Indian Wells Mens Top 5 Tennis

The first of nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events will be serving up a treat for the BNP Paribas Open in California. The big event starts on March 7th, 2013 and concludes on the 17th, and is only second in terms of importance to the Grand Slams. Big money, big draws and big efforts are needed to go all the way and of course, all of the big guns will be there, including Rafael Nadal. So with the big five in the world all attending Indian Wells this season, is it likely that anyone outside of them are going to get their hands on the title? Probably not, not when, in all probability, you will be watching the top five ranked players in the world scrap for the four semi final spots. If four of the five, from Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal aren’t occupying the semi final spots, then a dramatic tournament will have been played up to that point.

So who is going to be the frontrunner in 2013 Indian Wells tennis betting? Look no further than NovakDjokovic of course for this one. The Serbian world number one has taken the title twice before in his career, back in 2008 and again in 2011. Surprisingly he was dumped out of last year’s competition before the finish line as big John Isner powered his way past Djokovic in the semi final stage. So that has left Djokovic with a 26-5 match record at Indian Wells and in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals, the Serbian holds a 10-7 record. With the big win at the Australian Open at the start of the year, and only warming up in Dubai, he should be fresh enough and sharp enough to back in the final. He will go as top seed and outright favourite for 2013 Indian Wells tennis betting.

What of the defending champion? That is Roger Federer who eased his way past John Isner in last year’s final. The Swiss legend has already announced that he will take a break until the clay court swing of the season following Indian Wells. As Andy Murray had the legs over him in the semi finals of the Australian Open and with Federer crashing out of Rotterdam against Julien Benneteau, he may not be the strongest option of the big guns. Still, he is the first man ever to claim four BNP Paribas Open titles and equalled Rafael Nadal’s record of 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in winning Indian Wells in 2012. Perhaps not the force he was, and he may struggle on most occasions to get the better of the younger Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

Andy Murray is targeting a big clay court swing of the season, but he is most at home on the hard surface, and that is why he could go well at Indian Wells. The Brit took a long rest after his defeat in the final of the 2013 Australian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. May as well not have shown up last year at Indian Wells, as the British Number One bombed in the second round against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in straight sets. Murray’s best ever run at Indian Wells came back in 2009 when he reached the final, losing out there to Rafael Nadal. He is long overdue a return there and has landed six ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in his career, however 2012 was the first season since 2009 that he didn’t get on under his belt.

While those three will remain the strongest options in the 2013 Indian Wells betting markets, what of Spanish duo Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer? Nadal is still on the comeback trail after a long injury and this will be by far the toughest test that he will have faced on his return to the game. He is untried and untested and therefore would be an outside shot against the best in the world at the moment. David Ferrer, the world number four has enjoyed a very strong start to the 2013 season, winning titles and making a run to the semi finals of the Australian Open. Both are tenacious but both still may be lacking that cutting edge at the big top tiered events like this. Nadal won Indian Wells twice in 2007 and in 2009, while Ferrer has never been past the quarter finals. Also floating around in the draw and causing problems will be the big serving Argentine Juan Martin del Potro who made a semi final run back in 2011.

Australian F1 2013

Once again the Australian Grand Prix will get pulses racing as the opener to the 2013 F1 season. This year’s spectacle in Melbourne at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit will hear the screeching of tyres off the starting grid on Sunday, March 17th. New driving lineups, new cars and modified cars will all be jostling for early season supremacy with the chance to send a big message of intent to title rivals. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel will head into the 2013 F1 season looking for his fourth Drivers Championship title in a row, while his team, the innovate Red Bull will be looking to continue their dominance in the Constructors’ title race this term. This will be the 78th edition of the Australian Grand Prix, which will be raced over 58 laps in the Melbourne heat. McLaren’s Jenson Button took the chequered flag last season, his third title there in the last four seasons.

That should make Button some decent value for the 2013 Australian Grand Prix as he is comfortable at the track and the McLaren has been very well suited to the conditions there. McLaren have taken three of the last five titles there in Melbourne. So the likelihood is now as primary driver with the team, following the departure of Lewis Hamilton, that former world champion Button will have a good run in the opening Grand Prix of the season. History would suggest that that would be the case. While McLaren weren't that happy with the car during pre-season testing, still learning about all the new developments and changes they have made to last year’s car, that they themselves admitted that they were a bit of unknown quantity. But still, you can’t really ignore the history that Button has at the circuit. At the very least, Button should be worth backing for a podium finish.

All drivers though will fall behind the threat of Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull. They have been really innovative with their brand new car for the season and he has been successful at the circuit before, taking a win in the 2011 season. Red Bull were relatively slow starters last season, but then adapted the best during the season to fire Vettel towards his third F1 Drivers Championship in a row. Vettel took second in last season’s race, splitting the two McLaren drivers, so you would expect him to be back around in the hunt for a win. Vettel has taken two of the last three pole positions at the Australian Grands Prix and is well worth backing to take another one. He is the qualifying king and is unlikely to be far away from pole in March for the 2013 F1 season opener.

Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen may offer some of the best value of 2013 F1 Australian Grand Prix betting. There is a very strong positive feel about the ability of his Lotus heading into the new season, after impressing many last term. Raikkonen is also a previous winner of the Australian Open, winning when he was driving for Ferrari back in 2007. If he can build on the third place finish in the Drivers Championship last season that he achieved on his return to the sport, he could have a big say in the title race this season. The Lotus team looked good and full of promise through pre-season testing and could have the pace to push for the chequered flag. But behind Vettel and Button, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who lost out on last year’s Drivers Championship in the final race of the season, will be attracting a lot of betting. Alonso won back in the 2006 season, but hasn’t been inside the top three in the last three editions of the Australian Grand Prix. Ferrari are hoping to make a stronger start than they did last term.

