Tuesday 18th November 2014

Paddy Power weekend at Cheltenham was just too much for me.


It was just way intense with far too many bets, and the emotions of it all eventually took there toll with firstly a bad toothache and then I suffered the rest of the weekend with a bad headache. In fact I ended up having a couple of days off sick afterwards to fully recover.


As usual it was mixed results, the winner of the Paddy Power Gold Cup was a highlight, despite me having glimpsed the result in a pub during the early evening (I recorded the races for later drunken viewing). From the pub it looked like Johns Spirit had won, so I'd kind of written off the Saturday as a disaster. I wasn't feeling great on the Saturday night but when I saw Ben Linfoots Caid De Burlais get home in the shadows of the post for a massive win at 14/1. Other results were ok as well, and I ended the day in a great position.


I felt better on the Sunday and we made it out to Didsbury for some lunch and a few beers, perhaps too many. I possibly over staked on the Sunday, over excited by the previous days wins, and inevitably it was a poor day with some of the winnings given back. Very poor from myself, just repeating mistakes from the past.


Probably sick from the previous day I had Monday and Tuesday off sick from work, just didn't feel very well at all, and as usual frittered away some more money on very poor bets.


Therefore from today onwards, Tuesday at 4pm, I am taking time out from punting until 2015 except for a couple of antepost bets places, Volnay De Thiax for the Fixed Brush Hurdle at Haydock at 6/1, and Smad Place for the Hennessy at 10/1. I've also followed this weeks Sporting Lifes Golf Tips for the Australian Masters (Green and Appleby) and in the Euro Tour Championship (Ilonen, Schwartzel, and Oosthuizen).


Not sure when I'll resume to be honest, in fact I might just stick with the Paul Jones ante post bets until 2015. The main thing is to have a rest, and come up if possible with a way of punting without frittering money way, like I have done this week. Without sorting my head out, there is no prospect of profitable punting.

Tuesday 11th November 2014

Just a quick update tonight with hopefully more to come later in the week. The new job means that I come later and hence I've been struggling for time to write. That bus from Stockport to Gatley takes an eternity, although it has given me the opportunity to chance up on some National Hunt reading for the long season ahead.


Last weekend wasn't great, I'd bet in the golf, and sickeningly Kaymer from being a cast iron place bet with a chance to win if he birdied the last to a total loser, as he dumped the ball in the water to return zero monies from my bet. That was a kick in the guts and so early on a Sunday morning. The hangover felt so much worse.


In horse racing I had the winner of the November Handicap, but to only small stakes, and Ben Linfoot blobbed out with 3 losers, so at best it was small losses. I'd also made the cardinal sin of frittering money away on poor Sunday racing.


My darts bets have mixed outlooks after the first week of the Grand Slam, Bunting cruised through to the quarter finals, whilst Scotty Waites was dumped out after two losses in his first 2 matches.


Anyway, this week there's the golf, and of course the Paddy Power meeting, so I should be busy. I'll try to update daily from Friday onwards.

Monday November 4th

A bit of an excessive weekend on all fronts, too much alcohol, too much sport, and too much punting. Maybe it was the stress of changing jobs but it got a bit too much.


It was a heavy punting few days with some good and some poor results. The first day of the Breeders Cup was superb with the nap of the meeting for me Lady Eli cruising home at 5/2, when I'd backed it with the English bookies at 11/2. On the Saturday Ben Linfoot had 3 selections with Ulk Du Lin romping home at an early 8/1. That was as good as it got though with pretty mediocre results for the rest of the weekend. In hindsight I think I just had too many bets. Overall I probably made a small profit but it was nothing to shout out about.


This week I am starting my new job, so punting will take a bit of a back seat until I settle into the new regime. I'll be backing any Cheltenham ante post bets tonight, and I really fancy Admire Rakti for the Melbourne Cup early on Tuesday morning. The only other event I might look at would be the World Golf Championship, and perhaps the Grand Slam of Darts. I'll certainly be taking a break from horse racing until the Paddy Power at Cheltenham which starts the week after next.

Wednesday 29th October 2014

It turned out to be a decent birthday weekend, and fortunately a profitable one. I’ve decided to just concentrate on weekend betting alone, which is tending to work as it eradicates the weekly dross. The weekend was spent at my Mums with a visit on Saturday night to Wakefield for a few beers with Karen.

 

Ben Linfoot had another blank weekend with none of his 5 selections even reaching a place, it’s been a poor run but when you pick larger priced horses like he does, you only need one winner to turn things around. Fortunately though, a chance email from Tipping Legends, led to me rejoining for November 2014 (It was their annual charity month). I missed an 11/1 winner Jeremiah tipped on Friday, but after much deliberation decided to put his Saturday bet on. I was at my Mums for the weekend, and eventually decided to put the £25e/w bet on Latenightevent at 20/1 at a bookies in Pontefract whilst she did a bit of shopping. It was really touch and go whether I was going to put in on, but having had a decent run recently I decided to go for it.

 

My intention was to avoid the racing results and watch it when I returned home on the Sunday however, checking my phone on Sunday morning I was greeted with the fabulous news that the horse had romped home and therefore after a quick trip to Pontefract to collect my £650, I was cash rich once again.  It just goes to show, that you only need one winner to make the weekend pay.

