Please never end, Euros

We are currently coming to the end of 2 days without football from the Euros, and I wish it would come back already! Luckily we have other things to distract us like Wimbledon, but nothing can really compare to the high quality football tournament which has materialised over the last couple of weeks. In betting terms I have little left to look out for, apart from a decent bet on Ze Germans (2 £10 free bets and £35) as well as a £5 free bet on Gomez to top score. Last time I said that I placed a £50 bet on the Germans to win at 3.4 in the hope that they would stuff the Greeks, which they duly did, and I reduced my liability by £15 there, as I am willing to gamble on them beating the Italians on Thursday. The Italians are undoubtedly difficult opponents and I think that the attacking flair of the Germans will be stunted somewhat, but overall I think Germany have a better attacking force and should be able to squeeze through. I certainly don't buy all this 'the Italians always do well against Germany' nonsense. Different teams, different competitions, therefore meaning the events are unrelated and irrelevant. Had Germany never beaten Italy in 100 attempts we might face a different story as then a psychological impact inevitably falls upon the Germans, but as it is, I think the Germans won't even consider the history, especially as most of them won't have ever played Italy competitively. Previously I noted that the Spanish are very difficult to predict and I fully stand by that statement. Should it be a Germany-Spain final I will green up all bets for equal money on each outcome, as I really have no idea how Germany will fare against Spain. Two completely different yet very effective teams, though only one of them has proved themselves thus far.

The end of England's tournament on Sunday was sad to see, but I found myself not too disappointed and without any regrets. It's quite obvious we didn't deserve to win against Italy and I  think we would have been trounced by the Germans in the semi-final, so overall it wasn't too disappointing. The team is still developing and at the end of the day, a centre midfield partnership containing a knackered Gerrard and Scott Parker do not possess enough creative quality to topple midfields containing Pirlo, Ozil or Alonso (to name just a few). This time it was not to be, as I think we all knew from the start, but it was a valiant effort with the resources we had. On a more positive note, it was a top effort from this guy to put off the Italians in the shootout, maybe Hart should have tried it? I wonder if that is in the rules or not?

Ascot was brilliant to watch and the highlights for me was watching Frankel storm home, and the Gold Cup which was a fantastic race. On the other hand, I was very excited to watch the Aussie horse race in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, but the 1/6 shot looked more like Black Pudding than Black Caviar. I was disappointed at the spectacle, as I think many were, oddly horse racing seems to love one horse dominating every race it races in, whereas in football if one team is at the top for too long people get restless and resentful. I highlighted Sporting Bet's excellent free bet offer which it turned out was too good to be true, as the bookie bottled it and withdrew the offer after the first day. This cost me about £50 in potential profit and I was pretty angry, but the blow was softened by another Bet365 in play offer which saw me take £30, despite big problems on the site at the time of the bet. I wish I hadn't been able to get my bet on now as they are giving out £50 to those who weren't able to place their bet as an apology! I wasn't to know though. 

I have no plays on Wimbledon as tennis isn't my strong point, and the outright markets offer little value to my untrained eye. I have been doing small stake in play scalping with ups and downs, but I'm mainly confined to mobile betting as I have been watching the matches on the TV at work, meaning opportunities are limited. Apart from that though I am just looking forward to the semi-finals at the Euros, both should be good games, although I fear low-scoring. I hope you all enjoy them and have a good end to the competition.