Wednesday 31 October 2012

Winter with Northern Monkey

Blimey O'Reilly - that was a heck of a game of football!


Northern Monkey epitomises the model tipping service. It is very reasonably priced, has a discernible edge proven over a large number of bets, contains excellent daily write-ups of the reasons behind why the selections are selections, and is run by a highly personable chap in Wayne (who I guess is the Northern Monkey) who obviously cares greatly about levels of customer service.

Members of Northern Monkey received an email yesterday which outlined Wayne's plans for the all-weather season, which starts after the weekend's last flat turf meeting at Doncaster. Although marginally profitable, the service's record over the off-season (which runs officially from December to February, a period for which Wayne charges members a reduced subscription fee) hasn't provided the level of returns comparable to those bets that run on grass. Wayne has therefore taken stock of the situation and has opted for a different strategy with which to approach all weather racing, in an attempt to boost returns for his subscribers during the darker winter months.

I don't want to go into any great detail here as that would not be fair, but Wayne's strategy is more systematic than the approach he takes to identifying value bets on turf racing, which is based on astute reading of the form book. He has spotted a potential angle on the all weather, researched it thoroughly, and has now settled upon a way forward. Of course this has an impact on how I follow Northern Monkey over the next few months.

It is always good to see a service analyse their performance, identify where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and then act to exploit those strengths and counteract the weaknesses. It demonstrates that the tipster is not nestling within the warm and cosy arms of a comfort zone, happy to plod along, simply letting things happen. Rather, the tipster concerned is mindful of his subscribers, not to mention maintaining (and even increasing) the size of the edge previously established.

Looking at the backtested results of Northern Monkey's system, the thing that hit me immediately is that performance levels could drop significantly and still provide an excellent return. But, the reality is that the strategy is untested in a live environment. Wayne is aware that "live" results are unlikely to mirror those attained during the backtesting stage, and warns that, "systems rarely work out as well in practice as they appear on paper". He is hopeful of a decent return though, and I can understand why.

I am going to follow these selections with my own money, but, I am going to use low stakes. The way I see it, if the systems perform well, which we all hope they will, then they will be used next year I'm sure, at which time I can up my stakes.


It's been a good month for Northern Monkey. Wayne mentioned that he felt the way to deal with a relatively poor September was to be a little more selective in his approach to identifying his selections through October, and it has been a policy that has paid off nicely. Let's see what the winter brings.


Tuesday's Betting

Northern Monkey: Staked 0.5pts, -0.5pts.
Winning Racing Systems (Favourites): Staked 1pt, +1pt.
On The Nose: Staked 0.5pts, -0.5pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 0.8pts, -0.108pts.

Sportyy: Staked 3pts, -3pts.



Tuesday 30 October 2012

Dib Dib Dib, Dob Dob Dob.

Only time for figures tonight. It may only be the kids and reserves, but I've an appointment with The Arsenal tonight and before that starts I need to go pick up the young'uns from Dib Dib Dibbing or whatever it is Cubs and Brownies do nowadays (which is probably demanding money with menaces from vulnerable old age pensioners and showing off about their ill-gotten gains on Twitter, innit?).

Monday's Betting
On The Nose: Staked 2pts, -2pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 0.8pts, -0.8pts.

Summer Of Football: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Sportyy: Staked 5pts, +5.66pts.
Form Lab Lite: Staked 1pt, -1pt.

So Sportyy digs me out of a hole for the umpteenth time this month. I wish the holes would stop being dug in the first place!

By the way, if it's a losing day tomorrow, God help any trick or treaters. Trick or treat my arse!

Monday 29 October 2012

Blog plans.

Well that was all very pleasant, I must say. Must holiday more often. I might even make a New Year's resolution of it...TAKE. MORE. HOLIDAYS.

Definitely warmer down there. The kids spent the week in shorts and walking along the lanes you could still hear grasshoppers chirruping. In late October!?! You're lucky if you hear a grasshopper in mid-June where I live!

Anyway, what being on holiday does provide is the luxury of time to think things over. Much of my musings were focused upon this here blog, and how I wanted to move it forward. I couldn't help but feel that prior to going away I was getting a touch bogged down with all the figures; some posts were looking more like an Inland Revenue conducted tax audit than a post you'd find on a betting blog.

What I thought I might do is post the comprehensive figures that include year to date and ROC performance at the end of each month. I will continue to post the daily figures for each individual service, simply because I know from past communications that some folk are interested.

I also intend to get away from the trap of simply describing the previous day's betting action. The blog should essentially be a diary of an Average Joe running a portfolio of betting tipster services. It should describe the emotions involved and the thought processes behind the decisions made. I want to concentrate on discussing the issues as they arise and pass comment on the services being used, whether they are going through a golden period or are struggling. I think these are the things that readers - ie. you lot - can relate to more rather than a couple of pages of figures or a list of the winning bets. I will still mention specifically any big-priced or heavily staked winner, and if a service has a great or catastrophic day I shall still talk about it in some detail I'm sure.

Of course the one thing completely out of my control is when an issue worth exploring might arise. There are some weeks during which nothing exciting happens and the portfolio simply ticks over, looking after itself. When this happens, finding something to write about becomes a touch tricky. So, what I have decided to do is to simply stop blogging on the days when there really is nothing to write about. I've noticed that many of the better blogs out there don't post every single day. Some weeks there may be five posts, other weeks just one or two. I think adopting such an approach might just work for me too.

So there we have it. The way forward. Now if I can just enjoy some truly remarkable, record breaking profits over the next week or two, there'll be no shortage of subject matter and everyone will be happy. Especially me. And let's face it, I'm the one that counts. Alright?

Sunday's Betting

On The Nose: Staked 1.75pts, +3.25pts.
(I can't let things pass without a big shout out to The Judge at On The Nose. It's no secret that 2012 has not, to date, been the service's greatest year, but over the last couple of months or so, there have been some encouraging signs of a return to form. Well, it appears that the signs are over, and the form is here! Since Friday, we've had Accordingtoscript - 4/1, Pasco - 4/1, For Non Stop - 11/2 and 6/1, Sixtysomething - 14/1, and Any Currency - 9/1, advised at 10s but couldn't get on for a little while. Not a bad weekend, eh?)

Service X: Staked 12pts, +4.801pts.
On The Oche: Staked 1.25pts, -0.1pt.
Form Lab Lite: Staked 7pts, +0.963pts.
Summer Of Football: Staked 6pts, +2.75pts (had to call upon all my professionalism to bring myself to back Manchester United!)
Football Elite: Staked 3pts, -0.98pts.


Thursday 18 October 2012

Fame!

