Fantasy Formula 1: Season Comes to a Close

The F1 season enters its last race this weekend in Abu Dhabi, so no better time to check how the 4 Fantasy Formula1 leagues I entered are going.
Being honest I kinda needed the Fantasy element to be good because the actual racing on offer was slowly getting more and more boring. F1 has sort of stopped being a sport to me. I used to watch every race religiously back in the 80's and 90's, but nowadays its more like watching professional wrestling. Mercedes had the Constructors Championship sown up with a big chunk of races left to go. With less and less of a shake up in the placing's over the season, does anyone really care if Hamilton takes the title, or Rosberg sickens him in the final race? He can bridge the 17pt gap because the last race has ridiculously been deemed a double point race??
But what of the Fantasy games I posted about a few months back?

This is as exciting as it gets really.

In the Castrol EDGE Grand Prix Predictor game I sit in a comfortable 6356th place (there are 106k players) with 864pts (that's ahead of 3 of the 4 experts!). I 'achieved' this by basically putting Hamilton and Rosberg as my 1-2 with the Red Bulls and some others filling out the top ten. My best week was Round 2 at the Malaysian GP, 56% accuracy, while I have been distinctly average since then.
F1 Manager 2014 seemed like a good game to begin with. But soon you just use all your money to get Mercedes drivers and the Mercedes chassis and engine. So by the end everyone has the same team and the league table is pretty much set (I'm guessing). I have been slowly moving up the rankings every week but have placed in much the same position race by race. For the last nine races I have finished in a band that covers only 162 places. I have even managed the exact same points for the last four races, but as I said, everyone got those points. So really I tied with the best in the world. Hurrah!! The only thing that kept me logging in week to week was that you can guess the poletime and maybe get some extra points. But at least this Fantasy League is still going......
Racing Leagues.co.uk had to stop taking scores after the Hungarian GP because F1 decided the website was violating their intellectual property and committing an online game infringement or some such. Oh Dear!
Fantasy Racers.com also fell foul of the money men at F1 and had to close their game down too. These sites were not using any pictures or likenesses of F1 cars or drivers, but even if they altered the names they could not use the results of any races as they were copyrighted by F1.
So only two Fantasy Formula1 games left standing going into the final race and they are boring as hell! I can't really say if I'll be too hyped up to play Fantasy Formula1 in 2015. I'm thinking that F1 itself will have to get more exciting first.

Fantasy Golf: John Deere Classic

Despite mentioning George McNeill who finished 2nd, and two players who tied for fourth in last weeks Greenbrier Classic, none of my Fantasy teams had them together in any meaningful way so as to bother the top of the leaderboards. Hopefully this weeks John Deere Classic can see an improvement in the overall teams scores. Of course that all depends on the combinations they are put in. So with no more beating around the bush, here is who am going for this week.
As usual, Yahoo Fantasy Golf divides the players into three groups, while Official PGA Fantasy lets you pick any four players.

Group A
Kyle Stanley
Ryan Moore

Group B
Kevin Streelman
Steve Stricker
Jordan Spieth
Brian Stuard
Chris Kirk
Zach Johnson
Danny Lee

Group C
Scott Langley
Jason Bohn
Harris English
Patrick Rodgers
Scott Brown
David Toms
Troy Merritt
Sang Moon Bae
Ben Martin
Luke Guthrie
Bud Cauley



Fantasy Golf: The Greenbrier Classic

This week the PGA Tour heads to The Old White TPC at White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia. Last year saw Jonas Blixt come away the winner, but who can come out on top at the classic this year? If you ask me, its a pretty open field again, so I'm going to spread a lot of picks widely. It has been a slow few weeks since the US Open, but hopefully some of these names can challenge at the top of the leaderboard come Sunday evening.
As I said, one or two picks have been missing the cut in the last few weeks. I had a feeling Tiger Woods would not make the cut last week so I didn't put him in any of my teams. Surprisingly Jason Day missed the cut last week also, so returned no points. He had made 32 cuts in a row before last weekend, but has picked up an injury to his thumb and has withdrawn from this weekend. Anyone who does miss the cut though can sit back and listen to Maroon 5 who are playing at White Sulphur Springs on the Friday night! But for now, we are only interested in who will be around come Sunday Morning (obscure Maroon 5 reference).
So here goes the picks, good luck.

Group A
Daniel Summerhays
Patrick Reed
Bubba Watson
Gary Woodland

Group B
Brian Harman
Martin Flores
Michael Thompson
Brendon de Jonge
David Hearn
Bryce Molder

Group C
Ben Martin
Andrew Svoboda
Jimmy Walker
Steven Bowditch
Pat Perez
George McNeil
Brendon Todd
Tommy Gainey
Scott Stallings
Bud Cauley
Andres Romero
John Peterson
Stuart Appleby

Fantasy Golf: Quicken Loans National

This week marks the long awaited return of Tiger Woods to the tour, in what I think is only his fourth event. I'm sure a lot of people will be tempted to put him straight into their teams, but I'm going to hold off and see if he just makes the cut. Very slim pickings from Group A in Yahoo this week though, so perhaps some people could put Woods in as their second player and see how he goes on Thursday.
As per usual, Yahoo divides the golfers into three groups where you pick 8 (and 4 play each day), whereas Official PGA lets you pick any 4 and you only score points on their finishing positions.
As I mentioned two weeks ago, I finished second in the Official PGA weekly table for the US Open, then this week I got an email from them saying I was entitled to the prize! Great News! But no, unfortunately not. Like the winner (I presume) I don't live in the United States and they don't ship the prize ( a set of golf balls!) outside the US. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
Good luck this week everybody.

