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Until Rugby saved me yet again last weekend, I was posting some really, really bad tips and due to my poor form, I knew we had to bring in some quality to the editorial area.

We only looked at the best and I had 2 people in mind. Unfortunately one of the guys declined our offer but, fortunately, I got the guy I wanted the most – even if more as an occasional contributor rather than a constant, daily editor.

Story: 8 years ago we welcomed a young tipster named Ardeal on our now defunct Romanian website. He did not fare particularly well, but not bad either and the quality of his previews was always at a high level. Ardeal stayed on as a Betdistrict partner as well, where he started badly and was at -250 units one time. But he kept learning about tennis and it soon showed. Before leaving us he ended up with a +273 unit record, 3rd best all time on Betdistrict.

He developed amazing expertise over time by watching tennis and he had to leave Betdistrict, as his knowledge was attracting better opportunities. Now an established tennis expert on twitter at @UnArdeal, he was visible in the industry. It`s not hard to get attention when your 1 year record looks like below. That`s a verified paid tips record, by the way! I mean, this guys is as close as “guaranteed profit” as you will get.

• Follow Ardeal on twitter

• Tipster profile page

• Ardeal interview (May 2015)

Ardeal’s status on Betdistrict is as a contributor, so he won`t write daily – guys like him don`t usually post free tips. But his picks will always be a plus in the editorial area and a forward leap in terms of quality for Betdistrict. His first tip was already an easy win at odds of evens. We`re happy to have such an established expert between our ranks. Welcome back, mate.

Actually, what I will watch, but nobody cares about that so I had to trick you into reading this somehow, right? I have to admit I am not particularly a huge fan of the Olympics, as for some reason I tend to associate them with sun and heat, both of which I hate. I enjoy the Winter Olympics much more, but at the same time I love the fact that so called “lesser sports” get exposure and I’m a regular fan of some of them. So, here`s what I`m looking forward to and recommend. I`ll keep it free of odds and predictions, there’ll be plenty of betting tips for that.

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt are must see TV

Two of the best Olympians that ever lived. Both legends have put in the work to be in the Olympics one last time.

Phelps retired twice already but decided to give it one last go in Rio, though he will only compete in 3 individual events, plus 3 relays. He is the most decorated Olympian with 22 medals (18 gold), an 8 time gold medalist at Beijing 2008 (unbreakable record) and I will surely watch him, especially as I love swimming and particularly butterfly, his specialty. His rivalries with Cseh and Le Clos (Butterfly) and Lochte (Medley) will be spectacular to see and the races are set to be decided by the slimmest of margins, as the evenly matched odds confirm. Phelps’ 3 finals are definitely my number 1 priority during these Olympics, but I will check out and watch any swimming that I can get my hands on in the next few weeks, as it has always been my favorite Olympic sport.

As for Usain Bolt, need I say more? Biggest draw of the Olympics, I don`t need to recommend watching him. A 6 time Gold medalist, fastest man on earth and only man to defend his 100m and 200m titles in the Olympics. He`ll aim to do it for the third time, which would be history to last beyond our lives.

With records to be broken and all time greatness to be seen, almost surely for the last time, Phelps and Bolt are must see TV. Times in brackets are for the finals.

• Phelps: 200m Butterfly (10.08, 01:25 GMT), 200m Medley (12.08, 02:00 GMT), 100m Butterfly (13.08, 01:10 GMT)

• Bolt: 100m (15.08, 01:35 GMT), 200m (19.08, 01:30 GMT), 4x100m relay (20.08, 01:35 GMT)

Basketball

I’m still ‘hurting’ a bit over Golden State’s epic collapse in the NBA finals, so the Olympics come just in time to help me forget about my losses on the finals. Team USA is obviously the ultra heavy favorite but their roster seems to be the weakest in a long time. There are teams out there who can upset USA on a good day, so I`ll be looking forward to that.

Water Polo

With one of the best Water Polo teams to ever play the game, Serbia, looking for its first ever title, things are set to get interesting. The sport is improving and there are a handful of fantastic teams in the tournament, so I will definitely watch all of it – especially as I was a wonderkid in Water Polo myself a decade or so ago :). It will bring back memories.

