My worst day's betting ever!

What a nightmare Saturday was. I suffered the biggest, one off 24 hour loss I have ever had the misfortune to bear. Bugger!

It leaves November in a bit of a pickle, that's for sure. Time yet though, eh?

I knew it was going to be one of those days at 12.10 on Saturday. My U10s match had just finished and as I got back to the car, I checked my mobile. There was the text from Winning Racing Tips, detailing the winner of the 11.55 at Punchestown. 11/1! As manager of the U10s, I don't think it's the done thing to be checking emails and placing bets when I should be at least trying to get the boys to kick the ball in the right direction, and to be honest I get so wrapped up in it I don't notice the 'phone beeping anyway. It's not even a situation in which my wife can come to the rescue as she's always at the match too to watch our lad play. Still, the kids are the priority and they always will be. It just means Joe won't get pocket money for just over three years, by which time at £1/week, he will have repaid his debt. The boy has to learn.

It was the football that did for me though (the professional stuff I mean, not the U10s). Skeeve had what can only be described as a shocker, losing the equivalent to 25% of it's bank. Summer Of Football found just the one winner from three on Saturday, and that was priced 1.5 so no riches made there. The Form Analyst (7/22) had two home bets (and so staked more heavily) that both failed to win. On The Oche's one bet lost, and an overall loss too for Service X. There was only The Sportsman that produced any sort of profit on the day.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't left reeling a little by this carnage. I took the conscious decision yesterday to place whatever bets I had to put on, and then forget all about them. I didn't worry about doing the figures in the evening. I didn't check any football results. I didn't watch any horse racing. The darts semi-finals and final went passed me by. And you know something? I felt the better for it.

It wasn't until this morning that I checked to see how I had fared yesterday, over my bowl of Weetabix. As it happens, a very small profit was made as The Football Analyst (7/22) hit back with a home winner to produce a very small profit over the weekend (when put together with a good Euro system winner on Friday night). Football Elite's one bet came in too, as did Sportyy's. Overnight, Service X returned to some decent level of form aswell, all of which countered the losses that Summer Of Football continue to be afflicted by and the one remaining unsuccessful On The Oche antepost bet.

These times are sent to test us. James' (Summer Of Football) email this morning gave the impression that the tipster remains clear headed and focused on the long term goals we're trying to achieve, as did Skeeve's who has been through all of this before and come out again on the other side, profitable as ever. I still remain convinced that it is spells like this that emphasise that you want your portfolio to be based around experienced tipsters. By definition, gambling means there are no guarantees as to future performance levels, and if say Skeeve or any other service suffer a drawdown equating to the size of their bank, then I would be forced into drawing a line through it and moving on. But in these difficult times, who would you rather be with...a service that has been through it all before, or one which you joined because it looked promising over it's first few months of existence, but to which such a poor spell being suffered in the public eye and whilst serving paying subscribors is a completely new and traumatic experience?

As for me personally? I think the saying is, "Keep calm and carry on". Other than give up, which would be silly bearing in mind the profits so far accrued this year, what else is there to do? Let's ride this storm and keep our attention fixed on better days ahead.

Just one note before I go though. A nod to The Value Bettor who continues in fine form. Two more winners at the competitive Cheltenham meeting yesterday - Olofi at 16/1, and Coneygree at 12s! Not bad, eh?