With the US Masters just a week away, the Shell Houston Open is the last chance for many of the worlds top players to fine tune their game for the first major golf tournament of the season.

With Tiger’s astonishing victory last week he takes a well deserved week off, the result being a wide open field, headed up by Phil Mickelson at 7/1 with totesport.

Other protagonists at the head of the betting in this high quality field include in-form Aussie Geoff Ogilvy (14/1), slick American Steve Stricker (16/1) and European duo Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington (both 22/1 shots with totesport). Add to that the combined precocious talents of Rory McIlroy (25/1) and Camilo Villegas (25/1) and we have a mouth watering hors d’ oeuvre to next weeks main at Augusta.

Further down the field however there’s the chance of some value bets, notably via former winners of this tournament Stuart Appelby and Vijay Singh.

Appleby has won this tournament twice before, including once on this track three years ago. He finished in the top twenty here again last year and with a top ten finish at the Transitions Championship a fortnight ago he comes here in good form again, certainly worth a nibble each-way at 33/1 with totesport.

Singh has gone one better winning this tournament three times, twice on this track. Vijay’s struggled so far this season with only one top 25 finish to his name, hence the potentially massive 45/1 you can get on him here. However, the more he plays the better he seems to get so I wouldn’t count out the big Fijian for this one.

Finally, Lee Westwood could also represent some smashing value at a massive 50/1. The Englishman has had a quiet start to his season but all his efforts will have been in the lead up to next weeks Masters and he’ll be keen to show some form here.

If each-way betting is your thing you can now bet each-way on the outright market of any European or PGA Tour golf event and if your selection finishes sixth, on his own, totesport will refund the place part of your stake with a free bet on the following week’s tournaments!

For all your golf betting this week visit totesport.

Soren Kjeldsen duly obliged for this blog winning last weeks Open de Andalucia after being tipped at 25/1 here, so the pressure’s on this week with only one week to go before the first major of the season in Augusta.

With a really competitive field on the US Tour this week this race to Dubai line-up isn’t the strongest at the Estoril Open de Portugal, but there’s still some good bets to be had.

Market leader Anders Hansen already has a win to his name in 2009 and is a 16/1 chance with totesport here. Last week’s third Francesco Molinari claims second favourtism at 18/1 with classy Spaniard Gonzalo Fernadez Castano a 20/1 shot.

But it’s the two at 25/1 that catch the eye. South African Thomas Aiken has had a superb March with three successive top ten finishes, including a brilliant tied seventh finish in the WGC-CA. Alastair Forsyth loves it Portugal having lost in a play-off last year and finishing seventh the year before that. A top five finish last week in Spain shows he’s in good nick and both of these are expected to go well here.

Further down the betting, David Howell was another who lost out in last years play-off to eventual winner Gregory Bourdy (a 35/1 shot with totesport). Howell showed some form in the first two rounds last week and providing he can string four good scores together he has the class to win in this field. Howell is 50/1 with totesport.

Another Englishman who knows how to win a tournament is Paul Broadhurst, a two time winner of this tournament including once on this course. A top 25 finish in Portugal a fortnight ago shows he can still mix it and providing he brings his putter he could spring a surprise at a whopping 100/1.

Remember, you can now bet each-way on the outright market of any European or PGA Tour golf event and if your selection finishes sixth, on his own, totesport will refund the place part of your stake with a free bet on the following week’s tournaments!

For all your golf betting this week visit totesport.

It’s the Aintree Festival. this week and totesport have got all bets covered off for this carnival of racing synonymous with scantily clad scousers and the biggest betting event in the calendar, the Grand National.

We have three days of top quality racing starting off on Thursday afternoon and with the Grand National meeting coming so close after the Cheltenham Festival there’ll be plenty of pointers as to the outcome of the races.

Interestingly, out of the 19 races at Aintree last year (not including the two bumpers) 9 of the winners didn’t race at Cheltenham and of the 10 winners that did, two of them won at the Festival (Our Vic & Tidal Bay) and three placed (Binocular, Gwanako, Voy Por Ustedes).

10 of the beaten favourites ran at the festival and there were only 2 winners won at both Cheltenham and Aintree.

