Top 3 winning bets from Monday's racing, football & NBA

What was the biggest winning bet on yesterday’s horse racing spreads?

There was racing at Punchestown on Monday, with both fixed odds and spread punters making hay if they picked the right races. While odds on shots Kilcruit (1/5) and Classic Getaway (1/3) obliged in the 13.20 and 14.50 respectively, there was some shock results too, as outsiders Rock on Cassie (40/1) and Round the Buoy (22/1) joined them in the winners enclosure after taking the 14.20 and 15.50.

Squared Numbers (settled at 907)

While fixed odds punters will have enjoyed their moment in the sun if they picked out the big priced winners from the card, spread punters who bought Squared Numbers also had reason to rejoice. This market multiplies the race card number of each winning horse by itself, then aggregates the total over the meeting. Yesterday's Punchestown Squared Numbers Spread was set at 618-678, but while finding the longer priced winners might have proved difficult, the fact they had high racecard numbers paid dividends in this market too. Rock on Cassie was horse number 16, and Round the Buoy was number 22. Buyers of Squared Numbers made a profit of 229 times their bet.

Was there any football action last night?

While most of the action was in the boardrooms as the January transfer window closed, in France PSG were in action, though they’ll wish they hadn’t bothered. The French Cup holders, with a strong team including Lionel Messi, were held to a 0-0 draw by Nice in the last 16 match up, and went on to lose the subsequent penalty shootout 6-5. Mauricio Pochettino’s side had 8 shots to Nice’s 2 but couldn’t find a way past visiting keeper Marcin Bulka – who is on loan at Nice from PSG! Bulka then outshone the hero of Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph and the man currently holding the position he covets, PSG number 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma, in the shootout, keeping out Xavi Simons’ spot kick to send Nice through to the last 8.

Total Card Minutes (settled at 473)

There were 8 yellow cards in last night’s PSG v Nice French Cup game, three for the hosts and five for the visitors. Buyers of any of our card markets seemed to make plenty of profit, including Total  Card Minutes, which aggregates the total minutes of when each card is shown. The spread in this market was set at 219-249, so buyers banked a tasty 224 times their stake.

What other sporting action was there last night?

In an otherwise quiet night of sport, the NBA had an 8-game slate, including high-flying Western Conference duo Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies, who went into their games with the 2^nd and 3^rd best records in the league. The Warriors got the job done, winning 122-108 in Houston thanks to 40 points from Steph Curry. But the Grizzlies were upset 122-119 in overtime at the Indiana Pacers in a game they were hot favourites to win.

Homes/Aways (settled at 59)

In our special nightly markets, the Homes/Aways spread aggregates the total points from all the home sides against those scored by the aways. Obviously match-ups are very important, as Golden State showed by winning by 14 in Houston, but it was the Homes that won out in the end, with some surprisingly inspired performances by teams in front of their own fans. The spread for how dominant the home sides were was set at -8 to 2, but the home sides outperformed expectations, including Boston winning by 30 at home to the top side in the East, the Miami Heat, The Grizzlies losing in Philly despite the 76ers playing without MVP candidate Joel Embiid, and the Oklahoma City Thunder winning just their 15^th of 49 games, against Portland, to move off the bottom of the Western Conference standings. All that meant buyers of the Homes/Aways market made a profit of 57 times their money.