The Road To Riches Weekend of September 30th to October 1st

Coming Up this weekend

- Football,Premier League matches include Chelsea v Manchester City.

- Racing, Flat meetings at Chelmsford, Chester, Haydock, Newmarket and Ripon. Over the jumps at Market Rasen. On Sunday the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Chantilly.

- Tennis, ATP Opens in Shenzhen,Wuhan and Tashkent.

- Golf, on the USPGA the Presidents Cup at Liberty National. On the European Tour the British Masters at Close House in Northumberland.

- Formula One, the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang

-.Rugby Union, the Rugby Championship: Argentina v New Zealand and South Africa v Australia.

NFL Week Four!

Free tip

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe 3.05pm BST Sunday by Neil Channing

I'm having 8 Points each-way Dschingis Secret at 12/1 1/5th 1234 with Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook, Hills and Sky Bet.

Trump to the rescue?

After the first two weeks of the NFL season there were concerns about the NFL’s quality of play particularly on offense.For NFL ratings, Sports Media Watch in the US reported that 9 of the 13 NFL windows through Week 2 of this season posted a decrease this season year over year and a connection was drawn between poor play and poor ratings.

CBS's Sunday NFL windows averaged 13.9m viewers, down 10% versus 15.2m last year. Packers-Falcons was the least-watched Week 2 Sunday Night Football game since 2008. NBC’s three prime-time games averaged 22.1m viewers, down 7% from 2016.

One bright spot was that for the second week in a row, NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football ratings were up significantly from NFL Network’s games last season: Last week’s Rams-49ers game, one of the best TNF games to date and an 80 point shoot-out had 7.4m viewers. Last year, the four Thursday night games on NFL Network averaged 6.1m.

The league can point to potential factors for decreases in addition to poor offense such as Hurricane Irma impacting markets. However there are a number factors at play here:

Firstly through the first 30 games of the 2017 season, the average contest has been decided by 13 points. One sided matches with in many cases poor quarterback play aren’t the biggest draw.

Secondly there are structural factors at play, namely the fragmentation of media watching. A curious trend within these viewing dips is that the number of people watching games is not down, but the amount of time they’re watching for is. “Only watching part of a game” is more prevalent and the popularity of Red Zone, showing action from every game as it happens and concentrating on touchdowns and big plays only, is indicative of the consumer being prepared to cut out the “blanks” in a game and consume its watching of individual games in smaller chunks.

For some viewers, panels are indicating that the NFL has “Stopped being fun” One head coach meanwhile said last week that there “Just not a lot of technique anywhere”.

Finally in the last few years, since the 2011 CBA, there has been a game-changing trend: The NFL is getting young due to changes at both ends of the age spectrum, with record numbers of less experienced rookies entering the league and veterans being released.

In the past five years, NFL teams have committed heavily to cost-effective rookies, reserving lucrative second contracts for the game’s biggest stars. Looming over all of that is teams’ reliance on the rookie salary scale, which since the 2011 CBA has guaranteed teams access to cheap players for four years. In many cases the college game hasn’t prepared the younger players for the NFL and it knocks on to the quality of the product we watch.

Just as it was all doom and gloom, week 3 presented a nice surprise for the league at the end of a difficult week. Firstly there were a number of close high scoring games and then on MNF Cowboys-Cardinals got a 9.3 overnight rating easily the highest-rated Monday night game of the year. That came despite some talk that the controversy surrounding players kneeling during the national anthem would depress NFL ratings. Through four games Monday Night Football ratings are now up over last season. In aggregate ratings across the NFL were up about 3% from Week Three last year.

Perhaps casual viewers were encouraged to look into games because of the President Trump controversy and players responses before and during national anthems and stayed to watch a game. The chance to watch a feud as it happens can’t be bad for ratings.

Brodders Football Analysis

Sign up to Brodders match analysis and recommended bets here for £50 a month. You are free to cancel at any time.

This week Brodders published an in depth ante post Champions League write up covering outrights/ groups/ goal-scorer bets

Long term profit over more than three years. Following all bets subscribers are winning £21,490 (£10 a point, average bet £150) +ROI 4.01% (correct at 01/09/17)

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.