 

This weekend looks like being a massive weekend with the Breeders Cup being the centre piece on Friday and Saturday as well as the first proper weekend of National Hunt Racing. Also, I am not in on work on Monday, and I then start my new contract on Tuesday, so it’s all pretty eventful, and that’s not considering the start of the Cheltenham ante post service on Monday.

Karma Police

A nice and calm week for me, letting people at work know about my impending departure was not as stressful as I had anticipated (they were very nice), and I am having a nice relaxing rest from punting. It’s my birthday weekend coming up and a relatively poor weekends racing so I’d made the decision to take a break from betting until the Breeders Cup meeting on 31^st October/1^st November, and so far things are going well. In quite a recuperating week I’d also managed to take an abstinence from alcohol for the week.

 

This week as said there is no punting, but it should be a massive week the week after with some huge bets on Nick Mordin’s picks from the Racing Post Weekender in the Breeders Cup, then I would imagine that I will be concentrating on the big jump meetings such as Paddy Power and the Hennessey.  As always all roads lead to Cheltenham once we get into the winter months, and despite reservations I will be rejoining Paul Jones Cheltenham ante post service for this year again. Last year was a bit disappointing with a small loss, but over the last 6 years the service has shown a decent profit. There were several narrow misses last year, he identified some of the winners but never recommended them as bets, something I’d expect him to learn from this year. Therefore I’ll be expecting a great year with the service bouncing back. I just need to work out whether I’ll be backing win only or each way, and also what stakes I’ll be putting on. Paul Jones Cheltenham ante post service starts on the 3^rd November and usually features 30-35 ante post bets.

 

 

 

Wednesday 22nd October 2014

An eventful week but not due to my punting which was pretty mediocre. Value bet had 5 picks on Saturdays Champions day card, but alas only Levitate managed any returns by scraping in for a fourth place at 10/1. In the golf my only bet Ernie Els looked great at half way, being 2 shots clear, but faltered in the third round, and in the end I was grateful for a tied 5^th place and my money back. It wasn’t a great weekends betting but the losses were only relatively low.

 

Away from punting things were hectic, I hadn’t been happy at work for a while, and on Friday I was offered a contract role with an agency I’d worked with before in Stockport. I jumped at the chance, and therefore only have 2 weeks left in Salford. It’s always sad to leave places, but things haven’t been great, and I really prefer working on a self employed basis, where the money is better, and I can take time off when I want. I just can’t see myself ever taking a permanent job again to be honest.

Thursday 16th October 2014

I’ve been pretty good this week so far, although there were 2 minor blips, I backed a strong Ben Coley (Sporting Life) bet Ernie Els for the Hong Kong Open Golf (Decent first round at least), and I’ve just been suckered into backing a horse at Uttoxeter called Tashkaldou after receiving a bit of inside information from an old friend. Apart from that though, I’ve been good and put no other bets on at all. I know these are bets which I shouldn’t have put on, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I will get there in the end.

 

To avoid impulse punting from today onwards I shall record the racing and watch it at the end of the day. I kind of do feel that when watching racing/sport live, I get a real strong feeling of elation after a winner, or despondency after a loser, which can and has led to additional bets or the punters worst habit of chasing losses after a loser.. Chasing occasional (very) leads to the money being recovered, but more than often results in heavy losses on bets which have no actual basis and are just destined to lose. I’ve done the recording thing on a weekend, but will now be utilising it on a week day as well.

 

I’ve also managed to start doing some exercise when I get home from work, some light weights and cycling, so that’s another positive to rejoice. Works not been bad, no major dramas and a few site visits, but I am still keeping my eye open for a new contract role, permanent with its awful annual leave allocation is just not for me.

 

For the rest of the week, there might be a couple of small bets on Nick Morden’s picks for the week, there will be Valuebet on Saturday, and  I am going to start punting the Betalchemist picks, albeit at a nominal stake of either £20 win or £10 e/w to begin with. This service which I have monitored has shown good results which hopefully will continue. Its mainly early priced horses at the big meetings, so its fits the racing and format which I like.

 

I am still monitoring the Steve Jones Daily Bargain, which started off with 2 losers. I’d be looking for at least 3 weeks’ worth of results however before I part with any money.

 

 

Well that’s its from me now until next week, hopefully with tales of a great weekend and loads of profitable bets.

Tuesday 14th October 2014

Thankfully last weekend proved to be better than Arc weekend, and although there were no winner from Ben Linfoot, he did provided 3 lucrative placed horses out of 5. Although Value Bets recommends win only, I always bet each way, and places for Cinnilla (25/1), Highland Acclaim(14/1), and a sneaky 6^th place with Ladbrokes on Nearly Caught(14/1) in the Cesarewitch ensured a profitable day for myself. I’d also followed the ante post advice of Paul Kealy of the Weekender and backed Big Easy at 20/1.  The overall weekends profits came to just over £500, with £172.50 won on the Valuebet horses.

 

I showed restraint and didn’t back any one in the golf, and this proved to be a good move, as none of the golfers from my usual tipsters featured in the places, so it would have been a blow out. I’ll be giving the golf a miss now until the quality events begin again.

