The Random Rant Thread 2010

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gearoid
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Sheikh: the pc is out of warranty. I told them the problem was probably virus related. On Saturday morning I spent hours on the phone to Dell and a woman at the end of the phone agreed to assist with a hardware check. Having got the all clear I had to ring the software dept. who told me that I had to purchase either 6 mths or 1 year software warranty. Went for the year. He then told me I needed a cable keyboard (I had a wireless) and couldn't help. Arranged for Monday night. First rant.
Left home early tonight, as did hubby, to make sure we didn't miss the call that duly occurred. After a couple of failed efforts with the F12 key he announced I have a motherboard problem and that I would get a full refund on the software warranty. Had to ring another number who asked me for a code, stuck on my pc, but which I couldn't find nor see. That constitutes my second rant.
Third rant: I have a defunct pc all caused from a virus. Probably.

Be warned.
 
Celtic are clearly nervous at the prospect of playing the Mighty Pars on Sunday. Scrabbling round looking for players ;) What a day of sport in prospect that day: The Pars, Scotland v France and horse racing.
 
Desert Orchid said:
Bookies trying to sucker punters into mug bets.

Robbie Keane is just 7/2 to score twice tonight, and just 16/1 to score three times.

...

I reckon there might be a wee bit of value in opposing Celtic tonight. I reckon the bookies might over-factor the Keano effect into the odds. Celtic players still don't read each other's game.
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0-0 at halftime. Celtic reportedly had just one shot on target in the half. They haven't done much with their superior possession or their 8 corners.
 
Desert Orchid said:
Bookies trying to sucker punters into mug bets.

Robbie Keane is just 7/2 to score twice tonight, and just 16/1 to score three times.

While I accept the odds against scoring three shouldn't necessarily be true multiplied odds of the brace - if he did score two and Celtic got a late penalty he'd almost certainly be offered it to take - 7/2 would be only fair odds to score once on the night.

No doubt there will be plenty of Celtic fans swept along on the tide of euphoria over the signing (it's no big deal, I reckon, since his scoring rate in his career isn't as good as Scott McDonald's although Keane is a better player) willing to take the odds, but they're mugs, even if they end up collecting.

I reckon there might be a wee bit of value in opposing Celtic tonight. I reckon the bookies might over-factor the Keano effect into the odds. Celtic players still don't read each other's game.
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How are you calculating that these prices are mug bets? Celtic were a general 3/10 to win tonight and under 2.5 goals was 13/10. Below is a table on the prices for Celtic's total goals tonight. Prices on the left are to a 100% book and prices on the right are what a bookmaker might offer after building in their overround


NUMBER OF AWAY TEAM GOALS

0 9.49 0.10540 8.78 (15/2)
1 4.22 0.23715 3.90 (14/5)
2 3.75 0.26679 3.47 (5/2)
3 5.00 0.20009 4.63 (4/1)
4 8.88 0.11255 8.23 (7/1)
5 OR MORE 12.82 0.07801 11.87 (11/1)
 
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Finding out today when I backed yet another stunning Bismarck that Blue Square won't take bets worth less than £20 each, effective February 1st, from their phone accounts. So here's one tiny punter creeping away...
 
Nervous riders who kid themselves that they want to buy a thoroughbred then waste everyone's time by running away shitting themselves when they realise it has a pulse.
 
So, is there anywhere that'll take my lowly £5 e/w's or £10 win singles by phone, or not? A friend used another company, and what a flippin' hoo-ha. By the time they'd extracted some secret code name and number from her, she'd spent 8 minutes on the dog-and-bone, and half the nags were already stamping around in the stalls. I realise everyone on here bets in Monte Carlo numbers, but surely there's someone who'll take my pitiful offerings?
 
krizon said:
Finding out today when I backed yet another stunning Bismarck that Blue Square won't take bets worth less than £20 each, effective February 1st, from their phone accounts. So here's one tiny punter creeping away...
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F them , they'll come back crawling. Always happens with a bit of success companies forget where they came from. It's not as if they still wouldn't be making money at that level.
 
