Betting Blog: Barcelona’s Champions League win was easy money, how to become a proper punter, plus tips

You may be getting tired of hearing this but it has been a wonderful time for my clients and I on the betting markets. In May we finished in record breaking style and took the bookmakers to the cleaners.

It was sweet revenge after our difficult first quarter of the year and puts us in a good fiscal position as we take on June. There is so much to look forward to during this summer period as we deal in alternative markets like the Swedish league and the very profitable Irish divisions. There are a number of youth international tournaments to get your teeth into and we also have the small matter of the Copa America in July. Does football ever stop? Yeah right. Bring it on…

JD on… Barcelona’s CL Triumph

As tipped on this blog last December, Barcelona were crowned champions of Europe by defeating Manchester United 3-1. Frankly Mr Shankly it was a surprise to hear many pundits tipping the Red Devils to upset the odds and win.

Anyone that has followed Spanish and European football over the last number of years can see that Barcelona are the best team on the planet and United were always going to be up against it. Sir Alex Ferguson’s team failed to get to grips with the triumvirate of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in midfield and playing Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick didn’t scare anybody.

Giving Lionel Messi the freedom of London to run riot and show off his gifts wasn’t a wise move either. Barca made it look easy and punters who snapped them up @ 13/5 (3.60) last year will be very happy with the handy profits. That’ll pay for the summer holiday. Where am I off to? Barcelona of course!

JD on… How to be a punter

My inbox has been clogging up with emails asking what it takes to become a successful football bettor. A risk appetite is an obvious essential requirement. If you don’t have the stomach for a bet and you can’t deal with a loss then it is not the business for you.

Many of you will have a wide and extensive knowledge of football and if you put that to use in the betting markets then you can certainly profit. The reality is that not everyone has an appetite for risk and their personality type and views are simply adverse to any concept of “gambling” or taking a chance. That is fair enough and it is these differences in views and personality is what makes the world go around.

Discipline is vital, a lot of bettors lose over the long term because they lack this essential ingredient. They get a couple of wins and they lose the run of themselves by becoming greedy and start betting on all sorts of things. Beware of this as you can end up losing your shirt and more.

Often, they are acting on adrenaline and are not making rational decisions. If you genuinely want to make an income from football then you must treat it like a proper business. Like anything in life it requires a clear head, hard work and a focused approach.

Your staking is important too and this is something many bettors make the mistake of not structuring their stakes properly. They win a bet and they put all of their winnings on the next gamble and it fails meaning they are back to square one. Not a good idea in other words.

If you deploy 10 bets in a given week then make sure you make money by getting a majority of correct. Some bettors can get seven or eight bets coming in out of 10 but still end the week in a loss because they got the staking wrong.

Perseverance is a key ingredient too. Some people give up easily especially after a couple of losers. It is natural that a losing run dents your confidence and faith. We have all had them but experience tells me that things can often turn around very quickly. Stay confident in yourself, adhere to your plan and trust your own judgement. Do that and you will be successful.

JD on… Managerial merry go round

The season is barely over and already the managerial markets are in full swing. Normally these kind of markets have more twists and turns than the Monaco Grand Prix, and just like the Formula One race you can crash out by acting on dodgy information.

When it was announced that Gerard Houllier would leave Aston Villa by mutual consent the word went round that Mark Hughes would snap up the job. Lots of punters piled into that gamble at around 4/5 and it looked like easy money and when Hughes left Fulham the price dropped to around 1/3 in the space of a few minutes. Villa have since indicated that there was no contact with ‘Sparky’ and that they are looking elsewhere. At the time of writing that bet is not looking too healthy.

Punters have since moved on to who will take Hughes’ place at Craven Cottage. This one looks wide open with Martin O’Neill the front runner but Martin Jol at 4/1 (5.0) and Steve McCLaren at 6/1 (7.0) cannot be dismissed.

Fulham would be wise to take advantage of O’Neill’s availability as he is made to measure for the Cottagers. He has had success at Leicester City, Celtic and Aston Villa and he is  adept at extracting the best out of any group of players.
 
O’Neill comes with little or no risk attached and the 4/1 (5.0) available for him at time of writing could prove to be a sound investment. Be warned, it is a difficult market to read so it’s best not to put the rent money on any of the contenders unless you have inside information.

And finally

It is the best time of the year to join www.jdfoxotballbetting.com. We made significant profits recently and the summer period is a great opportunity to learn and bet in alternative markets. Your subscription will take you right through the 2011/2012 season too and there is a special reduced price at this time. Contact me on [email protected] for further details.

JD’s Tips

* Belgium to beat Turkey @ 2.15 (Unibet)

* Brazil to beat Netherlands @ 1.75 (Unibet)

JD is Goal.com’s betting blogger is a professional punter with a stock market background. You can visit his personal site here.

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