Monday 31 December 2012

Newcastle United V Everton (02/01/13)

My Tips For The Toon V Everton


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Here are my tips for The Toon V Everton... 

Match Result:
20 points on Draw at 3.3
Our performances against Man U and Arsenal highlighted signs for optimism going forward but big concerns defensively, so I'm going to cautiously go for a draw against Everton.  Admittedly, it's been a while since our last league draw, but Everton have been the draw specialists this season with 9 draws from their 20 league matches and 4 draws from their last 8 matches.

Team Bets: 
30 points on Both Teams To Score In 2nd Half at 2.88
6 of our last 9 league matches have seen both teams score in the second half.

Sunday 30 December 2012

Arsenal V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Arsenal V Newcastle United: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

If you'd said we would score six goals on our away trips to Man U and Arsenal I think most people would have bit your hand off.  Incredibly though, six goals still weren't enough to get anything from the games.

This is how things went with my tips for Arsenal V The Toon...

Team Total Goals:
30 points on Newcastle To Score Exactly 1 Goal at 2.5 - LOSS
I was overly cautious with this bet, but our three goals still weren't enough to get a result.

Team Bets:
20 points on Both Teams To Score In 2nd Half at 3.25 - WIN 65 points
At times the second half was like a kick about on the school field with eight goals being scored in the second half.  That's now 6 of our last 9 league matches which have seen both teams score in the second half, so this looks like a bet worth considering for future matches.


Thursday 27 December 2012

Arsenal V Newcastle United (29/12/12)

My Tips For Arsenal V The Toon


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

The defeat at Man U was hard to take, and I have to say it reinforced how much I really dislike Alex Ferguson and particularly the way he constantly puts pressure on referees with his persistent verbally aggressive moaning and complaining.  I'd personally like to see referees encouraged to give interviews after matches so they can highlight occasions when managers are totally out or order and also mock managers who are apparently clueless of the rules of football (as in Alex Ferguson's case).

Anyway, here are my tips for Arsenal V The Toon... 

Team Total Goals:
30 points on Newcastle To Score Exactly 1 Goal at 2.5
We've scored one goal in 4 of our last 6 league games.

Team Bets:
20 points on Both Teams To Score In 2nd Half at 3.25
5 of our last 8 league matches have seen both teams score in the second half.

Tuesday 25 December 2012

The Toon V QPR: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Newcastle United V QPR: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Our win over QPR was just about the only thing I managed to predict correctly last weekend.  This is how things went with my Toon tips...

Match Result:
10 points on Newcastle United at 2.05 - WIN 21 points
Thankfully, Shola's late goal meant that QPR's four match unbeaten run came to an end.

Team Bets: 
20 points on Both Teams To Score In 2nd Half at 3.25 - LOSS
Our second clean sheet in our last four league games ensured that this was a losing bet.

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Newcastle United V QPR (22/12/12)

My Tips For The Toon V QPR


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Last week both my sets of tips made a profit, so hopefully I can follow that up with another successful sets of tips this week.  Here are my tips for The Toon V QPR...

Match Result:
10 points on Newcastle United at 2.05
Since Harry Redknapp took over QPR have been unbeaten in their last four league games, whereas we're on a run of six defeats from our last seven league matches, so if you were going on form and statistics then QPR would be the value bet.  However, there were encouraging signs in the second half against Man City, and QPR's recent improved results have been against the likes of Wigan and the mackems, so my eternal optimism is going to go for a small bet on us to get back to winning ways.

Team Bets: 
20 points on Both Teams To Score In 2nd Half at 3.25
4 of our last 6 league matches have seen both teams score in the second half.

Sunday 16 December 2012

The Toon V Man City: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Newcastle United V Manchester City: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Unfortunately, a second half header by Demba Ba wasn't enough to inspire us to a result, despite a battling second half performance.  Hopefully if we can repeat that performance again next week though (and preferably for 90 minutes), then you would expect us to beat QPR.

Demba Ba's goal meant a profit for my Toon tips and my general football tips also made a profit this week.  This is the breakdown of how my tips performed...

Match Result: 
30 points on Draw at 3.8 - LOSS
There was a spell in the second half when it looked like we might be able to get something from the match, but unfortunately Yaya Toure's goal in the 78th minute killed off any hope of a comeback.

