Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches Weekend of 21st-22nd September
Coming up this weekend
- Football, The Premier League fixtures include Chelsea v Liverpool
- Rugby Union, the start of the 2019 World Cup in Japan
- Racing, Flat racing at Ayr, Catterick, Chelmsford City, Newbury, Newmarket and Wolverhampton.
- NFL Week 3 of the 2019 NFL season
- Cricket, Vitality T20 Blast finals day at Edgbaston.
- Formula One, the Singapore Grand Prix
- Golf, the BMW PGA at Wentworth and on the US Tour the Sanderson Farms Championship
- Tennis, ATP Opens in Moselle and St Petersburg
Rugby World Cup - (20th Sep - 2nd Nov 2019)
The RWC 2019 is underway. In 2015 the package won 112.4 points with a +ROI of 28.3%. The full package, ante post and match write ups with details of all our bets is £50 and you can sign up here
Free tip
T20 Blast finals day, Edgbaston, Saturday
The semi-finals are as follows
11am Notts v Worcs
2.30pm Essex V Derbyshire
Worcs are defending Champions and qualified for the quarter finals from 4th place in the North Group then beat Sussex away thanks to 120* from Moeen Ali chasing a big target at Hove. A strong side, they were drawn into what looks to be the far tougher semi-final against a high powered Notts team who finished second in the North group. Notts traditionally are a very strong batting side and have a potentially match winning bowler in Harry Gurney who has 18 wickets in the competition so far.
It’s a bit of a shame this is the first semi-final, early morning conditions in late September might mean there is a big toss advantage and the contest might not be the pure big hitting contest it might be later in the day.
Essex are the only South Group representative on finals day, having finished 4th in the South Group then upsetting Lancashire in the semi-finals, helped by the match being played at a neutral venue due to the Old Trafford test match. They, an experienced side containing the likes of Bopara, Ten Doeschate, Zampa and Harmer and have the kinder semi-final draw, as Derbyshire are a small county at finals day for the first time and crept through a tight low scoring quarter-final at Bristol, where the group finishing positions meant both sides had avoided the big guns in the knockout stages. Debyshire’s strength is in Opening batting where Godleman and Madsen both have over 400 runs in the competition.
Odds for finals day are as follows:
Notts 2/1
Worcs 5/2
Essex 3/1
Derbyshire 4/1
Essex will be underdogs should they reach the final but I would expect them to beat Derbyshire to get there and would have them shorter than 3-1 to win it outright
10 points Essex to win the T20 Blast Bet365, Ladbrokes/Coral, BetVictor
Complex
Cricket is implementing a new World Test Championship to give context to its worldwide Test Series. It comes a decade after the idea was first approved by the ICC and after two failed attempts to launch it in 2013 and 2017. The recent Ashes series was the first series in a two-year tournament that will end with a Lord’s final between the top two Test sides in the world to find a Test format champion.
There are many reasons it is hard to get excited about the World Test Championship. It has a complicated mathematical structure for gaining points and no one is convinced that the eventual winner will be the best Test side in the world because the system is such that not everyone plays each other on an equal footing. It features nine of the twelve Test playing nations each of whom will play a Test series against six of the other eight teams. Each series consists of between two and five matches, so although all teams will play six series (three at home and three away), they will not play the same number of Tests. Each team will be able to score a maximum of 120 points from each series and the two teams with the most points at the end of the league stage will contest the final. Crystal Clear.
Set against that Test cricket is being overtaken by a glut of one-day and T20 tournaments for commercial reasons and the longer form of the game is under constant attack from money-hungry boards who are the very people who administer it.
It used to be that Test series were their own narrative whether that be the Ashes, Caribbean Tours or India v Pakistan with no mega-tournament that decides, once every four years, who is king of the world. The story of international cricket was always more linear and long form with history contributing to the anticipation of forthcoming series.
As it is, India now dominates the global game both financially and across formats. A tournament that might elevate each competing nation to equal status can be only a good thing. If the World Test Championship can help sustain five day cricket in the calendarand give it a different meaning in the modern world there’s a reason to get behind it, if you can understand it!
Brodders Football Analysis
Brodders subscribers enjoyed a profitable 2018, betting £10 a point on matches would have won you £4,600 and he has now four successive profitable years. Over five years Betting £10 a point you would be winning over £23,000 with a 3.03% ROI Sign up here
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £44,319 All bets have an ROI +3.3%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £48,319 a 1107% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 14th-15th September
Coming up this weekend
- Football, The Premier League resumes
- Racing, Flat racing at Bath, Chelmsford City, Chester, Doncaster, Lingfield and Musselburgh
- NFL Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season
- Cricket, the fifth and final test continues at the Oval.