There are literally hundreds of pounds on offer from bookmakers just for signing up through Bettingemporium.com

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 + £38,026.90 All bets have an ROI +3.95%

A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £42,026.90 an 951% increase

(correct at 01/09/17)

The Road to Riches Weekend of 23rd-24th September

Coming Up this weekend

- Football, the Premier League matches include Leicester City v Liverpool

- Racing, Flat meetings at Ayr, Catterick, Newbury, Newmarket and Wolverhampton

- Tennis, ATP Opens in St Petersburg, Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo and Shenzhen

- Golf, on the USPGA the Tour Championship at East Lake GC. On the European Tour the Portugal Masters.

- Cricket, ODI international between England and the West Indies at Bristol on Sunday.

The New NFL Season Week Three!

Free tip

England v West Indies Third ODI International Bristol Sunday 11am start

England go into this game 1-0 up in the five match series after the second match was abandoned in the rain at Trent Bridge on Thursday

Scheduling five one-dayinternationals in mid to late September was an obvious gamble with the weather but counties are so desperate for the income from England matches that an already packed schedule is squeezed further.

There are many reasons why the West Indies have now failed to qualify automatically for the 2019 World Cup, some of which are off the field related, but one thing they can do is be more adaptable in their strategies which are suited to benign pitches and sunny weather at home but look somewhat out of place here in late season.

In T20, their “block-or-bash” method has not hindered them, the immense power in the batting order over a short format means they can overcome dot balls by hitting boundaries regularly. In the 50 over game they have a dot ball percentage since the 2015 world cup of just under 60%, the most of any of the major sides. By comparison England’s dot ball percentage is under 50%. Their batsman look to turn ones into twos which is a big contrast from the “boundary or nothing” approach from the likes of Chris Gayle which we saw in the first match of this series at Old Trafford where the West Indies innings fizzled away after Gayle and Lewis teed off at the start of the innings.

The third match is at Bristol on Sunday. England are 1/4 favourites, West Indies 3/1 underdogs across the market which appears fair enough given the late season English conditions and the West Indies’ travails in the format. Any team with hitters like Gayle (when fit), Lewis and Pollard has a punchers chance, it only takes one or two of these flair players to come off and a game can be transformed but the likelihood is that these outright odds are on the mark.

My idea of a bet here is in the West Indies batsman market. Against the moving ball there is a premium on technique and the best West Indian technique is in 23 year old batsman Shai Hope. Hope really impressed in the three match test series with two hundreds and a fifty in compiling 375 runs in his six innings. Where others in this ODI team are “boom and bust” he, batting at number three so in early enough to build the innings, sets out to anchor an innings and attempts to let the hitters play round him. He has only played 19 ODIs in a fledgling career but already has 659 runs at an average of over 40 but at a very modest strike rate of 66, a more studied approach than his team mates.

We are being offered 7/2 with William Hill and Skybet that while the likes of Gayle and Lewis attempt “calypso cricket” in anything but calypso conditions in England in September he will occupy the crease and compile a score.

8 points Shai Hope Top West Indian Batsman third ODI 7/2 Skybet or William Hill

Revolving Doors

As Neil has been mentioning in his weekly NFL write-ups it wasn’t exactly a surprise that offenses have started this NFL season slowly, with defenses on top in many games. There are a couple of structural reasons for this, the primary one being that is easier for a defense to hit the ground running in the current NFL as the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the NFLPA severely restricts the number of practices firstly and padded practices secondly all year round.

Offenses take time to install and mesh, coaching changes are frequent with new schemes for many teams from one season to the next and for many it is as if the first month of the regular season acts as an effective pre-season as many of the starters are held out of pre-season to minimise injury risk. If a quarterback has no time to throw, or there is no running lane for a tail back or a quarterback is off-target to a receiver, who might drop the ball anyway, it is clear for everyone to see. Dysfunctional offense has been no more obvious than on Offensive lines.

In 2017 through two weeks and a game there have been 5.23 sacks per game, the highest rate in the last 20 seasons.

