£4125 - May 2017

Things seemed to pick up in April. The evening racing started to kick in and I had some good days, average days and a few days off as well. All in all, April was quite enjoyable 😜

I always look forward to this time of the year as the days are longer, the weather improves and there are more opportunities to trade, win more cash and get more pissed!



In terms of fun and games April was a pretty quiet month. I didn't really venture out that much apart from the occasional Friday or Saturday to watch a band in one of the many local boozers. I did however take a trip over to Birchington to see a band and it was one of those nights where my ability to drink copious amounts of alcohol totally deserted me! I realised after a couple of drinks that I was feeling slightly tipsy and after a few more my memory decided to give up for the night and fuck knows what happened! I do know that at one point the doorman had to ask me to leave the ladies toilets! I must have been on auto pilot as I found myself back in The Belgian Cafe supping a Hoegaarden and bleating on to 1 or 2 of the regulars about some shit that I cannot remember for the life of me! I was that pissed-up stumbling about bullshit spouting guy that everyone tries to avoid! Needless to say, I didn't feel too handy the next day πŸ’€


01/05/2017

+£173.13


02/05/2017

+£141.44


03/05/2017

+£87.79


04/05/2017

+£170.88


05/05/2017

+£115.56


06/05/2017

+£312.82


07/05/2017

+£74.22


08/05/2017

+£160.82


09/05/2017
 
Didn't trade ...


10/05/2017

+£95.07


11/05/2017

+£413.24


12/05/2017
 
Didn't trade ...


13/05/2017

+£96.74


14/05/2017

+£126.28


15/05/2017

+£120.27


16/05/2017

+£37.94


17/05/2017

+£58.52


18/05/2017

+£25.87


19/05/2017

+£49.16


20/05/2017

+£56.07


21/05/2017

+£18.36


22/05/2017

+£242.05


23/05/2017
 
Didn't trade ...


24/05/2017

+£225.96


25/05/2017

+£55.80


26/05/2017
 
Didn't trade ...


27/05/2017

+£322.03


28/05/2017

+£384.90


29/05/2017

+£233.33


30/05/2017

-£123.31


31/05/2017

+£450.06

May Total Profit = £4125

Time To Look Forward



Over the last 6 months or so I have experienced both the highs and lows of personal relationships (and I am sure that there is more to come). The highs have made me feel young again, energised, happy and full of optimism, but the lows have completely fucked me off and on several occasions have affected my trading.


I've mentioned before that to trade effectively you have to be able to sit down at your desk before the first race with and clear and positive mind. If you are pissed off or have a shit load of grief and worry floating about in your noggin then it's going to be damn hard to apply the necessary concentration to the task at hand.

This blog had kind of reflected my state of mind on pretty much a daily basis since I started it back in 2012. It's become my daily diary of all things trading, drinking and general shenanigans. However, in the last 6 months it's become a right boring thing to read and I fully realise that no one wants to look at a list of someone's P&L!

But now the sun is shining and we are approaching that time of year where there will be more races per day and therefore more trading opportunities. Yes my vindictive soon to be ex missus is still being a bitch from hell but I refuse to let her drag me down anymore. It's time to jump back aboard the fun bus and enjoy life.




PS I'm hoping that the top figure is a woman!

So it's back to the old style of blogging. I'll still be posting my P&L but I'll also post pics and stories of drunken nights out. Additionally I'll be helping people where I can by giving advice and maybe posting a trading video or 2.

PS If anyone wants to join me on Skype during the day for chat between races then you can usually find me online under the userid canarydwarf50





01/04

+£704.41. I had a relatively colossal win in the place market in one of the early races and it was then just a case of business as usual and chip away to get the odd £10, £20 and £30 here and there 😊

I didn't bother trading any of the races at Doncaster as the live video was miles behind. To be honest I've always struggled there, possibly due to the large fields, making it hard to spot the colours. The fact that it is a straight track also doesn't help matters when trying to determine the actual position of the horses, especially when they switch to a head-on view. If you don't like trading at certain tracks then just give them a miss and maybe just watch the races to see if you can spot another angle/opportunity.