- Golf, The Solheim cup and On the USPGA, A tribute to the military at The Greenbriar plus on the European Tour the KLM Open
Rugby World Cup - (20th Sep - 2nd Nov 2019)
The RWC 2019 starts next week. In 2015 the package won 112.4 points with a +ROI of 28.3%. The full package, ante post (first report out today) and match write ups with details of all our bets is £50 and you can sign up here
Free tip
The 2019 St Leger by Neil Channing (Saturday 3.35pm Doncaster)
R.E.S.P.E.C.T
Midway through the Headingley Test all seemed lost for the Ashes with once again England’s batting performance proving very disappointing in the top order in the first innings. It took an all-time great performance from Stokes, with support from Denly and Root, to change the short term narrative but doesn’t hide the fundamental problem that was reinforced with the subsequent loss at Old Trafford and the first innings performane at the Oval. County cricket is not to be producing top-order batsmen of the quantity or quality required. Until they do, England's team management will always be looking for contingencies and England's middle-order will continue to be exposed. By eroding the primacy of the county championship, they have eroded their Test team's ability to compete. The team is simply the product of a broken system.
The Championship has been so badly disrespected for so long that players aren’t being the best chance to develop. A sixteen game season was far better, and the shortened season is mostly played at the beginning and end of the season, set to get worse next season with the advent of the Hundred. The ECB's policies played a key part in winning the World Cup, but are have made winning back the Ashes far more difficult because it is not as if players are being missed. Since the retirement of Strauss, and including the period of the subsequent retirement of Cook England have tried 18 openers. None looked convincing.
England’s 67 not out at Headingley was was England's lowest Ashes total since 1948 and their second-lowest since 1909. It was the fourth time in the Trevor Bayliss era that they have been bowled out for under 100. Players are being played out of position (Roy is not a test match opener, Root would rather not bat at three) and the continual diet of 50 and 20 over cricket through the year has led to much less application, determination, patience and technique.
Opening the batting in first-class cricket is a specialist role. It's not so much about the shots you play as the shots you don't. It's about knowing which balls to leave, about having the patience to wear bowlers down and the defensive technique to withstand the moving ball. If you don't have someone who can do that, you risk exposing a middle-order that may legitimately not have those skills, to the new ball and fresh bowlers.
England's Test batting is weak, Root and Stokes apart. Part of that is an unhappy accident of cricketing generations, we have a surfeit of options for 5,6,7 and all-rounders in general. However unless the ECB have the courage to change the county structure including backtracking on the monstrosity that is the white-ball window and accepting that the focus on The Hundred won't do a thing to help the Test team it will keep happening. That appears to be the most likely outcome given the investment in the Hundred.
Brodders Football Analysis
Brodders subscribers enjoyed a profitable 2018, betting £10 a point on matches would have won you £4,600 and he has now four successive profitable years. Over five years Betting £10 a point you would be winning over £23,000 with a 3.03% ROI Sign up here
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £44,319 All bets have an ROI +3.3%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £48,319 a 1107% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 7th-8th September
Coming up this weekend
- Football, European Championship Qualifying, with England hosting Bulgaria and Kosovo this week
- Racing, Flat racing at Ascot, Haydock, Kempton, Thirsk and Wolverhampton and over the jumps at Stratford
- NFL Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season
- Cricket, the fourth Ashes Test Match at Old Trafford continues, with the fifth and final test at the Oval starting next Thursday.
- F1, The Italian Grand Prix at Monza
- Golf, On the European Tour the Porsche European Open in Germany and the KLM Open in the Netherlands
- Tennis, the final weekend of the US Open
- Rugby Union, World Cup Warm Up Internationals continue with England v Italy
NFL 2019
The week by week season package costs £50 and is available here
The first write up is out today/tomorrow
Rugby World Cup - (20th Sep - 2nd Nov 2019)
The RWC 2019 is approaching. In 2015 the package won 112.4 points with a +ROI of 28.3%. The full package, ante post and match write ups with details of all our bets is £50 and you can sign up here
Free Tip
England v Italy St James Park
World Cup warm up, Sky Sports Friday 7.45pm
England conclude their warm up games for the upcoming World Cup in Newcastle on Friday night. England scored eight tries when they thrashed Italy 57-14 during the Six Nations earlier this year, and during these warm ups beat Wales at home, lost narrowly to Wales away and beat Ireland 57-15 at Twickenham when they had a fitness and cohesion advantage with the two teams at different stages of training camps.
Italy, with the unenviable task of a World Cup group with New Zealand and South Africa looming, haven’t won a game against a Tier One opponent since 2016. Improvements are occurring under head coach Conor O’Shea, particularly being manifested at Academy level and in the performances of the Pro 14 franchises which bodes well for the years ahead but at senior International level as fast as Italy improve, their major opponents progress alongside.