Team Total Goals: 
20 points on Newcastle To Score Exactly 1 Goal at 2.5 - WIN 50 points
We've now scored one goal in 4 of our last 6 league games. 

Thursday 13 December 2012

Newcastle United V Manchester City (15/10/12)

My Tips For The Toon V Man City


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

My run of seven consecutive profitable weeks for my general football tips came to an end last week, so I'll see if I can get back to winning ways again this week.  But first, here are my Toon tips for our match against Man City... 

Match Result:
30 points on Draw at 3.8
Man City are understandably the odds on favourites, but given that the point of this blog is to test whether it's wiser to bet with your heart or your head, there's no point therefore predicting that we'll get beat.  If I'm looking for positive signs then Man City have drawn 4 of their 7 league away games this season and they've also stuttered in the league recently, winning only one of their last four league matches.

Team Total Goals:
20 points on Newcastle to score exactly 1 goal at 2.5
We've managed one goal in 3 of our last 5 league matches and against Man City I can't see the floodgates opening, so one Toon goal seems like a reasonable bet.

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Fulham V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Fuham V Newcastle United: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

With tough matches against Man City, Man United and Arsenal coming up over the Christmas period, we could have done with three points against Fulham but unfortunately a 2-1 defeat means we're still looking for our first away win in the league this season.

For the first time since I started this blog, both my sets of tips were a complete wash-out which means my run of seven successive profitable weeks for my general football tips has now come to an end.  That means the head to head running totals between my two sets of tips now stand at:

Thursday 6 December 2012

Fulham V Newcastle United (10/12/12)

My Tips For Fulham V The Toon


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

My general football tips are on a run of seven consecutive profitable weeks and have therefore been outperforming my Newcastle tips in recent weeks.  Here are my Toon tips for our match against Fulham... 

Match Result:
20 points on Newcastle at 4.0
Given that we've yet to record our first league away win of the season, you could argue that maybe I'm being a bit optimistic by going for a Toon win.  However, Fulham have been in very poor form recently, picking up a solitary point from their last four league games, so odds of 4.0 are enough to tempt me into a small bet on us to build on our result against Wigan with another victory.

Double Chance:
40 points on Newcastle or Draw at 1.8
Fulham have failed to win any of their last seven league matches so although admittedly our form hasn't been great recently, odds of 1.8 on us to keep Fulham's run going with a Toon victory or draw therefore seem like good value.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

The Toon V Wigan: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Newcastle United V Wigan Athletic: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Thankfully, a comfortable victory meant that I was overly cautious with my predictions which performed badly for the third consecutive week.  Getting back to the match, we were helped when Wigan went down to ten men early on, but nevertheless it was a more encouraging performance than we've seen recently.  Elsewhere, my general football tips sneaked a profit for the seventh consecutive week.

This is the breakdown on how my general football tips performed...

West Brom V Stoke - Match Result:
25 points on West Brom at 2.05 - LOSS

Arsenal V Swansea - Double Chance:
20 points on Swansea Or Draw at 2.5 - WIN 50 points

Friday 30 November 2012

Newcastle United V Wigan Athletic (03/12/12)

My Tips For The Toon V Wigan


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

My general football tips are on a run of six consecutive profitable weeks and have therefore been outperforming my Newcastle tips in recent weeks.  Here are my Toon tips for our match against Wigan... 

Match Result: 
20 points on Draw at 3.4
Our defeat against Stoke took our run to four consecutive league defeats, but on the positive side Wigan haven't fared much better recently with three defeats from their last four league games.  I've maybe been overly optimistic in recent weeks though, so I'm going to approach this one with a degree of caution and go for the draw at odds of 3.4.

Both Teams To Score:
40 points on Both Teams To Score - Yes at 1.73
We've now conceded in our last 9 league matches and Wigan have a similarly poor record having conceded in 12 of their 14 league games this season.  A bet on both teams to score therefore seems worth a punt at odds of 1.73.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Stoke V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Stoke City V Newcastle United: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

I remember a few weeks ago looking at the fixture list with my mate and commenting that the next six league games were all potentially winnable games.  Four games into that run and unfortunately it hasn't turned out like we were hoping which has meant another wash-out for my Newcastle tips.  My general football tips were profitable for the sixth match running, however, so on current form it seems like it's definitely wiser to bet with your head rather than your heart.