Group A
Brandt Snedeker
Gary Woodland
Patrick Reed

Group B
Billy Horschel
Bill Haas
Jordan Spieth
Jason Day
Robert Garrigus
Webb Simpson
Martin Flores
Justin Rose
Angel Cabrera
Stewart Cink
Hunter Mahan

Group C
Nick Watney
Carl Pettersson
Kevin Chappell
Noh Seung-Yul
Brendon Todd
J.B. Holmes
Ben Curtis

Fantasy Golf: Travelers Championship

Great week last week for the US Open , as my team Manister Golf Club just missed out on top spot (and a prize of some Bridgestone Golf balls!) by only 8 points. But 2nd and 1002pts is by far the best result so far this season in PGA Fantasy.
So how do you top that? Well, I really don't know! But I'll try and pick a team this week that can be there or there abouts come Sunday night. The PGA Tour heads to TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship and it looks like a pretty open field as regards picking a winner. As always, Yahoo Fantasy Golf divides the golfers up into 3 groups, while Official PGA Fantasy lets you pick any four players.
So here goes this weeks picks. Good Luck.

Group A
Marc Leishman
Jonas Blixt
Bubba Watson
Patrick Reed

Group B
Brian Harman
Brendon De Jonge
Bo Van Pelt
J.J. Henry
Graham DeLaet
Jason Day

Group C
Carl Petterson
Aaron Baddeley
Erik Compton
Brooks Koepka
Luke Guthrie
Kevin Chappell
John Peterson
Charley Hoffman
Chesson Hadley
Andrew Svoboda
Harris English
Billy Hurley III



Fantasy Golf: U.S. Open Championship

It's Major time again, so all the big names will be giving it their best in order to be in contention for the big prize. But who will come out on top at Pinehurst this week? Picking your Fantasy Team for a Major must be one of the hardest things to do during a season. Yet, as always, we'll try to do our best.
I'm going for a mix of past Major winners, guys just hitting form, and some young guns who may surprise a few people over the weekend. As per usual, Yahoo Fantasy Golf splits the golfers into three groups, where you select 8 but only 4 score points for you in any one round. PGA Official Fantasy lets you pick any four players and you only score points on their finishing positions.

Group A
Bubba Watson
Jonas Blixt
Phil Mickelson
Matt Kuchar
Rickie Fowler
Adam Scott
Luke Donald

Group B
Webb Simpson
Hideki Matsuyama
Rory McIlroy
Jordan Spieth
Jason Day
Jim Furyk
Martin Kaymer
Steve Stricker
Keegan Bradley
Bill Haas
Matt Every

Group C
Sergio Garcia
Justin Thomas
Aaron Baddeley
Charl Schwatzel
Jimmy Walker



Fantasy Golf: FedEx St. Jude Classic

This week we head to the TPC Southwind in Memphis for the FedEx St. Jude Classic. A traditional warm-up for the forthcoming US Open. So there are a lot of big names from across the globe in Tennessee this week, but to pick a winner is going to be tough.
Last week Hideki Matsuyama won the Memorial Tournament which was a boon to both my fantasy teams. This weekend is looking to be much harder to pick a winner. Especially in the Yahoo Fantasy Golf, where I fancy a number of players from Group C, but not too many from A or B. And since you can only pick 2 players from Group C, while only one of them scores points on any day, I really must think long and hard over who I choose. But here goes....

Group A
Lee Westwood
Phil Mickelson

Group B
Robert Garrigus
Billy Horschel
Michael Thompson
Martin Flores

Group C
Paul Casey
Luke Guthrie
David Toms
John Senden
Ryan Palmer
Graeme McDowell
Scott Stallings
Kevin Kisner
Jeff Overton
Chad Campbell
Justin Leonard
Robert Streb
Hudson Swafford
George McNeill



Fantasy Golf: the Memorial Tournament

Not a bad week last time out, 166 points, unfortunately David Toms fell back on the last day and finished in 5th. This week the tour is in Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio for the Memorial Tournament. And this week I have to say it has been really tough to pick a strong favourite to win the tournament (but i'll try anyway!). As usual, Yahoo Fantasy Golf let's you pick 8 players from 3 different groups, 4 of which score for you everyday, while Official PGA Fantasy Golf allows you to pick any 4 players, but you only get points on their finishing positions.

Group A
Matt Kuchar
Russell Henley
Gary Woodland
Adam Scott

Group B
Justin Rose
Michael Thompson
Rory McIlroy
Hideki Matsuyama
David Lingmerth
Bill Haas
Dustin Johnson
Bo Van Pelt
Jason Dufner
Jordan Spieth
Fredrik Jacobson
Steve Stricker

Group C
Kevin Chappell
Scott Stallings
Mike Weir
Charl Schartzel



Fantasy Golf: Crowne Plaza Invitational

This week the PGA Tour heads to Texas and the Colonial Country Club for the Crowne Plaza Invitational. The purse is  $6.4m and 124 golfers will start out with hopes of winning. Boo Weekley won here last time out. Can he do it again? (hopefully not, as I didn't put him in my team!)
Last week I had two finish inside the top ten and it was a pretty solid score of 152, unfortunately the C team let me down! Hauling in a paltry 10 points as neither player made it to Sunday. Hopefully this week we can build on that and start moving up the table. As always, Yahoo Fantasy Golf is split into three groups and you pick 8 players. 4 of which score points for you each day. Official PGA Fantasy lets you pick any 4 players, but you are stuck with them for the duration of the tournament.
So have a look at this weeks picks. Again, underlined players are in my team. C was probably the toughest group to pick from this week.

Group A
Marc Leishman
Matt Kuchar
Adam Scott

Group B
Chris Kirk
Zach Johnson
Jim Furyk
Jordan Spieth
Brendon de Jong
Graham DeLaet

Group C
John Huh
David Toms
Scott Stallings
Paul Casey
Jason Bohn
Scott Brown
John Senden
Boo Weekley
Ryan Palmer



Fantasy Football: Premier League season fantasy game recaps

The Premiership season is over and Man City have come away as champs, having overtaken a stumbling Liverpool at the line. This also means that the Fantasy Football season is over! How did you get on this year?
Me? Not so well! I paid for not jumping on the Saurez bandwagon, I put in Yaya Toure far too late, plus I stuck with DeGea in goals when United clearly weren't at the races anymore. But you live and learn. I did a short synopsis of which games I was playing this year and what I thought of them earlier in the season, so now I will give a brief rundown of where I placed in each competition.