I've decided that I'm going to have a couple of weeks of keeping my lardy arse out of the pub and smash the gym instead, eat healthily and lose some weight. Therefore I don't have any recent pictures of me slurping down a beer or smoking a joint. So in true Facebook style here's a picture of my dinner ...




And to be honest I had this a few weeks back and I can't remember what was under the coriander but I think that it tasted nice πŸ˜‹



02/04

+£171.64. Sunday today so only managed to trade 24 races but it was a steady effort with only 2 small losses which amounted to less than a tenner. Some of the in-running markets were strangely quite volatile so it sometimes paid to sit well outside the current range and catch one or 2 inexplicable spikes as they happened. You don't always have to be right in the thick of the action to make it pay 😎




I hit the gym this morning for another good session and came home to this view πŸ‘€ This is what I can see from my balcony and it gave me the inspiration to knock out a few sets of 15 press-ups (done 300 in total today as I type) just to burn some extra calories. In fact it was an absolutely fucking gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine. I might even manage to get a suntan this year!



03/04

+£80.97. I missed the first 90 minutes or so of racing as I was dealing with admin shit so to be honest I was quite pleased with nicking £80 especially as I only traded 9 races. The fact that I'm eating clean and staying out of the pub also means that I'm spending fuck all and that tends to help the bank balance somewhat πŸ˜‡

PS Don't think that I'm going to make the 300 press-up mark today 😞





04/04

+£44.52. Only 2 meetings today and I got off to a poor start by chucking away £55 when I had finger trouble and clicked on the wrong horse!





I was like 'WTF did I just click!'😧😧 When this sort of thing happens you just have to call yourself a fucking idiot, punish yourself by getting down on the floor and busting out some press ups and then calm down and crack on. At the end of the afternoon I had only traded 14 races but managed to make it back into profit so all was good πŸ˜…

The diet and training are going very well so instead of going out for a gallon of beer I decided to stay in and cook some chicken and drink Black Cow vodka, which I must say is fucking sooper smooth and sooper delicious!






05/04

-£43.17. It's a right pain in the arse when you are going along nicely and then run into a losing day, no matter how small. Even after all of these years there is still an urge to cling onto a winning run and this affects how you trade. Winning and/or losing shouldn't even be on your mind when trading. The only thought that you should have is 'trade effectively' and 'do I still have enough vodka?'






06/04

+£73.56. One of the key factors in this game, that I can't stress enough, is not to focus too much on how much you are winning or losing on any particular day. As I come to update the blog tonight I had NO idea of how much I had won. I knew that I was in front but didn't know by how much. If you are forever looking at your balance then you will never succeed. Obviously if you are having a bit of a disaster on any given day then you need to take a break, have a large vodka (NOT) and start afresh with maybe more of a cautious approach so as to regain the winning thread, even if this means winning tiny amounts.

As for Ramsgate and my flat .. well it's a totally different way of life, especially when the sun is shining as it was today, I sat out on the balcony for a while and got slightly burnt but fuck me what a life! This is what I wanted all of those years ago and now that I have it ..... fuck yeah!



07/04

£125.51. I had a fantastic day with some of my family today and we spent time laughing, chatting, eating, drinking and watching 2 of the grandkids having great fun down on the beach. When they scurried off back to London I managed to squeeze in a few races late afternoon/early evening and was pleasantly surprised when I saw the total πŸ˜„



08/04

+£269.48. Grand National Saturday today and it felt like one of those days where everything was easy. These days don't come around too often and to be honest I was slightly disappointed when I looked at the total as I thought that I'd won more! I probably should have gone through the £300 barrier but the evening card at Wolverhampton was a fucking nightmare and I won less than a tenner over the course of the 7 races!



09/04

+£4.26. I quite fancied my chances of winning a few quid today as I tend to like the Irish markets but alas it was not to be πŸ˜• I traded 21 races and all I managed to do was lose £70 early on and then gradually win it back with the odd fiver and tenner here and there ... strange old day 😢



10/04

+£18.14. I was up in London overnight and got back in time to trade 5 of the early evening races from Tramore. Looking on the bright side £18 buys 3 pints of Hoegaarden and leaves 74p change 🍺🍺🍺



11/04

+£47.18. I totally misjudged the finish of a race at Pontefract and threw away £105 in the early evening but apart from that error it was quite steady day.



