Wednesday 19 January 2011

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?

5 comments:

  1. Hi i have just started a portfolio of six services having an awful month so far good to see your doing so well good luck..

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  2. Hi - it's been a tough month so far and I don't think you'll be alone in suffering at the minute. I could easily pick six services I follow which are "core" services and be making a pretty hefty loss at the minute (between Football Elite, PJA NH, and WRT there are only losses so far this month). If it wasn't for On The Nose which I only started following on the 1st, the figures wouldn't be looking too good!

    Best of luck. How new is following a portfolio to you? I made a whole of mistakes when I first started out - I hope you avoid these and things turn for you soon. I'm sure they will if you've got six good services to follow.

    I might post next week on the mistakes I made when starting out (I say starting out - took me nearly a year to sort things out once and for all lol). It's always good to have a reminder. I don't mind making a mistake once, twice is unforgiveable! You're probably not falling into the traps I did, but an awareness of what they are if you are just starting out may be no bad thing! Anyway, best of luck.

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  3. i started three weeks ago, i have pricewise extra, 4pa, chasemaster, football elite, 4pa, pro bandit, vsr. any advice would be welcome,i find the weekends hard two big losing weekends so far.

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  4. Blimey - I can see why you're finding it tough going - that has been a baptism of fire for you.

    I can't comment at all on VSR - I know nothing of them and have never been a member.

    Funnily enough I was going to post some comments on Pricewise Extra over the weekend, probably Sunday, so that might make an interesting read for you.

    4PA had a bad weekend last week but they have been nothing short of magnificent for six months. I guess he was due a correction because to stay at the levels he has for that period of time is astounding. He'll be fine, I'm sure of it.

    You've possibly already read my thoughts on ProBandit and Football Elite - really rotten luck to have started FE when you have but again, I'm sure that will all come good. This time last month, he could do wrong.

    Chasemaster are an interesting one - started this month off well but slipped back recently (mind you, most of the racing tipsters have recently to be fair). Certainly not lost the faith yet.

    If your banks are right and your staking is right, I'd be confident that you'll be absolutely fine. These are both areas that I'll be posting on, but if you wanted a second opinion a bit sooner, in confidence of course, just drop me an email (theportfolioinvestor@gmail.com).

    Look, there are no guarantees in this game - but you can lower the risk of going belly up.

    Fingers crossed for a better weekend for you! :)

    TPI

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  5. bad timing has been my problem with a few of these services thanks for the offer i will keep in touch.

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