Weekly Articles "Road to Riches" by Rich 'Tighty' Prew
The Road to Riches: Weekend of 27th-28th May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing On the flat at Beverley, Catterick, Chester, Haydock and Salisbury. Over the jumps at Ffos Las and on the all-weather at Chelmsford City
- Football, The Champions League Final
- Rugby Union, the European Champions Cup Final
- Cricket the Test Match series between England and New Zealand starts at Lords next week
- Formula One, the Monaco Grand Prix
- Golf The Memorial at Muirfield Village on the USPGA and the European Open on the DP World Tour
- Tennis The French Open continues
Royal Ascot (Full Package) 14th - 18th June 2022
Get all Neil's write ups and details of all our bets for the five days of Royal Ascot for £199 here
Free tip
European Champions Cup Final
Leinster v La Rochelle in Marseille, Saturday 4.45pm
Leinster four times winners of this competition, the last time in 2018 are attempting to match Toulouse’s five-win record. Since 2018 Leinster have lost to Saracens in the 2019 final and lost their semi-final against La Rochelle last year when missing the injured Sexton.
In the semi final this year, at home they battered Toulouse 40-17 and are understandably favourites for the final. The starting team contains 13 Irish Internationals, the squad is augmented by a superb Academy pipeline and through the season the coaches can manage the workload of the top players as their domestic league the URC is weak compared to the French and English leagues.
La Rochelle are now coached by Ronan O’Gara, and were beaten finalists last year and now only the fourth side in the competition to make consecutive finals. They beat Racing 92 in the al-French semi 23-10 from 10-0 down
La Rochelle have a massive pack and plenty of creativity out wide, and as a result can play in a variety of ways. They’d be unlikely to win a high tempo game against Leinster but in a tighter game they are likely to keep the score closer than the 11 point spread implies.
12 points La Rochelle +11 points at Evens with Bet365, 10/11 generally
Early Doors
The current World Rugby Rankings are as follows
South Africa 1
France 2
New Zealand 3
Ireland 4
Ahead of the 2023 World Cup in France, the consequences of the December 2020 pool draw are clear. It has distorted the competition by virtue of such a long organisational timeframe adopted
France are in the same Pool, Pool A, as New Zealand whilst South Africa and Ireland are both in pool B. At the quarter-final stage, the winners of pool A face the runners-up of pool B and vice-versa meaning that a maximum of two of the four current top raked sides sides can reach the semi-finals.
England have a pool containing Argentina and Japan that they should win, Should they do so they would be likely to meet Wales in the quarter-finals and will be favourites to make the semi-finals without facing a team currently ranked higher than eighth.
Ireland face South Africa in their pool and will have to beat France (second) or New Zealand (third) if they are to reach a first ever semi-final. It is the toughest of tough draws even for a team near its peak and likely to remain so through 2023
This coming weekend French and Irish teams will meet in the European Champions Cup final in Marseille at the end of a competition they have dominated for several seasons, by virtue of big salary caps compared to other nations (for the French sides) and the combination of top tier talent and an unrivalled academy system (for Leinster). There is far less likelihood that the 2023 World Cup final will be dominated by their national sides albeit ranked in the top four in the world because of the shape of the draw.
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Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st April 2022. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £59,082.60 All bets have an ROI +2.90%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £63,082.60 a 1477% increase
The Road to Riches: Weekend of 21st-22nd May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing On the flat at Goodwood, Haydock, Lingfield, Musselburgh and York and Over the jumps at Stratford
- Football, The final weekend of the Premier League
- Cricket the IPL Continues
- Formula One, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona
- Golf The Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial on the USPGA and the Dutch Open on the DP World Tour
- Tennis The French Open begins
Royal Ascot (Full Package) 14th - 18th June 2022
Get all Neil's write ups and details of all our bets for the five days of Royal Ascot for £199 here
Free tip
IPL Mumbai Indians v Delhi Capitals Saturday 3pm
In the final stages of the group games and Delhi have a shot at a position in the knockout stages with 7 wins from their 13 games, good enough at the time of writing for 4th place in the league table after Monday’s victory against the Punjab Kings
Delhi’s batting for much of this season has been led by David Warner and Rishabh Pant. Warner has 427 runs at 53 and a strike rate over 150 with 5 fifties in 11 innings whilst Pant has scored 301 runs at 30 and a strike rate of 157 has but just recently Mitch Marsh has been batting at number three and has made a couple of major contributions with 89 off 62 balls in the victory over Rajasthan then 63 off 48 balls against Punjab
Usually IPL powerhouses Mumbai are near the end of a disappointing season with 3 wins and 12 losses the latest when failing to defend 190 against Sunrisers in midweek.