This is the breakdown on how my general football tips performed...

Chelsea V Fulham - Double Chance:
20 points on Fulham or Draw at 2.5 - WIN 50 points

Swansea V West Brom - Match Result:
20 points on West Brom at 3.0 - LOSS

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Stoke City V Newcastle United (28/11/12)

My Tips For Stoke V The Toon


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

My general football tips are on a run of five consecutive profitable weeks and have therefore been outperforming my Newcastle tips in recent weeks.  Here are my Toon tips for our match against Stoke... 

Match Result:
30 points on Draw at 3.5
It's hard to have much confidence at the moment given our current form, but on the positive side Stoke have drawn 7 of their 13 league games this season and we've also recorded 4 draws from our 6 league away games.  Although the bookies make Stoke the odds on favourites, I'm therefore going to go for a 30 point bet on the draw.

First Half Goals:
50 points on 1 First Half Goal at 2.5
5 of our last 6 league games have seen one first half goal scored, so that would appear to be the bet to go for in this market.

Sunday 25 November 2012

Southampton V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Southampton V Newcastle United: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

As my Newcastle tips this week were based around us getting at least a draw, or at the very least a goal, our 2-0 defeat to Southampton meant a complete wipe-out for my Newcastle tips.  I continued to do okay with my general football tips as they made a profit for the 5th week running, but that was little consolation for our current disappointing form.

This is the breakdown on how my general football tips performed...

Tottenham V West Ham - Double Chance: 
25 points on West Ham or Draw at 2.25 - LOSS

Everton V Norwich - Double Chance: 
25 points on Norwich or Draw at 2.75 - WIN 69 points

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Southampton V Newcastle United (25/11/12)

My Tips For Southampton V The Toon


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

My general football tips are on a run of four consecutive profitable weeks and have therefore been outperforming my Newcastle tips in recent weeks, so hopefully both Newcastle and my Toon tips can get back to winning ways on Sunday against Southampton... 

Double Chance: 
40 points on Newcastle Or Draw at 1.53
Both ourselves and Southampton go into this match with only one league win from our last 7 league games and in fact the bookies actually have Southampton as slight favourites.  Southampton have been a bit of a bogey team for us in the past (we've won only once in our last five visits to St Mary's Stadium) and when you also factor in our disappointing recent form, the fact that we've yet to win away in the league this season, injuries to Cabaye, Ben Arfa and others, you have to conclude that it's best to approach this one with caution.  I'm therefore going to go for a bet in the double chance market backed up by a small bet on the draw.

Sunday 18 November 2012

The Toon V Swansea: Tips Round-Up

Newcastle United V Swansea City Round-Up

  
Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Another disappointing result for the Toon resulted in another loss-making week for my Newcastle tips.  My general football tips made a profit for the 4th week running but that was little consolation.

This is how things turned out…

Full Time Result:
10 points on Newcastle at 1.83 - LOSS
Unfortunately we did little to justify our pre-match pricing as odds on favourites.

Both Teams To Score:
30 points on Both Teams To Score - Yes at 1.73 – WIN 52 points
It was a long time coming, but a late injury time consolation goal for Demba Ba ensured that the run of games without a clean sheet continued for both teams.


Tuesday 13 November 2012

Newcastle United V Swansea City (17/11/12)

My Tips For The Toon V Swansea


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Last week my run of four consecutive profitable weeks came to an end for my Newcastle tips, so hopefully both myself and Newcastle will get back to winning ways against Swansea...

Full Time Result:
10 points on Newcastle at 1.83
Hopefully Swansea will play a more open game than West Ham did which will hopefully suit us a bit more, but at the same time with only one win from our last six league games and Swansea having only one defeat from their last five, it would be a mistake to bet big on a Newcastle victory.  My tips this week are therefore going to be follow a trend of cautious optimism with a degree of safety built in.

Both Teams To Score:
30 points on Both Teams To Score - Yes at 1.73
Swansea have conceded in their last nine league games while we've conceded in our last six, so both teams to score looks to be a decent bet.

