Shaker decided to step down from the position of Betfair Tipster at the end of 2004. He put in a lot of work to establish the Betfair section at Tour-Tips and he will be missed. However, Chris has agreed to take on the mantle for 2005 and I'm sure you'll give him a warm welcome. Stanley

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

FINAL RESULT

total outlay: 17.25pts
return from Betfair lays: 3.5pts (less 0.08 pts commission)
return from Leonard bet: 26pts

FINAL TOTAL: +12.17pts


Update after round 2:

The pre-tournament backs aren't going too well, but there is still 3/5ths of this tournament to go, so plenty of time left. A player who has been very impressive thus far is young Bill Haas. He is three shots from second place, and having already got probably the two toughest courses in the rotation out of the way he could well make a strong move over the next two days. Will also get some other players onside, all of whom are not too far off the pace and look overpriced.

Back Bill Haas 1pt e/w (4 places) @50/1 at BlueSq and Tote
Back Justin Leonard 0.5pts e/w (4 places) @40/1 at Bet365
Back Jesper Parnevik 0.5pts e/w (4 places) @66/1 at Bet365
Back Fred Couples 1pt @20 at Betfair
Back Ted Purdy 0.5pts @65 at Betfair
Back Loren Roberts 0.25pts @160 at Betfair


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Kirk Triplett is a player I was looking out for this week - he seems to do particularly well in these pro-am events and is often very over-priced because he is seen as dodgy when in contention. This doesn't mean he can't be a useful trading opportunity in-running though. Sporting Odds had him at 80's earlier but I held off as I was hoping to see 100's. They never came and the SpOdds price was subsequently cut, so I was going to leave it, but now totesport have him at 80's, so he will be the final pre-tournament play of the week.

Back Kirk Triplett 0.75pts e/w @80/1 at totesport

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Update:

Happy to lay off the win part on Kelly, Ames and Sutherland for free bets - they are all players who offer far better place value than win value.

LAY J Kelly 1pt @42 at Betfair
LAY S Ames 1pt @46 at Betfair
LAY K Sutherland 0.5pts @140 at Betfair

I am tempted to keep the entire bet on Haas running, as I think he has a great chance to go very well here and offer good in tournament trading opportunities. His course record is excellent and he really is one of the most consistent players on the tour right now. However, 4 pts is a lot to have resting on a 66/1 shot (even if I think his 'true' odds are much less than that). So I will go for a compromise of laying off half of the win part.

LAY J Haas 1pt @55 at Betfair

Currently there is no money in front of any of those prices so there should be no problem getting the bets matched before the off.

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Bob Hope picks

Back Bo Van Pelt 0.5pts e/w @200/1 at William Hill
Back Stephen Ames 1pt e/w @50/1 at SkyBet -- Sky price gone, now available at Victor Chandler
Back Kevin Sutherland 0.5pts e/w @200/1 at Stan James
Back Jerry Kelly 1pt e/w @50/1 at William Hill
Back Jay Haas 2pts e/w @66/1 at Victor Chandler


I have received feedback that some people may be experiencing problems getting bets on at the prices posted. Unfortunately the markets are very volatile on a Monday and the best prices do not last long. It perhaps means that giving these sorts of tips is not a great way to go about things.
Having only just joined tour-tips, I am still trying to find my feet and work out the best types of tips to give. I had decided that the first month would be quite experimental, with a number of different strategies used and that hopefully the best one(s) would emerge and the tips settle down in to a pattern following that.
If most people are having a problem getting on at the prices posted then I will have to reconsider whether to continue posting tips on a Monday. I would welcome any feedback on this or any other issues (click on my name at the top of the page to get in contact).