This week Patriots coach Bill Belichick, seemed to confirm that reduced padded practice have reduced the opportunities for offensive linemen to perfect their craft. “I just think in general, fundamentally it’s difficult to play on the offensive and defensive line,” Belichick said. “You’re playing a contact position with pads, and you’re practicing it without pads the majority of the time. That usually develops a lot of bad habits”

He continued “Without being able to practice, this favours the defensive players a little more, whereas the offensive unit has to work together and be able to block things at more of a game tempo with pads and penetration and combination blocks and things like that. It’s just hard to simulate those and hard to get the timing of those when you’re just standing up watching each other without pads on a lot”

To make his point, Belichick opted for an example from another sport.

“You go out to the driving range and hit drives and hit balls, but you can’t go on the putting green and then, to think that your putting is going to be at the same level as your driving when you can’t really practice it, it’s not really realistic”

Different teams have taken varying approaches to improving their Offensive line problems. I can illustrate this by looking at a couple of teams the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants.

For the Giants while Odell Beckham’s injury didn’t help the biggest reason by far for the Giants' ineptitude in the opening games of the year was the performance of their offensive line. This is the same offensive line (the same five players) that was the weakest unit on the team a year ago.The Giants have three below-average linemen in left tackle Ereck Flowers, right guard John Jerry and right tackle Bobby Hart.

The Giants maintained when questioned in the off-season  that 2017 was a weak draft for offensive linemen and that only average veterans got overpaid in free agency and that was not something they were willing to do. They opted for continuity and banked on the continued growth of young players. It doesn't appear to have worked, so far.

On the other hand the Minnesota offense, which spluttered through last season with what appeared to be revolving doors on the offensive line, look like a finely tuned machine in week one behind an entirely revamped offensive line. The Vikings have only one returning starter on the line from last year and he is playing a different position.

The Vikings have five new players at each position, and three of them weren't even on the team last year including a rookie center and both offensive tackles.

They are far from the only offensive line that struggled in Week 1. Teams such as the Seahawks, Colts, Texans, Bengals and Saints have similar issues but at least many (though not all, looking at you the Bengals) tried to address the issue in the off-season.

For example Seattle at least did something by signing former Number two overall draft pick Luke Joeckel and drafting Ethan Pocic high in last April's draft.

The memo to NFL teams faced with a requirement for 8-9 offensive linemen on each roster and not enough quality players to match up to ever quicker and stronger defenses might be as follows. Since you are prohibited to work at developing offensive lineman with padded practice opportunities so restricted you have two choices: a) draft the best you can find or b) overpay for the few that become available in free agency. Doing neither, as we can see even early in this new NFL season, isn’t a recipe for success.

Brodders Football Analysis

Sign up to Brodders match analysis and recommended bets here for £50 a month. You are free to cancel at any time.

This week Brodders published an in depth ante post Champions League write up covering outrights/ groups/ goal-scorer bets

Long term profit over more than three years. Following all bets subscribers are winning £21,490 (£10 a point, average bet £150) +ROI 4.01% (correct at 01/09/17)

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.

There are literally hundreds of pounds on offer from bookmakers just for signing up through Bettingemporium.com

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 + £38,026.90 All bets have an ROI +3.95%

A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £42,026.90 an 951% increase

(correct at  01/09/17)

The Road to Riches Weekend of 16th-17th September

Coming Up this weekend

- Football, the Premier League matches include Chelsea v Arsenal and Manchester United v Everton.

- Racing, Flat meetings at Bath, Chester, Doncaster, Lingfield and Musselburgh.

- Tennis, the Japan Open in Tokyo and the Coupe Banque Nationale in Quebec.

- Golf, on the USPGA the BMW Championship, on the European tour the KLM Open.

- Formula One, the Singapore Grand Prix.

- Cricket, the T20 international between England and the West Indies at Durham.

- Rugby Union, Rugby Championship round four. New Zealand v South Africa and Australia.v Argentina.

The New NFL Season Week Two!

Free tip

The St Leger, Doncaster Saturday 3.35pm by Neil Channing

Game Changer

Neymar’s £198m transfer from Barcelona to PSG has had a number of knock on effects. Neymar cost 138% more than the £89m Juventus received from Manchester United for Paul Pogba last summer. The inevitable consequence of a domino effect in the market has meant very quck thinking by established European giants as “new”money begins to dominate the financial landscape of European football.