10 points Mitchell Marsh top Delhi batsman at 18/5 Betfred, 7/2 Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy Power, 3/1 Ladbrokes/Coral
Time will tell
Even with the movement at quarterback this offseason, the transformation of potential team strategies at the wide receiver position is “the issue” of the 2022 offseason.
As discussed in this column recently the Christian Kirk trade began proceedings, followed by the Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill trades where both were prepared to give up their playing relationship with Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes respectively to go to new teams prepared to pay a premium for their services, as the Packers and Chiefs took the draft pick compensation and extra salary cap space.
Then in the recent NFL draft the transformation and team decision-making at wide receiver continued with a rare blockbuster draft day trade.
The Eagles did what the Raiders and Dolphins did earlier in the offseason: trade for a star receiver, in this case AJ Brown, who was having financial and/or relational issues with his team, and pay that star receiver at a new top-of-market market rate. This trade was for a high-performing young player with a year left on an under-valued rookie contract.
The position of wide receiver used to be a low-value position, one where teams would say “You can get always find them” along with running back, linebacker, safety, guard and tight end. Now, wide receiver is becoming more highly valued, due to more open and prolific offenses and, in turn, the financial value accorded to top players at the position. Wideout is approaching the importance of quarterback, left tackle, pass rusher and shutdown cornerback.
We have now seen at least three teams (Packers, Chiefs and Titans) take the following strategy: opt out of paying their star receiver at a higher level, trade them for draft picks and cap space, and go young/cheap to replace them. After trading away their star receivers, all three teams drafted wide receivers in the first or second round.
Christian Watson (Packers), Skyy Moore (Chiefs) and Treylon Burks (Titans) almost certainly won’t rise to the level of Adams, Hill and Brown soon. The acquiring teams, Raiders, Dolphins and Eagles will clearly receive more on-field value in the short term. But that is just a short-term snapshot and does not take into account the aspect of financial value.
Will Adams, Hill and Brown at roughly $24 million per year be eight times more valuable than Watson, Moore and Burks at roughly $3 million per year? A fair question can now be asked about which teams are getting the better value. Time will tell.
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Results = points bet 26860 profit +1132.47 ROI +4.22% Full details here
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Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st April 2022. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £59,082.60 All bets have an ROI +2.90%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £63,082.60 a 1477% increase
The Road to Riches: Weekend of 14th-15th May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing On the flat at Doncaster, Newbury, Newmarket and Thirsk and Over the jumps at Bangor and Uttoxeter. All weather racing at Chelmsford City
- Football, The FA Cup Final Liverpool v Chelsea
- Rugby Union, the European Champions Cup Semi finals
- Cricket the IPL Continues
- Golf The PGA Championship at Southern Hills
- Tennis ATP Opens in Geneva and Lyon
Free tip
The IPL: Lucknow Super Giants v Rajasthan Royals 3pm Sunday in Mumbai
Two-thirds of the way through the group stages and these sides both sit in the knockout positions. Lucknow a new franchise in the competition this year are second with 8 wins in their 12 games after their midweek loss to Gujarat whilst Rajasthan are 3rd with seven wins.
The match features the top two run scorers in the competition so far. Jos Buttler of Rajasthan has 625 runs at a strike rate of 150, KL Rahul of Lucknow 459 runs at a strike rate of 140 whilst the leading wicket taker Yuzvendra Chahal of Rajasthan has 23 wickets to date.