Monday 12 November 2012

The Toon V West Ham: Tips Round-Up

My tips for Newcastle United V West Ham: Round-Up



Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Unfortunately, a Kevin Nolan goal for West Ham meant we suffered our third league defeat of the season, and as my tips were heavily based on us winning it meant that my run of four profitable weeks in succession with my Newcastle tips came to an end.  Respect to Nolan for not celebrating, but it’s not really much consolation and hopefully we’ll improve over the next few weeks as if we can put a bit of form together then the next five games on the fixture list all look like winnable games.

My general football tips managed to make a slim profit, as detailed below…

Chelsea V Liverpool - Full Time Result:
30 points on Chelsea at 1.91 - LOSS

Reading V Norwich - Full Time Result:
15 points on Draw at 3.4 – WIN 51 points

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Newcastle United V West Ham (11/11/12)

My Tips For The Toon V West Ham


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

The uncertainty over team selection in Europe means that once again I'm steering clear of Thursday's Europa League match against Bruges and instead making predictions for the West Ham match on Sunday...

Full Time Result:
20 points on Newcastle at 2.0
West Ham have only managed two victories in their last seven league games (against bottom two clubs Southampton and QPR) so odds of evens for the Newcastle victory are generous enough to tempt me into a 20 point bet.

Both Teams To Score:
30 points on Both Teams To Score - Yes at 1.57
Although we've scored in seven of our last eight league games, we've also conceded in each of our five previous league games, so even at odds as short as 1.57, a bet on both teams to score still looks like a decent bet.

Monday 5 November 2012

Liverpool V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

My tips for Liverpool V Newcastle United: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

I’m on a bit of a roll at the moment as this was the fourth week running that my Newcastle tips made a profit.  It was also the third time in four weeks that my general football bets have made a profit, but of the two sets of tips my Newcastle bets comfortably outperformed my general football bets… 

Full Time Result:
10 points on Draw at 4.0 – WIN 40 points
Despite Liverpool having the greater share of the first half possession, at half time I would have been disappointed with a draw.  However, once we went down to ten men we were hanging on so in the end it was a very welcome point.

Double Chance:
20 points on Newcastle or Draw at 2.25 – WIN 45 points
Before Sunday’s match, Liverpool had only won one of their five home league games so far this season, and we extended that record thanks to a well taken goal from Cabaye and some resilient defending and poor Liverpool finishing in the closing stages.

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Liverpool V Newcastle United (04/11/12)

My Tips For Liverpool V The Toon


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Here are my predictions for the Liverpool match on Sunday...

Full Time Result:
10 points on Draw at 4.0
Despite Liverpool having only two league wins so far this season, SkyBet make them the odds on favourites at 1.57.  That means there's generous odds to be found for the draw and also for us to win.  With three away draws from our four away league games so far this season, the draw looks the safer bet at odds of 4.0.

Double Chance:
20 points on Newcastle or Draw at 2.25
Given that Liverpool have only won one of their five home league games so far this season, odds of 2.25 for us to win or draw seems like a decent bet to me.

Monday 29 October 2012

The Toon V West Brom: Tips Round-Up

My tips for Newcastle United V West Brom: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

Both my sets of tips made a profit this weekend, with Demba Ba’s early opener and Cisse’s late winner ensuring that my Newcastle tips were particularly successful.  Six of my seven Newcastle tips this week proved to be winning bets…

Full Time Result:
10 points on Newcastle to win at 2.0 – WIN 20 points
We weren't really at our best against West Brom and things looked to be heading for the draw until Papiss Cisse's brilliant(!) late winner.

First Goalscorer:
20 points on Demba Ba at 5.0 – WIN 100 points
Before yesterday’s game, Demba had scored four goals in his three previous Premier League games against West Brom, and happily he continued that run with the opener in yesterday’s game.

Thursday 25 October 2012

Newcastle United V West Brom (28/10/12)

My Tips For The Toon V West Brom


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from SkyBet.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets perform and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.

European matches are always a bit trickier to predict than the league, so I'm going to skip tonight's match and go straight to my predictions for the weekend...

Full Time Result:
10 points on Newcastle to win at 2.0
SkyBet make us the evens favourite for this match but fifth placed West Brom could prove a tough test so I'm limiting myself to 10 points on us in the 'Full Time Result' market.

