Time - The Hidden Cost

Toymaster77 commented on my Riches to Rags post writing:

I have done the same as you as a punter for 30 years and lost constantly. In 2011 Deposited $100 AUS and have not made another deposit but taken plenty out. I am a layer not a backer.

Go slowly and don't listen to all the get rich schemes.

Have listed my results over last 12 months on toymaster77

While it is great news that after a quarter century of losing, Toymaster has managed to turn things around over the last four, I'm not sure many of us would have hung in there for that long. Of course it's quite possible that the losses over those 25 or so years fell under the Entertainment heading rather than Investment losses. Some of us bet for fun, some as a serious endeavour to make a little extra money, and some as a full-time occupation.

Time is our most valuable asset. Time is money. Time is not equal to money. Time earns money, yet money can not buy time.

While I keep detailed records of the sums won and lost going back to January 1st 2006, (lost £123.72 that day if anyone is interested), I don't track the hours expended to earn (or divest) those sums, and I suspect time is something many of us overlook.

It may not be true for everyone but for me, with trading opportunities becoming less and less frequent and other demands on my time, after years of suggesting that 'in-play is the way', I'm now in a place where the value in simple strategies is becoming increasingly important.

The UMPO system is still in profit, with an ROI of 8.1% after a run over the last three days of two winners from eight which has seen that percentage decline. We've also had a glut of Overs in that time, with six of those eight going Over including all four of yesterday's games. So with no real football, it was a wash on the baseball but a decent weekend on the American Football, one of the few sports remaining where in-play trading can still be profitable.

Finally, it looks like our friend Clayton Kershaw will be pitching again tonight for the Los Angeles Dodgers after just four days rest. He's 1-1 on short rest in play-off matches, winning in 2013, losing in 2014. It's a must-win game for the Dodgers as the Mets lead the series 2-1.