A match made in heaven...

I don't know if anyone reading is on Twitter, but I had to laugh today at a tweet that announced that Thommo, he of "Hey there, Big Fella" fame was on his way to a Fred Done shop in Yorkshire today on promotional duties. The tweeter was hoping to meet the "great man"!

Well, I'm not sure about being great, but when it comes to being offensively patronising to anyone that he happens to stick a microphone in front of he certainly has no peer. And after reading the excellent article posted by the High Class Equine blog recently that outlined "Thommo's" far from terrific record as a paid tipster, I just had to chuckle. I hope he doesn't read this blog (don't think so, do you?). As for Fred Done - pfft.

Fred Done wonders why anyone would ever go anywhere else to have a bet. Well, I returned the tweepers tweet, saying that if Thommo was going to a Done shop to have a bet, then he is likely to be wasting his time. Let's face it, everyone knows that you can't take fifty quid off Fred before an online account is closed by the powers that be in Done HQ. But other than the fact that they are a bookie you can't have a bet with (!), I can give Fred another reason as to why I shall never place a wager with his company again.

I always pick up the weekend football coupons from my local William Hill, Coral, and Ladbrokes offices on a Wednesday evening on my way home from work. There are three Fred Done offices between my office and my home. Never though, am I able to pick up a Done coupon from any of them. It seems that on a Wednesday evening, they are still trying to find out what the weekend fixtures are, never mind pricing the games up! I did drop in on them last Thursday however as I happened to be passing. Still, there was no 'Long List' coupon displayed, only a coupon advertising the prices of a certain amount of goals being scored in certain games. Now I think I'm a relatively cheery fella. Certainly I am never less than very polite - manners are free to dispense, after all. So it was with a little surprise that my nicely put request for a coupon (you know, something along the lines of, "Would it be possible to have a weekend football coupon, please?") was met with what can only be described as a withering glare, a nod in the direction of the wrong coupons, and a grunt. OK, I thought, perhaps I'd missed them. I walked back to the display to look again. Definitely not there. I returned to the counter. "Erm, they're not there. The Goals coupons are, not the Long List. Any chance you could print one off?". Well, you would have thought that I had asked this old hag to perform the labours of Hercules such were the mutterings and looks of incredulity that this outlandish request provoked. The 'lady' whose job it was to ensure that the customer is always right slowly raised what can only be described as a backside built for sitting on (full of padding), expelled enough air to extinguish a candle from 50 feet, and quite audibly said, "I don't know what your problem is"!

I snapped. Months of simmering frustration at having my online account closed down after two winning bets, anger at incompetent telephone operators telling me they couldn't find the relevant markets to allow me my bet, and resentment at the constant unavailability of basic football coupons...it all came streaming out in the form of what can only be described as forceful language. And it did so loudly!

When I had finished, there fell over that Done office a hush. It lasted what seemed like quite some time, but was eventually broken by a gentle, tentative almost, "Here, here" from the far corner. Obviously, on this side of the counter, I was amongst allies. Slowly I turned and walked unhurriedly to the door and left. The old bag had had an earful.

I don't suppose she cared.

Today's Action

Well, well, well. A third consecutive day of making profit. Whatever next? Actually, don't think about that. A pessimistic me can see what the answer might be.

Gaining the plaudits today were Chasemaster, which found a lovely winner (Rambling Minster - Doncaster - 9/1) and Winning Racing Tips which selected Cantlow (Ludlow - 6/1). The WRT selections (the other was a non-runner) caused me some real problems today but as it is late, that story will have to wait until tomorrow. These two winners were enough to ensure that today would not be a losing day, but the collection for struggling punters was added to by On The Nose (Good Time Donie - Fairyhouse - 9/2) and ProBandit (Lewyn - Lingfield - 9/4). Northern Monkey Punter is finding the going extremely tacky at the moment and couldn't provide a winner from four selections today, but I'm sure he'll turn things around given time.

PJA NH: Staked 0.75pts, -0.125pts.
Northern Monkey Punter: Staked 2pts, -2pts.
On The Nose: Staked 2pts, +0.75pts.
ProBandit: Staked 2.25pts, +0.188pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 0.6pts, +2.16pts.
Chasemaster: Staked 1pt, +2.2pts.
Financial profit on the racing of £241.60.

Only one bet on the football tonight, and what a nice one it was at that. Football Investor - well done with your 4/1 winner (St.Mirren).

Football Investor: Staked 1pt, +4pts.
Financial profit on the football of £60.

Wednesday 23rd February: Staked 296, +£301.60.
Week to date: Staked £1,377, +£538.09.
Month to date: Staked £13,808.50, +£324.82, roi 2.35%.


Finally, many thanks to Ian who runs the Football Betting Index service for leaving a comment on last night's post about how he deals with the admin side of running a service. Genuinely, to have folks like Ian, Sam from The Market Examiner, Skeeve, and then Alan who has ten years betting experience under his belt contributing already to this blog, well, I do feel honoured.

Anyone out there like me, still learning about this gambling malarkey!?! Do please leave a comment...