12/04

+£14.85. I was looking forward to nicking a few quid in the Dundalk evening meeting but managed to blow £120 in 2 races, which was a bit of a shock and was therefore quite lucky to finish the day slightly ahead.



13/04

I popped up to London today so didn't trade ...


14/04

Some of the family popped down for a day by the seaside so I didn't trade and instead had fun with the kids and had a few beers 🍺🍺🍺




... and a few Black Cow vodkas which slipped down very nicely, especially after I had picked up 2 bottles at Sainsburys at the knocked down price of £23 each 🍸🍸🍸



15/04

+£282.84. A Saturday where a day of small to medium regular wins soon added up nicely.



16/04

+£34.45. I had more friends down today so just traded 14 races when and where I could ...



17/04

+£172.37, I didn't have the time to trade all of the races today but a couple of nice wins helped me reach a decent total



18/04

+£80.37. A mixed bag today with a combination of small wins and losses ...



19/04

+£107.17. I plodded along a bit in the afternoon but then the evening was pretty stagnant. The racing does seem to be nicely spaced out at the moment so the days are not feeling too frustrating or boring. I fill the time with washing, cleaning, sweeping, etc, but hopefully as the weather improves I'll be doing more sunbathing and maybe a tad more drinking 🍺🍺🍺




Following some impartial advice I decided to attempt some beautification on my old, wrinkled and stressed boat. Still not too sure whether it made any difference!



20/04

-£19.50. I traded a few races today but was up and down like a fucking yo-yo and never managed to make any headway ...



21/04

Had a day off today ...



22/04

+£3.19. I was hanging from a bloody fantastic night out last night so after trying to trade a couple of races I gave up and went to bed!



23/04

+£413.24. A much needed cracking day today made even better by the fact that it was Sunday so I only sat here for a quick afternoon session πŸ˜€I only traded 19 races but had wins of £186, £86 and £54. That'll pay for my council tax bill grrrrr 😑😑😑 and a few beers 🍺🍺





I duly celebrated by popping down to my local and watching the live music which was a great way to spend the evening although it would have been much much better with the right company πŸ’•πŸ’•πŸ’•



26/04

+£80.54. For some strange reason I only managed to trade 9 races today and I got caught well and truly with my pants down early doors when I lost £160 in one race. Fortunately I kept things sensible and then managed to win £170 a few races later so it was a relief to finish in front for the day.



27/04

+£357.24. I had a hospital appointment at 14:30 but managed to trade the first race at Beverley and won £220 so it all worked out quite well πŸ˜€



28/04

-£87.50. I made the mistake of having an early afternoon snooze and then jumping straight into trading before I had woken up properly and dumped £120 in the first race doh!



29/04

+£98.30. I was heading towards the £200 mark but I had a wanky Wolverhampton and ended up just over £100 in front. I had a cheeky score on the Joshua/Klitschko fight and backed the draw at 46. I could have traded out for £100+ but I was in the pub at the time!



30/04

-£8.66. A frustrating end to the month as I just couldn't get going today ...

Here Comes the Summer!


OK I may be a bit optimistic this early in the year but it's an ideal time to get prepared for those long hot Summer days.




I've been down in Ramsgate for 3 months now and for the most part I've been a right lazy bastard in terms of daily preparation for my trading and also in terms of my fitness routine. It's time to get back into the form study now that the flat season is almost upon us in order to get a bit more cash in the bank. I'm going to make a big effort to spend at least 1 hour every day before racing starts to compile my notes that outline a horses typical running style. Having this information to hand really paid dividends a couple of years back and I had some nice wins which made the effort worthwhile.

My physical training and diet has been very much hit and miss over the last few weeks. The main problem is that the the lure of live bands and alcohol in boozers that are VERY local is just too much to resist! This means that I can't be bothered trying to stick to a strict diet and I also feel too fucked to go to the gym most mornings as I feel mangled from the night before!




