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Ever since the World Cup started, I have staying glued to the TV each night to catch the soccer matches. Due to the time difference, the first match is usually telecast at 9pm local time, followed by 12 midnight, with the last match being 3am.
I've been trying to catch all 3 matches every night, even if it means having to stay up all the way until 5am. The better matches are usually at held at 3am.... Brazil vs. Croatia was at 3am, so is tonight's Germany vs Poland.
My favorite team is Brazil. Seriously, the World Cup only started to get really interesting after the Brazilians entered. The USA vs Czech Rep match was such a disappointment. I've expected the Americans to put up a better fight, yet they allowed their opponents to let in 3 goals, with the final score being 0-3. The opening match between Germany and Costa Rica was good, with everybody expecting the hot favorite, Germany, to win the match esp since it's being held homeland. The Mexico vs Iran match was exciting as well; my impressions of the Mexicans are pretty good. I've never watched the Mexicans play before but with a score like 3-1, I think we should all pay some attention to them in their next match vs Angola.
Last night's match between Brazil and Croatia was really something. I love the high-tempo, fancy foot-work and forward attack style of the Brazilians. With players whose names begin with "Rs" Robinho, Ronaldinho, and Ronaldo, the Brazilians have a colorful and unique identity that explains why we love them so much. During the match, Cafu was working really hard and his presence was vital to Brazil's success. Not to mention also, Kaka's goal helped to secure Brazil's win for this match. Ronaldo was a real disappointment though. He was a pale shadow to the Ronaldo we saw in the previous World Cup. I'm not sure whether he is really unfit and overweight like what critics are saying, but I hope he'll get back on form really soon as his team really needs the old Ronaldo back. Maybe he is under pressure, but he appeared to be lacking in spirit and energy yesterday. I love Ronaldinho's footwork and one of my favorite moments was when he dribbled and dodged 3 opponents, before gaining possession of the ball once again. That was simply amazing.
World Cup is a time when betting gets really serious and heavy. Even I have taken an interest in betting. Here in Singapore, betting is made legalized through a government agency, Singapore Pools. There are several ways to bet (the tables below are based on current betting odds presented by Singapore Pools today):
1) 1x2 (Guess the winning team/a draw) The odds are usually really low for the favorite team.
For example, for today's Germany vs Poland match, the odds are such:
| 1X2 | ||
| Home | Draw | Away |
| 1.32 | 4.20 | 8.30 |
| <1.38> | <3.90> | <7.40> |
2) 1/2 goal. This is a little more tricky. Once again, I will use the Germany match to explain. The score starts off as neutral 0-0. However, the 1/2 goal system uses the + and - method, so
Germany starts off with -1 1/2 and Poland at 0. So if the actual score is 2-1, if you bet on Poland, you win because the score would be (1/2) to (1). There's some calculations involved so I'd advice you to skip this if your Math is poor. =p
As you can see from below, betting on the 1/2 goal on Germany has better odds than the 1X2 (Germany win) one.
| 1/2 GOAL | |||
| Home | Away | ||
| GERMANY (-1½) | 2.15 | POLAND (+1½) | 1.58 |
| <2.25> | <1.53> | ||
3) Predict the number of toal goals. Once again, the probability for actually predicting the winning score is really small so I wouldn't advice you to give this a try. The odds are fantastic though.
| TOTAL GOALS | |||||||||
| No. of Goals | |||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9+ |
| 13.00 | 6.30 | 3.90 | 3.60 | 4.50 | 6.40 | 11.00 | 25.00 | 55.00 | 90.00 |
| <13.00> | <6.20> | <3.80> | <3.60> | <4.50> | <6.40> | <12.00> | <25.00> | <55.00> | <90.00 |
4) Predict the winning team for half time and full time. This section is popular as the odds are better and the chances of winning is higher too.
| HALF / FULL TIME DOUBLE | ||||||||
| Selection | ||||||||
| H-H | H-D | H-A | D-H | D-D | D-A | A-H | A-D | A-A |
| 1.88 | 17.00 | 40.00 | 4.20 | 5.90 | 15.00 | 20.00 | 19.00 | 15.00 |
| <1.98> | <16.00> | <35.00> | <4.20> | <5.60> | <15.00> | <20.00> | <17.00> | <14.00> |
5) Pick the winning score. With a higher level of difficulty, the odds get increasingly better. I don't know any genius (or psychic for that matter!) who can actually predict the final score. It's really tough, but I guess, the experienced ones will probably bet not on just one but on several possible scores.
| PICK THE SCORE | |||||||||||
| GERMANY (Home Win) | Draw | POLAND (Away Win) | |||||||||
| Selection No. | Score Line | Current Odds | Opening Odds | Selection No. | Score Line | Current Odds | Opening Odds | Selection No. | Score Line | Current Odds | Opening Odds |
| 01 | 1-0 | 6.80 | <7.00> | 16 | 0-0 | 13.00 | <13.00> | 21 | 0-1 | 22.00 | <16.00> |
| 02 | 2-0 | 6.00 | <6.50> | 17 | 1-1 | 9.80 | <9.00> | 22 | 0-2 | 60.00 | <40.00> |
| 03 | 2-1 | 7.50 | <8.00> | 18 | 2-2 | 22.00 | <19.00> | 23 | 1-2 | 32.00 | <20.00> |
| 04 | 3-0 | 7.80 | <8.50> | 19 | 3-3 | 75.00 | <65.00> | 24 | 0-3 | 100.00 | <100.00> |
| 05 | 3-1 | 7.50 | <8.00> | 20 | 4-4 | 300.00 | <300.00> | 25 | 1-3 | 90.00 | <60.00> |
| 06 | 3-2 | 18.00 | <18.00> | 26 | 2-3 | 60.00 | <45.00> | ||||
| 07 | 4-0 | 13.00 | <18.00> | 27 | 0-4 | 250.00 | <250.00> | ||||
| 08 | 4-1 | 14.00 | <16.00> | 28 | 1-4 | 300.00 | <250.00> | ||||
| 09 | 4-2 | 20.00 | <20.00> | 36 | AOS | 27.00 | <25.00> | 29 | 2-4 | 250.00 | <250.00> |
| 10 | 4-3 | 80.00 | <80.00> | 30 | 3-4 | 250.00 | <250.00> | ||||
| 11 | 5-0 | 33.00 | <37.00> | 31 | 0-5 | 300.00 | <300.00> | ||||
| 12 | 5-1 | 32.00 | <32.00> | 32 | 1-5 | 300.00 | <300.00> | ||||
| 13 | 5-2 | 45.00 | <45.00> | 33 | 2-5 | 300.00 | <300.00> | ||||
| 14 | 5-3 | 150.00 | <150.00> | 34 | 3-5 | 300.00 | <300.00> | ||||
| 15 | 5-4 | 275.00 | <250.00> | 35 | 4-5 | 300.00 | <300.00> | ||||
6) Pick the first scorer and final scorer. I'll never attempt to bet on this because seriously, the probability is really really minute! Maybe there are people out there (the serious hard-core investors) who analyze and are able to predict a few scorers, but for the amateur soccer-fans, this is one area I'll stay away from as it's as good as throwing money down the drain (or donating to the government!)
The minimum betting amount is $5 , followed by $10... with no maximum amount. Maybe there is a max amount... the last amount on the slip is $2000, with the next box "Others-pls indicate" so I guess maybe you can even bet up to 10K? That will be really scary if you lose.
So far, I've only won once (the 1x2 on Brazil) and lost over a hundred. It's kinda fun to bet just a flutter but I guess it all adds up eventually. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a 1x2 on Germany today.. wish me luck!
