Well in case you haven't heard I got married on the weekend to the very beautiful Claire. We actually got engaged back in August (when we were in Vegas) but never told anyone - with the eventual view to have a surprise wedding - and what a wedding it turned out to be!

Using the cover that I was organising a surprise birthday for Claire I got everyone on a boat and took them over to the Applecross Jetty - where to their surprise Claire was waiting in her dress on the jetty with her dad.

We had the most fantastic day which turned out to be way better than expected and was so, so much fun and so memorable.

You can read all about it on our wedding site http://clintandclaire.weddinginabox.com.au

Because I rarely get an opportunity to edit my website I have decided to integrate some other cool features into my website. Now as a part of the website any updates that I do on Flickr, Facebook or on the other blogs that I write (boring nerd stuff mainly) will appear here on ClintonCherry.com. This way you will get a much more accurate idea of what I am up to (rather than an update every 6 months...)

For anyone who randomly visits this site, you will notice that it no longer gets updated with the frequency it used to. In a bid to make this site more up to date with what I am up to, I am looking to start to get information from a number of sources and publish my activities also using this.

One such application I use is Twitter, which enables me to send updates via the web or SMS as to what I am doing (my thoughts, activities, ponderings etc) and as such you will notice to the left there is a section 'My Twitterings', which will change all the time as I update Twitter.

In the future I'd like to see my updates to photo albums, Facebook or other applications also appear on here, as well of course as still updating my diary entries here!

Well to start with, last week didn't end up so good. A draw in the AFL and Man U going down in an upset meant for the first time I lost money on a weekend, and ended up $12 down for the weekend. I will post results later...

Moving forward I have put a stack of bets on this weekend!

IN the AFL at $4.85 I have $5 on Freo. At $4 I have $5 on West Coast. And Saints at $2.30 was too good a bargain to pass up for $5. I have also perserveered and put $3 on Buddy to kick the most goals at $4.25, while I put my 4 pick on Coll-Geel-Adel-WC for $2 at 12.5 to 1.

A huge week in the premier league so have put some money down there. I have $5 on the Man U Chelsea draw at $3.20, for the same odds I have $5 on Middlesborough for a win over Sunderland and another $5 on Liverpool at $2.45. I whacked $10 on Arsenal at $1.27 which should be a breeze, and finally put $3 on Ronaldo to be the first scorer in the blockbuster (at 6/1) as well as $5 that there will be at least 3 goals at for odds of 2.3/1!

Well I am a bit late to submit my bets for the week, but early on the bets I have placed have already gone well. Chelsea won on Thursday night (which I had $10 on at 2/1) and then last night with the start of the IPL I had $10 on the Knight Riders (at $1.72) which also came in.

So to the Premier League and Man U at $1.60 seem like a good bet for this weekend for $10, and I have put another $10 on Arsenal at a low $1.31.

To the AFL and for my pick 4 I have gone for Saints, Geelong, Freo and Hawks which was paying a healthy $8.10 (so I have $3 there) and another $1 on Judd to get the most possessions at $13. Finally I have put $10 on the Eagles who are paying $2.17 at home against a team that has not won a game yet!

Well another week down, and another week up. Though only made $10 this week, so wasn't as lucrative as of late. Probably didn't help that I had a couple of late betting splurges. I put $5 on Big Bad Barry to get 6 weeks or less at $1.90 which didn't come in (but I'm not upset about that. Chelsea also didn't come in, but likewise I am happy to lose money on them as that opens the door for Chelsea.

On the plus I put $2 on Richmond at 5.5/1 which brought me in a nice $11. Plus my four pick of favourites came in, along with Man United and Man City.

Results

Bet: $40
Won: $50
Net: +$10
Net Total: +$110

Chelsea are playing tonight so have another $10 on them at $2.10 which isn't too bad and will be part of next weekends winnings should they come in.

Its pretty lopsided in the AFL betting and no real stand out bets for me. For my four pick I have gone WB-Kang-Geel-WC at $11.80 for $3 and WB-Kang-Geel-Syd at $3.30 for $5 - hopefully if the first three can get in, then I have hedged my bets on the West Coast game... Though I don't hold high hopes for the Coasters but with big odds I have still put $5 on WCE at $4.35 as I still don't think Swans are that great either. Finally I have put 2 bucks on Buddy to kick the most goals for the round (for a bit of fun) as that is paying $6.

Updated: Have also decided to plunge a huge $3 on Essendon tonight at $3.30 as I wouldn't make Friday nights viewing a little more exciting. And with Embley out of the Eagles, I now regret any betting to do with the WCE, so I would NOT recommend betting on them.

In the premier league Man United are back at home against Arsenal, though I can't see them dropping another game so am backing $10 on them at $1.90. Chelsea are $1.25 against Wigan, but its still worth putting $10 on them as that should be a gimme. Finally I think $3.45 isn't a bad price for Man City against an in form Sunderland, so am putting $5 there.

