Tips for Tikay

[Tal]

Anyone else think they're overdramatising this Match of the Day thing?

4/7 there's a moment of peril where the show almost didn't happen

Am loving it.

The star turn is the Thierry pieces to camera. He's a natural.

I enjoyed him rinsing Robert Piles.

Hey Bobbi! What's the French for va va voom?

[BigAdz]

Tikay thought you would like this

From Ryan Moores betfair preview (always a good read)

"14:30 York - Estimate

First things first, I don't think that she was suited by Goodwood last time, going downhill there on fast ground was not ideal. But I suspected that there was more to it than that at the time. I wasn't happy with her going down as she was nervous and nearly buried me at the start, which she has never done before. So we got her checked out, and we found out that she was in season, something that isn't always apparent unless you test for it. And that would explain a lot in the race itself as we were pestered throughout by Brown Panther, as the colt must have smelt a bit of love in the air."

Very good.

Back in the day, I was a regular at all the London dog tracks, 6 nights (+ two afternoons, + Saturday morning @ Hackney), & this was one of the little things we looked for, as many dogs would not go past a bitch once they caught that scent. Studying "Last Season Dates" was quite a preoccupation.

I'd like to say my cunning plan worked......     

Oooh Saturday mornings at Hackney....now you are getting me nostalgic.  When I was a student in London in the early/mid 90's I used to get up at 930am whilst all of the other students were sleeping off their hangovers and head to the Wick.    My hero was a fella by the name of John Jenkins with a blonde ponytail who bet as "John Power" there.  I once saw him lay 1100 quid on a 10/11 shot and he swiftly rubbed the price out........and went evens.  After a couple of weeks of going to almost every meeting there one day he didn't hand me a ticket when I had a bet and simply said "down to the youngster" and I felt like I had made it.  Amazing contrast to the bookies of today.  I wonder what happened to them.....it feels like the ring needs more characters to liven the game up.  I tried to persuade Arbboy to try for pitches at a few midlands dog tracks last night but I am not sure the tracks can afford the cost of the ring inspectors that would be necessary to deal with the rucks!!!!

Love the feel of this Red, Saturday morning with the Sporting Life to see if Tracton Charm(?) was running out of the 6 box at Hackney. Always used to be a pivotal start to the day if it was. I remember my first bet without a ticket too, got the bus to Owlerton dog track to save the tax on a £150 bet on Sandy Lyle in a 3 ball at The Masters. I just told the guy what I wanted, that best price was 6/5 and he took it and gave me a nod.

Took me ages to realise why they used to lay some bets without tickets once they knew your face.

The Tracton dogs, boy that takes me back. Remember those days well.

I recall when we first started betting, me and two mates had Weekend jobs at Tescos, would spend all morning in the warehouse studying form. One of the guys used to keep an eye out for three Hunter Chasers and back em religiously. Dover, Dumper and Slasher. If either of the last two ran in the afternoon, he would go to the loo at the time it was running and perform that particular exercise to bring it luck. Won a fair bit too. Happy days!

[exstream]

Well, that tennis match was a heap of shit. Got to 6-5, needed 6-6, looked good, no good.

[simonnatur]

Not sure if Fred has a usable account but Boylesports are offering Mobile Cash back rather than free bet if 2nd in tv races today 5+ runners £25 max,  I was looking to bet Captain Cat on the offer.

[TightEnd]

Daily Report

Loss on Month £664.24

Outstanding Bets £3977.22

Free bets to use 1, £25 William Hill use by 28th

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aia1Hxq-NDNWdFk3UmlTSXMzTjRBTVNfOWRndVFsZHc&usp=drive_web#gid=28

A loss of £45 yesterday

- £25 Cavalryman unplaced at York. This was the scene yesterday from the top of the grandstand where the thread was metaphorically standing contemplating whether to jump or not

Click to see full-size image.

- £20 no tiebreak in Janowicz/Querrey, 6-4 7-5 6-4 the three sets

ongoing positions

Mercedes 1-2 in free qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix tomorrow. Highlight of the day for me was the latest travails of Crashtor Maldonadonut

Click to see full-size image.

