The Sports Trader

New Blog Address

The address for this blog is now http://thesportstrader.typepad.co.uk/the_sports_trader/ I do intend to resurrect the blog soon and look forward to keeping in touch with so many great readers.

Merry Christmas

The Sports Trader would just like to wish a Very Merry Christmas to all readers and fellow traders. I hope you all get what you have asked for at Christmas and the very best of luck with your trading in the future.

Whilst on here I will just update my trading results for the last two weeks.

Week Ending 16th December 2007 -  This proved to be a very tough week of trading for me and I had to miss quite a lot of trading due to family commitments. I did still end the week with a profit of £539.

Week Ending 23rd December 2007 - A much better week of trading but again many missed trading opportunities due to my children's busy social commitments for the festive period. I finished the week with a profit of £1206.

As many of you know I do trade on the under 2.5 goals market quite heavily. I have over the past two weeks been looking at trading this market in a different way, which, to date, has been giving some very good results. I will continue using small stakes with this method and if the results continue to be consistent I will raise stakes and detail the method on my blog. I will also look to totally automate this method of trading, but to do this I will need the help of one of the many Bot experts that are around.  

Sunday 9th December 2007

The Sports Trader has had another good week after a slow start. I have not been as busy outside of my trading which has left me feeling much more relaxed through the week. Even though I have not been updating my blog every day it is good to see that the number of readers is still strong and I am answering around 30 emails a week from readers with questions about why and how I trade and about my IT set up.

Monday 3rd December  - I started the week off with 7 race trades and 2 under 2.5 goal football trades with no losses. Most of my profits came from the football trading. I ended the day with a profit of £70.

Tuesday 4th December  - This was one of my quietest days of trading for a while. I only traded on 7 horse races and 1 football match and again most of my days £43 profit came from the football.

Wednesday 5th December -  A much more interesting day of trading with some good National Hunt racing. I traded on 1 cricket match, 12 horse races and 1 football match. I started the day off in the morning on the Sri Lanka v England Test match. The match was coming to an end and as England lost their 7th wicket I laid the draw for £211 @ 2.10. I then backed the draw for £56 @ 4.00 and to cancel out my liability  and partially green up, I laid Sri Lanka for £110 @ 1.39 to leave myself a profit of £114.

My horse race trading had been profitable right up until my last trade in the 20:40 at Dundalk. I was trading on the Newcastle v Arsenal match and switched to the Dundalk race when the race was in the final furlong. I had not had time to study the Jockeys colours and made the stupid mistake of trusting the race commentator and ended up backing Strike An Ark for £300 as I thought the horse crossed the line only to find out a few seconds later that the commentator had got the horses mixed up which cost me £300. I do not blame the commentator, it is was my own fault for not checking the colours.

In the football match I traded quite heavily on the under 2.5 goals and managed to finish the match with an all green £210 which brought my day to a close with a profit of £82.

Thursday 6th December - I had a meeting in the morning with my accountant which took longer than I had planned so I missed the early races. I ended up trading on 7 horse races and 1 football match, with no losing trades. Once again football trading provided me with most of my £126 profit on the day. I traded on the Anderlecht v Spurs game along with my son, Oliver. We started with a back of the unders pre kick off and gradually laid off through the first half. We both had an all green position by about the 35th minute, with my son managing a little over 3% gain on his bank and I made £70.

Friday 7th December - A day where I traded on 9 horse races and 1 football match, with no losing trades. The football match that I traded on was between Borussia Dortmund and Arminia Bielefeld, all the pre match predictions were for plenty of goals so the price on the under 2.5 goals was very high. I backed the unders for £200 @ 3.25 and laid all off between 2.87 and 2.60 to leave me with a small profit on the overs and a potential profit of £50 on the unders before the goal feast came. The match finished at 6 -1 so I finished with a small profit to add to my race trading profits which left me with a profit of £52 on the day.

Saturday 8th December - I traded on 14 horse races and 3 football matches with just 1 very small loss on a horse race. My day finished with a profit of £231.

Sunday 9th December - This proved to be the best day's trading of the week for me. I traded on 11 horse races and 2 football matches with no losing trades. My horse racing resulted in a profit of £424 and I made £136 on the football trades to leave me with a profit on the day of £560.

My week finished with a total profit of £1164.

