6/16/08

South America World Cup futbol qualifiers: beating the market PART DEUX

Maybe this isn't the most popular thread on the blog, but futbol is part of the very fabric of society down here (and we get to talk money too), so we're going for it again. Also, my brother will like it. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.

So after the weekend's matches, we're left with U$87.50 from our original theoretical bankroll of U$100. Here are this round's matches that start tomorrow evening and run through Thursday. The prices are referenced from Skybet right here. Afterwards, my picks.

Uruguay 8/13............ Draw 9/4 ............... Peru 4/1*
Bolivia 7/4.................... Draw 9/4.............. Paraguay 6/5
Ecuador 11/8................... Draw 21/10........... Colombia 13/8
Brazil Evens..................... Draw 11/5............. Argentina 11/5
Venezuela 6/5............... Draw 2/1..................... Chile 2/1

Now for Otto's pick on this round:

The big match is Brazil vs Argentina, but I see no value there and it's not easy to call as both sides played poorly last game. However, recent form and home advantage means Ecuador is a good bet to beat Colombia at home, so that's going to ride U$50 of my money. The other U$37.50 I'll put on Uruguay to beat Peru, which is as close to a banker bet as can be.

So the bets are:

U$50 Ecuador @ 11/8 (potential return U$118.75 )
U$37.50 Uruguay @ 8/13 (potential return U$60.58)

And let's see how we do with those.