Allan McNish "I've not seen anything like that, but then there are quite a few accidents he has that I've not seen anything like before"

The Orioles lost to the cubs last night 4-1 and the Yankees beat the White Sox 4-3 to close the Orioles lead in the AL East to 8  games

In the central meanwhile, the Royals beat the Rangers 6-3 and in excellent news the Tigers got thrashed 20-6 by the lowly Twins. This stretches the Royals lead at the top of the AL Central to 2.5 games

The rookie pitcher Yordana Ventura, who hurls 99mph fastballs, became the first Royals rookie pitcher to get ten wins in a season since 1997

Click to see full-size image.

 

[tikay]

Tikay thought you would like this

From Ryan Moores betfair preview (always a good read)

"14:30 York - Estimate

First things first, I don't think that she was suited by Goodwood last time, going downhill there on fast ground was not ideal. But I suspected that there was more to it than that at the time. I wasn't happy with her going down as she was nervous and nearly buried me at the start, which she has never done before. So we got her checked out, and we found out that she was in season, something that isn't always apparent unless you test for it. And that would explain a lot in the race itself as we were pestered throughout by Brown Panther, as the colt must have smelt a bit of love in the air."

Very good.

Back in the day, I was a regular at all the London dog tracks, 6 nights (+ two afternoons, + Saturday morning @ Hackney), & this was one of the little things we looked for, as many dogs would not go past a bitch once they caught that scent. Studying "Last Season Dates" was quite a preoccupation.

I'd like to say my cunning plan worked......     

Oooh Saturday mornings at Hackney....now you are getting me nostalgic.  When I was a student in London in the early/mid 90's I used to get up at 930am whilst all of the other students were sleeping off their hangovers and head to the Wick.    My hero was a fella by the name of John Jenkins with a blonde ponytail who bet as "John Power" there.  I once saw him lay 1100 quid on a 10/11 shot and he swiftly rubbed the price out........and went evens.  After a couple of weeks of going to almost every meeting there one day he didn't hand me a ticket when I had a bet and simply said "down to the youngster" and I felt like I had made it.  Amazing contrast to the bookies of today.  I wonder what happened to them.....it feels like the ring needs more characters to liven the game up.  I tried to persuade Arbboy to try for pitches at a few midlands dog tracks last night but I am not sure the tracks can afford the cost of the ring inspectors that would be necessary to deal with the rucks!!!!

Love the feel of this Red, Saturday morning with the Sporting Life to see if Tracton Charm(?) was running out of the 6 box at Hackney. Always used to be a pivotal start to the day if it was. I remember my first bet without a ticket too, got the bus to Owlerton dog track to save the tax on a £150 bet on Sandy Lyle in a 3 ball at The Masters. I just told the guy what I wanted, that best price was 6/5 and he took it and gave me a nod.

Took me ages to realise why they used to lay some bets without tickets once they knew your face.

The Tracton dogs, boy that takes me back. Remember those days well.

I recall when we first started betting, me and two mates had Weekend jobs at Tescos, would spend all morning in the warehouse studying form. One of the guys used to keep an eye out for three Hunter Chasers and back em religiously. Dover, Dumper and Slasher. If either of the last two ran in the afternoon, he would go to the loo at the time it was running and perform that particular exercise to bring it luck. Won a fair bit too. Happy days!

Wow, I just love all these tales from the dogs back in the day.

There was something special about Saturday morning BAGS @ Hackney. We used to do Watford dogs on weekday afternoons, but it had no atmo. The evening rota was Haringey, Hendon before it closed (it became Brent Cross Shopping Centre & the A406 flyover), 'Stow, White City, & later, Slough. I loved Slough dogs. 

Hackney always had a huge draw bias, but until the first race, no one could guess which, but 1 & 6 were far & away the best traps to be on. Pre the meet, we'd go to a bookies (no internet then) the the regular bet was 112 reverse forecast doubles @ 10p = £11.20, (8 race meet) always either 1 & 6, 1 & 2, or 5 & 6. When I was skinto, it'd be 1p or 5p stakes.

