Monday, February 25, 2008

THANKS ...................

to all your kind words and support not only over the last few days but since the blogs inception , the blog has had an added bonus of bringing me into contact with many decent like minded people, who i aim to stay in touch with .

to you all , thanks happy punting & be lucky !!!!

Saturday, February 23, 2008

a nice day to finish on ...............

i think after pigeon islands success @ 7/1 , if only irish legend could have stayed on for 3rd it would have been a very nice day indeed !!! i start my new job on tuesday so i think today will be my final day of regular blogging , i have been asked to continue on a daily basis by a few readers of the30kchallenge but this blog has never intended to be a "proofing service" it was my journey throughout the year in trying to make a living in excess of £30k ............. i will now use the services in an attempt to supplement my income , i have set aside some funds that will be my gambling fund and hopefully it will pay for a nice holiday and a few treats later on this year.

saturday

MARK HOLDER

2.05 kemp PIGEON ISLAND £300 ew @ 7/1 WON +£2520
4.50 kemp IRISH LEGEND £70 ew @ 20/1 £50 ew @ 18/1 £30 ew @ 16/1 unpld -£300

OPTIMUM RACING

4.55 chep HIGH JACK £150 ew @ 12/1 3rd +£300

daily p/l +£2520

i will post the weekly and year to date figs asap

Friday, February 22, 2008

sometimes when gambling as with life in general ..............

you dont get the rub of the green , with gambling you can suss out a match or race and get it spot on but still end up with a loss ............... thats especially the case with jump racing , yes i know the fences/hurdles are there to be jumped but i had to feel for andrew @ optimum today , a nicer more genuine bloke you will never meet , and yes i realise thats no guarantee of success , he does know his stuff but he has been going through a lean period of late after a period of continued success late last year and today his analysis of the 4.40 sandown was near enough spot on , one to avoid in the race and oppose the king of angels ............ first one beat @ 4/1 and pulled up , the danger was mokum and selection oakfield legend , 12 lengths clear when tipping up 2 out leaving the door open for mokum ................. the period this blog has covered has not been one when the gambling gods have smiled kindly upon my services as a whole ........ hopefully with its demise imminent things will improve !!!

friday

MARK HOLDER

4.05 sandown ELLWAY PROSPECT £75 ew @ 33/1 unpld -£150
4.05 sandown CALL OSCAR £225 ew @ 11/2 unpld -£450

4.50 warwick RAWDON £150 ew @ 16/1 3rd +£450

OPTIMUM RACING

4.40 sandown OAKFIELD LEGEND £300 @ 11/4 unpld -£300

daily p/l -£450

Sunday, February 17, 2008

weekending 16th feb ....................

well a marvellous week from isiris kept my head above water , played in 3 races producing a 14/1 and 5/2 maximum account winner , i hope that i dont miss too many winners when i start my "proper" job !!!!!
the figures are as follows for the week just gone ................

ISIRIS main account +£1200 (24pts)
ISIRIS insiders +£1579.20 (31.58pts)

MARK HOLDER -£900(6pts)

OPTIMUM RACING -£900(6pts)

weekly p/l +£829.20

THE30KCHALLENGE.............................-£3007.37

no wedding this saturday ....................

but sadly a similar saturday in respect of the p/l with a loss of £1200 ..............

i have been asked what will happen to these services when i start work , well i believe that mh & optimum will be able to supplement my income and i will still play to much smaller stakes say £25/£50 pt i wont be able to necessarily get the best terms or prices on a regular basis but with the offer of best odds guaranteed and a few other concessions around i feel i will be ok , yes i realise it has been a poor start to 2008 from these two but so it was in 2007 and they still both produced decent returns come year end.

its slightly different with isiris, the most exciting service around no longer open to new members , the timimg of messages will prove a difficulty in regularly getting on, but on days off and during lunch breaks i will try my best.
throughout 2007 i was moaning about the high number of bets , i even stopped backing the insiders as trying to get on in excess of 3 selections at one time was proving nigh impossible especially at the advertised prices, i had trumpeted the message of quality not quantity and at the latter end of 2007 we had the change in the service, with a more selective and customer friendly approach, an approach that i had been advocating for some time............. nice to know some people take notice !!!!
yes i will be backing these selections when possible as i dont think my boss or colleagues would accept me popping down the bookies during my working day 3 or so times a week but again it will be at reduced stakes tomy current staking.
on the subject of isiris a marvellous week for its members a 14/1 winner and a maximum main account winner , many congratulations to the isiris team , on a marvellous week.

