Desert Classic review and my Monday Lesson

Stephen Gallacher showed the importance of course form this week with a 3 shot victory from Richard Sterne in Dubai. He has not had the best start to 2013 with 59th and MC, but had shown some signs of form at the end of last year. He had also been 2nd here in 2012 with a top-10 in 2011, making it seem like a missed opportunity for not picking him up... but then if we had such hindsight there would be no bookies left, and we wouldn't be able to beat them even occasionally!

My picks were looking relatively good until they trailed off over the weekend, and I was left particularly frustrated with Paul Casey who had a really good start but just didn't keep up with the scoring as the week went on. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to justify him again for a while unless there's some major increases in his price. Watch him go and win now!

We were also so close with Jeev Milkha Singh, who was in the each-way places if it wasn't for a double bogey at the 5th which derailed him a bit. I still think it was a good call though, and he was well worthy of his price.

What I've been learning this week...

This week I've been doing some research into bank roll management, which is a pretty fundamental aspect of being a successful bettor along with being able to recognise value.

There are many theories as to how much of your bankroll should be staked on each bet, and to be honest I haven't gotten a full grasp of these myself yet. Therefore it will be an ongoing learning project and once I have gotten in down will write up how I've gotten on.

What I have been realising over the weeks however, is that it is just not possible to be successful if you're not keeping proper tabs on money being used for betting, and trying to manage it from your bank account along with the weekly food shop or electricity bills. What is needed is a separate account which is purely for betting and can be managed as such. This also means that losses are limited and discipline is improved as you are not going to want to risk this bank roll on any 'dead certs' whereas just depositing straight from the current account sometimes doesn't feel like real money- until you lose!

I have started using Moneybookers, which is an online wallet (similar to Paypal) specifically designed for betting. It is accepted universally by bookmakers, and offers a great way to keep that all important bankroll in one place- and to keep tabs on it. It also offers much quicker withdrawals, which mitigates that temptation to leave money in accounts and fritter it on Jeff Stelling Saturday afternoons.

Building this bankroll can be hard, and normally requires a pretty decent capital investment if you are wanting to be serious and make it survive a few losing weeks but there is one excellent way to do this, and one which  I have used to amazing success... sign up bonuses.

Last year, I have to admit that I bought into a few betting systems- and I have learned the hard way that they are a pretty big waste of money! However on the review sites and also after a bit of research I came across the  Bonus Bagging Service. I know with a bit of research you can learn how to make money with matched betting but at the end of the day, it's a bit of a mission!

I paid about £30 for this service, but I had made it back within a few hours and a year later I am still completing the many 'bonus bags'. The service is run by a guy called Mike, and basically you click that you want a new bet, he sends exactly what to put on and when the bonus is paid in he then emails you the bet to withdraw the bonus. Easy! He is really helpful and replies to any questions really quickly, as well as sending through emails pretty regularly of reloads and how to bag these. It's always totally risk free and is guaranteed profits.

I honestly have no connection with this at all, and this is not advertising- I'm just trying to offer some genuine value with my blog! I want you to check it out because I love beating the bookies!

Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts! Any great tips on managing / building a bank roll?