F1 Betting

2013 LPGA Money List

Who will finish top of the LPGA Money List in 2013, could come down to a three way race. That is what the bookies are suggesting after eying up the early season of the new LPGA 2013 Golf Season. Through mid February, South Korea’s Jiyai Shin was topping the charts after landing the title in the season opener at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open. With that win, Shin climbed up to sixth in the world rankings, and is definitely trending upwards. Players will have numerous attempts through the year to get their hands on the big money prizes from around the world of women’s golf. The final tournament of the year will be held in Florida on November 24th, the end of season CME Group Titleholders event. It may be worth getting a look behind Shin or any of the other strong crop of South Korean ladies, because collectively they were very strong last season, with four players in the top seven of the 2012 Money Leaders.

Shin herself finished seventh, and it was compatriot Inbee Park who raked in over $2 million dollars to become the Money List leader at the end of the season. Park is trading well as one of the front runners to have another immense season. Park, the world number four, is a strong part of a big South Korean wave of talent in the ladies game and has seven titles under her belt since joining the LPGA Tour back in 2007. Both Park and Shin looked strong in the LPGA Money List 2013 betting options at the start of the season. Even though Park was the leader in scoring averages last year, she couldn’t muscle her want into the top ten of the money list. South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi did though, finishing second with just under a couple of million dollars worth of earnings for the season. Solid in the scoring averages last season, she is the world number two (top ranked South Korean) and you would be expecting her back around the same mark this year.

Another of the strong Koreans with a big grip on the game is So Yeon Ryu who was sixth on the LPGA Money List last term. The youngster though, was the LPGA Rookie of the Year last season after joining up so experience is not on her side. Still, it was a masterfully impressive first season and could go well again this season. But there are of course, options outside of the South Koreans in the game at the moment. Topping the list will be Taiwan's Yani Tseng, the current world number one (who is being closed down by Na Yeon Choi) and it is she who goes as outright favourite in the market to top the LPGA Money List in 2013. The youngster, who has taken ladies golf by storm in capturing five LPGA Major Championship titles since joining the Tour back in 2008 (falsely winning the LPGA Championship major in her first season) finished fourth in the money list last year and will be back for more.

Also trading well as good options in the market, will be America’s Stacy Lewis who finished third on the Money List last season. She won her only Major back in 2011 but has all the experience and consistency on her side. She only joined the LPGA Tour in 2009, but is highly decorated and solid enough to allow her to ride consistency to the top. Suzann Pettersen from Norway, a former LPGA Championship winner perhaps makes the best outside shot in the field. Will it be another season dominated by the Korean power?

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Mayweather v Guerrero Boxing

Floyd Mayweather v Robert Guerrero boxing bout will be on the cards on May 5th, 2013. This bout will happen at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and it is the first fight in a massive new pay deal for the eight time undefeated world champion, Mayweather. The American boxer, pound for pound the best and most expensive fighter in the world, penned a pay per view deal with Showtime and CBS which can see him fight up to six times in a 30 month period. With the nickname of “Money”, Mayweather has not been afraid of making his class in the sport of boxing count when it comes to raking in the green. It has followed him throughout his undefeated professional career, which stood at 43 fights at the start of 2013, 26 of them being knockouts.

Instead of just penning a deal for a massive purse, Mayweather has gone the pay per view route in a groundbreaking deal. His fights on average have already pulled in around one million sales per pay-per-view bout, and he will be taking his share of the revenues pulled in over the next six fights. Should he complete the deal of all six fights, then it will be the single biggest contract ever signed by an athlete. Just in the summer of 2012, Mayweather, over the space of two fights collected a whopping $85 million, knocking golfing legend Tiger Woods off the top of the Forbes Magazine list as the richest sports personality in the world. So the nickname for Mayweather is pretty fitting and now he has to pull at that where his mouth is and perform in the ring.

He will start this contract against Guerrero, who is no slouch himself. The Ghost is a former Super Featherweight world champion, and a former lightweight champion and a two time featherweight champion. The American, of Mexican descent will take a record of 31 wins from 35 professional fights into the ring with him against Mayweather, having ran off eight wins from his last eight fights. He has been a world champion in four different boxing weight classes and the southpaw could pose an awkward opponent for Mayweather. However, that won’t stop Mayweather hitting Las Vegas as the outright favourite for the WBC Welterweight title fight in May. The thing about the new deal is that Mayweather has put the pressure on, because a loss in this first of six potential fights could be costly.

People are naturally waiting for the undefeated champion to fall, and that is what will sell tickets. Seeing Mayweather scrap it out with Guerrero is not going to be top of many people's list, but as long as “Money” stays unbeaten it will attract. What punters really want to see is either a long overdue fight for Mayweather against Filipino star Manny Pacquiao or Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. There has been a long standing rivalry with Pacquiao, but the two never got in the ring. With Pacquiao being beaten badly by Marquez at the end of last year, the promoters may have missed the boat in not getting a Mayweather v Pacquiao bout arranged earlier. If it happens, it may not be the fight that it once could have been.