 

This coming week, it will be the same again, I’ll back the Valuebet’s from Linfoot, and perhaps any ante posts from the Weekender. The other options I might consider would be Nick Mordin’s tips, if he has anything for the Champions weekend card on Friday and Saturday.

 

As I’ve stated many times before, my main aim is to avoid the dumb lazy week day bets, and that will be my main target for the rest of the year, as well as maintaining a record of my bets, which I can then use for analysis. I am also monitoring a couple of services for possible inclusion in my portfolio, Steve Jones’s Daily Bargain (A one horse a day service focussed on early prices) and Betalchemist (Who provides picks for horses at the big meetings). Not sure about the daily service, but the big race service looks promising.

 

In combination with my betting changes, I am also cutting down on alcohol, none at all during the working week, and from today onwards will be looking to use the exercise bike, and do a few weights most days. This can only help my state of mind and hence make me sharper and more alert in punting terms.

 

 

 

Friday 10th October

This week’s mainly been about growing a beard, trying to sort out my ‘career’ and looking at the future of my punting, and it’s all been done with a clear head, as I’ve achieved a full 4 days without a drink as well. I guess it shows that I can have self control with some aspects of my life.

 

With my punting, it’s going to be as I said yesterday, just Value Bet of the Sporting Life and absolutely no additional bets. And to begin with, although it’s not as profitable I am only going to bet in cash. When you bet online, it’s kind of like it’s not real money, and there’s also no limits as you can deposit any amount of money. With cash you actually see what you could lose, it stops me having bets on impulse, and there’s limits to how much money I can withdraw each day. Of course by betting in cash, I won’t get the best price, and there won’t be a best price guarantee either, but overall I think it’s best for me at this stage. I will also be keeping records from tomorrow onwards.

 

So tomorrow it begins, a more disciplined professional Steve, well, that’s the plan.

Thursday 9th October 2014

This week didn’t start well and I was also suckered from an erroneous text tip from having a bet, which of course ran like a pig. This really was the last straw with regard to punting, and really settled my mind that I wasn’t going to bet again until 2015 apart from the Ben Linfoot Value Bets on a weekend. The last few weeks I had been tempted into having a few bets when I’d got home from work, and this had eroded my recent profits. So its settled, no other bets until 2015 and most likely not until the Cheltenham Festival. This will give me the opportunity to build up a betting bank, work out proper strategy and staking, and also a float of money in case I am out of work again in the future.  

 I  have a couple of ante post bets alive in the Cesarewitch on Saturday, Swynmor at 25/1 and Big Easy at 20/1, both each way and not to massive stakes.  These 2 were selections of the ante post guy in the Weekender and have shortened in to 12/1 with only a couple of days to the race.


So that's it, just me and Ben Linfoot for the rest of the year, and I'll also attempt to keep records as well, which I always fall down with.


I'll be back early next week with an update.

 

The Weekend

It wasn't a great weekend, it had been another terrible week at work, and the weekends results were dire to say the least.


The best of the golf was a second place for Tommy Fleetwood, and Ben Linfoot could not muster a winner from a 3 bets on Saturday and 3 at the Arc Meeting. The rugby was pretty poor as Featherstone were comprehensively beaten by Leigh, and I kind of didn't enjoy the mammoth drinking session either. It was however good to spend some time with my brother Mark.


Having suffered such a bad weekend, I think its probably time to take a break for the rest of 2014. I am going to give it one last go for the Cesarewitch Handicap this Saturday and then I'm done until 2015. I've kind of got to the situation when I need to think about the future and try to get my finances in decent order.

The week ahead...and beyond

After such an exciting weekend and a few days at work it was back to the daily grind this week with a full 5 days of hard graft. Not an appealing thought, but the coming weekend offered the promise of great excitement and merriment.


Punting wise I was going to have a final golf bet of the year in the Dunhill Links, after the success of the Ryder Cup, whilst in horse racing, there were some decent Saturday cards, followed on Sunday by my favourite race of the year, the Prix de l'Arc de Triumph in gay Paris. There was certainly going to be a pretty heavy weekend of punting for me.


On Sunday however, my beloved Featherstone Rovers are playing Leigh in the Championship Grand Final at Leeds, so I am not sure whether to avoid the racing results and watch it when I get home on Monday, or try to find a pub/bookies to watch it in Leeds before the match.


Either way its going to be an epic weekend. After the weekend I've decided to take a breather from punting until we get into the proper heart of the national hunt season. This will be as much of a challenge as actually making money, but it will give me the chance to start saving a betting bank, in a period when results are notoriously difficult. The main focus will be Cheltenham 2015, and I'll need serious money for this battle.


I'll be back early next week, hopefully with good news.

Tuesday 30th September 2014

It certainly was a dramatic weekend after a relatively quiet week, with a decent days racing on Saturday and the conclusion of the Ryder Cup. For me, apart from a break to see The Horrors in Manchester on Saturday night, it was almost 18 hours of sport a day.

