As 2019 draws to a close I find myself reflecting on what was an up and down sports betting year. The highlight was, without doubt, the Rugby World Cup and I turned a profit on the event thanks to long term positions going low on points and tries and despite being on England to win the tournament.

After the Rugby World Cup I hit the withdrawal button with the idea of shutting up shop. I left a few of my accounts with money in them but as I often do at this time of the year I got sucked into betting on sports and leagues I am unfamiliar with and lost virtually all of it. I went into this past weekend with only a few rand in my World Sports Betting account, but as often happens when my back is to the wall I did my best work and managed to multiply the balance by 4.

This means I at least have some funds to invest during the remainder of the year and specifically on England to beat the Proteas in the forthcoming Test Series at odds of 5/4.

Looking ahead to 2020 my first big rendezvous will be Super Rugby where the Crusaders are trading at 5/2 favourites with the Chiefs 4/1, the Hurricanes 5/1 and the Jaguares 9/1. Scanning further down the list I admit to being a bit tempted by the Stormers at 28/1.

The Six Nations is also one of my favourite events in the calendar year and England are 8/10 favourites with Ireland 4/1, Wales 9/2 and the French 7/1 and I quite fancy the 11/10 that there will be no winner of the Grand Slam.

In football the English Premier League will conclude and it certainly looks like Liverpool’s title to lose and they are trading at 1/8 with Manchester City out to 8/1.

I will be hoping for a footballing miracle from bottom of the table Watford who are a side I have supported since Primary School but unfortunately, they are as short as 1/5 to get relegated.

This is my final article for 2019 and I wish you all of the best for the festive season and for those betting always remember only to play what you can afford to lose. See you in January 2020 and here is hoping we get on top of the bookies from the start.

Twitter: @BrentGraham

This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 19 December 2019.

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