So for March I'm determined to stay out of the boozers as much as possible, stick to a strict diet, smash the gym and get back down to a decent weight.



01/03/2017

+£339.15. A cracking start to the month! I had a nice gift of a win early doors and then chipped away here and there and ended up with a respectable total, especially as I only traded 19  races. Roll on the summer and 50+ races per day!



02/03/2017

+£192.05. No big wins today but I traded 36 races with no major hiccups and things seemed to flow smoothly. It's always good to stay in 3 figure territory!





As promised I hit the gym this morning for a lovely quad workout. I took my Go Pro along to record the moment but unfortunately it ran out of juice as I started the hack squats. Hopefully I'll be back down there to have another workout tomorrow.



03/03/2017

+£478.30. To be honest I had another lucky win today but it all counts I suppose!




Rocky Balboa eat your heart out! Obviously I was only doing light weights but the big dumbells will come out at some point in the future ...



04/03/2017

+£9.29. I wasn't particularly going anywhere fast and then Betfair crashed so I decided to have an afternoon snooze which was much needed! I then ventured out for the second night in a row to see another live band in a local boozer and stumbled home at around 02:00 ...



05/03/2017

+£67.42. I only managed to trade 16 races today so once again couldn't complain about the end total.



06/03 - 07/03

Had a couple of days off and chilled.



08/03

+£18.31.



09/03

+£123.08.



10/03

+£36.94.



11/03

+£11.40.



12/03

+£139.29.



13/03

+£49.24.



14/03

-£21.07.



15/03

+£57.34. I hate it when I forget to update the blog or when I'm too busy dealing with other shit. There's no point in just putting up my P&L as that gets well boring. It's now the 27/03 so I'll update the next few days and then make an effort to resume a lighthearted effort ...



16/03

+£51.92.



17/03

+£103.47.



18/03

+£63.44.



19/03

No trading today ...



20/03

+£96.73.



21/03

+£135.40.



22/03

-£21.13.



23/03

+£139.76.



24/03

+£46.68.



25/03

+£381.33.



26/03

+£227.68.



27/03

-£22.80.



28/03

Didn't trade today ...



29/03

-£26.60.



30/03

+£144.78.



31/03

+£60.44.




























Fantastic February?


Well January was a bit of a crap month in terms of profit but hopefully February will be a bit better? It certainly needs to be otherwise I'll be going well skint!

My weight has rocketed up since I moved down here and I have gone from a well skinny 80kg back in May to a whopping 92.7kg!! It maybe has something to do with the fact that I now have a load of decent boozers literally right on my doorstep and I've been making most of that fact!

The live music scene down here is fucking brilliant but that has meant that I've been propping up the bar most weekends and drinking 6-8 pints of lager when I venture out! To be honest that's probably not the smartest idea. I also have an Iceland and Asda store (amongst many others) quite close and I've fallen in love with scones and frangipans and I'm scoffing the tasty fuckers by the dozen!



Therefore it's now time to get back on the decent diet alongside regular training. I've joined a cracking local gym and in addition I've started spinning and cycling again. I'm hoping to get down to 85kg by the end of February and also have a few more quid in the bank!







01/02

+£194.36. Well a much better start to the month. Nice steady trading was the order of the day and the medium sized wins soon added up to a much needed nice profit.






02/02

+£119.18. It turned out to be quite a busy day today, which makes a change, and once again I managed to get into 3 figure territory, which is always nice.

Here's one from last Summer when I was a bit leaner ...






03/02

+£38.85. It was all a bit of a struggle today and I always seemed to be playing catch-up. So at the close of play I was actually quite pleased just to finish ahead for the day as I'd like to get a good run of profit going in February if I can ...



04/02

+£22.24. I was busy today so only had the opportunity to trade a few races ...



05/02

+£48.59. A very quiet Sunday where I only managed to trade 13 races.



06/02

+£102.10. Back into 3 figure territory again which wasn't too bad or a Monday with only 2 meetings!





