Web Casino Gambling + Entertainment

I was lucky to find a room in an older hotel in Monaco for thirty dollars a night. The room was warm and comfortable, the owners were pleasant, and it was only a few short blocks from the casinos.

I trimmed my beard, put on my tie and jacket, pocketed a wad of my Saudi earnings, and made my way down the quaint little streets to the casinos. I was going to put my fortune to good use.

I would start out small, making fifty dollar bets on the roulette table.

I remembered reading that the author, Dostoyevsky, who had lost huge sums of money on the roulette wheel, had believed that the only true moment of perfection was when a man conceived of the number he was going to bet, and at that moment, within that concept, he existed in a state of perfection, for no one could say what reality would bring.

I bought a scotch and strolled about the casino. I ordered another, a double this time, and neared the roulette wheel. A man and a woman were playing. The limit on the table was equal to two thousand American dollars. I took a deep breath, and studied the wheel, trying to sink into its rhythms. A four appeared. The next number would be a ten. I knew it would be. Nine months in the lonely Arab desert had put me in better touch with my psychic self. The croupier flicked the white ball while at the same time spinning the numbered wheel. Around it went, and with decisive clicks the ball jumped from number to number until it rested in the eleven slot.

Not ten, but close.

My nerves had come alive and were tingling with excitement. All of my attention was focused on the wheel. Here I go, I told myself. There was no sense in waiting any longer. I could bet mentally for the rest of my life, but I’d eventually lose my mind.

I went into the restroom and splashed cold water on my face and took several deep breaths. Those were long months in Saudi Arabia, I told my reckless side. You managed to save a thousand dollars during each of those long months, and now you want to lose in an instant what it took you a month to save? But when would I have this much capital again? Eventually I’d blow it on rooms and trains anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to gain another year’s worth of work in Saudi Arabia in one night at Monaco? It would be as if I had worked two years down there.

I went back to the tables. The crisp new Franc notes felt dry in my sweaty hands. I cashed in two thousand dollars worth.

My first bet came to mind instantly after I had the chips in my hand. A thousand dollars on black. I wasn’t going to waste time making small bets. The chances were fifty fifty that I would hit it. Before I could even think I placed a stack of chips equivalent to one thousand dollars on black. The man and woman who had been the only players looked up at me, nodding respectfully.

The croupier spun the wheel and flicked the ball between his fingers. At the last moment the woman placed a fifty dollar bet near mine on black. The wheel spun; my eyes riveted on its gyrations around the numbers. It clicked, bounced, jumped from red to black, black to red and then rested safely in black.

The woman smiled; the croupier pushed a stack of chips near my bet.

I let the bet ride.

The wheel spun; the ball danced. Again the black came up. The couple at the table smiled and congratulated me.

I was three thousand ahead.

Enough already, I thought, you don’t want to lose. You’ve paid for your trip out of Saudi, your stay in Egypt and Greece, with plenty to spare, yet three more bets, three more winning bets, and you’ll match the amount you saved in Saudi. But what if I lose? But you’re winning. Why think about losing?

“Place your bets, s’il vous plait,” called the croupier.

I moved my bet to red.

Two more bets to go to match my savings.

Black! A voice screamed within me. I placed my bet back on black. Red! The voice screamed, and I moved my chips to red.

The wheel spun, the ball danced and jumped. I wondered if I could pull my bet. Why not take my earnings and run? It was too late, wasn’t it? The game was in progress.

The ball plopped into red.

I scooped up my winnings, left a thousand franks for the croupier, and fled.

I made my way back to Paris, where I stayed a week at the Etna Hotel on the Rue de St. Anne. I caught up on movies, cappuccinos, and croissants.

But, I had a summer school position waiting for me in England, and I craved the companionship of my friends, so I crossed the channel for Folkestone, smiling inwardly. For the time being I was a little ahead of the game.

Jim Muckle is the author of The Property Manager, How To Find Jobs Teaching Overseas, Teaching In Saudi Arabia, Teaching in Japan, The Class Act Reading Game and The Stay At Home Dad. The contents of all of these booklets can be viewed at his web site at Booklets From Jim Muckle @ http://hometown.aol.com/jimmuckle/myhomepage/business.html

Who Will Be The Top Dog at WSOP?

That is the question on everyone’s mind as the 2005 World Series of Poker enters its third round with only 272 top poker players remaining.

Of the over 5600 entrants who entered the esteemed Las Vegas held tournament at a buy-in of $10 000 each, most walked away with nothing as only the last 560 players qualify for cash prizes.

