Soccer Betting » World Cup 2010

Offshore Oscar’s picks April 1 – Goin’ to Mexico

Offshore Oscar — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:11:47 +0000

Another frustrating weekend has us bleeding units again, but we are still way ahead for the season and look to be a pretty good bet to finish in the black. Our Uruguayan friends came through, which is more than I can say for our sometimes-English-speaking crews in Ireland and Wales.

I’m actually headed to Mexico now, but I won’t be anywhere near the Honduras match, unless they move it to the beach in Puerto Vallarta at the last minute. If those drugs gangs catch up with me down there this might be how I go out, but as you know, I’m a gambler through and through.

Original bankroll: 1,000 units
Last time’s bankroll: 1,431.2 units

Last time:
1 – 40 units to win on Wales at 2.05 – Final 0-2 – LOSS
2 – 50 units Ireland to win at 1.91 – Final 1-1 – LOSS
3 – 40 units Uruguay to win at 2.10 – Final 2-0 – WIN
Profit/loss = (-46 units)
New bankroll: 1,385.2 units

This week’s Offshore Oscar plays:

1 – Surprise group 3 leaders Northern Ireland are flying high after their win against Poland on Saturday. The standings might be a little skewed, since the other teams in the group have at least a game in hand on the boys from Belfast. Nevertheless, they should remain on top of the group with a win at Windsor Park versus the visiting Slovenians.

40 units on Northern Ireland to win at 2.25 (so a win gets us back 90 units)

2 – The race is on for second place in group 5 behind most likely winners Spain. Bosnia had a nice win in Genk on Saturday and they should complete the double versus the Belgians in Zenica.

40 units on Bosnia-Herzegovina to win at 2.10 (so a win gets us back 84 units)

3 – San Pedro Sula, Honduras will be the host city for this Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier between Honduras and Mexico. The visiting Tri Colores smoked Costa Rica on Saturday, while Honduras has only managed a point in their first two matches, which were both on the road. The home fans will be rocking and all the pressure will be on the Hondurans. We see the Mexicans scoring an early goal and Honduras equalizing in the second half.

40 units Honduras-Mexico tie at 3.10 (so a draw gets us back 124 units)

Odds from willhill.com

Offshore Oscar’s picks Mar-28, 29 – Uruguay or the highway

Offshore Oscar — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:47:40 +0000

Last week was a nightmare from a betting standpoint, as we lost all three positions without even getting much of a thrill. But I prefer to be an optimist, so I am trying to focus more on the fond memories I have of the excellent street food I had while at the SXSWi festival in Austin. Why someone threw it on the street, I’ll never know. Gravel is evidently loaded with vitamins, according to the bums enjoying it with me.

Original bankroll: 1,000 units
Last time’s bankroll: 1,551.2 units

Last time:
1 – 40 units Everton to win at 2.62 – Final 2-1 – LOSS
2 – 40-unit win parlay Wolverhampton at 2.15 into Birmingham City at 1.70 – Final 1-0 into 1-1 – LOSS
3 – 40 units on the Roma-Juventus draw at 2.90 – Final 1-4 – LOSS
Profit/loss = (-120 units)
New bankroll: 1,431.2 units

This weekend’s Offshore Oscar plays:

1 – Wales and Finland are vying with Russia for second place behind Germany in Group 4. Wales host Finland in Cardiff on Saturday and they must get all 3 points to have a chance because the Germans pay them a visit on Wednesday. In-form Liverpool defender Sami Hyppia anchors the Finnish defense, but look for the Welsh to be extremely focused and pull out a close victory.

40 units to win on Wales at 2.05 (so a win gets us back 81 units)

2 – Let’s take a boat across the Irish Sea from Wales to Dublin to root on the Republic of Ireland as they host Bulgaria. Ireland can take the lead in Group 8 if they win and Italy is held in Montenegro. Look for Robbie Keane and John O’Shea to lead the charge and get a victory.

50 units on Ireland to win at 1.91 (so a win gets us back 95.5 units)

3 – Landlocked Paraguay are the surprise leaders in South America and they travel to Montevideo on Saturday to face an improving Uruguay, who need this match more than their visitors. They are in a good battle for the automatic 4th position with Chile and Colombia. Diego Forlan, Athletico Madrid’s in form striker should take control of this match, especially if Paraguay is without striker Roque Santa Cruz.

