February

They’ve weighed in for the celebrity tipping competition and it’s time to announce which of our tipsters have come out on top...

In reverse order, last place was Laura Davies who, having roared back into contention with a perfect 3 out of 3 in December, found her hot streak come to an end during January. Laura failed to find a single winner for the month, although she’ll no doubt be cursing Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek whose mistake versus Manchester United not only cost the Anfield team a draw it also had repercussions for Laura who was ‘on’ the draw for £100 @ 3.3. The goalies gaff cost her second place overall with her final balance standing at £459.30. Laura has donated this to her charity of choice, the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Taking advantage of Laura’s misfortune was Angus Loughran who ‘lumped’ two bets on a couple of short priced runners. Angus successfully backed Celtic to beat Rangers in the Tennents Cup, and the £100 on the Bhoys at 2.24 proved a wise selection as they beat their fierce rivals 2-1. Angus’ second bet was on England to win the fourth Test (£100 @ 3.25) and in a real roller-coaster of game (see Stop Press) a Matthew Hoggard-inspired England did just enough to get the win. After 3 months betting Angus has turned the £600 of free bets into £734 and finishes second overall. Angus has kindly donated this £734 to the 5 Stars Appeal.

However, the leader since the off and the stand-out tipster throughout was Tony Cascarino. Tony’s final balance rested at an impressive £1,260 and the sum included some great tips in January; firstly Tony corrected picked the New England Patriots to win the AFC conference outright, the £100 @ 3.48 av. odds got his month off to the perfect start. Better tipping still was to come in the Aussie Open where Tony ‘plumped’ for Serena Williams in the Ladies event (£50 @ 5.8 saw a return of £290) while he came agonisingly close with his selection for the Men’s event, having taken Lleyton Hewitt at a price (£50 @11.5). He was desperately unlucky as the fatigued Aussie only came undone in the final to Marat Safin. Tony has kindly chosen to donate his winnings to the ‘Make a Wish’ charity in Dublin.

We’d like to thank our tipsters for being great sports over the past 3 months and for their generosity with their time.

Angus Loughran Angus is a familiar face to many sports enthusiasts and is a regular on BBC horse racing. Football fans too will undoubtedly recognise Angus from cult TV show Fantasy Football League. Angus also writes a weekly betting feature in the Daily Telegraph.	Laura Davies Winner of three majors on the LPGA Tour (1994 and 1996 LPGA Championship and the 1987 US Women’s Open). Laura’s distinguished career has seen her win over $6 million in prize money to date.	Tony Cascarino Tony represented the Republic of Ireland Football team on 88 occasions. After a distinguished club career which included spells at Chelsea, Celtic and Aston Villa, Tony retired and has now become a well known tipster for the Racing Post, and regular at the poker tables.
Final sum: £734.00	Final sum: £459.30	Final sum: £1260.00