Sport is made for betting

After the debacle of the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley yesterday - Chelsea should have had two men sent off, John Terry's tackle on James Milner was a leg-breaker, but the referee could be described in no other terms as gutless. No balls whatsoever, can't send off a Chelsea player in a Cup semi... John Inverdale wrote a great piece in the Evening Standard on Friday about how (field) hockey has introduced video replays in its elite club competition which concluded over Easter. It's not hard, it's quick, takes the pressure off the central referee and removes the effect of blatant bias or basic incompetence... or even the occasions they are genuinely unsighted. Hockey hasn't got it perfect just yet - only one challenge per match is a bit silly, especially if you get your challenge upheld, and in a game of rolling substitutions, only allowing the captain to call for it doesn't work as well as it could. But it does improve the game a lot. Football - the 'beautifu...

I'd never tried trading on (ice) hockey before. There's an 8 second delay on Betfair with no market suspension when there's a goal, but on the flipside, limited liquidity means the potential margins are much better. Thought I'd have a dabble because it was on TV while I was up late studying. Started by offering a book at about 115%, then worked a position from there. Never really had a big risk against me, the tie has to be worth laying when you have an average of five goals per game. Logic says it's highly unlikely a playoff game will trade like a 0-0 football game. Sergei Ovechkin scored a hat-trick for the Washington Capitals, who came back from 0-1 and 1-2. I've got a new hero :)

Cate Campbell at 5 or better in the women's 50 free (1pt) Athletics Mbango Etone at 15 in the women's triple jump (1/2pt) Full tips at www.puntingace.com/olympics Hockey Spain 3.25 to beat Germany (men)