the rest, although odds of 180-1 reflect the likelihood of an SPL upset, with Kilmarnock next best on 350-1, Dundee and Aberdeen 400-1, Dunfermline 500-1, Hibs 550-1, and 600-1 and above on the remainder.
While the prices for an outright win are usually first to catch the eye, the handicap list, where all teams are available at 8-1 (9-1 in the SPL) giving or receiving points to their rivals at the outset, always generates a high level of interest.
For example, back-markers Rangers begin the season a massive 53 points behind Partick and Motherwell, although last season they finished 62 and 69 points respectively in front of those teams.
Odds are also available on teams finishing in the top five (Hibs at 11-5 and Dundee United at 13-5 look tempting), or finishing in the bottom two (Thistle and Motherwell at 5-6 appear solid enough bets).
There is also betting without Rangers and Celtic (Hearts at 9-4 lead the field), and a number of match bets (Hibs 11-10 to finish ahead of 8-11 Dunfermline has the look of a decent bet), and in all divisions Crossbet will accommodate bets above or below the number of points you think a team will finish on.
The most open title race, on paper anyhow, appears to be the Second Division, and it may pay to oppose the favourites Alloa with either Morton (6-1), Arbroath (10-1) or Hamilton (11-1), while East Stirling’s dismal season in the Third Division last year, sees them the highest priced of any SFL side at 50-1.
In England, Manchester United are 6-4 to give Sir Alex Ferguson another title, while West Ham head the Division 1 list at 11-2, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday are 7-1 joint favourites in the second, and Cheltenham lead the way in the third at 13-2.
Ross, who has been an odds-compiler for six years, added: "We try to be as imaginative as we can with our ante-post betting, and it can be great fun.
"There’s always someone out there who is confident they can get one over on you and it’s a constant battle to try and stay one step ahead.
"With no World Cup or European Championship this year, people need something to get them interested in the summer, and that’s why we try and give them something to work on as early as possible."
For that, I don’t know whether to thank or curse them, because it’s not even July, and I’m pinning my hopes on a raft of yellow betting slips already.
http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/sport.cfm?id=681312003
