blonde poker forum

It's that time of year again...

Spreadsheet link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XplT9jDd_1k4NOO-AGriIGDz_hFqsYrI-l1pWl_Lwds/edit?usp=drivesdk

I am pleased to announce this year's Blonde Cheltenham Tipster Competition.

The rules are as follows:

1. Entry is open to everyone upon payment of a £25 or £10 entry fee to me. You can send the money via bank or Paypal:
Paypal: longinespoker@hotmail.com
Bank Transfer: 40-47-82 34392884 G Mason

Please put your alias as the reference on the transfer.

Payment must be received by me before midday on Tuesday 15th March. If you are interested, please indicate below or PM me. Each person may enter up to a maximum of two times. Each entry costs £25 or £10.
There will be two pools for this event. One costing £10 and one costing £15. It will not be possible to enter the £15 pool on its own. The same selections will be entered in both pools. The object for this is to try to encourage more people to take part.

2. The competition will be run over the 28 races.

3. Each entrant will pick one horse per race. The selection must either be for a £10 win or a £5 each-way bet. Winnings will be settled on the basis of Starting Prices.
If you fail to make a selection or select a non-runner you will be assigned a random horse. I would prefer you pick a specific horse but to maintain the spirit of the previous comps will take instructions for "random" selections (e.g. first horse alphabetically) for each race if you do not have the time/inclination to make your own selections but, in a rather dictatorial manner, I am not going to allow selections such as "pick the SP favourite for every race" or attempts to circumvent this rule. For anyone who has entered but not submitted their selections by the deadline on any day you will be assigned a random horse.

4. The place component of an each-way bet will be decided using the following criteria:
1/4 the odds for a place for each horse officially returned on the results for each race on www.sportinglife.com

5. I will be using www.sportinglife.com for the purpose of deciding the result of each race.

6. Entries must be sent to me via PM by midday on the day of the races. I will then endeavour to make everyone's selections available via the spreadsheet by 12:30pm that day. This will hopefully give you time to marvel at each other's selections before the first race starts.

7. The winner will be the person who makes most profit (or least loss) over the course of the festival.

8. My decision is final in all matters (until proven otherwise).



The payout structure will be as follows:

1-10 entrants
1st 100%

11-20 entrants
1st 75%
2nd 25%

21-30 entrants
1st  60%
2nd 30%
3rd 10%

>30 entrants
tba


Paid
Longines £25
redsimon £25
Alanc £25
Tiredeyes £25
Marky147 £25
Ironside £10
Tal £25
Doobs £25
RickBFA £25
Jackally £25
Karabiner £25
Horneris £25
Alverton £25
StuartHopkin £25
ripple11 £25
The Wycher £25



In
tikay £25

I'll be on my traditional alphabetically last horse in each race.

Results might be a bit slower this year, I'm due to be in Sweden for festival week and on a plane on the Friday afternoon.

In!

In

In

In, & thanks for running this again Grant.

In, & thanks for running this again Grant.

sent £25 to your bank

in for a Pavarotti

In, obv.

Cheers, Grant!

In for £25. Thanks.

Count me in for £25.  It wouldn't be the Cheltenham tipster comp if I didn't reply to you or Tikay claiming that is the reason I am joining.

BOSH!

Standard :D

I've got < 5 bets at this point, and a couple of those are Robbie Wilder's outsiders over the last few weeks.

Really putting the time into it this year!

 In please

Thanks for running !

Monies sent.

In for £25. I’ll send money in next few days. Thanks.

In

Yipeeeee


In for £25 Grant, sent via PayPal

👄👄 😁

 Paid via bank. Cheers

Paid via PayPal.

Cheers, Grant!

Monies sent

Sent £25

In like Shishkin

Sent

sent £10 via pp name of Side Iron Side

Macaroni shipped.

Not too many sleeps now..

In. Cheers for organising.

Sent

£25 sent

£25 sent

Not long now! Looking forward to the spreadsheet link

Morning from a sunny Gothenburg, will update the spreadsheet and entries shortly.

 

£25 sent sorry for being so late.