saturday

MARK HOLDER

4.50 win MERRY MUSIC £300 ew @ 7/1 unpld -£600

OPTIMUM RACING

2.05 win KALDOUAS £300 @ 3/1 3rd -£300

2.45 hay GEEVEEM £150 ew @ 15/2 unpld -£300

daily p/l -£1200

Friday, February 15, 2008

not too much damage done ..........

although prior to the 4.20 sandown today things were not looking too good , although the service that shall remain nameless has had a cracking week , as will be shown in tomorrows weekly figs. last day of the blog will be monday 25th feb ........................


thursday

OPTIMUM RACING

3.25 sandown kalca mome £150 ew @ 6/1 unpld -£300

friday

MARK HOLDER

2.05 sandown SONNING STAR £450 @ 11/4 unpld -£450

4.20 sandown GALANTOS £150 ew @ 20/1 4th +£600



p/l -£150

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

the end is nigh ..................

only for the 30k challenge and the blog .................. as i have been offered employment with 2 other interviews lined up this week its a 1.01 shot that come chelters i will have a "proper" job , so will update further tomorrow as going to take advantage of the superb weather while i can and find a country pub and have a few jars .....................

update

firstly thanks for all the emails,texts,calls and comments i have been overwhelmed by the reaction, i will continue as usual until i start my full time employment which will either be the 25th feb or 3rd march.

tuesday

MARK HOLDER

1.30 folkes CAPTAIN TIDDS £150 ew @ 16/1 unpld -£300

daily p/l -£300

Sunday, February 10, 2008

february so far ................

well started the month with a deficit of £1671 ............

upto and including saturday 9th february my p/l figs are as follows :

ISIRIS main account -£74.55 (1.491 pts)
ISIRIS insiders nil
MARK HOLDER -£1389 (9.26 pts)
OPTIMUM RACING -£345 (2.3 pts)
OPTIMUM SPORT -£537.50 (21.5pts)
PERSONAL TRADING +£180.48

overall p/l ...................... -£2165.57

THE30KCHALLENGE ............................. -£3836.57

Well im beating last year !!! was over £5000 in the red this time last year , but the difference in me personally is huge , last year i was enthusuastic and even through the trying time i was upbeat, positive and looking forward to the future months .............. thats not the case this year.

YES i still have confidence in MH and OPTIMUM to turn things around but my heart is not in it , i suppose the bookmakers have ground me down , take yesterdays bet from mh , mortimers cross , i went into one laddies and asked for £80 ew @ 20/1 , the battleaxe of a cashier rang up and notified that she had a non regular customer wishing to place £80ew @ 20/1 , but before that she rang up two laddies shops nearby to ask them if anyone has been in the shop to back mortimers cross @ 20/1 .............. well i was cut back to £40 ew , i had a wedding to go to and could not go around shops but thankfully i got some help and got the whole £150 ew on.
I heard from a mate in the industry yesterday that a betting shop that he manages in the east end of london took over £8.5 million on his FOBT machines last year , i think he has five of them in his shop , thats £5,000 a day per machine , yes i realise that takings NOT profit but it still gives you an insight into where the bookmakers priority lies thesedays.

what a wonderful day ..............

for a wedding , had a brilliant day ..................... as for the "day job" it could not have been any worse and took the edge off what should have been a most enjoyable day , it wasnt my wedding by the way , no i would have had a day off for that !!! before the alcohol took effect had some decent and well considered discussions with friends and family who know me well and know the gambling industry inside out and the future for me is a lot clearer.

saturday

MARK HOLDER

1.15 ayr SOUBRIQUET £300 ew @ 11/2 unpld -£600

2.20 ayr MORTIMERS CROSS £150 ew @ 20/1 unpld -£300

OPTIMUM RACING

1.45 ayr SOMETHING SILVER £300 @ 11/4 unpld -£300

OPTIMUM SPORT

SCOTLAND +11 to beat wales £137.50 @ 10/11 lost -£137.50



daily p/l -£1337.50

Friday, February 08, 2008

i just hate it when jockeys ...............

get all cocky and start looking under their legs ............... is all i will say !!!!! members for a certain service will know what im talking about................
thought at one point we were going to take the crown jewels today with the optimum selection briery fox but the rag of the party came with a perfectly timed run to deny us and win going away.

friday.