However, for those players whose luck and skill saw them survive the first four gruelling days, the big prize is still very much on the horizon as they continue to battle it out in no-limit Texas Hold ‘em poker.

Their objective is a common one - to make to the final table of nine players and beat out the opposition to walk away the winner of the 2005 tournament and $7.5 million richer.

The current chip leader is Las Vegas resident, Rod Pardey Jr who is sitting on just over $700 000 in chips. Still in the picture is the resilient Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer, who won last year’s WSOP. His stack is about $700 000. 1994 WSOP victor, Russ Hamilton, is also still in the running.

Other big poker names remaining in the field include Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Mike Matusow, Layne Flack and Paul Darden.

Eric Madsen is the owner of http://www.whynotvegas.com

Most online casino gambling aficionados play hard and they play to win. But there’s an alternate strategy (no, not to lose - that would be silly!): a strategy more conservative, more demanding of discipline, as well as of considerable more questionable merit than straightforward online casino gambling, but with significantly higher odds of a player walking away from the (computer) tables with more dough than he or she started with. It’s called “bonus hunting” and it’s the closest thing in online casino gambling to a sure thing. So why isn’t everyone doing it? That question is the subject of this article - why not bonus hunt?

First let’s lay out the practice for you. Peruse gaming site reviews on sites like www.casinobrain.com and www.poker-ranking.com and you will see that almost every one offers a Bonus upon sign-up. It may be called a “Sign-Up Bonus”, a “Welcome Bonus”, an “Initial Deposit Bonus”, a “First Deposit Bonus”, a “Match Bonus” - but whatever it’s name, the concept’s the same.

For signing up and making your first deposit (or “purchasing” your first stack of chips), the online casino gambling site will give you some percentage of that amount in bonus chips. As soon as you make the deposit, the full amount of the bonus is added to your player account.

But, of course, there’s a catch - you must wager an amount equal to some multiple of the dollar amount of either your bonus or your initial deposit (depending on the online casino gambling site or poker room) before you can withdraw any of it.

As you can probably guess, in the process of meeting your wagering requirement, two things are likely to occur:

1. You lose some or all of the bonus amount and some or all of your initial deposit too

2. You enjoy the online casino gambling experience at that site so much (or have lost so much money you just can’t let yourself walk away) that you deposit more and more money and just keep on playing

What Bonus Hunters have discovered, however, is that by only playing at the lowest stake tables (ie. 1 cent video poker), they can severely minimize the percentage of their bonus that’s eaten away in the process of fulfilling the wagering requirements. It is unlikely that a bonus hunter will come out ahead. It is even highly unlikely that the bonus hunter will walk away with most of the bonus. But they’ll probably walk away with some of it and get their initial deposit back.

So what are the drawbacks? Well, get ready, ’cause there a bunch - more in fact than you may realize. To put it plainly, bonus hunting is fraught with its own inherent challenges and flaws, not the least of which is its yield. What bonus hunters happily lose in risk, they gain in time commitment. Playing not to win but to “not lose” takes a ton of time, and you’ll probably find the reward not worth the absence of risk at all (think: 50 cents an hour - might as well get a minimum wage job).

Not all bonuses are built alike - you must hunt (thus the moniker) for the biggest bonuses (percentage-wise) with the lowest wagering requirements and the lowest stakes games (giving you the greatest chance of keeping most of your bankroll safe). That’s a mighty tall order. When you consider this, the pool of potential “targets” suddenly dwindles considerably. Likewise, the amount of time you’ll spend trying to find an online casino gambling site to hit will increase exponentially the more you do it.

And there’s always the fact that if you choose unwisely, you could lose it all.

Online casino gambling sites don’t like bonus hunters - is it any wonder - and as such, if you’re ever tagged as one, you may be permanently locked out of the casino, forced to give up any winnings, and find yourself blacklisted not only from that casino but from its affiliates and sister sites too. Try it at your own risk.

CasinoBrain.com is the premier resource for online casino gambling players. Visit http://www.casinobrain.com for informative articles, game rules, and comprehensive reviews of over 150 online casinos.

WWW bingo is coming to be progressively more common in the English speaking world. As a consequence of smoking having been banned freshly in pubs and other public places, the majority of time-honored bingo gaming places were driven out of business — evidently, this set in motion the majority of enterprises providing online bingo as a replacement. Actress’s 500 pound win

Actors’ and artists’ affirmation by people like S. and J. Osbourne etc. have helped in developing the public image of cyberspace bingo — comprising near to three million afficionados presently having regular games at their computer.