First Goalscorer:
20 points on Demba Ba at 5.0
Demba has scored four goals in his three previous Premier League encounters against West Brom, so although he hasn't scored in our last two league games I'm going to go for a small bet on Demba to get the first goal against West Brom.

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Mackems V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

10 Men Were Almost Better than Twelve…


Every week I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and then another 100 points to place a few general football bets.

Things looked to be heading for a hard fought victory on Sunday until a fluky late goal for Sunderland denied us the three points.  My Newcastle tips still managed to make a profit, though.  This is how things turned out…

Bets on Newcastle…
Full Time Result:
20 points on Newcastle to win at 3.1 - LOSS
In the early stages of the match we looked by far the better team but unfortunately Tiote’s harsh sending off changed the pattern of the game.  Even with ten men we looked for a long time like we were going to hang on for all three points and it took a fluky late goal for Sunderland to deny us the victory.

Asian Handicap:
15 points on Newcastle +0.25 at 1.77 – WIN/PUSH – 21 points
This bet was on course to return 27 points until Sunderland’s fluky late goal, but still returned 21 points thanks to the bookies poor judgement in giving us a +0.25 headstart in the Asian Handicap market.

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Mackems V The Toon (21/10/12)

My Tips For Sunderland V Newcastle United


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from OLBG.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets performed and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.  These are my predictions for this weekend...

Full Time Result:
20 points on Newcastle to win at 3.1
Sunderland have drawn four of their opening six games so far, whereas we’ve also taken three draws from seven league games, so the neutrals may be tempted once again by the draw.  The whole point of this blog though, is to see whether it’s better to bet with your heart or your head and as there’s no fun in betting on the draw I’m going to go for Newcastle to win at odds of 3.1.

Last Goalscorer:
10 points on Shola Ameobi at 8.0
Usually I would stay away from Shola in the first and last goalscorer markets, but against the mackems that’s obviously a different matter.  You would think Pardew is likely to start with Ba and Cisse, but given his track record Shola has a chance of coming on at some stage, so I’m going to bet with history in mind and go for Shola to continue his impressive goal-scoring record against the mackems with the last goal of the game.

I’m also going to go for a few small bets in several of the other markets available…

Saturday 13 October 2012

Wonga Jokes

Most fans have probably heard all the Wonga jokes a hundred times by now, but as there's no Newcastle match this weekend I thought I would post a collection of some of the Wonga jokes from the last week.

1) In honour of our new sponsors Wonga, a pint at home matches will now cost £2 before kick off, £50 at half-time and £4000 after ninety minutes.

2) Newcastle United are proud to announce that the new Wonga sponsored home shirt is now on sale priced at £39.99 or twelve monthly payments of £179.99.

3) Following the announcement of Wonga as our new sponsors, all NUFC box office purchases will now be subject to a hidden 4063.9% APR surcharge.

4) Alan Pardew has told his players to forget about all the commotion over new sponsors Wonga and go out their on the pitch and give 4,107%.

5) In an uncharacteristic display of openness, Newcastle have revealed that the new Wonga sponsorship deal is worth £6 million a year, although we will have to repay £12 trillion at the end of the contract.

6) Finally, this last one is a fact, not a joke. If you borrowed £100 from Wonga and made no repayments, in less than six years you would owe more than the US national debt (£10 trillion).

Personally, for all the talk about how the Wonga sponsorship deal is bad for the image of football, etc, I think it’s worth pointing put that a week ago very few people would be able to tell you what interest rates Wonga charged. Now though, pretty much everyone knows that Wonga charge over 4,000% APR.

So to summarise, we get a reported £24 million over four years and St James Park restored to its true name (not that it was ever called anything else), and added to this we also have increased public awareness of Wonga’s business practises, thereby allowing borrowers to make a more informed choice as to who they borrow money from in future.

Sounds okay to me.


Footnote: I'll be posting my tips for Sunday's match against the mackems on Thursday.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

The Toon V Man U: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Newcastle United V Man U: Round-Up


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few hypothetical general football bets using the odds available from OLBG.com.  I then compare how the sets of bets performed and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head. 

