bump for anyone waiting for the pic. It was Johnny Galecki aka Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang theory. I believe I am not the first to draw the comparison although Mr Ambo cannot see the resemblance. Posted by Phantom66
Yep I live here, been here about 5 years now I think. On a day to day basis it all washes over me as I'm trying to get from A to B through the masses of French and Spanish teenagers and hoards of Japanese tourists taking photos of everything! these guys are my livelihood though so although I find it frustrating, especially in summer, I need them. I tend to avoid the centre when I'm not working too because it's so crowded and I'm certain to bump into students whenever I venture in, but I do love wandering round when I'm free. I've recently started running, and I absolutely love running around the river and canal areas. The Ashmolean is really cool but next time you visit, try to go to the Natural History Museum/Pitt Rivers which is imo the most amazing museum in the whole world, I go there quite a bit and recently they had a night experience thing with live music and they turn off all the lights and you go around with torches and it's incredibly interactive, they encourage you to touch everything and there's weird things to eat and drink, it's really a unique place. The Ashmolean has night events too come to think of it! I've heard great things about them too.
I've always wondered about staying in the prison, would you recommend it? Mrduck and I are getting married this year so I might put some of our guests in there
My main complaints about Oxford are that it's completely unaffordable living wise. We want to buy a house here but it's unattainable for most and the rent is extortionate too so it's a struggle and the other thing is despite Oxford being so rich there really is a big homelessness problem here which is really really upsetting to see and I get quite angry about that.
You do realise now that your girlfriend will be expecting a trip every year for her birthday )
As it happened, I was with Neil last night Mrs Duck.
This week & next week are perhaps his busiest 2 weeks of the year, prepping for, & during, Cheltenham Week, so you may not hear from him for a while.
Since his mini holiday, he has been attending Cheltenham "Preview" Meetings every night, & last night, he & Joe Beevers, his partner at Betting Emporium, held their own Cheltenham Preview Evening at the rather swanky Bleeding Heart Restaurant in London, opposite Farringdon Place. Charles Dickens was a customer there, so it's been around a while.
He's also written 3 lengthy articles about Cheltenham for B-E, was interviewed by Lee Davy for a lengthy piece on Calvin Ayre, & recorded a Cheltenham video for a bookmaker.
In the coming week, for each of the 4 days of Cheltenham, he will write a 700-1,000 word article for EVERY race, so some 28 articles in all.
On top of all that, he has to organise getting his own bets on. He remains, first & foremost, a professional sports bettor.
So there you go, hope that helps explain why he has not been around much this week, nor will we see much of him in the upcoming week.
A typical day during Cheltenham week for Neil means getting up at 3am. (5am the rest of the year, same as me as it happens).
He studies the Racing Post first (he gets a copy delivered early as he's classed as a bookmaker), then peruses all the betting feeds on Twitter, followed by studying the form, runners & riders in every single race.
His system is to work through every horse in the race, &, one by one, eliminate those he has no plans to back or recommend. That will leave him with between 2 & 5 selections for each race.
Then he has to write the articles - 1 per race, & his schedule is to publish the first at 9am, then every 30 minutes, so the 7th & last piece each day goes up at Noon. By then, remember, he's been working for 9 hours. And whilst writing & studying, he has to field texts, phone calls, e-Mails & the like, often from friends & acquaintances wanting him to tip them a winner.
Some free tips for you here, as to pro sports betting on horse racing.
Rule # 1 - it is NOT about selecting winners, it is about selecting VALUE.
He will often dismiss a long odds on shot as it is not value, a horse priced at 2/5 & almost certain to win won't be recommended at 1/3. It's not value. At 1/2 yes, at 1/3, no. That is the very basis of successful sports betting.
His favourite races are where there is a good "shape" to the betting market, with a short priced favourite, and plenty of others priced at 6/1 & above. If the bookies offer extra places as a concession, he'll often recommend up to 5 or 6 - yes - horses in a single race. He believes it is almost impossible to have a bad bet in some races with the right betting shape.
2 or 3 years ago, in the opening Supreme Novices Hurdle (now sponsored by Sky Bet), he recommended that I back SIX horses each way. I did, & we made a tidy profit. Who'd have thought? The bookies rarely make those offers, but when they do, he's all over it. His favourite line is punish those bookies.
