Value for money

[hoppy]

A slightly earlier heads-up on the betting for our weekend match at Gateshead.

I will not be at the International Stadium on Saturday, the first match I will have missed so far this season.
Faced with the painful choice between a trip up to the frozen wastelands of the River Tyne or the somewhat sunnier climes of southern Spain it was the latter which narrowly came out on top.
The fog on the Tyne is all yours, all yours…the fog on the Tyne is all yours!!

How good to witness the Magnificent Seven last Saturday. Don’t expect the same against our next opponents. If we come back with a point I will be delighted.
Gateshead will definitely be contesting the number one spot come next April. Three points would be amazing, one point very acceptable.
A defeat (although not by seven goals) would not be the end of the world at this very early stage of the season.

The bookies see Gateshead as favourites….

Gateshead win 13/10
Bees win 9/5
Draw 27/10

Take your pick. Any of the above results would not be a surprise.

I will be watching from the land of el sol.

Buena suerte

Adios, amigos.

[hoppy]

Well the bookies got it right on Saturday.
I just hope they get it right on Tuesday as we are massive favourites to beat Altrincham.

Bees win 1/2
Alty win 5/1
Draw 15/4

I am somewhat surprised with these prices. This could be a banana skin match but let’s hope not.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Thank you to Jordan Cropper for that long throw. Thank you to Rhys Browne for getting on the end of it. And thank you to my lovely bookie for paying up so promptly. Isn’t life wonderful.

I am looking forward to the Braintree game, a good chance for us make some more money, although we may have to be creative.
The Bees are massive favourites so I may put them into accumulators to make the bet worthwhile.

Bees win 4/11
Braintree win 15/2
Draw 4/1

I am really confident for the home win. Just need to get the other parts of the bet right.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Yet again the Bees are odds on to win. This time in the late kick off at local rivals Wealdstone. (Are they rivals? A debate for another day).

Despite winning our last two games I am nowhere near as confident as I was for the Braintree game. My memory keeps going back to the Maidenhead game. That was awful and, so far, our points tally on the road is not impressive.

I will back the Bees but I will do so with a small wager and include it within an Acca from the 3 o’clock kick offs.

Wealdstone win 16/5
Bees win 8/11
Draw 3/1

Fingers and everything else crossed for this one.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Well we got that potential banana skin out of the way.
Well done Bees.
Now on to another potentially tricky away fixture.

Scoring goals in their recent matches has proved difficult for the Aldershot strikers, just one goal scored in their last four games. Not so for the Bees who are the NL top scorers.
So have the bookies got this one right?

Shots win 3/1
Bees win 4/5
Draw 3/1

I actually think the 4/5 is a generous offering. Nicke is on his way back, Kanu too and most of our squad are showing good form.
It’s an away win for me.

Less generous is the 7/4 being offered by the bookies for the Bees to win the National League. There are a mere 36 more matches to be played!!!

Fingers crossed again for three more points.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

If you took the 4/5 on Tuesday well done to you. At those odds not a massive boost to the coffers but, as they say, a win is a win.

More mean odds on Saturday when we host AFC Fylde.

Bees win 1/3
Fylde win 7/1
Draw 9/2

Those odds do not attract me. I will hold off and probably do an in-play bet if the odds improve.

If Callum Stead starts I might be tempted to have little punt on him as first goal scorer (odds of 7/2).
Meanwhile, Fylde’s number 10, Nick Haughton is 8/1 to be the first scorer. I mention that because Haughton tops the NL goal scoring charts with 10 goals from 11 games. The rest of his team mates have contributed a mere 3 goals between them.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Nobody but nobody is expecting Boston to win at The Hive on Saturday.
Punters, bookies, Bees fans and even Boston fans are assuming that the Bees only have to turn up and a comprehensive thrashing of the Pilgrims is inevitable.
I think the same way but caution is needed.

Boston have won away at York City, Sutton United and have picked up a point at Altrincham.
Despite our 100% home record we have had to grind out wins versus Braintree and AFC Fylde and I can see similar on Saturday.

We must not be complacent.

Bees win 1/4
Pilgrims win10/1
Draw 5/1

Is this a banana skin match?
We shall see.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Yet another game coming up where the Bees are big odds-on favourites.
Not really surprising as we are playing a team from a division down and we have a 100% home record.
However….this is the FA Cup and, as we all know, anything can happen.

Bees win 1/3
Chelmsford win 7/1
Draw 5/1

Well, we don’t do draws, do we?
And the last thing we will want is a Monday night replay at their patch.
Let’s just hope that the bookies have got this one right….but I will excuse you if you have a small wager on the draw and/or away win.