Tennis

It doesn`t have the same appeal without Federer for me, but I`ll still watch the matches when I can and keep an eye on the results, mostly due to betting reasons.

Women’s Handball

Will definitely keep an eye on Romania’s girls, who are playing very entertaining handball, finished 3rd during the last World Cup and are in contention for medals in Rio.

15-a side Men`s Rugby

Just kidding, Rugby Union 15’s will not be in the Summer Olympics to soon and the Olympic committee still needs to go screw itself.

How about you guys, which sports are you excited about in these 2016 Olympics? Comments are always open and welcome.

The Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport has always been a special event on the ATP calendar. Not only is it the last grass court tournament of the season, but it`s a legendary tournament that has been around since 1881! The old school grounds and the grass court specialists playing on the main draw make it a unique event, always loved and appreciated by tennis fans. But what makes it great for betting?

Being the last grass court event of the season and owning some vintage, fast courts, Newport is the heaven of the few grass court specialists remaining. As such, you have guys of which you don`t hear about for the entire season, coming here and performing well. Rajeev Ram is a great example, a regular guy who managed to win two titles here, including last year.

Ram, Hewitt, Isner, Mahut, Santoro, Phillipousis, Dent. Over the last 20 years or so, the event has been won exlusively by players belonging to at least one of the following categories:

• Big servers (this year we have Karlovic, Muller, Groth or Dancevic)
• Serve & volley guys (Ram, Smith)
• Quick, light and versatile players (Sela, Mannarino)

Look out for this type of players. I`m a couple of days late with this article, so we were already able to see great performances in the first round by guys who fit the description, like Dancevic (classic example of player who can thrive at Newport), Smith, Groth or even Chiudinelli. Reigning champion Rajeev Ram also suddenly remembered how to play tennis as well, despite being in horrible form coming here.

These are the type of guys which do well at Newport, with bonus points for those who regularly play here. Being a regular at Newport is important, as this is more or less the only place where you might have to play on singles courts (no doubles line) or with somebody else playing on a court right beside you, like in a tennis club. The tennis club atmosphere is also unique, so the experience of having been here multiple times before helpes.

The particularity of this event makes it good for betting. There`s value to be taken all over the place, it just has to be identified correctly.

Hey Guys,

If you don`t already know, we ran a facebook predictor competition on our Betdistrict group for Euro 2016 in the group stages and it has been a real success. Feedback was above expectations and everybody enjoyed the competition, including me.

We are now running another competition for the KO stages and there`s still time to post your picks for Day 1 (must post your tips as a comment, no later than 1 minute before the game).

Prizes are 70 Euro in Ohmbet freebets (30 – 20 – 20) for Non – Romanians. As our Betdistrict group has a lot of Romanians and they can`t register at Ohmbet due to legislation issues, Romanians will win 15 Eur cash if they finish Top 3 overall.

But, honestly, I`m pretty sure you would enjoy this competition even if there were no prizes involved. See links at the bottom of the article to take part in the competition and also make sure to join the Betdistrict group, where the competition takes place. There will be a post every day on which you must comment and it will always be pinned at the top of the group.

Please register at Ohmbet through our link, these guys have been great with all the freebets provided for the tipster competition and our social media competitions this month. If you register trough our link, you are also eligible for a 200% welcome bonus up to 100 Eur. Just enter bonus code “Euro200”. It would also help us keep the website up and running.

Click here to take part in the first round of the Euro 2016 KO stage competition

Waiting for your predictions,
Radu Rostick

Our Euro 2016 group coverage ends with Group F, where Portugal is the main favorite to advance, with Austria and Iceland on their tails. Hungary seems like the obvious outsider and might just have to settle for a fourth place finish.