OPTIMUM RACING

3.40 kemp BRIERY FOX £225 ew @ 9/1 2nd +£180

PERSONAL TRADING

well i made a extra quid on the briery fox race as there was an arb in the win market, i thought it would filter through to the place market but this never materialized and i decided to keep the place bet of £100 @ 9/5 as the selection was trading above the 2.80 level at the off , i layed £105 @ 8.60 in the win market . i collected £180 from the place bet and the win trading virtually levelled out for a profit of £180.48 on the race.

daily p/l +£360.48

a unsatisfactory day all round .....................

really , another nail in the coffin for me. i think i now know that i wont be doing this in a few months time , the bottom line is that im not enjoying it anymore ................ just like a couple of my previous marraiges ............ ive fallen out of love with the old girl !!! even if we make 100 points in the next month or so i know i will feel the same , i have enjoyed my time punting but im a great believer in each job having a definite shelf life and this "career" has reached its shelf life. i felt exactly the same when i was a fx dealer in the city but i was lucky enough to be offered redundancy no chance of that this time around !!!
i say it was a unsatisfactory day all round , well thats not quite true as i went for a interview , first time in over 20 years went pretty well and fingers crossed on that front.
so why such a bad day , well members of the service not to be named will know what im talking about after listening to last nights message , mh gave a good word for songe in the 3.10 , i had a interview at 2.45, but at the time of the message the price was under pressure 9/1 with a few small shops but a general 8/1 shot , well at 2.30 7/1 was the general price , well the horse drifted and won @ 10/1 ..................... why dont these guys leave a price proviso ??? they do on some occasions but not on others , we are told to only have the bet if 8 run or 16 run so why not say songe is a bet if 10/1 is obtainable ??? yes i backed the horse and made money out of it but thats not the point , i just feel there is some inconsistency here , that need not exist.
my day was completed by the egyptians comfortably turning over the ivorians .

thursday

OPTIMUM SPORT

IVORY COAST £150 @ 7/2 african cup of nations lost -£150

PERSONAL TRADING

i made a few quid arbing songe in the 3.10 hunt , but if i had taken a small chance it would have been a nice tickle as i shall explain. songe was 8/1 with hills & lads but 15/2 with better odds guaranteed , the price on the exchange was 8.4/8.6 and 2.18/2.22 win & place i had £300 ew @ 8/1 and layed back £300 @ 8.4 and £300 @ 2.20 the horse won and i collected a nice profit of £300 BUT if i had the balls to have my bet with better i would have scooped a very tasty profit of £1020 !!! as the 15/2 would have become 10/1 ....................

daily p/l +£150

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

well guess what ..............

another loss for me .............. feb not going too well at present but still remain positive and upbeat. i believe it was too early to say if the optimum selection would have been involved at the finish but the way they finished and the style of running of kirkside pleasure i think he would have had a say in the finish ,but thats all conjecture and the name of the game is jumping .
i used my discretion with the staking today on mark holders selection phardessa , he advised 2 pts win 1 pt place but i decided to have 1 1/2pts ew instead my thinking was that if phardessa won i would have been more than satisfied with 1 1/2pts (£225) on , on this occasion i was correct to stake in this manner but even if phardessa won i would have had no regrets ,a small winner on the selection especially when you take into account the rule4.

wednesday

MARK HOLDER

2.40 lud phardessa £150 ew @ 10/1 £75 ew @ 8/1 3rd +£111

OPTIMUM RACING

1.50 car kirkside pleasure £300 @ 7/2 unpld -£300

daily p/l -£189

paid for breaking one of my rules today ...........

as i layed one , yes it won like a fours on shot , returned at 4/1 i layed it at 12/5 so i had the value but bugger all else !!!! it didnt cost me a kings ransom but it was a loss none the less and one i could do without ...............

