As the 2012/13 season begins, my son Ben and I have each put £25 in the pot and credited it onto an entirely empty account with bookmaker Paddy Power.
Neither of us is a seasoned gambler, though he has a quicker and more trained eye for the mathematics of a situation than do I.
We've set a few ground rules. We never bet on City to lose. We never bet more than 10% of our current pot on any single game. We don't bet in play. Our stake is on before kick off or else we don't bet on that match at all.
Let's see how the season goes.