Buckley played in losing Grand Finals for the Magpies in both 2002 and 2003 and had retired and been made assistant manager by the time the side finally prevailed in 2010 and says even this triumph did nothing to quell his disappointment.

”There is no way I can possibly fill that void. Being a premiership player is something you get the opportunity to do whilst you are in the best athletic and physical years of your life,” Buckley said.

”I don’t get the chance to fill that void.”

The 39-year-old has inherited a superb squad and is clearly full of enthusiasm for his new position ahead of his first live Aussie rules  game as a coach.

Buckley admits that he misses the responsibility of controlling his team on the field something he did throughout his career with Brisbane and Collingwood.

He is sure to be a very hands on coach in his new role and says he is looking to build his squad in his image, bringing in young, tenacious talent so they can emulate his success, despite the AFL betting odds not being in his favour.

“If I had a choice right now, I would play. I would rewind and I would start all over again,” he said.’

‘But the next best thing is to look at half a dozen new recruits that come in to the place and give them the opportunity I believe I was given.”

Danny Granger and Roy Hibbert were the two standout performers for the visitors, who defied the pre-game basketball betting odds  that were stacked against their side. Granger top scored for the Pacers with 22 points, whilst Hibbert was not too far behind with 20 points, including a crucial dunk with 13 seconds to go to establish a four point lead.

Indiana made up for their defeat to the Bulls in last season’s first round of the play-offs, however, had to overcome a 10 point deficit at the halfway point in the match when they went into the break trailing 54-44. After the third quarter was complete, they had turned things around to lead by just a point.

The Bulls were missing their key forward Luoi Deng who was out through a wrist injury. Despite the defeat, they still sit at the top of the Central standings ahead of Indiana.

In the Southeast Division,Punters who bet on basketball will not have been surprised when Miami Heat brought up their 13th win of the season with a 101-98 victory over Detroit Pistons.

Lebron James was exceptional for the away side with 32 points. Last year’s NBA Championship finalists brought their season record to 13-5 with the win.

The Pistons tried their best to match the stars of Miami but could not avoid their 15th defeat of the campaign.

Despite gaining plaudits for their performance, Pistons coach Lawrence Frank was not satisfied with a dignified defeat.

“For us, it’s obviously disappointing to lose, there’s not a consolation prize,” he said.
The Miami Heat will return to the Palace later in the year for their second visit of the season.

Both teams have suffered from inflated and unrealistic expectations for the season from the fan base and management and with the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons up a game in the wild card chase, one of these NFC East rivals is likely to stay home come the post-season. The Giants play the Washington Redskins and cross-town rivals the Jets before welcoming the Cowboys into town the last Sunday of the season.

Eli Manning is considered by some to be the most clutch quarterback currently playing in the NFL, even more so that brother Peyton with the Indianapolis Colts, but the four game losing streak mid season may be too much for the Giants to overcome – with those who bet on NFL agreeing with that assessment.

The Cowboys have the slightly easier schedule traveling to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers on Saturday before welcoming the Philadelphia Eagles into Dallas. However, with the Giants comeback victory over the Cowboys in week 14, New York would hold the edge should they go to the final game with the Giants one game behind in the standings. In that scenario, a New York victory would send the Giants through on the tiebreaker – the online bets suggest this one is too close to call.

A season that started with so much promise for the Eagles amid predictions of a Super Bowl run has instead turned to calls for the ouster of head coach Andy Reid. It’s a stunning reversal for a club that made the big free agent splash of the summer picking up Nnamdi Asomugha when the cornerback became a free agent. You get the sense that the Eagles would like nothing more than to blunt the playoff hopes of the Jets whom they play in week 15 and the Cowboys the following week.

But instead, as they try to reassess where they are going after dropping to 1-3, they have to find a way to convert dominant positions into wins. People placing NFL bets should remember this.