First lets have a look at the two predictor games that ran over the season.
In Sky Sports Super6 I ended up with 311 points, that's 93 correct results and 25 correct scores. That all leaves me in 39,848th, which isn't that bad (I did forget to input predictions for one week!), there must be nearly one and a half million players? I also scored better than all the Sky Sports pundits, that's always a plus!
In the Talksport Predictor game I ended up with a score of 1945 and in 17,210th place. I was as high as 3,431st about two thirds of the way through, but again I'm pretty sure I missed a number of games and screwed myself over. Of the 18 Talksport presenters, I beat all bar three. Mickey Quinn was best with 2070pts. I believe there was over 120,000 playing the game in total.

The two main Fantasy Football games I concentrated on were Official Premier League Fantasy Football and Yahoo Fantasy Football. But as the season went on, Yahoo kept being dogged by problems and in the last week I don't even think I changed my team. Some weeks I didn't change my team, but that was because Yahoo wouldn't let me! It really has taken a nose dive this season, but anyway......
In Yahoo I ended up with 3610pts and in 29,715th place. I don't know how many players played in total (I'm guessing the drop off rate was huge), and I have no desire to try and find out. Yahoo has gone from probably the best Fantasy Football games to perhaps the worst. Let's move on.
Nothing demonstrates the mistakes I made this season than my performance in the Official Premier League Fantasy Football. I ended up with 1,832 pts and in a woeful 1,629,716th place. To give you a taste of how bad it was all season, just think on the fact that I had Altidoe and Anelka as two of my forwards in week 1! I try and aim for at least a top half finish in every game I play, but here I was 20,261 places from the halfway mark. Not a huge amount in a game of over 3.2m players. Still, next season is a must do better.

The other Fantasy Football games I played, I'll be honest, didn't get as much attention, so I was kind of dipping in and out of them as time allowed. In ESPN Premier Fantasy my points came to 2,060 and I was in 15,734th place. I think the ESPN game had over 110,000 players, but I stand to be corrected on that.
In Metro Fantasy Football I finished up in 27,142nd place with 17,814 pts. I didn't really keep an eye on this team over the season. The game looks nice, it just wasn't my cup of tea. Metro Fantasy had nearly 75,000 players.
Telegraph Fantasy Football was another game I dipped in and out of. it wasn't a bad game, and is maybe one I will put more effort into in the future. I think I will see how the Telegraphs fantasy World Cup pans out. But as for last season I ended up with 1,539 pts and in 95,807th position.
The Sun Dream Team didn't get much play time from me. One, because I don't read the Sun, and Two, because of the rather awkward way it implements transfers. But still, I ended up with 1197 pts and in 809,582nd place. There will be a Sun World Cup Dream Team too, so hopefully that will be better.

The last two games I played, I did put some effort into (but not too much!). The first was Australian website Sportal Premier League Dream Team. This game is different in that you play against another fantasy team every week and accumulate points every time you beat your opponent. Win, lose or draw is the order of the day here. I played in two public leagues, coming 3rd in one (29 wins, 9 losses) and 9th in the other (21 wins, 1 draw, 16 losses). Overall I ended up with 4,256 pts and in 3,622nd place out of 13,809 players. It is a fun way of doing a league and I would recommend giving it a go next season.
In Sky Sports Fantasy Football I also had two teams running. But none were very good! The best I managed was a total of 1,934 pts and in 68,278th position. I just don't like the system the game is run to, captain changes mid-gameweek etc.

So that's it for this year. I will do a preview of a number of Fantasy World Cup games by the end of the month, and hopefully I can put a squad together to challenge the top of the table. It would give great confidence going into Fantasy Football 2014/15. If you have any Fantasy game recommendations, then please tell me in the comments below.

Fantasy Golf: Byron Nelson Championship

Sorry for being missing in action last weekend for The Players Championship in Florida. It was a busy weekend so I didn't have enough time to do some proper research. I did put a team in, but despite having Kaymer and Furyk leading the way, I had two players who missed the cut playing on the Saturday which threw my whole week. Hopefully there will be a better weekend in store in Texas for the HP Byron Nelson Championship.
This is one of the biggest tournaments on the Tour outside of a Major, and a host of top names will be vying for the championship. As always Yahoo Fantasy Golf gets you to make up your team from three groups, while in Fantasy PGA you can simply pick any four players.

Group A
Gary Woodland
Derek Ernst
Marc Leishman

Group B
Keegan Bradley
Dustin Johnson
Morgan Hoffmann
Robert Garrigus
Graham DeLaet
Jordan Spieth

Group C
Brendan Steele
Ryo Ishikawa
Jimmy Walker
Robert Streb
Harris English
David Toms
Paul Casey
Kevin Kisner
Brooks Koepka
John Huh
John Senden



Fantasy Golf: Wells Fargo Championship

Last week was not a great week Fantasy-wise. I knew it would be hard to predict a winner, but to not even come close (and have 3 players miss the cut!) has really plummeted my team down the table. But onwards and upwards. The PGA tour is in North Carolina for the Wells Fargo Championship this weekend, and a number of big names are present as they hope to hit some form in time for the upcoming U.S. Open.
As always, with Yahoo Fantasy Golf the players are divided into three groups, while in the Official PGA Fantasy game, you can pick any four from the field. Hopefully this week will be better than last time out, here goes

Group A
Ryan Moore
John Merrick
Jonas Blixt
Lee Westwood
Rickie Fowler
Phil Mickelson

Group B
Rory McIlroy
Jason Kokrak
Matt Jones
Chris Kirk
Lucas Glover
Angel Cabrera
Brian Harman
Justin Rose
Webb Simpson

Group C
Ben Martin
Jamie Donaldson
Seung-Yul Noh
Sang-Moon Bae
Chesson Hadley
Robert Karlsson
Robert Streb
Kevin Na



Fantasy Golf: Zurich Classic of New Orleans

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is the focus this week for the USPGA Tour. A lot of big names are absent this week so it is going to be tough to call a winner from the start. As usual I'll list the considered golfers for this tournament in the groups that are divided by Yahoo.

