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issue 63 posted at 11.00am on 04 April 2008...

At 4.15 on Saturday afternoon you might find yourself in the unique annual position of placing a bet for a loved one who may not usually share the same gambling interests. Yes, it's the Grand National, the people's race where your mum, gran, wife and kids all take a view, whether it be on name, colour or form. So check out our huge range of markets on the big event. The only way to satisfy all your Aintree requirements is to bet with us.

Click here for our Grand National markets.

Yours in sport
 
 

A trader pet hate is the fact that the back of a European footballer now seems to resemble something from the NFL with players opting for ridiculously high shirt numbers, which completely throws our boys off track when they're named in the starting line-up. So when number 99 Deivid was named in the Fenerbahce 11 to play Chelsea on Wednesday night one client couldn't resist a £60 buy of the game's Shirt Numbers at 48. Our man didn't have to wait long as after 13 minutes none other than Deivid was unfortunate enough to turn Malouda's cross into his own net. One nil Chelsea and the punter is already counting some serious wedge! Then the 'Coca-Cola Kid', Colin Kazim-Richards (he was once bought for Brighton by a Coca-Cola competition winner) wearing number 8 scored an unlikely equaliser which sparked the fearsome Istanbul crowd into life. Then (yes, you've guessed it, how else would it have got a mention in the good trades) Fenerbahce grabbed the winner in sensational style as Mr. 99 himself picked the ball up 30 yards out and unleashed a thunderous strike that flew past Cudicini to bag a sweet £9,540 for the client.

 

CRICKET PUNTERS LOOK AWAY NOW as this tale doesn't make very happy reading for sellers of batsman's runs. Chennai was the setting for a historic innings in the first Test between India and South Africa. One client thought that it would be a good idea to get short of Virender Sehwag's runs in India's first innings, selling £2 at 48. But on a pitch that was...let's just say, conducive to run scoring, the attacking right-hander went on to rewrite the Wisden pages in astounding style. The opener reached 100 before lunch and 200 after, before passing 300 from 278 balls in the evening session. Sehwag, who was dropped from the Test side last year, became only the third player to pass 300 twice in Test cricket. He finally fell to Ntini for a wallet shattering 319 which meant that the punter was left to nurse a £542 loss.

 

Grand National Silver Birch won the 2007 Grand National by three-quarters of a length. Will we witness a tight finish this year? Punters don't think so. Our Winning Distance special is up half a point to 7.75-8.75.

Man Utd Even the prawn sarnie brigade must be getting excited about United's recent form. The Red Devils are up one point to 54-56 on our Premier League Championship Index following last weekend's 4-0 tonking of Villa. And they are also up 13 points to 70-73 on our Champions League Index after romping home in Rome.

Golf The golfing world's attention shifts to the Augusta National next Thursday for the first Major of 2008. Tiger wasn't even in action last week and still we saw money for him. The 13-time Major winner is up two points to 114-118 on our 2008 Golf Major Performances market.

NCAA Basketball If you thought fresher's week was the highlight of the college year, think again! We've reached the Final Four stage of the NCAA Championship and the students are loving it! North Carolina (the Tar Heels to you and me) are up 20 points to 72-75 on our NCAA Outright Index following their 83-73 success over Louisville last weekend.
 

Got a BlackBerry? We've just made our award winning mobile betting service, Bet on the Move, available on BlackBerry handsets. This means that if you want to check prices, place bets, deposit and withdraw funds you can now do so on your 'CrackBerry'. It's perfect if your company blocks your access to our site as well. Download here now.

Viva La Liga! As we get to the business end of another exciting season in Spain, did you know that as well a huge in-play service on each of the four live matches this weekend you'll find over 40 bets on every non-live match? Grab a sangria and get involved now.
 
 
 


...avg goals in last 7 between Arsenal and Liverpool
 
 


...avg Cardiff team bkgs pts in last 4 games v Barnsley
 
 


...avg pts conceded by Perpignan in last 3 HC games
 
 


...% winning favourites in last 24 runnings of Grand National
 
 


...avg no. of classified finishers in previous Bahrain GPs
 
 


...avg Leeds Rhinos pts scored in SL games this season
 
 


...avg time 1st try conceded by Ospreys in the HC this season
 
 


...avg time last Pompey goal in previous 2 FA Cup games