But still it would draw an immense crowd, especially if Mayweather is still unbeaten at that point. But Juan Manuel Marquez, who lost in a unanimous decision to Mayweather back in 2009 could well be a more dangerous opponents and is readier for the fight and the title shot. But the Mayweather v Guerrero betting is where it will all start. Guerrero will be a long outside shot and bookmakers installed him as such as soon as the bout was announced. Three of Mayweather’s last four fights (all at the MGM Grand) have been by a unanimous decision, so it may be worth backing the bout to go the distance.

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Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship 2013

Two of the world's big four will be out in action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships which start on February 25th, 2013. Last year’s edition saw a massive final showdown between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, the Swiss legend coming out on top. While Federer will be back to defend his crown in Dubai, Murray won’t be back to have another crack at the title. Instead, world number one Novak Djokovic will present the biggest challenge to Federer’s title defence at this tournament, as they both gear up for a big month of March where two ATP World Tour 1000 Masters events at Indian Wells and Miami will be contested. Will Federer be able to hang on to his world crown, or will Djokovic get his hands back on it?

Only twice in the last ten editions of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on the ATP Tour, has anyone but Federer or Djokovic gotten their hands on the title. Federer took a tough route to get his hands on the Dubai title for the fifth time in his career last season, beating Juan Martin del Potro in the semi’s before taking a straight sets win over Andy Murray in the final. It was Britain’s number one, Murray, who ousted Djokovic at the semi final stage of last year’s edition. So which of the big guns, the current world number one and two, will be able to impress their dominance on the Dubai event again? Djokovic will be gunning for his fourth title there, his run of three straights wins being snapped by Murray in the 2012 semi final match up.

Roger Federer’s 2013 season has been quiet. He started off at the Australian Open and made a solid run to the semi finals there, where he was beaten in five sets by Andy Murray. It was Murray who just had more energy left in his legs in that deciding fifth set. After some time to rest up, as he has to pace his title shots, Federer next appeared in Rotterdam, the Netherlands where he suffered a shock defeat against world number 39 Julien Benneteau. So this is going to be an important bounce-back tournament for Federer to prove to a lot of people that he isn’t ready to hang up his racquet just yet.

Djokovic’s season has been even quieter, this being his only tournament besides the Australian Open, which he won for the third straight year, beating Andy Murray in the final. But the Serbian world number one produced some fantastic tennis at the business end of the Australian Open, especially in the final. Despite being 13-16 behind in the head to head against Federer, Djokovic will be favourite in Dubai. In 2012 the two superstars met five times, with Djokovic winning three and Federer taking two of the clashes. The last time they met in Dubai, Djokovic strolled past Federer in the 2011 final.

Is there anyone else worth eyeing up in the 2013 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships market? That mantle will fall to Argentine Juan Martin del Potro who has had a strong start to the 2013 ATP season. Despite an early exit at the Australian Open, the big serving Argentine raced his way to the Rotterdam title in mid February, without dropping a set all week. He is going to remain an outside shot in the field, but then everyone else will generally always be when Djokovic is around. He looks the best option beyond the big two though. History and form points to a fourth success for Djokovic, can Federer stop it happening?

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Sebastian Vettel F1 2013

With three F1 World Drivers titles under his belt now, the German Red Bull driver is the man to catch heading into the 2013 season. Since his first full season in Formula One back in 2008 when he finished eighth, it has been nothing but an upwards swing for him. He improved to finish 2nd in the 2009 season and then rattled off championship winning seasons in 2010 through 2012. So the German will be back to defend his title again this year and it may take some brave wagers to go against him. Not only does Vettel have the clear talent, which is even still a bit rough around the edges, but he has the strongest team in Formula One behind. That surely is a potent combination which will push him close to yet another title, and it is the reason why he is starting off the new season as outright favourite to win.

The 2012 season was good from Vettel, even though he really saved his best for the second half of the season. In 2011, he cruised to eleven wins from the 19 races on the season and while he was nowhere near that mark, he still rattled off five wins. The performances which he put in over the latter half of the 2012 was immense. It followed a slow start to the season for Red Bull in which they were clambering with Ferrari, Lotus and McLaren to get a foothold. Slowly but surely though, they turned the screw and Vettel was right there to deliver. The huge benefit is that he has the aggressive driving style and the most forward thinking team behind him. No-one adapts themselves better during a season than Red Bull do and it could be what puts Vettel at the top of the pile again.

Little surprise that Sebastian Vettel is outright favourite to sweep another world crown for himself, but ahead of the 2013 season, which starts at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 17th, there was still some positive general value in Vettel, at around 11/8, which was probably worth jumping all over. He has proven time and time again to have strengths all over the world, on whatever type of track he ends up on. The Red Bulls have shown a bit of favoritism to circuits with fast cornering though. For the projected individual success of Sebastian Vettel 2013F1 betting, you can look to where he has had multiple wins before. He has delivered on more than one occasion at Malaysia, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan, India and Abu Dhabi.

See the trend there? He was very strong over the latter half of the season in the Asian swing of the F1 season. That is what got him to his third world title in 2012 and look for big performances from him again in those races. The season and the new car will be well settled down by then. In each of the past three seasons, Vettel has won at least five races in each year. That is a pretty high and constant return. That is a quarter of the season's races all being won by one driver. It is a high target to hit again, but this is Vettel and you would expect him to be back around that mark. Little value at 1/3 in him finishing in the top three at the end of the season, but he will likely guide Red Bull to another F1 Constructors Championship, with the team at a general price of Evens to return to the title again.

