Saturday 23rd December 2006

I have had a very slow an interrupted day today. It's holiday season and family matters had to take priority over my trading. My first trade of note was in the 12:50 at Bangor where I backed Secret Ploy for £133 @ 1.83 on the run in only to be touched off by the eventual winner Shrewd Investor, so I had a bad start to the day with a £133 loss. In the 13:00 at Fontwell it was a similar story of woe. Here I backed Alcatras for £16 @ 1.82 only to see him beaten to lose me a further £16. I think a lot of traders, and straight backers were Christmas shopping, as liquidity on all exchanges appeared very low for a Saturday which makes it very difficult to get out of a trade that looks like going against you.

In the 13:20 at Bangor I backed L'Antartique for £100 @ 1.30 on the run in to make my first profit of £30 for the day. Next for me was the 14:10 at Hereford and again I made a loss as I backed Hoo La Baloo for £15 @ 2.50 around the 2nd last fence where he was challenging for the lead only to see him lacking in the final furlong to cost me £15.

The next race for me was the 14:55 at Bangor. Here I laid After Eight for £40 @ 2.20 when weakening with two hurdles to go, to leave me with a profit of £40. In the 15:15 at Hereford I laid Captain Windsor for £42 @ 7.00 just as he blundered at the 12th fence, and later I backed the winner, Howrwenow, for £35 @ 1.20 to net be a total profit of £49 in the race.  In the 15:25 at Bangor I had several trades to net me a loss of £45.

My best result of the day was when I put up a large lay on Nation State for £500 @ 15.00 just as he blundered at the 7th hurdle and got matched for £100, which saved my day. This left me a profit of £100 in the race and left me with a total profit from my racing day of £12.

So I pretty  much waisted my day but I did end up on the right side. I couldn't concentrate today as we had many people, mainly my children, coming and going all day long. It looks like tomorrow will be a day off for me as there is no UK racing. So I would just like to wish all fellow traders and other readers a Very Merry Christmas.

Comments

[humble]

we got a baby girl today called grace so my day was fantastic.just to say a merry xmas to everyone on here and i look forward to your next post ray.

[Ray]

Hi Humble,
Congratulations on your baby girl being born. It's the most wonderfull feeling in the world and, with 6 of them, I should know. I hope everyone is well, my best wishes to you and your family.
Ray

[hanuman]

Merry xmas and a very prosperous new year to you and your family ray,and also to all other readers of your blog.Congratulations to Humble on the new arrival Grace. Peace and love to all.

[David Allen]

Like that you have made the paragraphs shorter than they were. Much easier to read on screen now.

I couldn't do much with anything on Betfair today as the xmas shopping had to be done.

Plan to look through your blog during the holiday and read more on your tactics with the over under markets. I have done a few under over 2.5 goals and so far has worked a dream. I was using the STW software to setup a simple scalp trade where it puts in an order for the second bet to go in as soon as the odds are reached.
I actually forgot all about it as I was distracted and the bet went in and I was greened up without thinking about it.
I am interested in seeing what you do when you have a lay bet for example on the over 2.5 and a goal is scored earlyy on in the game.
Do you trade out completely or do you leave it to see how it fares.

Happy christmas to you and to your readers also

David
Wizardgold

[Adam]

How do you manage to refresh the odds so quickly? It must be difficulty betting in running, as you have to refresh the odds manually and be quick to type in the bet you want to place.

[Ray]

Thanks Hanuman

[Ray]

Hi David,
I am pleased my blog is easier to read. I do listen to the advice of others.
I always start with a back of the under 2.5 goals. If a goal comes early I will normally back the unders again, as soon as the market is reformed for atleast as much as my liability was when the goal was scored. This does depend on the odds available. For instance if the odds are what I would consider generous I would back a lot more and lay off quicker. When you read through the blog you will see many examples of this happening. I have general rules that I tend to stick too but I do take into account things like, how the game is panning out and how confident I am feeling. Good Luck
Ray

[Ray]

Hi Adam,
The refresh is the one area that third party software is the most usefull in my opinion. My mouse takes a battering whilst I am refreshing. But like anything that we do on a regular basis, it gets easier with practise. I do now tend to anticipate a situation happening and get set up for that so all I have to do is hit the submit button. Good Luck
Ray

[shawn]

hi ray first of all Merry X'mas to you. i need a favor from you, i like to know the average time of each race like 7F how long it will take, 2M race how long it will take to finish... is there anyway i can find out or can u help me?

[Ray]

Hi Shawn,
Merry Christmas. I don't know if average times would be any good to you. The problem is that times are effected by so many criteria and what you really need to know is the average time for:
a certain distance at the same track with the same class of race and with the same going. But even then some races will be tactical affairs and others truely run races. My best advice to you would be to go to the Racing Post results page and here you will get the times run in every individual race. Good Luck
Ray

[Nathan]

Hi Ray
Liquidity was low saturday, poor day for me after a good week which is very irritating. Thanks for the ecard. Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year for you and your family.
Nathan.

[mick]

Hi Ray
Thanks for the e card. Have a merry Christmas - hope you get to see all your kids and stuff yourself full of Turkey!
Mick

[Phil]

Happy Xmas
To One and all
and a Prosperous New Yr

Smiling Assassin,Mrs Assassin & The Crying Assassin