Sunday 2nd December 2007

It has been another very busy week for the Sports Trader, not only on the trading front but also personally as on Friday my eldest daughter, Jenny,  got the keys to her new flat and moved in over the weekend. Below is a summary of the weeks trading.

Monday 26th November - It was a good start to the week with 15 horse races and 1 football match traded and only 1 losing trade. I ended up with a profit of £80 on the racing and £83 on the football to result in a profit of £163 on the day.

Tuesday 27th November - Another good day with 12 horse races and 2 football matches traded and again with just the 1 loss although this was a big one. My day started off well with the 12:10 at Kempton where I laid Procas de Thaix for £2306 @ 1.30 quite early in the race and then backed back £1720 @ 1.57 to leave myself with a profit of £290. My race trading finished with a profit of £357. I ended up losing £320 on the Sevilla v Arsenal match after some very quick goals were scored but I did make back £150 on the Man U v Sporting game to result in a profit on the day of £187.

Wednesday 28th November 2007 - The day started off well after trading on 11 horse races with a profit of £218 but then I gave it all away and then some more with some poor trading on two football matches. I ended the day with a loss of £31.

Thursday 29th November 2007 - This was a much better day. I traded on 18 horse races with 1 loss to result in a profit of £224. In the evening I traded on 2 football matches with a profit of £53 to give me a profit of £277 on the day.

Friday 30th November 2007 - I had a very short day of trading as there were many things to do with Jenny in preparation for her getting hold of the keys to her flat. I only traded on 6 horse races but still managed a profit of £256.

Saturday 1st December 2007 - This was a good day of trading and also the main day for moving Jenny so I missed the first few races. I ended up trading on 17 horse races for a profit of £524. In the evening I traded on 3 parts of football matches which resulted in a profit of £39 and later I made a further £36 on the Hendry v O'Sullivan snooker match to end my day with a profit of £599.

Sunday 2nd December 2007 - This turned out to be the best trading day of the week for me after trading on 17 horse races where I made a profit of £710 and 1 football match which resulted in a profit of £20 to leave me with a profit of £730 on the day.

After a very good week of trading I managed to make a profit of £2181.

This week also saw the end on my November trading where I made a total profit of £5962.

Sunday 25th November 2007

It has been a difficult week of trading for the Sports Trader and due to the pressures of time I am only going to summarise my weeks trading here.

Monday 19th November - As already reported I was having a good day only to blow £494 on a darts match to leave me with a loss on the day of £279.

Tuesday 20th November - I traded on 6 horse races 2 darts matches and 2 football matches with no losing trades. The highlight of my day was my first horse race trade where I made £161. My day finished with a profit of £253.

Wednesday 21st November - This has to go down as a bad day not just for English football but also for my erratic trading. I traded on 15 horse races, 1 football match and 1 darts match. I had a £500 loss on a horse race due to me getting the colours of two jockey's mixed up. In the England football match I managed to lose almost £400 as I didn't stick to my normal mode of operation, needless to say if I had done as normal I would have made a profit. My day finished with a hefty £1050 loss.

Thursday 22nd November - Back to proper trading today. I traded 10 horse races, 1 darts match and 2 football matches with no losing trades. My son Oliver came round to continue with his under 2.5 goals trading and he made another profit of 4% of his bank. I traded my normal way on the same match and made £160 on the match. My day finished with a profit of £239.

Friday 23rd November - Another solid day but only after yet another mistake in a horse race which cost me £227. I traded on 14 horse races and 2 darts matches with 2 losing trades. The best trade of my day was in the Phil Taylor v John Part darts match where I made £436. My day finished with a profit of £367.

Saturday 24th November - A good day of trading with 18 horse races, 2 football matches and 1 darts match traded with just 1 losing trade on the day.  My best trade was in the 12:45 at Ascot where I laid Potts of Magic for £350 @ 5.29 and backed back £165 @ 4.00 to result in a profit of £176. My day had finished with a profit of £480.

Sunday 25th November 2007 - A very good solid day of trading to finish the week off well. I traded on 14 horse races, 3 football matches and the darts Grand Slam Final with no losing trades. The best trade of my day was on the darts where I backed The Power to win on the handicap betting with -6.5 legs for £1332 @ 1.25 and laid off within a minute @ 1.20 to result in a profit of £155. My day finished with a profit of £720.