Neymar is believed to have been convinced of the need to leave Barcelona by his father, who coincidentally stands to make a slice of around £35m from the transfery. Kylian Mbappé meanwhile, the 18-year-old Monaco prodigy who eventually also went to PSG in an unsually structured move joining on an initial loan which will become permanent in a £166m deal next season, also happens to be advised by his father in a game that has become dominated by so-called super-agents.

Even after a record-breaking summer that had also seen Premier League clubs spend over £1bn gross on players the figures could have been even bigger as in the short term the likes of Coutinho and Sanchez stayed at their current clubs.

Last week it was announced that thePremier League club summer transfer window will now shut at 5pm on the Thursday before the first game of the season, with the change affecting only incoming signings. The Premier League is the first European elite division to abandon the 31st August deadline, meaning theoretically clubs elsewhere in Europe will be able to buy their players but no replacements could be signed.

14 clubs voted in favour of the amendment with five against and one abstention.The five who voted against were Manchester City, Manchester United, Crystal Palace, Watford and Swansea City. United’s vote was apparently cast against the wishes of José Mourinho, who said last month that he would “prefer the window to close as soon as possible”.

Those opposed to the rule change worry that Premier League clubs will be left short if their players are bought after the domestic window shuts and they are unable to replace them. Indeed there does appear to be a risk of the Premier League putting itself at a competitive disadvantage.It is understood Liverpool’s refusal to sell Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona convinced detractors that the Premier League could make a unilateral move without the rest of Europe. Germany’s top tier is most likely to follow suit and the Bundesliga recently hosted a general meeting of club managers where the issue was discussed.

The Premier League also expects that the Football League will copy its example, while the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, has backed closing the window earlier in an interview with the German broadcasters ARD. He said: “Yes, I think that it is open for too long. It is strange that you play for one club when the season starts and then that you can simply play for another one. That is not good for the competition. We are in serious discussions over shortening the transfer window.” Asked when it should close, Ceferin added: “I think that it is no bad idea to close the window at the end of July.”

Arsène Wenger has also called for January’s mid-season transfer window to be scrapped entirely, speaking before the Premier League’s August window decision. There is also a wider mood that the rest of Europe’s top leagues will not only fall in behind the English in restricting the summer window, but they will also remove the January window.

Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, was at a conference in Manchester last week complaining mostly about Qatari state funded PSG. For Real Madrid and Barcelona, the potential closing down of the January window and the restrictions imposed on the summer window come from a view amongst some of Europe’s biggest clubs that something must change after this summer, in which PSG have blown the competition out the water and falling in behind the Premier League and the full closing of January as part of a number of measures is likely to come into force too as the old money strikes back.

For well-run Premier League clubs, who trust their own capacity to organise and execute a transfer strategy in the new shorter timeframe, even next summer with the disruption of World Cup finals that runs to July 15, the early closing of the window made sense. It will be even more so if other European leagues follow

Brodders Football Analysis

Sign up to Brodders match analysis and recommended bets here for £50 a month. You are free to cancel at any time.

This week Brodders published an in depth ante post Champions League write up covering outrights/ groups/ goal-scorer bets

Long term profit over more than three years. Following all bets subscribers are winning £21,490 (£10 a point, average bet £150) +ROI 4.01% (correct at 01/09/17)

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.

There are literally hundreds of pounds on offer from bookmakers just for signing up through Bettingemporium.com

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 + £38,026.90 All bets have an ROI +3.95%

A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £42,026.90 an 951% increase

(correct at  01/09/17)

The Road to Riches Weekend of 9th-10th September

Coming Up this weekend

- Football, the Premier League returns including Manchester City v Liverpool and Everton v Tottenham Hotspur.

- Racing, Flat meetings at Ascot, Haydock, Kempton, Thirsk and Wolverhampton. Over the jumps at Stratford.

- Tennis, the final weekend of the US Open at Flushing Meadow.

- Golf, On the European Tour, the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.

- Cricket, the third Test between England and the West Indies at Lords.

- Rugby Union, Rugby Championship round three. New Zealand v Argentina and Australia v South Africa.

Redzonesports

At Betting Emporium we know how hard it is to get bets on at the prices we want. We are always on the look out for trustworthy firms who will lay a decent bet at a decent price.