Last blog post before I disappear for a week. This time tomorrow, I'll likely be sitting on a beach on the South West coast, freezing my wot nots off as the kids run around in shorts oblivious to the icy wind blowing in off the English Channel. I'm getting old. I know it. Mustn't forget to pack a spare blanket.

Now I know that you'll all be reading this and thinking, by 'eck, what on earth are we going to do for our daily TPI fix? And I can understand your concern. There aren't many places you can go to for such erudite blatherings and witticisms guaranteed to make you chortle. I know, I know, mine is a rare talent.

But worry ye not. If you're an SBC member, you can read the first part of an incredibly insightful and quite frankly brilliant interview with.....me! If you're not an SBC member, then ask yourself this question: what is an extra dosage of The Portfolio Investor worth to me, in stark financial terms, in the context of there being no blog posts for the next week? I think you'll find the price of an annual membership much less than the figure that will spring to mind when searching for an answer. Oh, yes.

In the meantime chaps, I'm off. The intention is to place all the footie bets, but as far as the racing goes, I'm not going to stress. If I happen to be around the laptop when the bets come through, I'll stick the money on but if I'm not, well so be it. The shrewd amongst you will already be mentally promising yourselves to up stakes on any racing services you follow that I follow too. You know it makes sense. Let's face it, you can't beat the Law of Sod, so if I were you, I'd not so much join it as embrace it, cherish it, and laugh as it's full demonic force hits me squarely between the eyes.

Wednesday's betting

Someone left a comment yesterday saying that On The Oche was more like On The Ouch. I could see where they were coming from - two winners from 15 bets. What I would say is that each bet was carrying small stakes. But it is typical of what is happening this month in that a horrible day for a service is preventing any profits from being made.

Yet again, my skin was saved by Sportyy who hit two from two. I can't help thinking that this winning streak has to end soon.

As far as the nags are concerned, one Winning Racing Systems (favourites) bet produced the goods (Marford Missile - Kempton - 4/6), but the profits were lost again by an unsuccessful Winning Racing Tips each way double.

All told, a break even day.

Winning Racing Systems: Staked 1pt, +0.666pts.
On The Nose: Staked 1.5pts, -1.5pts.

Service X: Staked 10pts, -1.778pts.
Sportyy: Staked 3.5pts, 5.71pts.
On The Oche: Staked 3pts, -2.14pts.


Right. Good food, great pubs, fine ale and freezing winds, here I come. Now, where did I put those thermal undies...?

Wednesday 17 October 2012

Losing starts.

Tuesday's Betting

Yesterday was a horrible day on the horses. The month to date profit, which was running at a very healthy enough 7% was eradicated, and then some. The chief culprit was the recently joined Winning Racing Systems (Favs), which had an unusually high five runners. Four of them lost, and the price of the winner (Kingdom - The Curragh - 2/5) was such that it didn't really reduce the losses by any significant measure. Not good.

I imagine Paul is cursing his luck. Anyone launching a new tipping service must pray that they get off to a decent start, not because of any lack of faith in their ability to pick winners or the system upon which they are relying, but because they know that a poor start will bring out the doubters and an inevitable period of firefighting will follow. I imagine it was this scenario that led to Paul sending out an email containing a link to a blog post he had written which reminded readers of the inadequacies of small samples of data when trying to draw definitive conclusions and the need to set appropriate banks for each service followed. All of which of course, is good stuff, and quite right.

But, I can understand that there may be some who have joined and are thinking What The Devil!?!, or something like that. I've had these thoughts myself. It's inevitable. It's inevitable because as a follower of a new service, you have had no time to build up trust in the service. in the absence of this trust, you can't help but to start asking yourself questions - do these short priced selections hold value? Is the system losing it's edge? Does Paul know what he's doing? What experience has taught me is to take a step back and hard though it is, to try and separate oneself from the emotion of it all and try and analyse the situation with a cold, emotionless Dr. Spock-like logic.

Proofed results for this system show an historical roi achieved of c.20%. That is a pretty persuasive defence to any accusation of the system either losing it's edge or of kicking up bets that don't hold value. And as for Paul? Well, if there's one thing following Winning Racing Tips for a number of years has taught me, is that Paul is a shrewd cookie who very definitely does know what he's doing and over any long term period, does it well.

I endured a similar start to my time with Sportyy earlier this year. I managed to join at a time that coincided with the tennis expert looking anything but. Over the last two and a half months though, Dani has been consistently excellent, proving his worth through being one of the top performers in the portfolio. When I think back to my lack of confidence in the service at the end of June, when under similar circumstances to those we're now experiencing with Winning Racing Systems, I can only smile at my own crass stupidity. The lesson to learn has to be to give any new service or system time to prove itself.

The fact that Winning Racing Systems (Favourites) plays at short odds exacerbates the feelings of unease when a poor run strikes. I don't know about anyone else, but when I back a horse at odds on, I can't help but expect the thing to win. When the foolish beast loses, it hits me harder than it does when a 10/1 shot I've backed loses, simply due to these raised levels of expectation.

Look, let's face it, the old principles of efficient and proper bank management apply here. Set these up as you should, then all should be well. If the system continues to lose money and uses up the bank, then I for one will cast it aside. I'd be daft not to, but I'd be equally as daft to drop it before reaching that point, for to do so makes a mockery of setting up a bank for it in the first place. Looking on the bright side, sticking bigger stakes on losing odds on shots ought to be making those BOG bookies look at me with a twinkle in their eye and a knowing look. They think I'm a mug. Happy days!

Talking of Sportyy it was that service that pulled me out of the horse racing mire with three cracking winners from four bets. Northern Monkey (0/1) and On The Nose (0/2) found as many difficulties as WRS on the winner finding front.

Finally Service X managed to find three winners from four overnight and the overall total on the day was a pretty small loss. Not bad, all things considered.

On The Nose: Staked 1.5pts, -1.5pts.
Northern Monkey: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Winning Racing Systems (Favourites): Staked 5pts, -3.6pts.

Sportyy: Staked 6.5pts, +6.761pts.
Service X: Staked 10pts, +2.997pts.


Finally, I had to mention this...

There's a spamming bot that is constantly sending me messages in "google translate" English, which usually is fairly irritating if harmless. However, this last one made me smile:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "To watch, or not to watch, ...":

Hello my loved one! I wish to say that this post is amazing, nice written and come with
approximately all vital infos. I'd like to look more posts like this .
Here is my page - games of killing zombies


?

Tuesday 16 October 2012

I love this time of year. Crisp autumn mornings, going out with the kids at the weekends to stomp through the leaves looking for apples and plums to pick, and the first log fires of the winter.

