WSOP rail and a few Open Championship thoughts

I got sucked into the WSOP main event over the weekend. My buddy Derek Murray put in an excellent performance to finish 164th for $44,000. There isn’t much gets me excited poker related these days but seeing Derek making a run at the greatest tournament of them all certainly did.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent frantically refreshing Pokernews for morsels of information and I must have sent 100 DM’s on twitter to Derek’s other half Lisa asking “any news, any updates”? Such a pity his run couldn’t have lasted a bit longer but Derek is a pragmatic person and I’m sure he enjoyed himself thoroughly. Shout out to the other Irish Cashers in the main, Rory Brown, Pete Murphy, Dermot Blaine, Nick Heather and Dan Wilson.

This week sees the third major of the year, the Open Championship which is my favourite golf event. Unfortunately this fondness isn’t the result of winning heaps of cash over the years, quite the opposite. I tweeted last night “Open Championship week. It starts with such anticipation slowly turning to a pragmatic despair by Sunday”.

I’ve made some terrible messes betting this event over the years leaving lasting scars. Hopefully this year a few of my pre-tournament bets can stay in contention and I don’t go emptying clips over the four days. I’ve been tapping away at the event over the last few months and I’m a bit ahead of the current prices on Zack Johnson, Fowler and Kaymer.

The value for punters now lies in the extra place terms and other specials on offer by most bookmakers and I’ve added a few EW punts this morning. I’m on Zack Johnson at over 100/1 but he’s still a bet at 50/1 EW. At the turn of the year Zack was playing the best golf in the world and I’ve felt for a while the way his year was scheduled that this is his targeted peak. He played very well last year in the Open but just couldn’t hole a putt over the last three days. If Zack is to win a second major the Open Championship is his best shot and he knows it.

The other two I’ve bet each way this morning are Jim Furyk 66/1 and Mikko Ilonen 80/1. Both showed up well the last time the Open was held at Hoylake and are in good form and Ilonen won the British armature here. They’re two what I term unfashionable players and as such are inevitably overpriced. I also had a self-indulgent bet for old time sake on Lee Westwood outright this morning at 75s.

It’s very difficult tournament to nail the winner of but I think punting those three tips each way will see some sort of return and hopefully we can get a sweat down the closing stretch come Sunday.

I’m avoiding the front of the Market myself this time round but if you fancy some of the favourites Boylesport are best price the top eight in the betting and are giving cash back if your selection finishes 2nd or 3rd including ties. This is the best special I’ve seen with any of the bookmakers and adds real value if playing the top of the market.