We're delighted to introduce a new feature for the duration of Euro 2004 as our Mike Holden bids to make his punting pay dividends in Portugal this summer.
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Click here for part eight
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Click here for part 11
As much as I intended to savour the whole tournament for the carnival it truly is, I cannot deny it's become an anti-climax since England's quarter-final exit. And I'm sure the Portuguese hospitality industry agrees, too.
Hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, taxi drivers and anyone who cares to sell merchandise or memorabilia have most notably made a killing while we've been out here and their jobs have become so much quieter now the vast majority of the free-spending English have gone home.
Take Sunday night's quarter-final between the Czech Republic and Denmark in Porto, for example.
You could walk straight up and get served in almost any bar you happened to walk by, while on the black market outside the Dragao metro station, €175 tickets were fetching no more than €40 – and still the ground was at least 10,000 below capacity.
That said, fair play to all the English who have stopped back to watch the conclusion of the competition. On Sunday, I'd say almost a quarter of the stadium was English, even though we haven't been based anywhere near Porto.
As for my motley crew, our stay is gradually turning into a holiday, spending days at the beach or by the pool and sharing a few beers with the locals of a night – that's when we're not staying home so I can take the lads to the cleaners in an intense game of Texas Hold 'Em for a pot of €100!
Based in the heart of real Portugal, we've made loads of new friends and, thanks to the experience, my days of going on a Mediterranean package holiday with an English tour operator finally appear to be numbered.
Now it's just a case of keeping back whatever funds we can to try to pick up tickets for the Portugal v Holland semi in the Jose Alvalade and the final itself in the Luz, although I cannot possibly be over-optimistic with a bank of only £300 remaining and seven days to survive.
My bets on the last two quarter-finals suffered a small loss after the Czechs took the Danes apart in the second half and I'd have to say they look the most complete team I've seen at the tournament.
I'm convinced they'll overcome the Greeks to make the final but I won't be getting involved at such a short price and will probably look towards laying the Portuguese in 90 minutes on Wednesday in order to boost the pot for a final ticket.