Although there were only two winners from Cheltenham that followed it up and won at Aintree, the majority of the winners had raced at Cheltenham 3 weeks prior. However, all the beaten favourites in races where a winner didn’t run at the festival lost.

With this in mind and only basing these trends on last years Aintree Festival you’re best to avoid favourites who ran at Cheltenham.

We’ll be posting up tips and offers all week from Thursday so keep your eyes posted on www.totesport.org.

Check out totesport for all prices for the Aintree Festival.

With three weeks until the Masters tees off all eyes will be on Tiger Woods this week in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club.

Tiger will feel at home at the Bay Hill Club, having secured four wins on the trot from 2000 he chipped in again with his fifth victory in this tournament last year. Despite his dominance he’s not quite kicked into full gear since returning from injury but the bookies are running for cover only offering a measly 5/2 this week.

If you don’t fancy Tiger this week, his short price means there’s excellent value elsewhere, with last weeks Transitions Championship winner Retief Goosen the next best in the market at 20/1 with totesport. Goosen had gone off the boil in 2008 but had a top twenty finish in the bay Hill so could be worth a bet to follow up last weeks victory.

Vijay Singh won this tournament in 2007 and his slow start to 2009 means you can get a beefy looking 28/1 on him to get his first win of the season under his belt this week.

Another player with odds much longer than they would be when at the top of their game is Australian Adam Scott. We’ve been tipping him up for the past few weeks now and after a poor return, missing the cut last week, his odds have drifted right out to 55/1 with totesport. If Scott were to win at those odds there’d be plenty of punters kicking themselves and we think he’s certainly worth persisting with this week.

There’s so much quality in the field there’s cases for Jim Furyk (25/1), Kenny Perry (25/1 and a former winner here) and Padraig Harrington (33/1). However, there’s a trio of Englishmen at bigger prices who will be using this week as a springboard for their Masters challenge.

Justin Rose, Ian Poulter and Oliver Wilson have all been in fine form in the States, specifically in the WGC events. All played well in the match-play and followed it up with top 20 finishes in the WGC CA Championship a fortnight ago. Rose is the shortest price of the trio with totesport at 40/1, whilst you can back Poulter or Wilson at 50/1 and 80/1 respectively.

If each-way betting is your thing you can now bet each-way on the outright market of any European or PGA Tour golf event and if your selection finishes sixth, on his own, totesport will refund the place part of your stake with a free bet on the following week’s tournaments!

For all your golf betting this week visit totesport.

After last weeks low key affair at the Madeira Islands Open in Portugal the field has a healthier look to it at this weeks Open de Andalucia, being played for the third consecutive year at Real Club de Golf de Seville.

Amongst the field is this weeks event promoter Miguel Angel Jimenez a second favourite at 18/1 with totesport, Danes Anders and Soren Hansen (not brothers!) at 20/1 and 16/1 respectively and last years winner Thomas levet, a 50/1 chance.

Elsewhere in the betting, Soren Kjeldsen comes here in good form after a hugely impressive seventh place finish in the WGC a fortnight ago. The Dane is often in contention in fields of this quality and if he applies that form this week he looks a good bet at 25/1 with totesport. Kjeldsen had 12 top twenty finishes on last years tour which culminated in him winning the Volvo Masters in Spain at the end of the season.

Damien Mcgrane has had a solid start to 2009 with two top 5 finishes, including a third last week in Portugal. A top forty finish here last season as well makes the 40/1 an appealing each-way bet for him to finish in the frame again this week.

Callum Macaulay shot a sensational final round 64 to finish one shot behind eventual winner Estanislao Goya in last weeks tournament and finds himself an 80/1 shot for victory here. After an impressive amateur career he’ll be buoyed from his first taste of final round leader-board action and is definitely one to watch.

Further down the betting we’ve picked out a 150/1 shot in the shape of Englishman Phillip Archer. Archer finished tied second here two years ago and although way down in the order of merit has two respectable returns to his name this season. The 21st finish in the Malaysian along with an excellent tied thirteenth in the Abu Dhabi Championship shows there’s a bit of form in this long shot and definitely worth a small each-way bet.