07/02

+£21.86. Like many others I still can't quite get to grips with Newcastle but any profit on a wet Tuesday in early February is a bonus I suppose ...



08/02

-£265.75. I had one of those days today where everything I touched turned to poo! The damage was done in two races where I got caught in very fast moving markets. On both occasions the market swung violently against my position and there was not enough liquidity to get out of my trade so I was left chasing prices and lost £100+ in both races. It then seemed as if I was banging my head against a wall as I continued to get in bad positions and only quick exits saved me from losing a lot more.

Now I've mentioned before that days like this are going to occur and it's just a case of knuckling down, keeping as calm as possible and trading sensibly. Tomorrow is another day ...



09/02

+£247.12. My fortunes swung 180 degrees today as I was gifted an early win of just under £200 and the world seemed like a much better place! It was then a case of chipping away with the main emphasis on not making any errors and taking safe positions in the markets.



10/02

+£49.70. It was a bit of a mission trying to trade Southwell and Newcastle as I just can't seem to get to grips with those tracks. I ended up nicking pennies here and there and then journeyed out to watch a local band and consume a few beers!



11/02


+£33.92. I only had the chance to trade 6 of the early races today as I was off out in the evening so at least I got a handful of beer tokens ...



12/02

+£197.71. I was pretty much chipping away on a grey and gloomy Sunday afternoon when once again I was gifted a nice win which helped a lot with the final P&L figures.



13/02

+£33.99. At last we had some sunshine today which made the day much more pleasurable but unfortunately made no difference to my measly profit!



14/02

I actually had a day of today and spent some quality time with some of my family who came to viit down here in a rather sunny and pleasant Ramsgate. Roll on the Summer!



15/02

+£88.10. A pretty bland card today and I wasn't expecting much but managed to get a good result in one race. This once again helped the P&L get somewhere close to being respectable, at least for this time of the year.



16/02

+£314.90. A much better day today and that will help pay a few bills!



17/02

Decided to have another day off and go to the cinema for the fisrt time in over 30 yearsnand



18/02

-£21.71. One of those Saturdays where I was making hardly any progress and then managed to drop the best part of £80 in the first evening race at Kempton doh!



19/02

-£10.87. I was making a meagre profit and then dumped £60+ within the space of 10 minutes to end the day slightly down again double doh!



20/02

+£3.44. My concentration was all over the place when racing started as I was dealing with other issues so the day was a bit of a waste really ...



21/02

Another day off ...



22/02

+£98.37. A day of small wins here and there ...





I was in two minds on whether to venture out for a beer but there was a jam night on in one of the local bars so thought 'hey, why not?'. The entertainment was nothing short of superb and I even managed to get a pic with the great Linda Lewis who belted out a few numbers along with Duncan Mackay on trumpet and Ivan Hussey on bass! Fucking brilliant!



23/02

+£75.36. Small wins here and there ...



24/02

+£85.34. I had one win of £50+ late on in the day and this was accompanied by tiny wins every now and then but thankfully no big loses.



25/02

Had  day off today and went out drinking in the evening and watched a band in one of my local boozers.


26/02

+£40.49. Sunday today and I missed the first few races and only traded 10 races in total so it was one of those days where something was better than nothing!



27/02

+£21.62. Pants!



28/02

Ended the month with another day off!





































5 Years!


Well how time flies when you are having fun eh? It's been just over 5 years since I started this blog and I thought that this might be an opportunity to look back over some of my posts and see exactly what I have and haven't achieved ...





OK, I didn't win £200K in one year but to be honest things changed quite bit during 2012 in relation to trading on Betfair. Making a decent profit became significantly harder with seemingly ever decreasing liquidity along with less opportunities, maybe down to the fact that there were more shrewd traders out there and a lot less 'mug' money about to scoop up.

The whole reasoning behind setting the target was so that I would have enough money to move to the coast.  In my post of December 2011 I posted this picture ...




Well 5 years later this is the view from my apartment!!




So, albeit a bit later than expected, I made it down here!