Well this week started off as a bit of a comedy of errors as my mind has just not been properly focused on my trading and by Wednesday night I was down almost £1100, but with some very solid trading, from Thursday onwards, I have managed to finish the week with a respectable £730 profit.

Monday 19th November 2007

The Sports Trader was having a good day until the last trade of the day which plunged me into losses. I traded on 7 horse races and 4 darts matches with just the one loss.

My day started off very slowly with 4 small but winning trades. The best result of my day came in the 15:10 at Leicester where I laid Kelv for £50 @ 2.10 before backing back £48 @ 2.16. I then backed the eventual winner, Meadow Hawk for £85 @ 2.00 and laid off £20 @ 1.20 to result in a profit of £83.

In the 15:40 at Leicester I laid Haversham for £44 @ 6.00 to give me another profit of £44. My final race trade of the day resulted in a small profit.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £131.

The first of my darts trades was in the match between Andy Hamilton and  C Losper where I just managed a small profit.

In the Barney v Dennis Priestley match I started with a back of Barney for £500 @ 1.47 and then gradually laid off to result in a profit of £63.

Next was the McDine v Greatbatch match where I started by backing McDine for £50 @ 1.54 and laid off @ 1.22. I had another small back on him @ 1.10 to result in a profit of £19.

In the last trade of my day in the match between Nixon and OrreaI I had backed Nixon, with the score at 4 -0 and only wanting 1 more leg to secure victory, for £505 @ 1.08. Nixon was well in control of this match and his opponent was playing woefully so I thought my money was safe. But the best laid plans are always the ones that come and get you in the end. I did manage to back Orreal for £100 @ 1.10 to lessen my loss a little but in the end I lost £494 on this match.

My day had therefore ended with a loss of £279.

I do apologise for being a little late in updating my blog again but life is just not that easy at the moment. I do not want to bore you with my problems but I have had to spend a lot of time sorting mine and other peoples problems out this last while. However I do not want to offend my readers so I will try to catch up but if I find that not possible, I may just stop writing for a while.

Sunday 18th November 2007

Well I am not too happy. I have just spent the last 80 minutes writing up my trading for today and hit the preview button to make sure all was ok and I lost the whole post. So I will just give a summary of the days trading.

I traded on 20 UK horse races, 2 football matches and 1 darts match with just 2 small losing trades, both on the race trading.

My horse race trading produced a profit of £111.

I managed to make £78 with my football trading. I only managed to trade a part of both matches and I made £162 on the darts.

So my day had produced a profit of £351.

This week of trading has been a bit of a grind but I still managed a profit of £589 on the week.

Saturday 17th November 2007

It was a struggle for the Sports Trader today due to a couple of hefty losses early in the day but I did recover the situation in the evening. I traded on 14 UK horse races, 1 rugby match, 2 football matches and 2 darts matches.

My day started with a small winning trade. In the 12:45 at Punchestown I backed Never Compromise for £214 @ 1.33 to result in a profit of £71.

Then came the 12:55 at Cheltenham where I had laid Kia Kaha for £14 @ 3.75 and then went to lay again for £36 @ 3.80 when the odds changed just as I hit the submit button and I ended up laying @ 5.90. This cost me £214. I followed up with a small winning trade.

In the 13:45 at Wetherby I laid Charming Fellow for £50 @ 3.50 before backing back £48 @ 3.70 and then I managed to lay Super Road Train for £56 @ 4.00 to cost me another £167. I followed this with 2 more small winning trades.

My day then started to get better with the 14:35 Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham where I had laid Granit Jack for £37 @ 4.50 for a profit of £37. Next was a small winning trade.

In the 15:10 at Cheltenham I backed Sonnyanjoe for £80 @ 2.25 before laying all off @ 1.80 and then backed  him for a further 16 @ 1.50 to result in a profit of £44.

My next trade was again at Cheltenham where I backed Sir Rembrant for £50 @ 2.00 to result in a £50 profit.

In the 15:50 at Uttoxeter I backed Phoudamour for £50 @ 1.60 before laying all off @ 1.15 to result in a profit of £23. My final race trade resulted in a small loss.

My race trading had produced a loss of £154.

In the early evening I traded the final few minutes of the rugby match between Harlequins and Cardiff and managed to back the draw for £500 @ 1.33 to give me a profit of £165.

I watched the Scotland v Italy football match and traded on the under 2.5 goals and by the time the third goal was scored I was all green with a £25 profit on the overs, all be it a score of unders would have given me £50. I also backed the under 3.5 goals for £68 @ 1.04 to give me another £3 on the match.

