Once the new season arrives, counting the days by the way, attention will soon turn to the transfer window in what I personally think could turn out to be one of the closest and most exciting season in premier league history.

So who will spend and on what and looking at skybet.com I like the value lies below:
Scott Dann to sign for Arsenal at 6/1, personally think he is too good for Stoke and 1/3 does not represent good enough value for an in demand British defender

Shane Long to sign for Newcastle at 9/2, Newcastle are crying out for forwards and have Andy Carroll’s money still pretty much burning a hole in their pockets despite some recent signings.

Alexis Sanchez 8/1 to join Chelsea – could very well join Barcelona agreed but Chelsea will spend big and they don’t come much bigger

I would be very interested to hear other people’s opinions and if you have lower league gossip I’m all for it…

Is it the ultimate desire or the ultimate despair, does how much a person can potentially afford to lose dictate how much a person potentially takes to a casino or does peer pressure, greed, “chasing the one big one” all play its part.

Personally I take what I can afford to walk away having lost, not a penny more, and if I am ever up on what I take (very rarely) I change up my quota and “play” with the rest, you will be right in thinking the best I usually ever then do is come out even.

Whereby other friends I frequent various North West Casinos with adopt the theory “win big lose big” but does money just come to money and no matter whether you do win big and lose big – you come out even at the end of the day.

I’d like to think so but sorry I don’t. Casinos win more than they lose and that’s why people go back, after all, as Betfred said “it matters more when there’s money on it.

It’s cynical I know however the Premier League sack race is now available and the odds make interesting, borderline a little harsh, reading.

Neil Warnock done an amazing job in comfortably winning the Championship with QPR, at the same time getting the best out of temperamental players such as Abel Taarbat so should he be as short as 5/1 to be the first manager to go…

At the same time Brendan Rodgers and Paul Lambert deserve all the credit they can get with the work they done at Swansea and Norwich respectively last season. Will they get the backing from their chairman’s that their amazing work last season surely deserve, both are 20/1 to be the first manager to leave, maybe Dave Whelan standing by Roberto Martinez last season has forced the bookmakers hand.

The uncertainty surrounding Arsene Wenger’s future at Arsenal has seen him as short as 16/1 to be the first to go while King Kenny’s finish to last season sees him at the longest shot at 50/1

No sitting on the fence for me though and Steve Keen is favourite for a reason, he’s got my money sorry Blackburn.

History has proved that the opening day of the football season can throw up some surprising results, Blackpool winning 3-0 at Wigan last season and Colchester hammering Norwich 7-1 the season before being testament to that so I have looked at the fixtures and identified some good, if not a little bold, selections.

Surely an established premier league team in Bolton are too high at 15/8 to win at QPR whilst Newcastle at 4/1 to win at home to Arsenal may be worth a look especially if Arsenal fail to significantly strengthen in the summer.

In the Championship I see the longer odds worth looking at are Ipswich to win at Bristol City (15/8) and at the same odds, Blackpool starting with a win at Hull.

Bolton, Ipswich, Leyton Orient (13/8 to win at Walsall) in League 1 and Dagenham and Redbridge, 6/4 to win at Macclesfield in League 2, pays £542.43 for a £10 stake…

Is gambling the only occupation (bar the lottery perhaps) where it is better to lose big than lose small.
There were 2 instances last season where just 1 game cost me and I don’t just mean financially but very much emotionally to boot.

I remember the goals galore instance very well indeed. It was a wet Wednesday night in Manchester and a spare £10 just had to go on what I thought was an attractive “8 game goals galore” coupon at rather generous odds of 105/1.

After a slow first half of the first half my coupon looked doomed but “banking” (pardon the pun) on previous experience I refrained from throwing my ticket on the fire and for the next 23 minutes the goals flowed.
At half time needing just 4 teams to score, which later turned into needing just Burton to score with 29 minutes to go, I went to bed minutes after Shrewsbury had won 3-0 and I had to spend the £1,060 only in my head

When you buy lottery tickets, you are investing your cash in games where you could stand to win astronomical amounts of money. The biggest jackpots on games like Mega Millions and Powerball mean you could be in with a chance of taking home seven and eight figure sums that will surely change your life.

So if you plan to participate in some of the world’s most renowned lotteries, you need to find a place to go to keep abreast of all that is happening relating to these games. As well as being able to get the latest lottery results online, you can also find out news about upcoming draws and how big the prize fund currently is for a particular game.

Because you are no longer restricted as to where in the world you can play lottery games, you can buy your tickets online and take part in such games as the California Lottery, NJ Lottery and Florida Lotto, even if you do not live in the United States or the state where the draw is being held.