40 units Uruguay to win at 2.10 (so a win gets us back 84 units)

Odds from willhill.com

Offshore Oscar’s picks Feb-11 – CONCACAF time

Offshore Oscar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:41:32 +0000

Arsenal and Hamburg each managed to disappoint in their own special way over the weekend, but my Serie A parlay came in to prevent a total disaster. We’re still crazy-ahead for this long season, so it’s time to concentrate on the always unpredictable and wide-open CONCACAF.

Original bankroll: 1,000 units
Last time’s bankroll: 1,679.45 units

Last time:
1 – 50 units Hamburg to win at 1.91 – Final 3-2 – LOSS
2 – 40 units Arsenal to win at 2.37 – Final 0-0 – LOSS
3 – 30-unit win parlay, Roma at 1.70 into Palermo at 1.95 – Final 3-0 and 2-1 – WIN

Profit/loss = (-20.55 units)
New bankroll: 1,658.9 units

This week’s Offshore Oscar play:

1 – While most of Europe will be playing friendlies on Wednesday, some regions kick off their final round of World Cup 2010 qualifying, most notably CONCACAF. The bitter rivalry between the United States and Mexico resumes on Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio. It looks like the sub-freezing weather that the US wanted is not going to happen, with the forecast calling for 50ºF and a possible light shower.

Bob Bradley is blessed with a full healthy squad, while Sven Goran Eriksson’s Mexico squad will be without suspended young Gunner, Carlos Vela, and injured Deportivo left-winger Andres Guardado. Landon Donovan has been training and coming off the bench for Bayern Munich since the beginning of January. That was a great move for him and US soccer, he is match fit, and looking to show the US fans that he will be ready for WC 2010, to make up for his sub par performance at WC 2006. Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard are both playing great in the EPL and they, along with Donovan should help the USA pull out the victory.

40 units on USA to win at 2.05 (so a win gets us back 82 units)

Odds from willhill.com

Diego Maradona Not Helping Argentina’s World Cup odds

Daryl — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:59:35 +0000

You won’t be massively surprised to hear that Diego Maradona’s imminent appointment as Argentina coach has had a negative impact on the albiceleste’s World Cup odds.

Before Alfio Basile’s resignation, Argentina were 5-1 to win the World Cup (and they weren’t even playing particularly well).

But the news about El Diego has seen those odds move out to 6/1. Latest World Cup winner odds via Paddy Power below, plus an explanation as to why those odds have moved (as if we needed one).

Here’s how Paddy Power sees it:

“It’s been proved many times that you need tacticians more than motivators in international football and it remains to be seen whether Maradona possesses those qualities. Maradona was a player with few rivals and is rightly idolised in Argentina but very few of the greatest players have gone on to be great coaches – ultimately we think it would do more harm than good to what is a strong Argentinian team.”

“With Maradona’s limited coaching experience and turbulent personal life it would be akin to Gazza taking charge of the England team.”

Latest World Cup 2010 winner odds:

5/1 Brazil

6/1 Argentina

15/2 Spain

9/1 England

11/1 Italy

11/1 Germany

14/1 Holland

20/1 France

22/1 Portugal

28/1 Russia

33/1 Ivory Coast

40/1 Paraguay

50/1 Cameroon

66/1 Mexico

66/1 Croatia

66/1 South Africa

66/1 Czech Republic

66/1 Nigeria

66/1 Turkey

66/1 Serbia

80/1 Sweden

80/1 USA

80/1 Ghana

100/1 Senegal

100/1 Australia

Brazil Favourites to Win World Cup 2010

Daryl — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:52:19 +0000

Here are the latest odds from Paddy Power for World Cup 2010 winners:

Brazil are favourites at 9-2 with Argentina second favourites at 5-1.

Euro 2008 champs Spain are third favourites at 15-2, while Euro 2008 chumps England are somehow fourth favourites at 8-1.

What a difference a Fabio Capello makes, eh?

Long list of odds after the jump:

Visit Paddy Power here and first time customers get a free £25 bet.

