The Gambler

Tuesday 31st March 2009.

Very difficult to write this Blogl lying on settee with one foot hgh up in the air,

I am fighting a losing battle.

Weekend watched sport. Did not go out much as too worried about my leg. Monday same as.

Some interesting conversations about my "new projects". More later. That is it for more. More stuff later in the week when hopefully my leg gets better. I can live with rash but the leg is a pain.

00.17.

Yesterday went for a walk. Lunchtime pint. Came home. Did a few jobs and then fell asleep. I am taking some drugs called Metformin, and some cream for my dry skin. They do not seem to agree with me. My skin has got worse, and between them they are making me very drowsy.

Watched "Damages". Very Good.

Early night.

Today Doc's appointment 10.30am. Business meeting at 11am. May end up going to Southampton.

That will take care of the day. BFN.

I got this comment from Philip.

 

John, you may recall that I mentioned a dispute I have with BF recently. I sent them an email reminder as I had not heard anything from them for over ten days. Today I had an email saying:

"Hello Phillip,
Please could you let me know what date and email address you sent the emailed documents, as currently my sysytem is not showing your documents. Could you please send the documents again if possible.
Please remember to use your current username.
Thankyou
The Betfair Team."

My reply:

I do not believe it! This is totally unacceptable. I have YOUR email confirming receipt of all documents and it is below.. The email address is xxxxxxxx@tiscali.co.uk.

This incompetence borders on the illegal. You have held on to money which does not belong to you. You have failed in so many respects. It is just ridiculous.

Copy of YOUR email to me:

2009/3/14

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your email and the documentation you have provided. We can confirm their receipt and that they are being dealt by the Verifications Team.

We endeavour to process all queries within 48 hours however, there might be delays during busy periods and we thank you for your patience at these times.

Please be aware that you will be contacted via e-mail once your documentation has been processed.

Thank you for your cooperation and please accept our apologies should there be any delays.

Kind regards,

The Betfair Team

Helpdesk Tel: 0844 871 0000
Eire Tel: 1 – 800 944 000
Australia Tel: 1 – 800 644 738
Free Fax (Australia) 1- 800 507 774
KYC Fax: 0208 834 8011
International Fax: 0044 208 8348011

===================================

In all honesty John, can you BELIEVE that this outfit can be so incompetent?

I sent the documents by ROYAL MAIL, and they have confirmed receipt. What a shambles.

Regards, Phil

Lets finish off Betfair Dot Com.

So "Betty" the greyhound referred to below is now living in Scotland with "SUPERBIGAL" leading a very nice life and a happy retirement.

"SPORTING OPTIONS" is living down south and hopefully behaving himself.

The company called Sporting Options went under. A lot of "punters" had money in their accounts and when the company failed, they lost their money.

BF did the decent thing, and refunded these punters their money. A very generous act, and I don't remember anyone complaining at the time.

Oh how things have changed. I cannot imagine BF doing anything like that now. Bring back the days of "Mick Stone" and Andrew "Bert" Black. I hope I am not being too negative but that company is losing the plot.

I sent an email about three weeks ago to BF. No reply. Two other readers of my blog have had similar experiences over the last couple of weeks. I don't think "Mick" has any financial involvement in the company, but I would guess Andrew/Bert still has some of his wealth tied up in BF. If I was Andrew/Bert I would be getting my bottom down to BF Towers before it all goes pear-shaped, or employing someone like me to tell them how to do it properly.

That will do for now.

Lets do yesterday.

Meeting with buddy to set up "The Gambling Network". All very interesting.

Ran out of energy in the evening. I get these days. All very boring.

Consequently evening bit of a blur. Sad but true. That will do. More later.

OK.

Lets dispose of yesterday.

Spent most of morning writing blog. Brian is always asking for more details on BF, but this stuff takes a lot more time than you can imagine. In passing farewell to fellow blogger Mark Iverson. He has gone the way of many before and given up, mainly I suspect due to time constraints. Hard Work Matey Boy, and sorry to see you go. I suspect you will return one day. Veni Vidi Vici.

Lunchtime walk. Afternoon jobs. Brief siesta. Dinner. TV. Bed. That was yesterday.

Today. BT email problems. Will sort out later. Jobs to do. Will go for walk and shopping. Afternoon, hopefully get on top of all my emails. Maybe quick beer this evening. We shall see. Then normal routine. BFN.

Calling Jeremy Collins.

Unfortunately I seem to be having problems with my email at moment.

Tried to call you but phone number would not work,

Can you email again and we can try to contact each other.

Life.

The Betfair.Com Story.

The next chapter mainly for Brian's amusement.

One of the regular users of the BF Forum was "Bob Fox" otherwise known as "Odds On". We met on a couple of occasions. Sadly he passed away over a year ago in his mid 40's.

At this point I better tell one or two "Odds On"stories. He was quite computer literate. always setting up chatrooms and stuff like that. We got to know each other through the BF Forum, and then developed our friendship through the chatrooms etc...

Some other lads were involved, probably TT and others. We would exchange betting information through the chatrooms. Me and Bob would be chatting in the morning, laying one horse on BF and backing it back on Flutter for a small profit win/lose or draw. It was all quite good fun and occasionally profitable. Of course we all chatted about other things at the same time, and generally had a good laugh, which is the main reason for being on this planet. Have fun. Life is short. Enjoy it.