Both my sets of tips made a profit this week, but unfortunately not in the way I was hoping.  This is how things turned out… 

Bets on Newcastle... 
Full Time Result: 
30 points on draw at 3.7 – LOSS 
Things got off to a terrible start with two goals conceded in the first fifteen minutes when unfortunately Man U dominated possession.  After that we had a much better spell and the final statistics show that we actually ended the game with more shots and possession than Man U (Shots: Toon 13, Man U 12 - Possession: Toon 53%, Man U 47%).  It's frustrating though, how on several occasions this season it seems as if we have to go behind before we start playing well.  Our cause wasn’t helped when referee Howard Webb failed to spot a blatant first half penalty for some shirt pulling in the box by Patrice Evra, and we also had a ‘goal’ not given in the second half when the ball looked to have crossed the line, so the luck wasn’t with us.  Overall though, we need to start playing well for the full ninety minutes rather than waiting until we go behind before we come alive. 

Half With Most Goals: 
35 points on first half at 3.1 – WIN 109 points
My prediction of an open start to the match came true but unfortunately not in the way I was hoping.

Friday 5 October 2012

Newcastle United V Man U (07/10/12)

My Tips For The Toon V Man U


Every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few general football bets using the odds available from OLBG.com.  I then compare how the two sets of bets performed and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.  These are my predictions for this weekend...

Bets on Newcastle...
Full Time Result:
30 points on Draw at 3.7
Howard Webb has been appointed as the ref for Sunday's game so it'll be an even tougher game than usual as we'll be up against twelve men.  However, Webb was the ref in the corresponding fixture last season and although he did deny us a penalty when Ferdinand fouled Ba, we still won 3-0.  Back to this season, our league form so far has seen us play out three draws from six games, so given the opposition I'm therefore going to downgrade my usual optimism and go for another draw on Sunday.

First Goalscorer:
15 points on Demba Ba at 8.0
Demba has been in impressive goal-scoring form so far this season and hopefully this will continue on Sunday.

Tuesday 2 October 2012

Reading V The Toon: Tips Round-Up

My Tips For Reading V Newcastle United: Round-Up


As previously explained every match I give myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few hypothetical general football bets using the odds available from OLBG.com.  I then compare how the sets of bets performed and analyse whether it's better to bet with your heart or your head.  This is how my bets performed over the weekend...

Bets on Newcastle...
Full Time Result:
50 points on Newcastle at 2.5 - LOSS
Unfortunately we haven't really recaptured last season's form yet and could only manage a point against Reading.

First Goalscorer:
20 points on Demba Ba at 7.5 - LOSS
Demba kept his excellent goal-scoring start to the season going, but sadly not before Jimmy Kebe had already opened the scoring for Reading.


Thursday 27 September 2012

Reading V Newcastle United (29/09/12)

My Tips For Reading V The Toon


Please note, this blog is just a bit of fun to test myself and also to test the theory that you should never let your heart rule your head.  It's simply for my own benefit to keep a record of how well my predictions do, and not intended as advice to be taken by anyone else.  If other football fans want to view my tips out of curiosity then that's fine, but I'm in no way proclaiming myself to be an amazing football expert.

Anyway, throughout the season I'm going to make a few tips on Newcastle games and also a few tips on other games and see which set of tips perform best.  In theory as a Newcastle fan I should know more about our current form, etc, and therefore my tips on Newcastle should theoretically outperform my tips on football in general.  However, it's hard sometimes as a football fan to remain objective and not let your heart rule your head so that's what I plan to test with this blog.

Anyway, I'm going to give myself 100 points (in both categories) and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from OLBG.com and see how I do.

Bets on Newcastle...
Full Time Result:
50 points on Newcastle at 2.5
It should come as no surprise that I'm tipping us to beat bottom of the table Reading.  Obviously I'm biased but given that Reading have only earned two points from their five league games so far this season, odds of 2.5 for us to beat them seem a little generous in my opinion.

First Goalscorer:
20 points on Demba Ba at 7.5
Considering Demba's impressive goal-scoring start to the season I was surprised to see him at a higher price that Cisse for the first goal against Reading.  Even more surprising was to see him at the same price as Ameobi.  But whatever the odds on Cisse and Ameobi, 7.5 for Ba to get the first goal seems like a decent bet to me.