I am in a much better place now, both physically and mentally. I've hurt people along the way, but life isn't a bunch of roses. I realised late in life that if there is something out there that you want then you sometimes have to be somewhat selfish, self centred and focused and grab opportunities with both hands. Trading can be a lonely game and sometimes you can lose contact with the outside world and become isolated in your own little bubble. I have found peaceful solitude, a new purpose, new friends, new local pubs and love.

I did struggle somewhat with my emotions towards the end of 2016 and I've experienced wild mood swings of being hyperactive one minute and crying my eyes out the next. Thankfully I now feel that I have moved on and the sadness has been replaced by a happiness and a sense on fulfillment.

I received quite a few supportive emails over the last few months and here are a few of the many that I received recently that meant quite a lot to me:


Dave, this is one of the best betting/trading blogs on the web — at it's best, it's among the very best.

My in-running methods aren't the same as your own — I only wish I could expand my skill set to include your race-reading ability.

It's been difficult to read about the massive challenges in your personal life, you really do have my sympathy.

I finally gave up women as a lost cause a few years ago. I now live on my own and I do what the fuck I want. That used to include drinking (almost) as much as you used to, but thankfully that's now (more or less) under control.

One suggestion that I could make is to really minimalise your life when you do move into your new property. Get rid of just about everything that you genuinely don't need, they'll only retain bad memories.

Of course, keep your bike — if you do make it down to the south coast, and I hope you do, then what better way to spend some spring and summer mornings before racing starts. The endorphins will help no end.

Downsize your life as much as possible, and keep your spending similarly low. Of course you'll have rent to pay, but hopefully you can invest your share of the proceeds from the sale of your London property, and the income from that investment can make a contribution towards your rent.

As I'm sure you'll know from trading days when you weren't doing so well, if you trade under financial pressure then you're trading with scared money and it'll show in your results.

Your results in the first part of 2016, before your personal problems came to a head, are quite simply superb. You're a master of your profession.

Even when PC2 kicks in (hopefully at 'only' 40%), if you're not spending money like an idiot then you should be able to live quite comfortably.

We're all different, but personally I found that the worst time I had when my life turned upside-down was in the immediate aftermath. Once I accepted that it was so, things really did improve. Now, at any given time I can choose to be social, I can choose solitude or I can mix and match. I think you'll enjoy that.

Please keep up this blog Dave. You might not fully realise it, but you've actually got a lot of friends out there who have been dropping in to see how you're getting on, whether they're occasional or regular visitors.

Best wishes for 2017, both in your personal life and in your trading.



And ...

Great to see you're around and still trading Dave.
Look forward to reading your blogging again - it keeps out spirits up to see a fellow trader slogging through this game. Hope things are as good as possible otherwise too, though I know you've been through some difficult things on the personal life front. Must be difficult to keep focused, but I'm sure you will let us know how things might have changed when you get the time/inclination again. Funny thing is I think in this game we're often a set of people who have slightly odd personal lives or backgrounds, and we end up with trading because of that. I know I am not a traditional lifestyle type of person (though I do have a woman and kids).

Anyway, chin up and keep us up to date with goings on when you can.

All the best christmas/new year cheers,



And ...

Great last few days mate considering what you are going through.
Keep going, stay profitable, keep blogging as I love reading it. Nowhere near the same level as you but maybe one day. If ever you are up in the grim North West, Blackpool, Cleveleys give me a shout and will will have a beer or two and put world to rights.




And ...

Fucking Hell mate, hope things pick up for you. This blog has made me laugh and learn over the years. If your head's not right then lay off the Hoegaarden cos booze just makes things worse. Having said that, I hope to read more of your drunken adventures when the good times return. All the best mate. 


Thanks for the support guys! Now it's time to crack on and see what 2017 brings!

The GoPro is on charge and it's off to the beach at 11:00 to watch the local loonies do the New Years day dip where a load of kind hearted souls plunge into the icy sea water to rise money for charity! Videos to follow ...



01/01

+£82.74. The first day of the year and it was quite a strange one (apart from the fact that I was up at 06:00!). Yes there was plenty of racing but this severely affected the in-running liquidity, especially on the Irish races, which was pretty much non-existent as I found to my cost in one race.

