Big winning bets from Monday's football, racing, IPL & more

Are Wales still on track to make the World Cup play-offs?

Robert Page’s team scraped past Estonia in Tallinn thanks to Kieffer Moore’s goal, but having been held to a disappointing goalless draw against the same opponents in the reverse fixture last month, it was all about the three points. Wales are 3^rd in Group E, level on points with the Czech Republic, who won in Belarus, but with a game in hand. Both teams are realistically chasing second place and a play-off, with Belgium miles clear at the top.

Multi-Bookings (settled at 1200)

It was a good night to be a buyer in just about any Bookings market as seven yellow cards were shown in bad-tempered affair. The Bookings market, which awards 10 points per yellow and 25 for a red, was set at 40-44, buyers making 26 times their stake in profit. Cross-Bookings, which multiplied Wales booking points by Estonia’s, was set at 425-495, while Multi-Bookings, which is total first half bookings points multiplied by second, was set at 345-425. With four Welsh yellows and three Estonian, split three in the first half and four in the second, both settled at 1200. This meant buyers of Cross-Bookings pocketed 705 times their bet, and buyers of Multi-Bookings made 775 times theirs.

Who impressed in yesterday’s horse racing?

Andrew Mullen was the star of the show at yesterday’s meeting at Musselburgh, landing a hattrick of winners from only five rides. Mullen started his afternoon with a 7/1 winner of the opening race, The Gloaming holding off the favourite Elzaal, and while he could only manage 4^th in the 2^nd, Kats Bob won the 3^rd race nicely at 6/1. Mullen also won the 3.35, 10/3 favourite Never Dark first home. Frustratingly given the form he was in, Mullen then sat out the next two races before Ayr Empress finished out of the frame in the final race of the day.

Super Mega Jockey Performance: Andrew Mullen (settled at 150)

Our Jockey Performance market awards 25 points per winner (there’s 10 for 2^nd and 5 for 3^rd but Mullen was win or bust yesterday!) and the Super Mega market awards 50 for a 2^nd winner and 75 for a 3^rd. Mullen’s SM Performance spread was set at 24.5-26.5 yesterday, meaning buyers won 123.5 times their stake. His regular Jockey Performance, set at 20-22, settled at 75, a profit of 53 times stake.

What happened in the IPL play-off game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore?

KKR sent the Royal Challengers home with a four-wicket victory with two balls to spare. In truth, RCB looked 20 runs short at 138-7, having been on target to set a testing target of 170-ish at one stage. Kolkata always looked just about in control of the run chase, and despite the odd wobble, England captain Eoin Morgan and Shakib Al-Hasan saw them home. KKR were 7^th when the IPL was suspended but won 5 of their 7 games in the UAE to make the play-offs. Their latest win means Morgan’s men now play Delhi Capitals on Wednesday for a place in Friday’s final against Chennai Super Kings.

Sunil Narine Player Performance (settled at 106)

The West Indies must have some T20 team if Narine is surplus to requirements for the upcoming World Cup. The all-rounder took 4-21 with the ball before smashing 26 off 15 balls with the bat to provide some much-needed impetus to the batting effort and ensure KKR advanced to the second qualifier and RCB were sent home. Narine's Player Performance spread was 34-38, meaning buyers made 68 times their bet.

How are the Brits doing at Indian Wells?

Cameron Norrie continued his fine form with a 3^rd round win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut, but British number 1 Dan Evans went out 5-7 6-4 6-0 against 11^th seed Diego Schwartzman. Norrie, who won 6-4 5-7 6-3, now faces Tommy Paul, conqueror of number 4 seed Andrey Rublev in the 4^th round. Andy Murray plays his 3^rd round game against Alex Zverev this evening.

Evans v Schwartzman Total Points (settled at 171)

We told yesterday how we’d seen money buying this market, which was set at 148-153, and with two players so closely matched, it was understandable. As we pointed out, the main danger was Evans falling behind and accepting defeat, just as he had done in the US Open and his third set capitulation did point to some of that. Thankfully for buyers, he had done enough earlier in the match to ensure they still won, though it could have been a bigger profit than the 18 times their stake if Evans didn’t finish up losing 10 games in a row as he ran out of gas.

Were there any shocks in the Northern Ireland Open snooker?

There were a few close-run thigs, but the big boys made it through to the last 32 in Belfast. World champion Mark Selby beat China’s Cao Yupeng on the final black 4-3. While Mark Williams beat young Geordie Elliot Slessor by the same score. Ronnie O’Sullivan is also through, beating Andy Hicks 4-1.

Ronnie O’Sullivan Ton Ups (settled at 0)

Ronnie was in one of his enigmatic moods yesterday, beating Andy Hicks without ever getting out of first gear and saying afterwards he was bored and just wanted to get out of there. O’Sullivan has a good record in the Northern Ireland Open, but not when he’s not mentally on his game, and sellers of his Ton Ups read his mood perfectly. O’Sullivan’s Ton Ups, which counts the total break points over 100 throughout the match, was set at 16-19, so sellers made 16 times their money. If the black cloud doesn’t lift from Ronnie, there will be more punters opposing him in the next round. While he can still beat the majority of players without playing well, like he did to Hicks yesterday, selling markets like Ton Ups, where Ronnie really needs to be on his game to excel, can be profitable unless the six times World Champ is mentally up for it.