Later I watched the end of the all important Israel v Russia football match and backed the under 3.5 goals for £300 @ 1.10 before laying off £245 @ 1.04 to return a profit of £20.

In the evenings darts matches I backed Adrian Lewis against Dennis Priestley for £120 @ 1.14 to result in a profit of £17. I then traded the Colin Lloyd v Ronnie Baxter match and produced another profit of £24.

Well that was the end of a real grind of a day where I turned around heavy early losses to a profit of £100.

Friday 16th November 2007

At last the Sports Trader has had a good day of trading. I traded on 16 UK horse races and 1 football match with just 1 losing trade.

My day started with 2 small winning trades and 1 small losing trade. In the 12:45 at Cheltenham I laid Top The Charts for £65 @ 3.20 and backed back £50 @ 4.00 which resulted in a profit of £15. My next 3 trades all resulted in small profits.

In the 13:55 at Cheltenham I laid The Rooney Man for £16 @ 88.00 and then laid Milord Lescribaa for £59 @ 8.00 before backing back £6 @ 11.00 and £9 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £60. Next came another small winning trade.

My next trade came at Cheltenham again, in the 14:30, where I laid Puntal for £61 @ 25.00 before backing back £30 @ 35.00 and £7 @ 40.00 to result in a profit of £26. I followed this with 2 more small winning trades.

Next was the 15:45 at Cheltenham and here I backed Imperial Commander for £80 @ 1.61 before laying off @ 1.43 to leave me with a profit of £20. I had one more small winning trade to finish my race trading for the day. 

I had managed to make a profit of £142 from my race trading.

I had arranged to out tonight so I only had a few minutes of football trading. I traded on the under 2.5 goals on the England v Bulgaria under 21 match. I backed the unders for £107 @ 1.55 and laid off at 1.36 to result in a profit of £20. I also backed the under 3.5 goals for £224 @ 1.01 to give me another £2.

My day had finished with a profit of £164.

Thursday 15th November 2007

It was a reasonable day for The Sports Trader after trading on 11 UK horse races and 1 snooker match with 1 losing trade.

My day started with 4 trades that all resulted in small profits. Then came my only loss on the day in the 14:25 at Clonmel, where I backed Emma Jane for £38 @ 1.77, when leading and on the run in, only to see her overhauled close to the finishing line, to cost me £38. My next race finished with a small profit.

In the 15:10 at Taunton I backed Swift Half for £86 @ 1.51 before laying all off @ 1.12 to result in a profit of £33. Next I had another small winning trade.

In the 15:30 at Ludlow I laid Hitaaf for £124 @ 2.10 before backing back £80 @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £24.

Next was the 15:55 at Clonmel and here I laid Sister Moira for £17 @ 66.00 to give me a profit of £17. My last race trade of the day finished with a small profit.

My race trading had therefore finished with a profit of £52.

After racing I traded on the snooker match between Higgins and Junhui. I only had 1 trade in the final frame when Higgins had secured the frame and this was for £5000 @ 1.01 to give me a profit of £50.

My day had finished with a profit of £102. 

Wednesday 14th November 2007

This was one of The Sports Traders quietest days of the year but it did end with a small positive result. I traded on just 9 UK horse races with 1 losing trade.

My day started with the 12:50 at Bangor where I backed Evelith Echo for £50 @ 2.20 before laying all off @ 2.00 to result in a profit of £10.

My only losing trade of the day came next, in the 13:00 at Lingfield, where I had backed She's Humble for £40 @ 2.00 when leading on the run-in, only to see her headed just before the line to cost me £40. My next 4 races all resulted in small profits.

In the 15:50 at Bangor I laid Domino Dancer for £10 @ 11.50 to give me a profit of £10.

Next was the 15:30 at Lingfield and here I backed Domenico for £400 @ 1.01 when well in the lead and approaching the finishing line. I also laid Beaufort at the same stage of the race for £12 @ 100.00 to result in a profit of £16. The final trade of my day finished with a small profit.

It was parents evening so I did not trade in the evening and my day had therefore finished with a profit of £6.

Tuesday 13th November 2007

It was another day and another mistake for the Sports Trader. I traded on 7 UK horse races and 1 football match with just 1 loss.

My day got underway with a small profit in the 12:40 at Kempton. Then in the 13:00 at Sedgefield I backed John Dillon for £286 @ 1.55 before laying off £108 @ 1.48 and the remaining £178 @ 1.29 to result in a profit of £70.

In the 14:05 at Sedgefield I backed Soulard for £229 @ 1.86 and laid this all off at 1.61. A little later I backed him again for £188 @ 1.50 and then laid off £47 @ 1.46 and £141 @ 1.19 to result in a profit of £103. I followed this up with 3 small, but profitable trades.

Then came my mistake in the 15:40 at Exeter. I had put up a lay for £155 @ 3.45 on Deep Quest whilst making mistakes at the 4th and 3rd fences from the finish. I had a visitor arrive and then one of my daughters came into my office and I started talking to her and totally forgot about my lay. It is unusual for me to have lays on the market for any length of time as they are normally either matched or I cancel them. In this case I left the lay up as I still thought the horse had little chance of winning and then with talking to others I forgot the trade and paid with a loss of £380 to wipe out what had been a decent day.

My race trading had finished with a loss of £186.

I had intended not to trade on football in the evening as I was still mad with myself for the error I had made earlier and that is not the best frame of mind to be in when trading. However, I did still watch the Bournemouth v Milton Keynes match. After the two early goals had been scored I was tempted to trade on some of the big prices on offer for the under 2.5 goals market but I still held off. Then I thought it would be good therapy to trade lightly on the match to rebuild my confidence. So I backed the unders for £12 @ 3.25 and laid off @ 3.00, then a very high price came on the screen and the value light went on in my head and I backed the unders for £90 @ 3.77 and a further £20 @ 3.55. I started to lay off @ 2.90 down to 3.08. I had a few more smaller trades and then at the end of the match I backed the unders for £54 @ 1.22, £50 @ 1.13 and £100 @ 1.11, this all resulted in a profit of £144, not bad considering I was only going to have a few small trades.

My day had finished with a loss of £42.

Today was also the anniversary of starting this blog and I would like to thank all the readers for your most welcomed support, ideas and good wishes throughout this year.

I have tided up the My Favourite Blogs listing on the left had side of this page by removing some of the links where there have been no updates recently and by adding two of the blogs that I regularly visit, these are Man Of Mystery and Betting Blogs, they are both a great read.

 

Monday 12th November 2007

The Sports Trader was having a reasonable day until the football where I can only conclude that greed got the better of me. I traded on 11 UK horse races and 1 football match with just one losing trade.

My first 5 race trades all resulted in small profits. In the 15:00 at Carlisle I laid Black Smoke for £30 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £30. The remaining 5 race trades of my day all finished with small profits.

My race trading had produced profits of £65.

Now the football match between Coventry and West Bromwich Albion. I backed the under 2.5 goals for £106 @ 2.10 before kick off and then laid all off within 5 minutes @ 2.00 as I had to make a few phone calls. When I got back to the match, with the score still at 0-0, I backed the unders for £600 @ 1.50 and proceeded to lay off @ 1.41 for £110, 1.38 for £50, 1.33 for £50, 1.25 for £100 and £100 @ 1.22. With my normal style of trading I would have laid off my outstanding liability by this time, however I thought that as no goals had been scored in the first half and now into the second half I would wait a little longer before laying off and then greening up. I could have had an all green £90 but I wanted to get the full £100. Then the goals started and I just held on to my position which ended up costing me £157. Another lesson learnt and duly paid for.

My day ended with a loss of £92.

Sunday 11th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a great day to more than make up for yesterday's losses. I traded 15 UK horse races and 1 football match.

My day got underway with a small but profitable trade. Then in the 13:10 at Hereford I had one of my best results since I started trading. I was quite fortunate that ATR were showing live pictures, and commentary from the 13:05 at Limerick instead of the Hereford race. I decided to concentrate on the Hereford race, as I always prefer to trade races with fewer runners, and in particular, if there is a short priced favourite, as was the case here. The race started off normally with all 6 runners well bunched up and Sowdrey, the favourite, tracking the leader at a price of around 1.40, then someone put up a back on him @ 1.20. I continued to watch when the favourite appeared to be running very green and not jumping well. He made a real blunder at the next hurdle and it was here that I laid him for £3689 @ 1.20. He started to race a little better and I put up backs on him @ 1.30 for £800. Again he started to run around, quite novicey, but I backed him for a further £600 @ 2.00 to leave me with a certain profit. whatever the result. He was soon pulled up with a suspected burst blood vessel and you can only imagine my delight at being left with a profit of £2294.

