It’s interesting this year because England are fielding a squad so inexperienced that, combined, it’s been over 50 years since there was less caps between the players. A combination of bad behaviour on and off the pitch has seen the old crew decimated in favour of a bunch of lads so thrilled to finally get the nod that the hope is they fear losing their shirt more than they fancy flinging some dwarfs about. Stuart Lancaster has the terrifying job of trying to round up the youngsters into what vaguely looks like a challenging England side, whilst simultaneously crossing his fingers and praying to God that they ‘Seize the day’ rather than go down in flames – either outcome is a distinct possibility!

Surprisingly, non of Ireland’s squad got the customary P45 that was expected after the 2011 World Cup and as a result the squad is more than familiar so Declan Kidney is clearly going with proven experience over fresh young blood. And given that they have three home games, all of which are winnable, even if they did get their asses handed to them by Wales in the World Cup, they would then only have to go to Paris and London and look for a win to potentially win the Championship. No doubt, in familiar fashion, they’ll start off pretty badly, eeking out some wins so that as they progress and get better they’ll end up in a points difference battle that will have grown men shaking in anticipation and gnawing at their finger nails for hours on the last day of the tournament until some other team has won it and we all drink up and go home!

Wales on the other hand have momentum on their side – that is of course if momentum can last four months without actually playing a game! Still aggrieved by the loss to France in the World Cup semi final, it might actually spur them on to give them a taste of their own medicine when they meet in Cardiff on March 17th. I can only hope that they’ve been training hard though I’m sure I saw a few of them pop up in ‘Stella’ on Sky 1 recently, so not much rugby action happening there – actually there wasn’t even any acting involved if the odd one-liner was to be believed – stick to the day job lads. And as second favourites after France to win the title this year they may just do that.

The fixtures are below as are the odds for the tournament!

Sat 4th Feb 12 14:30 France v Italy Stade de France Preview
Sat 4th Feb 12 17:00 Scotland v England Murrayfield Preview
Sun 5th Feb 12 15:00 Ireland v Wales Aviva Stadium

Sat 11th Feb 12 16:00 Italy v England Stadio Olimpico
Sat 11th Feb 12 20:00 France v Ireland Stade de France
Sun 12th Feb 12 15:00 Wales v Scotland Millennium Stadium

Sat 25th Feb 12 13:30 Ireland v Italy Aviva Stadium
Sat 25th Feb 12 16:00 England v Wales Twickenham
Sun 26th Feb 12 15:00 Scotland v France Murrayfield

Sat 10th Mar 12 14:30 Wales v Italy Millennium Stadium
Sat 10th Mar 12 17:00 Ireland v Scotland Aviva Stadium
Sun 11th Mar 12 15:00 France v England Stade de France More

Sat 17th Mar 12 12:30 Italy v Scotland Stadio Olimpico
Sat 17th Mar 12 14:45 Wales v France Millennium Stadium
Sat 17th Mar 12 17:00 England v Ireland Twickenham

The 11-year-old’s latest success at the course was back in April in the Topham Handicap Chase over 2m5f. Tom O’Brien rode the horse to his second victory in the race after he won the Listed contest for the first time in 2010. Anyone placing an ante-post Grand National bet cannot rule him out.

The Peter Bowen-trained chaser jumped the big obstacles with little trouble in the Grand National meeting last year and is using his experience to good effect to complete the course.

This season, Always Waining’s started his campaign at Ffos Lass where he finished a disappointing eighth in a hurdle race in Wales. He then returned to the same track three weeks later to show an improvement by coming home in fourth place in a handicap hurdle. However, the primary goal of both runs was to get rid of any rustiness over the summer break.

His latest start at Aintree was back to chase company where he ran a respectable fourth place in the Becher Handicap Chase, a Listed race over 3m2f. With 68 races under his belt at the age of 11, connections know that they are running out of opportunities to try their luck in the big race. If they don’t make the grade this time, their horse may have missed the chance to compete in the race over 4m4f.

Bowen’s horse missed the cut for the famous steeplechase in Merseyside by one spot last season in the race won by Ballabriggs.

Junior has been given an easy time of things so far this term and hasn’t set foot on a racecourse since finishing some way down the field at Royal Ascot in June where he was bidding to win the two-and-a-half-mile Ascot Stakes Handicap for the second year running having landed a big gamble in the horse racing odds when galloping to glory in the 2010 renewal, beating Elyaadi by five-lengths.

His Ascot victory was followed by a great effort when runner-up in the Goodwood Stakes and his fine run of form continued into the last season’s jumps campaign where the Middleham Park Racing-owned son of Singspiel ran two solid races to be placed at Cheltenham in the winter before returning to the home of National Hunt racing last March where he put up a devastating performance in quite simply running away with the ultra-competitive Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup Handicap Chase, beating the course specialist Faasel by a stunning 24-lengths.

After missing the cut for last season’s Grand National, Pipe has tailored his charge’s preparation this term solely on the ‘world’s greatest steeplechase’ and reports the nine-year-old to be in fine shape ahead of his expected return at Haydock where he may well face a number of other major contenders for Aintree including West End Rocker, Le Beau Bai and former National winner Mon Mome. Bookmakers currently rate Junior a 16/1 joint-favourite for the Aintree spectacular alongside last year’s brave winner Ballabriggs, and a good performance from Pipe’s horse could well see him go off just about advance to clear favourite in the ante-post lists.

The most common form of PLO played online is 6-max PLO. You can find both versions played on cash tables and tournaments but it is the cash tables that have proven to be the most popular.

It is a fantastic game to play and here are a few tips to help you avoid the heartbreak.

Firstly, when playing pre flop in Omaha the only hand you fear when holding a pair of kings is a pair of aces. The likelihood of a player being dealt pocket aces in a six-max Omaha games is much lower than say a full ring game, but if you are faced with a raise and a re-raise for effective stacks of 100bb or more you are going to have to fold, because your opponent will indeed have those aces more often than not.

Secondly, the game of Omaha is a frenzy of action and this can lead to over exuberance when it comes to your starting hand selection. You know you are going to get four cards and see five more on the board and assume it is impossible not to make a hand. Unfortunately, this way of thinking just gets you into trouble, as you constantly end up at showdown either second guessing yourself or having the second best hand more often than not.

