Mind the gap.

No, that's not a gentle dig at any Tottenham supporters who happen to drop by. More a description of what I'm trying to do with the portfolio over the summer months to compensate for the lack of football betting now the main European leagues have finished.

Before I went on holiday I mentioned that I want to start thinking and planning my betting as a professional gambler would do. I want to elevate my operation (fancy word for it, I know) to a level that provides an alternative income to my PAYE earnings. I found that once I started to think like this, I fundamentally changed my outlook in terms of what I was trying to achieve and how I was going to achieve it. It forced me to look at the whole portfolio as a portfolio, as opposed to constantly analysing it's individual constituent parts (which remains important, of course), and I can't emphasise enough how different this feels. I guess what I'm trying to say is that instead of attempting to maximise the performance of each service I subscribe to, I'm now trying to maximise the performance of the portfolio as a whole, and that brings about a whole lot of different considerations. To a large extent, this subtle but significant shift in outlook was forced on me rather by those bastard bookmakers who refuse to take a bet. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if I don't look back in the future and see that the likes of Ladbrokes (who are the latest to close me down), Bet365 and the rest have actually done me a big favour. Their actions have forced me into thinking differently and I have a strong feeling that that is no bad thing. In fact, I think it is going to make me a much better and more effective gambler. Time will tell.

The fact that the bookmakers suddenly playing hard ball with me has more or less coincided with the end of Football Season 2011/12, a time that naturally lends itself to taking stock and planning for the future, has been a stroke of luck. There is breathing space, a calming of the storm that is created by placing a large number of bets on various football teams each week, that can be used for reflection. But we're looking at things from a different perspective now though, and it is apparent that this downtime actually represents a problem to be solved. In this quiet place that is conducive to contemplation, lies the first big issue that I feel the need to address; the gap that the title to this post refers to.

Skeeve usually kicks off the football betting season, August often seeing a good few non-league bets being placed (although I seem to remember the wiser and more experienced Skeeve leaving the opening fixtures alone now, but I may be wrong) that are followed by one or two Football Elite wagers. It is not until September though that the season gets into full swing, the chaos lasting until about mid-April when the action begins to slow and grows a little less frantic. From May through to those Skeeve-filled weeks of August though, we're relying on horse racing for our turnover, and as we know, I've had to cut back my involvement in the Sport of Kings quite drastically. This means that my profit-making (how's that for confidence!?!) is rather concentrated into nine months. Three months of the year are rendered relatively redundant - not entirely of course, as hopefully the racing boys will produce the goods, but turnover is obviously significantly reduced. Until now.

So Step 1 in Operation Portfolio, was to fill the summer shaped gap that was being previously minded. Hence my subscription to Summer Of Football, a high turnover service with high involvement in the summer leagues, although you'd never have guessed from it's name. Furthermore, two more services introduced on a summer trial basis - Form Lab Lite and Sportyy. Form Lab Lite was quite literally on a trial basis - a month's free go at it via the SBC. What a profitable month it was too, despite my cautious introductory staking levels, good profits being secured through May and into June, simply by following the advice in the service's 'Daily Reports'. It is this advice that I will be reporting on the blog, for the moment anyway.

Sportyy? Well any SBC members will be familiar with this spanish-based tennis expert (plus Spanish footy in the winter, too). A good, lengthy track record and very healthy returns plus the diversity offered by involvement in a different sport ticks a lot of portfolio boxes. I've signed up for an initial three months, really to test out practicality issues, odds attainment, etc. I'll keep you posted naturally, although ironically bearing in mind the subject matter of this post, he's currently on a week's break! Not to worry.

Suddenly, my summer does not seem so restive. I'm putting more bets on again and turnover is up. Interestingly, roughly 75% of the bets I'm now placing are with one of 188bet, 12bet, Pinnacle or SBO. I feel as if things are beginning to take shape in the way I want them to. Now all we need are some winners.

Today's Betting

Frustrating day.

Hardly any racing action, just one Northern Monkey bet which was a loser.

It was the football that was frustrating. Two bets returned stakes on the Asian Handicap lines and two losers.

Northern Monkey: Staked 0.75pts, -0.75pts.
Summer Of Football: Staked 1pt, N/A.
Form Lab: Staked 3pts, -2pts.