Betting Bias Awards 2011

With a brief lull in the sporting action, it seemed the perfect opportunity to reflect lightheartedly on some of the key moments on this site in the past 12 months.

Long Shot of the Year:

In future this will simply be known as ‘The Keegan Bradley Award.’ Our golfing tipster proved once and for all that he knows his ‘apex height’ from his elbow after tipping the winner of the USPGA Championship at odds of 150/1. The 25-year-old Bradley was a virtual unknown heading into the final major of the year - his first one - but he proved he has what it takes when holding his nerve for a tense play-off victory. Keegan - you’ll never have to buy your own drink if you fancy dropping into Betting Bias Towers!

Second Favourite Golfer of 2011:

Until something extraordinary happened in Atlanta, Steve Stricker was the toast of golf fans on the site. The 44-year-old American delivered not once, but twice, by winning when tipped at The Memorial and then at the John Deere Classic a month later. ‘Strick’ is never happier than when playing for a tractor; a prize he has claimed for victories at TPC Deere Run three years running! Punters were also able to treat themselves to something agricultural, if they so wished, after the man from Wisconsin dropped 36 points our way. For the record, Alvaro Quiros made a valiant late bid in this category when he won in Dubai at 40/1.

Festival of the Year:

It certainly hasn’t been all about the golf though. Our racing expert may have been red-hot in the run-up to Christmas, but he also popped up with three long-shot winners at the Cheltenham Festival back in March. Backing Bostons Angel at 16/1 in the RSA Chase would have been good enough, but more glory swiftly followed in the Ryanair Chase (Albertas Run 12/1) and the Triumph Hurdle (Zarkhander 7/1). The tipster was a little more coy back then, putting just 0.5 points on each, but brave and brash followers were raking it in!

Big Event Winners of the Year:

For those who just have a flutter on the showcase events, there were still plenty of reasons to be cheerful in 2011. The Champions League Final went to script when Barcelona outclassed Man Utd 3-1 (18/1), Novak Djokovic was flagged up in the ante-post market for Wimbledon (4/1) and Vincent Clerc was picked out at 28/1 to be top try scorer at the Rugby World Cup. But we hold our hands up, we just didn’t see the Mike Tindall/dwarf-throwing controversy coming until all the value had gone.

Least Credible Winner of the Year:

There’s an old joke about how being named Employee of the Month is a good example of how you can be a winner and a loser at the same time. That sort of logic must surely apply to successfully picking the winner of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest! Azerbaijan did the business for us at odds of 11/1 which was great; the downside is that our ‘expert’ only called this one by trawling through YouTube clips of musical guff from 25 nations. It’s this sort of dedication you need for big profits, but it comes at a high cost. He is now the guy who knows a good Eurovision song when he hears one; you don’t want to be that guy.

2011 Tips To Hit in 2012 (Hopefully):

Admittedly, some of our long-term tips are best forgotten - Kris Commons to be top scorer in the SPL anybody? So far the former Derby man has a princely total of 0 goals from 12 appearances in an injury-hit campaign. Hmm. But there are a few hidden gems that might yet pay-out for the patient punters. Whatever happens now, Rickie Lambert was surely a steal at 25/1 e/w to be top scorer in the Championship. The Southampton striker is 5 goals ahead of the pack with 15 league goals already. Now, if he can just stay fit…

The one that got away 2011:

We spent all those hours watching X Factor, purely for research you understand, and yet spectacularly failed to pick the winners, Little Mix, until they were short odds favourites. In fact, back in October, we could hardly have been more damning about their prospects. ‘Rhythmix’, as they were known then, were 80/1 shots to win at one stage - but how were we to know that girl groups were suddenly going to get popular on X Factor? It had never happened before!

Anyway, we hope that all those 2-point winners at Southwell, Wolverhampton et al have made up for the odd howler!

Happy New Year from Betting Bias.