There are few things more frustrating than having a bet on a sporting event but being unable to watch the action. I have reluctantly had to accept that despite claims to the contrary I am not able to somehow influence the outcome when I am glued to the screen but it certainly beats being starved of information and reliant on others for updates as I was this weekend.

In the first instance I had a sizeable bet on the Bulls beating the Leopards by 35 points or more at Loftus on Friday night. The wager was struck before I knew of Trish’s dinner plans with friends and as we chatted over drinks my eyes kept on darting to my cell phone for SMS updates courtesy of mates that were at home watching the match.

Things appeared on track early with the Bulls racing to a 17-3 lead but a long gap in SMS’s is never a good sign and my Calzone took on a slightly bitter edge when with 3 minutes to go the Bulls led by 29 points. I knew that 1 more converted try would suffice and that the next message I received would be the pivotal one. I heard a beep and as the conversation carried on around me I tried to conceal my disappointment, “Bulls 44-11, final score” it read, they had indeed crossed the line again but my money was gone thanks to a lousy missed conversion.

On Saturday I labeled the Cheetahs -36 as the proverbial good thing for the weekend when they hosted the Boland. The problem was the game was not televised and I would be relying on delayed internet updates to keep me abreast of how my bet was doing.

There was plenty of other live sport on the go but I sat on the couch staring at my lap top for the better part of two hours. Things started well with 2 Cheetahs tries in 5 minutes but after that the scoreboard was stagnant for long periods and I tried to imagine what was happening in the game. Just when I had all but thrown in the towel I saw a comment in the Goodforthegame discussion forum confirming that the Cheetahs had beaten the handicap. The poster was receiving information direct from the ground and my agonizing wait was over at last.

This article first appeared in the Citizen CitiGaming section on Thursday 27 August 2009

Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and presents a sports betting radio show every Saturday morning at 07h30 on 1485AM Radio Today or Channel 169 of the DSTV Audio Bouquet.

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

Goodforthegame will be posting betting previews on the Tri Nations, Currie Cup, Ashes, Premier League and PSL.