When I first took out phone accounts (about 25 years ago), I felt uncomfortable with the stakes required of me. The bookies gradually lowered their ambitions. At the same time, I realised if my modest stakes generated a 10% profit per year it still wouldn't cover my outlay on Racing Posts, Raceform Updates, etc.

I "upsized" substantially over a six-month period - the idea was that one decent Saturday winner would cover the Form Book subscription and the rest I could set against losses - and eventually thereafter to the stage where a 'point' was £40 (which no longer the case). All these years later, I find online bookies are quite happy to take £2 bets here and there while apparently insisting on immodest minima over the phone. It would seem the longer-term aim is to cut back substantially on the 'phone operation to a bare minimum, catering only for the Lord Hs of the punting fraternity.

My brother follows racing even more than I but £2 is his normal stake. He almost faints when he hears what I've got on a horse. But he'll think nothing of spending an hour in the bookies not even having a bet. I'm very seldom in bookies shops these days, usually only if I'm passing, killing time and/or getting a quick look at the Racing Post. I only go to the bookies if I need to get a cash bet on before the price guarantee runs out in the shops shortly after opening, in which case it's usually because Pricewise has tipped 'my' horse. I honestly don't remember ever collecting on such a bet!
 
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krizon said:
So, is there anywhere that'll take my lowly £5 e/w's or £10 win singles by phone, or not? A friend used another company, and what a flippin' hoo-ha. By the time they'd extracted some secret code name and number from her, she'd spent 8 minutes on the dog-and-bone, and half the nags were already stamping around in the stalls. I realise everyone on here bets in Monte Carlo numbers, but surely there's someone who'll take my pitiful offerings?
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Manny Bernstein.
 
If you have internet on your mobile, Betfair Mobile is probably the easiest way to get small or large bets on, £2 minimum stake. I know Betfair has it's problems at times, actually it is struggling at the moment, but it is probably upgrading it's servers in time for Cheltenham. I used it last year during Cheltenham week, which I spent in the pub, with no problems at all getting through.
 
Internet on my mobile? It's got an on and off switch, Walsy, and that's it! It's not one of those mini-film studio/GPS tracking/mobile office all-singing, all-dancing things. Strangely, when I bought a mobile phone, that's the use I had in mind for it! Ah, well, looks like I'm stuffed, so I'll close the a/c and pocket what's left from my last two reluctant e/w's.
 
Oh, don't! Mine is still stood on the floor after breaking loose from its moorings, thanks to those cheap bastid 'nuts' the manufacturers now slyly put on, instead of proper metal ones. One of them bust, and the other cracked. The plumber walked away with the bolt to one side, saying he'd get two metal wing nuts to fit, and he and the bolt were never sighted again. Fortunately, there's a fabulous DIY store near to me, one of those family affairs where you can literally buy a single wing nut. The dear old boy behind the counter located the right bolt and thread, and two wing nuts, plus washers. All I've got to do now is fit the thing, but I've almost got used to sitting on the pan!
 
I bet the plumber's gone to the same place as Benny from Crossroads went when he was sent for a spanner and never seen again!
My toilet seat is on the floor as well and I fit the damn things every other day at work, but too idle to fix my own!
 
Bloody "A" boards outside every other shop nowadays. Our High Street is almost single track now, especially with the size of some people.
 
I'm surprised that in our PC-nuts society, Walsy, that they're allowed, as they seriously impede the access of the less able-bodied, let alone the truly disabled, mums with ickle kids or the elderly, whose balance ain't great when negotiating buggies, old girls trailing those feckin shopping trolleys, or young men who insist on pulling their laptops behind them on wheels. There's a helluva lot of stuff on our pavements today (including chewing gum) which wasn't around even a few years ago, and most of it seems hell-bent on tripping us up!
 
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