Betting on home team

Readers of last week’s article will know I had some pretty tense moments in the Currie Cup semifinal between the Sharks and the Bulls. I backed the home team to win by nine points or more and was perhaps a little bit overconfident.

The score constantly moved either side of the handicap, but when the Sharks raced into a 14-0 lead I thought it was game over. At the end of the first half, the Bulls had pulled to 14-10 and the handicap now looked anything but a sure thing. When the Sharks led by seven going into the last quarter I fancied my chances. I was relieved to see the final score at 37-27, a narrow but substantial win.

Onto this weekend then and the final sees the Sharks against WP in Durban after Province beat the Lions convincingly at home. I conducted my regular Sunday night handicapping exercise and made the Sharks -8.5 points, so was understandably excited when World Sports Betting opened -4.5 about the home team. At the time I wrote this, the bookie had just shortened the -4.5 to 8/10 from 9/10.

Here’s hoping the home team can do the business in a Currie Cup final for the fourth year in a row.

Brent Graham is a sports betting blogger at

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