Offshore Oscar’s results for October 11, 2008

Offshore Oscar — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 18:19:38 +0000

Another small win for the weekend was mixed with disappointment, as I was so confident in a Scottish victory that I decided to come to Edinburgh to celebrate with the locals. I quickly ran into a hardened group of cross-dressers (all wearing similar skirts!) drowning their sorrows, and things were going along well enough until we were confronted by a group of thugs wearing kilts (who evidently don’t like being mocked by guys wearing skirts on days the Scotland team plays), so I had to get the hell out of there.

Offshore Oscar’s results for October 11, 2008

1 – It turns out Scotland, and specifically Chris Iwelumo, does not like to embarrass their guests by anything so cruel as scoring a goal in the game, so they were lucky to get out with a draw with Norway.

Bet: 40 units
Collect: 0

2 – Not surprisingly, heavily favored Germany was not so polite to the Russian tourists, but after getting two early goals they had to sweat it out to preserve the full points 2-1.

Bet: 60 units
Collect: 102

Previous bankroll: 1,175 units
Win/loss for the week: +2
New bankroll: 1,177 units

Offshore Oscar’s picks for October 11, 2008

Offshore Oscar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:27:48 +0000

Another big weekend of World Cup 2010 qualifiers is upon us, and I’m hanging out in London now testing the lager taps and scanning for me best bets. There are plenty of really interesting matches to choose from, but my strongest plays are two home favorites that are holding at tempting prices.

Original bankroll: 1,000 units
Current bankroll: 1,175 units

Offshore Oscar’s plays for October 11, 2008

1 – Scotland should be healthy now after a month to recover. This is their first home match of the group and they should prevail over Norway.

40 units on Scotland to win at 2.05 (so a win gets us back 82 units)

2 – The Germans are still smarting over their draw in the last match at Finland. They should come out gunning at home against Russia, which don’t seem to be the same team from last Summer’s Euros.

60 to win Germany at 1.70 (so a win gets us back 102 units)

Odds from willhill.com

Offshore Oscar’s results for September 10, 2008

Offshore Oscar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 03:26:07 +0000

We killed ‘em again, thanks to both the favorites we chose coming through exactly as planned and hoped. The Denmark side we loved so much on Saturday barely even got a view of the goal in Hungary, but they can come back in Portugal to score 3 times. Where the eff was all that offense on the weekend, fellas? I guess you can’t win ‘em all.

Wednesday’s Offshore Oscar results:

1 – Greece was the word in Latvia, as Gekas scored all they needed in the 10th minute and then added another early in the second half for a 2-0 win.

Bet: 40
Collect: 78

2 – There were no anxious moments for Slovenia as they capably defended their home turf against their sound-alike opponents from Slovakia, 2 -1. I’m still not convinced they aren’t actually the same country, but whatever. If Melania Knauss Trump (who asked me use her photo on this post at a recent yacht party) says she’s from Slovenia and not Slovakia, then I believe her.

Bet: 40
Collect: 90

Starting bankroll for the week: 1055 units 
Win/loss for the week: +88 
New bankroll: 1143

Are there no challenges left in this life for me? I’m off to celebrate another big day with the finest box of wine money (or units) can buy. I’ll be back soon with weekend EPL picks and possibly winning lottery numbers as well.

Offshore Oscar’s picks for September 10, 2008

Offshore Oscar — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:50:59 +0000

Flush with confidence from going 2 for 3 on the World Cup 2010 qualifiers on Saturday, we are coming back with a couple Wednesday plays to keep the cash coming in.

Starting bankroll: 1000 units
Current bankroll: 1055 units

World Cup 2010 qualifiers for September 10, 2008

1 – Greece got their feet wet on Saturday, thrashing Luxembourg. Latvia will be tougher, but the Greeks are hungry after their disappointing Euro 2008 showing.

40 units on Greece to win at 1.95 on the road (so a Greece win gets us back 78 units, and a draw or Latvia win gets us nothing).

2 – If you want to advance a tough Group 3, you MUST protect your home turf. Slovenia got a taste of the World Cup in 2002 and are itching to go back.

40 units on Slovenia at 2.25 to beat an upstart Slovakia at the Petrol Stadium in Celje (so a Slovenia win gets us back 90 units) Is this rivalry so bitter because the countries are confused for one another so often? We’ll see.

Match of the day

Probably the tastiest match of the day is Croatia-England. You can make a case for all three betting options (home win/draw/away win), but I kept changing my mind, so I will pass. Any opinions out there?

odds from willhill.com