Monthly Archives: November 2020

Tri Nations Rugby Round 6 Preview & Tips

Australia and Argentina will be playing for pride in the final match of the Tri-Nations Championship this weekend in Sydney. Barring a miracle, both sides remain out of contention for the trophy, after the All Blacks scored a convincing 38-0 win over the Pumas, in Newcastle last weekend.

Despite back to back losses, the All Blacks claim the trophy thanks to the bonus-point victory. Australia or Argentina would need to win by 101 points to steal the Tri-Nations Cup.

Both the Wallabies and the Pumas will be desperate to finish the international season on a positive note. Its been a case of two steps forward and one step back for the Wallabies, who have struggled to put together two consistent performances across the competition.

Argentina have performed beyond expectations for a side that has been starved of match practice. Mario Ledesma’s side campaign will be remembered for his country’s first ever win over the All Blacks.

Australia aiming for clean sweep in ODI series finale

Australia are set to take on India in the final match of the One Day International series in Canberra. The Aussies will be aiming for a clean sweep after outclassing India twice in Sydney.

Australia put in a commanding performance over the opening two matches, with Steve Smith scoring consecutive centuries. The only concern for the home side was the injury to opening batsman David Warner. Warner is set to miss the remainder of the white-ball series after picking up an abductor injury, fielding in game two.

The injury to Warner has forced Australia to bring in Western Australian batsman D’Arcy Short as a replacement. Short has been in prolific form for the Hobart Hurricanes but has struggled to cement a place in the national side over the last 12 months.

Warner isn’t the only injury concern for Australia, with allrounder Marcus Stoinis unable to bowl due to a side-strain. Australia have also opted to rest fast bowler Pat Cummins for the remainder of the series.

NFL Week 12 action leads to more uncertainty in the playoff race

The NFL made it through 11 weeks of football with only minor problems from COVID-19.  The Tennessee Titans suffered an outbreak earlier in the season that forced a few changes to the schedule, but everything was relatively smooth since then – until last week.  The Baltimore Ravens have seen a major outbreak that led to their Thanksgiving game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to be postponed until tomorrow, but that is now in jeopardy, as well.  While this important game will have to sit on the back burner, the rest of the Week 12 action found a few surprise outcomes that are making sports fans, and gamblers, question their predictions on who will land where in the newly-expanded playoffs. 

It looked like the New England Patriots were going to go down once again.  They got off to a very slow start against the Arizona Cardinals, with quarterback Cam Newton held to less than 40 yards passing in the first half.  He didn’t get much better in the second half and ended the day with no touchdowns and two interceptions, connecting with receivers for only 84 yards.  The Cardinals had the better stats throughout the game, but the Pats still managed to pull off the win.  It took a 50-yard field goal by Nick Folk with four seconds on the clock to break the 17-17 tie, but it was enough to keep the Pats alive for the postseason.  Gamblers who backed the Pats scored, as well, as the +100 moneyline at BetRivers.com gave them some extra holiday spending money.

The Carolina Panthers were able to get QB Teddy Bridgewater back in the game following an injury that kept him out for a couple of weeks and he gave everything he had to try to beat the Minnesota Vikings.  He had a lot of help, too, as safety Jeremy Chinn picked up two fumbles on two consecutive series, running them both back for touchdowns.  It wasn’t enough, though, and the Panthers lost 28-27 after the Vikings came from behind with less than a minute on the clock to move ahead.  For Vikings backers, they did well, with their team sitting on a moneyline of -157 ahead of the game.

Someone forgot to tell the Las Vegas Raiders they had a football game yesterday.  That’s about the only explanation for the horrible performance they gave against what, by all accounts, is a massively inferior team.  However, the Atlanta Falcons found their stride and dominated in almost every stat.  The Raiders recorded four lost fumbles and one interception and allowed their QB to be sacked five times as the Falcons walked away with a 43-6 win.  The Raiders were getting -175 ahead of the game and most of the money was put on them to win, but the few diehard Falcons fans who took their team at +150 picked up a nice payday.

How are New COVID-19 Capacity Restrictions Impacting Live Poker in Las Vegas?