Nowadays, we’ll find so many online bingo sites, each one recommending their members cash bonanzas and a whole slew of other prizes such as spanking new cars, movie premiere tickets and luxury holidays.

What’s particularly superb about online bingo is that all people can easily try your hand at it entirely at leisure wherever there is a Net account. With games triggered off several times per hour you will be able to organise bingo seamlessly with your daily life. People would have think that the social aspect of bingo gaming would very likely suffer owing to the decline of the time-honored bingo gaming places, though United Kingdom bingo players have proven all the critics wrong… Increasing numbers have started to register at the chatrooms tendered by stacks of online bingo enterprises.

Here, everyone can forge scores of new friendships, benefit from special tourneys and become part of a group of bingo patrons. In addition, surveys have demonstrated that players are more likely to gather £1 million by having a go at world wide web bingo than with alternate forms of having a flutter such as the the tombola and sports bets. If you happen to become a mite fed up with bingo, a legion of online bingo sites will furnish a comprehensive selection of other distractions. These may be anything from slots or numbers games all the way through caption contests and mock quizzes.

Facing so much diversity it can actually prove hard to spot which web based bingo organisation is likely to be the best. It is worth the effort to perform some low level research and verify who is presently advancing the most pleasing bonuses. More than a few online bingo sites will let visitors enjoy a certain number of free bingo games or match your initial cash deposit. If some of your co-workers are already registered at any given online bingo webpage, you may want to consider teaming up seeing that the social chat side can add to the enjoyment.

The unique hub of gambling, a paradise for all the gaming aficionados and an ideal place to rejoice and lift your spirits, Monte Carlo is not unknown to any avid gambler. The place exhibits not just the efficiency of uniformly clad gamblers but also their matchless zeal towards gaming. Monte Carlo is thus worshipped as the best and timeless haven for all gamblers across the globe. The origin of Monte Carlo can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century when Prince Charles III of Monaco built a grand casino in his not so big principality. He named that part of Monaco, on which the casino was built, Monte Carlo, after his name.

Designed in 1878 by the famous architect of that era, Charles Garnier, the Le Casino Monte Carlo casino is a mark in itself. The atrium of this magnificent building is made of marble and covered on its sides by 28 Greek columns made from onyx. While its spacious auditorium is painted in red and gold and embellished with bas-reliefs, frescoes and sculptures.

Besides everything else, the gambling rooms of the Le Casino de Monte Carlo act as a timeless pull. There are many huge gambling rooms that are wonderfully decorated with beautiful art work- sculptures and paintings etc. the mesmerizing beauty o these games add to the enthusiasm to play different games of chance. However, a paradigm example of creativity and elegance are the private rooms of this casino. Parading European styles and culture to its best, these private rooms are incredibly glamorous. It is a lifetime experience to play some of the hottest games like European roulette, English Roulette, trente et quarante, blackjack etc. within these richly-decorated four walls.

Apart from the famous Le Casino Monte Carlo, there are several other good hubs in Monte Carlo to spin the wheel of fortune. Known for its 19th century ambience, the Le Café de Paris casino is meant only for players above 21 years of age. American roulette, baccarat, blackjack, chemin de fer, electronic roulette etc. are the largely played games here.

But the young adults between 18-21 years should not get disappointed. Adhering to the dress code they can also successfully try their luck at the well-known Le Sun Casino that is located in the Monte Carlo Grand Hotel. The casino offers a set of 27 tables games, baccarat, and American roulette, blackjack, chemin de fer, craps and punto banco.

The Le Sporting Monte Carlo casino is a summer attraction. The casino that opens from last Friday of June to middle of September is known for its not less than 62 slot machines and 24 table games that include roulette, baccarat, banque a tout va, blackjack, chemin de fer, English roulette, French Roulette and punto banco.

These casinos and many others have largely contributed to their nation i.e. Monaco’s economy though its economy is not just based on gambling and tourism. Yet in today’s world, Monaco is globally acclaimed as the epitome of the gaming world, a place that conjoins gaming and wealth with beauty and international sophistication.

Mansi aggarwal writes about gambling in Monte Carlo.

Connect the two of everybody’s most popular quests and what you will track down is a vogue that’s called a sportsbook wagers web property. Can you imagine anything that could be more imaginative? See a cluster of sports devotees clapping to support any local lineup, and frequently stakes are bound to be fixed adding to the clamor. Set to participate in of the exhilaration, bystanders will commonly venture to envisage who is the likeliest to win in the forthcoming struggle. This all develops into a friendly little struggle called sportsbook wagers web property.