Lewis Hamilton F1 2013

After his maiden F1 Drivers Championship in 2008, Britain's Lewis Hamilton hasn’t been back on top of the sport since. In fairly understated and somewhat controversial seasons since with the McLaren team, in the four seasons following his tremendous title, he has not finished higher than fourth. Regarded as one of the more aggressive drivers in the sport at the moment, and one who has never been afraid to push the line and take chances in overtaking maneuvers when perhaps others would have backed off, sometimes Hamilton has been the master of his own destruction. However, he has always had the backing of the McLaren team, even if it wouldn’t be said publicly, as first driver. The 2013 F1 season though will see Lewis Hamilton perhaps even further away from another world title than perhaps he should be in his career.

In the 2012 F1 season, Lewis Hamilton was his usual patchy self. He was either blistering with pace or just not at the races at all. He did take four wins for the season though, along with six Pole Positions. Although it was the lowest points return for him for three season, it was actually a marked improvement in his overall season standings.That was his most Grands Prix wins in a single season since his title winning year of 2005. Hamilton in his McLaren finished fourth last season and has come under fire for walking away from the team which really put him on the map. So now he will face challenges anew at Mercedes, but being such a maverick driver, you never really know what you are going to get from Hamilton. The biggest question over his success this season will be the reliability of the Mercedes, and how quickly he can aid development.

So what of the projections for the 2013 F1 season for Lewis Hamilton betting? Let’s look at his race results for the past five season. Only once has he finished with fewer than three wins in a season (back in 2009) and therefore it is viable that we will see him on top of a podium at some point. It is unlikely that he is going to get multiple wins during 2013 and the hints are that even getting a couple on the board will be tough. The Mercedes still needs a lot of development, and in professional circles, Hamilton's chances of winning his second world title are being written off. The bookies are tending to agree with that, because before a tire was laid down rubber in anger for the 2013 season, Hamilton was out as far as a distant price of 20/1 to land the 2013 F1 Drivers Championship.

If he couldn’t do it in the McLaren over the past few season, it’s improbable that he’ll do it out of the gate in the Mercedes. So where to look for any victories that Hamilton may get under his belt in 2013? He has taken multiple wins at the Chinese Grand Prix, at Monaco, Germany, Hungary and the USA. While he has of course won other races around the world, it will probably be best tracking him strongest at circuits where he has performed well on more than a couple of occasions. From that list, he won in both Hungary and the USA last season, so they are probably good shots for him. A top three finish for the season for Hamilton is being offered at a general 4/1 and at 4/6 for him to book himself a top six finish in the Drivers Championship in 2013. There could be a big uphill season ahead of the British driver.

Kimi Raikkonen F1 2013

He may not have grabbed as much attention as he was probably due during the 2012 F1 season, but Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen put in a very solid season in his Lotus. A mature and experienced head in amongst the title challengers, Raikkonen only made his return to Formula One last season after a couple of years away running in the World Rally Championships. It was an impressive return as he took third place in the F1 Drivers World Championship and showed the quality of the man. He is a former World Champion in the sport of F1, taking the title back in 2007 in his Ferrari. The Lotus team got a lot of people excited about them very quickly last season and they look as if they could mount a serious challenge to get Raikkonen back on top of the world. It will be a tough challenge to break the dominance of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel though, but the value is there in Raikkonen to make a title run.

While the 2012 season for Kimi Raikkonen can be counted as something of a success story, it was a strange season for the Finnish driver. He only took one win out of the twenty races, while the Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren drivers were sharing chequered flags between them. Still, he had enough prowess in his Lotus to finish third in the overall standings. He didn’t manage to score a single pole position during 2012 and yet he ended up on the podium seven times during the year. Ultimately his challenge for the world title started ebbing away once Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel hit his stride. But there was enough promise to suggest that there will be more to come from him in 2013. After two years away from the sport, he made a pretty strong impact in 2012.

So will Kimi Raikkonen be able to get more F1 wins under his belt than he did last season? He is a very tempting dark horse in the field, because all the signs from the Lotus development are seen as being positive, and they had other teams paying them compliments last season. Even their opposition were worried about the potential pace that they could deliver. So who better to have at the helm than the cool headed experience of Raikkonen? Where are the tracks at which he may deliver wins in 2013? Well, we can start by assessing where he has been most successful in the past. He has won multiple races at three world circuits, at Malaysia, Spain and Belgium. His sole chequered flag during 2012 came at the 18th race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

There is a lot of potential in the Lotus team that he could get back on the podium. In each of his last two Formula One season he has won just one race in each. At the height of his title winning year in 2007 he landed six victories. So one race would seem to realistically be the benchmark for him. Potential does not equate success of course so there is optimism surrounding Kimi Raikkonen 2013 F1 betting, but it is cautious optimism. That is why he was trading at a general 11/1 prior to the start of the season to win the 2013 F1 Drivers World Championship. If he follows up on what he achieved last season by taking third, there was a general positive nod of around 7/4 on him taking a Top 3 Finish in the overall standings in 2013. There should be a very interesting season ahead for the Finnish driver. He has his backers, can he and the Lotus team deliver?