Some friends of Neil and Joe are involved with a great new set up specialising in American sports, notably NFL, baseball and basketball. it is headed up by Steve Baumohl (former head of US sports at Sporting Index). They do also cover the other markets but in ones like the NFL they will be betting 1.95 each of two rather than the UK standard 10/11 in the handicaps and totals markets and over a season this will make a decent difference to us all.

They will lay a decent bet and won't close you down if you win. We will be using them and suggest that you give them a try too. They also take decent sized bets on the Premier League and betting to 104%. They are called Redzonesports and you can open your account here

EXCLUSIVE BONUS:

Get DOUBLE THE ODDS on the Superbowl outright market for up to £100 stake!

Full details and open your account here

Use code EMPORIUM when signing up

The New NFL Season starts this week!

See what Joe Beevers has to say about 'Beat the Streak' at i-pools. The chance to win £1,000,000 for a fiver!

http://www.bettingemporium.com/pages/view/beat-the-streak-at-i-poolscouk-and-win-1000000

Free tip

2017 Rugby Championship Australia v South Africa (Perth, 6pm local, 11am BST)

The Springboks entered the 2017 Rugby Championship with modest optimism. They have improved a great deal since last year’s disastrous season. They claimed a 3-0 series victory over a weakened French side in June, and the bulk of their squad is made up of Lions players that went to a second successive Super Rugby final.

In the Rugby Championship last year they won two of their six Tests. They suffered two massive losses against the All Blacks and a first-ever defeat to Argentina. Later in the year they lost to England, suffered a first-ever loss against Italy and finished with a loss against Wales. Defence was a major issue, as well as organisation and tactics in attack.

2017 has seen the Springboks get off to a fantastic start. In the series against France defensive organisation was dramatically improved. In attack, the resurgence of the forward pack’s efforts in cleaning out rucks and securing clean ball has allowed the half back combination of Cronje/Jantjies to flourish. This combined with set plays brought in by coach Smith should give a talented backline far more of a chance to make an impact against any side in this year’s Rugby Championship.

The Springboks won both tests against Argentina to start this competition 37-15 at home and then 41-23 in Argentina and will be expecting to finish second in the championship, winning at home against and competing with Australia in this game away from home.

Australia were 40-6 down in their first game against New Zealand and only lost 54-34 as they threw caution to the wind and attacked as New Zealand took their foot off the gas. Then in round 2 in Dunedin they went 17-0 up, went behind early in the second half but came back to lead with three minutes to go before finally losing to a late try. 35-29 was a far narrower loss than everyone expected.

It was a re-affirming performance from some of Australia’s stars such as Folau, Hooper, Foley and Genia. Their playmakers and strike runners complement each other very well and  in their two games against the All Blacks they scored nine tries and 63 points.

Australia have talented players, albeit the team is in a transitional phase midway through the four year world cup cycle.Since losing the 2015 World Cup final to New Zealand, Australia have won fewer than half of their Tests and this match will go some way towards telling if they are recovering consistently.

Bookmakers expect this to be a very tight game. Australia are narrow favourites 5/6 outright and -1 on the handicap at 10/11, South Africa are available at 11/10.

The game will be won or lost up front, a traditional South African strength where the visitors will be looking to deny the Australian backline quick ball

Also note that the game is in Perth, four hours less travelling time for the South Africans than playing on the East coast of Australia. Furthermore it is potentially hostile territory for a home test match. Western Australian rugby has been in open rebellion since the Western Force were kicked out of Super Rugby and there is the chance to make some kind of point to the Australian Rugby Union at the team's home stadium.

I like South Africa to win this match narrowly, and they can be backed to win by 1-10 points at 11/4 with Betfair Sportsbook

8 points South Africa to win by 1-10 points 11/4 Betfair Sportsbook, 9/4 Sportingbet

There’s life in the old dog yet

The West Indies cricket team’s long term malaise is borne not only of poor depth of talent but by mismanagement of the game in the region. The current touring squad is missing up to 15 players, whose disaffection began in a dispute with the cricket board over money and they now either ply their trade in T20 leagues or have simply made themselves unavailable for test cricket.

It is all very well having a transitional period from one set of established players to another, all sides have those, but to do it with no senior players at all looked to be impossible when England beat the West Indies in three days in the first English day-night test at Edgbaston a fortnight ago.