Sure, it might seem uncontrollable, but, rather sportsbook gambling is essentially simply an amusing entertainment and to connect with your fellow sports aficionados. Here, you can bet a a slight budget of bucks and nonetheless have a amazing time. Below, you’ll find a few hints to get going sportsbook gambling. In order to place your wager, you will probably want to visit a sportsbook wagers web property, i.e. a setup which offers sportsbook wagers web property. In the U.S.A., there are four states where to do sportsbook gambling lawfully, but informally you can try it everywhere as long as you can pinpoint a bookie AND you’re of legal age. Amongst the sports competitions you can bet your money on are professional and, as well, college league football & college basketball, professional baseball, professional hockey, and, as well, betting on. You’ll have a choice of risking some money on the global tally of a competition or game, when exactly any given competitor will be knocked out, and even if a given tossed coin in a competition or game comes down heads or tails.

Ovechkin begins.most important week.

The bookie outfit count on the maths to help you out choose which lineup you feel is the likeliest to win. There is the distribution, or specific lead in terms of points assigned to a trailing lineup that is expected to lose by a specified number points. Plainly, this describes the bookmaker’s formal fashion of enabling fair lays for a Sports Book. E.g., a punter will have the option of placing bets on a competitor that is expected to lose and and nonetheless profit from that wager as long as the lineup does actually take a licking by a specified number of points. You’ll see so many differing styles of antes, the straight bets, where you merely choose the lineup you feel is the likeliest to win or go down being the most common in sportsbook gambling.

So why not give it a runover, and enjoy the excitement for good measure? Just take care that you won’t get overpowered and drain your total social security checks frivolously! Because else chances are you’ll find yourself regretting it for the rest of your life!

SuperFighter hit New York City on Monday -it’s the latest craze. Three fights, four rounds, eight contestants - it’s four hours of mayhem, Australian style.

Stephen Duval, CEO of Australia-based Superfighter, met with the media to talk about his dream - it’s a doozy. Duval invented an eight-man eliminator that offers the winner a whopping $5 million. Fighters can’t even get their contracted minimums, which can be as low as $5,000 a fight, so this is better then lotto. The losers? They collect the $200K minimum.

Here’s the lineup, so far:

Chris Byrd (39-3-1 20 KOs) - The former IBF heavyweight champion. His style has put more people to sleep then Nyquil. Byrd will try to peck his way to victory. But after the beating he took against Wladimir Klitschko, and unofficially losing four of his last five bouts, I wouldn’t bet on him with your money.

O’Neil Bell (26-1-1 24 KOs) - The current cruiserweight champion. He crushed French tank Jean Marc Mormeck in a war. A big plus for Bell is that he can crack. But he never has faced a heavyweight, and he takes too many punches flush. Against a heavy it might be beddy-bye for Bell. Bet on him getting eliminated by the third round.

“The Nigerian Nightmare” Samuel Peter (26-1 22 KOs) - He’s George Foreman’s pick to take it all. In a four-rounder, he’s the most dangerous opponent. But can he carry his power through four hours, 12 rounds and three opponents? Odds should be in his favor.

Steve “USS” Cunningham (19-0 10 KOs) - He’s the #1 IBF cruiserweight and walks around at 195 lbs. Cunningham showed a dynamite chin by taking everything Guillermo Jones could offer. If he’s matched up with Samuel Peter, his ship sails. Otherwise, he has enough boxing skills to dazzle his way to the finals.

Tye Fields (36-1 33 KO) - I agree with Max Kellerman’s analysis: “At 6-9, 293 lbs., and not so skilled, he’s an attraction, not a contender.” He’s a long shot.

Shannon Briggs (45-4 40 KOs) - Since his loss to Jameel McCline, he has fought every club fighter from New York to Arizona. BUT ? he’s got the experience, he can fight and has underrated hand speed. He might be the man to beat. I see him making the final

Alexander Povetkin (7-0 5 KOs) - I think Povetkin is Russian for pulverized. He’s too raw to best any of the combatants. He’s a huge underdog and doesn’t make it past the first round.

#8 - OPEN

Maybe we should put odds on this circus even getting off the ground. Just think back to Cedrick Kushner’s “Fist Full of Dollars?” Can you recall who won? Enough said ?

