A disappointing final week meant that what was in many ways a month I found really difficult ended on a low. After having a lot of questions and things to resolve, I was still going along nicely at an ROI of around 15%, but that was reduced to just over 4% over the last few days.
Here are the numbers:
GOLF (inc. PGA PROFIT): roi -52.7%
RACING: roi -23.69%
VALUE BETS: roi -19.14%
FOOTBALL COUPONS: roi -11.39%
COMBO BETS: roi 55.82%
NFL: roi 367.13%
DD/HH: roi 160.2%
TOTAL: roi 4.15%, roc 1.2%.
Let’s start with the positive and the NFL and DD/HH (Double Delight/Hat Trick Heaven – a BetFred offer on the First Goalscorers market in selected games) paid the bills. Both performed exceptionally well, but there’ll be no more opportunities to get involved with NFL matches now until next season.
Other than that, and my approach this month has radically changed from what I am used to. I was aware that making the shift from betting online to using cash in shops and the Exchanges was always going to take some adjusting, but perhaps underestimated by how much.
Backing players to win golf tournaments and not to place has presented a psychological challenge already, and although I think I’m nearly there now, I still haven’t quite nailed my strategy moving forward. The need for patience in betting on golf is oft-repeated. The patience needed when betting win-only? Let’s just say tons of it is required. But for me, losing is one thing, as long as I’m confident in the methods and approach, for which consistency is key. And not being 100% clear on this has been, I’ve found, unsettling.
The football coupon betting has been frustrating too. Losing, a good slip to get almost back to even, followed by losing again. But this is normal. Just have to wait for the big winning slip, which will come. Of that, I’m sure.
And then there’s been the Lucky 15s. And here is where I’ve found a massive difference to betting online. For much of the month, badly affected by wintry weather, there just hasn’t been much value relatively speaking, to be found. The last week I’ve seen an uptick in that respect, so hopefully we’ll be able to get more Lucky 15s down in the shops. Up to very recently though, I’ve been placing about 30% of the volume I had been when able to bet online.
This period of adjustment isn’t over yet, but progress is being made. Let’s see what February brings.
