WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

There have been plenty of champions crowned this weekend as Manchester City lifted the Premier League title, Brooks Koepka became the first LIV golfer to win a major when he triumphed in the PGA Championship and Stade Rochelais edged out Leinster by a point to lift rugby union’s European club showpiece.

Away from all that Modern Games justified favouritism to land the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury and the T20 Blast got underway on Friday with Lancashire and Birmingham at Edgbaston. As ever after a jam-packed weekend we sift through results to see where there were big wins for our spread punters.

Please remember Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. They may not be suitable for everyone so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved.

NEWBURY 19^TH MAY – SP LENGTHS (SETTLED AT 716.68)

York was the main feature of the day on Friday but those punting favourites at the Knavesmire would have had their fingers burnt with sellers on Winning Favourites, Favourites Performance, and Favourite Rush winning 2.15x, 20x, and 21x their stake respectively.

At Newbury, it was a similar story, although unlike York it wasn’t a complete washout for favourites with Mustazeed winning the second race of the day at 11/4 under Hayley Turner. There were wins again for those who sold favourites related markets, but the biggest win came with a buy on one of our newer markets, SP Lengths.

This market is the sum of the winning SP multiplied by the winning distance for each race across the card and on Friday it was set at 90-100. Buyers got off to a decent start but when 100/1 shot Zoulu Chief came home 4¾ lengths in front to add 475 points to the total, they were well in the money.

A 5½ length success for Greysful Strom at 25/1 also added plenty to the total which eventually settled at 716.68 as buyers won 616.68x their original stake.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST v ARSENAL – ARS/NFO SUPREMACY (SETTLED AT -1)

In a match with ramifications at both ends of the table, Nottingham Forest overcame Arsenal at the City Ground to ensure that they will be playing Premier League football again next season. Even though Arsenal’s title race was probably run anyway, this was also the final nail in the coffin of that particular challenge, although it has been an impressive season from Mikel Arteta’s side.

Despite being beaten 3-0 by Brighton in their previous outing, Arsenal were 0.8-1.05 favourites on the Supremacy spread ahead of their trip to the East Midlands, but Taiwo Awoniyi mustered the only goal of the game in the 19^th minute to give Forest a famous win.

It was also a good result for those who sold the Supremacy and came away with a win of 1.85x their stake.

SALFORD RED DEVILS v HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS – MATCH CROSS-POINTS (SETTLED AT 1680)

Not unlike the FA Cup in football, rugby league’s Challenge Cup has struggled to cling onto its prestige, but those who tuned in to watch Salford Red Devils play Huddersfield Giants were treated to a classic.

The Red Devils raced into a 24-0 lead, but by the time the half-time hooter went, that had been cut to 24-16 as the Giants showed signs of life. Further tries followed and in a topsy-turvy game, the match was settled by just two points as Salford came out on top 42-40.

For that success, they have to count their blessings they have a kicker with the quality of Marc Sneyd who with both sides scoring seven tries, was faultless with the boot. Huddersfield’s Jake Connor boasted a conversion rate of six from seven which on a day of fine margins, ultimately proved to be the difference.

Thrilling matches like these are a joy for buyers on Match Cross-Points with Salford’s 42 multiplied by Huddersfield’s 40 to make 1680 as buyers won 1292x their stake against a pre-match spread of 351-388. Multi-Points (first half total multiplied by second half) also settled at 1680 with the spread at 352-392 with buyers winning 1288x their stake.

Please note that these are examples of winning bets from the past week, and it is important to remember that spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit.