Lately I have been exploring different possibilities for long series and the eventual betting options with Martingale. All who are familiar with betting know the basis of Martingale betting system is to progressively increase the bet amount with each loss.

Thus guaranteeing profits every time when the player makes a winning bet, no matter how many unsuccessful bets have been made before. The danger in this system comes from the moment when the player accumulates lots of consecutive incorrect predictions, leading to very large bets and hence the loss of the entire bank.

The first check I did was for matches from NBA and the bets on under and over total points scored by both teams. My idea was about the possibility to start betting with Martingale when a team is in a series of five or even six consecutive matches ended either under or over? I asked myself this question a few months ago and started to follow the results from the league of the best basketball players in the world.

The limit from which I decided to start betting was five consecutive overs or unders. When I had such series I started to bet against it.

To my regret several times during the season, one team reached a series of ten or even more consecutive unders or overs and thus the loss of the entire bank, using Martingale is practically inevitable.

Even more, when a team went in such a series of five consecutive meetings it is much more likely in the next games to finish the same way. Unfortunately, the percentages for this are about 52, which makes it impossible to bet on singles.

Furthermore, exactly twice during the season the mirror case of my initial idea happened, which prevents this option to be used for Martingale betting. In both cases, the team which had a series of five consecutive matches with more points than the offered by the bookmaker, had another series of five meetings with fewer points than the line offered by the bookmaker.

So, unfortunately, I can say that at least this version of Martingale really leads to a complete loss of the bank and it won’t be wise to be used.

The last matches from the 1/8 finals of the Champions League were played yesterday and for the first time for a very long period none of the English teams will be among the top eight. However, we have three Spanish, two German, one French, Turkish and Italian team.

Who will win the Champions League this year? If you love ante post betting it is better to do your bets today, as the draw for the quarterfinals will be held tomorrow and the coefficients will be changed.

Barcelona is the bookies’ favourite at the moment which is a bit strange after losing twice from Real Madrid recently. However, those of you who believe that Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and company will win the league this year will get odds of 2.75 proposed by the betting houses.

The proposed odds for Real Madrid is 3.75. Given their wins over Barcelona and Manchester United lately this is my personal favourite to bet, though by May many things can happen.

The third bookies favourite team is Bayern Munich. Obviously, the loss from Arsenal with 0-2 at home hasn’t changed much the betting odds for a possible victory of Bayern Munich in this year’s Champions League. Such bet would provide a coefficient of 4.5. In my opinion, this rate is far too low. Bayern showed that they are vulnerable, although they have a true class potential.

Dortmund and Juventus are the next two teams in line for the battle for the Champions League. The proposal for the final victory of the Germans is 10 and 13 is for Juventus. Frankly, such a bet, especially for Dortmund seems rather exotic.

Oddly, the odds for the millionaires of PSG is 21. I think that if they are lucky in the draw they can manage to the semifinals and from there it is really difficult to say what is going to happen. The players of the French team have the needed class and Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a player who can change the entire match with just one touch.

The last teams in the queue are Malaga and Galatasaray. An eventual victory of theirs would bring profits of 51 multiplied by the betting sum.

We will find out who will win in May. For now we can only assess the odds and chances, hoping to find somewhere the so needed betting value.

Newcastle will host Anzhi Makhachkala in a second round match of Europa League. In the first meeting as a guest Newcastle managed to play more than decently and to withhold the pressure of the hosts and get to a scoreless draw.

Moreover, with the game Newcastle played they showed they could be а match with Eto’o and company. However, the question is whether they are capable to do it at home.

According to the betting houses Newcastle is the favourite in the match. A victory for them is estimated at 2.45, while an away win is estimated at 3.2 odds. A possible draw would bring odds of 3.3.

I have to say this is a bit of a surprise for me. The only reason I see Newcastle to be placed in the role of a favourite against Anzhi is the fact that the Russian championship has not started yet. This must mean that the Russian players won’t be in their maximum shape for this meeting.

On the other hand it should be mentioned that the entire training program for Anzhi in the last few months was made so to achieve the maximum form just for this game.

It should be also mentioned that Newcastle’s players should feel the fatigue that comes in the end of the season.

I can’t find the reason Newcastle to be a favourite and I think the odds in this game are reversed. That’s why I’m going to bet for a win for the guests in this match, but I am going to ensure myself with a handicap. The proposal of 1.85 for a win for Anzhi with a margin of 0;+0.5 seems to me good enough.

This bet means that with an eventual victory for Anzhi I will win my bet multiplied by the odds of 1.85. If the game ends in a draw, only half of my bet will be profitable. Of course, if the victory goes to Newcastle I’m going to lose my entire bet.

Anyway, I will keep my fingers crossed this not happen and Anzhi to go through. It will be even better if this happens with some nice goals from Eto’o.