Monte's Multiple / Jaymes Monte / 23 December 2008 / 1

I stuck my neck out last week and at the last minute and wavered from a Lay of India to take the more juicy odds of the England win and that decision has led to yet another 2 out of 3.

Olympiacos made light work of Hertha Berlin scoring 4 second half goals to win 4-0 and Thornton recorded a comfortable 3-1 victory over Wayne Jones in the other two selections.

This run of two out of three winners each week is starting to become a burden harder to shrug off than....... a burden that is very hard to shrug off. But I do believe that by continuing to find value bets it is only a matter of time before the luck will turn around and we'll need to buy a money counter for our winnings! Keep the faith!

Bet1: Darts - PDC World Championships

The first round matches of this season's PDC World Championships have thrown up a number of shocks, none bigger than John Part's second first round exit as world champion. Also back home with their feet up for Christmas will be 2007 semi-finalist Andy Jenkins, crowd favourite Terry 'The Bull' Jenkins and number 10 seed Colin Lloyd.

Following a few days break for Christmas, the second round of matches start on the 27th and the competition really gets into full flow. One mouth watering tie that has caught my eye as a betting prospect is Alan Tabern against the in-form Co Stompe.

Stompe qualified for the tournament by beating Phil Taylor in the German Open final at the end of November, and you don't need me to say how big a feat that is - 'The Power' has only lost one other competitive knock-out match in the last 6 months. He then followed this up by beating the afore mentioned Andy Jenkins 3-1 in his PDC World Championship debut, showing that he is not likely to be phased by past success or the pressure that comes with it.

Tabern conversely seems a little out of form; he was dumped out of the German Open at the last 16 stage and didn't make it past the Group Stage in the Grand Slam of Darts. He put in a good performance to beat Steve Beaton in the first round, but in reality that was a formality as it has been a long time since Beaton posed any sort of threat at the oche.

On current form Stompe should be a clear favourite for this in my opinion, but as it is, he is odds against and we should take advantage of that. My first selection this week is to back the Dutchman to continue his impressive run of form.

Selection1: Back Co Stompe (to beat Alan Tabern) @ 2.47

Bet2: Football - English Premier League

This season's Premier League is the tightest it has been for many a year. Twelve points cover the 15 teams in positions 6 to 20 and the top 5 are covered by just nine points.

Such is the proximity of all the teams down the bottom that by stringing two or three wins together you can go from relegation fodder to European hopefuls. A prime example of this is if West Ham can beat Portsmouth on Boxing Day they will then be just one point behind their opponents who are currently considered UEFA cup hopefuls.

Portsmouth look a completely different team to what they did under Harry Redknapp. They are leaking goals right, left and centre, the Defoe and Crouch partnership is a far cry from what it was in the opening months of the season and they have now lost one of their most influential players - Lassana Diarra. Tony Adams' managerial qualities are becoming under increasing scrutiny and I now believe that he is severely lacking what it takes to be a top flight manager and will become another one to add to the list of good players who do not make good managers.

In the opposite dug-out is a manager who, at present, seems to be already present on said list, Gianfranco Zola. West Ham have had a poor run of results of late, however they do seem to be heading in the right direction. Three of their last 4 games have come against top 4 opposition and they can maybe count themselves a little unlucky to only pick up 2 points from those games. They were never threatened by Liverpool at Anfield, took the lead against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and dominated possession against Villa on Saturday.

Zola has commented in post match interviews that his team just need a bit of luck, and I would have to agree with him - but for a sensational performance from Brad Friedel and a wicked deflection off Lucas Neill, West Ham could have been comfortable victors over Villa.
My second selection is to follow the little Italian and look for that luck to start levelling itself out. With both teams struggling to score goals of late we can keep the draw on our side with a lay of Portsmouth.

Selection 2:- Lay Portsmouth (to beat West Ham) @2.4

Bet3: Football - Championship

Mick McCarthy is becoming something of a Championship enigma; having won the league with Sunderland in 2005 he has now built a Wolves side that look like romping away with the league at the half way point of this season.

On Boxing Day Sheffield United make the trip across the Peak District to Mollineux in a bid to become only the third team this season to come away with any points. Wolves have won 10, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their 12 home games this season. Sheffield United conversely have struggled of late winning just 1 game in their last 6 which has seen Kevin Blackwell come under increasing pressure from the terraces. The supporters' discontent looks to be filtering down to the players who are lacking confidence, and who looked nervy before conceding a somewhat inevitable last minute equaliser against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Wolves' success this season can be largely attributed to their two in form strikers, Chris Iwelumo has 13 league goals so far and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has 14. They have struck up a partnership which is the envy of many Premier League clubs, let alone the rest of the Championship. The last thing an under- pressure team and manager want to come up against is an in-form team and strike force, but that is what Sheff United must contend with on Boxing Day.

My third selection is for Wolves to compound the Sheff United fans misery and increase the pressure on Blackwell.

Selection: Back Wolves (to beat Sheff Utd) @ 1.7

Back Stompe @ [2.47]
Lay Portsmouth @ [2.4]
Back Wolves @ [1.7]

£10 treble @ [6.8]

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1. jib jab | 26 December 2008

   Pile into Co Stompe now then!?

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