European Football 1
Contrary to what some people might think, you don't need to buy a satellite system that turns your back garden into something resembling Jodrell Bank to become a winning European football punter.
Obviously, it doesn't do any harm to take in as much of the action from the continental championships as possible. But Sky Sports gives Spain's La Liga brilliant coverage with live games on Saturdays, Sundays and occasionally in midweek, as the transfers of David Beckham, Michael Owen and Jonathan Woodgate to Real Madrid and Henrik Larsson to Barcelona increased interest in Spanish football among British followers.
And while Sky seldom shows German league games as they happen, its Bundesliga Review show is comprehensive enough to keep you up to date with the goings-on in that country.
Eurosport's coverage of Italian and French football is less polished than Sky's, but as punters we are more interested in the action than features on which ice-cream parlour Roma striker Francesco Totti likes to hang out in on his day off, so that needn't bother us too much.
If you adhere to the universal rules of sports betting outlined elsewhere, such as being selective, not only betting because you are going to watch a game, doing research into team news, and having a half-decent grasp of the laws of probability, you have the basic tools at your disposal to either take on the layers or other punters on the betting exchanges.
Doing your homework does not guarantee that you will make money. It is how you apply what you discover that is the vital factor. Here are some of the most important points to consider when backing a team in a fixture on the continent.