» February 10th, 2006

LAST WEEK'S PICKS: PITTSBURGH -4 & PITTSBURGH / PITTSBURGH DOUBLE RESULT AT EVENS

BAND OF STEEL 10/1 TO HIT RIGHT NOTE AGAIN

bet365 2007 Super Bowl prices...
Indianapolis 6/1, New England, San Diego, Pittsburgh 10/1, Denver, Seattle, Cincinnati 12/1, Carolina, Kansas City 14/1, others on bet365 website

This year's Super Bowl XL winners Pittsburgh are only the joint second most-fancied team (at 10/1) in their Conference with bet365 to win next year's Vince Lombardi Trophy after Sunday's 21-10 success against Seattle. The Steelers had been four-point favourites going into the game, but came home by a relatively comfortable margin, after making the big plays when they needed them, and having the officials wipe off the best of the Seahawk's work.

For Super Bowl XXXI, bet365 prefers the chance of this season's fast starters Indianapolis, and we make the Colts 6/1 favourites ahead of last year's winners New England, San Diego and Pittsburgh at 10/1 – all from the AFC. No surprise when you consider that the Conference has won the Super Bowl in seven of the last nine years. In fact, runners-up Seattle, at 12/1 joint third-favourites, are the highest-quoted NFC side in the 2007 market.

BIG BEN DELIGHTS BACKERS AT 33/1

After seeing stacks of money on Ben Roethlisberger at 11/4 to be MVP, there was a sense of relief to the layers at bet365 when the award went to Hines Ward, who was friendless at 8/1. His biggest play came when Roethlisberger handed over passing duties to receiver Antwaan Randle-El on a trick play, which saw Ward break free to score a 43-yard TD. However, Big Ben scoring was great news to the bet365 customers who had backed him to score first from 33/1 to 16/1, but they had their fingers burnt on the bet365 'score anytime' market, when neither Bettis nor Alexander went over for a TD.

AFC PRO-BOWL FAVS AT -4

On Sunday, the best players from the AFC will face their counterparts from the NFC in the heat of the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. The bet365 Pro Bowl line is not dissimilar to that of Super Bowl, with the AFC favoured by 4-points, although the perfect playing conditions and nature of the game dictate that the total is set at 69.0. Kick-off for the 2006 Pro Bowl will be 6 pm ET. (1pm Hawaii time), and we'll have live In-Play betting here at bet365 via our 'In-play Console (found on our homepage).

NFL Pro-Bowl Money Line...NFC 33/20, AFC 20/37

Pro-Bowl Pick: AFC -4 @ 10/11

DAYTONA READY TO ROLL WITH SHOOTOUT

Budweiser Shootout

Sa Feb 11 – 8 pm ET (TNT) / HDTV – Betting available on day of race

With the Super Bowl done and dusted, we can now look forward to the 2006 Nextel Cup season. And, just like it has since 1979, this Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout at the historic Daytona International Speedway will signal the beginning of another season. This is what you might call a 'fun' race, as there are no points allocated to either drivers or teams, but the winner can at least look forward to some momentum for when the serious stuff begins the following week in the season-opening Daytona 500 (full betting preview next week). A word or warning though, in the previous 27 Shootouts, only five winners have gone on to take the sport's biggest prize, the '500', and none since 2000.

JOHNSON THE DRIVER TO BEAT THIS YEAR AT 5/1

bet365 latest 2006 Nextel Cup Championship prices...
Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart 5/1, Carl Edwards 6/1, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon 7/1, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray 12/1, others on bet365 website

Of course, we'll have all the odds for the big race next week, but we've already got the latest Championship odds here at bet365, and last year's runner-up Jimmie Johnson is available at 5/1, along with current champion Tony Stewart. Many thought 2005 was going to be Johnson's year the way he came out charging, leading in points for 17 weeks, only for his team to falter to finish behind Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing Team.

Johnson's last victory came at Lowe's Motor Speedway in October, and was the 18th of his Nextel Cup career. He now has a top-10 finish at every track on the NASCAR Nextel Cup series circuit - Indianapolis and Kansas are the only two tracks where he has not posted a top-five finish – so there would no more worthy winner than Johnson. The problem last year (and in the previous two years) was that he came out too fast and burnt himself out by the time the 'Chase' got underway. His goal this year will be to pace himself and his No.48 team, so that he's running in the top-five in points after the first 26 races. Once he gets into the 'Chase' (last 10 races), he can really turn it on.

CLARK IS A REGULATION BET AT A STAND-OUT 25/1

AT&T Pebble Beach

Live betting – Th Feb 9 – 3:00 pm ET (USA)

Live betting - Fr Feb 10 - 3:00 pm ET (USA)

Live betting – Sa Feb 11 – 3:00 pm ET (CBS)

Live betting – Su Feb 12 – 3:00 pm ET (CBS)

Another pro-am lies in wait over the weekend on the US Tour, played over three courses (two at Pebble Beach), where the small greens are particularly influential and place a great emphasis on greens in regulation (live 'In Play' betting available at bet365).

This week's defending champion, Phil Mickelson, is difficult to leave out of calculations, despite some indifferent play in the last couple of weeks. His record here speaks for itself – twice a winner and twice third in his last eight visits – and his record at this time of year (the West Coast Swing) is superb, so I expect him to win one soon. However, at 5/1 (21/4 Enhanced Win Only) he hardly screams value, and better value can be had by backing Tim Clark at a standout bet365 price of 25/1. After making the cut at the Bob Hope, he showed his true abilities by finishing only three shots out of the playoff at the Buick Invitational. More importantly, he ranked 1st in driving accuracy and greens in regulation that week.

Also worth an interest this week is Arron Oberholser, who is a regular contender on the West Coast, and rates solid each-way value at the bet365 price of 28/1. He's finished fourth and sixth at Pebble the last two years, and has opened 2006 in great style, improving with every tournament he's played, culminating with four sub-70 rounds to finish tenth to last week's shock winner, John B. Holmes.

If there was going to be another J.B. Holmes-type result again this week, then one of the more likely candidates would be Bubba Watson at 66/1. So far on the Tour this year, he's the only player to outrank JB in driving distance, and has come pretty close to winning too, with finishes of 2nd and 4th. So long as his driving holds up this week, these courses will set up well for him, and he looks a big price at 66/1 here at bet365.

AT&T Pebble Beach Three Off the Tee...Tim Clark 25/1, Arron Oberholser 28/1, Bubba Watson 66/1. Each-way 1/4 odds 1.2.3.4.5

Please be aware that prices are subject to change. All times EST (unless otherwise noted) and are subject to change. Check local listings.