I was attracted by the sorts who attended Hackney, it had a sort of sinister feel to it, there were always a lot of shady characters, criminals, and B-list actors & actresses. Liz Fraser (who?) was a regular, as was Ronnie Knight & his then missus, Barbara Windsor. Ronnie did bird for the London Airport heist, he was involved in the Great Train Robbery too but never got done for it. I would just stare at him, in awe.

Eventually, I got to the "no ticket" status with one of the bookies, I was made up, proper hero me. He called me "Dalek", "three fivers down to Dalek" but at the time I never knew why. It was some years before I clicked why he called me Dalek.

I had this sort of gangster fetish/hero-worship, still have I suppose, so I dressed the part. I had a black crombie (overcoat), which was my most treasured possession, and a black trilby, which I wore at a sort of rakish angle, Arthur Daley style, to make me look super-cool (!). I was the dogs bollox, or thought I was. We all did in our twenties, right?

Anyway, the crombie was long - very long, sort of Al Capone style. So long, in fact, that you could not see my feet, or my shiny black brogues, jeez, I had the full gangsters kit. But when I moved around, the crombie was so long my feet were invisible, & I had no visible means of propulsion.  Hence the "Dalek" nick, I just appeared to sort of glide around. I must have looked a proper charlie.

I can't recall the name, but the big annual thing at Hackney was a sprint Classic, 260 yards or whatever. Can anyone remember the name, it escspes me? Might have been The Guineas.

Great times. We really thought we could beat the dogs. Later, I switched to something easier to beat, roulette.....

[tikay]

Not sure if Fred has a usable account but Boylesports are offering Mobile Cash back rather than free bet if 2nd in tv races today 5+ runners £25 max,  I was looking to bet Captain Cat on the offer.

Thanks Simon, no good to Fred, we are long since Banned there, but useful for those with working Boyles accounts.

Good luck with York today.

[tikay]

I was desperate to be a bookie, that was all I aspired to, owning a betting shop.

I took a Wm Hill Settling Course up in Oxford Street, cost me £90, took the exam & got 97% or somesuch, so they offered me a job as a Shop Manager, but my Dad would not let me, he wanted me to have a "proper job".

This was in the days before "Genies", which changed life for bookies, so all bets had to be worked out by mental arithmetic. We had little short cuts, 11/8 = quarter + a half, 13/8 = half + a quarter, or whatever.

I eventually got me a Saturday morning job with a Jewish bookie in Harrow, I'd spend all week looking forward to Saturday.

My job was the multiples, accas, yankees, but most of all, the ITV Seven. Anyone remember the ITV Seven? It was HUGE. Dickie Boody Davies on the TV used to say "GREAT first race, 100/1 winner", & I'd be thinking happy days, I can put a line through all this lot. The pile of slips would be 6" thick, & I had to go through every slip after every race. No computers or spreadies then. By race three, there'd usually be just a dozen or so "live" slips left. Any big liabilities I had to report to the Boss bloke. He rarely got caught.

The BIG day every year was the Grand National. Huge queues to get on, miunutes before the off, & the moment it finished, huge queues to get paid out, as if we'd run away with their winnings. Never understood why people always want their winnings so quickly. Amazingly, even now, Online, after a big event, the spike in clicks caused by winners wanting to withdraw is huge.

I got £20 wages (cash) for my Saturday gig, & punted it all off, so I was working for nothing really, but it was about that betting BUZZ, which I've been addicted to all my life.

There were no TV's in the shop, just Extel commentary. The final furlong used to last about 2 minutes, as the commentator revved up the action to make it sound exciting. And it always ended "IT'S CLOSE". Next day we'd read it was 4 lengths.

I was the Board Marker in the mornings, & I infuriated all the punters by writing 3/2 instead of 6/4. I never did understand why we used 6/4, even to this day, when logically it should be 3/2. Love these oddities, though.

Bugger, I'm rambling.

Back to business, sorry, carry on.

[tikay]

I spent several years trying to buy a bookmakers shop, but the multiples were just getting organised, & they paid top dollar for all the prime locations.