If each-way betting is your thing you can now bet each-way on the outright market of any European or PGA Tour golf event and if your selection finishes sixth, on his own, totesport will refund the place part of your stake with a free bet on the following week’s tournaments!

For all your golf betting this week visit totesport.

After last weekends results there’ll be a few teams thinking Manchester United could be catchable at the summit of the Premier League. With wins for Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal there’s a familiar look to the league, with the former two just four points behind leaders United. Alex Ferguson’s men have a game in hand though plus they’ve been here a few times before. It’ll take a monumental slip up on their part to hand either Chelsea or Liverpool the title. However, they’ll be giving it everything this week and both feature in our weekly Premier League Betting Preview.

First off this weekend is Portsmouth against Everton in the Saturday lunchtime kick off at Fratton Park. Everton are just four points off Champions League qualification and will be looking to put down a marker for Arsenal and Villa here. The away side are without a win in four on the road though, albeit three being draws. Portsmouth on the other hand are just out of the relegation zone on goal difference and will be hoping for a repeat of their 3-0 win up at Goodison way back at the beginning of the season. The sides are 6/4 each a two with totesport and the draw is 11/5. Totesport will be betting live in-running on this match.

The first of the three 0′clock kick-offs sees Blackburn host West Ham at Ewood Park. Blackburn only have one defeat at home in six matches but only one win from eleven matches versus West Ham in all competitions, losing their last two in the league at Ewood. Add to this the fact that West Ham have only one defeat away in nine since they lost at Old Trafford and the 5/2 available about their chances looks big. Blackburn are still flirting with relegation but find themselves 10/11 favourites here, the draw being 9/4.

Fulham face a wounded Manchester United and their fans will probably be fearing the worst here. Despite Fulham getting their first away win of the season last weekend up at Bolton they’ve lost two on the trot at what is usually a fortress Craven Cottage. Add to that Manchester United’s stroll here in the Cup a fortnight ago and Roy Hodgson will be doing well if his team avoids defeat. United’s defeat last week was their first in sixteen and the betting suggests they’ll bite back here as they find themselves a 4/9 chance with totesport. Fulham can be backed at 11/2 and the draw is available at 11/4.

It’s a real six-pointer at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday as 18th place Stoke take on 19th Middlesbrough. Stoke are unbeaten in four on their own patch and have won half of their fourteen home games, only losing three. Boro on the other hand have just two away wins to their name all season and they have to go all the way back to the beginning of November for their last victory away from the Riverside versus Villa. They’ve lost eight on the spin away since then and the omens don’t look great here, a biggish looking 2/1 with totesport for the win. Stoke on the other hand could put some distance between the two teams with a win at 11/10. The draw is 9/4.

Tottenham put their five match unbeaten run on the line at home to rivals Chelsea at White Hart Lane on Saturday. Chelsea have won their last two away games and have won all their games in the league under new manager Guus Hiddink. Spurs are unbeaten in six at the Lane and have yet to lose against any of the ‘Big 4′ this season. The last two meetings between the teams have drawn and Spurs seem to have laid the ‘bogey team’ label Chelsea have had on them for two decades with two wins in the last two years, including victory in the Carling Cup Final just over a year ago. The draw is available at 9/4 with totesport with Spurs and Chelsea 11/4 and 5/6 in the betting respectively.

Bottom Club West Brom need to pick up points at home to Bolton to avoid being cast adrift in the league. Four points separate them and Boro in nineteenth and in Bolton they face a team with no away wins in six attempts. The two teams have drawn four of their last six matches against each other, including a goalless draw at the Reebok in August. The draw looks like it could be the bet here as well and is available to back at 9/4 with totesport. The home team are a 13/10 shot with Bolton a 17/10 chance.

Saturday’s evening kick-off sees two teams desperate for points for differing reasons. Newcastle sit uncomfortably above the relegation zone in 16th, winless in five matches at St James’s Park and face an Arsenal team they’ve beaten just once at home in nine attempts. Arsenal on the other hand have scraped their way back into a Champions League position and will be determined not to let it slip. The Gunners are seven unbeaten away from the Emirates and come here favourites at 7/10. Newcastle are a 7/2 chance with totesport and the draw is 9/4. Totesport will be betting live in-running on this match.