With the recent success of Michael Bay’s Transformers trilogy, fans might expect this game to use that property, but it doesn’t. Instead, the developers have based Ultimate Payback on the classic 1980s cartoon. The music, the graphics and even the quotes are classic 80s Transformers. This is a fun slots game even if you know nothing about the Transformers, but it’s particularly cool for fans of the classic cartoon.

Transformers Ultimate Payback is a 5-reel, 25-line machine. The machine allows bets of one to five coins on each line, and the coins range from £1 to £5. The minimum bet is £1, and the maximum is £625. Players, however, can achieve the lowest house edge with a three-coin (£3) bet. In addition to the standard 9, 10, J, Q, K and A, the symbol set includes Optimus Prime, Megatron, Cybertron, an Autobot and a Decepticon.

Both the Autobot and the Decepticon symbols are wild, but unlike standard wilds, they can expand to make the entire reel wild. In other words, even if the Autobot symbol hits on line one, it can turn line two into a winner. Cybertron is the third wild, and rather than expand, its special feature is its multiplier bonus. If you hit Cybertron on a winning board, the game present three Cybertron symbols: Pick one, and it’ll reveal a multiplier worth 2x to 10x. The game then multiplies ALL winnings that round by that multiplier.

The other special symbols are Optimus Prime and Megatron, and together, on the 1st and 5th reel respectively, they kick off the Ultimate Payback bonus round. The bonus game launches with the quote ‘one shall stand… one shall fall,’ and then Optimus Prime and Megatron do battle. The neat aspect is that the player gets to choose Optimus Prime or Megatron, and then lead the charge.

Both Megatron and Optimus Prime have three life points, and the player wins by destroying the other Transformer. The player spins: a win results in one point of damage, a loss results in one point taken and draws are possible too. This continues back and forth until one falls, and even if the player’s Transformer lost, the player gets all of the winnings they’ve accrued up until that point, which is why Ultimate Payback at Kerching Casino is one of our favorites.

The hunt for treasure is on in this pirate-themed game. Players join Cap’n Coins on his quest to win jackpots of up to $100,000 and encounter surprising wild cards, thrilling scatters and high bounties along the way. Players may bet as little as $0.1 or, for those that are feeling especially lucky, as much as $90.00.

After betting on one to nine lines, the player sets the reel in motion. A flurry of gold coins, eye-patched pirates, overflowing treasure chests, menacing crossbones, silver swords and more symbols spin across the screen until resting in position. If the symbols match a line that the player has bet on, he or she will be generously rewarded.

Gameplay is simple and intuitive. Players may bet manually by selecting the number of lines they wish to play and increasing or decreasing their bets using arrow buttons. The maximum bet can easily be placed on all nine lines by choosing the Max Bet button. The stakes are clear thanks to the Total Bet window, which shows the total amount at play. After spinning the reel, winnings are displayed under Total Win.

The handy Auto Bet feature allows players to set their bets and relax while the game basically plays itself. This option is especially useful for the player that must step away for a moment but does not want to stop winning.

Cap’n Crunch, like the other MegaMoneyGames offerings, is based on a smarter algorithm that rewards players better and more often than games at other sites. Fair odds coupled with attractive graphics, nonstop action and whimsical themes make these games the best available online.

This game is perfect for players that want the adventure and fun of the high seas without having to leave home. For a shot at the booty, take a spin on Cap’n Coins’ and Mega Money Games wild ride today.

SkyBingo has 5 reels and 20 paylines. More importantly, the potential winnings are as high as 250,000 pounds. Yeah, that’s pretty high. When you first visit SkyBingo you’re greeted by happy jingles and bright colors. This combination makes you feel as though you have been taken for a short visit to heaven. That’s not an exaggeration. You’re simply put in a good mood the instant you begin playing SkyBingo. However, it gets even better. The key to this game is the Bonus Round.

Unlike many slots, the Bonus Round is easy to understand. Not only that, but everything is kept track of for you. For example, if you look in the top right corner, you will see how many Bonus Balls you have collected to take into the Bonus Round. If you look in the top left corner, you will see a big countdown clock that tells you how much time you have left to collect as many Bonus Balls as possible. Once the time runs out, the Bonus Round begins. This takes place every 4 minutes. When you’re in the Bonus Round, the Bonus Balls will be the same value as they were in the main game. The numbers will align with random mutlipliers. Your total winnings will be shown on a bar at the bottom right of the screen. When the Bonus Round is over, fireworks will be set off to celebrate your victory.

If SkyBingo doesn’t sound like it’s the best game for you, then there are many other games to consider at Sky Vegas. You can choose between table games, instant win games, community games, TV games, mobile games and more. There is also a High Stakes Lounge. More importantly, there is a 500-Pound Welcome Bonus and jackpots can reach higher than 2.6 million. To capture that type of money, play the progressive slots.

Based on the hugely successful video game of the same name, Hitman is a cool dark slot machine with plenty of interesting features to grab and hold your attention. The bonus game is particuarly good where you get to choose which villan to assasinate and which waepon you want to use to do it!

This game is not only great fun but it’s also one the cheapest around with the minimum bet at just 1p. You can also play it for free on Ladbrokes who kindly give you 20,000 credits free to get you going. It’s very easy to both understand and play but if you fancy getting some practice in first then this is the way to do it.

Hitman is available to play online at Ladbrokes casino and you should really give this slot a go. It’s dark and brooding, graphically amazing (especially the bonus games), with haunting background music – perfect if you’re not feeling particularly chirpy!

Highlander is a 20-line slot game that may present 20 winning combinations of five symbols across its five reels. It has scatter features that can earn you free spins, a Sword Skills bonus round and a Battle Bonus round where the aim of the game is to battle and defeat the Kurgan, accumulating money on the way.

This is a really great fruit machine from Paddy Power Games that the geeks amongst us will love due to its use of video footage and quotes from the cult movie. The game plays along the same lines as Call of Duty and that genre of fruit machine. Dark and brooding, it’s a very compelling game and the bonus rounds are excellent and undoubtedly will keep you coming back for more!

