How about a 'one-stop shop' for all those on here who like a flutter to swap betting tips for French Open. The bookmakers websites are blocked for those of us logging on to this from work (surely not me..hmm!), so a regular trawl of the betting websites with latest odds (both fractional and decimal - I still think in 'old money' in fractional ones) would be quite good.

As the French Open gets going, could one of the mods move this to the main French Open section?

Anyway, here's some of my early thoughts...

Federer - surely his odds have lengthened in view of his recent form. The bookies, and a lot of analysts, are probably convinced Nadal will win the title. This is a fair assumption, but *if* you were going to put money on Federer anyway, now surely is the time to do it?

Nadal/Henin Hardenne double - I wanted to put a double accumulator on this last year, but never got round to it. I still think its worth doing this year, despite Henin Hardenne losing to Kuznetsova in German Open last week.

Early exits - I think a bit of spread-betting on seeded players who are non claycourt specialists to lose in 1st round is worth a look. (e.g. Mardy Fish, or even Ljubicic).

Do you make money betting Mr I?

I stopped betting 2 months ago. I was never a big gambler but once put £xxx at stake and realised I was becoming ridiculously addicted (that was a year and half ago -baghdatis/Ljubo) and considerably reduced my stakes then.

But the other day I went to Betfair.com to check some odds or see what kind of match they were broadcasting live and realised to my surprise that my account was £150 positive. I checked where the money came from and found out I had placed a 15/1 bet on Higgins to win the WC about 4 months ago. It was a nice surprise, especially since i watched the whole final backing Selby and hoping he would beat Higgins.

Now I think there are some ridiculous bets on Betfair that are worth putting very little money on regarding the French:

Blake: 530/1 When you think he reached the 4th round last year beating Almagro convincingly, beaten only by the crowd aginst Monfils and still the only one not afraid of Nadal.

Chela: 410/1 not a likely pretender but at these odds who cares!

Hewitt: 400/1 same as Chela but with the experience of winning big matches.

and Finally
Nalbandian at 200/1 Not sure he is injured but if he is not we know he can suddenly turn deadly if he decides to.

Tenez, I'm not a big gambler, but betting on tennis really intrigues me. I haven't bet on a match for over a year now, which I kind of regret - I wanted to put money on Serena to win Aus Open this year, but didn't get round to it.

I've only put small stakes on - I'm prepared to go a little higher, but I don't want to get carried away, and I'm keen to maintain my long-running profit against the bookmakers!

I normally bet on outright tournament winners, rather than results of a particular match - although I was the original creator of the Tennis Prediction Contests, my track record in these is a little mixed.

I am astounded that Nalbandian is available at 210/1 - he's less a darkhorse than he used to be, but has reached semi-finals at Roland Garros. Nadal is probably as big a favourite now for the French Open as Federer is before each Wimbledon, so its not worth putting too much money on the darkhorse candidates - Djokovic is fast improving, but Nadal handled him well the other week, Canas recent good form has come to an end, Nalbandian has been injured, Robredo and Davydenko are solid as ever, but don't quite look slam champion material.

A Nadal - Henin-Hardenne double accumulator still appeals to me - would love Federer to win, and now is the time to back him (the odds will have lengthened after recent form) but I'm not quite confident enough to put my money on him for French Open.

Kuznetsova and/or Serena also worth a look at for the womens.

Have Federer's odds shortened since yesterday? As I previously mentioned, last week was the time to put your money on him!

Well yes and look at my tip on Hewitt being 400/1 before his last week semi ....now at 90/1 (still a good odd in my view but not quite the same).

How about some spread betting on the following:

Andreev to beat Roddick, Mathieu to beat Mayer, Di Mauro to beat Tursunov, Grosjean to beat Baghdatis

and accumulators on:

Federer against Russell, Djokovic against qualifier, Almagro v Gimelstob, Canas against Hanescu, Robredo against Roitman, Monaco against qualifier.

How much the last accumaltor would return, lets say you put 10 on it?

I've no idea Tenez - the betting sites are banned from my work computer here! But it should be OK.

im putting a fiver on Roddick to lose first round, and if he wins, i will then put a fiver on him to lose second round

roflmao

I kept meaning to put a tenner on Serena. If her odds are at 4-1 now, if I put a tenner on her and she wins does that mean I'll get £40 back?

Sorry Im not very good at betting!

i think you will win 40 plus get your tenner back. I have predicted Justine to win again, it worked at AO ;)

Hi Liam - You would be likely to make a loss this way unless he actually loses in the first round.

The key is to put a tenner in the second round and then if he still wins you put £20 etc....

and pray he does not win the french open.

roflmao

lol thanks i will try that, i haven't looked at those particular odds yet though

Did anyone follow my advice and do a double accumulator on Henin and Nadal? If so, could have been a nice little win for you...

I considered that myself, but I've not bet for ages now and I never bothered. My best year was last year as I bet on Mauresmo and Henin to reach the final of the AO and extra on Mauresmo to win. I didn't make much bt then I didn't bet much.

i wish id have taken my own advice :doh:

roflmao Me too cos I predicted that!