Another week down and another week up in terms of betting.
I ended up topping up my bet on Melbourne to include another $5 on Geelong by 1-39 which was paying $4.25 and a $5 bet on Port Adelaide to win. With Melbourne losing by less than 39 points, it meant I ended up getting over $60 back on this game, which made up well and truly for my other AFL losses.

In terms of the premier league Chelsea brought me in some cash, and luckily I didn't back Man United too strongly after they drew their game.

So at the end of the weekend I still ended about $20 up.

Bet: $50
Won: $70 Net: +$20 Total to date: +$100

Well this week all the talk about betting should be around Melbourne Vs Geelong. Currently they are giving 21/1 odds on Melbourne. For even money they are giving Geelong a 70 point head start. These odds are just too good to be true, so I have put a couple of bucks on the win (cause this really isn't going to happen), but have put down $20 on the 70 point head start, as that is a BIG ask for Geelong.

In other footy betting I am backing $10 on West Coast at 2/1, while my 4 pick for the week is for StK-Haw-Freo-Ess at $6.40.

Finally in the premier league I have put $7 on Chelsea for a win at a respectable $1.75, and with my final $1 for the week have put it down for Man United to win 2-1 against Middlesborough at 8/1.

Now I'll wait and see on the early results to see if I back Chelsea in with some more money...

Week 2, and had some mixed fortunes. The Premier league was alot kinder than the AFL, but still endup up. As all my betting was over by Sunday, I also ended up putting on a few more bets, which more or less ended up cancelling each other out. I had a double on Geelong and Richmond at $2.73 for $5 bet which didn't come in after a dissappointing Richmond, though I did put $20 on Chelsea at $1.31 to win which covered the earlier bet after they came in (just).

So in the end, I am now up a total of $79 with a summary of the weekends bets below...

Week 2 results

Bet: $115
Won: $130 (+$60 from Sportsbet loan)
Net result: +$15
Total to date: +$80

With a tough week in the AFL, this week my attention turned to the premier league. I believe while Arsenal have been in a form slump, $1.73 for an Arsenal win is a good buy, so have wagered $15 on them for a win. From signing up to SportsBet, I also have a 'free' $60 bet to use, so have decided to use this to bet on Manchester United at home. They have been in sparkling touch, and whilst it is only paying $1.33, I'd say its pretty close to a sure thing.

In the AFL with my 'Pick 4' I have decided to wager it on Bris-WB-WC-StK. It is paying $6.15 which isn't too bad, but as I'm not oozing confidence, I have decided to just put the $5 on this bet. Finally I have put a few head to head bets - $5 on Hawks at 2/1 seemed a pretty good bet, as did 2/1 Line bet for Melbourne with a +14 point start against the bulldogs. And finally I put a $5 on West Coast v Adelaide to be within 15 points of each other.

Fingers crossed for the weekend...

Summary

Arsenal to beat Bolton $15
Man U to beat Aston Villa $60FB
Bris-WB-WC-SK $5
Hawks to beat Dockers $5
Melbourne to win, or lose by less than 14 $5
WCE or Adelaide to win by 15 or less $5

Well after a huge hiatus from writing on this blog I have decided to post again. This time its about my latest hobby... betting.

Judd

Last week I decided it was a smart move to bet $50 on Judd for the Brownlow at 13/1 - thinking he was fully fit and would romp it in (and also now that the Eagles have lost him, the least I should be able to do is benefit financially be the loss). So I managed to persuade Claire to go to the TAB for me and put the bet down. Having watched him on Thursday night, I think he is miles away from the fitness levels I expected from him, and as such he is probably already offering better odds this week. That bet will also prove to be a waste of $50 one would think... HOWEVER what this bet did to was give me the bug. The gambling bug.

Life as a gambler begins

Having enjoyed my little wager and the excitement of it all (even if that first bet will take 22 rounds before I know any more) I decided why not spice up my life with a bit of weekly gambling on all things sport. And so I decided to get an online account with Sportsbet.

Week 1 bet

So for my first bet I decided to go on an AFL multi bet. What seemed like the best combo to me was West Coast, Hawks, Bombers and Bulldogs. I thought the bulldogs should fire for Brad Johnsons 300th, Bombers looked great in the preseason, Demons are woeful so the Hawks had the bye, and I have to back the Eagles. The combo was paying 8.5/1 so I put $10 down and waited to see what would happen.

As it happened I was damn lucky with the Bulldogs, the Eagles weren't that convincing, but the Hawks were great so coming into Monday I was sitting pretty with 3 out 3 to that point. Getting a little nervous about the bombers I ended up hedging my bets and placed $15 on the Kangaroos at $1.75. That way I couldn't lose on my first betting weekend. In the end though I needn't have worried as Bombers won pretty comfortabley in the end as did I on my first weekend.

The results

Bet $25
Won $85
Net +$65

So with a decent win on my first week, I'm already excited for next weeks bet... stay tuned!