Den of iniquity

My alarm woke me up at 3am this morning. But I can't believe I needed it after what I can only describe as the worst day's betting of my life.

I made every mistake possible. I chased losses, overstaked and started gambling, rather than trading. The result was a loss of £100. It could have been worse, as two bets that I failed to lay off won, saving me £50. The reason I failed to lay them off was because I was watching Dragons' Den on video and forgot about them.

I'll repeat that. I was watching Dragons' Den on video and forgot to lay them off. And I've got pretensions of becoming a professional gambler. What a joke.

My desperation to win back some of my money saw me log on to Betfair at 3.30am. I had £20 on cyclist Bradley Wiggins to win gold in the Olympic 4000-metre Individual Pursuit (at 1.08) and £12 on Great Britain to win more than 10 gold medals (at 1.1). If both bets are successful, I will make a profit of £2.80 (less commission). The phrase 'clutching at straws' springs to mind.

Fortunately, I'm off out for the day (I'm joining the march to save Walthamstow greyhound stadium and am then heading to the Boleyn Ground to watch West Ham take on Wigan). It's probably just as well, because the way I am performing at the moment, the betting bank could be empty by the end of the weekend.

Running total: £808.20