We have an update from the ‘experts’ after the Italy v Uruguay game. Nobody backed ‘the bite’ before you ask.
After two games of the Ladbrokes World Cup Naps Media betting competition, the clear leader was Off The Ball’s Colm Parkinson. The Laois man’s shrewd pick of Thomas Muller to open the scoring against Portugal put him into a decent lead ahead of Owen Cowzer from The Sun and Michael Scully of The Mirror, who had picked less high risk, but equally accurate, punts in the first two games of the challenge.
The next game for the 20 hacks to make their selections on was the blockbuster clash of Uruguay and Italy. The bets ranged from the slightly left-field (Andrea Pirlo first goalscorer from that man Parkinson) to the predictable (six of the journos went for Luis Suarez to score first) but the end result was the same. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Bets on a draw, over 3.5 goals, an Italy win and a Cavani goal first all failed to land. Hard to believe, eh?
Nobody made a correct bet. Yes, 20 of the finest minds sports journalism this country has to offer (terms and conditions apply) couldn’t manage a single winning bet between them. We all hang our heads in collective shame, blaming over work at this difficult time is the JOE hacks excuse and we’re sticking to it.
The option of backing Luis Suarez to bite someone wasn’t available to us, so unlike this genius Norwegian punter, the journos pockets are even more empty after this game. Would any have backed it though?
Anyway, all that means that Woolly maintains his lead over the field as we head into the next phase of the competition.
|
|
| Contestant | Previous Total* | Running Total* |
| Colm Parkinson – Newstalk | €60.00 | €50.00 |
| Owen Cowzer – Sun | €50.50 | €40.50 |
| Michael Scully – Mirror | €48.50 | €38.50 |
| Paul Lennon – Star | €11.50 | €1.50 |
| David Courtney – Indo | €11.50 | €1.50 |
| Adrian Russell – Score.ie | €11.50 | €1.50 |
| Sean Nolan – JOE.ie | €11.50 | €1.50 |
| Eric Lalor – JOE.ie | €11.50 | €1.50 |
| Gareth Makim – Metro | €11.00 | €1.00 |
| Stephen Beacom – Bel Tel | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Paul O’Hehir – Mirror | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Eoin Brannigan – Star | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Dave Coughlan – Star | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Kieran Holden – TV3 | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Jim Gracey – Bel Tel | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Aidan Fitzmaurice – Herald | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Brian Flanagan – Star | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Dave McIntyre – Newstalk | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Mick McCarthy – Newstalk | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
| Nathan Murphy – Newstalk | -€20.00 | -€30.00 |
The next bets are on the four quarter-finals, giving the competitors a chance to bone up fully on the upcoming games and, hopefully, make a few correct predictions this time.
We’ll bring you all the selections for those four games BEFORE the quarter finals, so you can either take their ‘expert’ advice (brave) or ignore it (wise). And don’t forget, if you fancy a punt on who will win, the market is available here.
There appears to have been a massive punt on Owen Cowzer, who is now in to 3/1 while Parkinson, despite leading, has drifted out to 8/1. There has to be some value there.
RELATED ARTICLES
MORE FROM JOE
MORE FROM JOE
