What A Joke

No doubt many potential visitors yesterday were put off, quite reasonably, by the malware warning resulting from my link to Daily25's site.

I have removed the link, and actually remember seeing this warning some time ago for this site. Thanks to Scott for bringing this to my attention. Hopefully we are good to go now.

A few positive comments or emails to report, names concealed on the emails to protect the shy contributors:

Keep up the good work on the blog Cass, don't be disheartened by those trying to bring negativity into what has been a great read for me the last couple of years.

You have been very open, honest and transparent in all as far as I can see, particularly your draw selections and the friendly tipster table. I don't claim to have an edge at all in my selections - just a bit of fun to see how it ends up compared to the XXDraws at end of season.

Some people may see you having a big ego and putting people down - but these posts have been some of the most valuable - especially from a newbie perspective. As you are someone who is a pro it can come across as having a big ego - but i think it is more that you are more knowledgeable and it is to be commended that you have been so helpful to point out fallacies and untruths.

Those criticising are contributing nothing to the community - you are putting yourself out there. Some are probably jealous and want to see you fail like they probably do with their bets.

Your blog has helped guide me personally on the right path to seeking value bets and made my betting more enjoyable.

Cheers pal & all the best.

It occurred to me after my last post that the F for 'Friendly' should make it clear that the table isn't meant for anything too serious, but I guess not.

And there was this one:

Hi Cassini.

Hope you well. Love the blog.

A bit sad that you feel to keep on explaining that a lot of your comments are tongue in cheek. But hey its not your fault some people have had a sense of humour bypass so keep 'em coming.

Love the blog (not only for the humour) but for views on betting that are very similar to mine 'value value value'.

I was hopeless at it and never really understood how to gamble successfully. One day I picked up Joe Buchdahl's book Fixed Odds Sports Betting (have you read it?) and it changed everything.

Anyway, I've been doing some over/under 2.5 stuff lately and not really finding an edge so my ideas not really bearing fruit (I suspect as it has now become so popular the bookies are too well prepared in this market but I might be wrong) I came across an old post of yours http://green-all-over.blogspot.com/2011/12/simples.htmland was wandering where you went with this? Was it something you persevered with or did it lead down cul-de-sacs? (yes I am being a lazy bastard and taking the time to find out for myself).

Interested to hear how you found the ideas if you did persevere?

Keep up the good work on the blog you fine man and ignore the gobshites.

All very much appreciated, although I am not actually a pro. My trading and XX Draws are all done in my own time, although I can see why they could be mistaken for the work of a professional...

I can understand why some people might miss my subtle sense of humour and take me too seriously - their excuse being that they are not English, but it seems that some English people miss the joke too. Probably northerners [Joking] I'll try to make my jokes more obvious so that everyone can laugh together.

And no, I have not read Joe Buchdahl's book. Yet. But I've just ordered it, a little light reading over the Easter break perhaps.

I'd forgotten the Simples post, but a quick peek revealed that most of it was a tongue-in-cheek look at a Vincent's strategy. Unfortunately, by treating all games, or all opponents as the same, it was fundamentally flawed. Scoring one goal to home to Queens Park Rangers, Aston Villa and Reading is not the same as scoring one goal at home to Manchester United, Manchester City and Crystal Palace [Joking - the Palace bit. See, Palace are 'my' team, I mean I'm not the owner or anything, I just like them a lot, as a fan, but the joke, and it's a good one, so work with me here, the joke is that they are not yet in the same league (literally) as the two Manchester teams, so it's funny because Palace isn't the third team name you might be expecting to see listed there]. To get a meaningful goal expectation you have to drill a little deeper.

Of course not all emails are positive, and no guesses for who had this threat to make:

Cassini please refrain from your borderline libelous remarks about me.

"Borderline libellous!" Oh dear, someone is apparently unaware that under UK law "you can't defame nicknames when people don't know who they are".

How can the reputation of an anonymous person possibly be damaged by anything I might have written?

I shall defend myself vigorously and suggest that any damage to the reputation in question was self-inflicted with the claim that 50% edges are everywhere. The only damage was likely to have been to people's sides, splitting as they read this ridiculous claim. [Joking - it's an English expression]

UK libel law also looks "to consider whether the words complained of were, even if strictly defamatory, more than a trivial attack which would not be taken seriously."

Seriously, someone needs to put on their big-boy pants and grow up. Jail time is looking unlikely.

I mention this, not to lower the tone, although it has, but to give an example of the kind of time-wasting nonsense I have to put up with, although it is all rather amusing.

Not quite so amusing was last night's Golden State Warriors performance at the Madison Square Garden - Stephen Curry played all 48 minutes, hit 11 three-pointers (out of 13 attempts) and scored 54 points (out of a team total of 105). But not quite enough to beat the New York Knicks who scored 109.

Curry is hot right now. He picked up three personal phals last night, and scored 38 on Tuesday in India-na. I'm here all week.