A 'Danny Devito' of a post.

Going to keep today's post pretty short. I'm always emotionally knackered after watching the Arsenal and tonight is no different.

I have had a few more thoughts around the theme that has been loosely running through the blog this week; that is making a concerted effort to stand back a bit and distance yourself from the action your betting on. However, I don't think you can simply say to yourself, "Right, I'm not going to watch the racing/football today - it's bad for my mental wellbeing", and then simply forget that it is even on. It would be nice to have to set an alarm to remind you at some point in the evening to go and check the results, but that is never going to happen, is it? Look, if I'm staking £1,500 on a Saturday afternoon, I think it is perfectly bloody natural to want to know exactly what is going on, as it's happening!

After yesterday's rigmarole, I'm pretty darned sure that standing back as far as you can is preferable, but as I have just said, it isn't always that straightforward. I am also beginning to think that if you can find an answer to the challenges that this particular aspect of gambling puts in your way, then you are a huge way towards making a long-term success of it. I sat and thought seriously about how yesterday affected me, did some real soul-searching, and drew some rather surprising (to me anyway) conclusions about myself. Anyway, I'm going to go through a few musings on this topic tomorrow and share my thoughts, so tune in then if that might tickle your fancy.

Just quickly too before I go, I've also been thinking about the direction in which I want to take this blog. I must say I've thoroughly enjoyed writing it each night so far, and I hope a few people who have turned up to read have enjoyed it too. But ultimately, I see this blog as being a tool that can really help me to clarify a lot of the ideas I have buzzing around my head, to give things a bit of perspective, and I hope that perhaps that might help others too. I stress that what I write about is only my personal opinion - usually based on experience - but I am not for one minute saying this is the right way to do something and that is the wrong way. I don't think that gambling successfully is that black and white. Sauces for geese and all that (or is it meat for one man and poison for the gander..I don't know)...I guess what I am trying to say, in a very long-winded way, is that if someone reads something they think is utter tripe, or if there is something that they would like a further opinion on, or to challenge, then please do use the comments section. As far as I am concerned, that is what it is there for.

Today's Action

Only racing to follow today, and not enough winners again. 13 bets, and only The Sportsman Racing contributing a winner (Memorabilia - Lingfield - 15/8). Northern Monkey Punter's only selection (High On A Hill ew - Kempton - 12/1) ran a good race to finish second and provide a point's profit, and Winning Racing Tips continued to get close without ever threatening to light a cigar with two tips that finished second. Another poor day for PJA Racing NH (I could really do with a return to form by them as for some reason my staking seems to be more heavily biased towards them at the moment, the cause of which will no doubt be analysed in later posts) as they dropped a further 1.9pts. ProBandit also dropped 0.25pts, Chasemaster 0.5pts, and On The Nose 1pt. The racing returns have just lost a bit of momentum over the last four or five days. The roi for the racing section of the portfolio was running as high as 32% last week; it is now at just under 13%. Healthy enough, but you take my point.

Wednesday 19th January: Staked £241.50, -£61.26.
Week to date: Staked £962.50, -£2.65.
Month to date: Staked £9,665, +£633.43, roi 6.55%.

PS. It wasn't that short after all, was it. More a Tom Cruise than a Danny Devito?