2022 World Grand Prix Darts

The bet: £1 e/w Danny Noppert @ 18/1

Placed by: P

What happened:

After missing darts for a comfortable second round win against Nathan Aspinall, the game turned round and Noppert lost 3-2 in 'controversial circumstances'.

2022 World Series of Darts Finals

The bet: £1.50 e/w Dirk van Duivenbode @14/1

Placed by: P

What happened?

After surviving match darts in a couple of the earlier rounds DvD made the final and was beaten in a last-leg decider by Gerwyn Price.

Still - another £12 in the pot.

Next Conservative Party leader

Placed in 2020 - the bet was £3 on Rishi Sunak at 9/2.

Sunak made the final two but was beaten in the run-off by Liz Truss.

Then in 2022 we had £2 on Boris Johnson at 13/2 to succeed Liz Truss.

But it was Sunak!

2022 World Matchplay Darts

The bet: Rob Cross £1 e/w @ 14/1

Placed by: P

What happened:

2022 Open Golf

The bets:

Rory McIlroy to win £3 @19/2

Jordan Spieth £2 e/w @ 14/1

Scottie Scheffler £2 e/w @ 14/1

Patrick Cantlay £2 e/w @ 20/1

(1/5 odds - 12  places)

Free bets

£1 win victor Hovland @33/1

£1 win Shane Lowry 20/1

Placed by: P

What happened:

All the selections made the cut.

After three rounds McIlroy and Hovland shared the lead, four clear of the field.  Scheffler, Cantlay and Spieth were all in the top 12. Win bet only Lowry was just behind but no chance of him picking up the main prize.

Unfortunately the last day didn't live up to the first three. McIlroy, with a 70, and Hovland (74) failed to convert as Can Smith came through with a fantastic round to take the win.

Cantlay and Spieth both finished tied-8th to deliver £17.60 and a slight profit.

2022 - US Open Golf

The bets: (all £1.50 e/w, 1/5 odds, 8 places)

Sam Burns 28/1

Xander Schauffele 22/1

Patrick Cantlay 22/1

Cameron Smith 20/1

Matt Fitzpatrick 25/1

Placed by: P

What happened:

Smith missed the cut but everyone else was in for the weekend.

Burns fell away on the last day to finish five over, Cantlay was a never nearer two over for tied 14th and Schauffele finished on the same mark.

But the winner was Matt Fitzpatrick who had a great battle with Will Zalatoris on Sunday to finish on six under and win by one shot from Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler. 

£48 to the pot!

2022 - USPGA Golf

The bets £1.50 e/w for...

Justin Thomas 16/1

Jordan Spieth 14/1

Rory McIlroy 12/1

Marc Leishman 100/1

1/5 odds, 10 places

Placed by: P (recommended by K)

What happened?

All the players made the cut but Spieth and Leishman were never in contention and finished tied for 34th.

McIlroy was the day one leader but slipped away on Saturday before a typical Sunday fightback saw him finish eighth, three behind the winner...

... who was Justin Thomas who overturned a seven shot deficit on the final day to beat Will Zalatoris in a play-off.

£36.90 to the pot.

2022 - World Snooker Championship

The bets:

Judd Trump - £4 @ 9/2

Zhao Xintong - £1 e/w @ 50/1

Kyren Wilson - £1 @ 14/1 (free bet)

Placed by: P

What happened:

Zhao went out in the second round, 13-9 to Stephen Maguire

Wilson fell at the same stage, by the same score, to Stuart Bingham

Trump reached the final but was no match for Ronnie O'Sullivan

2022 - US Masters Golf

The bets: (each way terms all 1/5 odds top ten with the exception of Zalatoris who needs to make the top eight)

£2 e/w Justin Thomas @ 11/1

£2 e/w Brooks Koepka @18/1

£1 e/w Paul Casey @40/1

£1 e/w Thomas Pieters @ 100/1

£2.50 e/w (free bet) Will Zalatoris @ 33/1

(Casey withdrew before the first round so money back on that one)

Placed by: P

What happened:

Koepka and Pieters missed the cut but Zalatoris (T5th) and Thomas (T8th) both delivered on the place part pf the bets without ever looking like they might catch winner Scottie Scheffler.

It adds up to £22.90 in the win pot.

Gamblor - a partial history

As best as it can be remembered anyway.

Notable wins 

£134.00 - 12 Dec 2004 - Arsenal 2 Chelsea 2 and Thierry Henry to score first - £2 @ 66/1

£98.00 - 23 July 2023 - The Open Championship, Brian Harman - £1 e/w @ 80/1*

£92.50 - May 2014 - World Snooker Championship, Mark Selby £5 e/w @ 11/1

£84.50 - 4 Mar 2022 - UK Open darts, Danny Noppert - £1 e/w @66/1

£66.50 - Apr 2004 - MCI Heritage golf - Stewart Cink - £1.50 e/w @ 33/1 

£61.25 - 5 Oct 2007 - World Grand Prix Darts, James Wade - £2.50 e/w @ 18/1

£50.00 - 4 Sep 2004 - England v Austria, Frank Lampard to score first - £5 @ 9/1 

£48.00 - 19 June 2022 - US Open Golf, Matt Fitzpatrick - £1.50 e/w @ 25/1

£42.50 - Apr 2010 - World Snooker Championship, Neil Robertson - £2.50 e/w @10/1 

£41.00 - 14 Mar 1999 - Boxing - Lennox Lewis v Evander Holyfield to draw - £1.09** @ 40/1 

£41.00 - 10 Nov 2001 - England 1 Sweden 1 + David Beckham to score first - £1 @ 40/1 

£40.10 - Aug 1998 - US PGA Championship - Vijay Singh - £1.09** e/w @ 33/1 

Other bits

First bet - 1 Jan 1998 - Leeds to win the FA Cup £6.54** (£3 e/w) @14/1 - lost

First win - Feb 1998 - Mark Ramprakash top scorer in 4th test £2.18** @ 7/1 - won £16

First golf pick up - Mar 1998 - Doral Ryder open, VJ Singh £2.18** e/w @28/1 - won £5.33

First golf win - Apr 1998 - MCI Classic, Davis Love III £2.18** @12/1 - won £26

First football win - Oct 1998 - England 3 Luxembourg 0 £1.09** @ 7/1 - won £8

* Total pick up on the Open was £118.59

** 9% tax on betting until it was abolished in the 2001 budget

2022 - PDC UK Open Darts

The bet: £1 e/w Danny Noppert @ 66/1

Placed by: P

What happened:

The bet went on after the draw for the fourth round. Noppert was paired with Ryan Meikle and won that match 10-3. There was another 97 average from Noppert as he edged Devon Petersen 10-8 in the last 32.

Noppy upped it to a 99 average when demolishing Dirk van Duijvenbode 10-2 and on Finals day there were wins over Damon Heta 10-5 and William O'Connor 11-9 to set up a final with hot favourite Michael Smith.

'Bully Boy' was below par though and Noppert hung in to a deciding leg and broke throw to claim the title. And win us £84.50.

2022 - World Seniors Darts

The bet: £1 e/w Lisa Ashton @ 16/1

Placed by: P

What happened: Forgot to post this at the time but Ashton crashed out early to terry Jenkins if I remember rightly.

2022 - PDC World Darts

(I've carried this in to the 2022 account period to make things easier.)

The bets: 

Florian Hempel - £1 e/w 66/1

Peter Wright to win the final to win 7-4 or 7-5 - £3 at 10/3

Placed by P:

What happened: Hempel crashed out the very next round but Wright did beat Michael Smith 7-5 in the final to net us £13.