There are several things that Paddy Power are not afraid of. Courting controversy is one.
You only have to look at the number of times that the bookie has hit the headlines for some of the 
more controversial betting markets they have offered (including betting on whether Oscar Pistorius would be found innocent or guilty of the murder of his girlfriend) as well as some of the controversial stunts the company has pulled (who can forget Nicolas Bendtner and his green underpants) to realise this.
However it is fair to say also that Paddy Power do take a novel approach to the sports betting industry in that they do have a far more upbeat and humorous approach to betting than many other companies. While other companies can be a tad serious about betting in general, Paddy Power offer punters a little more fun and that is not a bad thing at all.
That sense of good humour runs throughout the site, both in how they present betting markets, to their Twitter feed (which has seen them in trouble on several occasions) right the way through to some of the promotions and offers they formulate and of course down to the Paddy Power blog.
It is this latter issue that we are going to take a closer look at. What is the Paddy Power blog? Is it simply a collection of stories reported on in Paddy Power’s own inimitable tongue-in-cheek way, or is there some value for the sports betting enthusiast who is looking for a great bet to have a read through the pages?
In this article, we’ll try to find out. And of course, if you want to find out more about the site – including how to claim your very own free sports bets at Paddy Power – just click the link right there.
What does the Paddy Power blog contain?
The first thing to note is that if you are of a gentler disposition or easily offended, then the Paddy Power blog is most definitely not for you. You know how some sites are ranked as Not Safe for Work, well you can pretty much lump Paddy Power’s blog pages in there with these kinds of sites.
It’s not that there is anything nude or pornographic on the site in terms of images, there isn’t of course. However, while the main Paddy Power site may only hint at some of the more controversial topics surrounding the betting and sporting industries, the Paddy Power blog likes to reveal them in their full unexpurgated glory.
If we can use a TV stand up comedian as an analogy, the Paddy Power betting pages are that comic’s TV performances before the watershed. The naughtier Blog pages are the stuff that the comic won’t do AFTER the watershed but only keeps for when there is an 18+ audience in the theatre.
A good example of this is the Two Footed Tackle article, which is completed each week by a writer and which does not hold back in dealing with some of the more pressing sporting issues in the most controversial way possible. Nothing is off limits and indeed, if you are of a gentler disposition, the amount of swear words alone in these articles may shock you. The content itself would probably cause the gentler folk to go into meltdown.
So it is fair to say that some parts of the Paddy Power blog are not for the faint of heart, but within these posts are some solid betting advice and it is here that the blog starts to redeem itself for punters.
Indeed, the majority of posts on the blog tend to be about potential betting markets. A good example is an article about how three teams (Everton, Manchester City and Stoke City) were being offered as a 4/1 treble in the Carling Cup and the writer explained the reasons why he felt that this was a solid bet for punters to consider.
There are a good number of these type of articles on the blog. Most tend to be based around football, but there are also good blog posts for horseracing. The Columns section tends to be where guest columnists of Paddy Power, which include the likes of author Irvine Welsh, soccer pundit Andy Gray, Rugby ace Danny Cipriani, Spanish football expert Graham Hunter and jockey Ruby Walsh.
Clicking on the tab at the top of the page under each heading name brings up a list of articles sorted by various criteria and simply click on the author or type of post you are interested in to bring up the information on those posts.
As we have mentioned previously, most of the posts are generally inoffensive, but you have to be aware that Paddy Power does rate sense of humour and shockability as key factors in its marketing, so as long as you understand that before you read, you should be fine!
Who will use the Paddy Power blog?
This is a good question as I think there are a number of different sections of the betting fraternity that will use the Paddy Power Blog and find it useful. Of course, some will be punters who will want to see what the experts are tipping as solid bets and on these terms alone, the Paddy Power blog does offer a very solid service.
Equally though, there will be a large number of punters who read the posts simply for the sense of humour. If you have a similar sense of humour to the writers of some of the ‘juicier’ articles on Paddy Power, then there’s no doubt you’ll get a lot of enjoyment from them.
Lastly, there’s some great articles on there that can help punters who are looking for a little research. A good example of this is a recent post outlining Arsenal’s many injury problems over the last 11 years, which reveals some incredible statistics which are genuinely surprising and can help researchers find out more about why a certain team or player seems to be affected by certain injuries more often.
Is there anything useful on the Paddy Power Blog for me as a UK online sports punter?
Yes, there’s lots of great information on the Paddy Power blog to find as a punter, mainly in the form of tips, but there’s some fantastic statistical information on there too. The question is whether you are happy at the method of delivery as the Paddy Power blog pages often pull no punches. If you can deal with that, then it can be an invaluable resource to you when betting.