Group A
Kevin Stadler
Rickie Fowler
Rory Sabbatini

Group B
Graham DeLaet
Lucas Glover
Geoff Ogilvy
Matt Every
Billy Horschel
Bo Van Pelt

Group C
Cameron Tringale
Andrew Loupe
Jonathon Byrd
Ryan Palmer
Steve Marino
Hudson Swafford
Brooks Koepka
John Senden
Nicholas Thompson



Golf Fantasy: RBC Heritage

Fresh off the Masters we head to Harbour Town Golf Links for this weeks round of the PGA Tour. Not as many golfers to choose from in Group A this week, but we will try and pick a few. As always, Yahoo divides the golfers into three groups, while PGA Fantasy lets you choose any four golfers. It hasn't been a great start to the Spring Segment, as I have only 258 points after two tournaments. Hopefully things will have improved in sunny South Carolina come Sunday night.

Group A
Luke Donald
Russell Henley
Brian Gay

Group B
Chris Kirk
Billy Horschel
Stewart Cink
Kevin Streelman
Jordan Spieth
Jim Furyk
Brian Harman

Group C
Harris English
Kevin Na
Graeme McDowell
Justin Leonard
Russell Knox
Erik Compton
Will MacKenzie
Ben Curtis
Scott Langley
Chris Stroud
Cameron Tringale



Fantasy Golf: U.S. Masters

The Masters is the first Major of the golf calendar in 2014, and there are a lot of big name contenders vying for that green jacket.
Apologies that this 'preview' is going up after Rd 1 has been completed, but I had a busy couple of days zooming around the country and couldn't get to my laptop for more than five minutes. But at least in those five minutes I managed to get my Fantasy Golf team sorted, and now I'm going to reveal which players were rattling away inside my brain, and which 8 I finally went with in the end. As always, 8 players from three groups in Yahoo Fantasy Golf, while in Official PGA Fantasy Golf you can pick any 4 players.

Group A
Gary Woodland
Rickie Fowler
Henrik Stenson
Phil Mickelson
Bubba Watson
Matt Kuchar
Patrick Reed
Ryan Moore
Brandt Snedeker

Group B
Jason Dufner
Rory McIIroy
Bill Haas
Hunter Mahan
Hideki Matsuyama

Group C
Charl Schwartzel
Fred Couples
Sergio Garcia
Harris English
Thorbjorn Olesen
Francesco Molinari
Jimmy Walker

It being a Major, there was an over abundance of players to choose from in Group A. For Group C, I may have let my heart rule my head a little bit in picking Freddie Couples over Garcia. But then again, Couples has some high finishes over the last number of years at Augusta, and has only ever missed the cut on two occasions in his career.
After day one I did make some moves. Dufner put up a horrible +8 score, so he has been swapped in the starting 2 for Group B with current leader (-4) Bill Haas. In Group C, I have also choose to start Couples over Schwartzel for the second round. Boom Boom is only three shots of the lead and has shown he could be shooting par or under each round. He has 3 birdies, 2 bogeys. Whereas Schwartzel has the more erratic scorecard of 3 birdies, 4 bogeys.



April 5th Betting

After a bit of disaster last weekend, we'll hope to get back on track with a long list of 25 teams and a Sneaky Fiver bet of teams who are in far better form than their opponents. So seeing as the morning is flying by so fast, lets get on with it!

Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb(a)
England Prem: Chelsea
England Champ: Nottingham Forest
England Lg1: Wolves, Brentford
England Lg2: Scunthorpe(a), Chesterfield
England Conference: Chester, Gateshead, Luton, Cambridge Utd
France: PSG
Germany: Bayern Munich(a)
Italy: Inter Milan
Portugal: Sporting CP(a)
Romania: Steaua Bucuresti(a)
Scotland Prem: Motherwell(a)
Scotland Champ: Falkirk
Scotland Lg2: Peterhead
Slovakia: MFK Kosice
Spain: Athletico Madrid, Barcelona
Turkey: Besiktas
Ukraine: Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk(a), Shakhtar Donetsk

Now for a Sneaky Fiver Bet. We stay in England this time and go with....
Man City, Man Utd(a), Wigan, Doncaster, Portsmouth

Good Luck Everybody (The Aintree Grand National is on today, so lets stick a pin in that list and go with....... Alvarado!)



Fantasy Golf: Shell Houston Open

Last week was not a great week to end the Winter section on. After 12 weeks I have 1863 points, but lets hope the Spring segment will bring more luck. This week it's the Shell Houston Open, and with it there is a big field to choose from.
As always, Yahoo Fantasy Golf splits the golfers into 3 groups, while the Official PGA Fantasy lets you choose any 4. So here goes this weeks selections.

Group A
Jonas Blixt
Phil Mickelson
Kevin Stadler
Henrik Stenson
Josh Teater
Rickie Fowler
Lee Westwood

Group B
Jordan Spieth
Graham DeLaet
Keegan Bradley
Geoff Ogilvy
Dustin Johnson
Jason Kokrak
Chris Kirk

Group C
Louis Oosthuizen
Jimmy Walker
Charl Schwartzel
Seung-Yul Noh
Sang-Moon Bae
Kevin Chappell
Stuart Appleby
Carl Pettersson

I was really tempted to go with Stuart Appleby, as he has won this tournament twice (and came 2nd twice too!) but decided against it in the end. I remember when Freddie Couples won here in 2003 when it moved to its current location of the Golf Club of Houston, and no one has bettered his four-round score total yet.
Good Luck with whoever you pick.



March 29th Betting

Are you ready for another Saturday long list? Of course you are! A good weekend last time out, but let's try and beat it tomorrow. Here goes, the teams that will hopefully win for us tomorrow are....