So then what. Bob came up wit the idea of buying a greyhound. The second idea was to get BF to sponsor it. We bought the dog. BF sponsored it, and she was christened BETFAIR DOT COM. She turned out to be a very useful animal. Second best stayer at Walthamstow in her day, and if she had a bit more speed out of the traps, she could have won anything. She now lives up in Scotland with one of the syndicate members "SUPERBIGAL", a legend in his own lifetime. If you wanted to know if Raith Rovers were going to turn over East Fife, "Big Al" was your man. If you wanted to know if Dunfermiline had been on the "lash" Friday night, and had nae chance of beating Queen of the South, he was also the man who would know. Obviously a reasonable footballer at some time. His local team once played "Iceland" and I think they might have won.

So the dog is doing well. Bob runs the syndicate and communicates with "Mick Stone" BF CRM. So far so good. But Bob likes to take charge. Control Freak might be too harsh but heading that way. The rest of the syndicate don't mind but BF are starting to get upset. Eventually I start getting phone calls from BF saying unless you get someone else to run the operation we want out. ERRR...I don't want to do it. TT does not want do it. The other boys are too busy, and Bob enjoys it. He loved his greyhounds. A night out at Walthomstow was like a trip to heaven for him.

Also at this point it got a bit more complicated. One of the team was starting to use another betting exchange called "Sporting Options". They very kindly sponsored another greyhound. We went ahead with this deal, even though I could see there might be a "slight conflict of interests". BF were not amused when they found out, and I think it eventually led to a cancellation of their sponsorship. Quite understandable.

"Sporting Options" the dog was a beast. Big scary dog. Fast out of traps. Unfortunately only ran in straight lines. Result carnage. He would either run into a wall or take there or four other dogs with him.

The best place to be if you were in a race with "Sporting Options" was right out the back. When the other dogs ended up in hospital, you could scoot round at a leisurely pace and win the race at your own convenience.

Whenever he ran the "RSPCA" would lay on five "dog ambulances" assuming one of the poor greyhounds might avoid the carnage. The dog was a total disaster. Eventually one of the syndicate bought him off us for about a tenner. He ran once or twice at Brighton before breaking down. Poor old mutt. He now lives with his owner down south and is hopefully enjoying a happy retirement, and keeping himself out of trouble. I doubt that last bit btw.

So that is the "BETFAIR DOT COM" story or most of it.

One more "BOB FOX" story. He was posting on the BF forum one night about 11.30pm, asking who won the last at Romford. I don't know if he got the answer, but next morning he woke up dead. Massive heart attack or whatever in his sleep. Very sad as he was only in his 40's and left his lovely wife "yve" behind. C'est La Vie.

I hope "yve" who will read this one day is not upset or irritated by anything I have written. In a way it is a tribute to "BOB FOX", a gambling man after my own heart.

R.I.P "BOB FOX", and love to" YVE".

http://betting.betfair.com/greyhound-racing/general/popular-forum-poster-oddson-remembered-at-walthamstow-260808.html

Oh aah ooh.

I have a number of minor ailments at the moment which explains the  "Oh ah ooh" title.

I got some dry skin on my left leg. Went to doctors. He gave me cream., Allergic reaction. Left leg swollen up. Body covered in spotty rash. Have stopped taking cream and go to doctors again on Friday to see if he can have me put down.

Bruises on body after falling off bike are getting better, but as one goes down another comes up.Life.

Yesterday. Went for long walk. Legs were working, which was good, because occasionally they do not.

Meeting with solicitors at 2.30pm to discuss "Wills". Don't know why but I get the occasional feeling that Mrs G thinks I am about to pop my clogs. She may not be a million miles away. Anyway very interesting and I was very impressed by the young lady solicitor who we dealt with.

Meeting in evening "Heart of Pangbourne". Local charity/social/business networking event. Amongst other people met local conservative parliamentary candidate. Seems like a nice bloke, but gave him a bit of a kicking. Threatened to stand against him in next general election.. He would get beat but not sure I am "that buvvered".

Bus home Dinner. TV. Bed. Good night all. Catch you later,

Too tired to talk,

Lets get this blog out  of the way then.

Yesterday wife sent me shopping. This involved one or two beers. Bus home. QUICK Change, as I had to be at match bt 3pm. Rush rush rush. Bus down town. Couple more small beers. Went out to watch first half. We were useless.. I gave them abuse and the other team as well. Apologies all  round but I have better things to do than watch this rubbish. When goal went in and we went 1-0 down did not realise the other lot had scored two while I was fininshng my half a lager. 3-0 down at half time. What a pile of w.....

One player is on his way out. unless he improves. Funny enough the defence seemed to be playing OK, but if your forwards do nothing with the ball it comes back in your direction.

Second half I spent most time chatting to bosses of club as my mates have just bought a share and want me to be link man.

Loads of stuff going on. I want to organise "charity football match" pre-season for cancer research". The boss is very keen. He dropped me home which was very kind. Starman. We made dinner. I crashed out and fell asleep. That was yesterday. Bye for now.