My betting history
"I heard you bid once or twice
Were you wondering was the gamble worth the price
Pack it in
I heard you did! Pack it in
Was it hard to fold a hand you knew could win?" (Joni Mitchell: That Song About The Midway)
From 1996 to date I have treated my betting activities seriously by devising and then adhering to my ten golden rules - in particular meticulously recording every bet placed. The profitability of my strategies very much depended on having a wide range of bookmaker prices to choose from. After all betting is all about getting the best price available. However during 2011/12 many of my internet bookmaker accounts have effectively been closed. (Bookmakers restrict one's bets to £1 or £2 rather than actually close accounts to minimize bad publicity). Therefore it's time to enjoy the fruits of my 20+ years' trading!
Comments on punters' profitability
How many punters make a profit? Very few I believe. Those that do will be heavily restricted or have their accounts closed. Certainly less than 5% of all people who bet show a profit and indeed recently I have read that as many as 97% of punters lose.
In terms of "professional" punters (that's not me - I don't bet for a living), the legendary punter Patrick Veitch won over 16% on turnover during his professional phase. In contrast Alex Bird won less than 2% and obviously struggled to make a profit when 4% tax was introduced. Harry Findlay, who I regard as a gambler rather than an investor, says no-one can win more than 8%. His winning percentage would be low I suspect as he concentrates on short-priced favourites. During my "serious" 20-year phase (to 31st December 2015) I achieved accumulative profit of a fraction over 10% of turnover, so we'll have to disagree on that 8% Harry!
I started my betting blog in December 2009 (it was available at mikequigley.blogspot.com). It continued n a regular basis until closing on 1st November 2015.
The accumulative position of all blogged bets was 1,622 points profit (+21.5%) at 31 December 2016.
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