Jenson Button 2013

It is probably a bit harsh to call Button ‘Britain’s other driver’, but has had to live with life in the shadows of Lewis Hamilton during his time at McLaren. Still, by his own right, Button is a former world champion in the sport, taking the crown back in the 2009 team with Brawn. That signalled his move to McLaren where he hasn’t quite been able to deliver. He did take a second place finish in 2011, totally outperforming Lewis Hamilton and this time around he will get all the attention as McLaren’s principal driver, with Hamilton heading to Mercedes. So can Button get a second wind in the McLaren now that he will be the very driving force of the team? Perhaps the steadiest and most controlled driver at the top of the sport at the moment, it will be all a matter of consistency for him, in grinding out results against faster drivers who can push the envelope just that little bit more.

There was something calm and collected about Jenson Button last season again in his McLaren. He muscled his way into positions when people weren’t really expecting him to, and he will likely continue to fly under the radar as he did in 2012. He took a 5th place finish overall in the Drivers World Championship, but Button did fire himself to three Grands Prix titles during the year, a 50% return from the six podium finishes which he did pick up for the season. Button perhaps lacks the pace of the likes of Vettel and Alonso, but he more than makes up it for when he can when it comes to producing grinding, accurate performances, especially on the slower circuits. He has his favourites tracks and therefore you would expect to see him challenging. He couldn’t match the performance of his 2nd place finish in 2011 in the World Championship, but with all focus on him in 2013, he may make a decent outside shot for the title.

It is worth asking yourself how many races that Button may get under his belt in the 2013 season. Especially with having one of the stronger cars behind him, it is more than probable that you are going to see him standing on top of podiums around the world in 2013. For your Jenson Button 2013 F1 betting guidelines, he has taken exactly three wins in each of his last two seasons. In his first season with McLaren in 2010 he took only two. Again, there are big variables to look at this season from last because he will now be the principal driver and McLaren will be getting heavily behind him to deliver wins. It was Button who opened the season with a win in Australia last season, also taking wins in Belgium and in the final race of the season, Brazil. The only two courses at which he has won multiple times are Australia and Hungary.

So Jenson Button could well be worth looking at for some value in the season opener in Melbourne on March 17. There really is a big chance for Button to deliver this season and he does represent value in the F1 Drivers Championship betting market, with bookies placing him as third favourite during the pre-season, behind only Vettel and Alonso. So can Jenson Button mount a challenge for his second Drivers Championship title? The way the season could pan out, it is likely that we will see him challenge for a top three finish and there is even value in that with early odds offered on him making the top three around a general Evens.

The Rise and Rise of Brandt Snedeker

Since 2011, only current world number one Rory McIlroy has won more PGA golf tournaments than American Brandt Snedeker. Snedeker has taken four titles since then (the same amount as Tiger Woods has). But the improvement in form from the Tennessee native has been remarkably rapid since he was named the 2007 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. You can see clearly from the Brandt Snedeker Betting history of his odds to start off tournaments with over the past year, how much the bookies are starting to be concerned about him. They have progressively gotten shorter. Rightly so as well, because he is one of the hottest tickets on the game right now and if anyone was unsure about just who he was, then they will have sat up and taken notice at the end of 2012.

Snedeker claimed his firm PGA Tour victory in his first season as a professional in 2007. However, that didn’t lead to immediate success as he struggled to nail down consistency. Despite a fairly indifferent 2011 as professional, it was in beating Luke Donald at a play off at The Heritage for his second PGA Tour title which really saw him gather some momentum, even in taking some time away from the game, having to undergo hip surgery. Snedeker finished 14th on the US PGA money list in 2011 and things just got better for him in 2012, fully justifying his decision to get that elective surgery.

With some powerful performances at the end of the 2012 season in the FedEx Cup playoffs, he won the Tour Championship, claiming the $10 million prize in the end-of-season event and took the FedEx Cup title. So to 2013 and Snedeker started the year as a man on fire, rattling off three top three finishes from his first four starts. Naturally it wasn’t long before he was back in the winners circle as he confidently cruised his way to the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in early February. This is a man with an all round composed game and there is a massive future ahead for the 32 year old, who has everything in his repertoire to become a future number one.

While that may down the line a little, there is going to be value in considering him in the PGA Tour Money List winner market for 2013. Rory McIlroy won it last season, Snedeker may well muscle his way to the top if he continues trending. When he gets up a head of steam, he can steam roller fields, and all of the focus on Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods in 2013 will probably help him fly under the radar and take some expectation off his shoulders. He took two PGA Tour titles in 2012 and already has one under his belt for the 2013 season in early February.

Therefore, Brandt Snedeker should be a multiple winner over the year and is worth backing for Tour titles. But of course, the big aim for all professional golfers is the Majors. His best performances have come in T3 finishes at the 2008 Masters and at the 2012 Open Championship. He has taken four top twenty finishes in the last eight majors and it may not be a question of can he win a Major, but when. With two top twenty finishes at the 2011 and the 2012 Masters, it could be his time in 2013. Because of the hugely competitive fields in professional golf, there is actually fantastic value in getting behind Snedeker to land one as you can probably find around a general 7/1 on him to do so. 

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Rugby European Challenge Cup

The European Challenge Cup 2012/13 sees the second tier of European club rugby head towards the knockout stages of the quarter final in April of 2013. Twenty clubs battled it out during the pool stage, each of the five pool winners being joined in the quarter finals by three teams who parachuted down from the higher tiered Heineken Cup. It adds an interesting mix to things at the knockout stage, and the three teams coming down to the competition after failing to qualify for the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup are Toulouse, Leinster and Biarritz, all of which should bring a huge, dangerous presence to proceedings.

