And in the beginning...

Hello and welcome to a new blog as it launches it's owner and readers on a voyage of discovery and punting enlightenment.

I am hoping that this is a gambling blog with a difference. I am very aware that there is a proliferation of betting blogs out there for all to see, including some very good ones. But where I hope to be a little different is that my intention is, via my daily posts, to offer insights and practical tips on how to run an investment portfolio smoothly and successfully.

I don't want my blog to be a simple list of bets and a running public bean counter. I want to lay bare the psychological challenges that are an unavoidable part of serious betting, and how to face them undaunted ...how to remain unaffected by the anxiety created by the inevitable losing runs, how to keep control of the exhilarating adrenalin rush you experience on the rare days when it all comes together, and how to cope with the mundanity of it all when the only result of a lot of "fast running" on your part ends merely in standing still - a state of purgatory that can last for days on end.

There will be plenty of opportunity for light hearted diversion. Observations on life, music, books, film and footie. It's not all work and no play, you know.

So, without further ado, let's start at the beginning...a list of the services I am following and a summary of the first day's "recorded" punting. You will have to trust me when I tell you that I have been running my portfolio in it's present form since June 2010 (albeit with a couple of additions to the portfolio at the beginning of this month), am currently £7,000 in profit overall, of which £475.06 precisely has been made since New Year's Day.

HORSE RACING

1. ProBandit.
2. Winning Racing Tips
3. Chasemaster
4. PJA Racing NH
5. 4PA
6. Pricewise Extra
7. The Sportsman Racing
8. Northern Monkey Punter
9. On The Nose


FOOTBALL

1. Football Elite
2. Sports Investor
3. Football Investor
4. Football Investor - Strike Zone
5. Skeeve
6. The Sportsman (who also give out advice on betting on darts).
7. "The X Factor" - not a service as such but a good friend of mine is a wizard on the footie; I don't know, nor care how he reaches his selections, but I do know they reward well and contribute to my overall profit and loss.


Today's action: a smallish loss of £63.97 but it is on days like this that the power of running a portfolio comes to the fore. On a day with seventeen individual bets and only one winner, to limit the losses to this amount is a victory. Thank the punting gods that On The Nose continued their quite incredible start to the new year with winner Henry King at Taunton. Advised at 16s, I had to make do with a reduced price of 10/1. Why did I have to make do with a reduced price? Because I work full time - yep, between Monday and Friday, my bets have to be placed during my lunch break. So lesson No.1...a full time job does not have to mean that you can't run a successful investment portfolio.

Other noteworthy mentions go to On The Nose again, for tipping Omix D'or each way at Taunton (2nd @ 14/1) and PJA Racing for Deep Pockets each way, also at Taunton (2nd at 14/1). Unfortunately other results meant that PJA Racing still lost over a point today and it was a sad state of affairs across the rest of the portfolio with no significant return in sight.

So a losing start to the week, but as I said before, it feels like a victory. After a great weekend (c.£550 profit), it would have been a shame to hand half of it back with what would have felt like indecent haste.

Over the next few days I will start to go through each service, giving you a little insight into my feelings and the hopes I have for each one. Until tomorrow...

TPI


Monday 10th January: Staked £284, -£63.97.
Week 1 to date: Staked £284, -£63.97.
January to date: Staked £5,822, +£475.06 (roi 8.15%).