WSOP '08 Year of the Pros ?

Thus far this years WSOP is thowing up a few suprises -

Pros can win tournaments !
Poker is a game of skill !

From this donkeys point of view it's a good thing for the game. If a pro wins the main event it will be even better. The boom players have got over the "anyone can win a tournament" buzz that it took to get them playing in the first place. To keep those customers playing they need a little hope. They need to know that if they keep trying skill will win. They need to know poker's not just about bad beats and suckouts. If the Pros can beat Donkeys that means they can too and buying all those books and PXF subscriptions wasn't a waste of time and money after all.

I'm slowly getting back into my rhythm this week. 4 days of no internet play broke the habit and I've had to ease back into it with just a couple of multi table SNGs this week. I played a WSOP freeroll on Stars too and beat 2600 other pushmonkeys to finish in the top 50 and get another shot at a free seat sometime on Saturday. Oh yeah I won a $5 5-table SNG last night too, that was a nice feeling.

Euro 2008 is hotting up pretty nicely and I've had some good bets so far. I layed the Czech Republic on Wednesday in the Asian Handicap market at 1.8 so basically made £10 when I could have lost £8 at most. I had first goalscorer in Roger Guerreiro for Poland last night which netted £60 @ 12-1.
Tonight some of the big guns are playing again. I've got one tip and then a few wild punts :

TIP :
Italy - Romania
Winning Margin (for either team) = 1 Goal @ 2.2-1 £10

Romania and Italy are 1st and 3rd for least goals scored in qualifying and Italy are masters of the 1-0 victory. It would take an Italian collapse for Romania to win this game but if they do it wouldn't be by a lot of goals. 2.2 might seem like a short price but I think it's the best bet of the day.

Punts :
(goalscorers and correct score)
Pirlo 2 - 1 @ 69-1 £2

Netherlands - France

Kuyt 2-0 @ 84-1 £3
Van Nist 2-0 @ 43-1 £3
Benzema 2-1 @ 139-1 £2

Can't see France winning this one but I'll be watching during play to see if any odds go flying into long range territory if they score first.