Austria: RB Salzburg
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Zeljeznicar Sarajevo(a)
Croatia: Locomotiva Zagreb
England Prem: Chelsea(a), Everton(a)
England Champ: QPR, Derby County
England Lg1: Preston North End, Leyton Orient, Brentford(a), Rotherham United
England Lg2: Southend, Scunthorpe
England Conference: Aldershot
France: AS Monaco(a)
Germany: Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen
Italy Serie B: Empoli
Portugal: Sporting CP
Scotland Prem: Celtic, Inverness CT, Motherwell
Scotland Champ: Queen of the South
Scotland Lg1: Rangers(a), Dunfermline
Scotland Lg2: Peterhead(a)
Serbia: Crvena Zvezda
Slovenia: NK Maribor
Spain: Barcelona(a), Real Madrid

30 games there should give a decent return. Now to turn our attention to a Sneaky Fiver Bet. It hasn't yielded us much luck so far this season. But this Saturday we'll be going with 5 teams in form, and will surely improve on the 5 team accums that have come before. The teams are...
Man City(a), Sevilla(a), Ipswich, PSV, Notts County

Good Luck Everybody



Fantasy Golf: Valero Texas Open

Not a great week for my Fantasy picks last time out in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Best of a bad bunch was Graeme McDowell who dragged himself up to finish 10th. We should have known the writing was on the wall when Bubba Watson had to withdraw after a disastrous first day. Hopefully we can get back on track as the tour moves from Florida to Texas with the Valero Texas Open this weekend.
Not many to pick from in Group A of the Yahoo groupings, but we'll do our best with what's there. Again, in Yahoo you pick 4 scorers and 4 reserves across three groups, in the Official PGA Fantasy you can pick any 4 golfers for the weekend.

Group A
Brian Gay
Josh Teater
Matt Kuchar
Phil Mickelson

Group B
Billy Horschel
Jason Kokrak
Mark Wilson
Fredrik Jacobson
Jordan Spieth

Group C
Kevin Chappell
Richard H. Lee
J.B. Holmes
Brendan Steele
Billy Hurley
Kevin Na
Cameron Tringale
Seung-Yul Noh
Ryan Palmer
Jimmy Walker
Aaron Baddeley
Jhonattan Vegas
Danny Lee


March 23rd Betting

22 from 28 yesterday, so not too bad. The home and away five team accums didn't really give us a sweat this week, as we came away with only 4 results right from 10 games. Anyways, we continue on with a list of teams (that should win!) for today.

Austria: RB Salzburg
Croatia: HNK Rijeka(a)
France: AS Saint-Etienne
Greece: PAOK Saloniki, Atromitos, Olympiakos(a)
Italy: Juventus(a)
Portugal: Benfica, Porto
Scotland Lg1: Rangers(a)
Spain: Athletico Madrid(a)

Good Luck Everybody



ICC World T20 Fantasy Cricket

The ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh kicks off proper this weekend. I say properly, as we have already had a number of early matches to determine which two teams will join the big 8 teams that make up both groups in the Super 10. The two teams that qualified, in what was a truly exciting knockout round of group games, was Bangladesh and the Netherlands. In fact this would have been posted yesterday, but seeing as I had 3 Irish players in my team, only to see them hand the Dutch 6 after 6 and let them go top of the group and qualify for Group 1 of the Super 10, I had to go back and rejig my whole team.
I'll be honest, I do not have too much experience when it comes to Fantasy Cricket games, but I'm hoping that the Official ICC game will give me a flavour for it in the future.
You can join it here http://cricketicc.fantasyleague.com/
It is laid out similar to many (of the poorer) Rugby Fantasy games. But the look can be forgiven if it plays a good game right?
Your team can be made up of three formations:
Five batsmen, two all-rounders, one wicket-keeper and three bowlers, (I'm going with this one) or
Four batsmen, three all-rounders, one wicket-keeper and three bowlers, or
Four batsmen, two all-rounders, one wicket-keeper and four bowlers.
Some rules you need to adhere to at the start: Only 3 players from any one team (going up to 6 from the semi-finals on). Only 3 players who are designated Star players.
My three Star players are Kohli, Gayle and McCullum, and I am making Sri Lanka's Sangakkara my captain. I'm hoping that on top of his wicket keeping duties he can throw in some big batting numbers. I have 3 Sri Lankans in my team, as I feel they can go far in this tournament.
I realise starting at the Super 10 phase puts me at a disadvantage, as I've missed all the points from the Knockout group phase, but take it easy on me, I'm still coming to terms with Ireland being knockout out! Plus, even after missing the first Phase, I've still moved up to 100th place in the Ireland league. As with all Fantasy games I join, my aim is to finish top half, any thing further up is a bonus.
If you know of any other Cricket Fantasy games that are worth playing, then please add a comment below.



March 22nd Betting

Okay, the time is ripe for a big bounce back in the predictions. So this Saturday, we're going to go with the longest list yet! If all these come in it pays close to 44400/1, so again don't put them all in one long list, unless you're a bit mad.
So here goes....

Czech Rep: Sparta Praha(a)
England Prem: Liverpool(a), Everton, Man City
England Champ: Burnley(a), Leicester City(a)
England Lg1: Brentford
England Conference: Luton
Germany: Bayern Munich(a), Schalke 04
Greece: Panathinaikos
Italy Serie A: Roma(a)
Italy Serie B: Empoli, AC Cesena
Netherlands: PSV Eindhoven
Russia: Lokomotiv Moskva
Scotland Prem: Aberdeen, Celtic, Motherwell
Scotland Champ: Hamilton(a)
Scotland Lg1: Dunfermline
Scotland Lg2: East Sterling
Slovakia: Slovan Bratislava
Slovenia: NK Maribor
Spain: Athletic Bilbao
Turkey: Galatasaray
Ukraine: Dinamo Kiev, Chernomorets Odessa

Lets have two stabs at a 5 team accumulator (and hope they improve on the last couple of weeks attempts!). So here goes some Sneaky Fiver bets.... All games are in England or Scotland....

