This Is The End

by Rick Nash

Look...I know I've spent an entire season bemoaning the 'gambling gods' and lamenting their hatred for me. I also understand that this is completely and utterly irrational, fixating on mythical figments of my imagination instead of blaming a combination of poor predictions and shitty luck.

But hear me out this one last time.

Desperately needing a win, last weekend I put a '#JustWin' treble on, not to get good value or win any decent amount of money (as is usually the goal), just to win. That would do.

My picks? Man Utd (won), Everton (won) and...Man City.

For fuck sa..

I then switched attention to the NBA Playoffs. My strategy with playoffs in the NBA/NFL has worked quite well for me in the past. It's simple: imagine you were a new fan to the sport, knowing nothing beforehand, what team would you say seems most likely to win? The reason for this logic is because playoffs in US sport are a different beast to anything we experience this side of the water. Teams that have had otherwise-terrible seasons can go on a run and win it all (shout out to the Baltimore Ravens, who beat my colleague Angry Andy's beloved 49ers in the Superbowl) in spite of form, strength of team or any other reasonable statistic.

With that in mind and, following a fantastic run in the Western Conference that turned them from nobodies into a side inspired by an emerging basketball superstar (Steph Curry), I placed the following bet:

Just put €5 on the Golden State Warriors to win the Western Conference @ 9/1. Sorry GSW, you guys were doing so well until now. #NBAPlayoffs
— Rick Nash (@AMTRick) May 13, 2013

The result? They lost their next two games pretty convincingly to the San Antonio Spurs and got knocked out. Noticing a pattern yet?

Then on Wednesday, I had what I saw as a controversial pick inserted into my online Paddy Power betslip, only to bottle it on account of another gambling rule of mine.

The rule: Never bet against Phil Taylor. (Hey, it worked when I called the World Darts Final to the exact score)

The pick: Michael van Gerwen to win the Premier League Darts playoffs.

Of course, this then ended up happening...

...and Michael van Gerwen is your new Premier League Darts Champion. DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU GAMBLING GODS!

...ahem.

Premier League Darts Quick Picks

by Rick Nash

Ignore the MVG hype, put your money on the unbeatable Barney

I've loved the first two weeks of the new-look Darts Premier League. The shorter format (without a break in play) has given games a new leash of life, as matches are now blink-and-you'll-miss-it and players are punished for poor starts with little chance of recovery. This leaves favourites like Phil Taylor vulnerable and 'The Power' is fortunate to still be second after having to come from behind in Week One to draw with a sickened Michael Van Gerwen.

That said, the league is taking shape and now is the time to start feeling somewhat confident in your accumulators. The short format still leaves upsets likely, but at least we now have a feel as to how the players are finding form (or not) in front of the big crowds.

As for tonight, I didn't have the bottle to pick between Andy Hamilton and Gary Anderson, simply because in this kind of inconsistent form they're essentially the same player: either a mess or unstoppable depending on whether a crucial double goes their way or not. We've no idea what to expect from either from week-to-week, so given that both are paired together tonight I'll take it as a hint to avoid, avoid, avoid. Let's get to brief quick picks before I'm back later with a full column and the weekend's accumulator tips.

Dreams Can Come True...Unless You're Playing Phil Taylor...

by Rick Nash

If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know that this has been a rough few weeks for me, gambling-wise.

I knew from the offset that it'd either be glorious or disastrous, with four Premier League gameweeks in quick succession and four lucrative accumulators potentially wiping my Christmas debt away from me. Unfortunately, what ended up transpiring was that my Internet will probably get cut off due to non-payment. Turns out that the only apocalypse that happened in 2012 took place within my bank account.