Get in the Game - with Nigel Ridgway of bet365 *US Edition*
Nigel Ridgway
NBA Playoffs
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The NBA playoffs are upon us this weekend, and at the start of the season
the Lakers would have been the easy pick. However, their up-and-down
season, combined with the turmoil over Kobe Bryant, makes them opposable in
the West. Their loss to Sacramento on Sunday adds further to the
apprehension, but who are the contenders for the NBA crown? The Kings have
suffered an unexpected late-season collapse, ever since Chris Webber
returned from injury, and have lost seven of their last eleven games. The
Timberwolves will be a hot playoff pick. They have a great inside-out game,
and they play wonderful defence, but with a lot of pressure on them to win
- this is their first season with a top three seed - they might just wilt
as a result. This realistically just leaves the Spurs, who as defending
champions seem to bring out their best for the playoffs. As usual they
didn't look great until March when Tim Duncan got 'healthy', and have since
won ten games in a row. The Pacers can emerge in the Eastern Conference,
where with 60 wins they will have home-court advantage throughout the
playoffs. Rick Carlisle has turned them around, and there are not many
teams who can beat them at the Conseco Fieldhouse and defend home court.
bet365 NBA Championship prices... LA Lakers 1/1, SA Spurs 4/1, SAC Kings
4/1, MIN TWolves 9/2, others on site.
bet365 NBA Eastern Conference prices... DET Pistons 5/4, IND Pacers 6/4, NJ
Nets 3/1, others on site.
bet365 NBA Western Conference prices... LA Lakers 10/11, SAC Kings 3/1, SA
Spurs 10/3, MIN Twolves 4/1, others at bet365.com.
Boston @ Indiana get the ball rolling on Saturday afternoon (2:00 pm EST -
ESPN/19.00 GMT), with live coverage of the Milwaukee @ Detroit match-up
(1:00 pm EST - ESPN/18.00 GMT) on Sunday. Join us for live betting on this
game as the action unfolds, where our markets will include Point Spread;
Game Total; and Who Will Win the Quarter.
MCI Heritage Classic golf (starts Thursday)
It's just a short drive from Augusta National Golf Club to Harbour Town
Golf Links, but there's a huge change in playing conditions for the weary
Masters participants who made the cut last week - there are 16 of them
teeing it up this week. Not that Harbour Town is a pushover with its narrow
fairways and small greens not to mention the wind that often blows which
can balloon scores especially on the tricky par threes. Like Augusta, the
home of the MCI Heritage Classic generally requires local knowledge before
success is achieved.
Step forward Davis Love whose five wins here leave him one short of tying
him with the likes of Jack Nicklaus for second all-time in victories in one
tournament, including last year's playoff win over Woody Austin. Touch
wood, the only thing that could stop him contending this week would be a
reoccurrence of his back problem! Scott Verplank is a cumulative 31 under
here over the last four years, and is another with a game ideally suited to
the course, while Bernhard Langer's fourth here on 02, and tied for third
in 01 speaks for itself. Justin Leonard, a past winner here, played well
enough last week at Augusta to suggest that a return to the winners
enclosure was imminent. They are preferred to a likely deflated Ernie Els,
who must be wondering what he has to do to win a Masters after so narrowly
losing out on the weekend.
bet365 pre-tournament prices... Els 13/2, Love 13/2, Campbell 16/1, Goosen
18/1, Verplank 20/1, Langer 33/1, Leonard 50/1, others at bet365.com.
NHL Playoffs
The Bruins took a commanding 3-1 lead in game 4, Tuesday night in a
gruelling double-OT thriller. Now they can wrap it up with one more win at
the Fleet Center. Can the Habs fight back and stay alive?
MON Canadiens v BOS Bruins Game 5
Th Apr 15 - 7:00 pm EST (CBC) Apr 15 - 00.05 GMT
This series is shaping up to be a good one. After Ed Belfour shut them out
two games in a row, the Sens got even with a 4-1 game 4 victory. Game 5
will be pivotal. Can the Leafs weather another Senators barrage on the home
ice?
OTT Senators v TOR Maple Leafs Game 5
Fri Apr 16 - 7:00 pm EST (CBC) Apr 17 - 00.00 GMT
Flyers goalie Robert Esche was cool as a cucumber in shutting out the
Devils in Game 4. Now the Flyers have the chance to send the defending
champs home for the season with a victory in Philly, up 3-1 in the
series.
NEW Devils v PHL Flyers Game 5
Sa Apr 17 - 3:00 pm EST (ABC) Apr 17 - 20.00 GMT
Once in-play join us for live betting on the above games, and all the live
games this weekend, where our markets will include: Puck Line; Game Total;
Next Goal Scored; Most Shots on Goal; Who Will Win the Period; and Next
Period Total.
bet365 Stanley Cup prices... COL Avalanche 7/2, DET Redwings 4/1, TB
Lightning 6/1, BOS Bruins 13/2, PHL Flyers 13/2, others at bet365.com.
Kentucky Derby (Saturday May 1st - 6:00 pm EST (ESPN2) / 22.00 GMT)
After last weekend's major trials, the first 20-runner maximum field since
1984 is beginning to shake-up with any number of possibles still hoping to
squeeze in on the earnings rule. Victory for the Michael Dickinson trained
Tapit, in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial catapulted him to the head of our
'Derby' market, but by doing so he recorded only the third-best Beyer
figure among the weekend's hopefuls. Tapit's rating of 98 pales into
insignificance behind the Bluegrass Stakes winner The Cliff's Edge (111)
and Arkansas Derby winner Smarty Jones (107), who is now unbeaten in six
races. Interestingly, however, in a poll of Daily Race Form readers it was
the other way around with 41% thinking that Tapit had run the best prep
(38% Smarty Jones, 21% The Cliff's Edge). If visual evidence is just as
good as mathematical, and it often is, then it will be no surprise to see
that progress continue between now and May 1st, especially considering
who's guiding his preparation.
bet365 Kentucky Derby prices... Tapit 6/1, Smarty Jones 6/1, The Cliff's
Edge 7/1, Rock Hard Ten 8/1, others at bet365.com.
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Advance Auto Parts 500
Su Apr 18 - 1:00 pm EST (FOX) / 17.00 GMT
This week's race takes in another of the Short Track speedways at
Martinsville, one of the toughest around, but evaluating form from Bristol
Speedway does not help in finding the secret behind Martinsville. Recent
form suggests that Jeff Gordon should be the man to watch especially as he
won both events at this track last year, and has an impressive 5 wins here
overall. However, a couple of drivers to consider this week are Rusty
Wallace, who holds the record of current drivers to have won here despite
going two years without a win, and Kevin Harvick, who has been running well
all season and was brought up on the short tracks. Jeff Burton has
struggled so far this season, and is in danger of losing his car due to
lack of sponsorship, but he could rise to the occasion this weekend on a
track that is known for throwing up big price winners. Take note of the
Grid positions at Martinsville as an impressive 76% of winners have won
from the 1st 10 starting positions (55% from the top 5).
bet365 Auto Advance Parts 500 Outright prices... Jeff Gordon 11/2, Dale
Earnhardt Jr 7/1, Kurt Busch 9/1, Dusty Wallace 9/1, Kevin Harvick 10/1, Jeff
Burton 20/1, others at bet365.com.
Be lucky!
Nigel.
NIGEL RIDGWAY, an experienced punter and betting shop owner of many years, believes that "The key to successful gambling is getting value for money." Nigel was once forced by local bookmakers, to stop writing a tipping column in a UK newspaper, because he was costing them a fortune. Find out what offers and lines are hot at bet365.com.
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