Indeed, Irish club Leinster were installed as firm outright favourites after parachuting into the competition. They are actually the reigning Heineken Cup champions, but fell short in the pool stage of their title defence there, unable to deal with the powerful French outfit Clermont, and didn’t pull out good enough of record to squeeze through to the quarter finals as a runner up. So they drop down to the Challenge Cup where they should be strong front runners. They are a good side without a doubt, but they have been having some defensive issues this term, conceding a lot of tries, especially in the Pro 12. So there are question marks about them at the back, if they go as a strong side up front.

Toulouse, like Leinster narrowly missed out on the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup, and will bring their controlled pragmatic ways to the European Challenge Cup. They face off against fellow French club Perpignan in what looks to be a fantastic match. Tolouse should edge things as favourite, but Perpignan have looked immense going forward this term. In their six pool matches in the European Challenge Cup this season, they ran in a staggering 42 tries (and even that pales in comparison to Worcester’s 51 tries, who Perpignan beat to win the group only on a head to head try count against the Warriors). So that should be a great French clash there and the winner of it will face off against Bath or Stade Francais in the semi finals, both going as rank outsiders in the European Challenge Cup Betting.

On the English front, there should be good challenges to come from London Wasps and Gloucester. Both are solid side and have shown enough savvy in the group stages to make a decent run at the title. Gloucester have a decent draw in the quarter finals against Biarritz, while Wasps have the unenviable task of taking on Leinster in the quarter finals. That draw naturally leaves Gloucester as the more favoured of the two English sides. The third English side left in the competition, Bath, are a long shot according to the bookmakers, but actually held the best record of the pool stage of the 2012/13 European Challenge Cup and go into the knockouts as top seed. With a decent quarter final draw against Stade Francais, they may not be a bad long shot for the title.

Schedule of Rugby Union Betting

F1 2013 Season

The F1 circus will be swinging into its long 2013 season again, with new cars and new team set-ups. However, it may be a familiar picture at the head of the field, the same as it has been over the past three seasons. Germany’s Sebastian Vettel has been the picture of power over the past few season in F1, the Red Bull driver having won the F1 Drivers World Championship for three consecutive years. So there is little surprise that bookmakers have installed him as firm favourite to go on and make it four in a row. Even when he was challenged hard last season, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso making a great run at the title, the Red Bull driver still had the quality and powerful to lay down some commanding form over the second half of the season to clinch the title in the final race of the season.

Red Bull have the perfect blend of car and driver, and the innovate team, who have never been afraid to make technological changes, have kept pushing boundaries. They have Vettel, who is not the most perfect driver in the sport, but he seems to find time where no-one else can and that is what will keep him on top of his sport for a long while yet. The question about F1 2013 World Championship betting, is who can wrestle the title away from him?

The new Ferrari car offers a lot of promise for Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard a two time world champion. The Ferrari was very slow out of development at the start of last season, their early running being a good second slower than other contenders. But the skill of Alonso, a methodical driver who hits every corner just right, time and time again, could be in better, stronger shape from the start of the campaign. That will be key to him mounting a challenge for the third F1 Drivers Championship of his career.

Britain’s Jenson Button in his McLaren could well challenge again for another world title. Button outshone teammate Lewis Hamilton again last season, and with the latter departing for Mercedes, there could be a lot more focus from the team on Button. A very steady driver, the new McLaren for Button looked very good in the early testing runs in 2013 and there could be a lot of positives again. Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber has the car behind him but there are always questions about the Australian’s ability to push on and take races by the scruff of the neck. Still, he had a decent season last term and again, has the car to get him close to the title, but will probably still be second fiddle to Vettel.

It is unlikely that Lewis Hamilton will really mount a challenge in his first season with Mercedes. He has taken a bit of a career risk going there, and the development of Hamilton and the team may need some time to settle down in serious challengers. So one of the best outside shots in the F1 Drivers Championship could well be Kimi Raikkonen. His Lotus took third in the standings last season, still along way back of Vettel and Alonso, but with a clear enough gap to the McLarens. The experience of Raikkonen and the positives from the car last season, could be enough to perhaps muscle his way into a title race.

Motor Racing Betting

Rugby Super League XVIII

The Rugby League season kicks off again in England for the start of the 2013 Super League. A victory at Old Trafford for Leeds Rhinos against Warrington Wolves last October in the Grand Final is now a distant memory, as those two sides prepare to battle for glory once again. Wigan Warriors will feel aggrieved that they came top of the pile in the regular season, but failed to progress past the playoff semi-final stage, and Saint Helens will be looking to challenge for honours under new management.

Warrington are the favourites with the bookmakers to go one better this season, and capture the title that eluded them in 2012. Although reaching the Grand Final and winning the Challenge Cup could never be described as a failed season, they will feel as if they were firm favourites to complete the double. Critics will point to the fact that their squad is aging, with their record points scorer Lee Briers now 35 years of age, and influential players Adrian Morley and Brett Hodgson also in their mid 30s. They may need to rely on the youth and try scoring prowess of players such as Chris Riley and Richie Myler to take the team one step further.

