Meet Martin Gale. He is a computer consultant and a family man. He lives with his Wife Shelly Gale and three children. They live in a nice house in the country and he has just bought Mrs Gale a brand new car. Life is good at the moment.





When the kids were young Mr Gale always made sure they wanted for nothing. He worked hard and saved hard to make sure they had the right clothes brands and the latest releases of their favourite video games.





Mr Gale loves his wife and always makes sure he gets something very special for her at Christmas and especially on her birthday. He is very good with his finances and makes sure that his bills are paid on time and saves religiously during the year to be able to take his family on their annual family summer holiday. They have had some great years - from London to Lisbon, from Paris to Portmarnock! It didn't matter where they went they always brought back special family memories.





Now the kids are getting older Mr Gale has more time and a little bit more money. Mr Gale is a life long Man Utd fan. He has always been interested in sports and has wondered for a long time about his betting "system". Now was a time that he could actually try it. Mrs Gale agreed and Mr Gale ring fenced

1000 to put aside for his new hobby.





He was going to be sensible and not too greedy, instead he intended to build up his winning slowly - beginning with small bets of

30 or

50 but sometimes a little more to make up the balance.





His strategy was simple and couldn't lose. He would bet on the favourite every week in the English Premier League. Favourite's mostly win - so he was always placing very low risk bets. For the weeks that the favourite didn't win Mr Gale increased his bet the next week to win back his losses. He would do this until the favourite wins again - which they eventually would. It is guaranteed.





And so he began on 17 Aug 2002. He found Man Utd at 1/5 against West Brom. He put

50 on this - and the result was an easy

10 profit. Let's track Mr Gale's bets in a table.





Week Match Bet Starting Balance Desired Profit Bet placed Potential Payout Balance Actual profit Final Balance 17 Aug 2002 Man Utd 1 0 West Brom Man Utd 1/5 1000.00 10.00 50.00 60.00 950.00 10.00 1010.00 24 Aug 2002 Arsenal 5 2 West Brom Arsenal 1/6 1010.00 10.00 59.99 69.99 950.01 10.00 1020.00 31 Aug 2002 Man Utd 1 0 Middlesbrough Man Utd 1/3 1020.00 10.00 30.00 40.00 990.00 10.00 1030.00 7 Sep 2002 Man Utd 0 1 Bolton Man Utd 1/5 1030.00 10.00 50.00 60.00 980.00 -50.00 980.00 14 Sep 2002 Charlton 0 3 Arsenal Arsenal 8/13 980.00 70.00 113.75 183.75 866.25 70.00 1050.00 21 Sep 2002 Arsenal 2 1 Bolton Arsenal 1/5 1050.00 10.00 50.00 60.00 1000.00 10.00 1060.00 28 Sep 2002 Chelsea 2 3 Wet Ham Chelsea 4/7 1060.00 10.00 17.50 27.50 1042.50 -17.50 1042.50 5 Oct 2002 Arsenal 3 1 Sunderland Arsenal 1/6 1042.50 37.50 224.96 262.46 817.54 37.50 1080.00 19 Oct 2002 Everton 2 1 Arsenal Arsenal 8/15 1080.00 10.00 18.75 28.75 1061.25 -18.75 1061.25 26 Oct 2002 Arsenal 1 2 Blackburn Arsenal 3/10 1061.25 38.75 129.17 167.92 932.08 -129.17 932.08 2 Nov 2002 Liverpool 2 0 Wet Ham Liverpool 1/3 932.08 177.92 533.82 711.74 398.26 177.92 1110.00





The first few weeks were straight forward wins for Utd, Arsenal and Utd again and meant a

10 weekly profit for Mr Gale. But then the inevitable happened and there was an upset. Bolton beat Man Utd. No problem, Mr Gale's plan was to make his losses back the next week and he did, Arsenal beat Charlton. This time he had to wager

113.75 so that his winnings would cancel out his

50 loss from the Bolton upset and continue his

10 weekly profit.





