The Bookies
Naps & Nips
Jimma and Razor, and sometimes guests to the bookies like Perkis, Edmo and The Duke, offer up some interesting betting tips, to MAYBE take some interest in and delve into those long pockets....
2UT Tipsters
Welcome to the 2-UpTop Tipsters Duel at The Bookies. Here's how it all works and the points awarded for the relevant odds given for any particular bet................ 0 - 1.49 = 1 point / 1.50 - 1.99 = 3 points / 2 - 4.99 = 5 points / 5 - 9.99 = 10 points / 10 - 14.99 = 15 points / 15 - 19.99 = 20 points / 20 + = 25 points............... ....................................................................................................................................................... WEEK 44: A low scoring week, with Razor gaining six points and Jimma five. Razor was successful in the cricket, correctly predicting the draw, and also getting the rugby union Aviva Premiership semi-finals right, while Jimma got the F1 right when Fernando Alonso gained a place on the podium ................................................................................ Jimma missed out on his footy accumulator by the two results, in Sunderland being beaten 1-0 at home by the Premier League runners-up Man Utd, and Wolves losing 3-2 at Wigan, while Razor went one better and only missed out with Newcastle losing 3-1 at his beloved Everton, which serves him right for betting against his own team ................................................................................ In golf, Ricardo Santos became the first Portuguese-born player to win on home soil by capturing the Madeira Islands Open. Santos shot a sensational final round 63 to win by four strokes and set a new championship record of 22 under par on the Santa da Serra course, ahead of Swede Magnus Carlsson (67). Victory earns Santos, a former Challenge Tour graduate, a one-year European Tour exemption as well as entry to the upcoming PGA Championship at Wentworth. After grabbing five birdies in the last seven holes, the 29-year-old world number 306 said: "It is very emotional and I haven't got the words to describe how I feel. "To win my first European Tour event in my own country is very special. It was a sensational round, definitely the best of my career. It was amazing to have the crowds here supporting me and it would be difficult to imagine a better win than this. "I didn't have many bad moments in the round, but the supporters were always there to pick me up and keep me going. This is a huge moment in my career." Swede Magnus Carlsson was second and Dane Andreas Harto third, as Spaniard Carlos Del Moral, three clear at the start of the day, fell away to joint fourth with a 73 ................................................................................ American Matt Kuchar held his nerve on a tense final day to win the Players Championship at Sawgrass by two shots. The 33-year-old, who started the round one shot behind leader Kevin Na, dropped a shot at the opening hole but hit four birdies for a 13-under total. Scotland's Martin Laird and American trio Zach Johnson, Ben Curtis and Rickie Fowler were joint second. Luke Donald, needing a top-four finish to take over from Rory McIlroy as world number one, finished sixth ................................................................................ In boxing, Junior Witter claimed the British welterweight title with a unanimous points decision over Colin Lynes at the Hillsbrough Leisure Centre on Saturday night. The 38-year-old, a former WBC world light-welterweight champion, was beating Lynes for the second time in his career and rarely looked troubled despite it being his first outing for eight months. Although Witter always appeared to hold the upper hand over a gallant Lynes, it proved tight on a couple of the scorecards with the Sheffield man emerging a 115-114, 117-112 and 116-114 winner ................................................................................ In cricket, Matt Prior scored a rapid 86 ahead of England's first Test with West Indies at Lord's on Thursday as Sussex and Lancashire played out a draw. Prior smashed nine boundaries and put on 142 for the fifth wicket with Mike Yardy (63), as Sussex declared on 300-8 after picking up a third batting point. Ajmal Shahzad (3-71) took three wickets on his Lancashire debut. Earlier, Lancashire struggled to 144-8 before declaring with Karl Brown top scoring with 41, Naved Arif took 3-34 ................................................................................ In tennis, Roger Federer returned to number two in the world with victory over Tomas Berdych in the Madrid Open final. The Swiss battled to a 3-6 7-5 7-5 on the new new blue clay courts and moves above Rafael Nadal in the rankings ................................................................................ Serena Williams served notice she will be a real threat at the French Open by hammering world number one Victoria Azarenka to win the Madrid Open. It was Williams' first appearance in Europe this season and she dominated the Belarusian, winning 6-1 6-3. It took the American just over an hour to win the match and confirm she is in top form ahead of Roland Garros, which starts on 27 May. Williams extended her winning streak to 13 matches with her 41st WTA title. And the 30-year-old winner of 13 Grand Slam titles took her head-to-head record against the world number one to 7-1 ................................................................................ In Formula 1, Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado took his maiden victory and Williams's first since 2004 in a strategic battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. Maldonado, who is in only his second season in Formula 1, won the Spanish Grand Prix after his team outsmarted Ferrari with pit-stop timing. Alonso survived a late charge from Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, who took third. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton fought up from the back of the grid to eighth, with team-mate Jenson Button taking ninth. Alonso's second place moves him into a tie on points at the head of the championship with Sebastian Vettel, who was sixth in his Red Bull, passing Button, then Hamilton and finally Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg in quick succession in the closing laps. Vettel is classified as the leader on results countback. Alonso and Ferrari may well privately regret the decision to delay their second pit stop until two laps after Maldonado made his on the 24th of 66 laps. Alonso, who started second, beat pole-sitter Maldonado into the first corner and led through the first pit-stop period, after which he had a 3.4-second lead on lap 12. But Maldonado closed that advantage to 1.5secs by lap 21 and when he could not get any closer Williams decided to try to 'undercut' Alonso with an earlier pit stop. It worked to perfection. Ferrari's decision not to stop on the next lap simply made life easier, especially when Alonso was held up by Marussia's Charles Pic during that period - for which the Frenchman earned a drive-through penalty ................................................................................ In the rugby union Aviva Premiership Semi-Finals, Harlequins beat Northampton 25-23, and Leicester beat Saracens 24-15 ................................................................................ In the rugby league Carnegie Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals, Huddersfield beat the London Broncos 50-14, and Wigan beat St Helens 18-4, while in the other quarters, Leeds won 60-12 at Leigh, and Warrington won 32-22 at the Catalan Dragons ................................................................................ In darts, Simon Whitlock knocked Adrian Lewis out of the McCoy's Premier League with a thrilling comeback from 5-2 down to win 8-6 and end the world champion's hopes of claiming a play-off place. Lewis had to secure victory to be assured of keeping alive his hopes of going one better than last year in this competition but slipped to defeat against the clinical Australian. The pair traded 180s in sharing the opening two legs, with Lewis hitting tops for a 13-darter to make a flying start before Whitlock finished 92. 'Jackpot' then stretched into a 4-1 lead and after another exchange of legs, including a 130 finish from the Australian, he looked well set at 5-2. Lewis then opened the eighth leg with five successive treble 20s, hitting a 180 and 123, but a 14-darter from Whitlock sparked him back into life. Lewis looked to have steadied things when he regained the lead at 6-5, but 'The Wizard' won three straight legs - including an eye-catching 140 finish along the way - to send the world champion spinning out. Whitlock told Sky Sports 1: "I was already in the semi-finals but wanted to win tonight to make sure that I avoided Phil Taylor in the semi-finals so I'm over the moon to have done that." Andy Hamilton joined Whitlock in next week's play-offs with an 8-1 hammering of fellow pre-tournament outsider Kevin Painter. 'The Hammer' opened the match with the first of four 180s and ground his way to an ultimately facile victory against a disappointing Painter. 'The Artist' never really recovered from missing doubles in the opening two legs and though he plundered a 111 finish in leg five, he was short of his best. Victory completed a remarkable fightback from 'The Hammer'; the Stoke thrower sat bottom of the eight-man table halfway through the competition. James Wade claimed the final place in the play-offs after a thrilling 7-7 draw against Raymond van Barneveld. Van Barneveld had to win the match to finish in the top four and led 4-2 at one stage before Wade struck back with four successive legs to lead 6-4. The rollercoaster nature of the match continued as 'Barney' moved 7-6 up and to the brink of the play-offs but Wade hit a 180 in a 13-dart final leg to claim the draw he needed to set up a showdown with Phil Taylor next week. 'The Power' finished the regular season with a 7-7 draw against Gary Anderson in the last match of the night. Taylor said: "I wanted to get a win and hit a massive average but it wasn't to be - it was a bit like a sparring session ahead of the play-offs. "I know I'm in for a tough game and I'll be getting ready for James. When I beat him in the final, I won 10-8 and hit two nine-darters because he's such a good player that I know what he'll do." Wade said: "It was a hard game and Raymond played well, so there's a massive sense of satisfaction to be in the play-offs again. "I'm looking forward to playing Phil in the semi-finals. He seems to do something special against me every time we play so I know the size of the task, but I'm being positive about it."
Naps & Nips
Jimma and Razor, and sometimes guests to the bookies like Perkis, Edmo and The Duke, offer up some interesting betting tips, to MAYBE take some interest in and delve into those long pockets....