But enough of that crap. What really makes this time of year so exciting is the National Hunt season getting off and running as the better animals are reintroduced to the track. Each year, as soon as the Chepstow meeting which was held on Saturday has been and gone, my thoughts turn to Cheltenham in March which are, in my humble opinion, the best four days racing of the year. Soon it will be the Haldon Cup at Exeter, the Old Roan Chase at Aintree, and then the various big weekend meetings that light up the winter to look forward to.

If you're considering following a tipster who has a real talent for spotting ability in a racehorse that almost everybody else has been blind to, and who can ensure that followers get on good bets at real value prices, then may I humbly suggest you follow The Value Bettor, who is running a cheap and (what has so far been) very profitable service, from November 1st to the end of March. His roi last season was in the region of 30%! And in addition to the daily analysis and bets, TVB will build up a strong Cheltenham portfolio to add to the excitement.

The only reason I'm not following TVB myself is that as you know, my access to bookmakers for betting on horses is limited. I reckon I am at just about maximum capacity as far as betting on the nags goes, even with my strategy of following the Winning Racing System's favourites system to bigger stakes in an attempt to make me look more like a mug punter who is happy to go in big on odds on/short price horses. It's a shame. The Value Bettor is a cracking service, run professionally but with a strong personal feel to it. The link lies to the right.


Monday's Betting
A break even day although it took a stroke of luck. There were two Winning Racing Systems (Favourites) bets, but the advice from the service is to never back at shorter than 1/3. One of yesterday's selections was best priced 1/5 when I looked at lunchtime, 2/11 in places. Due to work, I was unable to track the on course market in the ten minutes prior to the off, and so didn't place the bet. The horse finished a short head second at 2/5. The other selection was a loser too, but my losses on the day were half of what they could so easily have been, and avoiding the loss almost wipes out the profit I missed on the 5/4 winner on Friday that I was going on about the other night.

Elsewhere, Northern Monkey weren't able to continue the recent fine run (0/1), but the one bet from Sportyy was successful and recouped the losses made on the racing.

Northern Monkey: Staked 0.75pts, -0.75pts.
Winning Racing Systems (Favs): Staked 1pt, -1pt.

Sportyy: Staked 2pts, +2.5pts.

Monday 15 October 2012

Figures update

Well yet again, a very good Sunday has reduced the losses accrued on the Saturday. It has become a pattern over the last couple of weeks or so and I'm looking forward to the time when a good Sunday follows a great Saturday.

Really short of time again tonight, I'm afraid. Work is taking it's toll on my time and with going away at the end of the week, I'm trying to get organised for that too.

So, without further ado, I shall provide the figures if anyone wishes to take a look.

No time for anything else other than a quick mention to Northern Monkey who after a poor September, decided to take a more selective approach to his tipping for a wee while. It is a policy that is paying off beautifully, as you can see from his month to date figures, figures helped yesterday by a maximum bet (only the fourth of the year) that landed the spoils nicely (Prodigality - Goodwood - 3/1 and 11/4). Also, a nod to On The Nose who ended a frustrating run by tipping a lovely winner (Raz De Maree - Limerick - 12/1). Well done, chaps.

(nb. ytd figures starting 1/8/2012)

Racing
Northern Monkey: Staked 12.5pts, +19.64pts, roi 157.12%
Staked 99.525pts, +23.507pts, roi 23.61%, ROC 23.5%

On The Nose: Staked 14pts, +1.619pts, roi 11.56%
Staked 71.5pts, +11.938pts, roi 16.69%, ROC 11.938%

The Sportsman Racing: Staked 2pts, +0.704pts, roi 35.22%
Staked 9.5pts, -0.576pts, roi -6.06%, ROC -1.92%

Winning Racing Tips: Staked 1.1pts, -1.1pts, roi -100%
Staked 19pts, +10.093pts, roi 53.12%, ROC 33.46%

Winning Racing Systems (Favs): Staked 17pts, -4.745pts, roi -27.91%
Staked 25pts, -2.635pts, roi -10.54%, ROC -8.78%

The Market Examiner: N/A
Staked 34pts, -14.8pts, roi -43.52%, ROC -9.86%

Total for October (racing) roi 10.94%
Total for year (racing) roi 18.31%


Sports
Football Elite: Staked 3pts, -2pts, roi -66.66%
Staked 10pts, -2.265pts, roi -22.65%, ROC -9.06%

The Football Analyst (7/22): Staked 3.5pts, +0.247pts, roi 7.05%
Staked 9pts, +3.179pts, roi 35.32%

The Football Analyst (Euro): Staked 0.25pts, +/-, roi N/A
Staked 0.25pts, +/-, roi N/A

The Football Analyst (Total): Staked 3.75pts, +0.247pts, roi 6.58%
Staked 9.25pts, +3.179pts, roi 34.36%, ROC 15.89%


Summer Of Football: Staked 12pts, -0.273pts, roi -2.27%
Staked 74pts, +18.654pts, roi 25.2%, ROC 74.61%

Skeeve (Asians): Staked 25pts, -2.938pts, roi -11.75%
Staked 88pts, -9.997pts, roi -11.36%

Skeeve (Doubles): Staked 10pts, -10pts, roi -100%
Staked 46pts, +1.35pts, roi -2.93%

Skeeve (Shortlist): Staked 5pts, -1.53pts, roi -30.6%
Staked 20pts, -10.903pts, roi -54.51%

Skeeve Total: Staked 40pts, -14.468pts, roi -36.17%
Staked 154pts, -22.252pts, roi -14.44%, ROC -27.81%


The Sportsman: Staked 0.5pts, -0.087pts, roi -17.4%
Staked 2.75pts, -0.475pts, roi -17.27%, ROC -7.91%

Form Lab Lite: Staked 27pts, -0.429pts, roi -1.59%
Staked 105pts, -18.554pts, roi -17.67%, ROC -37.1%

Sportyy: Staked 19.5pts, +2.942pts, roi 15.08%
Staked 123.5pts, +30.758pts, roi 24.9%, ROC 38.44%

Service X: Staked 112pts, +22.812pts, roi 20.36%
Staked 649pts, +66.075pts, roi 10.18%, ROC 66.07%

On The Oche: Staked 4.5pts, +0.53pts, roi 11.77%
Staked 12.9pts, +1.296pts, roi 10.04%, ROC 3.7%


Total for October (sports) roi -4.41%
Total for year (sports) roi 4.14%

Grand total for October roi -1.02%
Grand total for year roi 7.23%

Sunday 14 October 2012

Another rotten Saturday.

Many aplologies for the lack of a blog post on Friday. It had been a long day. I was on the M6 at 6.30 in the morning and I didn't get back home until just after 7.00 in the evening. My work commitments played havoc with my betting, as I shall explain.

