Almost Green All Over

The remaining draw selections, all of them from the Extended category, finished with one winner, and two near-misses where the opening, and only, goals were in the 85' and 87' minutes. Four winners from the five selections on the Unders bets though, for a 1.59 point overall profit on the day.

The table is updated, although it should be noted that the Liverpool v Chelsea game tonight is a Drawmaster selection, and a draw would put these selections into the green. Not surprisingly, the stragglers in this table fell away and stopped sending in selections, and other ideas were quietly dropped, but of the survivors, most are faring quite reasonably. The XX Draws (Bundesliga) are not expected to be profitable, and with the regular season in Germany over - there is one important contest coming up between Hertha Berlin and Dusseldorf - with just five games in the books, I should drop these too.

I shall probably continue this Table idea next season, with a little more structure. Talkbet has already suggested he would be interested in joining, and if anyone else would also like to join in the fun, let me know.

An interesting end to the season in France where, with two matches remaining, nine teams are separated by the six points available. Unfortunately for Auxerre, their last game is against title chasing Montpellier who look a little short at 1.43 to win the league, with a home game v Lille (who top the Cassini ratings) still to come this weekend.

'Almost' Green All Over

I've added a new blog to my blog roll, because I wanted to comment on something the author had posted. He wrote:

Something Mark Iverson said really struck a chord with me the other day .

"So there's a simple message there to any new sports traders - keep re-investing into your betting/trading bank. Don't spend all your winnings at the end of the month if you want the potential to win more over the long term."

Now I haven't been so carefree as to spend my winnings, but I have took out my winnings at the end of every month and Kept them in my Moneybookers account and started each month with the same amount. I do this for 2 reasons, 1. To keep my stakes low as I wasn't confident enough with increasing my stakes and 2. because this enabled me easily compare the profit I made( if any) each month.

I realise the second one is not a valid reason really as I do also record each bet on excel but the main reason was my stake size. been a newbie, the last thing I wanted, was to blow my bank and never have a real chance of giving this a go.

Indeed, neither reason is valid in my opinion. Because your bank has some money in it doesn't mean you have to increase your stakes. If your discipline is so bad that the only way you can keep your stakes small is to keep a small bank, then you do not have the discipline required to be successful at this. And as the author notes himself, you keep records on a spreadsheet. 

As for 're-investing', you don't need to do anything other than stop pulling your money out. Leave it alone! If you are profitable, the bank builds itself. It's a bit like the DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Plans) option available on many shares. Select Yes, and let the shareholding build.   

In March 2011 I wrote: 

And that’s how a betting bank should be. A betting bank shouldn’t be treated like a savings account, something that you dip into on a frequent basis to ‘pay a few bills’ - it should be money set aside that you will never need and can leave alone to grow. You don’t plant a seed and then keep digging it up if you want to grow a plant. You leave it alone. Once it has grown, it’s perfectly acceptable to do a little pruning, but let the thing grow first.

Not betting related, but some great news in my e-mail today, although why it went to the Spam folder, I have no idea. Official communications shouldn't be treated like this. It reads:


Notification ! Tax Refund


Dear Applicant:

Following an upgrade of our computer systems and review of our records we have investigated your payments and latest tax returns over the last seven years our calculations show that you have made over payments of GBP 1578.25

Due to the high volume of refunds due you must complete the online application, the telephone help line is unable to assist with this application. In oder to process your refund you will need to complete the application form attached to this email.Your refund may take up to 6 weeks to process please make sure you complete the form correctly.

NOTE: If youve received an Income Tax repayment it will either be following a claim youve made or because HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has received new information about your taxable income or entitlement to allowances. The refund may come through your tax code or as a payment and could relate to the current tax year or earlier years..

An Income Tax repayment is a refund of tax that youve overpaid. So, if youve paid too much tax for example through your job or pension this year or in previous years HMRC will send you a repayment. Youll get the repayment by bank transfer directly to your credit or debit card.

I haven't opened the attachment yet, but I look forward to completing the simple step of filling in all my credit / debit card details, along with PINs if required, and sitting back to await the arrival of GBP 1578.25. Strange that the apostrophe on the HM Revenue Customs UK's computer doesn't seem to be working. The exclamation point works well enough, and really catches ones attention when it is used in the Subject line. Strange that the Inland Revenue doesn't have my address either come to think of it. Also odd that the e-mail was BCC'd to me - how come we are all owed the exact same amount? Oh well - it's free money so I guess I shouldn't worry about it...