Third to the unbeaten Zarkandar in the JCB Triumph Hurdle over course and distance last March, Grandouet held every chance going to the final flight but appeared to struggle to see out the trip in the closing stages prompting Henderson to have doubts that the horse would get a strongly run two-miles at senior championship level on the particularly testing Cheltenham track. Brought down on his subsequent start at Aintree when holding every chance at the second from home, the five-year-old gained his first much deserved Grade 1 success when bouncing back from that tumble to win the AES Champion 4-Y-O Hurdle at Punchestown in May to round off a generally fine season. Those looking at the online ante-post Cheltenham odds will have been impressed.

This term things started off on a downer with Grandouet travelling strongly upsides Celestial Halo in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton only to take a crashing fall at the second last, but since then the horse has strengthened up and won Haydock’s Betfair Hurdle in taking fashion before going on to lay his Cheltenham bogey with an authoritative success over Fighting Fifth Hurdle winner Overturn to place himself very much in the reckoning for the Champion Hurdle title.

Bookmakers rate Grandouet a best price 7/1 second favourite to win the race for Henderson, reigning champion Hurricane Fly remaining a rock solid 2/1 favourite despite not having been seen in competitive action since last term.

The Paul Nolan-trained gelding is expected to take the beating at Fairyhouse, and assuming all goes well there the County Wexford handler believes that outing will be enough to put his charge spot on for a bid for the Grade 1 two-mile-five-furlong contest and an attempt at thwarting Jonjo O’Neil’s Albertas Run (amongst many others), the horse who is bidding to win the race for the third successive year. Anyone following the Cheltenham market movers will know he is likely to dominate the betting for the race.

Noble Prince has run at each of the last two Cheltenham Festivals putting up a rock solid effort when fifth of the 28 runners behind the smart Thousand Stars in the 2010 Vincent O’Brien County Hurdle, then last season producing a great performance to beat Wishfull Thinking by four-lengths in the Grade 2 Jewson Novices Chase. Still in front at the second last fence in the Grade 1 Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse a month later, Noble Prince crashed out of the race handing the contest to his old rival Realt Dubh, a somewhat unsatisfactory end to what had been a very good season. Fans of Cheltenham horse racing will have expected him to bounce back.

The gelded son of Montjeu made a pleasing return to the fray at Naas in October beating Jigalo comfortably in the Grade 3 Poplar Square Chase, then held every chance at the last but was unable to quicken with the high-class Big Zeb in coming off second best to Colm Murphy’s star in the Grade 2 Fortria Chase at Navan in November. Big Zeb again got the better of Noble Prince last time out at Leopardstown in the Grade 1 Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase, but connections are confident that given better ground and the extra half-mile of the Ryanair Chase, the current 6/1 ante-post favourite will go very close indeed at Cheltenham.

It also has a reputation for its excellent slot selection, and one of the most popular Microgaming slot machines available at Ladbrokes Casino is Scratch N Spin. Scratch N Spin is a pub-style machine. In other words, it uses a fruit-themed symbol set, has only three reels, one pay line and allows only one coin per bet. Coin sizes range from £0.10 to £10.00. Both the standard game and the bonus games pay out in scratch cards rather than directly in coins, hence the name.

Each scratch card won has a hidden value. The unit is either a coin or a multiplier, but in this case, the terms are interchangeable. Each unit is worth the amount of the wager. So if you bet £1, and then won 100 coins from the scratch cards, you’d walk away with £100. The jackpot is 1,000 coins or multipliers. In the case of a £10 bet, that’s £10,000, but if you bet £0.10, it’s only £100. Hit the jackpot by hitting three Scratch N Spin Logos. All other symbols pay out a lesser amount for hitting three in a row.

A “spinning” Scratch N Spin logo initiates the bonus game. You only need one spinning logo, and it doesn’t matter if the symbol configuration is a winner or not. Based on the symbol values, the bonus gives you x number of scratch cards, and then you win the number of coins revealed times your wager. Since the scratch cards can be worth up to 1,000 coins total, the bonus game is essentially another shot at the high jackpot.

Scratch N Spin also offers two “skill” games: Skill Start and Reel Magic. In the case of Skill Start, the game flashes the letters S-T-A-R-T, and you have to hit them in order to form the word. If you do it right, the game automatically re-spins to a winning combination. In Reel Magic, the game flashes symbols. Select one to stop, and then the game re-spins to a winning combination. You can’t lose in Reel Magic, but the higher the symbol the better, so you definitely want to aim for a logo.

Scratch N Spin also offers actual skill features in the form of hold and nudge. Hold lets you pin one to three reels and then spin again, which is quite valuable when spinning from a near-hit. Nudge lets you bump a reel to change one of the symbols. It’s possible to nudge into a jackpot, and there are peek arrows, so you don’t have to nudge blind. Bank lets you save up to four nudges. Repeat is a bonus that lets you repeat your nudges from the last spin. Gamble is a simple 50-50 wager: bet a nudge to win a nudge.

The beauty of pub slot is their simplicity, and perhaps no online pub slots deliver that charm quite the way that Scratch N Spin at Ladbrokes Casino does. It’s fun, fast, including an auto-play option, and it’s highly addictive. We like it so much, in fact, it’s one of the few slot machines we actually play in free mode when the bankroll is just too small to play for real.

The free mode is a nice gaming option for non-gamblers, and it’s convenient for gamblers who want to get a feel for the game before they put their bankroll on the line. Double Bubble uses a very colorful, airy theme, but don’t let that deceive you: This is classic slots with challenging options and a sharp interface that sets it apart from most machines.

Gamesys is a UK-based online gambling company launched in 2001, and Jackpot Joy is its flagship product. It’s one of the fastest growing technology companies in the world, and a big part of that success is its unique approach to slots. All of its games have sharp, data-intensive user interfaces, a host of features and options, and they are all available in free and pay configurations.