Tuesday 25 September 2012

The Toon V Norwich City: Round-Up

My Tips For Newcastle United V Norwich City


Please note, this blog is just a bit of fun to test myself and also to test the theory that you should never let your heart rule your head.  It's simply for my own benefit to keep a record of how well my predictions do, and not intended as advice to be taken by anyone else.  If other football fans want to view my tips out of curiosity then that's fine, but I'm in no way proclaiming myself to be an amazing football expert.

Anyway, as explained when I made my tips, I gave myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on Newcastle and 100 points to place a few other hypothetical football bets using the odds available from OLBG.com and this is how I did...

Bets on Newcastle:
Full Time Result:
50 points on Newcastle at 1.8 - WIN 90 points

Saturday 22 September 2012

Newcastle United V Norwich City (23/09/12)

My Tips For The Toon V Norwich City


Please note, this blog is just a bit of fun to test myself and also to test the theory that you should never let your heart rule your head.  It's simply for my own benefit to keep a record of how well my predictions do, and not intended as advice to be taken by anyone else.  If other football fans want to view my tips out of curiosity then that's fine, but I'm in no way proclaiming myself to be an amazing football expert.

Anyway, throughout the season I'm going to make a few tips on Newcastle games and also a few tips on other games and see which set of tips perform best.  In theory as a Newcastle fan I should know more about our current form, etc, and therefore my tips on Newcastle should theoretically outperform my tips on football in general.  However, it's hard sometimes as a football fan to remain objective and not let your heart rule your head so that's what I plan to test with this blog.

Anyway, I'm going to give myself 100 points (in both categories) and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from OLBG.com and see how I do.

Bets on Newcastle...
Full Time Result:
50 points on Newcastle at 1.8 
So far this season Norwich have drawn three of their four league games and we've drawm two of our four league games, so statistically a draw looks a reasonably priced bet at 3.8.  However, we've obviously got to be beating teams like Norwich at home so I'm going for 50 points on newcastle at 1.8.

Half Time/Full Time: 
10 points on Draw-Newcastle at 4.75
Although I fancy us for the win, we seem to have started games slowly and quite negatively, then if we've gone behind our performance has then picked up as we've started to attack and got forward.  I'm therefore going to go for a draw at half-time and then as the match progresses I can see us starting to attack more and being the better team in the second half.  For that reason I'm going to go for a small 10 point bet on the draw at half time and for us to win at full time.

Half With Most Goals:
40 points on 2nd Half at 2.0
For similar reasons I'm going to have a 40 point bet on there being more goals in the second half based on the prediction that we may be more attacking as the game progresses and therefore the second half may be more open.


And to see how my predictions compare, here are a few tips on some of the other games being played over the weekend...

Man City V Arsenal - Full Time Result:
40 points on Arsenal at 5.0
The bookies have this one priced as a likely home win but I see it being closer than the odds suggest and therefore Arsenal represent the value bet.

Derby V Burnley - Full Time Result:
30 points on Derby at 2.1

Millwall V Brighton - Full Tiume Result:
30 points on Brighton at 2.63

I'll check back after the weekend to see how well my tips performed.


Disclaimer:  A small bet can make a football match more exciting but the unpredicatability of the sport mean that having a large bet is just stupid.  Gambling can be a risky business so never bet more than you can afford to lose.  The safest way to bet is with points rather than pounds, so if you'd like the chance to gamble risk-free with points for the chance to win cash prizes then a website worth visiting is OLBG.com.  It's free to sign up and they offer cash prizes for the most successful punters in various sporting categories.  If you'd like to check it out then click on the link below:
Bet with points for the chance to win cash prizes at OLBG.com

Maritimo V The Toon: Round-Up

My Tips For Maritimo V The Toon


Please note, this blog is just a bit of fun to test myself and also to test the theory that you should never let your heart rule your head.  It's simply for my own benefit to keep a record of how well my predictions do, and not intended as advice to be taken by anyone else.  If other football fans want to view my tips out of curiosity then that's fine, but I'm in no way proclaiming myself to be an amazing football expert.

Anyway, as explained when I made my tips, I gave myself 100 points to place a few hypothetical bets on newcastle and 100 points to place a few other hypothetical football bets using the odds available from OLBG.com and this is how I did...