Wigan finished on top of the table in the Super League last year, and were impressive throughout, with full back Sam Tomkins claiming the Man of Steel trophy for 2012. Their semi-final defeat to Leeds Rhinos was a huge disappointment, especially with home advantage, and the squad will be hoping to bounce back in 2013. It remains to be seen if the squad will be severely weakened by the loss of players such as Thomas Leuluai and George Carmont , both of whom were an integral part of last season’s successes.

Saint Helens fell short of their usual high standards last season, finishing only third in the regular season. They had a poor start to the 2012 season, which led to the sacking of coach Royce Simmons as early as March. Australian Nathan Brown takes over the reins for this season after building an impressive team at Huddersfield, and he has brought in powerhouse centre Willie Manu to add some strength to the side. If top try scorer Paul ‘Mr St Helens’ Wellens and youngster Jonny Lomax can replicate their form of last season, the Saints could well find themselves back in the familiar territory of the Grand Final once again.

Leeds Rhinos could be described as fortunate winners of the Super League crown last year, after finishing only 5^th in the regular season standings. However, they repeated their accomplishment of 2011 and won the games that mattered the most to take their second successive title. Kevin Sinfield remains as reliable as ever with his kicking, and the creativity of scrum half Rob Burrow is always likely to cause problems for the opposition. Should the Rhinos find some consistency in the league, and if the likes of Ryan Hall, Kallum Watkins and Zak Hardiker can continue to rack up the points, then a hat-trick of titles is not beyond their reach.

Full Schedule of Rugby Super League Betting

Darts Premier League 2013

History is usually a pretty good indicator of future successes in darts betting, especially when the oche has been ruled by Phil Taylor for so long. The 2013 Premier League darts season pulls together ten of the top darts stars from around the world. This season’s format will take on a new tilt, instead of just eight players going head to head, the season will start with ten. The top four ranked players in the world automatically qualify, plus another six who have gained entry through performance related criteria. The ten players each face off against each other once, and after round nine, the bottom two will get relegated out of the competition. The remaining eight will all play each other once again in the race to make it to the play off spots.

Going back to history, it has been pretty much all Phil Taylor. The Power has won six of the eight previous seasons and with him getting back on top of the world at the turn of the year, claiming yet another World Championship title, he is the front runner again in the 2013 Premier League darts betting. Taylor beat out Simon Whitlock in the final of last year’s event, losing just one match in the league season. Taylor has never failed to finish top of the league stage in Premier League Darts history and he doesn’t look as if he is going to lose his grip on things very soon. He just has the consistency to turn up week in, week out and produce. The stop-start nature of the tournament is something that others, especially newcomers, have problems dealing with. Given the power of Taylor, even if he isn’t at his best, you would still back him to finish in the top four to move ahead to the knockouts.

Among the three players making their debut in this year’s tournament, is Michael van Gerwen. The young flying Dutchman could well be the biggest threat to Taylor’s dominance in Premier League darts. The Dutchman is the next big thing on the block and after running to the final of the World Championships, where he pushed Phil Taylor hard on New Year’s Day, he is getting closer to taking the game by storm. This is a natural talent, and he, like Taylor is probably naturally suited to the wham-bam rapid action of Premier League Darts. Van Gerwen is heavy scorer and can just power through legs. Newcomers to this format usually struggle to make an impact in their debut seasons, but Van Gerwen’s stock is rising all the time and really could be a major challenger. The opening week of the season will see Van Gerwen square off against Taylor. The 2013 Premier League season runs from February 7th, 2013 to finals night on May 16th

Australia’s Simon Whitlock is going to be a decent bit of value. He lost out in the final last year after a good season. Whitlock’s consistency gets called into question a bit, but he can be a dangerous floater who flies under the radar. He needs to develop more of a clinical, finishing edge though as he seems to come up short at the business end of things. Raymond vanBarneveld is usually calm, solid and steady through the Premier League season, but stamina and lack of drive seems to be his downfall. Double world champion Adrian Lewis slumped badly last season. Power is not a question with him, consistency is. England’s James Wade therefore may be offering some value in having a good season. After a slow start in 2012 he rallied really well to make the playoffs. He is also one of only two other men besides Taylor to have won the Premier League darts title.

AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am 2013

Phil Mickelson returned to the world’s top ten with his comfortable four-stroke victory in last week’s Waste Management Phoenix Open. “Lefty” set out his stall with a stunning opening round of 60 and never looked like being caught. Brandt Snedeker finished runner-up for the second consecutive week having given vain chase to Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines a week earlier. He has now risen to number 6 in the official rankings.

Phil Mickelson is 7-1 betting favourite to win back-to-back AT and T Pebble Beach titles and there will be plenty of takers at that price. His return to form was delayed by a recent bout of flu but he was firing on all cylinders last week, coming so close to shooting a 59. Snedeker is 12-1 to continue his excellent run of form and must also be respected whilst Hyundai Tournament of Champions winner Dustin Johnson is as short as 8-1 to claim another title.

Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula host the opening rounds before the climax at Pebble Beach on Sunday. If you are looking for slightly better odds than those on offer for Mickelson, Snedeker and Johnson, there are plenty of other potential winners in the field. Chief among those could well be Britain’s Lee Westwood, a highly encouraging fifth last weekend on his seasonal debut. He makes plenty of appeal at 20-1, the same price as the in-form Nick Watney.

