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 I have written before about the importance of information and how getting key facts early can give you the edge over the bookmakers. I recall getting an SMS weather update from a mate 30 minutes before kickoff of a Super 14 game in Sydney which confirmed the rain had arrived and saw me cancel plans to have a bet that required loads of tries and points.
I don’t have friends scattered all around the world though and this weekend I realised how Twitter and Facebook can benefit me if used correctly.
I was not actually looking for information but rather scores on the Rebels v Crusaders warm up match in Melbourne. The game was not televised and I drew a blank when trying to find live scoring on the internet. With a bet on the Crusaders to win by 2 points or more I frantically googled “Melbourne Rebels” and clicked through to their home page hoping for live updates.
I was disappointed to find nothing but a link to their Facebook page which I clicked on and here was where the action was with someone in the ground making regular comments and score updates.
Still not 100% content I then went onto Twitter and searched for the word “Crusaders” and I was amazed to find a handful of people tweeting from within the stadium. These tweets were coming thick and fast and while it was no substitute for TV it was in some ways better than the live scoring options you get on rugby websites.
What really hit me though was that these tweeters could now become my Melbourne connections and rather than close the page and forget about this match I made a point of following those who were providing the information.
My reasoning is that these fans will also be tweeting on things like the weather and team selection before matches and there is also nothing stopping me just dropping a tweet their way asking for a conditions update a few minutes before the coverage starts.
I already follow a number of the top players as their tweets can provide information into their or even the teams mindset and with the fans now added to my social networking arsenal I look forward to getting the hop on our bookmakers come Super 15 kickoff.
This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was first published on the 10th of February 2011.
Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and presents a sports betting radio show every Thursday night from 22h00 – 22h30 on 1485AM Radio Today or Channel 169 of the DSTV Audio Bouquet and to get on his free weekly e-mail list just send a message to brent@goodforthegame.co.za titled “Best Bets”.
You can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/brentgraham or get on his mailing list by dropping him a line at brent@goodforthegame.co.za
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