A week later, the West Indies won the second test at Headingley at odds of no less than 20-1 before the toss was made. This victory has been justifiably described as "one of the great turnarounds in sport"

Since August 1997, the West Indies have played 88 Tests away from home (excluding playing Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) and including Headingley they’ve only won four. Startlingly two of those four victories have been in their last three teats, as they beat Pakistan in Sharjah earlier in the year.

Headingley was a fantastic Test and a great advertisement for the much maligned five-day game. The West Indies were absolutely incredible.

With the bat 23 year old Shai Hope was brilliant. He came into the match with a Test average of 18 and became the first man ever to score two centuries in a match at the ground. Hope and 24 year old Kraigg Brathwaite faced 109 overs in the Test together, scoring 390 runs. Brathwaite scored 134 and 95.

With the ball fast bowler Shannon Gabriel missed Edgbaston but came back at Headingley with 4-51 in the first innings, a type of bowler who reminds you of the likes of Wayne Daniel and Sylvester Clarke from the golden era of West Indian fast bowlers, all menace and intent.

He exposed England’s achilles heel and it is now, including yesterday when the side fell to 24 for 4, 20 times in 66 innings in the last 3 years that England have been at least 3 wickets down for 50 runs or less in their first innings. The strength of their middle to late order batting usually bails them out, but it remains a big concern ahead of the Ashes this winter.

Whilst it was always likely to be difficult to back up the performance at Lords, the West Indies are eighth in the world Test rankings and for now their surprise win quells the growing demands for a two division set up to Test cricket, where the likes of West Indies and Sri Lanka would play Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland. Bangladesh beating Australia in the first test a few days later helps too.

For Test cricket struggling for crowds in many areas of the world and with mismatches such as those seen at Edgbaston not helping, trying to find its place in the modern cricketing landscape where T20 leagues are drawing more sponsorship and broadcasting money (witness the giant deal for the IPL announced this week) this pair of results showed there is life in the old dog yet.

Brodders Football Analysis

Sign up to Brodders match analysis and recommended bets here for £50 a month. You are free to cancel at any time.

Long term profit over more than three years. Following all bets subscribers are winning £21,490 (£10 a point, average bet £150) +ROI 4.01% (correct at 01/09/17)

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.

There are literally hundreds of pounds on offer from bookmakers just for signing up through Bettingemporium.com

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 + £38,026.90 All bets have an ROI +3.95%

A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £42,026.90 an 951% increase

(correct at  01/09/17)

The Road to Riches: Weekend of 2nd-3rd September

Coming Up this weekend

- Football, the Premier League International break with England in World Cup Qualifying action in Malta then at home to Slovakia next Tuesday.

- Racing, Flat meetings at Beverley, Chelmsford, Chester, Hamilton and Sandown. Over the jumps at Newton Abbot.

- Tennis, the middle weekend of the US Open at Flushing Meadow.

- Golf, USPGA Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. On the European Tour the Czech Masters.

- Formula One, the Italian Grand Prix at Spa.

- Cricket, NatWest T20 Blast finals day at Edgbaston.

- Rugby Union, the start of the new Aviva Premiership season.

Redzonesports

At Betting Emporium we know how hard it is to get bets on at the prices we want. We are always on the look out for trustworthy firms who will lay a decent bet at a decent price.

Some friends of Neil and Joe are involved with a great new set up specialising in American sports, notably NFL, baseball and basketball. it is headed up by Steve Baumohl (former head of US sports at Sporting Index). They do also cover the other markets but in ones like the NFL they will be betting 1.95 each of two rather than the UK standard 10/11 in the handicaps and totals markets and over a season this will make a decent difference to us all.

They will lay a decent bet and won't close you down if you win. We will be using them and suggest that you give them a try too. They also take decent sized bets on the Premier League and betting to 104%. They are called Redzonesports and you can open your account here

EXCLUSIVE BONUS:

Get DOUBLE THE ODDS on the Superbowl outright market for up to £100 stake!

