However, one man whose fate has already been decided is Swiss star Roger Federer. The 32-year-old will not be in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time since 2004 after his five-set defeat at the hands of Ernests Gulbis on Sunday.
Djokovic in cruise control

Conversely, Novak Djokovic has already sealed his place in the last eight following a bloodless straight sets victory over Jo-Wilfried Songa, setting up a quarter-final clash with Milos Raonic tomorrow.

Djokovic is long odds on to see off the Canadian – 1/9 with Bet365 is the best price available at the time of writing – and also heads the outright tournament betting at a top-priced 11/10 with Betfred, though he’s generally an even-money chance.

The 27-year-old, who has yet to taste victory in the French Open, is clearly in excellent form and is 8/11 with Paddy Power to see off Raonic 3-0 in the sets betting, which is an appealing option as far as odds on shots go.
Nadal nailed-on for further Roland Garros success?

However, he could be displaced as tournament favourite if Nadal comes through his tie with Lajovic. The Spaniard has triumphed at Roland Garros on no less than eight previous occasions, and can be backed at 6/4 with 888sport to enhance that already tremendous record this year.

Nadal is widely expected to brush Lajovic aside – indeed, he’s as short as 1/150 in the match betting and just 1/5 with Paddy Power to prevail in straight sets.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is 20/1 with Paddy Power to end his French Open hoodoo this time round. The Scot showed courage aplenty when getting the better of Philipp Kohlschreiber in a thrilling third-round bout which went right to the wire.

Verdasco the victorious?

However, the 27-year-old’s powers of recovery will be fully tested when he clashes with Verdasco who, in contrast to Murray, had a relatively easy time of things in the last round, outpointing Richard Gasquet in straight sets, dropping just eight games in the process.

The Spaniard is a 13/10 chance with BetVictor to get the better of Muzza, who is clear favourite at a standout 4/6 with Stan James. It is poised to be a close call, but from a betting perspective Verdasco makes plenty of appeal given how hard a match Murray had in the last round.

French Open Round 4 betting advice:

Fernando Verdasco to beat Andy Murray – 13/10 (BetVictor)

With a squad boasting some of the best young players in Europe and what looks like an easy draw in the group stages, Belgium have been tipped as one of the teams to watch in the later stages of this summer's World Cup in Brazil.

The likes of Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku make the Red Devils a match for anyone and at the time of the draw, in October last year, Belgium were the fifth ranked side in the world after dropping only four points in qualifying.

They have slipped to 12th since then, but after a stellar qualifying tournament and with Man United starlet Adnan Januzaj now in their ranks Belgium will not be daunted by the task at hand.

Players to watch:

Almost too many to mention. They have possibly the best goalkeeper in Europe in Thibaut Courtois of Atletico Madrid, and a decent deputy in Simon Mignolet of Liverpool. At the back are the Man City and Arsenal captains, Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen, plus Toby Alderweireld of Atletico and Spurs's Jan Vertonghen. In midfield there's Eden Hazard of Chelsea, Man Utd starlet Adnan Januzaj and the much-maligned Marouane Fellaini. Up front is Romelu Lukaku. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for coach Marc Wilmots.

Why they could win it:

This exceptionally talented group of players has untold potential and has not been scarred by failure at previous tournaments – partly because their predecessors didn’t qualify. It is also a squad with strength in depth, with the likes of Nacer Chadli and Moussa Dembele ready to come off the bench.

They have plenty of goodwill on their side. Last year Goal.com noted that it had "become cool and hip to like Belgium". Former World Cup winner, Marcel Desailly, has tipped them to reach the final. "When you talk about Belgium, there is a smile on the face," he told Laureus. "I am sure Belgium will perform and will be the surprise of the World Cup."

Were they to win it, it would be the tournament's biggest shock in 84 years, says Sam Pilger of Bleacher Report. "But don't dismiss it happening."

Why they might not:

Belgium undoubtedly have a 'Golden Generation' on their hands. But things do not always go according to plan... as weary England fans can attest.

Despite remaining unbeaten in qualification Belgium have not overcome many heavyweight opponents. Last year they lost to both Colombia and Japan in friendlies and in March drew with Ivory Coast. "To live up to its new-found box-office billing, Belgium's hip must match the hype," warned Goal.com even before those games.

They are also without Cristian Benteke, ruled out through injury, and that puts a lot of pressure on Romelu Lukaku to deliver. If he fails, do Belgium have a Plan B?