If you’re planning on visiting your favorite Las Vegas poker rooms the next few weeks, you may notice some changes due to the Nevada governor’s new COVID-19 restrictions. But, on a positive note, despite capacity limitations, the live poker scene is still thriving.

South Point, one of the top Las Vegas poker rooms. (Image: CardsChat News)

And, even better, the poker room changes won’t impact your ability to find a seat in a juicy game, much. Governor Steve Sisolak imposed new coronavirus restrictions due to increased COVID-19 cases last week. They include limiting capacity in casinos to 25%.

That means poker rooms in Southern Nevada must decrease capacity for the time being. But some card rooms have found ways around the capacity limits to continue spreading tournaments and keeping the cash games running.

Who are favourites to win all four tennis Grand Slams in 2021?

With only three Grand Slams taking place in 2020, the spoils were very evenly split. Novak Djokovic won the last Grand Slam that took place before Coronavirus hit, winning the Australian Open Men’s Singles. It was Dominic Thiem who won the hastily rearranged U.S. Open at Flushing Meadow in September, and shortly afterwards, Rafael Nadal took down the French Open to move level with Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slams, becoming the ‘GOAT’ (Greatest of All-Time).

Who will win the four Grand Slams that are scheduled to take place in 2021? Let’s take a look at the betting favourites and look for some value.

The Australian Open

Taking place between Monday 18th January and Sunday 31st January, the 2021 Australian Open is sure to be a Grand Slam that is fiercely battled for. Current world number one Novak Djokovic has recently contacted the Tennis Australia authorities to make sure that players will be allowed to train for a fortnight before the tournament kicks off, and Russian Grand Slam finalist Daniil Medvedev has spoken about the dangers of players not training and going straight from their hotel rooms to the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park. Either way, the event is likely to come too soon for Roger Federer and it would be a shock if the Swiss got anywhere near the final.

Poker idols – Phil Hellmuth

The name of Phil Hellmuth will be synonymous with poker in 50 years’ time. From being known as the youngest-ever World Champion to his ‘Poker Brat’ phase to becoming the record-holding WSOP bracelet winner, Phil Hellmuth Junior is a living poker legend. But how did the man who currently lives in Las Vegas but hails from Madison, Wisconsin become the man he is today?

Today we look at the Poker Idol that is Phil Hellmuth.

The Origins of a Record Breaker

Hellmuth might one day become a World Champion, but he began life as a self-confessed ‘ugly duckling’ of his family, struggling for grades and a place in the world. That all changed during further education, however, when his prodigious mathematical knowledge would lead to him eventually leaving the University of Wisconsin to become a poker player.

Premier League Review – Gameweek #10

The action in the weekend’s Premier League gamed has been intense, with sides at the top and bottom of the Premier League under increasing pressure to get three points in every game.

Who succeeded and who failed in the 10th week of the EPL Season so far?

Let’s take a look back at the drama as it unfolded in the biggest games.

Brighton 1-1 Liverpool

How 10 poker legends celebrated Thanksgiving

While the United Kingdom and Europe continue on the remorseless hype building up to Christmas Day, the United States took time out from pounding the online felt over the weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving. But how did some of the superstars of the stars and stripes – or nearby North American countries – celebrate?

Let’s check in with 10 bona fide poker legends, pull up a chair and go hunting for the biggest turkey and lashing of gravy… before saying ‘Thanks’.

Scotty Nguyen

The 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event winner, who took home $1 million when he beat Kevin McBride to the title 22 years ago, reached out to his fans to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Everything Going Doug Polk’s Way Now in Heads-Up Grudge Match

Doug Polk is catching everything in sight in every big pot it seems, and he now leads Daniel Negreanu by a country mile in the heads-up grudge match.

Doug Polk can’t possibly run any better than he has so far against Daniel Negreanu. (Image: WSOP.com)

Polk. one of the top heads-up no-limit hold’em players ever, doesn’t need much help. But the deck has repeatedly smacked him in the face throughout the challenge. His run of good luck was more existent during Saturday’s session than any other.

At this point, the odds of Negreanu coming from behind to win are getting slimmer by the day. Strange things have happened in poker. Earlier this year, Phil Galfond rallied from a $900,000 deficit against “VeniVidi1993” to win the first Galfond Challenge.