the official betting thread.

[Cloudy O'Ranieri]

Was going to back Alcaraz when he was 2 sets down.
Paddy were offering 15/8 or something equally as miserable.
Thought it might be worth a 10er at 10s.
Didn't bother in the end.

That's atrocious. You would have got around 11/2 on the exchanges at least at that stage of the match. I was considering it myself but withdrew all my money after the CL final so didn't bother depositing again.

 

[Cloudy O'Ranieri]

Of course.

Don't know what I was thinking. Having never cashed in, I'd not given it much thought.

Obviously. Now let's never speak of this again.

Although, if Alcaraz was trading at higher than 100, there would be arbing opportunity.

 

[Philby]

Had a look at the Club World Cup bracket above and the outright markets.

Top scorer - As ever, look for someone who can beat up on dross in the group stages. Kane at 7/1 and Guirassy at 12/1 look like they'll give you a decent run for your money given the draw. Vini Jr looked huge at 22/1 but I hear he's carrying an injury so will avoid.

In the e/w longshot territory maybe Julian Alvarez @ 25/1, Doue @ 40/1, Jackson @ 66/1

Winner - I'm on PSG e/w at 14/1 from about 2 months back. They are a skinny 9/2 now. I'd be quite surprised if one of the big 3 (PSG, City, Real) don't win it. All seem quite up for it and for marketing/sportswashing purposes their owners will be underlining how much they want to win it.

 

[Cloudy O'Ranieri]

Good luck to you Phil, m8, but I refuse to acknowledge the existence of this abomination.

 

[Philby]

Good luck to you Phil, m8, but I refuse to acknowledge the existence of this abomination.

Obviously huge question marks over...

Funding (...effectively a quid pro quo to ensure Saudi got the 2034 WC)
Context (...the host nation is in riot mode)
Legitimacy (...3 of the top 10 clubs in the world not here but there's a team full of kiwi barbers & estate agents)
Competitiveness (...as above. very few games between good sides at similar levels until the quarters)
Effect on smaller leages (...if Auckland get $3.5m for just turning up, what effect will this have on competitiveness domestically?)
Meaning (...in 10, 20, 50 years time where will this trophy be viewed from a prestige perspective)

But it's a football competition when there's no other meaningful football on, so when the vaguely competitive ties kick in I'll probably watch a bit of it.

 

[Cloudy O'Ranieri]

7. Impact on player fitness / burn out

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

I think I might not stay up late for this one.

Also, does anyone else watch to punch Infantino's face in every time they hear him speak.

 

[Cloudy O'Ranieri]

View attachment 42698

I think I might not stay up late for this one.

Also, does anyone else watch to punch Infantino's face in every time they hear him speak.

Bed at 4:30pm so to get a grand start to the day tomorrow.

 

[Nollaig O Muracu]

Bed at 4:30pm so to get a grand start to the day tomorrow.

Haha. Had no clue what you meant there, as I thought the game was kicking off at 11 PM for some reason!

 

[Philby]

Olise 1+ assists @ 10/11
2+ @ 19/4