How far can they go:

The Red Devils should win a weak group featuring Algeria, Russia and South Korea. Unfortunately they will then have to play one of the teams from Group B, Germany, Portugal, Ghana or the US. Beyond that, they are likely to encounter Argentina or France, but a place in the last four is not out of the question.

For the third-straight time, the Rangers will begin a series away from home. The Rangers are 4-1 in their last five road games, and are looking to steal at least a game in Los Angeles before going back home for Game 3.

Goalie Henrik Lundqvist will be the focal point of the Rangers. Arguably the best goalie in these Playoffs, Lundqvist could be in for another acid test against the hard-charging Los Angeles offense. The Swedish netminder enters the series with an NHL-leading 2.03 GAA and .928 SV% in this postseason, and his ability to shut down any given team’s offense will be a big factor from Game 1 onwards.

On offense, Martin St. Louis will be the man to watch, as the veteran leads the Rangers in these Playoffs with 13 points (six goals and seven assists). However, Rick Nash has broken out of his slump, and that means a more dangerous offense for the Rangers. After scoring zero goals in the first two rounds, the bruising forward came alive in the conference finals against Montreal, scoring three goals and registering two assists in the six-game series.

The Rangers are 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Betting on the Los Angeles Kings

After surviving three Game 7s as the lower-seeded team, the Kings will finally enjoy home-ice advantage and will begin the Stanley Cup Finals at home, where they are 3-1 in their last four games.

When the Kings won the Cup in 2012, they did so as a defense-first team, with Jonathan Quick anchoring the club’s suffocating defense. However, things have changed, and the Kings are returning to the Finals backed by goals.

Los Angeles is the NHL’s top scoring team in these Playoffs, with an average of 3.48 GF/G. The Kings’ top line consisting of Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, and Dustin Brown has rekindled its lethal touch, scoring five goals in Los Angeles’ last four games. The Kings’ second line, however, is just as dangerous, if not even deadlier. Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter, and Tyler Toffoli produced 11 goals and 10 assists in the series against the Blackhawks.

The bulk of the Kings’ offense has come from the second line, but with the first line starting to pick up its production, Los Angeles will be a better team than it was in the Western Conference Finals, which is saying a lot, considering the Kings were matched against the defending champions in that series.

The over is 6-0 in the Kings’ last six games.

Writer’s Prediction

Henrik Lundqvist is going to be a tough customer in the net, but the Kings (-155) will get to him and the Rangers in Game 1.

But while all of this is certainly good NBA betting strategy, some people are looking for a shortcut...a way to cut down on the amount of time it takes to make winning picks. And for these bettors, systems are often a very attractive prospect.

Some NBA betting systems involve looking across the league in search of one key aspect. For example, a certain strategy may call on players to only bet on home favorites who are coming off of two straight losses. Other systems can require more complicated mathematics that are supposedly guaranteed to work.

In either case, it's worth looking at a few simple examples of NBA betting strategies, discuss if you should ever pay for a system, and talk about the overall effectiveness of these strategies.

High Totals System

About.com sports betting authority Allen Moody came up with this system, which is quite simple to learn. With High Totals, you need to find non-conference games where the over/under is 220 points or higher; then you bet the over. Sound too good to be true? Well Moody says that this system went 31-18 (63.5%) from 2004-05 to 2008-09.

The Martingale

Widely used in casino games, the Martingale is also used by sports bettors because of its simplicity and perceived success rate. The main idea behind the Martingale is that you're doubling wagers every time you lose. But after each win, you return to the original wager amount.

For example, if you were to bet $11 to win $10 and lose, you'd double your next wager to $22. Assuming you also lose this one, your next bet would be worth $44. If you won the $44 bet, you'd return to the $11 wager with a profit of $7 ($40 - $22 - $11 = $7). In theory, this is a profitable long-term system; however, if you were to go on a lengthy losing streak, it would devastate your bankroll.

Betting Against Favorites after Blowout Wins System

Okay, so there's no pretty name for this system, but it's worth covering nonetheless. You start by searching for home favorites that are favored by 10 points or more in the spread. From here, you look to see if they won their last game by 15 points or more. Assuming the team blew their opponent out by 15 points or more, you bet on the underdog.