 

On Saturday results started pretty poorly, as a combination of my own bets and Nick Mordin’s fails to bring in any returns and increased the pressure on my ever decreasing betting bank balance. It all hinged on the Cambridgeshire Handicap and Ben Linfoot’s picks Bronze Angel and Tiger Tail, whom I’d invested heavily at decent prices. I could barely watch (for once on a Saturday I was watching live), as the horses burst out of the stalls, all 30 odd of them. Tiger Tail led early, but into the final couple of furlongs was under heavily pressure, but from behind my hands which covered my eyes I saw Bronze Angel under a perfect ride hit the front and storm clear for a comfortable win. I was on at 18/1 for decent stakes, which meant that the win was big, and watching the replay I’d even bagged the each way money on Tiger Tail who finished a brave 6^th. The relief was greater than the excitement, and helped bring about a calm to me.

 

Sunday was all about the Ryder Cup, and things looked promising, Justin Rose already guaranteed of top European each way money was in a strong position to win, I had a few correct score combos in decent shape, and there was an outside chance of Rory getting a place in the top outright scorer market. Well, what an afternoon, at first it looked like Rose was out of it, only for things to switch around, and eventually he secure the win at 13/2 with a birdie at the last. Rory, smashed Fowler and therefore I even nabbed a bit of the each way money on that bet. The icing on the cake came when Johnson birdied the last in a bed rubber to win me the correct score bet as well. My luck was certainly in this weekend.

 

My last bet of the weekend was one which I wanted and now could afford to lose, it was on Sheffield Eagles to beat Featherstone Rovers, my rugby league team in the Championship semi finals. On recent form I could only see Sheffield winning, and was amazed that the bookies were offering 11/8 the Eagles. Rovers were fantastic though, they got out of the traps fast and established a 21-0 lead by the half. Despite a little scare, as the Eagles bagged a couple of early second half tries, the win was completed meaning a rather boozy day for me at next Sundays Grand Final in Leeds.

 

What a weekend....

 

Friday 26th September 2014

Had a few days off work this week for my wife's birthday, which given the stress in my current job is a god send. Been pretty quiet on the punting front this week, but its getting busy now as we approach the weekend. I have a few bets on the Ryder Cup, which haven't started so well after the morning session, and have invested money on Sheffield to beat my team Featherstone Rovers in Sundays playoff game.


Having had the time this week to consider things, I'll be betting this week and of course next week for the Arc, but will more than likely be taking the rest of the year off after that to undertake research on better punting, and to build a decent betting pot for next years Cheltenham and Aintree festivals, which is where I usually make my biggest profits.


Today, I'd got a small bet on Captain Cat, as suggested by Nick Mordin, and later on in the day I'd expect the Ben Linfoot tips for Saturdays racing.


I'll be back with more in due course.

Monday 22nd September 2014

The weekend didn't start great, too many beers on Friday, left me feeling less than good on Saturday morning. My bets were already on though so I didn't need to be too clear headed, I'd gone for Ben Linfoots 3 bets, picked a couple of Nick Mordin's and an old favourite of mine Blaine in the Ayr Gold Cup, he had a great draw and I fancied him to continue his revival.


As usual I watched the racing later after a evening out in Cheadle, but there was little joy, the only returns came from the each way bet on Blaine. After so many profitable Saturdays, this was a bad one, and got worse when I saw that Leeds has lost to the Catalans as well.


My only hopes rested on the golf, and it looked decent as Luiten had the lead by 2 after 3 rounds. However, he bogied the first 2 to drop into a tie, and it looked like being one of those weekends. Things improved as the Dutchman surged ahead again in a tournament that no one seemingly wanted to win. After watching United get battered 5-3 by Leicester, Luiten offered hope of a decent end to the weekend, but when only needing a par on the last, a par 5, to secure the win, he proceeded to shank his tee shot into the rough. He carved his second into the rough, leaving a long 3rd onto a green surrounded by water. I knew what was going to happen, straight into the water, with even the each way returns lost, that was how this weekend was going to end. Phew, Joost hadn't read the script and he calmly found the green before two putting for victory.


Its a tough life being a punter sometimes....

Thursday 18th September 2014

On the way to work yesterday I heard a report on the radio which said that ‘talent/skill’ is something that you can gain through practise and hard work. It beggars the question however, that why would we as humans would give such dedication to something that we weren’t good at already, since this usually brings little joy.

 

Not sure if this applies to punting, which I definitely enjoy, especially when I win. However, this is to be my new  philosophy, more research and studying, both the form and data concerning the events, and also the general ethos of punting. In this vein, I have already ordered books by such punting gods as, Nick Mordin, Pricewise, and Alan Potts. I will be punting in the hard hours, with hopefully the resultant improvement in my skills/talent.

This week I had a few picks in the Welsh Golf, and I was going to follow my old mate Ben Linfoot, the Sporting Life's value bet.

I also decided after much thought to have a dabble on the Super League playoffs, something I've historically had good results when betting upon, except last year when Wire through away a half time lead to Wigan. This year I liked Leeds, I'd expect them to rediscover their best form in the playoffs, and challenge for the double, just like Wigan did last season. I also liked Wire again, and had a bit each way on at a generous looking 11/2.

Further updates to come, more than likely on Monday.