Double Bubble is a 5-reel, 20-line slot machine. The coin range is 1p to £4, and the user can bet up to one coin per line. So if you bet the max on all twenty lines, it’s an £80 wager, which provides you with the best overall odds. The top jackpot is 20K credits, and the second-tier jackpot is 500 credits. At the high bet, those 20K credits are worth £80,000, and if you bet all twenty lines, that would £1,600,000, which is a lucrative payout at this commitment level.

Double Bubble also has a good selection of features: auto-spin, scatter symbols and two bonus features. The game plays exceptionally fast and smooth and the data readouts are great, which makes auto-spin a productive option for regular players trying to maximize their time. Auto-spin doesn’t pay out any better, but it does allow the player to bet faster and more often than would otherwise be possible.

The Double Bubble bonus/scatter symbols can appear and be active on any line, not just the ones where the player has placed a bet. When the scatter symbols appear on the first, third and fifth lines, it initiates the Bubble Pop bonus feature. First, the game determines all of the winnings, and then it launches a separate window.

On that screen, the game presents the player with three bonus bubbles over a series of five boards. Each bubble conceals a multiplier that the game will apply to the current bet. The play simply selects one of the bubbles, and the game adds to winnings to any others that round. The max bonus is 22x, and if the player bet the max £80, that would be an additional £1,760.

In addition to the scatter or Bubble Bonus symbols, there are Double Bubble Bonus symbols. These symbols are not interchangeable. If the Double Bubble, which is wild, exists as part of a winning combination then it multiplies the winnings for that line. The multiplier is two plus the number of lines bet. If the user bet one line, the multiplier would be 3x, and if the user bet all twenty lines, then the multiplier would be 22x.

Like most online slots machines, Double Bubble provides its best odds at the max bet. If you have a small bankroll and are just playing for fun, bet in whichever manner you please; it’s still very worthwhile. However, if you’re serious about maximizing your chances on Double Bubble at Jackpot Joy Games, then the £80 bet is the way to go.

Pretty well, actually. “Gladiator” features five different slot reels as well as 25 different lines. Players can select the amount of coins they want to bet per game from 0.01 to 0.25. Betting more coins awards players with higher payoffs but drains their account much more quickly. And players have to play with real money in order to win actual cash payoffs.

However, players that are a bit nervous about investing their hard earned money into the “Gladiator” slot machine will be glad to find that there is a “demo” or “free” version of the game that gives them a certain number of simulated credits. Players can play the demo until they run out of credits. Then, they must create an online profile and deposit money into their account. This demo is a nice option for players that want to try the game out.

Control in the game is simple and mouse driven. Players click on the machine’s buttons to activate them. Here, they can set their bet amount, the number of lines on which they are betting, hit max bet to automatically bet as much as possible and even spin without betting maximum. One of the best features in this game is the “Auto Start” button. Players can select a number of spins that the game will automatically roll. This is useful if you have things to do online or around the house but still want to play.

Game play may seem thin for non-gambling fanatics but the game offers two bonus games that are designed to help create a diverse gaming atmosphere. These games are activated by matching certain symbol combinations which are set up before each spin. Meeting one of these symbol combinations automatically takes the player to the bonus game. These games include the “Coliseum” game and the “Gladiator” game.

The “Coliseum” games finds players picking several different stones off a grid to win bonus games. The “Gladiator” bonus features nine helmets. The player must pick one to reveal his bonus. Although these games may not stack up as serious games in many ways they create a nice change up from the normal game play that is very appreciated.

Solid graphics and sound help round out the package of this great game. The sounds and graphics aren’t incredible but they do add an aura of ancient Rome to the game that makes it more appealing. Check out “Gladiator” today if you enjoy slot machine games and are a fan of the movie. Try out the demo at Paddy Power Casino first and then bet your own money responsibly.

Rules state that ten changes are allowed in a Rugby World Cup year over and above international retirements (Lewis Moody, Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Thompson) and long-term injuries (Andrew Sheridan and Richard Wigglesworth) and Lancaster has used every last one of them.

The England squad will meet for their pre-RBS 6 Nations training camp on Monday, January 23 where no doubt they will all start to get used to each other.

Lancaster said: “Lots of players have been putting their hands up and there were some tough calls to make. However, in line with the selection philosophy about starting new era for English rugby, we have taken the chance to make changes and give players opportunities to be part of the journey towards 2015.

“We have lost some great players who have worn the England shirt with pride and distinction – Lewis, Steve and Jonny – and we should thank them for all they did. Others haven’t been selected for this EPS cycle and I have met them and explained the reasons why as we look for the next player to step up in that position to take us forward.

“We are looking both at the present and just as importantly the future. We wanted to get the right balance in potential and experience and giving us the flexibility to play in different ways. We need to use the upcoming games to build the collective experience and we are confident we have got the right mix to take England forward into this Six Nations and beyond.”

First on the agenda for the new squad is the RBS Six Nations Championship which kicks off in February and all of the latest and best odds for it are below…

Sent off the 4/5 favourite, Davy Russell’s mount was lobbing along in the lead when he took a heavy fall and suffered concussion. The horse that Martin believes is potentially the best he has even trained has been given plenty of time to recover from the trauma and Martin remains in no hurry to rush him back to competitive action until he is certain his charge is mentally and physically. People searching for a Cheltenham free bet should remember this.

The County Meath-based handler reports the eight-year-old to be back in steady work and should he begin to give all the right signals then he might run in Leopardstown’s Frank Ward Arkle Novice Chase on January 29, although the experienced trainer is doubtful that the Gigginstown Stud-owned son of Strategic Choice will be ready quite so early. The main target remains the Cheltenham Festival with Bog Warrior having a choice of engagements that include the three-mile RSA Chase (for which he is now available at 12/1 from 8’s), the two-mile Arkle Chase for which he can be backed at up to 25/1, and the two-and-a-half-mile Jewson Novices Chase, a race for which he is a top priced 12/1 chance.

A winner of all four completed starts, Martin’s pride and joy landed a Grade 1 success on his penultimate start when proving a different class to the opposition in slamming Shinrock Paddy by 31-lengths in the Bar One Racing Drinmore Novices Chase at Fairyhouse at the beginning of last month, a performance that set tongues wagging and flagged him up as one of Ireland’s leading hopes for the novice chase events at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

With a relatively brand new ice panel including Katarina Witt and Louie Spence, night one kicked off with seven competing and one getting the boot just a couple of hours of his debut.

