With friends like these...

You know that affable looking chap you see on some of the adverts when your watching Channel 4 Racing? You know, the middle-aged, grey haired fella who overhears guys and gals wanting to have a bet at the footie match or at the races. Victor is his name. Really nice bloke. Lays a bet to anyone who asks politely.

Well, he had his PA, an awfully polite young man called Rob, send me an electronically posted letter. The second such letter within the space of just a few months in fact. It really was awfully sweet of Victor to keep in regular contact like that. I've printed it for you to read below...

Dear Mr Day,

We are contacting you today to advise that a business decision has been taken by our Senior Traders and I must inform you that betting Account Number 829952 has now been closed and no further business may be executed on your behalf.

The total balance of the Account £467.83 is currently in the process of being paid back to Card ending xxxx and can take 3-6 working days to reflect on your banking statement.

The balance of this Account now stands at zero.

As explained in our Terms and Conditions, a Traders decision is final and will not be over turned.

Please Note: As there are currently various unsettled bets in the account these bets will stand and any potential return will be honoured and sent to you via your debit card ending xxxx.

I hope this resolves your query, but should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Rob

My query was why it was that all of a sudden I couldn't log into my online account with no prior warning of their being any sort of issue. I can see where Victor is coming from though. That £467.83 is a mighty balance!!! Seriously, which Senior Trader in the world could look at an account with that much in it and NOT decide that I represented a clear and present danger to their business? Especially when you look at my average stake over the time my account was active - £30. Thirty quid! Placed about five or six times a week! Seriously, if I'd kept winning with bets that size, I'd soon be in a position to get Greece out of the economic mire. Oh yes. Forget those austerity measures. Forget paying taxes. I'll sort this mess out courtesy of Victor Chandler! You see, you look at it in this light, and you realise they really had no option. Closing my account really was the only plausible course of action.

Scarcasm placed to one side now, they really do take the biscuit. What must an advert on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of Channel 4 Racing cost them? I don't know the answer to that one, but I'm sure it's a darned sight more than I've ever cost them. It makes me sick when you see representatives of Victor Chandler, BetFred, Boylesports and others on television before the big meetings, boasting about how they have laid such and such a horse to lose thousands. How they've taken that £20k bet on Surefiredwinner in the 3.30 at 16/1. And yet the reality of it all is that show just a hint that you might know what you're doing when it comes to gambling on the nags or some other sport, and you are going to find your account closed with no explanation, no right to appeal, and with a shocking lack of any sense of customer service.

Why oh why are they not challenged? No-one in the Racing Post is ever going to say anything to challenge the honesty of those that provide the publication with so much revenue via advertising costs. But why not that lump McCririck? Why not the outspoken Matt Chapman on ATR? These people set themselves up as being the voice of the common punter, always ready to criticise jockeys for poor rides or clerks of the course giving inaccurate going reports. Why don't they ask the bookmaker's representatives a straight question - why do you so quickly close accounts of those few punters that are making a marginal profit? These people in the media must be aware of the situation - I see people on Twitter complaining bitterly and I'm sure there has been correspondence to the trade newspaper and television channels outlining the lies, misleading adverts and other falsehoods peddled by various bookmaking firms.

What we need is a revolution. A voice and figurehead that we can rally behind. Someone who can really be the Champion of the Punter.

I won't hold my breath.

Recent Performance

The last three days have seen a loss of a shade over £100. The roi on the month now stands at 14.61%.

Really very little to report. The only profitable service over the last three days has been Northern Monkey (+0.594pts), thanks to a nice winner yesterday (Miami Gator - Carlisle - 13/1 after a R4 deduction). Unfortunately the stake on this was small.

The others have shown small losses; Winning Racing Tips (-0.191pts), Chasemaster (-0.25pts), On The Nose (-2.624pts) and despite finding two winners, ProBandit (-0.125pts), one being tipped on Tuesday (Golden Waters - Brighton - 2/1) and the other today (Doc Hay - Hamilton - 5/4).

Pretty boring, really, especially after the excitement of Royal Ascot last week.

Speak soon.