According to SportsInsights, home favorites of 10 points or move who are coming off 15-plus point wins are just 110-149 (42.5%) against the spread since 2003. Anybody who would've bet the underdog every time in these situations would have had an excellent 57.5% win rate.

We reckon the Liverpool man will finish as England’s top scorer and is the in the form of his life. Expect his goal-dance to see plenty of action.

9. Sergio Aguero (Argentina)

Coming back to full fitness just in time and we can see him getting into gear in Brazil.

8. Diego Costa (Spain)

A man in form and with a point to prove in his native Brazil.

7. Edin Dzeko (Bosnia)

Another striker in a good run of form and with matches against Iran and Nigeria we can see the Man City scoring a few early on.

6. Thomas Muller (Germany)

Can always be counted to score crucial goals and group games against Ghana and the United States could work in his favour.

5. Neymar (Brazil)

Needs to step up and perform in front of millions of fellow Brazilian and we tip him to do just that.

4. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

A season that has seen the Real Madrid man win the Balon d’Or, top the La Liga goal-scoring charts and help his side to the ‘Decima’ may just end with a Golden Boot.

3. Robin Van Persie (Holland)

In good form for the Dutch national team and we rate him a very good bet to score quite a few in Brazil.

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Maybe this is the time Messi leads his side to World Cup glory, in Brazil of all places, expect a bag of goals.

1. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

Our bet to finish top scorer is a player who Jose Mourinho doesn’t see worthy of a first team berth. Expect a blistering group stage display with buckets of goal against Algeria and South Korea.

To develop such betting systems the punter needs to gather and analyze information about past matches which is a hard work if somebody wants to do it manually. Therefore you should use betting tools to do the job and for the bettor to remain solely to make the needed analysis. Of course the analyzing is the most important part of the job.

Where can we find such betting tools? Actually it is not particularly difficult, as on the internet we can find many similar proposals. The punter is only required to carefully evaluate all the different offers and choose those that suit them best for their needs.

Of course most of this betting tools are paid, but for their making is thrown hard labour, which ultimately should not remain unpaid.

You should carefully consider what you need before you buy a betting tool. This means you need to decide exactly for which sport you want information, about which leagues, which betting markets you are going to use, with which bookmakers you will work, etc. When you have that in mind, you will be ready to buy your betting tool and to get from it the most.

Moreover, if you know exactly what you want, you can order your own betting tool that can work only with your ideas. Since the author will be able to sell it in the future, the price won't be much more expensive and it will do for you a great job.

Using betting tools is a step forward for you to be a truly professional punter and to get the desired profit from sports betting.

Basically to make betting predictions in the second leg matches after such results as the one in the first match is extremely difficult. In such matches the most important becomes the motivation with which the two teams will play the match. Another important factor that must be taken into account is the schedule of the teams and what they fight for in their home league.

Of course, the main goal for Real in Primera is the title. Right now, the team is on the first place, with three points ahead of the second team - Atletico Madrid. However, what is more important is that they are going to play on Sunday not with any other team, but with Barcelona. Of course, this would be a much more important match for Real than the protocol rematch against Schalke.

More than likely, the main of Real's players will be saved in this match, but this opens up new questions for anyone who decides to bet on this match. The players who normally don't play regularly for Real will have their chance in the match against Schalke. This means they would give everything to impress the coaches and will be highly motivated to perform good enough.

This shifts the focus and now the question is whether the second team of Real Madrid is able to beat Schalke 04 at Santiago Bernabeu? The answer is not easy, especially with the odds that the bookmakers offer.

A victory for Real Madrid in this match is estimated at 1.22 by bet365, which is the highest rate that can be found for this match. Bet at home offers 1.15 for Real, while William Hill gives 1.17. Schalke's chances in this match are estimated at 15 by William Hill and Bet365 and on 14 by Bet at home.

Personally, I'd skip this bet, but if you have to play it I would bet for a possible surprise. Hardly any other time I would have so easy match in which to bet at odds of 15 with such chances for success. Schalke 04 is not a team for odds of 15 and this is why my bet in this match will be to back them.

So if you decide to bet on draws in the matches of the championship of the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1, I am pretty sure you should think again. Indeed, the odds offered by the bookmakers and especially by bet365, Bet at Home and William Hill are good, but is this kind of betting profitable when we talk about these leagues?