The unlucky, or lucky, depending on which way you look at it, evictee was Andy Akinwolere, the Blue Peter presenter and though he wasn’t the worst on the evening he simply fell foul of not been known very well!

That leaves six contestants from week 1 and another eight fall on to the ice this Sunday. Jorgie Porter is already the clear favourite to win it this year and to be fair to the girl, she was pretty spectacular on the night. Of Hollyoaks fame, Jorgie skated like a pro and we can only hope that she has some competition over the next few weeks or else it’s going to very bloody boring!

For those of you crazy enough to stick a few quid on this competition, all of the best and latest odds are below…

Owner John Hales revealed that last year’s Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner, who will step out of novice company for the first time in the Victor Chandler Chase on January 21, could bypass the Arkle Chase in favour of the Champion.

“We’ve put him in at 8-1 behind the two established chasers, Sizing Europe and Big Zeb, and Finians Rainbow as that’s where we think he is at the moment.

“We’ve afforded the entry a great deal of respect as it does not strike us as tilting at windmills. We’re also non-runner no-bet on the race and that has to be factored in,” said Ladbrokes spokesman David Williams.

Paddy Power stuck their head above the parapet by offering a standout 14-1, while Coral, who eased the Paul Nicholls-trained seven-year-old to 7-1 (from 5-1) for the Arkle, go 10-1 for the Champion Chase.

Judges Bonus – Getting 3 or more Judges Bonus symbols anywhere on the reels earns a scatter award and triggers the Judges Bonus. The more Judges Bonus symbols you have on screen, the larger the award that you take into the bonus. Choose whether to collect your award, or to risk it for a chance to double it. Just get a ‘Yes’ vote from a judge to double the award and advance you to the next judge. But a ‘No’ vote wipes out your award and ends the bonus!

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You then receive an award amount or multiplier for each of three elements-Performance, Audience Reaction and Judges’ Verdict. The total of the awards and multiplier determines the total bonus award that you are being offered!

So tune up the voice, put your glam on and see if you have the ‘X Factor’ with Ladbrokes Casino!

Friday night the qualification picture in Pools 2 and 5 is likely to become clearer when Racing Metro 92 take on leaders, Edinburgh Rugby, at Stade Yves du Manoir in Paris, and when Ospreys go up against Benetton Treviso at the Liberty Stadium.

Munster Rugby, the only club with four wins in the pool stage to date, will continue their push for a coveted place in the last eight when they host Castres Olympique at Thomond Park on Saturday, 14 January 2012 before rounding off their Pool 1 campaign a week later against Northampton Saints at stadium:mk in Milton Keynes.

Reigning champions Leinster, who are unbeaten in Pool 3, travel to Firhill on Sunday, 15 January where they meet a resurgent Glasgow Warriors, while in Round 6 they will look to reach the knockout stages once again when they host Montpellier at the RDS on Saturday, 21 January.

All the latest and best odds for the Heineken Cup are below…

The 2009 contest went the way of Philip Hobbs’ high class Menorah who subsequently went on to land the Supreme Novices’ at Cheltenham so Tetlami is treading in some fairly serious hoofprints in taking this season’s event, justifying 11/8 favouritism and having his odds for victory in the big race at the Cheltenham Festival cut to 20/1 having been readily available at 33/1 prior to beating Vulcanite by three-and-a-half-lengths.

The winner of two bumpers in the 2009/10 season (including a listed contest at Cheltenham’s New Year’s Day fixture that term), the Susan Roy-owned son of Daylami then suffered a setback and missed the whole of last season before making his hurdling bow at Sandown in early December where he put up a very pleasing performance in defeating Black Thunder by five-lengths, clearly having fully recovered from both breathing problems and a pelvic injury that had kept him on the sidelines for more than 18 months.

Henderson had always hoped that the six-year-old gelding would make up into a decent horse and throughout the Kempton race he was always travelling strongly under Barry Geraghty, leading at halfway then staying on too powerfully for Vulcanite, a 101-rated Flat performer, who nonetheless ran a cracker on his hurdling bow to be second ahead of some useful opposition. Henderson insists that Tetlami must have decent ground to be seen at his best so he won’t be asked to slog through the mud in mid-winter, but should the ground remain ‘good’ then he could be asked to tackle the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown in late-January.

Join the characters in the jungle and get down with Tito, Rico, Fabio, Enzo and Geoff, The Fabulous Funkin’ Shrunken’ Heads. Meet the karma-chameleons, Lenny & Benny, who’ll bring Free Spins galore, and Pancho the Parrot who rules this roost, make no mistake about it!

And because the game shares its Progressive Jackpot with Deal or No Deal, you could find yourself with a million pound win if you make it to the Temple itself.
You won’t find any Bonus Symbols in this Bonus Round, but you will find Lenny & Benny, the karam-chameleons, who’ll swallow symbols and turn them wild. All wins in the Free Spins Bonus Round are multiplied by the number of lines that initiated the round.

That’s not it by a long shot… randomly occurring Wild Reel could bring big wins from out of nowhere! Wild Symbols substitute for all symbols except Bonus and Scatter
Remember you must Bet Max to be in with a chance of winning the Progressive Jackpot. Because the Tiki Temple Progressive Jackpot is pooled with Deal or No Deal Slots, it could be won playing either game.

Good luck!

There are plenty of special features including The Wild Symbol (the Incredible Hulk) which appears only on reels 2, 3 and 4. The Wild symbol can stand for any other symbol, except for Scatter and the Smash Bonus symbol to make the best possible winning combination.

There’s also the Expanding Hulk which occurs when the Wild symbol appears on the central position of reel 3, the Expanding Hulk feature is triggered on reel 3. An animation on reel 3 begins, in which the Hulk overtakes the entire reel. At this point, every position on reel 3 is considered to be occupied by a Wild symbol. 2 free spins (re-spins) are awarded, in which only reels 1, 2, 4, and 5 spin, and reel 3 remains Wild. When the two re-spins are finished and the winning paylines have been paid, reel 3 will return to its original position, and normal game will resume.

