A bumper weekend of sport saw big winning bets landed from the Netherlands to California as some of our shrewd online betting punters got one over our trading team. We run through three of the weekend’s biggest events (if you happen to like your Dutch relegation battles) to find where the spoils were earned.

ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA 2^ND TEST – MATCH MULTI-POINTS (SETTLED AT 80)

Rugby league fans who watched Australia waltz through England last weekend would have headed to Liverpool with an air of trepidation on Saturday, but although Shaun Wane’s side missed out on the chance to win the Ashes, they at least put up a better fight.

Both sides notched two penalties apiece in the first half to leave the score at 4-4 as rugby league travelled to the Hill Dickinson Stadium for the first time. Were it not for man of the moment Reece Walsh, England may have gone into the break in front after the Brisbane star denied Tom Johnstone and Dom Young with crucial, last-gasp tackles.

In the second half, it was a familiar tale as England were wasteful, and Australia were clinical with Kevin Walters’ side running out 14-4 winners as they won their 14^th successive Ashes series.

A low scoring game was good for sellers, and the Match Multi-Points rugby league spread betting market saw a big winning bet. Before kick-off in Merseyside, Match Multi-Points was available to trade at 380-420. However, with eight first half points followed up by ten scored in the second half, the market settled at 80 as sellers won 300x their stake.

BREEDERS’ CUP TURF – ETHICAL DIAMOND 50-25-10 (SETTLED AT 50)

Picture Willie Mullins and your mind wanders to wet and grey days at Punchestown or Cheltenham with the mud flying as quickly as the horses. This weekend therefore, was a departure from the norm for the ‘King of Closutton’ as he saddled Ethical Diamond at the Breeders’ Cup meeting in California.

Ethical Dream was originally slated for the Melbourne Cup before a vet’s ruling denied him a run, forcing Mullins to drop the Ebor winner into exalted company in the Breeders’ Cup Turf race. This is traditionally a race dominated by the Europeans, but with heavy hitters like Oaks winner Minnie Hauk and globetrotting superstar Rebel’s Romance in the betting, Ethical Diamond was sent off with a Race Index spread of 5-7.

However, under a good ride from Dylan McMonagle, Ethical Diamond defied the price to secure victory and $2m in prize money. None of our winning punters scooped $2m but there were some big winning bets for spread betting punters who bought Ethical Diamond’s Race Index spread. With the market settled at 50, those punters were in clover to the tune of 43x their stake.

HERACLES v PEC ZWOLLE – GOALS CUBED (SETTLED AT 1000)

You could fit the population of Almelo into Old Trafford with a couple of thousand seats to spare and after this weekend, the chances are that the vast majority from that small town in the Netherlands are feeling pretty good about themselves. That is because on Saturday their side – Heracles – won just their second Eredivisie match of the season when beating PEC Zwolle.

They did it in some style as well as they windmilled through a hapless Zwolle side. Any thoughts that Jizz Hornkamp’s first half hat-trick would be the climax of the game were a bit premature as the hosts bagged another five to run out 8-2 winners.

Games like this are always good news for buyers, and those who bought Goals Cubed at 46-53 would have been more than happy to go Dutch yesterday evening. The market eventually settled at 1000x as buyers filled their clogs with a win of 947x their stake.