Wednesday 17th August 2014

Its been over a week since my last post, just busy mainly and I was away for the Leger weekend at the Long Division festival in my hometown Wakefield. If you've never seen then I'd recommend the band Cribbs, they were superb.


In betting terms, its been pretty quiet, I didn't have any golf winners last week and the horses were pretty moderate, with Value bet's only winner of the festival coming on the day when I was too busy with work to bet, typical. Vulturi also blew out in the Irish greyhound derby final, so I had to make do with each way returns.


This week I've decided to refocus, and have purchased some classic gambling books, Betting for  a living by Nick Mordin, and Alan Pott's book, The inside track. Hopefully it will help me get things back on track and provide me with a better strategy.


So this week, it will be a few bets on the Welsh Golf, and I'll be following Ben Linfoot's Value bet on Saturday.


Stay lucky


Steve

Monday 8th September 2014

Quiet day on Monday, especially as I was determined not to bet on the dreadful week day horse racing cards. The main objective for me this week was to stay disciplined and only bet on the better events.


This week, we were looking at 2 golf tournaments and the big St Leger meeting at Doncaster later in the week. 


Steve

Sunday 7th September 2014

Sunday was a cracker, with almost everything going right. The only horse bet of the day was on one of Mordins, Ivanhowe in the big German race, for which I used a free £25 bet generously provided by William Hill. Ivanhowe powered past the much vaunted favourite to land the money at 15/2, although it was slightly disappointing to see that the SP was over 10/1, mustn't be greedy I suppose...


In the European Golf it looked so promising for one of my bets Tommy Fleetwood, but he performed relatively poorly and to be honest I was grateful for a 5th place tie, and some returns. Ironically he tied with Willet, who I'd backed win only.


The best was yet to come though, as despite suffering a few nerves Billy 'the kid' Horschel got the job done in the American golf, to land me a juicy 66/1 winner. To be honest I didn't even watch it, and I'd gone to bed just hoping for some each way returns.


Yipee, what a great start to the new week.

Saturday

Having quit Tipping Legends, due to the number of bets on average days of racing, I was left with Ben Linfoot, Nick Mordin, and a couple of bets from the Racing Post Weekender. As is the usual case for me on a Saturday I recorded the racing and left it to 'enjoy' in the evening. The golf was looking promising, with Fleetwood well up there in Europe and my/Ben Coley's outsider Horschel up with the pace in America.


Felt quite tired today, thus it was a few pints in the local in Cheadle rather than a trip to town, after an exciting afternoon watching Vuelta with a couple of beers.


Rather bleary eyed when I eventually managed to put the racing on, it was exciting, and fortunately although I didn't have any winners on the day, some good each way returns kept me in the game. Gwafa looked like the winner only to be mugged by the favourite in the final furlong, whilst although not officially tipped by BL, he did mention it in his podcast, Communicator finished 3rd at Haydock to land some big each way cash. Ben's other losing tips, were Es Que Love, and Baccarat in the Sprint Cup. I'd decided to leave Mordin's tips on Saturday, which resulted in one winner and one loser.


Later in the evening further good news was to come, when my greyhound contact messaged me with the fantastic news that Vulturi had qualified for the Irish Greyhound Derby final, so guaranteed money for the each way part of the bet, with the possibility of a jackpot.

Back - September

It’s been a bit of a break from my last post, and it’s been a mixed time. A couple of times during the week I lost my head and some ill thought out bets on very poor racing. On the first occasion I got away with it and even made a small profit, but the second time really reduced my monthly winnings, the only conciliation being that, I didn’t chase my losses and I took the defeat on the chin. Thankfully I settled down for the second half of the week, although a casualty of the ill discipline was that I decided to ditch Tipping Legends, I just don’t think that betting every day is suitable for me, I need to keep it concentrated to weekends and big meetings with regards to racing. I guess the early part of this process in refining my technique.

 

As usual the action on the week involved the golf, and Saturdays racing. For the racing I was betting the tips put up by Ben Linfoot, Nick Mordin’s tips (although I don’t always pick all his as selections), plus I had joined another big race service, although I was only paper trading with this one at present. There were no bets from Scottish football Betting tips this weekend. The other interest I had on the weekend was Vulturi which I’d backed ante post at 33/1 for the Irish Greyhound Derby. This was tipped up to me by a friend who is in the greyhound breeding game, and the dog had done great thus far, qualifying for the semi finals, meaning one more top 3 finish in the semi final would mean a lucrative payout for me. I’d backed Vulturi with PP, who were each way the first 6, which was effectively a payout for reaching the final.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Week

As I alluded to in my previous post, with the exception of the Golf, I am taking this week off punting. I'll be resuming for next weeks big Haydock card. I've found in the past that after a great couple of weeks I then suffer a downturn , and learning from previous mistakes that isn't going to happen this time.


My Golf bets are as follows:


Italian Open


Lima e/w @ 250/1
Heath e/w @ 150/1
Ed Molinari @ 22/1


Barclays


Mickelson e/w @ 28/1
Speith e/w @ 33/1
Schwartzel e/w @ 50/1
Noh e/w @150/1
Cabrera e/w @ 125/1


I'll be back next week with an update.


