The Ghost of Tipster Future

There was no delay at all to the follow up email from our man at Shaolin. In it, the chap painted a vivid picture of what is to be, with his wise words...

"Valued members,

it was a while since you last heard from me, and I apologize for this. It was brought to my attention that many of you did not get the notification that there will be no more picks in the 2010/11 season due to a huge mix-up in my email address base, and for this I sincerely apologize, as well as for the fact that I've been very slow to reply some of your emails in the last few months. The fact is that this email address has been mostly deserted over the last few months, as I've been looking to stay away from everything and contemplating about what to do with the service after a breakeven previous season.

The fact is that, for several reasons, previous season wasn't able to live up to the high standards set by the opening season of the service, and I was looking to find out just why, but, after several months of contemplating, I have to say that it was a bad combination of not sticking to the basics at the beginning of the season and an unavoidable poor run the system had in the second half of the season. Some consolation can be taken from the fact that the season didn't end in serious losses, but the expectations I have of myself and my system are much higher and there is no doubt it should've been much better.

Talking about the pragmatic side of things, the fact is that the below par season triggered extension clauses in most of the currently active subscriptions and that it has stalled further interest in the service, with only a few people enquiring about the possibility of joining the service over the last few months - needless to say, this isn't what I was hoping for when I started the season, and it opens the question of whether or not it's still feasible for me to run the service. After comparing performance graphs with what I was expecting for and consulting with other people running paid services, I've come to the conclusions that taking different routes in my betting career would be a better choice than continuing with Shaolin Predictions as a commercial project. Therefore, I am discontinuing Shaolin Predictions as a paid service and no new members will be accepted in the future.

However, there is still the question of the free subscriptions clauses triggered by the poor season as well as the question of members who's subscriptions are yet to expire. Although the service rules don't oblige me to continue providing picks on a free subscription basis in case of closing down of the service, I do feel that I owe something to the members, and with the system still boasting excellent long-term results, and with me ready to eliminate some of the errors in providing picks I've made last season, there is no reason to believe that the upcoming season won't be a profitable one. Therefore, I will continue providing system picks to everyone on the mailing list until the end of the 2011/12 season. However, please be aware that the aforementioned different routes I've decided to take in my betting career prevent me from providing picks past the end of the upcoming season.

To sum it up, the mailing list will continue to work the way it worked so far, in order to honor the subscriptions of the current members, while no new members will be allowed and no fees asked to continue providing picks. Once the 2011/12 season ends, sending of picks will cease.

There is also the case of the website not being updated with one losing selection and the information box not being required - this is currently out of my control, as I am unable to log in for some reason, while my previous attempts to reach our webmasters have been unsuccessful so far, as he is currently on a five month business stay in USA. I will try again to contact him through email and Skype, and will try to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Once we have get access to the website back, the missing selection will be added, while all future picks will be entered as well.

Regarding the upcoming season, one of the reasons why previous season was a rather below par one was starting the service too early, and not waiting until the system was fully loadable. This is an error I won't make again this season, and sending of picks will not start until early September - I will email you all around September 1st with the exact date.

Until then, I am back to regularly checking this email, and am open to all your questions and comments."

That goat of mine that was got yesterday, you know, with the use of the word 'delay'? Well, I can imagine that many in the Shaolin subscriber fraternity had their goats truly got by the opening two words. "Valued Member"?!? Pfft! There must be so many goats got by this choice of opening, that it is a veritable massacre of goats. An orgy of goat related violence. Today would not be the day to be a goat, let me tell you. Or anything that might resemble a goat. An underweight ram, perhaps. Or Ruud van Nistelrooy.

I digress.

Is this email really a serious attempt at regaining lost credibility? I'm not going to pick my way through it. I think it would be an easy enough task to rubbish literally every sentence. What gets me though, is the sense that he is doing us subscribers a favour by continuing next season, just next season mind. Well, what a gesture! What generosity! I tell you what, mate. Just send back my subs, and do one.


Today's Betting

What a plank I can be! I managed to leave my notebook with all today's bets in it at work. I can barely remember to get up in the morning, never mind which bookmaker I had which bet with and at what price. So what I'll do is forget the official figures tonight and add it all up for tomorrow's post.

Looking at it, The Market Examiner got 0 from 2, Northern Monkey 0 from 1, and On The Nose had an each way bet place (at 16s, I think) but no joy elsewhere. If so, I'm looking at another day, another loss, this time in the region of £80.

I shall try to be more organised tomorrow.