Clottey Chasing Margarito
Joshua Clottey (28-1, 20 KOs) is ranked #4 by the WBC,#5by the WBO and#7 by the IBF. Just as the high ratings indicate, Clottey believes heis capable of beating the best welterweights in the world, andhaving reeled off nine consecutive victories the star from Ghana has his eyes set on WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (33-4, 24 KOs).

“I’m determined to become a world champion,” Clottey says. “I have the skills, work ethic and heart to be a champion. I’ve dealt with many hardships throughout my career, and getting a shot at Margarito and the title would make it all worth it. This is what I have been working toward my whole life. I have a lot of respect for Antonio Margarito as a champion. I know he always wants to fight the best. I am the best welterweight contender in the world. Margarito may want to fight an easier fight right now, but if Antonio wants to stay at welterweight, he can run, but he can’t hide.”

Floyd Mayweather turned down an $8 million dollar offer to face the WBO champion, so Margarito is running out of defense options.

In a recent FightBeat.com interview, Bob Arum confirmed a Clottey matchup: “Mayweather has shown reluctance to fight Margarito, so we are thinking about putting Margarito-Clottey on the undercard of Rahman-Maskaev clash.” That fight takes place Aug. 12.

Are you ready for WWIII?

Diego “Chico” Corrales (40-2 33 KOs) and Jose Luis Castillo (52-7-1 46 KOs) are revving their engines to produce another “fight of the year.”

If you’ve never seen their first fight, GET IT! “Chico” was knocked down twice in the 10th round and came back some 60 seconds later to win it. Check out garyshawproductions.com to view Round 10. Just amazing.

Their second bout was marked with controversy. Castillo didn’t make weight and refused to even try. Castillo was fined for this stunt, but Team Corrales agreed to fight anyway.
The result: Corrales on his back.

The weight issue proved to be a mistake, something even promoter Gary Shaw admits:
“I’ll never do again what I did in this fight,” Shaw said. “If the contract calls for 135 pounds it will be at 135 pounds.”

The fight takes place June 3. Stay tuned next week for my breakdown and prediction. Sportsbook has Castillo-220, Corrales +180

Barrera Wars with Juarez

As the final bell rang, he walked back to his corner with swollen eyes, a bloody nose and probably a broken jaw - and that was the winner!

Marco Antonio Barrera really underestimated 2000 Olympian Rocky Juarez. Juarez showed power with both hands and kept countering Barrera all night with left hooks and overhand rights. HBO did its usual cheerleading for Barrera, seldom mentioning Juarez unless he got hit. The fighters dueled on even terms for 12 rounds, and the decision was what most anticipated? a draw

Unexpected was the announcement that judge Morita’s scorecard was tabulated wrong. The correct total was 115-114 in Barrera’s favor to give the champion a split-decision victory.

For Christmas I promise to send the commission a calculator

WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

The four-day Cheltenham Festival dominates the March programme, but there’s also a busy programme of racing throughout the month including the ever-popular Imperial Cup day at Sandown plus the thrills and spills of the Midlands Grand National day at Uttoxeter. Flat fans, meanwhile, will need no reminding that the new turf season kicks off with the William Hill Lincoln at Redcar on March 25.

March begins with the newly-established Vodafone Gold Cup at Newbury on the 4th over two and a half miles. It’s something of a surprise to find such a valuable race staged so close to the Cheltenham Festival, and many trainers face the dilemma of deciding whether to run here or in either the Ryanair Chase or Racing Post Plate over similar distances at the Cheltenham Festival.

Twelve months ago a solid handicapper in the shape of Supreme Prince held on to land the valuable prize while in its inaugural year, the classy Isio was a well-backed winner. Absent since that season, Nicky Henderson’s gelding may well reappear in this race and would be an interesting contender.

On the same day Doncaster’s Grimthorpe Chase, a staying handicap over three and a quarter miles, has been transferred to Lingfield and may well be the chosen target of A Glass In Thyne, who won the Skybet Chase that had also been switched from Doncaster to Southwell in January. Maybe the changing fixture pattern will repeat itself again for Ben Pollock’s improving young chaser.

Champion trainer Martin Pipe has endured a stop-start season but plenty of punters will still be scouring the list of runners for the Imperial Cup at Sandown on March 11 in the hope of unearthing another Pipe hotpot for one of the season’s most keenly-contested handicap hurdles.

Pipe has won the race five times overall and has landed the prize three times in recent seasons. His mass of entries should be studied with the utmost care and may well include progressive sorts such as Buena Vista, Acambo and Desert Air.