In addition to lottery results and news, you can also check out lottery websites with rafts of information about the latest games, how to play them and any restrictions which have been put in place. You can sign up for email newsletters and even get alerts sent to the screen of your mobile smartphone.

As long as you have an internet connection, be this Wi-Fi or 3G data coverage, you can browse the lottery results from your laptop or phone and find out straight away if you have been lucky with your selection of numbers for this week’s draw.

Pick your numbers using any of the methods you think will work for you and then search out the best lottery resources to be found online. Bookmark those you find helpful and increase your chances of winning.

For the latest news and reviews on Powerball visit the Alottery web site.

The hole cards ie the two cards you are dealt at the start of each hand of poker are the most important cards you can use, they are yours alone, they will be your saviour your salvation, but beware they could also be your ruin. So here is a quick guide to hole cards.
As you probably know you should start off tight in any Card game and get looser as the players reduce and the blinds get higher, so then there is a full table and the blinds low there’s no need to take risks,
If you are dealt any pair in your hole cards I would advise seeing the flop on most occasions unless there is lots of raising and re-raising action pre flop. (Say if you are holding a pair of 10’s and there’s lots of action pre flop it’s likely that at least one of your opponents have a higher pair, in which case you’re looking to get very lucky, hitting one of the two tens left in the pack to stay in with a chance of winning!
I would play AK, AQ, AJ in most position, and I might dabble with A10 KQ QJ near the button,
On their button I play most hands if there is no raise.
As the game gets looser, and the blinds get higher try to steal from position a bit more, also expand the range of cards you play, if you have been playing tight early on it’s less likely that knowledgeable players who may have noticed the tight play will take you on.
When its heads up its pretty much any two cards and always re-raise against a weak player, you’ll win more hands than you think.

This is an interesting question, the statistics state that a professional player should expect a return of around 3% of his or her bankroll, this is what’s known as natural variance, the statistical analysis which states given a player plays perfect ABC poker this is the return they can receive.
We all know that even professional poker players take uncalculated risks going with gut instinct, and the profit from one major tournament can take a journeyman player into the realms of the Super rich, but then the opposite can happen as well. Young poker superstar Tom Dwan went bust recently, incidentally he holds the record for winning the single biggest pot in on line poker history.
If you are good enough it basically comes down to the bank roll which you are using.
Poker is a risky business, and is not a get rich quick solution, play within your limits and don’t go looking to play big pots with players of a better quality.

Rush poker is a new phenomenon in on line poker. Instead of the regular get dealt a hand, fold and then wait five minutes for the hand to run its course whilst you scratch an itch and yawn starring inexplicably at pictures of cute furry hamsters to pass the time.. rush is different, as soon as you fold you are transported to another table, instantly, with a new set of hold cards and an entirely new table of opponents.

It’s been around for a while on full tilt on the Pc, but is only just been released to the mobile market. faster up and download speeds have made the revolution possible, and it means you can plug and play just for a few minutes, and make some money! Rather than sitting locked to a PC for hours on end.

The benefits are simple, but as are the disadvantages, you miss out on the opportunity to learn how your opponents play, you have no idea if you are playing a Donkey or a shark.

It also leads to abc poker, folding until you get a premium hand and then seeing it all the way to the river, with little regard as to if you will still be winning at the end..

The benefits, well, a lot of people play tight, so stealing the blinds gets a whole lot easier, especially towards the button.

Give it a crack. but don’t lose your house
gamble responsibly!

There are loads of ways of learning how to play Poker these days. Tutorials on You tube, countless blogs and article writing sites giving insights as deep or as simplistic as you require. however I believe one of the best ways to learn to the game is to get involved with one of the many pub poker leagues which have sprang up around the country. Organisations like the English pub poker league and Nuts poker are a great way not only to learn the game without losing any money, but you also have the added benefits of actually meeting real people, rather than be stuck at home starring at a computer monitor. There are too many reasons to be attached to a screen like a cyborg these days, I-phones, X-boxes, Play stations and even the wonderfully useless I-pad. So any excuse to get out and meet people is good in my book.

Don’t worry about not knowing the game, introduction and coaching is all part of the reason these organisation work, I myself used to be an “agent” running poker nights in and around the Manchester area, i got paid to play a game i love plus teach new players how it all works.

Some of my ex-students have gone on to win big in live games, and that where i believe you gain the edge, a computer is fine for working out the odds, playing mathematical poker, but there is nothing better than starring someone straight in the eye, and asking them if they are bluffing… making the raise or the call and watching them slump into their seats, with a look on their face that tells you you made the right choice…