2 years ago, he recommended Lord Windemere as the Gold Cup winner at 40/1. We all got on, & it was oioi all afternoon as the horse duly trotted up.
He does have lengthy losing spells, but its like variance in poker, or playing MTT's, you just have to look at the long term, & he shows a profit every year.
I can barely recall him backing a favourite, as the jollies are almost always over bet (too short) so don't represent value. Value is the key, not finding winners at any price. A bookie builds a profit margin into his book, so to beat the bookies, you have to find a way to overcome that profit margin. It's rarely by backing favourites.
Cheers Tikay, I wasn't bumping the thread to try to annoy him or push him to reply, just wanted it to come back to the front page so he'd get a chance to see it when he pops on. Sounds like he's working super hard at the mo
Comments
It was Johnny Galecki aka Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang theory.
I believe I am not the first to draw the comparison although Mr Ambo cannot see the resemblance.
I can see it. I agree, although I seem to be getting way fatter than him.
Is he ok? Ill? He must be shrinking.
^^^
As it happened, I was with Neil last night Mrs Duck.
This week & next week are perhaps his busiest 2 weeks of the year, prepping for, & during, Cheltenham Week, so you may not hear from him for a while.
Since his mini holiday, he has been attending Cheltenham "Preview" Meetings every night, & last night, he & Joe Beevers, his partner at Betting Emporium, held their own Cheltenham Preview Evening at the rather swanky Bleeding Heart Restaurant in London, opposite Farringdon Place. Charles Dickens was a customer there, so it's been around a while.
He's also written 3 lengthy articles about Cheltenham for B-E, was interviewed by Lee Davy for a lengthy piece on Calvin Ayre, & recorded a Cheltenham video for a bookmaker.
In the coming week, for each of the 4 days of Cheltenham, he will write a 700-1,000 word article for EVERY race, so some 28 articles in all.
On top of all that, he has to organise getting his own bets on. He remains, first & foremost, a professional sports bettor.
So there you go, hope that helps explain why he has not been around much this week, nor will we see much of him in the upcoming week.
A typical day during Cheltenham week for Neil means getting up at 3am. (5am the rest of the year, same as me as it happens).
He studies the Racing Post first (he gets a copy delivered early as he's classed as a bookmaker), then peruses all the betting feeds on Twitter, followed by studying the form, runners & riders in every single race.
His system is to work through every horse in the race, &, one by one, eliminate those he has no plans to back or recommend. That will leave him with between 2 & 5 selections for each race.
Then he has to write the articles - 1 per race, & his schedule is to publish the first at 9am, then every 30 minutes, so the 7th & last piece each day goes up at Noon. By then, remember, he's been working for 9 hours. And whilst writing & studying, he has to field texts, phone calls, e-Mails & the like, often from friends & acquaintances wanting him to tip them a winner.
2 to 5 horses in some races? Yup.
Some free tips for you here, as to pro sports betting on horse racing.
Rule # 1 - it is NOT about selecting winners, it is about selecting VALUE.
He will often dismiss a long odds on shot as it is not value, a horse priced at 2/5 & almost certain to win won't be recommended at 1/3. It's not value. At 1/2 yes, at 1/3, no. That is the very basis of successful sports betting.
His favourite races are where there is a good "shape" to the betting market, with a short priced favourite, and plenty of others priced at 6/1 & above. If the bookies offer extra places as a concession, he'll often recommend up to 5 or 6 - yes - horses in a single race. He believes it is almost impossible to have a bad bet in some races with the right betting shape.
2 or 3 years ago, in the opening Supreme Novices Hurdle (now sponsored by Sky Bet), he recommended that I back SIX horses each way. I did, & we made a tidy profit. Who'd have thought? The bookies rarely make those offers, but when they do, he's all over it. His favourite line is punish those bookies.
2 years ago, he recommended Lord Windemere as the Gold Cup winner at 40/1. We all got on, & it was oioi all afternoon as the horse duly trotted up.
He does have lengthy losing spells, but its like variance in poker, or playing MTT's, you just have to look at the long term, & he shows a profit every year.
I can barely recall him backing a favourite, as the jollies are almost always over bet (too short) so don't represent value. Value is the key, not finding winners at any price. A bookie builds a profit margin into his book, so to beat the bookies, you have to find a way to overcome that profit margin. It's rarely by backing favourites.
For that alone, I admire him greatly. In fact I admire anyone who works that hard.