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.