When is a winner not a winner?
It's an oft-asked question around Tenner Bet towers, not least when a coupon yields a return and that return equates to a few quid more than the stake. I blame online bookies.
Once there was a time when punters didn't count the stake, now it's included in the return on your bet slip as if the bookmakers are doing you some kind of favour – or rather to give the impression that you have diddled them out of something that was rightfully yours in the first place. I have a problem with this. Yes, it's a return of sorts but it's factored into the transaction at the outset. It's the 1 in a 14/1 or the four in a 6/4. It is not a benign gift, it's the fundamental basis of the betting transaction. My curmudgeonly comportment is a consequence, I suppose, of the manner in which a couple of winning bets of late were undone by other events.
Chiefly, those were Phil Mickelson's Open Championship triumph and Peter Sagan's successful defence of the points classification at the Tour de France. Yes, both yielded a return but when taken in the round these payouts amounted to a pounds and pence profit by virtue of the fact that none of the other bets they were associated with paid out. In the case of Mickelson, it's partly my own fault for taking an insurance policy and Dutching him with Tiger Woods.
A straight fiver each way would have brought a £215 payout instead of the £69 that currently occupies my online account. As ever, there is a way to alter this dark disposition however and it presents itself in Hungary this weekend.
Time was when a Grand Prix meant a shoo-in winner for this column but identifying the driver in the box seat has proved more problematic during this F1 season. Why that should be the case is beyond me since the make-up of the main contenders in the drivers' championship has an unerringly familiar feel to it.
A few weeks back, however, I predicted a resurgence for Lotus and in particular Kimi Raikkonen following a series of alterations made to the car. Those changes had an impact at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix but poor tyre management by the team cost the Finn the podium place he deserved. He, ultimately, got his reward with second place in Germany a week later.
That result kept him breathing in Sebastian Vettel's exhaust fumes in the race for the overall title. The German broke his duck at his home GP a fortnight ago and he will seek to do the same at Hungaroring this weekend. However, Raikkonen had the fastest car that day and almost chased down his title rival and the changes to tyre configuration that Pirelli have implemented for this race and the predicted heatwave forecast for Budapest should suit the Lotus perfectly.
Raikkonen has been hotly tipped and it's not hard to see why given that the race is ideally set up for his car and the price about him is more generous than that being offered on Vettel. The Finn can be found at a best-priced 11/2 on Oddschecker.com
As outlined above, the win column could have been significantly enhanced but for some dubious decision-making when it came to stakes. That said, a win's a win and the total sits at a respectable £141.86
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