I'm lucky in that my wife works four days a week. Her day away from work is the Friday, so I had arranged with her that I would telephone my bets in at lunchtime when I knew I would have a few minutes. Trouble is, I was taken by surprise by Winning Racing Systems (Favs) having a selection running in the 12.00 at Bath. 12.00!?! What sort of time is that to start a meeting? If it was December, then maybe. But October...?

I managed to pull into a service station off the A50 at about 11.55. No 3G on the mobile though, so I rang home. No answer! No bloody answer! The horse won at 5/4. Helen called me at 12.05. "Had I called?", she asked, all sweetness and innocence.

Anyway, WRS (Favs) had two other bets which did carry my cash, and both won. Still can't help ruing the one that got away though.

The other service affected by my day out was On The Oche. Not sure what happened here though. I think in my eagerness to 'phone my bets home, I simply missed the fact that there were three bets given in the email. I only backed the one - the only one of the three that won. Heh!

On a serious note though, I am acutely conscious of misrepresenting a service's results here on the blog. It's all very well for me to record my WRS (Favs) results here, but the official results should read better due to my missing a winner. The way I look at it though, is that I'm a working bloke with a family. There are going to be times when this sort of thing happens, so at least in that respect, my figures are those that should be attainable by any old Average Joe.

In the meantime, another very poor Saturday has knocked me back. It's the pattern of things this month. More on this perhaps tomorrow, when I'll also post up the latest figures.

Until then.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Great comments and more on odds.

A couple of very interesting comments left after last night's post. I suggest you read them if you haven't done so already.

The question of what odds should be taken on any individual bet should the advised price be gone is a thorny one and one which I happen to think is impossible to answer conclusively. James of Summer Of Football has again addressed the issue in an email sent out to members this morning.

Apparently, some of James's subscribers took a different line on the asian handicap to the one that was advised, thus securing a higher price on the selection. I know others that always look to do this when the relevant circumstances dictate, but I'm not personally too keen on this strategy. To my mind, taking a different line on the handicap is taking a fundamentally different bet to the one which the tipster originally identified as possessing strong value. I would also question whether value was still present in the alternative line. I don't know if this is the case, but if say, the price on the -0.75 handicap line shortens significantly, doesn't the price on the -1 line shorten too, thus eroding any value that may have originally existed on that line? Answers on a cyber-postcard, please.

Anyway, James seemed almost apologetic for addressing the issue of shortening prices and talking about possible solutions to the problem. Personally, I appreciate any tipster I follow taking the time and effort to explore the issue out in the open. Many services don't concern themselves too much with whether or not their paying customers are able to maximise their profits. All the less scrupulous ones are bothered about is headline results which they can use to advertise and thus attract new customers. This of course makes existing customers a less important consideration in the grand scheme of things as the service merely maintains a churn that provides them with an ongoing income.

I feel very fortunate with the services in my portfolio when it comes to attitudes towards customers securing the best possible odds on selections and the prices at which results are officially recorded. Matt of Football Elite quotes the best price available half an hour after release of selections, Skeeve adopts a similar policy although has to be a little stricter in terms of timings due to the nature of the markets in which he specialises. Graeme, The Football Analyst also adopts this strategy, but I know for a fact that he quotes official prices that are frequently lower than the best available at time of bet release.

Next week I'll discuss another issue that I'm having to deal with more and more when it comes to securing the right odds on my football bets, and that is the fact that I am having to adapt to the consequences of channelling so much of my betting through the Asian bookmakers.

No time right now though, so that will have to wait.


Wednesday's Betting

Much better day.

A nice winner from On The Nose (Armenian Boy - Ludlow - 13/2). Ahead after jumping the last but tiring rapidly, I thought the jockey was going to come off his mount so unbalanced did he become in his urgings of the horse twoards the line. Just held on, thankfully.

The Winning Racing Systems (Favs) bet came second after looking all over the winner entering the final furlong, which was a real shame for after drifting to a price of 7/2, it would have provided a very nice return.

A good day for Sportyy with two from two (Querrey to bt Nishikori - 1.95 and Baghdatis +2.5 games vs Raonic - 1.94). The one On The Oche bet was a winner too (King to bt Chisnall - 11/8), as was the sole Service X selection in Chile.

Winning Racing Systems (Favs): Staked 1pt, -1pt.
On The Nose: Staked 1pt, +2.75pts.

Sportyy: Staked 3.5pts, +3.324pts.
On The Oche: Staked 0.5pts, +0.687pts.
Service X: Staked 3pts, +2.941pts.



Wednesday 10 October 2012

Depression, shady goings on, and security.

Someone left a brief but succinct comment under last night's post that wasn't too complimentary about James Wade. Presumably the Commentor is an On The Oche subscriber; Wade was the service's antepost tip to win this week's World Grand Prix. Unfortunately, after trading at a ridiculously low price to win yesterday's first round match, Wade somehow managed to get himself knocked out. Hence the offensive comment, I guess.

The result was certainly frustrating, but what I hadn't known until this morning was that Wade has, over a number of years, been trying to cope with the effects of clinical depression. In today's OTO email, Matt referred to the fact that Wade hadn't looked too good on the stage last night, describing him as being, "in a pretty bad way". In light of this, my frustration at not getting a run for our antepost money on Wade has disappeared somewhat. From the very little I know of the condition, I believe clinical depression to be a horribly debilitating affliction and anyone suffering from it has my sympathy. It certainly makes me a little embarrassed by my recent frivolous whingeing at the careless mistakes I've made with my gambling. In fact, looking on the bright side, my error in backing Wade to win the tournament as opposed to the recommended each way has saved me half a point.


Summer Of Football had a winner in Brazil last night, but unfortunately I wasn't on it. I can't quite decide whether or not I did the right thing by not backing the selection.

JP once advised that I never chase a price down on a bet and that if the value has gone, then the wise thing to do is to leave it. Graeme Dand recently imparted the same wisdom to his subscribers. My own rule is that I need to secure a price that represents at least 90% of the advised price when looking to strike a football/sports bet.

The question though, is where do you draw the line when considering what price you can take? That 90% figure I mention is completely arbitrary. I've noticed that the price that Sportyy suggests as the minimum acceptable on his picks is 90% of the price he advises at, but even so, the level of value contained within any one bet is impossible to quantify. You therefore have to think that in this context, any self-imposed restriction to the odds deemed acceptable on a bet is all a bit of a nonsense. Particulary when you set a minimum acceptable price on a bet of 1.83 and don't back it when the maximum found is 1.81, which happened to be the case yesterday with the Summer Of Football tip (in fact James stated today that 1.825 was available, which makes my opting out even more of a nonsense!). It's a tough one though. Do you draw a line and then allow yourself to fall the wrong side of it, even if the margin is tiny? Logic says no. Common sense possibly says yes.