PORTUGAL – odds to win Group F: 1.85 @ Ohmbet

Portugal cruised in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, winning 7 out of 8 games against the likes of Denmark, Albania or Serbia and Ronaldo’s side definitely has an argument to win the group, maybe also to go far in the tournament. However, Portugal often relies too much on Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite owning big name players up front, it has always been a struggle for Portugal to get the offense going, they can`t run behind defenders and in the end the Real Madrid star has to come to the rescue for 1-0 or 2-1 wins. Good news for Portugal is that Ronaldo could well have a great tournament. He is coming after a Champions League winning season at Real Madrid, he`s healthy and he knows that this might be his last (and best) chance to lead his National team towards a special result. He would be my choice for top scorer of the tournament, as Portugal should be able to at least reach the quarterfinals, winning this group in the process – albeit there might well be a few hiccups along the way.

• Key players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe
• Strong spots: Cristiano Ronaldo, Individual quality, Well organized defense, Star power, Set pieces
• Weak spots: Lack of Depth, Offense can become ultra cold, Dependence on Cristiano Ronaldo, Inconsistency

AUSTRIA – odds to qualify: 1.45 @ Bwin

Austria had the best qualification campaign among all European Nations, losing just 2 points (!!) and posting an incredible stat line of 9-1-0 in a group that wasn`t easy – as they had to play Russia and Sweden. Austria hasn`t been as effective in recent friendlies, losing 3 of 5 matches since the qualifying campaign ended. That, along with their lack of pedigree at International tournaments might suggest that Austria’s Euro 2016 tournament will not be as successful as their qualifying campaign. It will probably not be, but they should still get out of this group. If their excellent backbone of key players (Fuchs, Alaba, Arnautovic, Janko) performs well, Austria will finish at least second in Group F. Look for Austria’s talent up front to guarantee them chances to score against any team in the competition.

• Key players: David Alaba, Marc Janko
• Strong spots: Offense, Brilliant qualifying campaign, Excellent team backbone, Set pieces
• Weak spots: Inconsistent form in friendlies, Defense can be prone to errors, Lack of depth on the bench, Lack of experience at final tournaments

ICELAND – odds to qualify: 1.71 @ 18Bet

Iceland shocked the football world by easily qualifying from a group that featured Netherlands, Czech Republic or Turkey, but the progress of Iceland as a football nation was visible since the World Cup 2014 qualifiers, when they narrowly missed out on the final tournament. With a fast paced, dynamic side that is an absolute beast on the break, Iceland defeated Netherlands twice in the qualifiers and did it in style. While they might not have the quality of Portugal, Iceland still has a generation of very talented players and they are not all about tactics and counter-attacking – they own difference makers as well. Lack of experience and a shaky defense seem to be Iceland’s main problems coming into the Euros, as well as their suspect form in friendlies after the qualifiers ended, as they lost 7 out of the previous 10 matches, albeit there was some bad luck involved in some of those losses.

• Key players: Gylfi Sugurdsson, Alfred Finnbogason
• Strong spots: Counter attacking, Fast pace, Transition, Attitude, Proven giant killing ability
• Weak spots: Defense, Lack of experience at final tournaments, Lack of depth, Keeper position, Poor form in friendlies

HUNGARY – odds to qualify: 2.38 @ 18Bet

There`s a fair case to be made that Hungary is the weakest team to take part in Euro 2016, albeit there are definitely 2-3 other countries in the same conversation as them. The Hungarians finished third in a very poor qualifying group, ending up behind Romania and Northern Ireland, even being challenged by Finland until the second to last round. Without showing much of anything during the group stages, they were underdogs in the playoffs against Norway, but proved to be the more mature team. Norway utterly dominated Hungary in terms of chances and possession, but the Hungarians played a more clever brand of football and with some luck, they got trough. Hungary will need to show the same tactical intelligence and determination as they did against Norway if they want to get anything in this group – but I don`t think they will, as the level of football played is just to poor compared to what their opponents bring to the table. Their best chance might be against Iceland, as the Islanders might not be comfortable having to take initiative and dominate possession.

• Key players: Balazs Dzsudzsak, Zoltan Gera
• Strong spots: Discipline, Determination, Good tactics, Hard to defeat
• Weak spots: Lack of quality, Lack of depth, Poor offense, Old key players, No creativity, Keeper position, Slow pace, Lack of experience at final tournaments