The Great Escape!

If I told you that today I staked a little shy of £2,000, and that I made a profit of £18, you would probably think that today has just been another mundane day where no progress was made but no setback suffered.

Tonight though, I am feeling a sense of elation. I am triumphant. Proud. Ecstatic. You get the picture. Why am I feeling so? Because today could very easily have been cataclysmic. It could have been disastrous, depressing and miserable. But instead, today has shown the real, deep down, core strength that lies within the strategy of using a portfolio of services. All is revealed in the 'Today's Action' section, below.

Before we get there though, a cautionary tale. One that most serious gamblers out there don't really need to be told because in all probability, they are likely to have learnt the following lesson for themselves...alcohol and gambling DO NOT mix! As you are aware (if you read yesterday's post), today I took my son to watch the Arsenal. It is a pre-match tradition of ours to enjoy the hospitality of a local Italian trattoria - pizza and juice for him, pasta and red wine for me. I don't drive to Highbury; we get the tube so that I can savour my wine. So after a fine meal, and feeling pretty chilled, I order a coffee and brandy, just to fill the minutes my son takes to eat his ice cream dessert. I shall take this opportunity, I tell myself as I watch my boy tuck into his chocolate gelato, to place the two bets that Skeeve's late Southern League service instruct me to strike. Using my Iphone. Whilst warm and fuzzy. The result - a much bigger stake than intended on the mighty Eastleigh! How big a stake? Pretty big (gulp!). I didn't realise until I checked the results tonight. Got away with that one!

(I haven't included the "extra" returns gained from this bet in my official figures).

Today's Action

Today's football betting was awful. Matt at Football Elite must be wondering what he has done to upset the big fella upstairs! Three more selections for him today - three more losers. My mate, whose tips are usually the very model of consistency, achieved that admirable trait again today - by picking four losers out of four! Not the type of consistency we're really looking for! Football Investor managed a fairly uninspired four winners from nineteen and contributed nicely to losses that weren't becoming so much as heavy, but unburdenable! Sports Investor had the grace to have Arsenal -2 goals on the Asian Handicaps. After missing chance after chance after chance, including a penalty when it was 2-0, you can understand why I was getting just a tad irritated at the game today! All's well that ends well there, but SI's other selection was a loser so a loss on the day for them too. Carnage!

Amongst all this chaos, was Strike Zone with four winners from five, but at average odds of 1/2, even this only produced 0.93pts profit. Small respite! The Sportsman had an ok day though, with two wins from the two matches played in and a little of the losses clawed back.

Having checked the football scores first, the dark clouds that hung over my head like the fleas over Linus (from Peanuts), dispersed when I started to check the racing results. Of the six services in action today, the worst performer was On The Nose - and they broke even! The undoubted star was PJA Racing NH, which regular readers will know owed me a little after this past week. Cornish Sett (10/1 - Wincanton) and Bugsy's Boy (12/1 - Wincanton) both won to contribute to a 10pt profit for the service today. Silver medal winner was Winning Racing Tips which gave Two Kisses ew (16/1 - Ascot) which finished second, and Sparky May (7/1 - Ascot) which won and produced a profit just short of three points. Northern Monkey Punter gave Anne Of Kiev (9/2 - Lingfield) and a 1.2pt profit, ProBandit had Arctic Lynx (9/2 - Lingfield) and a 0.6pt profit, and Chasemaster had two each way selections successfully place for a 0.3pt profit. Spectacular results that just outplayed the desperate football losses.

£18 has never been so gratefully received!

Saturday 22nd January: Staked £1,938, +£18.51.
Week to date: Staked £3,109.50, -£143.64.
Month to date: Staked £11,812, +£492.44, roi 4.16%.

After a day like today, if from fewer bets tomorrow I make a big loss, I shall be volunteering for the French Foreign Legion. Goodnight.