Take a bow, Football Elite!

Last week, regular contributor Alan (heh!), posted a comment that said...

"2 things can happen to service. They either make you money, hit a losing run then you give your profit back( plus some more) because you felt you owed it to the tipster to keep the faith. Or that tipster gets so consistantly good that they bump up their prices and want you to pay a year in advance!! Eventually they will have a bad year tho (equine investments). Just imagine if you are part of the latter, lets sey you have 100 clients who you charge 1300 a year. 130 000 grand wages before you have even tipped a horse. Do that for 2 or three years and you aint doing too badly thank you. I wonder if you would worry too much about spending all day form studying!!
Personally i very rarely pay a tipster for an extended period for that very reason."


There are a lot of good points in there, I think. Of course the comment was made in the context of our talking about getting the timing right when dropping a service from the portfolio, and it shows a different way of looking at things when making that particular judgement call.

I must say, having never been a member of Equine Investments, I have never experienced the price hikes, but I take the word of someone who obviously has. I think I covered this subject in an earlier post. The numbers of decent, profitable services (long-term) that charge a fraction of the sort of fee Alan mentions, means that to me anyway, there is rarely a valid reason to be paying a service any more than £500/yr, max. I would want profits to be guaranteed for a higher subs rate, and I guess until recently EI came about as close as any service to providing such a guarantee. But look what's happened since the beginning of last summer. I could have paid a much cheaper service to lose the sort of money they have! I know that's an attitude that is too simplistic - EI have a pedigree for a very good reason and of any, I'd be more confident that they will be able to pile the profit back on than most. But then my confidence is probably a reflection of the fact that I'm not a member, so haven't been losing with them whilst paying the best part of £1,300 per year! I have no doubt that had I been a member, I would have a different outlook entirely!

As for the intimation that perhaps the most successful services out there get a little lazy (and let's face it, it would be easy to become so), well, I'm not too sure. I can only draw upon my own experience, but to date I have never, from any service that I have used, gained that impression. I guess your outlook in that regard is dependent on how cynical you are or have become. I get the impression that I may have not been in this game for as long as Alan has. Perhaps I have plenty of time to develop that cynicism.:)

I'm fully behind Alan when he says that he doesn't tend to pay a tipster for an extended period of time. Regardless of the reason behind adopting such a policy, it is one I too would advocate. I tend to subscribe for periods of six months at a time. Longer, and you may find yourself tied into a deal that you would rather escape from early if given the chance. I look at it like I do when deciding what mortgage product to plump for, or which mobile 'phone to enter into a contract for. Subscribing to a service for six months is not, to me anyway, a sign of a lack of faith. More a hedging of my bets with the option to hedge some more in the future if necessary.

Anyway, it was a thought provoking comment, and it didn't end there. More on this tomorrow...

Today's Action

Winning Racing Tips were guilty of weighing down the racing performance today, making two selections that finished unplaced. The second of these though, a horse call Strophic (Wolverhampton - 9/1), traded at 1.04 in running, to win! Chasemaster and PJA NH each went for the same horse (Star Galaxy - Hereford), but it too, lost. Winners were found by Northern Monkey Punter (Restless Boy - Wolverhampton - 7/2) and On The Nose (Double Edge - Carlisle - 3/1).

PJA NH: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Northern Monkey Punter: Staked 1pt, +1.25pts.
On The Nose: Staked 0.5pts, +1.5pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 1.6pts, -1.6pts.
Chasemaster: Staked 0.25pts, -0.25pts.
Financial loss on the racing of £76.

Football Elite had their last selection of six this weekend and it proved to be a winner (Real Sociedad). Four out of six ain't bad.

Football Elite: Staked 1pt, +1.235pts.
Financial profit on the football of £123.50.

Monday 21st February: Staked £261, +£47.50.
Week to date: Staked £261, +£47.50.
Month to date: Staked £12,692.50, -£165.77, roi -1.3%.

Big night on the football tomorrow.