Easy does it, as the old mantra goes, and we really experienced few problems navigating our way through the first week of the latest attempt at the £10 to £1k Challenge last time out.
Each leg landed with relative ease, and ensured we pocketed £20.25 to carry forward into Week 2. Here’s a quick recap of last week’s results:
- Bet 1: Glen Durrant to beat Nick Kenny – the BDO World Darts Championship is a decent platform for punters, and bookies favourite Durrant got his title bid off to a great start with a 3-1 win here.
- Bet 2: Wycombe to Qualify vs Stourbridge – as anticipated, Wycombe didn’t need a repay to see off plucky Stourbridge, with a 2-1 win at Adams Park getting the job done.
- Bet 3: Jeff Smith to beat Seigo Asada – another darts match, another 3-1 win for our selection.
- Bet 4: Jamie Hughes to beat Martin Atkins – and to complete the hat-trick, Hughes also won 3-1 in an excellent match against Atkins.
Bet 5: Rotherham vs Norwich City: Norwich Over 0.5 Goals – £20.25 at 1/9
Saturday January 14, 15:00
With these challenge bets there’s no point beating about the bush and trying to find value for value’s sake: if you locate a selection that stands a huge chance of coming in, let’s back it, take the cash and move on to the next.
Rotherham have kept one clean sheet since the end of August and have shipped nine in their last four outings. Norwich have scored in nine of their last eleven, and after a difficult run of fixtures – Huddersfield, Reading, Brentford, Derby and Southampton in the FA Cup – they will relish a trip to the Championship’s basement dwellers.
Bet 6: John Higgins vs Mark Allen: Higgins +2.5 – £22.50 at 1/6
Monday January 16, 13:00
The Masters snooker kicks off this weekend, and the second bet of this week’s challenge features the in-form John Higgins.
The Scot has been in excellent form since the start of November, appearing in three event finals (China Championship, the Champion of Champions and the Scottish Open), and has won his last two head-to-head meetings with Mark Allen with a 15-6 aggregate scoreline in his favour.
Our selection dictates that Higgins can lose 4-6, 5-6 or win the match and our bet will land.
Bet 7: Malaga vs Real Sociedad: Over 1.5 Goals – £26.25 at 3/10
Monday January 16, 19:45
We’re stat chasing here, but with numbers this good who can blame us. Some 14/17 of Malaga’s matches this term have witnessed two or more goals, and that percentage increases exponentially at home where they have a perfect 8/8 record for Over 1.5 Goals. They have scored in 7/8 and conceded in the same.
Sociedad tend to come up with the goods too: they are 16/17 for Over 1.5 Goals this term – and 8/8 on the road, and they have only failed to score in one of eight away days this term. This should be a cracking game!
Bet 8: Judd Trump vs Marco Fu: Over 7.5 Frames – £34.12 at 1/7
Tuesday January 17, 13:00
Judd Trump is always a good bet in this kind of market because of the fearless way he goes about his snooker: taking on all sorts of pots and shots that other players wouldn’t dream of. The upshot is that he wins plenty of frames, but gives lots of chances to his opponents too.
We would expect Marco Fu to take some of those chances. The Scottish Open winner is in a rich vein of form, and it took an inspired performance from Ronnie O’Sullivan to prevent Fu from reaching the final of the season’s first major: the UK Championship in December.