This game from William Hill Casino is absolutely great with tonnes of features to keep even the most hardened slot player entertained for a long time. With scatter symbols and free spins as well as a great progressive jackpot The Incredible Hulk is a must play!

One of these games is the “Million Pound Drop Slot” game at the “Paddy Power Games” website. This is a spin off of the “Million Pound Drop” TV show. The game show features players placing money on trap doors based on a question. Each trap door represents a question. Players start with a million dollars and hope to keep as much money as possible. How does the slot game tie in with the show? Is it worth playing apart from the show? Lets find out.

The control in the game is done via the mouse. Players click on the machine game buttons to set their bets and spin the machine. Buttons include “Select Number of Lines” “Select Bet Per Line” “Play” “Autoplay” “View Paytable” and “Sound On/Off.” Most of these buttons are self explanatory.

However, “Autoplay” and “View Paytable” take some explanation. “Autoplay” lets you select the number of automatic games you want to run. The game will automatically bet a set number of money for up to 25 different games. “View Paytable” shows you all the possible winning combinations and explains the bonus play features. These options are nice for those who are just starting the game.

The game play doesn’t really resemble the game show at all: it is a slot machine, not a game show with trap doors. However, it does faithfully display the show via its graphics and sound. The graphics are very strong for an online game. They are not going to win any awards or compete with the major league game companies but they are solid, colorful and reflect the show well. The sound is similar in quality. Many sound effects associated with the show are included, such as the trap door opening. The background music resembles the music from the show. All in all, a solid presentation.

Players that are looking for a game that replicates the gaming style of “Million Pound Drop” may be disappointed. However, many players may be drawn into the game due to the bonuses. These bonuses are activated in many different ways. For example, the “Expanding Wild” bonus is activated when a “Golden Bar Symbol” appears on the third reel of the game. Four symbols will then appear to “fall through a trap door” and will be replaced with wild symbols. Any winnings will then be granted based on these changes.

All in all, “Million Pound Drop” from Paddy Power Games is a solid slot machine that has a lot to offer slot machine fans. Fans of the show will appreciate the visual and aural effects while slot machine enthusiasts will love the chance to win money and rack up major bonuses. Try it for free today.

For the most part. Like many online slot machines, playing for real requires signing up for an online game account and using real money. Players must add debit, credit or bank account information and deposit money to use for betting. This may be a problem for players that aren’t interested in betting real money to try the game out. Not many people will be willing to try out a game that they have to pay to play.

Luckily, there is a free version available on Paddy Power Casino that lets players try out the game without any investment in money. They receive 1,800 pounds to start and once they run out they either have to reload the game or deposit real money to continue. This is a really nice feature for a lot of reasons. One, it made the game easier for me to review. Two, the game may not appeal to all fans of “Iron Man 2.” Three, it can serve as a “hook” to lure players into spending. This “try it for free” approach is becoming popular in the online gaming world and its easy to understand why.

How well does the game stand up? Well, it starts out with solid graphics and sound. The graphics feature reasonably close facsimiles of the actors from the movie. They aren’t photos nor are they photo realistic. However, its very easy to see who is who in the game. The game also features solid sounds inspired by the movie. Any true, dyed in the wool fan will appreciate how close the game feels to the movie. Although its not as action packed or as wild, its definitely a good tribute that holds up well aesthetically.

The game play is very simple but not ineffective. Players can select the number of spins they want to take, the amount of money they want to bet per line and they can also select “Max Bet” to bet as high as possible. Players select “Spin” to start the wheel. The 5 reel, 25 line roll begins. Players win money by matching in certain ways. They have a chance to win multipliers which increases their score while in effect.

This game is fun every single time you win. It has that same “one more pull” thrill of real world slot machines. Players have a chance to win big if they are willing to invest money so take a look at Iron Man 2 on Paddy Power Casino today.

Having tracked the leading trio for the much of the way in the two-mile contest, Barry Geraghty sent Molotof (2/1) up to challenge the odds-on Hazy Tom on the home turn before moving into the lead approaching the second from home, anyone looking ahead to 2012 Cheltenham racing would have been impressed. Going to the final flight Peckhamecho loomed up looking a big danger under Tom Scudamore and when Henderson’s charge fluffed his lines in spectacular fashion at the last obstacle it looked for all the world as if Scudamore would get the better of the argument on board Rebecca Curtis’ charge.

Henderson’ four-year-old refused to let that blunder spoil the day though and rallying in tremendous fashion under a strong ride from Geraghty he forged back into the lead 100 yards out to win going away again. It would seem fair to assume that Molotof would have won in somewhat easier fashion but for the blunder and most firms appeared impressed with the gelded son of Smadoun who was cut from as high as 28/1 in the ante-post market for the Supreme Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival 2012 prior to the Ascot race, to as short as 16/1 in the aftermath of the exciting contest.

Molotof was recording his third victory of the term having won at Wincanton on his seasonal bow before stepping up to listed grade to land the odds at Haydock in mid-November, beating Our Joe Mac in the timeform.betfair.com Novices Hurdle.

Although Azerytioup broke that drought, Nicholls Festival record has got infinitely better since then as his first six visits only brought him 4 winners from 80 runners. Since those years early in that decade however he has always scored with more than one winner at the Festival, with his scores being 2004 – 4/22, 2005 – 2/34, 2006 – 3/29, 2007 – 4/34, 2008 – 3/34, 2009 – 5/35, 2010 – 2/31 and last year he had a further 3 winners from 28 runners. So since 2005 his overall record reads much better than those early years giving him 22 winners from 225 runners, managing two or more winners in each of those years at around at 10% strike-rate, not bad for the most competitive National Hunt fixture of the entire year. Those looking at the Cheltenham betting should certainly keep an eye on him.