Here is some data. The average percentage of draws in the matches between the best teams in Spain for the past three seasons is just under 23. This is expected at first glance, at least because of the large difference in the class of the two giants Barcelona and Real Madrid and all the other teams in the championship. Moreover, the group of three - four teams behind Barca and Real is also a class above the other teams in the league.

The situation in the Bundesliga is exactly the same. In the last years it became something quite common Bayern to make a series of 10-15 consecutive wins in the league. Dortmund also is a class above the rest and makes a lot of wins.

Also for these championships is typical the presence of two or three much weaker than the others teams, which also leads as a direct result of a low rate of draws in the matches.

The teams in the other two of the big leagues - the Premier League and Serie A in Italy are much more equal. The percentage of draws in this championship is around 27%.

However, the league in which we can find the most draws among the top five leagues in Europe is Ligue 1 in France. There, almost every third match is a draw.

So if you love betting on draws, your best league among these five is the French Ligue 1. Will you make some money by betting there is another topic?

There have been about as many 'systems' for varying the bet size as there are systems to beat the craps table. None of them work and all of them do harm by giving false expectations. Double-up systems, star betting, the Kelly Criterion, etc. all have the same thing in common. They adversely affect the cash flow and they raise the breakeven percentage that must be accomplished.

Any time you vary your bet size by the slightest amount, you increase the breakeven percentage of 52.38. If you refigure your percentage after each bet, your breakeven jumps to over 55%. If you have 1 star and 5 star bets or bet twice as much on some plays, you should understand that only the large bets are meaningful to whether you will be a winner. You might as well not bet the smaller ones. In the end, they won't matter.

Some touts say you should increase your bet when you are on a winning streak and decrease it when you are on a losing streak. The key word is 'are'. If you won yesterday, you 'were' on a winning streak. But that was yesterday. If you know you will win today, why not bet it all? If you know you will lose today, you might consider not betting at all.

The problem with bet size is not the streaks, but the breakeven. If you have a 56% advantage on each bet, over 200 games you will win less than 50% about 17% of the time.You will win more than 60% about 17% of the time. Winning 100 and losing 100 with a 5% unit, you will lose 50% of your bankroll to the vigorish. (100 wins times $50 less 100 losses times $55 equals minus $500 on a $1,000 bankroll).You will lower your bet and never get even. I recommend playing no more than 2% of your bankroll. Anything over 2% is unacceptably risky, even for recreational bettors.

The reality is that each person may be trying to accomplish something different. If your goal is to afford entertainment and not go broke, that is entirely different than my goal of making a living. If you bet $100 a game on Monday night football to enjoy the game, it will cost you $5 a week if you can go 50-50. There is nothing wrong with that. It's cheaper than a movie. But that is entertainment expense, not an excellent investment vehicle.

To do sports betting in a serious way, you must treat it as you would any other business. In sports betting, your inventory is your cash. If you run out of cash, you are out of business. The old saying is that you should not use your rent money to bet with. That is true. But if you're betting for a living it is equally true that you must not use your gambling bankroll to pay the rent.

The amazing thing about sports betting is the return on investment (ROI) that is possible. And there is no magic. The return on investment is a function of the winning percentage and the amount that is invested. The amount invested is a function of how many games (investments) are bet and how much is bet on each game. It is the same as any business. How many widgets did you sell and how much did you gross per widget.

In my case, I average between 1,000 and 1,200 plays per year. Let's call it 1,000. My pain tolerance is a 1% unit. I will bet 1.1% of my bankroll on every bet. That means I will bet 1% of my money 1,000 times...1000% of my bankroll....That's 1000% of my bankroll. And again, I will bet 1000% of my bankroll. The same money 10 times in a year. That is why such a return is possible.

Now if I can win 56% of my plays, I will get a return on investment of nearly 100%. I will win 560 bets and lose 440 bets. I will pay a broker fee to the sportsbook of 44 bets. Therefore, I will win 76 units. (76 times 1% equals 76%). I will win $7.60 for every $100 that I bet. I will explain later how I end up with 100%.

A word here on that $7.60. I've seen many people come to town and try to make a living playing sports. Some of them think they can bet $100 a game and do it. Well, think about it. If they play 20 games a week, they will bet $2,000 and, if they are good, make $7.60 times 20=$152. At $200 a game, they can expect $308. That's pretty hard to live on. I think the minimum that must be bet is $500. That's only $760 a week and leaves no room for a bad streak. To bet $500 at 1%, you need $50,000. Like any business, you should continue to invest some of the profits to grow the business.