I did however journey down to the beach this morning to watch a bunch of local brave souls raise money for a good cause by rushing into the freeing sea water for a New Years day dip!



02/01

-£140.10. I wanted to get my arse out of bed at 06:00 every day but my alarm didn't go off this morning to I had to settle for a 07:20 start. I fancied doing some long overdue cardio so I headed down to The Rainbow Steps and knocked out 13 times running up and walking back down!





And as for the trading ... well it was pants! I hate Southwell but actually got destroyed at Plumpton doh!



03/01

+£125.90. I was up at 05:55 and fucked about doing housework before driving to my new gym for a really good leg session. I managed to squat 4 deep reps of 90kg which although is quite light (I've done 15 reps of 140kg back in the day with  max of 180kg) was also quite pleasing.




Not surprisingly my weight has ballooned up to 88.8kg from a low of 79.9kg in the Summer. However, I was 95.3 kg this time last year so I'm still happy. Plenty of people said that I looked well too skinny at sub 80kg so maybe a target of 82kg with a bit more muscle and less bodyfat should be this years goal?

And on to todays trading .... Well a quick check of my bank balance this morning had me gasping for breath so I really do need a decent couple of months to replenish the money that I have spunked moving down to the coast. Despite the fact that we only had 3 meetings the result wasn't too bad and if I could string a few winning days together I'll be slightly happier!



04/01

+£31.66. I was back down the gym at 08:30 for a good chest and tricep workout and today's trading was just as tough. It feels as though it might take me a few days to get back into the swing of things. I still have personal issues to deal with and my sleeping pattern is all over the place but hopefully I can get things sorted and then crack on!




05/01

-£16.19. I was up at 06:00 again and took a stroll along the beach. It's a completely different way of life down here by the sea and I even felt compelled to get the camera out and take some snaps. On the way back I snapped this image which I kinda like ...







06/01

I was out and about today so didn't trade ...



07/01

+£191.66. Saturday and at last a much better day!



08/01

+£472.58. Sunday and an even better day!



09/01

I popped back up to London today so didn't trade.



10/01

-£46.65. I was busy today and only traded few races but managed to knock out the best part of £50 doh!



11/01

-£25.23. A bit of a struggle today. I managed to lose over £100 in the space of 30 minutes midday so a loss of £25 wasn't too bad at the end of the day.



12/01

-£40.50. It's never nice to have 3 losing days in a row, no matter how small the losses.



13/01

+£175.97. A bit of respite from losing every day!



14/01

+£7.61. I was out during the day so I only traded a few of the evening races and won enough for a pint!



15/01

+£27.42. A boring Sunday with only 2 meetings.



16/01

-£0.19. I was seventy quid in front on a wanky Monday and then managed to throw it away in the last 2 races @ Wolves doh!



17/01

My Dad and his long time partner gave me a birthday visit and we went out for a nice meal which was much better than sitting in and trading on a Tuesday afternoon.



18/01

+£48.54. The winter months are always going to be skinny in terms of profit so it's just a case of holding on tight and waiting for the more lucrative months ahead.



19/01

+£64.09. I've managed to keep myself out of the pub for the last few days and I've had a couple of good morning sessions in the gym. So although profits are tiny my overheads are also relatively small.



20/01

+£17.85. I only managed to trade a few races today ...



21/01

+£36.99. It looks as if it's a case of 'sit tight and chip away' during January and look forward to the start of the flat and the increase in the number of races per day in the warmer months.



22/01

+£51.30. Only the one meeting today from Leopardstown so I'll take a quick £50!



23/01

+£68.88. I'm not exactly setting the world alight but these odd fifties and sixties are not too bad for the winter months.



24/01

+£31.80. I couldn't be bothered with Southwell today so only traded the 2 remaining meetings and they were pants ...



25/01

+£9.71. The gloomy winter struggle continues ...



26/01

+£7.59 ....



28/01

+£2.94 ...



29/01

+£105.05. At least I picked the right day to pledge 10% of my winnings to Cancer Research UK.



30/01

+£9.31 ...



31/01

+£10.16 ...