Watney is a five-time PGA Tour winner and was tied for fourth in the Farmers Insurance Open before finishing back in the pack in Phoenix. Watney has made seven consecutive cuts here and a couple of top ten finishes so it seems only a matter of time before he gets right into contention. Aaron Baddeley is a lively outsider at 40-1. He has finished in the top six on his last two visits to Pebble Beach and, like Watney, put up a good performance in the Farmers Insurance Open recently.

Kevin Na (80-1) finished fifth here last year and is right up towards the putting stats this season. He only has one PGA Tour victory under his belt so far but has the game to figure prominently this week. Another outsider to consider is Josh Teater, backed at massive odds earlier in the week but still a healthy looking 90-1 shot. Hunter Mahan (28-1) showed only glimpses of what he is capable of last week, as did Webb Simpson (35-1) and it would be no surprise to see either of them bounce back to form.

Padraig Harrington (25-1) flattered only to deceive last week, mixing two superb rounds of 64 and 63 with two 70’s to finish in a tie for ninth place. Nonetheless, he will have been delighting with his overall game and the three-time Major Championship winner could be hinting at an imminent return to his best. His improved form did not go unnoticed and the special market on top GB and Ireland player makes it a straight head-to-head between Westwood (evens) and Harrington (13-8). Other markets include Top 10 finish and first round leader.

For Stacks of Golf Betting Odds

Super Rugby 2013

The 2013 Super Rugby (also known as Super 15) is the top club competition in the southern hemisphere. Formed in 1996, having been known before that as the South Pacific Championship, it brings together the top teams from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. It was the 2011 season which saw the tournament expand to including fifteen teams from the twelve it was most commonly known for. The 2011 season saw quite a big reformat as the three participating nations being split into their own conferences. Teams play all their other conference rivals twice and face four teams from the other two conferences in cross conference matches.

The top side from each conference will qualify for the knockout stage of the tournament, and they will be joined by the next three teams who have amassed the most points for the season (regardless of the conference from which they come from). The top two conference winners (based on points) gets a bye to the semi finals, the other four teams battling through a quarter final knockout round. With all that cleared up, the high quality competition will be defended by New Zealand’s Waikato Chiefs. That was their first title of Super Rugby and continued a strong New Zealand trend of dominance in the competition. The Chiefs will go back in as one of the favourites for the 2013 edition.

The outright favourites though will be the Canterbury Crusaders, also from New Zealand. The Crusaders are the most successful club in the history of Super Rugby having taken seven titles. They were edged out in the semi finals of last season’s competition by the Chiefs, who were the New Zealand conference winners, in a cracking match. South Africa’s Stormers, who topped the overall standings after the conference rounds thanks to an immense defence, should run well again this season and are one of the favourites. Fellow conference side, the Sharks, who have been runners up four times before should also mount a serious challenge again after losing in the final of 2012 against the Chiefs.

Just to put the influence of New Zealand’s club into perspective here, a Kiwi club has won eleven times and have been runner up seven times. They had two of the top four clubs in the tournament last season. They, along with the South African representatives are in the ascendancy at the moment. Only one Australian club made it to the knockouts (and were eliminated in the first round) in the inaugural season, and their conference had only two representatives inside the top ten in the final overall standings after the conference round. Three of the bottom five of the fifteen were Australian clubs.

Super Rugby 2013 Betting

English County Cricket Division One 2013

Warwickshire have taken plenty of early backing already as they will set out to defend their County Championship Division One title in 2013. It was a fairly comfortable ride to the title for Warwickshire in 2012, taking a fourteen point margin of victory over Somerset. The Edgbaston outfit who have England internationals Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott in their ranks, along with other top performers like Darren Maddy and Boyd Rankin showed some supreme batting all through last season’s County Championship Division 1 season. It was their powerful displays with the bat that saw them lose just one match all season, winning a league high six matches. In the defence of their title, they will start as strong favourites.

Somerset were really the only side that were on the heels of Warwickshire, putting the Bears under pressure last season. Somerset too have a very well rounded squad at their disposal with the likes of Jos Buttler, Craigs Kieswetter and the experience of Marcus Trescothick at their disposal. In terms of bowling, they had the goods to deliver and while having one of the better batting line ups of the nine teams in the division, they still couldn’t get anywhere near Warwickshire. The duels between those two during the 2013 LV County Championship season are going to be immense in the outcome of the title race. Somerset will remain strong in the outright winner market for the 2013 season.

Beyond the two favourites in the County Championship Division 1 2013 betting market, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire and Durham look to be the teams that will be most closely in the hunt for the title. Middlesex fought their way into third place last season and picked up the highest amount of batting bonus points, behind only Warwickshire. So they may not need too much to make the step up to a genuine title challenger, however, they were prone to lapses last season which kept them down.

Nottinghamshire ont the other hand, only lost two matches last season, despite finishing down in fifth. They may well be closer to tipping the balance in terms of leaning towards becoming a title winning side. There could be good value in getting behind Nottinghamshire this term and will take a lot of interest. They will probably hold their value more than other sides in the Championship who will be gunning for glory. Durham are trading around the same mark after finishing as a mid table side as well in last season’s County Championship Division One.

After losing Lancashire and Warwickshire to relegation, making their quests in the top flight this season after gaining promotion, will be Derbyshire and Yorkshire. Bookmakers however, aren’t lining them up with great chances though, pencilling them as firm outside shots in the title race for the 2013 County Championship Division 1 edition. Of the two newcomers, Derbyshire may bring the better bowling attack of the two sides up with them, but Yorkshire have the more explosive batting in their ranks.

Cricket Betting