Have a good one


Steve

The Weekend

The Weekend

 

Had a bit of an issue with the website and hence I haven’t updated the blog for a few days. I’ve also decided to stop doing the precise details of my staking, although I will from time to time let you know how my quest is going with a rough idea of my monetary gains/losses. I’ll keep the blog as more of an informal/entertainment thing rather than detailing every single bet and stake.

 

Suffice to say, the weekend just gone was a roaring success with some fabulous winnings, which came as welcome relief after a less than great days 2 and 3 at York. Day 2 at York was a small loser on a day with few bets, and day 3 (The Friday) was only saved from complete disaster by a 7/1 winner from Tipping Legends in the evening racing. I’d actually decided to give Saturdays racing a miss until Swivel came from last to first to save my bacon, never was a man so relieved.

 

On Saturday Ben Linfoot once again produced the goods as he tipped up both the first Mutual Regards at 20/1 and second Van Percy at 14/1. I usually and in this case backed both each way, so it was a monster result for me. Ben also tipped Kashmiri Sunset who won the each way money at 20/1 by staying on well for fourth. 

 

On Sunday there were more winnings to come as Ben Coley at last managed to land a golf winner as Hunter Mahan came storming through to win the Barclays golf at 50/1. To be honest, after the previous days bonanza I was quite relaxed about this winner, just kind of goes to show that to have the right sort of punting attitude I need to have regular big winners. This was in sharp contrast to Fridays rollercoaster.

 

The week ahead looks pretty quiet, given the Hunters win, I’ll follow this week’s sportinglife.com golf tips, but the racing looks relative mediocre, so I wouldn’t anticipate a great deal of action. I will update later in the week, and let you know how things have gone on.

 

Steve

York Day 1

The first day of the York festival, and it was as predicted a busy day, with 3 bets from the Sporting life's Ben Linfoot, a couple of my own bets, and the Tipping Legends had a few bets as well. I'll post the bets below, and update with thoughts as the week goes on. What a fantastic start though as BL continued his great run with a 20/1 winner in the first at York as Blaine produced an escape act to fly home in the first race. That means I surely won't be losing money today and hopefully another winner will show my a great profit on the day. I just seem to have done really well in the big race meetings this year, just failing with the midweek dross. Fingers crossed for another good one tomorrow


Ben Linfoot – Sporting Life
£25 e/w Bogart 15/1 = -£50
£25 e/w Blaine 20/1 = +£560
£25e/w Totalise 14/1 = -£50

Own

£35 e/w Growl 6/1 = -£70
£35 e/w Felix Leiter 5/1 = +£160

Tipping Legends

£30 e/w Sir Morgan 33/1 = -£60
£30 e/w Entihaa 9/2 = -£6
£60 win Giovani Jack 9/4 =+£135
£15 e/w Ujigar 8/1 = -£30


Total invested = £500 Returns = £1070
Profit on the day =£570
Total blog profit =£1180

Tuesday 19th August 2014

Crazily busy at work this work, and todays a busy punting day as well, and that's before the storm of York which starts on Wednesday. Exciting and hopefully profitable times, although I do feel a bit under pressure. Today we've got some bets on the weeks golf. I was going to back the Scottish Football bets but I've decided to give football a miss for a while until I have monitored the results for a bit longer From Wednesday onwards its likely to be mayhem.


Here are the bets;


Barclays Golf Bets (Ben Coley) = £150
£20 e/w Snedeker 35/1 =
£15 e/w Simpson 55/1 =
£10 e/w Delaet 70/1 =
£15 e/w Westwood 66/1 =
£15 e/w Mahan 501/1 =


Czech Golf (Johns) = £130
£60 win Luiten 14/1 =
£20 e/w Fisher 28/1 =
£10 e/w Webster 66/1 =
£15 e/w Kalberg 50/1 =

Monday

 

Sunday

 

Saturday provided to be a fantastic day of punting, with the highlight being the win of Outdo in the big race at Ripon. As I mentioned I watched the racing later on, so as to take the emotion out of my punting, and it certainly provided to be a great end to the day. The Scottish Football Bets also went very well with 3 out of 4 winners. The Asian Handicaps were continuing to look good as well.

 

Sunday was a much quieter day, with only the one bet from Tipping Legends, which alas got going too late and could only finish second. The golf was a little disappointing, with players flattering to deceive especially in the Wyndham, although places for Pepperhill and Simpson meant there were minimal losses overall.

 

Tipping Legends

£45 win Precision Strike (100/30) = -£45

 

Wyndham Golf (Ben Coley) =  -£75

 

Denmark Golf (Johns) = +£34

 

Monday

 

Always a hard one making it into work on a Monday morning after a heavy weekend, but it had been successful, with good winnings and a win by the mighty Featherstone Rovers in a vital match in the chase for the £450k prize money for finishing second in the league.

 

This week looked like it could be quite busy, with the big York meeting starting on Wednesday, culminating with the Ebor on the Saturday. Not sure that else there would be doing, but the key this week would be to keep disciplined and make sure I don’t waste any of my limited betting bank on stupid ill thought out bets.

