So, all change from the 1st October as I seek to address the issues I’ve written about recently, namely being again squeezed by bookmaker restrictions and the time practicalities of betting through the day, which with my son back at his studies means not being able to check for bets every ten minutes.
Instead, I’ve put into place more shop betting, but executed at times that suit me and that I can plan around my work. Lunch times and early evening are easy for me to get to my local BetFred, Ladbrokes and/or William Hill (the furthest away of those is a ten minute drive), and an hour on Wednesday afternoon to get Each Way Golf Doubles sorted is easy to plan around. One advantage I have over many I appreciate, is that I work for myself. So slipping out of the “office” on a Wednesday is easy to do. I simply do the conscientious thing and start work an hour earlier than I usually do on a Wednesday morning to compensate.
With things having gone largely wrong most recently (whilst keeping in mind that 2025 overall has been kind thus far) it has been really pleasing to have got the “new” format off to a flier on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
I used to have great success with the Bookie Bashing First Goalscorer input for the BetFred Double Delight/Hat Trick Heaven concession. I remember many a Saturday afternoon dog walk, listening to Radio 5 Live commentary on the Airpods, seeing a discreet fist pump as one of the players I’d backed scored the first goal. I remember one time almost being tempted to jump into the lake I was walking by when Haaland scored a hat trick when I was on him (before remembering that really, anything connected to Manchester City doing well wasn’t something to be celebrated, and duly having a harsh word with myself). Last year though, Fred cut back from offering DD/HH on every Premier League match plus others, to only games that were being shown live on TV. This reduced the number of opportunities, and with betting more online again, I kinda just let it go.
Something I’d noted though, is Sky’s pre-season advertising which boasted of the significantly higher number of matches they were covering live this year. More live matches = more DD/HH opportunities!
First bet back on Wednesday night…Erling Haaland (yup, him again) vs Monaco. This time, the almost perfect scenario. Haaland scores the first, and then again, and still City didn’t win. Happy days!
And then yesterday, back to the Bookie Bashing Racing Tracker and each way Lucky 15s. One nice bet – Place 12/1, Place 11/1, Win 18/1, Place 25/1 – paid a nice return of 25 times the stake. Welcome back, my old friend.
An up and down start to October for last month’s star, SharpBetting Football. Great day on Wednesday, not such a good day yesterday. But nicely up overall.
I don’t know how long it will last for but the online firm where I can no longer bet on horse racing, tennis or football (or at least, not meaningfully due to the size of the stake restrictions) is still not blinking an eye at my golf betting, which means getting on the Weekly Golf Value bets remains relatively straightforward. I don’t want to read too much into this, and nor do I wish to tempt fate, but the three online books I use predominantly for these bets are still letting me get the money down that I want. Probably helps that one of the winners this year came from outside of this triumvirate of bookmakers. Let’s see how long it lasts for.
Talking of golf, a fairly busy week this week for the EW Golf Doubles and it would be lovely for that to add to the momentum found over the first two days of the month. We’ve not really had much joy yet with these, but it’s only a matter of time.
Got to say, I’ve really enjoyed getting back into the shops again. Betting online can be a lonely process at times. I enjoy the human interaction in the shops. Well, some of the shops anyway (the Hills staff aren’t the friendliest, if I’m being brutally honest). The staff in my nearest BetFred have always been great and it’s by far my favourite shop to go to. Bit of banter about the football – big City fans in there, and they know my Arsenal allegiances – and having not been for a while until starting up with the Golf Doubles last month, they welcomed me back like old we were all old friends. Probably remember the odd tip I’d given after picking up a nice win.
And finally…looking forward to Sunday evening. Another reintroduction into the portfolio is Touchdown Profit, and I really enjoy watching the NFL games on a Sunday evening. Glass of wine, full up after Sunday dinner…a nice way to wind down and calm yourself before the chaos of the working week begins again. Bring it on.
Finally, there are services/strategies you’ll see below which I haven’t explained yet. I will. I’ve also reintroduced current drawdown (DD) and maximum drawdown (Max DD) figures, as a point of interest.
Have a great weekend!
October 2025 figures (stakes normalized):
Bookie Bashing Racing Tracker (L15s): Staked 90pts, +351.66pts, ROI 390.7%, DD -0pts, Max DD -5.78pts.
BB EW Golf Doubles: n/a
DD/HH: Staked 95pts, +145pts, ROI 152.63%, DD: -35pts, Max DD -35pts.
Value Bets/Enhanced Specials (Exchange): Staked 35pts, -35pts, ROI -100%, DD -35pts, Max DD -35pts.
Sharp Betting Football: Staked 596pts, +70.27pts, ROI 11.79%, DD -45.71pts, Max DD -45.71pts.
The Transfer Flow (Trial): Staked 20pts, +19.4pts, ROI 97%, DD: -0pts, Max DD -0pts.
Touchdown Profit: n/a
Weekly Golf Value: n/a
Total: Staked 836pts, +551.33pts, ROI 65.94%, DD -0pts, Max DD -0pts, Bank Growth 7.87%