Either way, James was good enough to record the bet for official proofing purposes as being settled at 1.825, a move that reinforces his service's reputation for treating it's customers fairly. His email today certainly made for thought-provoking reading. It referred to Asian betting syndicates - and an implication that the way they work is sometimes "interesting" - and unusual trading patterns during the relevant game itself. It was like the opening episode of a good television drama series, revealing a tantalising glimpse of a world of shady goings on and subterfuge, and which left one wanting to know a lot more.


Finally for today, I want to mention an issue that affects all of us online gamblers. Mat Hare, one time author of an excellent gambling blog (much better than this one, I can tell you!), prolific SBC forum contributor, and portfolio gambler, had his William Hill account abused by an unknown third party. Essentially what happened was that he lost a fair amount of money he held within his online Hills account due to some bastard using the money in the company's online casino.

From reading the thread in the SBC forum, it is as yet unclear exactly how the fraudulent third party gained access to Mat's account. One thing is beyond doubt though, and that is the fact that William Hill are washing their hands of it, refusing to accept any responsibility for the security of their customer's account which quite frankly, I find absolutely disgusting.

I wish Mat well in his efforts to gain some level of compensation. In the meantime, it might be wise to ensure passwords and usernames to online bookmaker accounts deviate from the predictable. It might also be prudent to keep funds held within these accounts to relatively low levels. It can be a nasty old world out there.

Tuesday's Bettin

Oh, dear. Another poor day.

No joy at all with the racing, Winning Racing Systems (Favs) (0/2) and On The Nose (0/1).

Sportyy managed to find one winner (Verdasco to win the 1st set vs Monaco - 6/5) but also suffered two losers. We've talked about the On The Oche antepost bet already, but they had two match bets, one a winner (I.White to beat van Barneveld - 6/4), the other a loser.

Winning Racing Systems: Staked 2pts, -2pts.
On The Nose: Staked 0.5pts, -0.5ts.

Sportyy: Staked 3.5pts, -0.174pts.
On The Oche: Staked 1.5pts, -0.25pts.

Tuesday 9 October 2012

To err is human...

I talked last week about using my upcoming jaunt to the South West as a break from gambling. I had noted that I had started to make silly mistakes, a possible symptom of finding the running of the portfolio just a little wearisome at present. Well, sad to say, my silliness in making errors has continued this week by my placing the antepost On The Oche bet as a win only as opposed to the recommended each way. Doh.

I detest making stupid errors. I take pride in the fact that I keep them down to a minimum, and let's face it, nobody is flawless in anything they do for 100% of the time. Even Dennis Bergkamp misplaced the odd pass. My view is that making money from gambling is difficult enough without handicapping oneself by not being in control of the things which you can control.

I'm not alone in my erroneous ways though. I give myself a hard time when I cock up, but unfortunately Form Lab Lite made a faux pas over the weekend too. I wasn't able to place all the Form Lab weekend bets on Friday evening and had to leave Sunday's selections until the Saturday morning to place. The first bet for Sunday was on Under 2.5 goals in the Valarenga/Stromsgodset match, a game that ended 1-1. Which is all well and good, except that the match was played on the Friday night. I wasn't happy.

I'm afraid I spat the dummy. Teddy bears and fire engines were flying out of the pram, my ire probably deepened by the fact that October hadn't exactly got off to a flying start. Had I enjoyed a profitable week, I doubt I'd have been as narked as I was. But then I remembered the daft mistakes I've made myself recently, and realised that I was overreacting to what was simply an oversight. Form Lab had made a mistake, but it's not as if they make a habit of doing so. If it was a habit, or became a habit, I wouldn't follow. Simple as that.

As for myself...if I continue to make stupid errors, then I shall be forced into taking some drastic action as a punishment designed to teach me a lesson. Not sure what that could be, though. Perhaps signing up to the official MUFC Robin van Persie fan club or something. Mind you, it would have to be one bloody big mistake to merit doing that!

Monday's Betting

Bad day, yesterday. Monday's are usually quiet but not this week.

Just one winner on the horses, Winning Racing Systems finding one from two (Restraint Of Trade - Pontefract - 4/9). The other WRS bet also went off at 4/9, and was beaten a short head! Kind of summed up how things are going at present.

There was no success for Northern Monkey (0/1) or Winning Racing Tips (0/1).

The day's second very near miss came from On The Oche whose selection had two match darts and stuck them just the wrong side of the wire.

Service X had one bet which won, but Summer Of Football missed out with their one selection.

Northern Monkey: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Winning Racing Systems: Staked 2pts, -0.555pts.
Winning Racing Tips: Staked 0.3pts, -0.3pts.

Summer Of Football: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Service X: Staked 3pts, +2.308pts.
On The Oche: Staked 0.5pts, -0.5pts.


The sooner this month takes a turn in the right direction the better.



Monday 8 October 2012

Underwhelming.

Manic at work. No time. All I can do tonight is stick up the figures. As you'll be able to work out, it's been another underwhelming weekend.

Racing

Northern Monkey: Staked 5pts, +10.5pts, roi 210%
Staked 92.025pts, +14.367pts, roi 15.61%, ROC 14.36%

On The Nose: Staked 5pts, -1.5pts, roi -30%
Staked 62.5pts, +8.819pts, roi 14.11%, ROC 8.81%

The Sportsman Racing: Staked 0.5pts, -0.5pts, roi -100%
Staked 8pts, -1.78pts, roi -22.25%, ROC -5.93%

Winning Racing Tips: Staked 0.3pts, -0.3pts, roi -100%
Staked 18.2pts, +10.893pts, roi 59.85%, ROC 36.31%

Winning Racing Systems (Favs): Staked 7pts, -2.15pts, roi -30.71%
Staked 15pts, -0.04pts, roi -0.26%, ROC -0.13%

The Market Examiner: N/A
Staked 34pts, -14.8pts, roi -43.52%, ROC -9.86%

Total for October (racing) roi 0.24%
Total for year (racing - from 1/8/2012) roi 18.48%


Sports
Football Elite: Staked 3pts, -2pts, roi -66.66%
Staked 10pts, -2.265pts, roi -22.65%, ROC -9.06%

The Football Analyst (7/22): Staked 2.5pts, +1.247pts, roi 49.88%
Staked 8pts, +4.179pts, roi 52.23%

The Football Analyst (Euro): Staked 0.25pts (£25), +/-, roi N/A
Staked 0.25pts, +/-, roi N/A

The Football Analyst (Total): Staked 2.75pts, +1.247pts, roi 45.34%
Staked 8.25pts, +4.179pts, roi 50.65%, ROC 20.89%


Summer Of Football: Staked 10pts, -0.371pts, roi -3.71%
Staked 72pts, +18.556pts, roi 25.77%, ROC 74.22%