5 Aways: Sunderland, West Brom, Reading, Partick, Stenhousemuir, 340/1
5 Homes: Newcastle, Sheffield Utd, Torquay, Ayr, Queen of the South, 35/1

Good Luck Everybody



Fantasy Golf: Arnold Palmer Invitational

It's the last stop on the Florida swing of the tour this week and the big news is Tiger Woods' withdrawal because of his back problems. He probably will be saving himself for the Masters from here on in. Tigers record in this tournament is great, and without him we will have to find some other big names in the field to get us those crucial fantasy points.
Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell and Justin Rose lead the betting and should be in most Fantasy teams this weekend. Here we have a look at how I rank my picks. Remember, In Yahoo Fantasy Golf, your 8 picks are split into three groups. In PGA Fantasy you can pick any 4 golfers you fancy.

Group A
Bubba Watson
Ryan Moore
Gary Woodland
Charles Howell III
Adam Scott

Group B
Brian Harman
Justin Rose
Chris Kirk
Billy Horschel
Matt Every
Fredrick Jacobson
Hunter Mahan
Jason Kokrak

Group C
Graeme McDowell
Chris Stroud
Pat Perez
Ryo Ishikawa
Nicolas Colsaerts
Seung-yul Noh



Fantasy Formula 1 2014

The Formula 1 season starts this weekend with a Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia. It promises to be an exciting year of racing, although they say that every year and the last few seasons have been mind-numbingly boring (sorry Vettel!). For 2014 we are going to play 4 different Fantasy F1 games, and they really are all different in their implementation.
First up is...
Castrol EDGE Grand Prix Predictor
Here you don't mess around with a budget or pick one or two drivers for each race; you pick who will finish each race in the top ten places. You earn points on how close your predictions are. You also get to pick; who gains pole position in qualifying, who will set the fastest lap in the race, and which driver will gain the most positions during the race.
It is well laid out and because it's run by AutoSport Magazine, you can compare your predictions with those of their experts each week. If I don't outscore Timo Glock this week I won't be happy!

Next up is... Fantasy Racers.com
Here is interesting because you are given two choices when you initially start the game. You can either have a budget of 45m to pick your team, but you can't make changes during the year. Or you can start with a budget of 40m and make as many driver changes as you want during the year. I'm going with the smaller budget and will be hoping the 5 racers I have (you can pick up to 6) can get me off to a good start.
To gain bonus points each race you can try and guess the results of a number of scenarios. Which team will complete the fastest pit-stop? Which driver will be the first to retire? How many seconds the winner of the race will have over second place? And how many cars will finish after the first lap? I think I might need any bonus points I can get!

I'll also be playing... F1 Manager
In this game you are given a budget of 100m, which you think is a lot, until you have to pick 2 drivers, a chassis and an engine, then you realise it isn't really that much! I will probably have to revisit my strategy later, as I was just happy to be able to fill each position. But seeing as the Marussia team didn't managed to pass Q1 and Bianchi & Kobayashi aren't exactly looking like bothering the podium this race, my team could be in for an overhaul before we get to Malaysia.
You can gain extra money for your meagre starting budget by correctly predicting the time of pole position, right down to the millisecond. How many milliseconds was I out this week? Only 17400! it could very well be a long season!

And finally.... Racing Leagues
Another free to play league. And another league that takes a different approach to scoring. In this game you get to pick 3 drivers, who are ranked 1st to 3rd. The driver you have in 1st gets the most points from his finishing position, e.g. if your Driver 1 wins a race you get 50pts, if Driver 2 wins you get 37pts, and if Driver 3 wins you get 25pts. You also have to pick a Constructor and an Engine type. Plus did I mention you have to do all this within budget? Well now I did.
You get bonus points if all your picks finish the race. One Grand Prix a season can be designated a Home Grand Prix and all your points are doubled. On top of all this you are only allowed to make 7 changes/transfers during the year. Hamilton is my Driver 1, so I'm hopefully off to a good start!

These four Fantasy Formula 1 Leagues should be enough to keep you busy for 2014. If anyone has another league which you think is worth checking out, then please leave a comment below. It is rare to see such variety in Fantasy Sports leagues, and before we get to the final race in Abu Dhabi we should knew which one comes out on top.



Fantasy Rugby: Last Rd of 6 Nations

It is the last round of games for the 6 Nations this weekend. So its the last chance for those of us with Fantasy teams to make changes and improve our final position. I'm not too badly placed in three of the four fantasy games this year (testrugby.com really never did it for me). In an effort to gain as many places in this last three games, I'm going to take a gamble!
Wales are heavy favourites, and righty so, at home to Scotland. They should end the campaign with a win, so get Welsh players in your side this week. Keep in mind though, coach Warren Gatland has made 6 changes from the side which lost at Twickenham. So make sure you get in players who are starting.
England are big favourites away to Italy. An English win and an Irish loss should see England take the title. Also, England are the only team to have never lost to the Italians since they joined the 6 Nations. So history is also against Italy today. But with all that in mind, I'm going to stick my neck out and go for an Italian upset here. A win should lift them out of the wooden spoon placing, they basically threw the game away to Ireland last week with this game in mind, and they must be determined to finally achieve a victory over the English. All this being said, they have only made 3 changes from the side that was so abysmal at the Aviva Stadium just a week ago. Nevertheless, I'm going with at least three Italians in my side.
The last game of the day is in France. Where if Ireland can win they will likely take the championship (their aggregate score difference is 60pts better than the nearest team, it would take a huge swing for them to lose it if they somehow ended up tied with England). A lot is being made of this being Brian O'Driscoll's last international before retirement. But apart from flashes against a , mostly, disinterested Italian side, he hasn't done much in this championship. I hope I'm wrong, but Ireland can be notorious choke artists when it comes to big games (look at New Zealand game last autumn, or every world cup!), plus the last time they won in France was 2000, before that it was 1972! France might not be playing well, but they are winning games and that's all that matters. It would be typical France if while playing as badly as they have been, they somehow still win the Championship. France would need to better England's result earlier in the day to do this, but at least they will be going into the game knowing what they have to do. With all this in mind, I'm stuffing my fantasy team with plenty of French players, and hardly any Irish. I genuinely hope I'm wrong, but I can't see France losing at home.
So this Saturday, I'm going with the longshot of Italy, Wales, France all to win. This would mean France taking home the title. I felt I needed to take a chance in an effort move up the fantasy tables. Either way, I'll be glued to my television for the day!