On Sunday, the first live match sees Wigan host Hull at the JJB. Steve Bruce’s team are without a win at home in three matches now but only have one defeat in nine. Hull have turned a corner winning last time out on the road at Fulham and a decent draw versus Newcastle last week at the KC Stadium. Wigan won the return fixture back in August 5-0 but two goalscorer on that day Amr Zaki has failed to find the net in 2009 and goals have been at a premium for the Latics. Despite this, totesport still make Wigan 7/10 favourites against Hull’s 7/2 and the draw at 9/4. Totesport will be betting live in-running on this match.

Man City have five straight wins to their name at Eastlands as they welcome the visit of Sunderland on Sunday. It’s City’s home form that has enabled them to climb into the top half of the table but there’s a chance they could be suffering from a European hang-over after a late night in Denmark on Thursday. Sunderland find themselves just three points behind City coming into this but are without a win in five on the road. Add to this the fact that City have won every single game they’ve faced against the Black Cats in the Premier League and the 8/15 about the home win looks good value with totesport. You can back Sunderland to buck the trend at 9/2 and the draw is 5/2.

Finally, Liverpool will be looking to build on last weekend’s emphatic win over rivals Manchester United when they welcome Aston Villa to Anfield. Failing to back up good results against the top teams with wins over the rest has been Liverpool’s achilles heal all season and that’s why they find themselves four points behind United having played a game more rather than the other way round. The Reds are unbeaten at home but they’ve drawn far too many (6) and they’ll probably live to rue these slip ups come May. Villa have hit a rocky patch but defeat on the road last time out to City halted a seven match winning streak. Villa’s record at Anfield doesn’t read well though and haven’t won here in the league since September 2001. Liverpool go off 4/9 favourites for this one with Villa and the draw 11/2 and 11/4 respectively, all with totesport. Totesport will be betting live in-running on this match.

Click here for all football betting

The Transitions Championship takes centre stage on the US PGA Tour this week with Jim Furyk the 12/1 favourite with totesport.

Furyk has had two top ten finishes in his last two tournaments including third place last week in the WGC and is a deserved favourite in our book. If you’re looking for something to put a cross through him you could look to his lack of course form, but Jim’s old enough and long enough in the tooth to adjust to a new course and shoot a low score here.

Further down the betting, we like the look of Tim Clark at 25/1. He has a top twenty finish on this course three years ago and has had a consistent start to 2009. A win can’t be too far away for the South African and with four top thirty finishes in his last four tournaments he could go close here.

Adam Scott is a personal favourite of ours and although he doesn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders since the mini-break he had off after the Qatar Open he’s the kind of player that can blow this field away if he clicks into gear. Anything bigger than 20/1 we’d want to get involved and the 35/1 available with totesport looks like a gift.

Amongst the bigger priced runners Bart Bryant and Scott Piercy catch the eye. Bryant has a good record in this tournament with two top twenty finishes here in the last two years and recently finished fourth in the Puerto Rico Open. You can back the American at 50/1 with totesport. Piercy on the other hand has no course form to speak of but has been putting in some terrific finishes in 2009. The thirty year old has made five out of six cuts and all five of those have lead to top twenty finishes, including top ten finishes in the Honda Classic and FBR Open. At 66/1 Piercy’s probably our pick of the week for betting on the PGA Tour.

For all your golf betting this week visit totesport.

The Race to Dubai resumes this week after a few weeks off and it also returns to Europe for the first time in 2009. I’m afraid it’s a tournament for the purists though with not even Sky Sports deeming it a big enough pull for any live coverage. As always though and as the old betting adage goes, if there’s value to be had there’s a bet to be placed. We’ve scoured through the field at this week’s Madeira Islands Open to try and find you just that!

Bradley Dredge is the 12/1 favourite and it’s difficult to know why. Without even a finish in the places since 2007 and no recent form to go on it’s difficult to back Dredge at such a short price. In fact you could say that of a lot of the field, with so many lacking form or a tour victory to their name this really is a tough ask.

