Looking back on 2008

First of all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone, will have a look back over the last 12 months betting at the end of this but until then lets concentrate on the last week.
Firstly the news I heard today that the bloke who once nabbed my £350 winnings at Wolverhampton racecourse in 1999 is now starting a seven year stretch for fraud having done a runner with £16m worth of college funding. Don't want to go into great detail but you can find the bones of it on the Betdaq forum, he apparently had an account with the oncourse bookie in question and must have somehow persuaded them it was his bet rather than mine. When the tape recording was replayed in front of the ring inspector the bogus punter wouldnt admit that it was my voice rather than his so a very unsavoury character, as indeed was the bookies ledger man who destroyed my ticket in a fit of panic probably.
Anyway on to the current betting and I forgot to mention last week that Europe landed my Mosconi Cup bet with a very comfortable 11-5 success over the USA in Malta the week before last, the result was never really in serious doubt and there does seem to be a changing of the guard in international pool just lately with the Americans looking like they need to oust a few of the old guard. Certainly bad boy Earl Strickland was very muted both on and unusually for him off the table too.
In the UK snooker I had a good run from two of my outright bets who reached the semi finals but despite being favoured by the bookies in their respective matches, both Ali Carter and Stephen Maguire bit the dust and Shaun Murphy eventually lifted the trophy after winning a deciding frame shootout with Marco Fu in a scrappy final.
Made a decent profit over the whole event though with a more selective approach and the next event on the baize will be Matchroom's Championship League in the first week of January which acts as a qualifying tournament for the Premier League proper next season.
On the greyhound front my ante post picks fared less well than the on the day race bets. Hello Hippy could only finish third in the Ted Hegarty Marathon final at Harolds Cross in Ireland where the brilliant Flying Winner gained all the plaudits with a record breaking romp. Hippy's chance was totally ruined by a terrible bump early in the race though that knocked him from third back to last place and he did well to at one stage regain second before tiring on the run in. Would have been a much better spectacle had he avoided any crowding but its all part of the sport.
In Britain Boherduff Monti was also baulked in the final of the Nottingham Sprint Cup, finishing fourth behind old stager Horseshoe Ping in a bunched finish so no luck there either.
However did pick up some winners over the week at varied prices of 1/5, 4/6, 8/11, 8/5 and 4/7 so mainly shortish ones but kept me in front overall (obviously some of them were SP so were unknown at the time of the bet, one problem with the dogs when compared with the horses).
Had a winner and a loser on the ice hockey but will probably concentrate mainly on the more successful teams I have backed in the outrights as and when I fancy them in a bid to erode my current deficit in the NHL betting markets though will again be pretty selective.
Since the central defenders got injured at Derby County Football Club, I have aborted my laying of the opposition on our travels after just one reversal which is just as well looking at the results since then. Have got tickets for our trip to non league Forest Green Rovers in the FA Cup third round tie which should be interesting closely followed as it is by the two-legged League Cup semi final with Manchester United for which I shall also be attending for both matches.
Will also maybe have a dabble on Japan's high profile Arima Kinen Grade 1 horse race at the weekend at Nakayama with course specialist Matsuridah Gogh trying to win it for the second year in succession up against last years runner up Daiwa Scarlet and Japan Cup winner Screen Hero, whose sire won this weekends event twice in the past too not to mention the consistent Meisho Samson also in opposition. None of these have fared fantastically well in the draw for stall positions though.
Looking back over the year, a satisfactory one from a betting standpoint. Highlight from a monetary aspect were the 125/1 and 100/1 bets landed on Ricky Walden for snooker's Shanghai Trophy event but for pure adrenalin rush Shelbourne Aston's 40/1+ success in the Irish Greyhound Derby has to come tops with a spectacular last to first rush. Also enjoyed Viewed's Melbourne Cup success at 33/1 though that was a smaller stake and didnt get top price either as the horse surprisingly drifted on the day in his home country.
Had a good year on the gaelic football betting including Tyrone's final win as underdogs against Kerry as well as backing Tipperary for their Hurling League success at decent odds.
The aussie rules, rugby league, cricket and ice hockey didnt go quite so well but have kept records which might highlight where I've gone wrong on those if and when I want to continue with them, am operating a watered down service currently on the NHL lol!
Hoping to recapture my glory on the horse racing markets in 2009 after a bit of a hiatus, the loss of Superform is a bit of a blow to me as it was a great publication in my eyes so have been looking around at some of the online alternatives, though will still keep the formbook annuals on hand too.
Which brings me on to the saddest aspect of the betting year, Betfair succumbing to greed and introducing the premium charge in September which was surely never designed to threaten the winnings of ordinary formbook punters. Can understand them wanting some kind of cut from traders who arent taking an opinion or hooverers after an event has finished but imo there should be no realistic chance of an ordinary bettor falling foul of these charges which doesnt seem to be the case at present.
However the firm dress it up this is tantamount to stealing in the latter case, I was winning money from bookies long before betfair and as I've said before all I want is a basic exchange without too much gimmickry (the latter of which often causes costs to be passed on the poor old punter himself).
I still reckon myself that with the holy grail now seeming to lie in-running for many punters, it is to an extent this type of betting that has caused the company to react in this way, and as I have only ever had a handful of these kind of bets in my life dont see why I should be subject to the new charges. Anyhow, we all have our own slant on how we are affected but at the end of the day betfair arent prepared to make any changes in the short term which left no realistic alternative for punters like myself than to move to a rival and have been mostly happy so far on the Daq, long may it continue!!
Anyway back to those mince pies
All the best for now
Rick