March 15th Betting



Another weekend of sport is upon us. So let's look around Europe and see who is going to pick up victories on Saturday. Here is the long list of probable winners. Remember: don't put them all in on accumulator, although it would pay out a tasty 5000+/1!

Austria: SV Grodig
Cyprus: AEK Larnaca, APOEL Nikosia
Czech Rep: Sparta Praha(a)
England Prem: Everton, Chelsea(a)
England Champ: Burnley, Notts. Forrest, Leicester City, QPR
England Lg1: Wolverhampton
England Conference: Cambridge Utd, Hereford
France: Lille
Germany: Bayern Munich
Greece: Atromitos(a), Olympiakos
Israel: Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Romania: Steaua Bucaresti
Scotland Lg1: Rangers
Scotland Lg2: Peterhead
Slovakia: FK Senica
Spain: Real Madrid(a), Atletico Madrid
Switzerland: FC Thun

The Sneaky Fiver Bet has been a bit of a disaster the last couple of weeks. But these selections are all in form and hopefully can continue that for us this weekend. So let's go with....

Germany: Werder Bremen
England Lg1: Rotherham
England Lg2: Bury(a)
Holland: ADO Den Haag
Denmark: Nordsjaelland

Bury is the biggest gamble here, but if they all come in, it returns a hefty 45/1. Good Luck!

Fantasy Golf: Valspar Championship



The USPGA Tour stays in Florida for the Valspar Championship this week, and unlike the Cadillac Championship in Miami last week, this one has a big field. So it goes without saying that it's going to be tougher to single out one or two golfers for the win. (But I'm going to try!)
This is the tenth week of Yahoo Fantasy, so what better time to give a quick recap of how my picks have done thus far. In nine tournaments , there's been 2 winners, 5 second places, 2 third place, 4 other top-fives, and 6 other top-tens. Hopefully this can continue for the weekend ahead.
So let's divide up the picks by the Yahoo groupings (Remember, PGA Fantasy let's you pick any 4 golfers) Underlined golfers are in my team.

Group A
Luke Donald
Gary Woodland
Brandt Snedeker

Group B
Stewart Cink
Brian Harman
Graham DeLaet
Jason Dufner
Jordan Speith
Webb Simpson

Group C
Russell Knox
Justin Leonard
Harris English
K.J. Choi
Sang-moon Bae
Will Mackenzie
John Peterson
John Senden
Charlie Beljan

March 9th Betting

Hmmmm not a great day on Saturday, The Sneaky Fiver bet only threw up one winner again. While the long list only went 9 of 14, Barcelona losing was surely the highlight, and ended many an accumulator I'd say.
For Sunday lets go with these teams all to win!

Cyprus: APOEL Nikosia(a), Omonia Nikosia, AEL Limassol(a)
Greece: Atromitos
Israel: Maccabi Haifa
Italy: Juventus
Holland: Ajaz
Portugal: Porto
Russia: Zenit St. Petersburg
Spain: Real Madrid

These ten matches only pay back 12/1, so surely, surely a better chance for a clean sweep today! Good luck with it!

Fantasy 6 Nations: Rd 4

Second last round of games for the Fantasy 6 Nations and there is really only one team to get your players from, Ireland. The boys in green want to put as many scores on the board so as to keep the teams around them a safe points difference away going into the last round of games. Couple this with Italy making a number of changes, resting key players with an eye to picking up a win at home to England next time out, you simply have to go with Irish players this week. Joe Schmidt is largely going with the team that he's used throughout the tournament, plus expect Brian O'Driscoll to do his utmost over 80 minutes to give the home fans a try in his last international match at the Aviva Stadium.
As usual with Scotland you never know what you are going to get, but they would hope to put it up to a much changed French side who got spanked by Wales last time out. Wales themselves will be hoping to prevent England from gaining the Triple Crown (while keeping their own 6 Nations hopes alive), but I think England will just have too much at home for the Welsh.
I'm going with, Ireland, France, England for the wins.

Fantasy games playing this season?

The Irish Times Fantasy Rugby
ESPN Scrum Fantasy Rugby
Telegraph Fantasy Rugby 2014
TestRugby.com Fantasy Rugby

The best by far is the Telegraph. ESPN and Irish Times are pretty much the same. While the TestRugby/PlanetRugby game only permits you to pick 12 players???



March 8th Betting

Hopefully this weekend will bring more joy than last weekend. So here is the long list of who I think will pick up wins on Saturday. These 14 teams go off at 260/1.

Belgium: Standard Liege, KRC Genk, Anderlecht(a)
Croatia: Dinamo Zagreb(a)
England League1: Leyton Orient(a), Brentford
England League2: Scunthorpe
England Conference: Halifax (a)
France: Monaco
Greece: Panathinaikos
Scotland League1: Dunfermline
Spain: Barcelona(a), Athletico Madrid(a)
Switzerland: Grasshoppers Zurich

Our Sneaky Fiver Bet will go on: Norwich, Derby, PSV Eindhoven, Upjest FC, Wolfsberger AC @13/1

Good Luck Everyone



Fantasy Golf: WGC Cadillac Championship

After Justin Rose pulled out of the Honda Classic, my fantasy team was always playing catch up. But thankfully Russell Henley came good in a 4-way playoff and took home the tournament winnings. Not much to write about this week for the Cadillac Championship, it’s a relatively small field, a few big names have won here before, so here is a look at the ones I’m keeping an eye on (underlined players are those in my squad). Also for those keeping score, I have 1323 points, sitting in the 89^th percentile.