Of the ‘favourites’ we’d probably plumb for Niclas Fasth at 25/1. Regular readers of the blog will know we’ve put the Swede Fasth up a few times at big prices as he slowly rebuilds his game, but amongst such a field at as this his six tour victories surely have to count for something. Add to that a couple of fine performances during the Dubai Swing he’s shown some glimpses of returning to form and one of his tour victories came in this tournament back in 2000.

Further down the field David Lynn catches the eye and not only because he’s about seven foot tall! Lynn is a consistent performer and has a record of contending the lead in such events where the quality is not the best. The beanpole Englishman had three top twenty finishes in his last three tournaments of the 2008 season in this part of the world and could go well here at 28/1 with totesport.

If you’re looking for a big priced winner we’ve plucked out a couple to have a closer look at. At 80/1 Simon Griffiths comes here off the back of a 7th and 21st in the Indonesian and Malaysian Opens respectively in recent weeks and at the same price, Jarmo Sandelin is an interesting contender. The Swedish joker has been devoid of any consistent form for a few years now but a fourth place finish in the Alfred Dunhill last season came from out of nowhere and shows that he’s capable of springing the odd surprise. He also has this tour title to his name, way back in 1996.

For all your golf betting this week visit totesport.

Totesport have the following offers available on today’s races:

Betting to just 108% on the totesport Gold Cup giving you the best value odds on jump racing’s biggest race of the year! That’s 0.5% per runner giving you amazing value and going top price on more horses in the race than any other bookmaker.

Click here to bet on the totesport Gold Cup!

1% per runner books (up until the first show) on the Triumph Hurdle, Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle, and the Martin Pipe Conditionals Hurdle, meaning they’ve lowered their margins to give the punter better odds.

10% cash-back on all totejackpot and totesuper7 bets all throughout the Cheltenham Festival, with guaranteed pools of £100k for the totejackpot and £250k for the totesuper7.

Totesport will also be offering a quarter the odds on five places in the County Hurdle. Thursday totesport paid out on Green Mile who finished fifth in the Pertemps Final.

As for the totesport.org’s selection box for today’s races, we’ve added our best picks from the remaining races today to add to those highlighted in the first edition of our day four Cheltenham Festival Preview. We’ve now picked out four winners and seven places from a total of nineteen races!

13:30 - Walkon
14.05 - Aachen
14.40 - Alpha Ridge
15.20 - Kauto Star NAP
16.00 - Amicelli
16.40 - Carracciola
17.15 - French Opera

Check out totesport for all prices for the Cheltenham Festival.

Day four and it’s the big one, the totesport Gold Cup off at 15.20pm will see the race’s previous two winners go head to head in National Hunt racing’s blue riband event.

Kauto Star is currently the 15/8 favourite to be the first horse ever to regain the race. The trends in general are in favour with the Clive Smith owned 9yo being the right age and having the obvious course form. Add to that a fine display winning his third King George he’s a genuine favourite here. Last season’s sensational winner Denman has had illness and injury worries since and ran poorly on his reappearance at Kempton last month. His price has drifted as a result and is an 11/2 shot with totesport. The horse that beat him at Kempton is Madison Du Berlais, who also won the Hennessy back in November. His form has been spot on but could be overlooked here over doubts as to whether he’ll like the undulating Cheltenham course.

Another horse catching the eye is in the trends book is Alberta’s Run. He won the RSA Chase at last years festival and like Denman the year before he’ll be looking to follow that up by winning the Gold Cup. Despite finishing second to Kauto Star at the King George on Boxing Day he’s thrown in some real stinkers this season and that’s reflected in his price at 16/1 with totesport.

Others with a claim include Paul Nicholls third string Neptunes Collonges, the second favourite at 5/1. Last years third won well in the Irish Hennessy last month and although he jumps and stays all day I’m not sure he has the speed to beat Kauto up the hill.

Looking at outsiders, Barbers Shop would be a popular win as he’s owned by the Queen and his form as runner up in the Paddy Power to today’s Ryanair Chase winner Imperial Commander looks good. At 14/1 he looks the one at a price to take on Kauto Star.

Check out totesport for all prices for the Cheltenham Festival.