Skeeve (Asians): Staked 6pts, -2.4pts, roi -40%
Staked 69pts, -9.467pts, roi -13.72%

Skeeve (Doubles): Staked 5pts, -5pts, roi -100%
Staked 41pts, +3.65pts, roi 8.9%

Skeeve (Shortlist): Staked 2pts, +0.47pts, roi 23.5%
Staked 17pts, -8.903pts, roi -52.37%

Skeeve Total: Staked 13pts, -6.93pts, roi -53.3%
Staked 127pts, -14.714pts, roi -11.58%, ROC -18.39%


The Sportsman: Staked 0.5pts, -0.087pts, roi -17.4%
Staked 2.75pts, -0.475pts, roi -17.27%, ROC -7.91%

Form Lab Lite: Staked 20pts, -0.157pts, roi -0.78%
Staked 98pts, -18.282pts, roi -18.65%, ROC -36.56%

Sportyy: Staked 12pts, +0.292pts, roi 2.43%
Staked 116pts, +28.108pts, roi 24.23%, ROC 35.13%

Service X: Staked 57pts, +10.251pts, roi 17.98%
Staked 594pts, +53.514pts, roi 9%, ROC 53.51%

On The Oche:
Staked 8.4pts, +0.766pts, roi 9.12%, ROC 2.18%


Total for October (sports) roi -5.23%
Total for year (sports - from 1/8/2012) roi 4.77%

Grand total for October roi -4.91%
Grand total for year (from 1/8/2012) roi 7.42%

Friday 5 October 2012

Friday round-up.

Just the usual Friday evening round up tonight. Still got cramp in my fingers from all the typing last night.

Thursday's Betting

A good day on the horses and a consequently an end to the run of loss-making days, which is good. Obviously.

Winning Racing Systems tipped up two horses, one of which got up for a decent return (No Dominion - Southwell - 2/1). On The Nose then weighed in with a lovely winner (Midnight Rider - Warwick - 6/1) given an absolute peach of a ride by George Baker. Seriously, poetry in motion.

On the footie, Summer Of Football had two bets in the MLS overnight, one of which won to reduce losses to a bare minimum. Service X had a good night, finding three winners from four in Central America. No luck for Sportyy with just the one, very small bet issued.

Winning Racing Systems: Staked 2pts, +1pt.
On The Nose: Staked 0.5pts, +3pts.

Summer Of Football: Staked 2pts, -0.09pts.
Service X: Staked 9pts, +4.301pts.
Sportyy: Staked 0.5pts, -0.5pts.


Weekend. And not a moment too soon.

Thursday 4 October 2012

Tipsters vs Personal Edge

What seems like a lifetime ago, Shane posted the following comment:

This little digest of words is an extension of the transformation of personal punter to portfolio investor to your good self! As you may recall I emailed you a couple of weeks back about general start up question, who to subscribe and the general trial and error process one has to gone through.
Thanks to reading your comments I have joined up with "The Summer of Football service which fits well with my betting activities.

This kind of leads me into the main subject matter "Does betting solely on tipster services help remove the emotional personal side of betting that can deflate so many when it doesn't go well? Yes, there will be losing runs whether you use them or not, but if you know you are buying an edge long term following them, does this automatically make us more likely to follow a better disciplined approach? It is with regret that I hold my hand up and say that I have been in a "betting black hole" of 4 months losses, perhaps my personal selections aren't good enough long term and you should just pay for the best and stake accordingly?

Surely it can't be a simple A+B+C approach, hire the A-team and off you go? Could you possibly write a topic of "Tipsters v Personal Edge" who wins out long term.



OK, well, the first thing I must say before I even begin to try to answer Shane's questions is that I have never established any kind of edge on the bookmakers myself. I used to back my own fancies, back in the days of being a student hoping to raise enough for a decent night in the Student's Union bar. That I didn't drink as much during the three years of my degree course as did some of my contemporaries probably tells you all you need to know of my form-reading abilities.

So with that disclaimer in mind, let's see if we can find some answers.

The first thing I'd say is that I don't think starting a portfolio of tipping services and making money from it is as simple as putiing A,B, and C together and watching them go. Christ, I wish it was! But fundamentally of course, that is what we are doing.

Does following paid-for tipsters lighten the psychological load associated with serious gambling? To my mind, I think it is likely to, yes. But only if you do it properly. I think you can have a portfolio consisting only of services with a proven long-term edge, services that are proven to be the very best in the market, and still find running it incredibly taxing if you don't have sufficient funds in the betting bank. Even with such a turbo-powered, high-performing portfolio as the one described, losing runs will still be experienced, and if a betting bank is becoming severely eaten into simply because it isn't big enough, the mental devils will play havoc and disaster will be just a short step away.

Let's assume however, that we are sufficiently funded and have a good portfolio in place. In these circumstances, then I think that I, speaking purely from a personal point of view, would find following a portfolio less mentally challenging than if I were finding my own selections to back (or lay). For a start, I know that a well constructed portfolio would provide quite naturally, the levels of diversification that I think are necessary if gambling is to represent anything more than a simple hobby. If it is to be a means of investment, which certainly it is for me, then diversification is essential. Were I finding my own picks, I really doubt I would be able to cover a breadth of sport wide enough to provide the levels of diversity that I see as being an integral part of making good money from betting. The lack of diversity would cause me to worry, even when things were going well. It's significant, I think, that a number of tipsters I follow, follow other services in turn. I may well be wrong, but I would think that these tipsters are seeking diversity in areas other than those in which they themselves specialise. I don't think it unreasonable to hazard a guess that this is at least a part of their decision-making process to follow other services in addition to expoliting their own talent. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it's a theory that makes sense.

Apart from running away from confrontation and generally being a cowardly, self-centred git who can't recommend self-preservation anywhere near enough, I think I'd have made a darned good soldier. You see, I can follow orders. So when a tipster tells to me to back XYZ, I back XYZ. I never vary from the stake recommended. I simply do what I am told, when I am told. And by doing so, putting bets on almost becomes an automated process. Whether I'm in the midst of a winning streak or losing run, I simply continue to follow my orders. This is one of the reasons I so admire the tipsters I follow. It is the ability to ignore the losers and to apply a consistent method to finding good value and winners that, to my mind at least, makes for a good tipster. I imagine Rudyard Kipling had gambling and portfolio investment in mind when he wrote, 'If'. The ability to keep focused, to remain unaffected by winners or losers, to keep one's mind concentrated on the task in hand have simply got to be the qualities possessed by a professional tipster - or of course, by someone relying on their own selections to turn a profit. In fact, thinking about it, the first two lines of 'If' are particularly relevant...