No worries, the more the merrier. Happy for anyone else to join in too.

Hopefully the spreadsheet is visible, done the last few updates on my phone.

tikay appears to be AWOL so will be on horse #3 today.

ok i went the whole of last years comp without a single return so if you have backed any horses the same as mine then right it off now

Sad day for Blonde when Tikay can't be arsed to enter this comp.

He's donated, so that's the important part ;D

He better be arsed to get to Vegas, or his score will be going on cakes for me!

Two races in and two tipsters are two from two.

did i forget to mention i was on EW ;-)

bugger

My bad - I thought he hadn't entered

He posted that he would so I'm sure it's just an oversight, hope he's OK.

4 places shown on sporting life for the 14.10 ........

 ::)

thats more like it dead last

Rick absolutely on fire. Comp over after 3 races

Tal not doing too badly either - two-horse race?

Saw that. The intention was always to use the 'standard' no. of places for each race and sportinglife seemed as good as any other site to get that list from. Now they are owned by the same group as Sky Bet they are more visibly pushing the marketing that Sky Bet pay seventy bazillion places on some races.

So I'm going to stick with the traditional 2/3/4 places depending on number of runners, hope everyone is OK with that.

Hopkin just trying it on - there are only three places max. in graded races.

Bopkin at it!!

Anyone called the Daily Mail?

He was posting next door at midday, so pretty sure it is a memory issue.   Think in future we should let people have Ironside's tips if they forget to enter, nobody would forget in those circumstances.

what you trying to say like doobs?

think i might have to check back and find out when i last got a return in one of these comps

:D

I only took over from Mere 6 years ago so can't help.

GET THE FREAK IN THERE

Boom. They'll be dancing in the streets of Inverness tonight.

It was worth a try!

Fine with the ruling ;-)

no there wont just noticed betfair are no longer BOG and i backed at 12-1 last night

FFS you find a way to lose even when you win.   Great timing by me there.  GL in the comp

Went back through the spreadsheets I had no returns in 19,20 or 21 not sure about 18 but that must be some kind of record

End of Day 1

Excellent work Grant - I can only marvel at your spreadsheet wizardry.  ;djinn;

Got to pay 4 places with 17 runners  ;angel;

tikay on #3 today, alverton on #6.

Good luck all.

Are we getting randoms in arrears for non runners?  Expect there are going to be a few more this afternoon.   

RickBFA is on fire, 3 winners and a place yesterday and 2 winners in the first two races today.

Yes.

Each tipster who picks a NR will be given a 'random' horse.
The alphabetically first tipster in each race will be given the horse number that corresponds to the race number.
The next alphabetically tipster will be given the next sequential horse number.
The win/EW choice of the original choice will be retained for the substituted horse.

e.g. in race #3, the first tipster with a NR will get horse #3 (or next highest number if #3 isn't running). The next NR tipster in race #3 will get horse #4 ( or next highest if etc. etc.)

Don't worry, it makes sense to me  ;D

It was a great comp, congrats to the winner

tikay wins even when he aint playing fix

FYP

Ha, kick him out.   Sad times, but only fair in the circumstances.   

Bollocks.

End of Day 2.

Farce.

Sharpest outsourced pin in the game.

(https://i.imgur.com/XR7GPfU.jpg)

I realise it makes little difference but any possibility of some points for my pick in the 4:10 today?

Hi guys,

I'm 100% fine, happy & healthy as I've ever been, only problems are I'm spread too thin right now & there are way too few hours in the day.

As well as being a bit overloaded, something cropped up yesterday which diverted me & I clean forgot this. Sorry.

I think the right & proper thing to do now is withdraw with as much grace as I can muster. It just feels wrong to be the big leader at this stage in these circumstances, especially against a bunch of great mates. I'm usually nearer last than first, & there is no way I'd ever have picked that 50/1 winner.

I've written to Grant tonight & included this;

"You can do whatever you think is right with the £25 - include it in the prize pool, add it as a special prize (Wooden Spoon or whatever), or even send it to Charity. Up to you."


So the bottom line is I'm a NR & everyone moves up a place, & it's up to Grant what he does with the £25. Seems right.