Full details and open your account here

Use code EMPORIUM when signing up

Two NFL Ante post reports have been published “NFL 2017 Season Outright and Divisional Preview” and NFL 2017 Season Sub Markets” which are FREE to read and can be found here

Coming up on Betting Emporium

NFL New Season starts on Thursday 7th September (Friday 8th UK time) with Chiefs at Patriots (TNF)

See what Joe Beevers has to say about 'Beat the Streak' at i-pools. The chance to win £1,000,000 for a fiver!

http://www.bettingemporium.com/pages/view/beat-the-streak-at-i-poolscouk-and-win-1000000

Free tip

NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day, Edgbaston Saturday beginning at 11am SkySports

The semi finals are as follows:

11am Birmingham Bears v Glamorgan

2.30pm Hampshire v Nottinghamshire

The winners meet in the final later in the day

There have been two notable characteristics of this year’s T20 blast:.

Firstly it has been high scoring. This season there have been 27 scores of 200 plus including a British record of 260. The most ever in a season before this year was 20 in 2015.In 2016 there were 17. The most likely reason for this is that this year the competition is being played in a block, allowing players to get into a rhythm in one format rather than constantly switching between the four day and twenty over game. Playing in a block has also meant more availability for a number of overseas players (many of whom would previously come over for a few games, and be replaced later in the competition) and these international quality players have been playing more games.

Secondly the huge impact of Kolpak players has been undeniable. A quick refresher on Kolpak, a rule that means that citizens of countries that are part of European Union Association Agreements, which are free trade treaties between the EU and other countries, also have the same right. South Africa is part of a deal called the Cotonou Agreement with the EU. Zimbabwe and several Caribbean nations are also signatories, so their players are eligible for Kolpak deals too.

In 2009, the British Home Office ruled that to sign a Kolpak deal, a player must either have a valid work permit for four years in the UK or have earned a specified number of caps in international cricket.

The four semi-finals contain three sides in the top five of the ante-post betting and Glamorgan, 25-1 outsiders before a ball was bowled. Glamorgan in particular have been Kolpak heavy. Their quarter final side contained four South African Internationals and an Australian. Hampshire fielded four overseas internationals, two from South Africa, one from Pakistan and one from Australia. In these two teams were potential and actual match winners like Colin Ingram, David Miller, Kyle Abbott and Shahid Afridi

Odds are:

Notts 7/4

Birmingham 11/4

Hampshire 3/1

Glamorgan 4/1

The Birmingham Bears have had an interesting season. Initially a very experienced side they began the tournament with Ian Bell captain and opening the batting and 38 year old Rikki Clarke the key all rounder.

By mid tournament (and sitting bottom of the championship table) with inconsistent form, coach Ashley Giles had turned to youth.

Clarke had left for Surrey and then top three batsman Dominic Sibley came the other way. Ian Bell was dropped from the team after 250 runs in 12 innings and he resigned the captaincy. Stalwarts of the side in all formats such as Porterfield (149 runs in 7 innings) and Rankin (10 wickets in 9 matches but at 8.5 runs per over) were out of the picture too

The side that went to Surrey in the last quarter-final and chased down 205 to reach finals day had a top four of Ed Pollock, Sibley, Adam Hose and Sam Hain with an average age of 22. In the bowling line up were Adam Thomason, aged 20 and Olly Stone aged 23. Thomason is already the “death” bowler and Stone is 90mph plus.

These six were joined by new captain Grant Elliott (Kolpak, the match winner in the quarter final), overseas player all-rounder Colin De Grandhomme, wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose, a veteran at 28 years old Oliver Hannon-Dalby (14 wickets in the bast this season at 17 a piece) and probably the best slower bowler in T20 cricket Jeetan Patel who is a key player for finals day. He has 20 wickets in the competition this season at under seven an over.

This young side had a markedly different approach than the side fielded earlier in the competition, much more aggressive with the bat will the top four all prepared to go from ball one. This might be seen as a higher variance approach but it has become the norm of the best T20 sides. Making a score in the power-play sets up the rest of the innings and if it doesn’t come off the older heads in the middle of the Birmingham order can rebuild an innings.

Notts, with Hales and Wessels combining for 977 runs in the competition so far, Hales at an incredible strike rate of 206 should be favourites but the 7/4 doesn't give much to go at. They also have an experienced bowling attack with five bowlers who have taken 10+ wickets so far in the competition

Hampshire are a talented side.James Vince has scored nearly 500 runs and the combination of young leg spinner Mason Crane and Kyle Abbott have taken 33 wickets.

