One thing I have learnt about sports betting over the years is that you have to be able to shrug off the bad bets and the bad beats and move on.

 I was up at 06h30 on Sunday morning to get my bets down for the Waratahs v Crusaders match scheduled for 07h10 and as is the norm I was searching for reliable information on the weather.

 In eight weeks of Super Rugby I have broken square once, showed a loss five times and had two profitable weekends. The first weekend where I made some money was due to a massive win on one game so I was very pleased and relieved to show a smaller but more consistent profit this past weekend.

 My daughter Angela and I were both disappointed at around 08h30 on Saturday morning. I had shown a profit but missed out on a big win in the Hurricanes v Cheetahs match and she had sent yet another SMS in for the marshmallow easter egg competition and got the inevitable reply that she was not a winner but should keep trying.

 My betting woes over the past few weeks have been well documented but this past weekend may prove pivotal in getting myself out of this slump.

 I had a really good punting year in 2011 mainly as a result of the Rugby World Cup where I cleaned up. Coming into the Super Rugby season I had this expectation that I would just continue where I left off and that the money would roll in but sadly I could not have been more wrong.

 As a punter I love chatting about sport and betting with like minded people. It is always encouraging when someone agrees with your logic and it gives you some confidence when taking your bet. Strangely though (and many punters will agree with this) it is somewhat unsettling when virtually everyone agrees with you.

 There are few things worse than having a bet on a game but not being able to watch it. Of course if you end up winning it’s not that bad but a loss somehow feels worse when you have not even had the chance to see just how your investment went up in smoke.