 

Looking at my figures at the current time from the start of the blog my profits are +£610

 

The Weekend

Friday

 

Hurrah it was the start of the weekend, and although there were no actual bets on the day it was a busy one for placing advanced bets for Saturdays early priced racing.  There was one bet of my own, picked up from the Sporting Life weekender as well as 4 bets from Ben Linfoot’s value bets column from the Sporting Life website.  In order to make the best prices I ended up putting these on in the Crown, Cheadle as a started the weekend with a couple of well earned pints.

 

Ben Linfoot

 

£17.5 e/w Bondesire (15/1) = -£35

£12.5e/w Polski Max (16/1) =+£75

£35e/w Tatilsu (11/1) = +£71.25

£30 win Plazon (15/2) = -£30

 

Total = +£81.25

 

Own/Weekender

 

£30e/w Outdo (11/1) = +£412.50

 

Saturday

 

I was feeling a little the worse for wear on Saturday morning, and unusually for me didn’t wake until 9.30 am, although we did get up at 6am for a rehydrating coffee and to feed the greyhound. Fortunately I didn’t have much to do on the day, except watching the first United match of the season and dragging myself into Manchester  for a few early evening beers. It wasn’t really that busy on Saturday itself with only a couple of additional bets on the horses, one from Nick Mordin and just the one bet today from Tipping Legends. I am also following the Scottish football bets, and there were 4 bets from this service. I was still monitoring the Asian handicap football service which was showing some encouraging early signs. To maintain my new professional approach I’d decided not to follow any of the bets live, preferring to catch up with results in the evening.

 

Nick Mordin

 

£20e/w Dandino (7/2) = -£10

 

Tipping Legends

 

£35e/w Camborn (12/1) = -£70

 

Scottish Football Bets

 

£40 Queen of the South(Evens) = +£40

£40 Raith(Evens) = +£40

£40 Elgin(Evens)= -£40

£40 Peterhead(Evens) = +£40

 

Total = +£80

 

 

 

Day 3

A pretty busy day today with a few small bets from Tipping Legends and a fancy of my own at Salisbury. The golf also starts, so fingers crossed for a decent start for my selections. I am also currently trialling Asian Handicap football service, but just paper trading at the moment as the majority of bets are in obscure leagues and its quite hard to actually get the bets on.


My horse for today was Captain Cat, a horse that did me a huge favour when winning in the all weather championships. The trainer Roger Charlton, has kept this one back for a good opportunity, and although up in class today in a Group 3.


Todays bets;


Mine - Captain Cat £20e/w @ 11/2 = +£137.50


Tipping Legends


5.05 Sal - Norse Star - £15 win  @16/1 = -£15

7.25 Chep - Ivanhoe - £15 e/w @ 5/1 = -£30

 Our Folly £15 e/w @ 7/1 = -£30

7.55 Che - Hopigetlucky - £15 win @ 20/1 = NR

4.10 Bev - Waterclock -£15 e/w @ 10/1 = -£30
 Kirkman - £15 win @ 5/2 = -£15


Small profit of £17.50 on the day, not much but better than a loss.

Day 2

Great start to the project with Tiger Lilly staying on very strongly to land a nice bet for me. I said that I had a feeling that Tipping Legends would finish the season strongly, and this was a fantastic start. I’ve followed the Jeremiah Catskill fronted service for a few years now, and although there are poor runs, like at the start of this season, overall you are going to make money using the service. Cheltenham this year was a particularly brutal time for the service.

 

The Darcy information wasn’t great again, and having been heavily backed at early prices, the horse drifted on course before running pretty poorly.  I might give this guy one more chance, but probably no more than that.

 

No horse bets today but decided to following the sporting life’s golf tipsters, there haven’t had a winner for a while, which probably means one is due.

 

Johns – SL

Made in Denmark

£6 e/w Mark Forster @ 50/1

£5e/w Hanson @ 125/1

£5e/w Pepperell @ 80/1

£7e/w Hatton @ 80/1

Total stakes = £46

 

Ben Coley-SL

Wyndam

£5e/w Stefani @ 80/1

£10e/w Stanley @ 50/1

£10e/w Laird @ 50/1

£30e/w Simpson @18/1

Total stakes=£110

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 1

Having had much thought my strategy for the rest of the year has been formed.  The main focus will be on keeping a disciplined approach to my punting, which an important part of which will be not watching any live horse racing where I’ve had a bet on. For me watching live brings emotion into the equation and then the potential for trying to win any losses back or increased bet sizes after a good winner. I’ll also be recording my bets, something which in the past has always been a struggle, especially after a bad spell. This should enable me to determine the strengths and weaknesses of my strategy and of course my overall losses but more hopefully winnings.

 

I’ll be starting this today, and will update my overall position weekly.

 

Today there were actually a couple of bits of information to get us started, a bet from Tipping Legends, who after a ropey start looks to be really ending the season strong, and a bit of information from a potential contact I am trialling from the Paul Darcy stable.

 

£22.5 e/w Tiger Lily @17/2 6.55 Notts (Tipping Legends)= +£220

£40 win Anastazia @11/4 5.25 Notts (Darcy) = -£40
 

Fingers crossed for a good start to my new strategy.