Group A:

Bubba Watson

Matt Kuchar

Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson
Lee Westwood

Group B:

Dustin Johnson

Keegan Bradley

Steve Stricker

Jim Furyk

Hunter Mahan

Webb Simpson

Chris Kirk

Gonzalo Fernandez-Casta

Group C:

Harris English

Sergio Garcia

Francesco Molinari
George Coetzee
Jamie Donaldson
Victor Dubuisson



March 2nd Betting

Not a great day yesterday. My Sneaky Fiver bet only got one result right! While the long list went 19/23 (no games in Cyprus)

Looking at today, why not go with....
Austria: RB Salzburg
Croatia: Hajduk Split
England: Tottenham
France: Lille(a), PSG
Portugal: Benfica(a)
Romania: Petrolul Ploiesti
Spain: Villarreal, Barcelona

Good Luck

Also, all the stats point to Villa and Norwich ending in a 1-1 draw, but as you know, anything can happen in football.



Fantasy Golf: Honda Classic

The third day of this event has just got underway and this preview was supposed to go up on Wednesday, but Blogger was being a bit difficult! So I thought I would still update on how my Yahoo Fantasy Golf squad is getting on. Yet still cover some of the golfers that would have been looked at in the preview.
As you should be aware, your golf picks are split into  three groups of players. You pick 2 from Group A (1 player scores at a time), 4 from Group B (2 players score), and 2 from Group C (1 player scores).
Rather than giving reasons for picking a certain golfer over another for a tournament two days old, for now I'll just list the ones I had my eye on in each group. Those underlined are the golfers I went with for the tournament.

Group A:
Phil Mickelson
Russell Henley
Rickie Fowler
Henrik Stenson
Luke Donald

Group B:
Justin Rose
Ben Crane
Geoff Ogilvy
Fredrik Jacobson
Hideki Matsuyama
Matthew Every
Rory McIlroy

Group C:
Will Mackenzie
Brooks Koepka
Peter Hanson
Graeme McDowell
Sergio Garcia
Charl Schwartzel
Boo Weekley
Paul Casey
Seung-Yul Noh
Louis Oosthuizen
David Lynn
Camillo Villegas

As of Saturday morning Mickelson and Ogilvy have missed the cut, while Justin Rose had to pull out at the start of the tournament with tendinitis. Henley sits in 3rd and MacKenzie is currently 9th. Hopefully things will improve as the weekend progresses, as my team only has a lowly 76pts coming up to this mornings tee times.



March 1st Betting

 

March 1 Betting

 

After having a good look around the leagues, it's time to nail down who I think will win this Saturday. This is by no means an advised bet on a massive accumulator (It would be near 5500/1!), just a list of teams I believe will carry the day. Odds range from 1/18 to 5/6, so I will be throwing a few combinations together and hopefully one or two come good.

 

Austria: Austria Wein, Grodig

Cyprus: AEL Limassol (a)

Czech Rep: Sparta Praha (a)

England Champ: Reading, Leicester

England Lge1: Leyton Orient, Wolves, Rotherham

England Conference Prem: Braintree

Germany: Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund

Italy Serie B: Palermo, Virtus Lanciano

Holland: Vitesse

Portugal: Estoril

Portugal Liga Orangina: Benfica B

Scotland Prem: Celtic, Motherwell

Scotland Champ: Dundee

Scotland Lge1:Rangers(a)

Scotland Lge2: Sterling Albion

Turkey: Fenerbache

 

The Sneaky Fiver Bet for today is on the Accum: Roma, Augsburg, Rennes, Watford, Karabukspor @17-1

 

Good Luck Everybody



 



The Demise of Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football

The Demise of Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football

 

Yahoo at one time had what I deemed to be the best Premier League Fantasy Football game going. But this season has seen it plagued with problems. The sad thing is, is that it's not because this seasons changes have ruined the game, its simply because these changes haven't been implemented properly. The game has become a pain to navigate and picking your team is a source of constant frustration.

The scoring in the Yahoo Fantasy Football game is close to being the best there is. Other games are too reliant on the Apperance/Cleansheet/Goals/Assists system, which only sees players getting points if these things happen in a game. (plus bookings etc. and some even have a bonus point system in too) Whereas Yahoo points were geared more towards a player actually playing well. If he wins a free kick, that's worth some points; does he give away too many free kicks? then that's some minus points. Successful crosses, blocked shots, interceptions, tackles won or lost, could all have a bearing on the points a player scores.

This season Yahoo shook things up a little. It now apes the format of the Official Premier League Fantasy game. You must have 4 subs and you also have to designate a captain who gains double points. (I'm not sure where I stand on the whole picking a captain in fantasy games, I'm not a huge fan of it to be honest) They did not implement a restriction on the number of players from any one team though, which most other games go for. So if you want, and can afford!, eleven Chelsea players, then put them in your team. You also still have an extra half hour to make crucial changes, as the deadline would be at noon.

The Problems

Where to begin! Unfortunately some of the problems are not the game itself but the layout of the site. It wants to load and reload after every button press. Sometimes players you drop will magically appear back on your team and often effect the amount of money you have to do a transfer. It has become nearly impossible to take out a number of players at a time. You are often reduced to doing one transfer at a time, forced to save, then move on to another one. If you were moving money around in order to afford a new star, you could well have to sub in some cheap players you have no intention of keeping, just so you can have transfer funds. It is cripplingly annoying to change your team. (I have tried a number of browsers and even different internet providers! but I and many other people I know, keep getting these same problems)

I like that it has tried to add Live Scoring, but often it doesn't work or some games/players don't get awarded points until after the match has finished. Other mainly aesthetic elements are annoying too. The weekly performance pages in private groups are hard to read because of the layout. Also why cant I look at who each player on my team is playing in any given week? You need, (and it insists on loading!) a list of every player in the game below your squad.

It really has become horrible to navigate around, but that would be forgivable if you didn't have so much trouble changing your team. Yahoo used to be the game of choice for the annual game between me and my friends. I'm sorry to say, unless things drastically improve, this could be the last year playing it. A lot have already given up trying to make changes every week as the game is just too slow. This is very sad indeed, and if they just fixed the site it could be a great game. Despite having one of the best scoring systems around, it gets less and less of my attention every week.