The punishing combination of a fiercely-run race and a stamina-sapping finish up the demanding Sandown hill has often meant that lightly-weighted horses have held an advantage over their higher-weighted rivals, while waiting tactics have also proved successful for several of the recent winners. Making all in a race as competitive as this isn’t easy.

The Irish won this race with shock outsider Regency Rake, trained by Arthur Moore in 1999, and any runners from across the Irish Sea should be accorded the greatest respect. Jessica Harrington’s Studmaster, an easy winner of his last two races might take in this contest or wait for the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

On the same day at Sandown make a note also of the EBF Novices’ Hurdle Final, a race that often produces a star of the future. Plenty of classy young hurdlers will have this contest in their sights including the Lambourn-trained duo Mr Pointment, and Wogan while the NickGifford team intends to field Dusky Lord.

In recent years the Irish have held the Champion Hurdle on March 14, the opening day of the Cheltenham Festival, in a vice-like grip, winning five of the last seven renewals and looking at the somewhat weakened field for this year’s renewal it’s hard not to envisage the hurdling crown being whisked away once more across the Irish Sea.

Reigning title-holders boast a superb record in the Champion, but recent dual winner Hardy Eustace will have to banish a bout of the blues on his latest and disappointing effort in the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle at Leopradstown. At the age of nine many think his time may have passed.

Plenty of horses that have been placed in the race previously have put that beneficial experience to good use by returning again the next year to run well. Ireland’s formidable trio of Brave Inca, Macs Joy and Al Eile, who finished third, fifth and seventh respectively in last year’s race will all be fancying their chances of winning this race a second time around.

The home-based challenge looks poor and has been hit hard by a spate of cruel injuries as well as the loss of form of emerging contenders such as Faasel and Penzance. Maybe the best of the British will be Arcalis, whose chances will be much increased by quick ground at Cheltenham, and a return to form for his stable.

Wednesday sees the two-mile heavyweights clash in the stirring championship that is the Queen Mother Champion Chase. Predicting this year’s winner revolves around whether punters think dual winner and reigning champion Moscow Flyer is just a jaded member of the old guard ready to be swept away by young pretenders such as the classy Kauto Star and the improving Fota Island.

Disappointing on his two starts so far this season, the mighty Moscow Flyer is twelve years of age and you have to go back almost thirty years (1977) to find the last winner from that age group.

Kauto Star, by contrast, has youth on his side and hails from the Paul Nicholls stable that has the best recent record in this race with winners in 2004 and 1999, and four placed horses since 2000. Kauto Star is a worthy favourite to add to that auspicious tally.

Thursday’s championship race is the World Hurdle, formerly known as the Stayers’ Hurdle and rather like the Queen Mother Champion Chase, it features a past champion in Baracouda attempting to add a third title at the age of eleven in what must rank a one of the most open renewals in living memory.

But for the foot-and-mouth abandonment of 2001, Baracouda would already have three Stayers’ titles to his name but his task this year is made even harder by his advancing years and the presence of a strong domestic and Irish challenge from Mighty Man, No Refuge, Asian Maze and Golden Cross.

Friday March 17 is Cheltenham Gold Cup day and after the brilliant dominance of the chasing blue riband by three times victor Best Mate, this year’s renewal is one of the poorest and also most open in years and likely to produce a surprise result in this greatly-anticipated championship event.

The loss through injury of Kicking King, last year’s easy winner, has left the race wide-open but many backers will be looking to Monkerhostin, runner-up to the imperious Kicking King in the 2005 King George VI Chase, as a possible winner. Seven of the last ten Gold Cup winners ran in the King George, making it a key trial for future Gold Cup heroes.

Cheltenham week closes with the Midlands Grand National day on March 18 and Ossmoses, a course winner last year, will be a leading fancy for the four-mile one-and-a-half furlong prize given his preference for running over long-distances in the mud. On the same card backers should watch out for Sue Smith’s tough mare Viciana in the EBF Mares’ Novices’ Chase Final.

March closes with the William Hill Lincoln run for the first time at Redcar (due to building work at Doncaster) and the draw is sure to have a big say in the outcome of this one-mile handicap, and the first big prize of the new turf Flat season.

Twelve months ago Newmarket trainer Sir Michael Stoute won this contest for the first time with Stream of Gold and bids to do the same again with the progressive King’s Majesty while James Fanshawe will be looking for easy ground if he’s to run Cesare, another young and improving horse.

Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips.