The South China Morning Post started the soccer betting season on a winning note, with tipster Nick Pulford picking six winners out of nine matches on the home/away/draw schedule for the first week of legal football gambling in Hong Kong.
He also forecast the score in the Kaiserslautern v 1860 Munich match, a 1-0 away win, listed as a $9 chance.
Seven of the 15 tips Pulford gave (including correct scores and total goals) were successful. A level stake of $100 on each of those tips would have yielded a $765 profit if the bets were placed when the Hong Kong Jockey Club first published the odds. That would make a return of $2,265 on an investment of $1,500 - a more than 50 per cent profit.
Hong Kong punters backing the winner in all nine matches at the odds offered when betting opened would have come out slightly better than punters doing the same in Britain.
Don't miss Pulford's predictions for the second weekend's round, which covers the German Bundesliga and the Charity Shield match between Manchester United and Liverpool on Saturday. The form guide will be published on Saturday. Here is the schedule for the matches:
