Sport is made for betting

I've been writing betting previews of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments for over a decade now, the latest instalment can be found at PuntingAce , men's and women's articles on the same page. My fee from the articles has been donated to the Qld Floods Appeal.

The gambling world often gets criticised for encouraging the vulnerable to waste their money with not much given back to society. Most charitable efforts by the firms aren't reported, and Betfair and Sportingbet are just two of the firms with quite substantial charitable contributions on their books each year. But the biggest donations you ever see from punters usually comes from the media when they hire some 'experts' to make a few bets with the winnings (which are definitely not guaranteed!) going to a nominated charity. There may be others I've missed but there is rarely a co-ordinated charity betting campaign of any substance. Until now..... PuntingAce , a website and forum I write for regularly, have been running a charity challenge for quite a while. They started with a bank of AU$125k two years ago, and are now over AU$55k in profit . And that doesn't include the annual Charity Swim one of the owners does each year to benefit a local school for children w...

It's a waiting game with this race - will the forecast thunderstorms arrive before, during or after the race? If they don't arrive, this will be one mighty boring race as it has as few overtaking moves as Monaco and Valencia. A little bit of rain-inspired chaos always spices up a race... Read my preview here .

You can read my betting preview for today's race at Hockenheim on PuntingAce . Season results so far can be found here . Here's hoping for a bit of rain to spice up today's race!

As with every tennis Grand Slam, I write detailed betting previews for Australian betting website PuntingAce. This year's tournament looks very attractive for outright betting, it's the most excited I have been in a while for a Slam. For the men's preview, click here For the women's preview, click here Happy punting!

In case you haven't found the link from my Twitter updates, listed on the top right, here is where you can find my US Open previews from a betting perspective. More often that not, I'll post links to the previews there so keep an eye on those comments and links. From the PuntingAce site, you'll also be able to check my previews of the last few years and decide for yourself if they're any good or not :)

My world-famous Wimbledon betting previews are now online on the Punting Ace website. They've conveniently put them onto one page here Scott Ferguson's Wimbledon previews And if you wanted to how I've gone in previous years, check the archive here

I'd love to write one myself but haven't the time, so here's the rub from the Punting Ace expert 'Mr Cricket'. World T20 preview Not sure who will win it, but would be extremely surprised if either Australia or England holds the trophy - the Ashes is a far bigger priority.

You may have come across my Grand Slam tennis previews before, I've written them on various sites since about 2000. You can find the full articles here Here are a couple of snippets: Australian Open 2009 Men's Draw The king has been deposed, the reigning champion oddly chose to take the cash and change racquets, a Brit is second favourite to win a Slam title and we have the most open market here in years. We all know the history of this event dishing up first-time winners or finalists, do we go for a shock again, or will undeniable class prevail? Seeds: Men 1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) top ranked with Grand Slam titles to his name, but yet to reach a final in the hardcourt events. Reached the semi here last year but didn't beat anyone inside the top 25 to get there. Hardcourt doesn't suit him his knees have chronic problems already, his slices and spins aren't as effective as on the natural surfaces and he can get blown away by the big guns such as Gonzalez and Tsonga (con...

Last week I wrote an article for PuntingAce, looking back at the big improvers and big losers last year, and naturally, looking ahead to 209. An added bonus is a quick scan of all the Betfair 1.01s beaten during 08. You might be surprised who rates a mention... You can read the full article here . I'll be punting rather than trading on tennis this year, but just dipping my toe into the water this week before I get right back into it. Make use of Betfair and other firm's live video from Auckland, Brisbane and Doha to check the form as players resume from the off-season.

The swimming is nearly over, but the athletics is about to kick off and the hockey is still going. Still plenty of opportunities available. Best value bet of the night, Britta Steffen in the women's 100m freestyle. Should not be fourth fav in this market, she has several of the fastest times ever. Read the full previews at PuntingAce.com (my previews). Friday's action won't be posted until early morning Aus time.

I have written betting previews for tennis Grand Slams since 2000. To read my previews for the 2008 Australian Open, see them here at Punting Ace.

Give Yourself An Edge - Play weak markets By Scott Ferguson Originally published at www.puntingace.com Take a look at the highest rating sporting events on TV, then compare them to a list of the most popular betting events. The bookmakers follow these events closely, the punters follow them closely, so how are you supposed to make an edge? Ask yourself this question: If a bookmaker has to price up English Premiership soccer, the Super Bowl and Australian NBL basketball all at the same time - which event is he more likely to make an error in? Think about it - the vast majority of clients and the bigger bets are going to come for the higher profile events. Thus your bookie is going to spend 90% of his time doing the research, managing the risk, keeping an eye on the newswire and other prices on the big events as well. That makes it very tough for you to find an edge on those markets. Every little item gets reported on TV, on the internet, in the pape...