British Pub Games: Darts

A dartboard is an almost essential part of any British pub. Without a dartboard, it’s questionable whether a pub can be called a pub at all. Aside from the bar itself, the dartboard can be considered the social nexus between the dart-players and other patrons of the pub. If the cries of ecstasy and anguish can’t be heard from the inevitable football game on the television, you’ll surely hear the mixed cries and thuds of the ever-present darts game that you’ll find in every pub. If it’s not quiz night or racing night, with the cries of delight over winning a large Cheltenham bet, you’ll certainly notice that the darts game takes the spotlight.

English Premiership Betting Patterns

       If you are attempting to make money from betting on the Premiership then the key is to carefully study the betting patterns so that you are fully informed about teams’ forms and what odds are being offered by bookies. The key is to pick your winner nearer the start of the season and they lay your bet early because as the season passes and the dominant teams start coming to the fore, their odds are necessarily going to get steeper and steeper. I would recommend that you put some money on one of the two teams from Manchester to emerge victorious in the league come may due to the incredible strength in depth of squad that both teams possess.

Betting On Upcoming Premiership Matches

   The weekend after this one Arsenal visit Stoke for the Sunday lunchtime kick-off where Arsene Wenger’s new-look defence will be put to the test regarding their ability to defend their goal at set pieces and from Rory Delap’s long throw. Stoke’s recent signing of Peter Crouch on the last day of the transfer window means that they are now even more dangerous aerially and they have found Arsenal’s defence wanting when they have used such attacking techniques during past encounters. A lot will depend of Arsenal’s new German centre-back Petr Mertersacker to marshal the defenders around him and keep them organised. Arsenal defenders have share a collective habit of not tracking their runners from free-kicks and corners but they have reportedly been practising this exact skill pre-season so it will be interesting to see if there is any evidence of improvement.

Betting On Football

   In the four o’clock kick-off next Sunday, Newcastle United play host to Tottenham Hotspur at St James’ Park. The winner in this encounter is tricky to predict because both teams have been in superb form of late. Spurs are fresh off of the back of a victory against their North London rivals Arsenal last Sunday and Harry Redknapp’s men have gone from strength to strength so far this season. The return of Raphael Van der Vaart from injury and the signing of Emanuel Adebayour on loan from Real Madrid for the season means that they have more than enough firepower to not have to worry about the recently departed Peter Crouch – Jermaine Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko are both also currently sitting on the bench, chomping at the bit. This is because Van der Vaart and Adebayour have already developed such a telepathic understanding playing together up front. The Dutchman’s volleyed opener against Arsenal was thanks to a delicious little chipped pass from Adebayour, while they also cut through the Liverpool defence together like a knife through hot butter the week before.

Rugby Terminology

   Football is a gentlemen's sport for hooligans, rugby is a hooligan’s sport for gentlemen, so the old adage goes. Indeed, rugby certainly has a better reputation for good sportsmanship than football. In fact, rugby even has a rule regarding ‘ungentlemanly conduct’, which is a general rule regarding the behaviour of the players. For instance, if the referee passes a judgement and a player acts in a rude or disrespectful way towards him, the ref will be likely to penalise that player’s team of grounds of ‘ungentlemanly conduct.’ It’s funny to think how this would work in football, as this sort of cursing and loutish behaviour is just part of the culture and generally goes unpunished. Here are a few good rugby terms to familiarise yourselves with:

Golf Lingo

   Today I learned about golf and its many confusing and silly terms. Here’s a few I’ve learned today:

Tennis Terminology

After a few bouts of tennis in my friend’s tennis court (yes, he’s rich), I decided that the game was a lot of fun and that I’d like to start learning it for myself. Once I’ve gotten the gist of it, who knows, I may even place a few bets if I’m feeling lucky. Here’s a few terms that I’ve learnt on the way:

Former Tiger Caddy Gets Claws Out

On winning one of the leading golf championships in the world, the former caddy of Tiger Woods said it was the highlight of his caddying career – a stab in the back for Woods some would say.

Steve Williams, who was Woods’ caddy since 1999, made the comment on celebrating Adam Scott’s victory in August at the WGC-International Bridgestone.

It made bleak listening for Adam Scott’s win as it overshadowed much of what the winner had to say.