Bets on Newcastle:
Half Time/Full Time: 
10 points on Maritimo-Draw at 17.0 = LOSE

Half With Most Goals:
30 points on 2nd Half at 2.1 = LOSE

Full Time Result:
30 points on Draw at 3.3 = WIN - 99 points

Asian Handicap:
30 points on Newcastle +0.25 at 2.02 = WIN - 45 points

My total performance on Newcastle was therefore an overall profit of 44 points.


This is how I did with my other football bets...
Bordeaux V Club Brugge - Asian Handicap:
40 points on Club Brugge +0.75 at 1.95 = LOSE

FC Copenhagen V Molde - Asian Handicap:
30 points on Molde +0.75 at 2.02 = LOSE+PUSH - 15 points

Genk V Videoton FC - Asian Handicap:
30 points on Videoton FC +0.75 at 2.02 = LOSE

My total preformance on other football bets was therefore an overall loss of 85 points.

So far my Newcastle bets are well in the lead but I'll see if this continues as the season progresses.


Disclaimer:  A small bet can make a football match more exciting but the unpredicatability of the sport mean that having a large bet is just stupid.  Gambling can be a risky business so never bet more than you can afford to lose.  The safest way to bet is with points rather than pounds, so if you'd like the chance to gamble risk-free with points for the chance to win cash prizes then a website worth visiting is OLBG.com.  It's free to sign up and they offer cash prizes for the most successful punters in various sporting categories.  If you'd like to check it out then click on the link below:
Bet with points for the chance to win cash prizes at OLBG.com

Thursday 20 September 2012

Europa League 20/09/12: Maritimo V Newcastle United

My Tips For Maritimo V The Toon


Please note, this blog is just a bit of fun to test myself and also to test the theory that you should never let your heart rule your head.  It's simply for my own benefit to keep a record of how well my predictions do, and not intended as advice to be taken by anyone else.  If other football fans want to view my tips out of curiosity then that's fine, but I'm in no way proclaiming myself to be an amazing football expert.

Anyway, throughout the season I'm going to make a few tips on Newcastle games and also a few tips on other games and see which set of tips perform best.  In theory as a Newcastle fan I should know more about our current form, etc, and therefore my tips on Newcastle should theoretically outperform my tips on football in general.  However, it's hard sometimes as a football fan to remain objective and not let your heart rule your head so that's what I plan to test with this blog.

Anyway, I'm going to give myself 100 points (in both categories) and place a few hypothetical bets using the odds available from OLBG.com and see how I do.

Half Time/Full Time: 
10 points on Maritimo-Draw at 17.0
So far this season our performance has looked encouraging whenever we've attacked and got forward but unfortunately too many times we seem to start too negatively and it's not until we go behind that we really start having a go and come back into the game.  For that reason I'm going to go for a small 10 point bet on Maritimo to be winning at half time and for us to come back and equalise in the second half.

Half With Most Goals:
30 points on 2nd Half at 2.1
For similar reasons I'm going to have a 30 point bet in their being more goals in the second half based on the prediction that we may be more attacking as the game progresses and therefore the second half may be more open.

Full Time Result:
30 points on Draw at 3.3 

Asian Handicap:
30 points on Newcastle +0.25 at 2.02

And to see how my predictions compare, here are a few tips on some of the other games being played tonight:

Bordeaux V Club Brugge - Asian Handicap:
40 points on Club Brugge +0.75 at 1.95

FC Copenhagen V Molde - Asian Handicap:
30 points on Molde +0.75 at 2.02

Genk V Videoton FC - Asian Handicap:
30 points on Videoton FC +0.75 at 2.02


Disclaimer:  A small bet can make a football match more exciting but the unpredicatability of the sport mean that having a large bet is just stupid.  Gambling can be a risky business so never bet more than you can afford to lose.  The safest way to bet is with points rather than pounds, so if you'd like the chance to gamble risk-free with points for the chance to win cash prizes then a website worth visiting is OLBG.com.  It's free to sign up and they offer cash prizes for the most successful punters in various sporting categories.  If you'd like to check it out then click on the link below:
Bet with points for the chance to win cash prizes at OLBG.com