Running to stand still.

Well, this weekend has felt like really hard work, I have to say. And sadly, not a great deal has been achieved in hard, black and white, bottom-line terms. To stake £2,392 over the two days, and produce a return of -£4.59, it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it was all a bit of a waste of time.

I think though that adopting such a standpoint is being too simplistic. Personally, I think great steps have been made and a platform for a better future established. Ultimately, when one of your core services has been responsible for a deficit of just under a thousand pounds, to still be ahead three quarters of the way through the month is quite something, even if the roi is down to a rather unflattering 3.82%.

There will almost certainly come a time when the portfolio clicks and substantial profits are made. This may not happen in time to make January a good month in itself, but gambling returns do not recognise neat sections of betting consisting of weeks, months, quarters, etc. These are labels and units for measuring returns simply imposed by us gamblers.

There have been times this month when I have felt like I have been wading through treacle. Funnily enough, this weekend has not been one of them. It's been a good test.

Today's Action

Hurrah! Football Elite is back! Blackburn beating West Brom became FE's first winner in what feels like a decade. Stakes on their other selection were returned as Sampdoria were backed to beat Juventus, draw no bet. 0-0 was the score, so in all a 1.35pt profit for FE today. The only other football bet, put up by Strike Zone, was a loser.

PJA Racing NH undid some of yesterday's sterling work, drawing a blank from five selections and contributing a 4.5pt loss. The only winner today was Chasemaster's selection (Atherstone Hill - Towcester - 9/2) that provided a 1.35pt profit for that service. On The Nose had a blank from their three selections (-3pts) and Northern Monkey Punter managed a placed horse and a loser, so -0.5pts.

Sunday 23rd January: Staked £454, -£23.10.
Week 2: Staked £3,563.50, -£166.74.
Month to date: Staked £12,226, +£469.34, roi 3.82%.

Pricewise Extra

Being on the London Underground at 12.00 yesterday, and watching my son play football at 12.00 today, made me realise once and for all that really, Pricewise Extra should have no place in my portfolio. This isn't the first time since following it that I've not been in a position to put the bets on as soon as the selections are released, and with Pricewise Extra, that is a fundamental flaw in following them. Whenever Tom Segal or Andrew Barr have a selection, prices plummet within seconds of it appearing on the website. Normally I wouldn't be too concerned by this - the level of roi these two tipsters have achieved historically mean that even if getting the next price down from that advised, very strong profits could be made. But the whole rigmarole of having to be by the PC at 12.00 on the days selections are provided, added to the inability sometimes to get on at all, have led me to conclude that I can no longer continue to follow. Shame really, as Tom Segal is one of the most talented tipsters I've ever come across.

The consequence of this is that I need to start following a new service. I want to have this new service in place for the start of February. The decisions that have to be made in choosing which service to join should make for some decent material to read about this coming week. At this stage, I have my eye on one or two possibilities - let's see what happens.