As soon as you can draw from the business, you should put yourself on a salary. That way you can know what to expect for an income and won't be bothered by the short term vagaries of Lady Luck.

You just need to know the number of bets, the amount per bet, and the win percentage, and you will know what to pay the IRS next year.

After 19 years, I know the number of plays I have each year. I know what my bet size is. And with 1,000 plays, the standard deviation for my win percentage is 2. So I know I will win between 55% and 57%. Sounds rather dull when I put it that way. And I guess it actually is. Bernard Baruch, the great financier, said he always looked for boring businesses. They were well run, without surprises and he knew what to expect.

I know what to expect. One great lesson my brother, JR, pointed out to me was that with a 56% expectation, your bankroll would reach a new high only 5% of the time. Nineteen out of 20 days you will be below your bankroll high. The novice thinks you should have more money each day. I also know that with a 56% win rate and 100 bets a month, I will lose money every 9th month. Good money management is aided by knowing what to expect.

As a final note on bet size, I should add that I use a plateau system.

I bet 1% of my bank and continue to flat bet until my bank grows by at least 25%. Then I recalculate the 1%. Thus if I started with $10,000, I would bet $100 a game until my bank grows to at least $12,500. At that point, I would refigure my unit to $125. It would stay there until I reached at least $15,625. That way my actual risk reward ratio doesn't get too high. The other thing that I do that is unique and rather arguable is that I never lower my bet. Remember, if you vary the bet, your breakeven goes up. At a 1% unit and 19 year's experience, I'm comfortable that I can ride through a losing streak. If you lose 10 games at $200 a bet and lower the bet to $180, you must win 12.2 bets to get back to even. That is how I get my 100% annual ROI. My actual bet goes up during the year as my bankroll reaches higher plateaus.

Some sports gamblers swear by this methodology while sharp sports bettors that understand the math feel that it’s an example of poor money management practices. The fact that this system is still practiced and marketed today says more about the state of a losing gambler’s mind and less about the success or failure of the system. Here’s how it works.

First, it’s important to know that the system is designed for even wagers, which are thought to hit about 50% of the time. A bettor with a bankroll of $500 puts $50 on an early afternoon football game. The bet is lost. Under the Martingale System, the gambler now places $100 on the late afternoon game. If the bet is won, the theory is that the gambler makes back the original loss, plus a $50 profit. Once the bet is won, the bettor goes back to wagering $50 per game until they lose again.

The problem with this system is that it can put a bettor’s bankroll in jeopardy quickly. What if in our example the late afternoon wager is lost too. Now the bettor has to put $200 on the Sunday night contest. If that game is a washout, the gambler’s bankroll has gone from $500 to $150. And with that, the true problem with Martingale comes into focus. There’s only $150 left in the bank, but under Martingale the wager is supposed to be $400. Martingale has all but bankrupt the gambler’s bankroll.

Of course, it’s not as big a dilemma if the original wager was $20, which is a wiser wager if you’ve got a $500 bankroll. Still, even at 20 bucks per pop, using this system the gambler is down $80 after three loses and is due to wager $160 on the Monday night game. If they lose that bet, their bank is down to $260. According to Martingale, the next bet should be $320 and, once again as in the previous example, the money is not there.

What most amateur sports bettors dont understand is how odds work from a mathematical perspective. Did you know that a 50% handicapper will lose 5 games in a row 3% of the time? Eventually the math will catch with the Martingale system and the player will be broke.

Martingale is seen as being a regressive form of wagering where bettors play conservatively when they are on a roll and go for the sky when they are in a tailspin. It’s based on the belief that a string of loses on even odds wagers means that eventually there will be a win to correct the deviation. But this idea that wins and loses even out, which is known as the Gambler’s Fallacy, is illogical for one primary reason—it supposes that our four bets are interrelated, and they are not. Whether one wins or loses the first wager will have no influence on the second and the outcome of the second in no way has any influence on the third outcome. If there is no correlation in the bets the order of wins and losses is controlled by variance, something that no gambler has control over.

The application of any system in sports betting tends to be tenuous. Why? Success in gambling on sporting events is based on solid sports handicapping analysis, expert information and insider insights. A gambler’s ability to utilize all of the information available to them to make the right pick will determine an individual’s rate of success or failure and not some theory regarding odds correction based on probability. If you do practice the Martingale Betting System do so with care.