I read a fascinating book over the December holidays. It was called “Swimming with the Devilfish” and it profiled some of the UK’s top poker players. I was particularly interested in the tale of one of the older generation who despite being a great card player seemed to always be living close to the breadline without ever having accumulated any significant assets. {readmorelink}Read more{/readmorelink}

The writer spoke about the fact that this player had what is known as a leak. Essentially it did not matter how much money he won at poker if there was a dice table between him and the casino exit he would quite likely give his winnings back. He loved the thrill of dice and was seemingly happy (maybe powerless) to lose funds which he had skillfully acquired playing poker, on a game of pure luck.

Just lately I have had to acknowledge that I to have sprung a leak. My sports betting form has been solid enough and while not making money every weekend over time I am consistently on top. A few months back though I started playing the horses more regularly something I had not done since my student days and after some early success I started betting more often and with bigger amounts.

Slowly but surely the losses have mounted albeit they have been less than my sports profits but this past weekend the tiny trickle of a leak became a more steady flow and I lost some serious cash trying to chase winners on J&B Met day.

I am by no means in trouble but let’s just say the damage was enough to get me seriously thinking about what I was doing. I put hours of research into my rugby and golf bets only to literally toss money at the ponies without so much as studying the form.

The time has come for me to plug the leak and right the ship and while not giving up the horses in their entirety (I hold a share in one and could never bare seeing her arrive without a cent on) I am imposing rules which will see me playing only major meetings like the Durban July and on the rare occasions my filly runs or I am given a hot tip.

The Super 14 starts soon and I cannot afford to be shedding cash as I launch an all out assault on the bookies!

Play our Super 14 Tipping Comp – Free Entry and great cash prizes and betting vouchers up for grabs – check out http://sportspicks.fs.co.za to register and enter.

This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was first published on the 28th of January 2010.

Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and presents a sports betting radio show every Saturday morning at 07h30 on 1485AM Radio Today or Channel 169 of the DSTV Audio Bouquet.

You can follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/brentgraham or get on his mailing list by dropping him a line at brent@goodforthegame.co.za