Sunday 26th April

2009 Challenge Fund (£12470 - £80 in play unaccounted)
Current stake - £120

So, that's the end of my 4th year as a full-time gambler. Pretty frustrating way to finish - gubbed on the line, not once, but twice!

My original objectives 4 years ago were suitably modest. I had 10 years behind me of “semi-pro” gambling whereby I had built up a decent betting bank and paid out a load of money as dividends for holidays and fun. Based on that I decided that if I used a bank of 25k, aimed for turnover of 250k a year and made 10% profit I'd be able to earn 25k tax free, which is more than enough for me to be content. Some of this I'd re-invest to grow the fund and hence turnover and profit. I'd also have research funds of smaller sums looking for my next edges.

The first year went fine – target hit.
The second year was OK – under target but happily in the game.
The third year was Difficult. Moving house, flooding, upheaval, stress, bad decisions. I made nothing and was of a mind the markets had changed and I was getting left behind. On the plus side, my move from 80% horse racing bets to around 50% was a sensible adjustment.

The fourth year and I changed approach a bit, and went up and down, more wildly than before with a more aggressive staking approach. Real life intruded and I had to take some money out of my betting account. Then in October and November I hit the buffers big time and very nearly wiped my bank out. At the turn of this year I decided I had to regroup, hence the £10k fund and smaller percentage bets – a throwback to the old semi-pro days. I took on some of my old career work to get a little bit of money flowing in and generally looked to take the pressure off by trying to re-capture some of the innocence and enjoyment that attracted me to the game in the first place. Four months on and I'm glad I made that change. I can't hit the original targets with the new fund, (and probably ought to change the title of my blog accordingly), but hopefully I'll get back into position by the end of my 5th year. The barking bets remain a promising addition, and if I can parlay that current fund up to £10k, could use it as a useful income source. That's the plan anyway


No obvious bet today. Notable that Tajaweed goes for the Prix ganay, when I would have thought it would be Tartan Bearer.