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;


Yeah, if a tipster is going through a bad patch and they're receiving all manner of dog's abuse from disgruntled (and probably underfunded) subscribers, and they listen and can act upon the instructions held within those two lines above to arrest the decline and pull things around, then they'll...

be a Tipster, my son!

Now I reckon not many could. I couldn't. If I was making selections, and they were losing, I know for a fact I could not remain unaffected. I'd be the Marouane Chamakh of the tipster world, ie. shit. Seriously, I'd lose confidence in what I was doing, start to question my methods, and basically find myself being drawn into a never-ending vicious vortex of incompetence. And there's never a happy ending to such circumstances, I can tell you. Oh no.

I am able to see though, that if you are one of the few who can not only create an edge over the bookmakers for yourself, but who can then exploit it efficiently (and that in itself is a real talent, I believe), there are many advantages over following other services. The ability to get the best odds for a start, and the importance of that should never be underplayed. Oh, what I'd be prepared to give to avoid the scramble to secure the best possible odds! - the scramble involved in getting onto a popular tipster's selections can make the crowds bursting into Harrods on the opening day of the New Year sales look like a bunch of, "After You, Claudes".

I would also suggest that finding and exploiting your own edge must be tremendously satisfying. If I could do it, I'd be walking around with a permanently smug grin across my chops. The thing is though, I'd be pretty smug were I knocking in goals every week for the Arsenal, but sadly, I don't have the talent to do so. Alas it's the same thing with the betting for me, more the pity.

Look, at the end of it all, I can see that there are unique psychological demands involved with both following a portfolio of tipsters and in creating and utilising your own edge to beat the bookmaker. This might be Alan Shearer-esque sitting on the fence here, but I can't help thinking that different individuals are more suited to one or the other, simply because their own personal make-up and personality dictates. Not for me, trying to find and use my own edge. Not for others, following a portfolio of tipsters.

Perhaps the fundamental secret to success in gambling is to know yourself very well. Know what you are good at, and perhaps even more importantly, know what you're not. Then follow the most appropriate path.


Tuesday/Wednesday's betting

A couple of loss-making days and October has not got off to what you might call a flying start.

Last September was a bit of a nightmare for The Football Analyst but as we saw earlier this week, September 2012 was much better. That solid form has continued into the earliest parts of October as with three bets, two returned stakes and the other was a nice winner.

Form Lab Lite hit one winner from one yesterday to help compensate for two losers on Tuesday, and elsewhere, profit has notable for the fact there hasn't been any.

No luck/success over the two days for Northern Monkey (0/1), Winning Racing Systems (Favs) (0/1), Service X (1/3), or Sportyy (0/2).

Northern Monkey: Staked 1pt, -1pt.
Winning Racing Systems (Favs): Staked 1pt, -1pt.

Form Lab Lite: Staked 3pts, -1.067pts.
The Football Analyst (7/22): Staked 1.5pts, +0.56pts.
Service X: Staked 8pts, -2.57pts.
Sportyy: Staked 2.5pts, -2.5pts.


So there we have it. Roll on Friday and the weekend.














Tuesday 2 October 2012

Obsession.

Summer Of Football's James left a comment after last night's post:

"Enjoyed reading this post because it is exactly what I go through at the end of each month, I almost want to say no bets members - we've had an excellent month but surely you have to keep sticking to your principles and take the good bets on? I don't think that month end feeling will ever go away!"

I can very easily understand the temptation to a tipster who is reaching the end of what has been a particularly good month, to reign in the bets and so avoid any potential damaging erosion of the month's profits. Tipsters are working within a highly pressurised environment in which a reputation can be made or broken by companies such as the Secret Betting Club, various proofing sites, and bloggers who tend to compartmentalise their betting results into months.

I was talking about this to Helen on Friday night (yeah, I know...I really know how to show a woman a good time!), explaining that we'd had a decent month and I was nervous about the weekend's betting. Her immediate response was to ask why I didn't consider just not placing any bets. Instead, she said, let's be pleased with the profit we've made, bank it, and start afresh on the 1st October.

Such an approach is, of course, nonsensical. Helen knew it, I knew it, and I'm darned sure that James (and other tipsters who have said the same thing to me at one time or another) know it. In fact, this whole act of breaking down our betting performance into months is, frankly, ridiculous. Let's take away the fact that the weekend could have been a stormer, producing a massive profit that would contribute significantly to the end of year results, and simply look at the obsession of breaking everything down into months.

Let's face it, we do it because it is convenient. I also think we do it because we are generally conditioned into thinking about our income being received at monthly intervals, paying our bills on a monthly basis, and much of what we do financially is dictated by this cycle. In the world of gambling though, there must be potential for this to be detrimental to what it is we are trying to achieve, which is a long term profit. Thinking about things on a monthly basis must surely push our minds away from looking at things over the longer periods of time that are surely best used for the purposes of assessing the profitability of a gambling service? How long that longer period should be is of course, a different topic entirely, but you take the point.

All of this leads very nicely onto the subject of "Tipsters vs Personal Edge" that Shane has asked we analyse. This pressure to perform on a monthly basis that leads to scrutiny and analysis is one of the things a tipster has to bear and which may materially affect the tips they provide. We'll go into all that shortly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hand on heart, I'm finding it tough at the moment. I can't say why. Things are going well. Results are good and the portfolio is making money. But I do feel a little weary of it all and I'm certainly not as sharp as I should be. It's little things that just tell me I'm not quite on it. I missed the odds on a Form Lab Lite bet yesterday, despite the fact that I had noted that the selection was actually published last Friday. My Sportyy subscription came to an end without me realising and so I missed today's bets. Things like this irritate me because I know I should be on top of them.

I'm going down to Devon for a week later this month (half term week). It's part family holiday, part reconnaisance mission (although that's a story for another day). What I'm wondering is if I should use it to take a small break. I'd still place all the football bets because I really wouldn't want to run the risk of missing a big weekend that can provide a good football tipster with a significant chunk of their season's profit, but I'm thinking that fresh sea air - and by 'eck it's going to be fresh at this time of year - good food and beer, and much less emphasis placed on betting might not be a bad thing. We'll see.


Monday's Betting

A quiet day with no racing bets at all. I feel bad for missing the Form Lab Lite winner, not for the sake of my own pocket but because it means the results that I report are not totally representative of the service, and I don't feel that is fair. Having said that, it shouldn't matter too much in the long run. The one Form Lab Lite bet I did manage to place was a winner.

The only other bet was from Summer Of Football. A loser on the Asian handicaps, but one which returned half the stake.

Form Lab Lite: Staked 1pt, +0.909pts.
Summer Of Football: Staked 1pt, -0.5pts.

I thought I'd stick the month and year to date figures up each Monday. I was finding that the blog was looking more like an audit sheet putting them all up every day


No post tomorrow - will be watching the Arsenal. See you Thursday.