Glamorgan have leant on the batting of Colin Ingram with 451 runs and Jacques Rudolph with 378. Hogan and De Lange have taken 34 wickets between them. These four players are crucial as the domestic players in the team, a second division championship side, aren’t of the quality of the other three sides.

The semi final draw favours the Bears. Glamorgan have a punchers chance if Ingram come offs but Birmingham are at home, and Patel in particular is pre-eminent on the slow and sometimes dry pitches Edgbaston produces. Finally the new fearless approach bodes well for finals day.Back into the side might come England all-rounder Chris Woakes too.

8 points Birmingham Bears to win the Nat West T20 Blast 11/4 Bet365, Labrokes, Corals,Betfred

Fore!

The way viewers consume all sports now frequently on the go rather than on the sofa is shorter than it used to be. Like many other sports the landscape for golf has changed. Participation levels and viewing figures in the UK are on the slide. Even the R and A accepts they need to attract a younger, more diverse audience and find a way to retain people whose work and family commitments mean they are not able to spend four hours on a course.

A decade ago 4.7m viewers watched the BBC’s coverage of the Open at Birkdale. Last year Sky got 1.1million for its BAFTA-winning coverage of the Open at Troon.

Following this year’s Open the BBC at short notice won the rights to broadcast the USPGA, and its coverage paled into comparision with Sky with long delays, remote commentators and an anachronistic tone. That said for golf to prosper, it needs to be shown on terrestrial television more regularly.

When I was younger, I watched battles between Nicklaus and Watson, then Seve and onto Faldo and Norman all live on the BBC. The younger generation today, in an era where competition for viewing is not just other sports but consoles and social media don’t have the same reference point despite the existence of young role models like McIlroy and Spieth.

The same has happened in cricket. The consequences of the almost full retreat from terrestrial TV coverage revealed themselves in participation and viewing, and the ECB is now belatedly re-introducing terrestrial TV as part of its broadcasting packages for its new franchise T20 competition in the UK aimed at a younger audience.

Golf’s challenges run deeper than exposure on television, with fading participation also a concern: 1.54 million people played golf at least once a month in 2007-08, the first year Sport England tracked figures. Its latest report suggests that figure is now down to 1.31 million. Another recent study found there were 95,000 adult female golfers and 40,000 juniors in England, among the highest numbers in Europe. Yet other nations tend to have higher percentages of female and youth players. Just 14% of UK golf club members are women, while in other parts of the world it is above 30%.

There are what may be politely called golf’s heritage problems, the widespread perception the sport is flooded with conservative people. When a championship course such as Muirfield only allows women to become members in 2017 it reinforces the impression of a sport that is archaic.

Recently the chief executive of the European Tour suggested there were too many 72-hole tournaments and that there was a “desperate need for something else that can attract a different demographic, a new energy and a different time commitment to the game”. His solution was “Golf Sixes”, a six-hole competition that can be completed in little more than an hour. In the inaugural competition, played between 16 teams of pairs in St Albans this spring, the third hole had a long drive competition while the fourth had a 40-second shot clock.

In Iceland they recently experimented with a third way, playing professional tournaments on courses of fewer than 18 holes, without gimmicks. The country’s recent national match-play event, the KPMG Cup, played on 13 holes of the 18-hole Westman Islands course, as an example.

The traditional 18-hole game has two major problems: it takes too long to play and costs too much. Given the trend for rising land values across the world, it is not easy for courses to be built. So, it is argued, why not transform existing courses or create new ones with fewer holes and frequent loops back to the clubhouse?

Brodders Football Analysis

Sign up to Brodders match analysis and recommended bets here for £50 a month. You are free to cancel at any time.

Long term profit over more than three years. Following all bets subscribers are winning £21,490 (£10 a point, average bet £150) +ROI 4.01% (correct at 01/09/17)

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.

There are literally hundreds of pounds on offer from bookmakers just for signing up through Bettingemporium.com

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 + £38,026.90 All bets have an ROI +3.95%

A £4000 bank (see FAQ re bank-roll requirements) betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £42,026.90 an 951% increase

(correct at  01/09/17)