In the 13:50 at Market Rasen I backed Mamlook for £106 @ 1.50 and laid this off at 1.42. Later I backed him again for £632 @ 1.33 and laid off @ 1.28 for £178, 1.15 for £462 and 1.06 for £25 to result in a profit of £100. My next race trade ended with a small profit.

In the 14:20 at Market Rasen I had my first loss of the day as I backed Nez Rouge for £55 @ 1.60 when taking the lead, only to see him headed by the eventual winner, Minaad to cost me £55. My next trade finished with a small profit.

Next was the 14:30 at Kempton where I laid Fernlawn Hope for £1 @ 28.00 to cost me £27. Again my next race resulted in a small profit.

In the 14:50 at Market Rasen I laid No Guarantees for £22 @ 2.00, before backing back £10 @ 2.30, I then backed again for £10 @ 2.60 to result in a profit of £27. I had another small winning trade next.

Next I had my final 2 losing trades of the day, the first when I backed Fox 'n' Goose for £50 @ 1.50 for a loss of £50 in the 15:10 at Hereford and then in the 15:20 at Market Rasen I backed The Dark Lord for £50 @ 1.30 to cost me another £50. My final 3 race trades all resulted in small profits.

My race trading had produced a profit of £2274.

In the evening I only traded in the final few minutes of the Real Madrid v Mallorca football match where I backed Real Madrid for £314 @ 1.03 to give me a profit of £10.

My day had finished with a profit of £2284.

This has been a very good week for the Sports Trader with a total profit of £2827.

Saturday 10th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a very bad start to the day but things did improve later on. I traded on 15 UK horse races, 1 Flat Jockey Championship and 3 football matches, with 3 losing trades.

My day started off in the 12:35 at Kelso where I laid The Shy Man for £5 @ 5.00 to give me a losing start, costing me £20.

My second trade of the day ended in a similar way. This was the 12:40 at Wincanton where I backed Procas de Thaix for £23 @ 2.00, when challenging for the lead in the final furlong, only to see him beaten on the line by a short head to cost me another £23. My next 4 races all resulted in small profits.

The worst result I have had for a while came next in the 13:25 at Naas. I backed Montana Bay for £845 @ 1.45 when in the lead and looking quite comfortable at about 3 fences out. I put up a lay for the whole amount at 1.30, which, had it all been matched would have left me a decent potential profit, however, I only got £83 matched and he finished a close second so I managed to lose £762. I know this was a hefty loss but it is the type of trade I would willingly take on again everyday of the week, sometimes they just go against you. My next 5 trades all finished with small profits.

In the 15:35 at Sandown I laid Fields of Clover for £79 @ 4.30 to give me a profit of £79. My final 2 race trades of the day both resulted in small profits.

That was the end of my race trades and I finished with a loss of £686. I did have a few trades on the Flat Season Jockey Championship which helped me to claw back some of my losses. Early in the day I had backed Seb Sanders for £91 @ 1.20 and laid this off @ 1.15 then after the 2:05 where Jamie Spencer came 5th I lumped on Seb again for £1247 @ 1.18. At this stage Jamie needed to win on 2 out of his last 3 rides to take the championship away from Seb. I took the view that he was unlikely to win 2 more. I did lay off my liability @ 1.08 and then backed Seb again after the next for £250 @ 1.04 which resulted in a profit of £148. I have been a supporter of Seb Sanders all through the season but was pleased to see the pair share the title.

After racing I watched the Liverpool v Fulham football match and backed the under 2.5 goals for £457 @ 2.25 just before kick off. I started to lay off @ 2.11 and all the way down to 1.82. I then had 3 more lays to green up my position and give me £70 whatever the result.

I managed to see the final few minutes of the Stoke v Sheffield United match and backed Sheffield to win for £21 @ 1.14, £350 @ 1.06 and £21 @ 1.01 to result in a profit of £24.

My final event of the day was the Getafe v Barcelona football match. I backed Getafe for £41 @ 8.00 before the first goal and laid off £113 @ 2.86 to give me a profit of £73 again whatever the result.

My day had finished with a loss of £369, which is the first losing day I have had for 14 days.