tuesday

PERSONAL TRADING

it has been a very quiet few days and perhaps this led to my indiscretion of laying one , i could not have picked a poorer race today in the 2.00 market rasen and mh voiced stamina concerns over the venetia williams trained maraafeq ............... not gonna dwell too much on this as this one could be called the winner some way out travelling like a dream , i layed him to lose £150 @ 3.40 i could have had an all green book as he drifted severly but i decided to take him on ......... a loss on the day of £150 .

daily p/l -£150

Monday, February 04, 2008

still awaiting first profitable day in feb ..............

no messages today from any of my racing services , and the golf/football advice from optimum sport failed to produce any profitable returns .

sunday

OPTIMUM SPORT

£100 aston villa to bt fulham @ 5/4 lost -£100
dubai desert classic l westwood £25 ew @ 14/1 unpld-£50
fbr open j leonard £25 ew @ 25/1 unpld -£50
fbr open s stricker £25 ew @ 16/1 unpd -£50


daily p/l -£250

Sunday, February 03, 2008

a quiet day ....................

with no account bets , but i was in the bookies to watch a couple of dogs at romford and had a couple of bets on mentions from mh & optimum , not much damage done but another losing day .

saturday

PERSONAL TRADING

mh was keen on kalahari king in the first at doncaster i had £100 @ 6/4 , it ran flat behind the impressive paul nicholls debutant rippling ring my other bet was on kalca mome in the 2m chase at sandown , unfortunately another disappointing display from kalca mome and the £25 ew @ 8/1 never looked like paying dividends .

daily p/l -£150

not a great start to the month ..............

but it could have been a lot worse , the optimum selection pharleight dei finished 4th , as so often happens a rag was withdrawn a hour or so before the race reducing the ew terms to just the first 3 places ............... but an offer from my bookmaker pays out on the 4th if the field is reduced to 14 or 15 if you place the bet before the non runners are declared , yes i had a stewards in the betting shop its a rule that is not widely advertised and the cashier couldnt get it into his head that i should be paid out as his machine was telling him the bet a loser , a few calls to the trading office and eventually i got paid it , in all it took me about 30 mins but it was well worth me standing my ground ........... they wouldn,t pay me out at the 8/1 although they were offering best odds guaranteed but i was well chuffed to recoup £375 .

friday

MARK HOLDER

2.25 chep SHOUDSWOUDACOUDA £300 ew @ 15/2 unpld -£600

OPTIMUM RACING

4.05 chep PHARLEIGHT DEI £150 ew @ 6/1 4th +£75

daily p/l -£525

Friday, February 01, 2008

REVIEW FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY ..........

At the end of my first month for 2008 my bottom line shows a deficit of £1671. The month tailed off badly in the last week , but at least im in a more favourable position p/l wise than last year whereby at the end of jan my defecit was £6890 and by the end of feb i was in profit to the tune of £1500 a turnaround of over £8000 ................. lets hope for a similar story in feb this year !!!

ISIRIS MAIN ACCOUNT +£285 (+5.7 pts)
£3600 invested
8 bets 2 winners 1 placed
profit on investment +7.92%

ISIRIS INSIDERS +£310 (+6.2pts)
£2000 invested
8 bets 2 winners
profit on investment +15.5%

MARK HOLDER +£375 (+2.5pts)
£2250 invested
8 bets 1 winner 1 placed
profit on investment +16.67%

OPTIMUM RACING -£2752.50 (-18.35pts)
£3900 invested
12 bets 1 winner 1 placed
loss on investment -70.50%

OPTIMUM SPORT +£599.02 (+23.96pts)
£2100 invested
24 bets 7 winners 1 placed
profit on investment +28.52%

SERVICES OVERALL -£1183.48
£13,850 invested
60 bets 13 winners 4 placed
loss on investment -8.54%

PERSONAL TRADING -£487.52


THE30KCHALLENGE ................................ -£1671

So they are the bare facts for the month of january 2008 , obviously the figures from optimum racing stand out , it was a poor month for them , no awards for spotting that but i have every confidence in the service. lets not forget that in the last 3 months of 2007 the service produced a profit well in excess of 45 points.
The reintroduction of the sport service from optimum has been a success and although not spectacular the solid returns from isiris and mark holder bode well for the rest of the year i feel .