After a welcome couple of weekends off for Irish and Leinster cup rounds, I return with trepidation to the scene of my first experience with betting on cricket matches. My initial investment of €50, which as I explained in a previous article is to last all season [and for any one who is wondering – yes I have spent my first communion money] is now worth only €34. So I will have to bet very carefully if I am to have any stake left by September. [At this point I don’t know where my free bet has gone – I probably did not use it in time]
Over the four D1 matches today, the bookies have North County and The Hills as strong favourites against Phoenix and Leinster respectively. The two closest matches, Merrion v YMCA and Railway Union v Pembroke have the home teams as slight favourites in each case.
Given that I cannot afford to risk it all in one go – and anyway as I understand it the protocol among gamblers is to discuss the wagers that they were going to make but didn’t rather than the bets they actually made – I will just risk one bet on a sure thing [The Hills v Leinster] and make virtual bets on the rest. This will allow me later to bemoan my misfortune in not following my convictions.
Setting aside club loyalty and even cricketing conviction, I am going to gamble [virtually] on YMCA [good outside bet], Railway Union and North County.