I have always prided myself as having my finger on the pulse of Sports Betting and when Rugby Markets came out I was historically amongst the first to spot the value. The times they are a changing though and it looks like veterans like myself are handing over to a younger generation of punters who are that bit more enthusiastic and more importantly perhaps, have a lot more time on their hands.

The last couple of weeks a few bookmakers have priced up total points lines in Super Rugby on a Monday and in the past I would have had big bets down as the bookmakers had clearly misread the matches. These days, time does not allow me to be surfing the net on a Monday afternoon and I rely on the likes of the Goodforthegame Forum and various WhatsApp groups to get this information.

One of the things I love about Sports Betting is the sense of community and that punters love nothing more than sharing information with each other (once they have their own bets down of course) in the constant battle against the bookmaker.

This younger generation coming through (I won’t mention any names so as not to draw unnecessary attention to them from the bookmakers) are happy to share their findings.

There is no doubt a few of the longer in the tooth punters have got far more involved on a Monday than they usually would have.

I have in the past pointed out that a value bet is not always a winning bet, but if you place enough value bets, over time you will end up winning. A good example was a few weeks ago when the lads jumped on Crusaders (-6) away to the Chiefs, money came flooding in and they started 10 point favourites. The guys who got on the (-6) were in an excellent position. As it happened though the Chiefs pushed the Crusaders all the way and in the end the bet lost as the Crusaders only won by 5.

The bookies had got away with this one, but if these sharp young minds keep identifying opportunities like that it is going to be a case of “Pay the Punter” more often than not.

Enjoy what should be another great sporting weekend and look out for our trademark Rugby Betting Previews on the Goodforthegame Website.

Twitter: @BrentGraham.

This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 9 July 2020.

Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and sends a free weekly e-mail list just CLICK HERE to register