In this year’s Six Nations they conceded 167 points having conceded 200-225 in each of the previous years and in spells in four of their five games (England being the exception) looked very competitive and lost those four games by 13,11,10 and 11 points. In their Paris warm up match last week though, France beat them 47-19
As the handicap line for this match shows, England -30, it would be a stretch to expect them to get close to England and England’s approach that has been developing with ball-winning number sevens looking to recycle quick ball and play expansively to finishers out wide should suit these types of matches even with a mix and match selection strategy. Whether they will be able to do so against the top few teams is a separate issue.
In terms of England’s wingers, Nowell is injured so alongside the established Jonny May, who is one of the favourites to be the top try scorer in the World Cup, Bath’s Joe Cokanasiga has three tries in the three matches he has played in the warm up matches
For this match England finally play Bath’s Ruaridh McConnochie as part of a seriously quick back three alongside May and Anthony Watson.
Jonny May isn’t a particularly imaginative choice in try scorer markets but in what should be a comfortable victory its likely he will get plenty of opportunities. He has 24 tries in 45 tests, including four in the most recent Six Nations.
8 points Jonny May first try scorer England v Italy 5-1 BetfairSportsbook/Paddy Power 19/4 Bet365
Archer
In Test Cricket the best teams all have “go to” bowlers who Captains know will come into the match situation and possibly change the course of the match. Bowlers like Bumrah, Rabada, Boult, Yasir Shah and Starc come into the category. In mostly English conditions England have had Anderson and Broad to do that too.
It’s early days, but it looks as if England have a generational talent on their hands in Jofra Archer who might be able to do it in all conditions. At Lords in the second test his bowling averaged 142 kph on a hard surface and his spells that felled Smith and discomfited all others changed the tone of the whole series. In the next match at Headingley he used his brain, turned down the pace to an average of 138kph and tried to maximise the impact of the seam and the conditions in which he was bowling. Playing all of his first class cricket in England has given him an appreciation of tracks that provide assistance and others which don't, and not many young fast bowlers have that nous. They look to run in, blast away and don’t have the nuance of approach that Archer has..
After his 6-43 in the first innings at Headingley he said "I don't need to run in and bowl 90mph every spell to get wickets. It's shown that today. There will be times in Test matches you have to focus on hitting your length. There will be times to ramp it up as well but you don't have to go into it every innings."
David Warner drew comparisons with Dale Steyn.
"It's a bit like how Dale Steyn with the new ball tried to just use the conditions and then sort of ramp it up when they need to," he said. "Today was world class bowling at its best."
The interesting part now, as we are in the early stages of England fast bowling passing the mantle from the Anderson/Broad generation to Archer is what happens next. Archer's bowled a third of England's overs at Lord's and is not the type to turn down the opportunity to bowl if asked. Yet such is the quantity of cricket across all formats (and potentially Archer could be playing all formats for England, plus franchise series the world over) that over-use has to be a worry.
His captain needs to try to keep expectations in check and the selectors need to build bowling line ups around Archer much as Australia do around Cummins in this series, where the strike bowler is complimented by steadier bowlers such as Hazlewood and Siddle who can take a number of overs and contribute, even if it has meant excluding Starc to ensure the correct balance in attacks.
Brodders Football Analysis
Brodders subscribers enjoyed a profitable 2018, betting £10 a point on matches would have won you £4,600 and he has now four successive profitable years. Over five years Betting £10 a point you would be winning over £23,000 with a 3.03% ROI Sign up here
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £44,319 All bets have an ROI +3.3%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £48,319 a 1107% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 30th August to 1st September
Coming up this weekend
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Arsenal v Tottenham
- Racing, Flat racing at Beverley, Chelmsford City, Chester, Lingfield, Sandown and Wolverhampton and over the jumps at Newton Abbot
- NFL The new season begins next Thursday
- Cricket, the fourth Ashes Test Match between England and Australia at Old Trafford begins next Wednesday
- F1, The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa
- Golf, On the USPGA the Shaw Charity Classic and on the European Tour Omega European Masters in Switzerland
- Tennis, the middle weekend of the US Open
- Rugby Union, World Cup Warm Up Internationals continue with Wales v Ireland
NFL 2019 What to expect and FREE Ante-Post reports
The 2019 season will see changes in Betting Emporium’s coverage of the NFL.
The week by week season package costs £50, starts next week and is available here
Rugby World Cup - (20th Sep - 2nd Nov 2019)
The RWC 2019 is also approaching. In 2015 the package won 112.4 points with a +ROI of 28.3%. The full package, ante post and match write ups with details of all our bets is £50 and you can sign up here
Free tip
League One Oxford United v Coventry (Saturday 3pm)
Oxford United finished 12th in League One last year, a respectable result given a turbulent off the field situation at the club (accounts released this week showed an £11m excess of liabilities over assets), having been the subject of three winding up attempts by the Kassam Stadium landlord and a steady departure of the better players to head off financial concerns the latest being Gavin Whyte to Cardiff in the summer.