But as ever it’s useful to break his record down and see where those wins come from and his strong and weak points. Of those 22 winners since 2005 – 12 have come in chases, 10 in hurdles with none in the National Hunt Flat race sphere, where he has only had five runners in the Championship bumper. But was is clear is that Nicholls wins far more races in the novice and championship events than he does in handicaps, breaking down those 22 winners the split becomes 17 in non-handicaps and just five in handicaps, in fact following Nicholls in handicaps at the Festival since 2005 results in a massive 54 point loss, and he has had a fair number of horses beaten at relatively short prices in handicaps including all seven that started at 7/2 or shorter. So we would take great care in supporting Nicholls short priced horses in handicaps during Cheltenham Festival racing.

Already this year Nicholls has demonstrated that he is going to go to the 2012 Cheltenham Festival with a very strong team but backing all of his runners rarely results in an overall profit and selectivity is the key to making a profit with this powerful stable, especially when you are looking at their handicap candidates.

This game offers a Play for Free and Play for Real option. To play with real funds for the chance to win real cash choose play for real. To try out the game for free click on Play for Free, you can switch from play for free to play for real at any time by using the link in the top bar. You need to be logged in to play for real

Minimum bets on this are £1 per line and given that most people will spin the maximum lines it’s going to cost you £10 a pop. The most you can bet into this game is £50 i.e. £5 bet per line across all 10 lines. The game may not have all the bling of some of the other fruit machines but it’s easier to tell when you’ve won and each time you win you get a second chance at more cash for free so it could be seen as better value than some other games. Plus you can play 100s of other fruit machine games at Mecca Bingo.

Bonus Rounds
The Fantastic Four Feature is awarded when 3 or more Scattered Logos appear. Select 1 of the 5 Free Game Features to play. The Fantastic Four Feature cannot be retriggered by any Free Game Feature.

Mr Fantastic Feature. 15 Free Games are awarded with all prizes doubled and if Mr Fantastic appears on Reel 1 in a winning combination during the Free Games, all positions on that reel become substitutes. The Mr Fantastic Feature cannot be re-triggered.

Invisible Woman Feature. 10 Free Games are awarded with all prizes tripled and additional Free Games are awarded each time the Invisible Woman appears on Reel 2. The Invisible Woman Feature cannot be re-triggered.

Human Torch Feature. 10 Free Games are awarded with all prizes tripled as well as additional substitute symbols added to all reels during the Free Games. The Human Torch Feature cannot be re-triggered.

The Thing Feature. 15 Free Games are awarded and each Free Game payout generates its own multiplier. Multipliers are between 2x and 10x the payout. The Thing Feature cannot be re-triggered.

Dr Doom Feature. Free Games continue until Dr Doom appears on Reel 5 and all prizes during the Dr Doom Feature are tripled. The Dr Doom Feature cannot be re-triggered.

Jackpot Rules
The progressive Jackpot is available in real play only and consists of a fixed minimum amount which increases when a player makes a bet in the game. When the jackpot is won, it is reset to the “seed” amount and begins to rise again. The Operator matches a percentage of players bet to increase the jackpot. The Operator will fund the jackpot to the minimum reset value when the jackpot is won. Simultaneous wins cannot occur should a player receive a jackpot win notification for an amount that is no longer available they will receive an error message and the previous round will be rolled back. Marvel Jackpots are awarded randomly. No matching symbols required. The size of the wager determines the chance of winning a Jackpot.

This is a really great game from slot mine casino and should be considered as well worth a go!

The race has a long and rich history, having taken place at Aintree almost every year since at least 1839. Only during the Second World War was the race cancelled; the First World War only forced a brief relocation. It is recognized as one of the most challenging steeplechases in the world for both jockey and horse, with the majority of starters failing even to complete the race. Some of the fences have become infamous, such as Becher’s’ Brook, which has been described by some as being like “jumping off the edge of the world”, because of the 6 foot 9 inch drop on the landing side. The difficulty of some of the fences has caused controversy because of the danger presented to both horse and rider.

The National, as it is also known, has produced some of horse racing’s legends, including Red Rum, who won the race three times in the 1970′s, and Foinavon, the 100/1 outsider who won the race in 1967, ridden by jockey John Buckingham. Last year the winner was Ballabriggs, ridden by Jason Maguire, and trained by Donald McCain, Jr. for owner Trevor Hemmings. The prize was equivalent to around $1,470,000.

While the Grand National itself takes place on Saturday, April 14th this year, it actually forms part of a three day festival, including Liverpool Day on the 12th, and Ladies’ Day on the 13th. Ladies Day has become as famous for fashion as it has for horse racing, offering a chance for the rich and famous to shine, often with outrageous hats like the one that grabbed last years’ headlines, based on novelty doughnuts.

But the centerpiece will be the National itself: at four miles and 856 yards, and with 30 fences, it ranks as of one of the most difficult and prestigious horse races in the world.

Those studying online poker now note how this means that he is eligible for every single Epic Poker League tournament, even if he hasn’t matched the entry requirements. Quite simply, he can pick and choose when he wants to take part in these events.

Reacting to the news, Brunson said: “It’s unnecessary but I guess it’s nice to be remembered for what we went through to get poker to this point. Most people just don’t realize exactly what all transpired, but we went through some pretty adverse things.”

“As I’m getting older, these tournaments are getting too hard to come through. It’s probably not worth it to me anymore to really go on the tournament grind, so I don’t plan on playing a whole lot of tournaments the rest of my life.”I much prefer to play cash games.”

As for one of the men to make this decision, Executive Chairman of Federated Sports & Gaming Jeffrey Pollack praised the contribution Brunson has given poker throughout his career.

He said: ‘the modern history of poker is Doyle’s life’ while Executive Vice President of FS&G and Commissioner of the Epic Poker League Annie Duke continued the praise.

She said: “He just has this secret sauce of every accomplishment you can imagine, big generosity to the poker community, incredible longevity, amazing ambassadorship. And then on top of that he’s just an easy guy to really like.”

Those over at 888 poker online note how the 70-year-old is now bound to have a very eventful year, perhaps making him a poker legend even more so than he has already.

Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. As Casper’s name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite personable, which is nice! Casper was created in the late 1930s by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo, the former devising the idea for the character and the latter providing illustrations.

Line wins are multiplied by the value you have bet on the winning line. All Wins across all different lines are added together to form the total win. All line pay symbols must appear on a played line and on consecutive lines beginning with the far left reel. Only the highest line win is paid on each line. Scatter wins are added to any line wins.