Despite a superb performance by Michael Vick on Sunday, the Eagles suffered a 24-23 defeat at the hands of the 49ers, making it all too clear they have major weaknesses.

Ahead of the match, they had tried to address those problems by replacing Casey Matthews with Brian Rolle. Likewise, with Kurt Coleman unconvincing at safety, Nate Allen was handed a start.

Unfortunately, their season is like a badly-built dam. You plug the holes where you find them, but others are continuing to appear.

Defensively, they were exploited by San Francisco – the Eagles allowed seven plays of 25 yards or more.

And what had been seen as a strength of the team, their pass defense, has been shown up as they have now allowed 10 touchdown passes in three games. Those who bet on NFL action need to bear this in mind.

Worst of all, Philadelphia is suffering alarming collapses in the final quarter. In the last three weeks, they have been outscored 36-0 in the fourth quarter, and have allowed five TD drives.

On average, teams have gone 68.6 yards to score those touchdowns, which will provide the coaching staff with plenty to ponder in the next few days.

It’s not as if the woes are just confined to defense. The offense turned the ball over three times in the red zone – for the third straight week.

Sadly, even the special teams are not immune from criticism. While Alex Henery had started the season well, with four FGs from four attempts inside 50 yards. Against the Niners, that all changed as he missed from 39 and 33 yards.

Plenty to work on, if the Eagles are to get their season back on track.

A defeat to Fiji could open the door for Samoa to sneak through to the knockout stages with South Africa. Wales have been in very promising form though so far in this World Cup and will go into the clash as heavy favourites in the Rugby World Cup betting.

Wales’ medical performance manager Prav Mathema confirmed the veteran speedster has been back running, confirming a final decision on his inclusion will be made over the next couple of days.

“Shane is recovering well. He is back up and running and we are pleased with his progress, but the next 48 hours will be essential in determining whether he may be available to us this weekend,” he said.

Fiji dumped the Welsh out of the 2007 World Cup and Warren Gatland’s men will be desperate to avoid a repeat of that this time around and having Williams available will be important to that plan. The head coach does look likely to be without both James Hook and Dan Lydiate, the duo both struggling with knocks that have seen them miss training this week. Fans of Rugby Union betting will be wondering what sort of impact this will have on the side.

Flanker Lydiate left the Samoa victory with his foot in a protective moon boot and the ankle injury is still causing him trouble. Hook sustained a bang to his shoulder against Namibia and could also be on the missing list for this weekend’s game. Gatland won’t want to risk the duo in a match the Welsh should be winning. Their potential quarter-final clash against the Irish will be a much tougher ask and Wales will want to have both players available for that game.

With a Silver Cup and a Bronze Cup to accommodate those horses who fail to make the cut for the big race itself there will still be plenty of horses running for good prize money at the Western meeting, but Hoof It will not be one of them having already excelled himself at the highest level this term following his stunning success under a massive weight in the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood at the end of July. Anyone betting on horse racing should keep an eye on him.

Owned in partnership by leading international golfer Lee Westwood and his manager ‘Chubby’ Chandler’, Hoof It, (who had won two hot York handicaps prior to his Goodwood triumph), was stepped up straight to Group 1 company by his octogenarian handler and ran a cracker over a trip short of his best when staying-on strongly to finish a two-length sixth to Margot Did in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York’s Ebor Festival last month. Those following the horse racing betting should remember this.

Returning to his optimum trip of six furlongs for the Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock at the start of September, Keiren Fallon’s mount was coming through with a strong challenge when carried left by eventual winner Dream Ahead and came out worst in a desperately close three-way photo to the top-notch contest. No end-of-season targets for the Monsieur Bond gelding have yet been announced, but it looks certain that next year Hoof It will well and truly take all the beating in the top European six-furlong races.

The software development team at Microgaming have created an  online slots game for free or for real money at a wide selection of online casinos. The game has a fixed value of $1 per bet but allows you to place bets for one, two or three coins per spin. This system contributes to a jackpot of 2,000 coins when you hit three Indian Chief Head symbols on a pay line while playing for maximum coins.