It was just a blip, and he had another blip when West Ham upset 4/7 odds on favourites Chelsea. Again though, the next week the favourite put him right back on track. To Mr Gale, these blips just proved to him that his system worked.





Then 26 Oct 2002 he was truly worried. Arsenal (his pick) had lost two weeks in a row now. He had lost

18.75 the first week, and he had wagered

129.17 the next week to try and make up the losses but again he lost. Now he had to put up a

533.82 bet on Liverpool to win against West Ham in order to make up his losses of the previous two weeks. This left his balance at a low

398.26 and he knew if Liverpool didn't win then he wouldn't have enough money left to make up the next week.





Liverpool 2-0.

Thank you Michael Owen!





Mr Gale was truly relieved. He didn't tell his wife how close it was but reveled in showing her the

700+ winning bet receipt. She was impressed.





That was that, he had gotten over the hump. Two favourites losing in a row had been unlucky but again his system worked and he was back on track. He continued, sometimes the favourite lost, but he always made it up the next week or the week after and maintained his

10 weekly profit

.





By 27 Sep 2003 he was up to over

400 pure profit but then he hit his first problem. See table below.





Week Match Bet Starting Balance Desired Profit Bet placed Potential Payout Balance Actual profit Final Balance 27 Sep 2003 Chelsea 1 0 Aston Villa Chelsea 1/3 1410.00 10.00 30.00 40.00 1380.00 10.00 1420.00 4 Oct 2003 Man Utd 3 0 Birmingham City Man Utd 3/10 1420.00 10.00 33.33 43.33 1386.67 10.00 1430.00 11 Oct 2003 Birmingham City 0 0 Chelsea Chelsea 5/7 1430.00 10.00 14.00 24.00 1416.00 -14.00 1416.00 18 Oct 2003 Fulham 0 0 Wolves Fulham 4/7 1416.00 34.00 59.50 93.50 1356.50 -59.50 1356.50 25 Oct 2003 Man Utd 1 3 Fulham Man Utd 1/4 1356.50 103.50 414.01 517.51 942.49 -414.01 942.49 1 Nov 2003 Man Utd 3 0 Portsmouth Man Utd 1/4 942.49 527.51 2110.04 2637.56 -1167.56 527.51 1470.00 8 Nov 2003 Arsenal 2 1 Tottenham Arsenal 2/5 1470.00 10.00 25.00 35.00 1445.00 10.00 1480.00





This time when Man Utd lost to Fulham he had 3 favourites lose in a row. He had seen this before though. He just needed to find the money to make one more bet and his system would put his profits back on track. The problem was that his initial bank roll had been depleted by the 3 consecutive losses. He had to call in a few favours from his mates down the pub and he scraped the

1167.56 that he was short. Again he was putting his faith in Man Utd who had just let him down as they faced Portsmouth this time in Nov 2003. He could not have been more nervous but his system had pulled him through before. He need not have worried at all as Utd strolled to an easy 3-0 win and Mr Gale collected his biggest winnings yet of over

2000! He was very popular down at the pub that weekend. It had now been a year that he was using his system and he had maintained his weekly overall profit and was now up to the tune of

480 on his initial balance.





The next number of months ran smoothly. No scares for the rest of the Winter or the Spring for that matter. Then he hit a small streak of losses in May 2004. He had no favours left to call in this time from his mates. He had to face his wife and explain to her that he had to cancel her Birthday gift that year - they had organised a mini vacation to Rome but Mr Gale this time was

1500 short to keep his system going.