Casper Fruit Machine | Quick Guide

• Bonus Features – Yes
• Gamble Feature – No
• Maximum Bet – £25 per line
• Minimum Bet – 1p per line
• Free Play Option – Yes
• Wild Symbols – Yes
• Free Spins – Yes
• Nudges – No

Wild Symbol
The Wild Symbol (Casper) substitutes for all symbols expect scatter.

Casper Free Spins Bonus
3 Casper Bonus Symbols in view on reels 2, 3 and 4 initiates the Free Spins Bonus. When awarded, the player receives a Bonus win of 1xTotal Stake along with 5 Free Spins. During Free Spins the Mystery Mirror becomes available. In every spin of free spin, if any Mystery Mirrors lands in view a symbol is chosen at random which will appear in every Mirror on the reels, giving the opportunity of big, multiple-line wins. A symbol is chosen each Spin where a Mystery Mirror symbol appears in view. This continues until all Free Spins are played out, where the player is awarded their Total Win from Free Spins.

Mystery Mirror Symbol (Free Spins Only)
The Mystery Mirror (Mirror) chooses a symbol at random to be displayed inside the Mirror. During any spin where a Mirror lands on the reels a symbol is chosen which is displayed in every Mirror in view.

You can play this Slot Machine at Paddy Power Games and claim a free cash bonus!

Bonus Jackpot
In the top left there is an area with three colour coded Bonus Jackpots, each showing an award amount. The Bonus Jackpot awards can only be won in the Wheel Bonus. When you get through to the Wheel Bonus game, you will spin the wheel for an opportunity to win one of the accumulated Bonus Jackpot awards. The Bonus Wheel has a colour coded Jackpot slice for each Bonus Jackpot. After you have played the Wheel Bonus, all the Bonus Jackpot Accumulators are reset.

Wheel Bonus
You enter the Wheel Bonus by hitting the Bonus symbol the first three reels on a selected payline. After you spin, four slices (including your last winning slice) are replaced with a Bankrupt slice. It’s your decision now do you take the win, or spin again for a further chance to win. If you click the Take Win button, you are taken back to the main game. By clicking Spin Again, you get a chance to add to your bonus winnings by landing on another Award or Jackpot slice. On the other hand, if you land on a Bankrupt slice, you lose your bonus winnings. Landing on a Bankrupt slice will end your bonus round, but you won’t go away empty handed; you earn a consolation award that you can optionally parlay on the Double or Nothing Wheel.

Double or Nothing Wheel
If you land on a Bankrupt slice in the Wheel Bonus, you earn a consolation award and are taken to the Double or Nothing Wheel. You can choose to take your consolation award or choose to risk it and spin the Double or Nothing wheel. If you spin the wheel and land on a Double slice, your consolation award is doubled. If you spin the wheel and land on a Bankrupt slice, you lose all of your winnings, and you are taken back to the main game without winning any bonus award. You may continue to play Double or Nothing until you click Take Win, until you lose by landing on Bankrupt, or until you reach the maximum number of Double or Nothing spins, which is 5.

Wilds
There is also a Wild symbol which can substitute for other symbols to help create a line win (or can be a win on its own if 5 of them are next to each other on an active win line). If more than one win can be awarded on the same line (for example 3 wilds in a row or those wilds counting as a different symbol to make 4 symbols in a row) then only the highest paying win will be counted. Using a wild symbol to complete a line does not incur any extra multiplier other than the win for the symbol(s) it is used to substitute. Wild symbol does not substitute for any of the bonus symbols.

This is another great game to be played at Ladbrokes Casino and as always it has a free play option so why not have a spin and see for yourself!

Punters sent Tony Martin’s charge a off marginal 13/8 favourite ahead of Invictus (7/4) to land the two-and-a-half mile Totepool Novices Chase, but Alan King’s gelding was always travelling with plenty of verve under Robert Thornton who rode a canny race in nipping through on the home turn when four of the runners were tightly grouped, at which point Invictus showed a smart turn of foot to suddenly scoot clear leaving his pursuers toiling in his wake. People looking at the best Cheltenham betting odds should remember this.

King believes there is better still to come from his five-year-old Flemensfirth gelding who he may next aim at the Dipper Novices Chase at Cheltenham’s New Year’s Day fixture after which the Barbury Castle handler has now set his sights on the Cheltenham Festival, fully aware that should he manage to bag one of the top flight races with Invictus there would be a £60,000 bonus paid by Plumpton racecourse who offer the prize to the connections of any horse who can win at the Sussex track and then go on to follow up at Cheltenham’s showcase fixture.

At this stage the most obvious targets for Invictus would be the Centenary Novices Handicap Chase or the Jewson Novices Chase (already quoted at a best price of just 16/1), both over the two-and-a-half mile trip that so thoroughly suited the Plumpton winner on his most recent outing. King is no stranger to landing the bonus money having done so back in 2006 with the tremendously popular Voy Por Ustedes.

Alice’s Wonderland is a nice easy game to play and with stakes starting as little as 1p/c you can have lots of fun for little cost. You can choose your stake up to £25/€ and the number of lines you wish to play and the ‘Paytable’ button will show you the potential winnings for the reel combinations, scatter symbols and bonuses.

If you spin 3, 4 or 5 Mad Hatter scatter symbols in any position on the reels you will invited to his Bonus Game which guarantees a win. When you enter the bonus game you will be given instructions on how to play. Here you will meet some of the well known characters from Alice’s Wonderland enjoying afternoon tea. There will be four characters at the party, the Mad Hatter, Alice, March Hare and Dormouse, you will be asked to select one at a time to have a cup of tea and the longer they take to drink it the bigger your bonus. As each character has enough tea they will place their hand over the cup and when all four have finished your bonus will be added to your balance. If any of the characters have sugar added to their tea, which will be shown by the teaspoon moving from the sugar pot to the characters cup and stirring it in you will win the amazing Progressive Jackpot.

Don’t be late ! don’t be late ! for this party, where the stakes start at 1p/cent and the characters could help you on the way to your own Wonderland!.