BeachLife,
I concur with D_A re: the uses of vtracs and sums - and other indicators. I like to see a few of them line up before taking sustained and persistent action.
However, let me add to the conversation by stating that it's not only about persistence as you note but it's also about being disciplined in your betting. Prediction is only half the battle because how many times have you predicted a number to come and it comes but you've long forgotten about it or worse, you didn't forget and did hit it but had too little money on it to make a difference. Trust me that's happens to me far too many times than I'd like to admit.
For example, let's take D_A's 268. Let's suppose I bet $1 s/b @ the store on a daily basis. If it comes out by next week, I'm definitely still ahead and it was worth it. But let's suppose Molott puts it on a hiatus - hopefully not 3 years - but perhaps 3 months - and I do catch it boxed in 3 months with a payout of $80. Hmmm. Now I spent let's say $90x2= $180 chasing it only for me not to catch it straight and receive a loss of $100 for my "enjoyment." Of course, we all want to catch it straight and if I did, I would have a likely profit of $320, so I guess that is the gamble we are taking. The problem is of course that it is 6x less likely to hit it straight than boxed and as D_A points out look at how long some of these numbers like 146 are taking to come out boxed, let alone straight, so if you choose the wrong number, you will quickly go bust, which brings us full cycle back to prediction again.
I guess one of the lessons I keep relearning is about when to hit my stop loss "button." If you read my earlier posts about Sum 14, I referred to a betting strategy partly to help anyone who might not have thought of it but mostly to help hold myself accountable for stopping if my prediction about sum 14 turns out to be incorrect.
So I will either quit my chase of sum 14 after 18 days or double my bets based on other indicators. I look at the sums in four 18 day periods and note the frequency of a sum's appearance in those 18 day periods. If a sum looks sluggish for a period or two then I take note. If it shows a particular pattern then I might jump in.
The lesson I have to keep learning is when to admit the error of my ways and quit the chase of a given chase.
Hope that adds perspective on your consideration of sums and vtracs.
Hmmm. After that dissertation I think I need a shot of Johnny Walker.
Good luck.