Will try & update my Diary soonest, life has been exciting beyond words since Mid-August, lots & lots has happened.

Good luck all.

xx

Tosser.

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Great to hear you're doing well, tikay. Absolutely no way I'd be happy with you pulling out, though. Benefiting from a disadvantage is just one of those glorious variance things. Totally fine with you being the leader at the halfway stage.

Basically you've played poker by going all in blind so far. You're the table character. If you want now to nit up with your big stack, you absolutely can. If you want to carry on doing what you've been doing, they're your chips and no one else can stop you.

Rules is rules. It's already a great anecdote.

I'm sure we're all studying the big handicaps for horses that want filthy ground, so this could be quite a fun couple of days, as the ground starts to dry.

Game on!

Ha, that's typically kind of you Simon, thank you, but I've already written to Grant & said it's best if I withdraw. 

Incidentally, I did watch that "Alpanist" you recommended, very very interesting, but I'll save the comments for my Diary rather than clutter up this thread.

I can't wait to see Mr Channing's write up this morning about the Cheltenham Clerk of the Course, after that watering fiasco. Still, sometimes these things pan out well, & maybe it contributed to one blonde having a very special day which ended up with him holding the Queen Mum's Champ Chase trophy, clearly very happy if a little bedraggled as can be seen from both photos.



(https://i.imgur.com/gDmkKel.jpg)



(https://i.imgur.com/oTBFNbg.jpg)

Yeah, this, wasn't serious yesterday.  It is just variance.  Have already gone a bit nuts with today's selections anyway, so haven't given up hope.   

Oops, so your horse wasn't called "Delta Work Win" then....  ;D

Sorted.

not that its going to interfere with me but i am more than happy with the luckbox that is tikay remaining in the contest

rules are rules anyone not picking in time gets a random selection from Grant if that random selection romps home at 50-1 them's da apples as they say.

I have no problem with Grant's random selections and Tikay getting lucky.

However if rules are rules there is one clearly stating that all entry fees must be paid by noon on Tuesday 15th.

oh i didnt know he hadn't paid in time

Do we know he didn't pay on time?  It is unfortunate that the original post states in and not paid, but that could just be bad admin as Grant is busy.  Kind of all cocked up now, as it changes the strat if he is in or out.  Though happy to just let the donk bets stands, guess I'd likely just be doing it tomorrow anyway.  Also it is just a bit of fun.

Anyway, think Grant decides, not us, as he is running the thing. 

Steward's enquiry.

Bugger, I don't do drama.

Tikay didn't pay before the first race, he sent me £25 last night. He has offered to withdraw and suggested his £25 either goes in the prizepool, or a booby prize or charity etc.

I've decided to scrub his results from the comp and have sent £25 to the Retraining of Racehorses charity.

If anyone wants to change their picks today due to this, that's fine.



 

Thanks Grant, that's perfect.

Again, apologies that I caused a few problems, and I hope you can now get on with the Comp without any more drama. 

Good luck all.

Will just leave the selections as they are, no gamble, no future.  AKA.  Haven't got much time, and don't want to create more work.  Good luck all and run good me.

Thanks for sorting this out. 

Day 3 picks are up, Marky is on horse #5.

The 14:10 could make a difference today, 13 of 16 tipsters have picked different horses.

1st race of today ripple has gone EW can you get EW in a 4 horse race?

He's using a pin and going ew in every race, I typed it on autopilot. Now fixed.

no worries i tried to back it ew in my acca today only reason i knew

Forgot to send mine when I finished work at 5 this morning, lol.

Good luck, chaps!

#Trustthepin

All pretty close after 4 races:

Hopkin goes from 15th to 2nd with a 22/1 winner.

Another change at the top after the 6th race:

wait does that mean i am just £5 short of making a profit for the week with 8 races to go?

thinking of turning pro  ;D

End of Day 3:

Exciting finish.

would have been nicer if i backed my 22/1 winner with real cash

Been there :D

True that.  Dare say we have never made day 3 with the majority in level stakes profit. 

