Added extras.

[Apologies - Blogger seemed to have issues late last night and wouldn't let me publish. Here's yesterday's post.]


So there I am, driving to work and slowing down at the lights, minding my own business, when my eye is caught by a girl, about 20 or so, walking along the pavement. Why did she catch my eye so? Not why you think, unfortunately. No.

Something about this girl wasn't right, you see. What was wrong didn't immediately register. And then it did. She was wearing tights, but no skirt! I mean, what's that all about!?! And no, they weren't leggings. They were definitely tights. Not a good look, especially when - how should I put this?...well, she didn't exactly have the figure of a supermodel, if you know what I mean.

Perhaps she just forgot to get dressed properly in her rush to get out the house and on her way to work. I've put on a navy blue suit jacket on top of my slate grey (different suit) trousers before now. I didn't get the job I was going for and looking back, perhaps that was no great surprise. But anyway - tights and no skirt. Not a good look. No. Not good at all.


At the end of last season, Skeeve sent out a poll to all of his subscribers, asking for ratings and comments on the various bookmakers used to place the bets on his selections. The results were compiled into the latest edition of 'Skeeve's Mail', and provided not only an interesting insight into what other "serious" gamblers are doing, but also a highly useful guide to the bookmaking options available to us. Already, and as a direct result of this guide, I have opened new accounts with two bookmakers who up until this point, have not had the undoubted pleasure of having me as a client!

It was gratifying to see that the four bookmakers sitting proudly at the top end of the performance scale, when all replies had been accounted for, are the same four bookmakers that I see myself relying on more and more as time goes on. Additional comments made by Skeeve subscribers who are obviously more experienced than I, and who play to much bigger stakes, have proved to be invaluable too, opening my eyes to other options that are not needed right now, but are likely to become so in the future. It is always nice to have options. Back up plans, if you like.

I write all of this in the context of the campaign launched by Kodagira that I mentioned last week, against what are perceived to be the unfair practices adopted by many (if not all) UK and European bookmakers. As I said when I noted this campaign on the blog the other day, I very much hope that Kodagira's plans and strategies realise positive results. Certainly if gusto and determination play a part, Kodagira will go far in achieving his goals.

In the meantime however, and thinking of the situation with a "business head" on, I see no alternative other than to continually look to adapt my betting strategies and future plans so that they are based on options that I know will be presented to me, as opposed to those that I hope might be presented to me. Ultimately, there are elements to running a portfolio of betting services that are out of our control. It's making sure we do the things we can control right, that ultimately make or break us. That, and the ability to ensure that we are exploring all possible avenues that lead us to achieving what we want to achieve.

It's great that there are folks like Skeeve who are more than happy to help us on our way.


Today's Betting

Well it had to happen at some point. I knew it was coming but ultimately, I was beginning to wonder when. Profits made by the racing to compensate for losses on the football. Not that the losses were too significant on the footy. No. Quite manageable.

It was Northern Monkey who came up trumps. I think Wayne will sleep better tonight after what has been a very testing month for him. Two nicely staked winners today though made a nice dint in the losses (Lexi's Boy - Carlisle - 3/1 and Athenian - Kempton - 11/4). No winners for On The Nose (0/2), The Market Examiner (0/1) or Winning Racing Tips (0/2), but Northern Monkey ensured a nice profit on the nags today.

Just the one match played on the footy tonight. The score at half time was what Form Lab was looking for, but the result at the end of 90 minutes was not. Still, at least Spain, Form Lab's antepost bet, are through to the final. Would be quite nice if they picked a goalscorer for the match on Sunday though!

The Market Examiner: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
On The Nose: Staked 2pts, -2pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 1.1pts, -0.6pts.
Northern Monkey: Staked 5pts, +8.389pts.

Form Lab: Staked 1pt, -1pt.