Buttler has scored three hundreds and three fifties so far, Rahul two hundreds and fifties but does have more failures, the variance is higher with his performance. Buttler is well on his way to challenging Kohli’s competition record of 973 runs. He scores heavily and is consistent, a solid betting prospect in a high variance format
10 points Jos Buttler Top Rajasthan run scorer at 2/1 with Betfred, 9/5 Betfair Sportsbook/PaddyPower and 7/4 Coral/Ladbrokes
Aspirations
The decision not to allow the English Rugby Championship winners Ealing Trailfinders to be promoted to the Gallagher Premiership, ostensibly because their stadium does not meet the league’s minimum standards, was another blow for clubs in rugby’s second tier struggling for relevance and revenue as, in some cases, professional clubs with marginal financial viability.
No relegation means we are now in the stage of the season where a side like Bath, bottom of the table this year, can “down tools” such as in their 64-0 defeat at Gloucester two weeks ago
With a moratorium in place on relegation from the Premiership until the 2023-24 season, the official line is that negotiations over the Championship’s future are continuing. There may yet be a cup competition involving Premiership and Championship clubs from the 2023-24 season. But how many thriving professional outfits will the second tier contain by then? Will the Championship be able to enhance the development of English-qualified players, coaches and referees? Given adult male participation numbers are falling across the recreational game and funding is already squeezed, it looks doubtful.
Meanwhile Premiership clubs stockpile young players who, in the absence of a reserve league, don’t play very much to help their development.
What should Championship clubs aspire to be? Feeder clubs? Proud local institutions in their own right? Semi-pro or mostly amateur outfits? One thing appears increasingly sure, running as professional sides doesn’t appear to be sustainable.
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Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £52,282.40 All bets have an ROI +2.62%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £56,282.40 a 1307% increase
The Road to Riches: Weekend of 7th-8th May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing On the flat at Ascot, Haydock, Lingfield, Nottingham and Over the jumps at Hexham and Warwick
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Manchester City v Newcastle and Liverpool v Tottenham
- Formula One, the first Miami Grand Prix
- Rugby Union, the European Champions Cup Quarter Finals
- Cricket the IPL Continues
- Golf The Byron Nelson Championship next week on the USPGA Tour and the Soudal Open on the DP Honda World Tour
- Tennis ATP Italia Open
Free tip
European Champions Cup Rugby Quarter Final
Leicester v Leinster 5.30pm Saturday
A great looking tie in the quarter-finals which run on a one off knockout basis. Leicester, top of Gallagher Premiership meet Leinster, top of the United Rugby Championship.
Leicester have won 18 of 22 league games this season and beat strong French side Clermont in both leagues of the last sixteen. Back to a one-off game they have home advantage from one of the most vociferous crowds and are Unbeaten at home for nearly a year with a really good coaching team, strong pack and kicking game and great defence.
Leinster are the strongest Irish province with tremendous strength in depth derived from an exceptional academy system and provide the majority of the Ireland national team. They beat Connacht in both legs of the last sixteen and have also only lost four games in their league this season. Their first choice 23 has had several weeks rest whilst rest of squad has been playing URC games in South Africa
Leinster and this squad in particular have a great pedigree in the competition having won it in 2018 and reached the semi-finals last year. That street wise savvy from knockout game experience may be the difference against a Leicester squad just beginning to compete at this level again after several years in the doldrums.
That said, prevailing market prices seem to factor in that experience. Leinster are 1/2 outright and -5 on the spread as the away team. I think Leinster will win narrowly and am going to split stakes in the winning margin market
8 points Leinster to win by 1-5 points at 5/1
8 points Leinster to win by 6-10 points at 9/2 both with William Hill
Wide receivers
As part of a huge off-season spending plan for a team with around $100m in salary cap space unspent the Jacksonville Jaguars gave a market-changing contract in free agency to a receiver who hasn’t reached 1,000 yards in any of his first four seasons as Christian Kirk agreed to a four-year contract worth up to $84m. Even when reduced to its base value of $72m, Kirk’s deal including $39m over the first two years is a game-changer. His $18m per year annual salary is tied for the ninth-highest in the league. The bigger contracts belong to future Hall of Famers like Julio Jones, perennial Pro Bowlers like Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins, and the recently franchise-tagged Davante Adams and Chris Godwin.