 

 

 

USGA AND Weekend Review

After much excitement my USPGA bets resulted in a 5.5 point profit, as McIlroy showed lots of bottle to win his 3rd consecutive tournament and his 2nd major of the  year in gritty fashion. It seems such a long time since that Rory collapse in the Masters.


Ironically after a tiring day including a difficult drive home from Yorkshire and an early start at work the next day I didn't watch the back 9 holes. It was such a relief therefore on Monday morning to see that the bet had been landed. A very nice start to this blog, and kind of made the thought of work a little more palatable than usual.


As I said previously I didn't have any additional bets over the weekend, and typically 2 of the tipsters I am monitoring/usually back had decent Saturdays. Ben Linfoot of the Sporting Life's value bet snared a 16/1 winner from 4 bets, whilst Tipping Legends had a profitable day with 3 winners as well. That's how it is though, and I enjoyed the weekend rest from punting as I visited a few of my old haunts in Wakefield for a few years.

The Weekend

Nothing much doing really this weekend except the bets already placed on the golf. It has been busy for the last couple of months so I'll be taking a break from betting for a couple of weeks.


Some times I can feel when I am due a bad spell and I can kind of feel that it is the case for me now, so I need to take a little time out to recharge the batteries. Otherwise I could see some heavy losses. Hopefully I'll get some returns from the golf, which hasn't started too bad for me.




Anyway, have a great weekend, and by all means post some comments on what you read.

USPGA Part 2

Just a couple of additional bets on the USPGA today which are;


2pt Gary Woodland top 3 finish @ 3/1
0.5e/w Gary Woodland top USA @ 33/1


As I said yesterday there won't be much activity after this weeks golf, as I take stock and build up towards the big York meeting towards the end of August 2014


The main thing I need to work on, are my sources of information and some kind of sensible staking strategy. In some respect this project is a little like me being a funds manager, investing in tips rather than stocks, and spreading my funds amongst several sources of information rather than different shares

USPGA Golf Bets

For the USPGA I decided to go with Keith Elliott's bets, for me a proven tipster in the Majors and one would brought me a couple of nice winners over the previous 18 months in Mickelson for last years Open and Duffner for last years USPGA. No winners from this years majors thus far, but he did tip up Fowler at 12/1 for top American in the Open. I wouldn't get every week on the golf, it takes too much money up, and to be honest Elliott hasn't done great in the week to week stuff, but the majors usually show me a nice profit.


Bets - Outright - USPGA


 3 points Mcllroy @5/1
0.5e/w Leishman@40/1
0.5e/w Matsuyama @50/1
0.25e/w Reed @ 80/1
0.5e/w Walker @ 50/1


Total points invested = 6.5 points.


Another decision I'd made on a busy day was to take a break from horse racing until the York festival on 20th August 2014. This weekend it was the horrendous Shergar Cup and there wasn't a great deal the weekend afterwards either. My strength has always been the big festivals and hence it was an easy decision to take a couple of weeks off, which would also give me time to work out a strategy.

Football Ante - Post

I don't usually like to bet my own teams, but I cannot ignore the prices on offer about Manchester United for this seasons Premier League. With a proper manager in charge this season in LVG, and at last a quality central midfielder in Ander Herrera, I think that the 5/1 available is massive. Another positive is no European football, and a promise from the Glazers that there won't be any early season money making friendlies to make up the European shortfall. The signs are already good with a great preseason tour in the US, with LVG looking likely to get the best out of last seasons underperforming players, Ashley Young looking a revelation as a wing back. Further signings aren't guaranteed, but if they come would be the icing on the cake.


3 points e/w Man Utd  - Premier League @5/1


On the same basis I'd take an interest in Wayne Rooney to win the golden boot, especially given that 9/2 favourite RVP is unlikely to start the season. Rooney has been prolific in preseason and the 14/1 is massive each way value.


3 points e/w Wayne Rooney - Golden Boot @14/1


Tomorrow I'll be looking to give my USPGA Golf bets...

Back again - August 2014

After probably 2 years away from the game, I've decided to bring back the Part Time Punters blog in 2014. Similarly to before I'll be blogging my punting life with a bit of background as to how my life goes as well.


I am from Yorkshire, but live in Manchester with my wife and Greyhound, I work as a Traffic Engineer, which isn't too bad, but my passion is for gambling. To be honest I've had mixed results though the years, and to be brutally honest its mainly been bad. I follow tipsters as well as backing my own tips.


At this stage my main punting is going to be on the bigger sporting evens, including the big race meetings, as the day to day racing tends to always lead to big losses for me. In sporting terms I love to have a bet on most sports, including Golf, especially the majors, snooker, darts and cycling.


Ok then, this week, looks mainly to be focussed on the last golf major of the year, the US PGA from Valhalla, with my information coming from a mixture of tipster Keith Elliott, and Paul Coley from Sportinglife.com. Horse racing looks relatively poor to be honest, although I currently follow Ben Linfoot, who usually tips up a couple of selections on a Saturday or at big meetings. I also use information from Tipping Legends (not been great this year) and Narrowing the Field. I am use you'll pick up the thread as we move along, hopefully in a positive way. Well, that's all for now, more posts to follow, on my renewed quest to leave the rat race and become a pro punter..