Week Match Bet Starting Balance Desired Profit Bet placed Potential Payout Balance Actual profit Final Balance 20 Mar 2004 Arsenal 2 1 Bolton Arsenal 2/9 1630.00 10.00 45.00 55.00 1585.00 10.00 1640.00 27 Mar 2004 Chelsea 5 2 Wolves Chelsea 1/4 1640.00 10.00 40.00 50.00 1600.00 10.00 1650.00 3 Apr 2004 Newcastle Utd 4 2 Everton Newcastle 8/13 1650.00 10.00 16.25 26.25 1633.75 10.00 1660.00 10 Apr 2004 Man Utd 1 0 Leicester City Man Utd 2/7 1660.00 10.00 35.00 45.00 1625.00 10.00 1670.00 17 Apr 2004 Man Utd 2 0 Charlton Man Utd 2/5 1670.00 10.00 25.00 35.00 1645.00 10.00 1680.00 24 Apr 2004 Birmingham City 2 2 Wolves Birmingham 11/18 1680.00 10.00 16.36 26.36 1663.64 -16.36 1663.64 1 May 2004 Arsenal 0 0 Birmingham City Arsenal 4/11 1663.64 36.36 100.01 136.37 1563.63 -100.01 1563.63 8 May 2004 Newcastle Utd 1 1 Wolves Newcastle 3/10 1563.63 146.37 487.92 634.29 1075.71 -487.92 1075.71 15 May 2004 Arsenal 2 1 Leicester City Arsenal 1/4 1075.71 644.29 2577.16 3221.45 -1501.45 644.29 1720.00





He explained to his wife that if he didn't make the bet that he would be facing a loss of over

600. He had told her that Arsenal had not lost a single match all season and this last match would make history if they beat Leicester. They will win. She loves him, she didn't understand but she helped him out. It was just a matter of deferring the trip because he would pay her back as soon as the win came in. And it did. Arsenal got Mr Gale out of jail and became the first team to go unbeaten for an entire Premier League Season!





The months and years went by and Mr Gale got more and more confidence in his system. By Christmas 2006 he was up over

1500 in profits! To celebrate he bought a huge ring for Mrs Gale for her Christmas present. The two were never happier. Mrs Gale was glad that he was enjoying his little hobby. And even more glad that he was lavishing her with gifts!





But then it went crunch. In January Mr Gale was bringing back the ring and he was selling his wife's 4 year old car.





Week Match Bet Starting Balance Desired Profit Bet placed Potential Payout Balance Actual profit Final Balance 2 Dec 2006 Middlesbrough 1 2 Man Utd Man Utd 4/7 2560.00 10.00 17.50 27.50 2542.50 10.00 2570.00 9 Dec 2006 Chelsea 1 0 Newcastle Utd Chelsea 1/5 2570.00 10.00 50.00 60.00 2520.00 10.00 2580.00 16 Dec 2006 Arsenal 2 2 Portsmouth Arsenal 2/5 2580.00 10.00 25.00 35.00 2555.00 -25.00 2555.00 23 Dec 2006 Chelsea 2 2 Reading Chelsea 2/11 2555.00 45.00 247.52 292.52 2307.48 -247.52 2307.48 30 Dec 2006 Chelsea 2 2 Fulham Chelsea 1/7 2307.48 302.52 2117.04 2419.56 190.44 -2117.04 190.44 13 Jan 2007 Chelsea 4 0 Wigan Chelsea 1/5 190.44 2429.56 12147.81 14577.38 -11957.38 2429.56 2620.00

This time his losing streak meant that he needed a whopping

12,000 to regain his losses. How could Chelsea have thrown away a 2-1 lead against Fulham in the last 10 minutes. They were 1/7 odds on to win! He lost

2,000 on that bet. This was when Mr Gale had to tell his wife that he was selling her new ring and her car too. He was down to

190. If he stopped now it would have been a huge loss from his initial

1000 bank roll. He had to continue. And how he did cheer every single one of Chelsea's 4 goals against Wigan. That day he went down to the Tattoo parlour and got Lampard, Robben, Kirkland (og) and Drogba inked on his shoulder! The bet paid out

14,577.38 for him. He even got his picture in the local paper for his extraordinary winnings. He immediately bought back his wife's car. He thought all was right in the world again. But his wife was starting to feel increasingly frustrated over his behaviour.





For poor Mr Gale it wasn't long again until he was to hit another losing streak. This time the worst streak since he started 5 years ago in 2002. He had 4 loses in a row.



