Home discomfort

I had a late night on Saturday and was going round my parents' for lunch, so there wasn't going to be much chance for betting on Sunday. That suited me because I was getting fed up with my poor luck and even worse decision making.

At about 11.30, I decided to check how my football bet had got on. I knew Chelsea and Manchester United had won, but at half-time, the Swindon v Leicester match had been scoreless. To my delight, there had been four goals in the second half, and as my other 'more than two goals' selection had ended 3-1 to MK Dons, my first four selections had won. The idea of an afternoon's gambling was suddenly a far more attractive proposition.

I'm embarrassed to say that I spent little more than an hour at my parents' (and it was their anniversary), before heading back to my TV and laptop.

As usual, the wins were far more regular than the losses. However, as happens every time, I managed to sustain one substantial loss. But as it was only £66, I was quite nonchalant about it. It's only £66.

My luck on the football was equally poor. For a change, I backed 'fewer than two goals' in the Hamilton v Celtic match, only for a third goal to be scored in the 86th minute. At the same time, I had backed 'more than two goals' in the Everton v Middlesbrough match, which finished 1-1. Most frustrating of all was a bet I had on 'more than 12 corners' in the latter match. The 12th corner of the match was taken in the 58th minute – and that was the last of the game. So I finished one goal short and one flag-kick short. It was so frustrating.

Of course, I still had my football accumulator running. With hindsight, I definitely made the wrong decision with regard to hedging my final two selections. I laid Milan(second in the table and having won their last seven home matches) for £20 at 1.25 against Chievo Verona (bottom of the table, without a win since the opening day of the season, and only one goal on the road). Milan scored after six minutes and held on comfortably. I had wasted £5 on a result that was never in doubt.

On paper, Udinese (unbeaten at home and averaging two goals a game) should have found it just as easy against Reggina (lost all six away games, while scoring only one goal). But Udinese don't have the quality of players that Milan have and were anything but a certainty. So my decision to lay them at 1.57 for £10 wasn't a clever one, bearing in mind that if they had won, I would have pocketed £173. They lost and I won £10. But the original bet had been £17 and I had lost £5 laying Milan.

A win on 'more than two goals' in the Hull v Man City game meant that I finished the afternoon £3 down. But I was £110 down on the weekend. Why do I bet on Italian football sides that I know nothing about?

Running total: running out