Weekends like the one we just had are the reason I keep doing this.

Today, for the first time ever, the TAB refused to accept a MAFL bet.

The results from Round 16, as predictable as they were, led to changes in the MARS Rankings of only five teams this week, three of them by just a single place.

The streak's alive - but only just.

For the sixth week in a row the Head-to-Head Fund has seen fit to make just a single wager, and for the third time during this self-enforced period of restraint, its lone wager is on Port Adelaide. That head-to-head wager is joined by three Line bets, all on home team favourites facing between 20.5 and 74.5 points start, and by 10 SuperMargin wagers, two of them priced at an unfamiliar $17. Those two longshot SuperMargin gambles are down to Combo_NN2, which, as is its wont, is predicting unfashionably small victories by teams priced in the head-to-head market at $1.01.

Action on the MARS Ratings ladder this week was all at the top, as eight of the ten highest-ranked teams changed places while none of the eight lowest-ranked teams moved at all.

Port Adelaide really are the team that just keeps on giving this season.

We MAFL Investors are, by necessity, a fickle bunch.

Eight teams changed places on the MARS Ladder this week, though none from amongst the prevailing Top 3 or Bottom 5.

For only the third time this season, Investors have recorded back-to-back profits across consecutive rounds. The earlier instances were in Rounds 2 and 3, then Rounds 3 and 4, and the profits there were much less significant.

Apparently, if you can beat the reigning premiers you can beat the runners-up of the year before. That's the only rationale I can posit as to why the Head-to-Head Fund has made its only bet this week on Port Adelaide, at home again, facing the Pies.

Now that all teams have had 12 opportunities to impress the judges, it's time for me to take a look at team Ratings.

It's time to ask the question again: which are the teams to blame for Investors' losses so far, and which are the teams to thank for making them smaller than they otherwise would be?

With two rank, home team outsiders snatching victory in the final term, the competition enjoyed a much-needed surprisal injection this week.

This week marks the last of the short rounds for the home and away season and the first of the rounds where, historically, the Head-to-Head Fund has been at its best.

Wagering can be such a cruel pastime. When Collingwood led by almost 9 goals at the main break in Sunday afternoon's game against the Dogs, I thought that our line bet on them, giving 39.5 points start, was close to bankable. I'd mentally written-off the two SuperMargin wagers, and a quick calculation revealed that the loss of these two SuperMargin bets, coupled with the successful line bet, would leave the Recommended Portfolio at virtual breakeven for the round. Not a great result, but not too bad.

After last week's unaccustomed and uninspiring inactivity, this week sees a return to more usual levels of wagering. Investors have a financial stake in each of the half-dozen contests.

For Investors, there's very little action and no joy at all to report for the round just completed. Our lone, hopeful wager on the Dees survived contact with reality for about a quarter before disappearing in a flurry of second-quarter Magpie goals and behinds. Over the final three quarters of Monday's game the Dees were outscored 16.14 to 4.4. Still, the wager was small, and the Head-to-Head Fund is only weighted 30% in the Recommended Portfolio, so the net result was just a 0.4c loss.

Round 11: 12 teams, 6 games, 4 days, 2 home team rank underdogs, 1 bet.

All the MARS action was mid-table again this week, with the teams Ranked 5th through 9th the only ones to move. The Blues and the Roos each jumped three places while the Eagles fell 3, the Dons 2, and the Crows 1 spot.