I must have visited 100 places which were up for sale, the story was always the same. "Turnover is £40,000 mate, but I do another £60,000 in private bets, obviously, I'll tell them all to use you".

Yeah, right mate.

So I went into concrete.....

Fear not, I'll spare you any more.

[Tal]

I took a Wm Hill Settling Course up in Oxford Street, cost me £90, took the exam & got 97% or somesuch, so they offered me a job as a Shop Manager, but my Dad would not let me, he wanted me to have a "proper job".

This was in the days before "Genies", which changed life for bookies, so all bets had to be worked out by mental arithmetic. We had little short cuts, 11/8 = quarter + a half, 13/8 = half + a quarter, or whatever

When my dad worked in a shop in the late 70s, he would routinely get some of the regulars stumbling in from some nefarious pursuit or other, empty their pockets on the counter and request the lot on the next race. They'd listen to the radio and, if the customer's horse got there, he'd begin the paying out process...

"So, that was 11/8 and you've had 2 pounds 2 shillings and 4 and a half pence on it...'

Proper fractions back then, too. 100/7 if you please. Suppose the exchanges have brought that back.

[tikay]

I took a Wm Hill Settling Course up in Oxford Street, cost me £90, took the exam & got 97% or somesuch, so they offered me a job as a Shop Manager, but my Dad would not let me, he wanted me to have a "proper job".

This was in the days before "Genies", which changed life for bookies, so all bets had to be worked out by mental arithmetic. We had little short cuts, 11/8 = quarter + a half, 13/8 = half + a quarter, or whatever

When my dad worked in a shop in the late 70s, he would routinely get some of the regulars stumbling in from some nefarious pursuit or other, empty their pockets on the counter and request the lot on the next race. They'd listen to the radio and, if the customer's horse got there, he'd begin the paying out process...

"So, that was 11/8 and you've had 2 pounds 2 shillings and 4 and a half pence on it...'

Proper fractions back then, too. 100/7 if you please. Suppose the exchanges have brought that back.

Crikey, I'd forgotten those. 100/7, wonderful. Think there was 100/8 too, punters wanted 100/8 when it was shown as 12/1 I think, same with 100/7, it was a bit better than 14/1? You could barter in a bookies shop then, of course. Try that these days.

Pre-decimilisation, follks had EW Patents with Rule 4's, dead heats, all sorts, for half a crown each way. Try working those out in your head, but that was what we did with every bet, all mental arithmetic. 10 years earlier I could neither read nor write, never mind add-up. Mental arithmetic was like a new toy to me, I loved it to bits.

Stop it now, the serious faces will be getting chuntery if we carry on.

[Marky147]

Yes, lets get back to punting, Dalek

[TightEnd]

Two WH mobile £25s for tomorrow.

Farraaj is taking a break from politics to run in the 2.05 at York.  Hopefully he won't be back any time soon, bit like those IS fellas that he plans to stop at our borders.  I think we can just stop all the people who don't look too much like us, can't see any issues myself.  Anyway 13/8 is near best price.  Hopefully it will be the only thing he wins for some time.

Captain Cat is short enough (15/8) in the 3.30 at Goodwood to make it another bet.  Think the maths still makes this a bet even if the price isn't so close to the best price.   And Hills still give us best price guaranteed so we could easily get better. It also has the big advantage of a non controversial name.

These are on, at 6/4 and 15/8 respectively

money back as free bet if 2nd but not when they are 3rd

[Chompy]

Extel comms were the nuts Dalek. All the fancied horses seemed to be given a positive mention at some point. "Turmeric making headway now."

Them were the days. It gave you a different kind of connections to horses compared to today. All you had was the name, the paper, the board markers and the commentary. It's different when you see them somehow.

Horses like Powder Blue, Yangtse Kiang, Kincses, The Welder, De Rigeur. Sigh, jumpers for goalposts.

[simonnatur]

Really not a killjoy and know it's for charity but anyone want to make a book on some middle aged TV presenter keeling over with a heart attack from the ice bucket challenge?, sounds like your thing Paddy Power compilers if you're reading..