Good luck all.

[letchbee94]

Just know it going to be draw lol

[DerekRocholl]

Yet another game coming up where the Bees are big odds-on favourites.
Not really surprising as we are playing a team from a division down and we have a 100% home record.
However….this is the FA Cup and, as we all know, anything can happen.

Bees win 1/3
Chelmsford win 7/1
Draw 5/1

Well, we don’t do draws, do we?
And the last thing we will want is a Monday night replay at their patch.
Let’s just hope that the bookies have got this one right….but I will excuse you if you have a small wager on the draw and/or away win.

Good luck all.

I thought the consensus on here was that FA Cup replays where big money spinners and should be sacrosanct?

[Barten]

Good to see the Bookies think Weirdstone are relegation material.

[hoppy]

Before a ball was kicked this season some of you brave souls may well have put a pound or two on the Bees winning the 2024/5 National League title.
If you did you must be feeling very proud of yourselves.
A glance at the very first comment on this thread and you will see that back then our odds were 7/1. Not now!!

13 games in and 30 points on the board and the very best you can get now is 11/10. Indeed many bookies are showing odds on for a Bees NL title win.

If we are to get automatic promotion this season we need to win those “tricky” matches. Gateshead was one of those (we lost) and Solihull away on Saturday plus York away on Tuesday must fit into that “tricky” category.

Betting odds on the York game will be out later but this is what the bookies think for Saturday’s match….

Bees win 3/4
Solihull win 10/3
Draw 3/1

Despite the odds on I may well be tempted. Last Tuesday’s FA Cup replay against Alty may go against Solihull (I hope). In any case the quality we have in our squad should be enough to see us over the line.
We shall see.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

A really tough fixture on Tuesday evening, just when we could have done without a game. Injuries to Stead and Tavares (in my opinion our best two players so far this season) could not have come at a worse time.

York City are having a great season. Sitting in 3rd position in the NL with just one defeat (inexplicably a home loss to Boston United) the Minstermen know that three points for them will send them above the Bees in the league. FGR are at home to Ebbsfleet, so defeat for us could slide us down to 3rd.
Since that Boston match York have played 10 games, won 7, drawn 3 and lost 0.

So what are our chances? Can we win? Can we make some dosh?

York win 13/8
Bees win 8/5
Draw 12/5

In truth, if I were a York City fan I would be pushing a wheel barrow full of used fivers down to the bookies. 13/8 is a great price for them.
However, I am not a York City fan so a more moderate punt on a draw will have to suffice.

It’s going to be a long night.
Apologies for the pessimism.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Regrettably my pre-York pessimism was justified.
Every team has occasional runs of poor results and the Bees may well be at the early stages of such a run.

After 7 consecutive wins we have now lost 2 on the bounce and we have some difficult fixtures coming up.
Rochdale (H), Exeter (A), Oldham (H) and Dagenham (A). All difficult matches against decent teams.

So, what of Rochdale? We know our home form has been impeccable but what is Rochdale’s away form like?
Well, P8 W5 D1 L2 F18 A7
That’s pretty decent.
Their two defeats on the road were at York and Eastleigh. The 1 0 defeat at York was the only away game so far that Rochdale have failed to score in.

Notwithstanding all that the bookies have the Bees as odds on favourites.

Bees win 8/11
Rochdale win 18/5
Draw 3/1

That 18/5 will surely tempt many punters who think we are not as unbeatable as seemed a short while back.

If Callum Stead is fit to start (or even on the bench) I may sleep well on Friday night. What I am praying for, though is a good night’s sleep on Saturday night.

Good luck all.

[hoppy]

Over the past few days I have been casting an eye on the bookies odds for our FA Cup match at Exeter City.
We are one of three NL clubs drawn away to League 1 opposition, FGR play at Stockport County and York City play at Wycombe Wanderers.

All week the odds on a Bees win have been shortening whilst the odds on an Exeter win have been drifting.

When I first looked the best price for a Bees win was 10/3 and Exeter were showing at 8/11.
Lots of money has since been placed on a Bees win, we are now 13/5 and Exeter have drifted out to Evens.

This is not “sentimental” money from us Bees fans, this is money from seasoned punters who really think we can do it.

Have a look at the prices for those other two games.
Stockport 3/10, FGR 10/1
Wycombe 2/5, York 9/1

Big prices for those two NL teams who are both in similar positions to us in the NL.

So why the big confidence in the Bees away win?
God alone knows but I’m thinking that 13/5 is a decent enough price for a small wager!

Good luck all.