The game screen has a classic three-reel theme feel to it. The reels are situated in the top left hand corner of the screen just hanging above the Chiefs Fortune logo and the pay table is stood at the right. The whole game screen is set against a backdrop of an Indian reservation.

The game has a standard wild symbol and it is represented by the Chiefs Head symbol. The wild symbol substitutes for all other symbols in order to complete winning combinations. The only exception is the Magic Arrow symbol, which is used to activate the games special bonus feature.

Like most online casino games you can only qualify for the special bonus feature if you are playing for maximum coins. If you hit a magic arrow while playing for maximum coins one magic arrow is shot into the target. Once you have five magic arrows in the target the bonus feature will begin.

Chiefs fortune also has an autoplay feature allowing you set a predetermined number of spins, sit back, relax and watch the money roll in.

The game is available to be played online in limited number of online casinos where it can be played for free or for real money. The free version of the game is a great idea because it enables the player to experience the game without having any of their bankroll at risk. When you are ready to allow some of your coins to leave your side there are a few options to choose from. You have cash denominations ranging between $0.05 and $5 and up to a maximum of three coins.

The game screen looks like a brick and mortar slot machine with two distinctly different sections. The top section contains the pay table and the bottom section contains the three-reels and buttons. The prizes on offer range from as low as two credits (for hitting a cherry symbol) or the jackpot of 2,400 credits (for hitting three green lucky number seven symbols on an active pay line whilst playing for maximum coins). The symbols on the reels include different coloured lucky number sevens, cherries and the one, two and three bar symbols. A certain amount of concentration is required for this, much like betfair live roulette

Lucky Seven has plenty of character but lacks a little bit of depth and innovation. However, the whole basis of the game is the old school slot machine vibe and it delivers on that score.

The game is available to be played online in a very limited number of online casinos and it can be played for free or for real money. The free version of the game is a great idea because it enables the player to experience the game without having any of their bankroll at risk. When you are ready to place those bets, there are a number of options available to you, with cash denominations ranging between $0.01 and $5 per spin and up to a maximum of three coins.

The game screen is a classic brick and mortar one-armed bandit with a gold medal splayed across the centre and a leaping horse equipped with rider at the bottom. The prizes on offer range from as low as one credit (for hitting three blank symbols) or the jackpot of 4,000 credits (for hitting three horse symbols on an active pay line whilst playing for maximum coins). The symbols on the reels include gold, silver and bronze medals and one, two and three bars graphically portrayed as jumps. It works in a similar fashion to zero casino games.

Jumping for Gold also has a wild multiplier symbol and the horse symbol represents it. This symbol substitutes for all other symbols when creating winning combinations. One symbol will double your pay out and two simultaneously hitting the screen will quadruple your win.

Symbols in the game include key characters from the film including Maximus, Proximo and Lucilla. If you haven’t seen them the film you can still play the game with no problems as no knowledge is required to take part.

With some symbols you will only need to find two matching pairs on the same win line. Finding all five of the same character will help you collect the big prizes in the game. It requires some strategy like playing deal or no deal online.

Three scatter symbols anywhere on the screen will trigger the coliseum bonus in which you will get the opportunity to win different prizes that include free games, extra scatter symbols and extra wild symbols. There will be four rows of stones and you will start at the bottom row and work your way up to the top.

One of the other features of this popular slot game is the Gladiator bonus. You simply need to find one of the bonus symbols on reels 2, 3 or 4. In this round there will be nine helmets all of which will carry a prize value. All the helmets are added up and you will collect the total prize fund. There will be three different types of helmets: gold, silver and bronze. The gold helmets will be most profitable to you with bronze helmets holding the least prize value.

A gamble round after any winnings will allow you to double your prize with a turn of a card in which you have to predict if it will be red or black.