Monday 1 October 2012

For the first time in a long time, I felt a wee bit out of my comfort zone over the weekend. I felt a bit like the American Ryder Cup team must have felt on Saturday evening. Nicely up and looking good but not with a lead that could be considered entirely secure. A couple of very bad days and the reward for a month's hard gambling could lay in ruins, especially as from Friday evening the amount of money being staked over the two days was reaching what was for me, a record high. I guess that's my personal characteristics coming out. Nothing like a bit of pressure for bringing out one's true colours; worrying about might go wrong as opposed to optimistically looking forward to what might go right reveals a pessimistic outlook, does it not?

That I felt vulnerable over the last couple of days surprised me. The portfolio has been performing well for a few months now and in the grander scheme of things, the performance of just one weekend bears no significance at all. I know this, so why did I feel the way I did?

Thinking about it all, I believe that the overriding thought going through my head was that I was placing at risk the rewards gained from all the hard work over the previous 28 days of September. It is hard work, running a portfolio. Apart from all the psychological demands it places on you, the sheer number of bets placed and results to record ultimately takes a toll. In fact, by Saturday lunchtime, I was feeling decidedly battle fatigued. There are occasions when opening up a bookmaker site yet again to place yet another bet becomes wearisome. Stupid really. It's not proper work, is it? It's not working in a sweat shop or down a coalface for a relative pittance. I feel quite ashamed to be complaining in this way. But that's how I feel about it at times and there's no getting away from it. Betting becomes a treadmill that you can't jump off for fear of missing that big winner that makes such a difference to your bottom line. Running a portfolio properly means that you are ruled by fear. It is in this context that I was abnormally concerned about this weekend's betting. I was desparate to avoid what would be the kick in the teeth that seeing a month's worth of effort left in tatters by a couple of days bad performance.

As it happens, the weekend was a disappoinitng one. It proved to be a shocker for Form Lab Lite with only one winner from nine bets, and the current run is worrying. Taking results from the last high point hit, the drawdown is now around half the size of the bank. Add subsequent subscription costs and it's struggling. Fingers crossed all we are seeing is the rough side of variance, but it has got to the stage where I need to be keeping a close eye on things.

On the brighter side, The Football Analyst 7/22 had a very decent weekend. Five bets, three winners, a void and just one loser. I have to confess I gulped a little when I found out there were five 7/22 bets on Saturday, but I need to get used to this. TFA's European bets are going to start coming through now, further upping the amount laid out each weekend.

Other than that, Skeeve, Football Elite, Service X, and The Sportsman all posted losses of varying degrees, whilst the consistent Summer Of Football provided a small but significant piece of profit.

The racing was fairly uninspiring too. Two winners for the Winning Racing Systems at short odds, Northern Monkey got a few to place on Saturday for a small, positive return, but On The Nose posted a small loss on it's return to action.

It's important to get things into context though. September wasn't a bad month at all. Turnover was up as you would expect, and the overall roi of 6.52% is ok without being inspiring. Too many services stuttered to allow the profits of a great month to accrue, but at the end of it all, I have to be fairly pleased with the amount made. A raise of the hat to Winning Racing Tips for an outstanding performance that hauled the racing profit to very decent levels. Similarly, Summer Of Football enjoyed another fine month for the sports portfolio, and The Football Analyst 7/22 flexed it's muscles impressively, promising much for the rest of the season ahead.


September's Figures (plus ytd figures from 1/8/12)

Racing
Northern Monkey: Staked 40.65pts, -9.419pts, roi -23.17%
Staked 87.025pts, +3.867pts, roi 4.44%, ROC 3.86%

On The Nose: Staked 5pts, -3pts, roi -60%
Staked 57.5pts, +10.319pts, roi 17.94%, ROC 10.13%

The Sportsman Racing: Staked 3.5pts, -0.333pts, roi -9.52%
Staked 7.5pts, -1.28pts, roi -17.06%, ROC -3.2%

Winning Racing Tips: Staked 9.3pts, +11.879pts, roi 127.73%
Staked 17.9pts, +11.193pts, roi 62.53%, ROC 37.31%

Winning Racing Systems: Staked 8pts, +2.11pts, roi 26.38%
Staked 8pts, +2.11pts, 26.38%, ROC 7.03%

The Market Examiner: N/A
Staked 34pts, -14.8pts, roi -43.52%, ROC -9.86%

Total for September roi 28.32%
Total for year roi 20.61%


Sports

Football Elite: Staked 6pts, -0.265pts, roi -4.42%
Staked 7pts, -0.265pts, roi -3.78%, ROC -1.06%

The Football Analyst (7/22): Staked 5.5pts, +2.932pts, roi 53.3%
Staked 5.5pts, +2.932pts, roi 53.3%

The Football Analyst (Euro): N/A
N/A

The Football Analyst (Total): Staked 5.5pts, +2.932pts, roi 53.3%
Staked 5.5pts, +2.932pts, roi 53.3%, ROC 14.66%


Summer Of Football: Staked 36pts, +9.141pts, roi 25.39%
Staked 62pts, +18.927pts, roi 30.52%, ROC 75.7%

Skeeve (Asians): Staked 46pts, -7.341pts, roi -15.95%
Staked 63pts, -7.067pts, roi -11.21%

Skeeve (Doubles): Staked 25pts, +10.321pts, roi 41.28%
Staked 36pts, +8.65pts, roi 24.02%

Skeeve (Shortlist): Staked 11pts, -8.185pts, roi -74.41%
Staked 15pts, -9.373pts, roi -62.48%

Skeeve Total: Staked 82pts, -5.205pts, roi -6.34%
Staked 114pts, -7.784pts, roi -6.82%, ROC -9.73%


The Sportsman: Staked 1.45pts, -0.472pts, roi -32.55%
Staked 2.25pts, -0.388pts, roi -17.24%, ROC -6.46%

Form Lab Lite: Staked 47pts, -11.129pts, roi -23.67%
Staked 78pts, -18.124pts, roi -22.23%, ROC -36.24%

Sportyy: Staked 55.5pts, +5.565pts, roi 10.02%
Staked 104pts, +27.816pts, roi 26.74%, ROC 34.77%

Service X: Staked 272pts, +7.43pts, roi 2.73%
Staked 537.2pts, +43.263pts, roi 8.05%, ROC 43.26%

On The Oche: Staked 8.4pts, +0.766pts, roi 9.12%
Staked 8.4pts, +0.766pts, roi 9.12%, ROC 2.18%


Total for September roi 2.76%
Total for year roi 6.5%

Grand total for September roi 6.52%
Grand total for year roi 9.34%



That's enough for tonight. See you tomorrow.