Around the league the deal has been described as “A major overpay” and it has had major ramifications for players at the position and other teams, making it much more difficult for teams to retain their star Wide receivers into their second and third contracts
Since the Kirk deal the league has seen trades of top receivers such as Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams who were both due new contracts as well as a slew of other players including Amari Cooper, Robert Woods and Allen Robinson and then AJ Brown and Marquise Brown on draft night last week
For those NFL teams operating within a fixed salary cap already paying franchise quarterbacks like Mahomes and Rodgers it is difficult to pay everyone, whereas teams like the Miami Dolphins, to whom Tyreek Hill was traded, operating with Quarterbacks on rookie deals, can make the numbers work.
Very broadly this has created a two-tier approach across the league. Teams with the star receivers seem to think the old pay scale was accurate and the teams without the good receivers seem to think it was too low. In a few year’s time, we will find out who was right.
All the above was the background to last week’s draft in which six wide receivers were selected in the first 18 picks of the first round including two trade ups, those six teams seeking up to five years of cheap contract control at an ever more expensive position in a strong draft class. This was the first time in the salary cap era that six receivers were taken in the Top 20 picks.
StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription
Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.
Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £52,282.40 All bets have an ROI +2.62%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £56,282.40 a 1307% increase
The Road to Riches: Weekend of 30th April – 1st May
Coming up this weekend
- Horse Racing On the flat at Doncaster, Goodwood, Newmarket and Thirsk and Over the jumps at Hexham and Uttoxeter
- Football, Premier League fixtures include Leeds v Manchester City and Newcastle v Liverpool
- Snooker, the World Snooker Championship concludes this weekend
- Cricket the IPL Continues
- Golf The Wells Fargo Championship next week on the USPGA Tour and the British Masters at the Belfry on the DP Honda World Tour
- Tennis ATP Madrid Open
Free tip
The 2000 Guineas, Newmarket by Neil Channing
Royal Ascot (Full Package) 14th - 18th June 2022 -
Get all our write ups and all our bets for the five days at Royal Ascot for £199 here
Root Cause
Joe Root has stepped down as England Test captain having succeeded Sir Alastair Cook as captain in 2017 and ends his tenure with the most matches (64) and wins (27) as an England men's Test skipper.
Root's decision follows a run of just one win in England's last 17 Test matches, stretching back to February 2021, which ended with a series defeat in the West Indies last month.
Root is currently England's second-highest Test run-scorer of all time, trailing only Cook, while Root's 14 centuries as captain helped him to a record tally of 5,295 runs for an England captain.
His resignation follows the sackings of England men's cricket managing director Ashley Giles and head coach Chris Silverwood, with the pair dismissed before the West Indies tour after a 4-0 Ashes defeat in Australia over the winter.
Vice-captain Ben Stokes is the choice to replace Root, from what must have been a very short list of options, but probably not an ideal candidate given his injury concerns.
In many ways Root wasn’t a natural captain and this played out in the last 18 months with many strategy mistakes on the field and an absence of feel for situations. Mainly though he hasn’t received much support on or off the field.
On the field this was most evident in the batting line up which has underperformed throughout his captaincy. In test matches whilst captain Root was far and away England’s best performer. Consider:
Most tons: Joe Root 14 (33% of total ENG tons)
Most 50+ scores: Joe Root 40 (22% of total)
Most runs: Joe Root 5295 (16% of total)
Haphazard selection policies also didn’t help, with often excessive rotation and a clear focus on major white ball tournaments, then as the cherry on top the odd decision to leave both Anderson and Broad out of recent West Indies tour. More generally Root was asked to front a team picked from a system which isn't working or producing a conveyor belt of test ready talent. Whoever succeeds him will face the same problems
StattoBets Dave Monthly Subscription
Stattobets write ups, analysis and bets are available to monthly subscribers.
Monthly subs are £50 a month and can be cancelled at any time. You can sign up here.
Betting Emporium results
The detailed results page has been updated on 1st January as have the spreadsheets with the detailed bets. They can be found by clicking RESULTS
If you bet £10 per point on every recommended bet since launch you would be winning + £52,282.40 All bets have an ROI +2.62%
A £4000 bank betting £10 a point on all selections would now be worth £56,282.40 a 1307% increase