Could I give a special shout out to Minella Indo.  Not sure he is the most likely winner, but will be a very good result for my ten to follow. 

Not sure it's ever been so close going into the last day, the top 9 separated by less than £70.

My pin is on a 100/1 shot in the 14:50 so you never know....

Make sure you put a £1 on it as well. Good luck all.

All tips are in and the spreadsheet is online.

Lots of unique picks throughout the card, could be a day of big movers

Race 1
Vauban   6
Porticello   2
Teddy Blue   2
Dr Parnassus   2
Pied Piper   2
Knight Salute   1
Il Etait Temps   1


Race 2
West Cork   3
Surprise Package   3
Tritonic   2
Colonel Mustard   2
Top Bandit   2
Falvoir   1
Jesse Evans   1
I Like To Move It   1
Tempto Chapter Two   1


Race 3
Hillcrest   5
Minella Cocooner   4
Good Time Johnny   2
The Nice Guy   2
Ballygriffincottage   1
Ginto   1
Where It All Began   1


Race 4
A Plus Tard   3
Tornado Flyer   3
Al Boum Photo   3
Minella Indo   1
Santini   1
Protektorat   1
Galvin   1
Asterion Forlongo   1
Royal Pagille   1
Chantry House   1


Race 5
Billaway   3
Mighty Stowaway   3
Lord Schnitzel   2
Winged Leader   2
Bob and Co   2
Dubai Quest   2
Couvin Pascal   1
Senor Lombardy   1


Race 6
Zambella   5
Elimay   3
Vienna Court   3
Mount Ida   2
Concertista   2
Pink Legend   1


Race 7
Chemical Energy   3
I A Connect   2
Banbridge   2
The Very Man   1
The Goffer   1
Five O'Clock   1
Langer Dan   1
Cobblers Dream   1
Party Business   1
Freedom to Dream   1
Hollow Games   1
Adamantly Chosen   1

After race 2

winner winner chicken dinner couldn't have happened to the nicest guy

Boom. 18/1.

and unlike day 1 i had BOG with Billy mountains

After race 4, Alverton closes the gap.

Wow, that was tight! Thought my Winged Leader pin had that.

Two races to go.

 

Me too :(

Back of a fag packet says 6 7 tipsters can still win - I'm on a 50/1 shot in the last  ;pokergods;

HOLD PLEASE

dont think Alanc can catch me unless mt ida drifts alot as we are on the same horse in the last

but just about everyone else can

Still live then

Going into the last I think the possible winners are:

Ironside
Alverton
StuartHopkin
Tal
Me

i havent been so excited since Sandy Lyle won his green jacket


win lose or draw i am still involved in the last race

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Closest finish ever in the main comp.  Alverton pipped in the last race.

Stewards in the side comp, patently unfair that Ironside gets to include all the points he scored in 4 comps in just this one.   Farce.

 ;D

Super tight finish.

Congrats to Ironside, RickBFA and Jackally. Please PM your bank/Paypal details.

Thanks to all the tipsters for making it easy as usual to run.

did i hold i thought i had blown it

doobs what you mean side event? the side event is the one that was optional.

thanks for running this event bags of fun every year even when i lose my shirt

AND I had 3 winners this time

Well done to the winners.

Thanks for organising, Longines.

What he said

Winning totals

2022 465.00 Ironside
2021 454.44 Longines
2020 396.67 AlbusFawkes
2019 690.00 Chompy
2018 530.83 MTTDestroyer
2017 345.00 StuartHopkin

Thanks for organising Longines. Much appreciated. Congrats to the winners.

Ah! So that's where the giraffe money came from!

Well done to the winners, great competition, many thanks as always to Grant for running the game  :)up

Only just caught up with this.

Looks like a lucky last race winner for me.

Thanks for organising. If you need any details from me, drop me a PM.

Thanks again.

Just re-read, PM sent

I left for London after the GC, so missed the climax.

Not that I was involved, anyway :D

Congrats to the winners, and thanks for running it again Grant!

received thank you look forward to getting back to donating again next year

are we doing another comp this year or after last years disaster has it come to a conclusion ?