Oxford have an absentee owner, have been paying staff late and loanees from last season who had the chance to re-join this declined to do so.
This off season there was no new squad investment apart from young free transfers and loans, such as Ben Woodburn from Liverpool.
So far this season Oxford have won 1 of five games and have four points conceding ten goals, and might be fortunate that Bury and Bolton’s problems mean effectively there are only two relegation spots left to fill.
Coventry were promoted in 2017-18 via the play offs and finished eighth last season in their first season back in League one. So far this season it is shaping up promisingly with three wins and two draws in five games in which they have only conceded three goals. England U19 international Jordy Hiwula is the top scorer with 3 goals so far.
Looking at the prices for this game Oxford are 6/4 favourites, the Draw 12/5 and Coventry available at 2/1. That 2/1 feels very interesting indeed given the form of the two sides
10 points Coventry City to win at Oxford United 2/1 Betfred and BetVictork
Brodders Football Analysis
Brodders subscribers enjoyed a profitable 2018, betting £10 a point on matches would have won you £4,600 and he has now four successive profitable years. Over five years Betting £10 a point you would be winning over £23,000 with a 3.03% ROI Sign up here
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £44,319 All bets have an ROI +3.3%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £48,319 a 1107% increase
The Road to Riches Weekend of 24th-25th August
Coming up this weekend
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Liverpool v Arsenal
- Racing, Flat racing at Chelmsford, Goodwood, Newmarket, Redcar, Windsor and York and over the jumps at Cartmel
- Cricket, the third Ashes Test Match continues at Headingley
- Golf, On the USPGA the Tour Championship at East Lake GC and on the European Tour the Scandinavian Invitational in Sweden
- Tennis, ATP Winstom-Salem in North Carolina ahead of the US Open
- Rugby Union, World Cup Warm Up Internationals continue with England v Ireland and Scotland v France
NFL 2019 What to expect and FREE Ante-Post reports
The 2019 season will see changes in Betting Emporium’s coverage of the NFL. See Neil’s explanation and the FREE ante post write ups here
The week by week season package costs £50 and is available here
US Open Tennis (26th August -8th Sept 2019) by Nigel Seeley
The Mens and Womens draws take place today The package for Flushing Meadow costs £50. Sign up here
Rugby World Cup - (20th Sep - 2nd Nov 2019)
The RWC 2019 is also approaching. In 2015 the package won 112.4 points with a +ROI of 28.3%. The full package, ante post and match write ups with details of all our bets is £50 and you can sign up here
Free Tip
T20 Blast cricket Somerset v Glamorgan Saturday 7pm Taunton (SkySports)
A couple of weeks ago we tried Somerset. Babar hit a hundred on the Friday night and failed when recommended for the Saturday. His opening partner Banton failed on the Friday and top scored on the Saturday.
Writing ahead of Somerset’s trip to Gloucestershire to play on Friday. Somerset have a 5-4-1 record with four games to go, fifth in the South group table with four to qualify. Glamorgan meanwhile have won 1 game lost six and had a whopping four no results.
Against bottom of the table opponents this is an ideal opportunity for the openers Babar and Banton to make hay again.
So far this season in nine T20 matches Babar has 434 runs off 284 balls with a hundred and three fifties. Banton has 396 runs off 245 balls also with a hundred and three fifties. The next highest Somerset run scorer is Abell with 217 runs. Glamorgan have only one bowler, Salter who has taken more than five wickets in their seven games.
Career-wise Babar has scored 1247 runs in 30 T20 internationals and has scored 50+ in a third of his innings. Banton is a huge talent, likely to be fast tracked into the England one day set up for starters though to date he has only played 12 career T20 games. In those 12 games he has scored 438 runs and hit 18 sixes.
Outright prices unsurprisingly are in the region of Somerset 1/2 and Glamorgan 6/4. Babar is now, since we last looked at the pair in this column, into 6/4 Top Somerset batsman and Banton 100/30. Babar is the lower variance choice, but Banton looks better value for this one.
8 points Tom Banton Top Somerset batsman (Sartuday v Glamorgan) 100/30 Bet365 and William Hill
Brodders Football Analysis
Brodders subscribers enjoyed a profitable 2018, betting £10 a point on matches would have won you £4,600 and he has now four successive profitable years. Over five years Betting £10 a point you would be winning over £23,000 with a 3.03% ROI Sign up here
Bookmaker reviews and advice
Getting the best price available is very important for all those who take their betting seriously.
Please open an account with all those bookmakers on the page on this link that you do not already have an account with using the links provided.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £44,319 All bets have an ROI +3.3%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £48,319 a 1107% increase
