The Sports Trader

Monday 22nd January 2007

This has to go down as one of my quietest ever trading days. I only traded in two horse races . My result for the day has been helped by the fact that I traded, in a small way on the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Golf Tournament last night. I ended the tournament with an £11 profit but as it finished well after midnight the result comes into today's trading.

I did try to trade on all of today's races but could only manage to get matched in two of the Kempton races and both of these where just very small profits.

I had a look at the football match between Plymouth and Coventry and although the stats pointed to not too many goals I decided just to be a spectator for most of the match. I did trade in a very small way on the under 2.5 goals market after the first two goals had been scored and ended up with a loss of under £1. I then traded on the correct result with a very quick back of 3-2 for £21 @ 1.91 and a lay of £23 @ 1.66 to give me a profit what ever the result. I ended with a profit of £4 on this trade.

I therefore finished a very quiet day with a profit of £15.

Sunday 21st January 2007 Update

I traded in 13 races on Sunday with only one a losing trade. My first was in the 13:20 at Wolverhampton where I backed Picador for £20 @ 1.50 whilst in the lead and with about a furlong to go to give me a winning start to the day and a profit of £10.

I then had two small but profitable trades before the 14:10 at Towcester where I had 8 trades on Milton Des Bieffes to net me a profit of £12. I then had another small profitable trade. In the 14:30 at Fairyhouse I started with a back on Alexander Taipan for £60 @ 1.60 and laid off at 1.45. A little latter when it appeared he had the race in the bag I backed him again for £291 @ 1.45 and laid off £75 @ 1.30 and a further £10 @ 1.05 to leave me with a profit of £117. Next was another small but profitable trade.

My next race was the 14:50 at Wolverhampton, and here I backed Apache Fort for £69 @ 2.82 before laying it all off at 1.13. I also laid Pharaoh Prince for 32 @ 4.00 to give me a profit on the race of £118.

I then had a further small but profitable race. Next was my only losing trade in the 15:20 at Cork where I had backed Larkwing for £16 @ 2.88 when just taking the lead only to see him overtaken just before the line to cost me £16.

In the 15:30 at Fairyhouse I laid Walk Over for £32 @ 20.00 when looking well beaten I then went to back him for £10 @ 28.00 only to find that the odds had changed just before I hit the submit button and I had taken the 10's on offer. It didn't matter as the horse came in 9th and I had made a profit of £22. I had two more small but profitable trades to end my racing day with a profit of £273.

I watched a little Spanish football  and had a very small trade on the Barcelona v Gimnastic match in injury time where I backed the 3-0 correct score for £15 @ 1.10 just before the final whistle went to give me a very small profit. So I ended the day with a total profit of £275. and this finished off a week that had started pretty bad but ended well to give me a weeks profit of £1254.

Sunday 21st January 2007

I will update in the morning due to me watching the golf and falling asleep. Decent day was had to finish off the week.

Saturday 20th Janurary 2007

The Sports Trader is back in the groove. A much better day of racing and much better results to go with it. I also had my house to myself and switched the telephones off.

My first race was the 12:50 at Haydock where I laid Carthalawn for £5 @ 2.75 and backed back £4 @ 3.20. I then managed to back the eventual winner, Ichi Beau, for £250 @ 1.10 on the run in and when well in the lead to net myself a profit on the race of £27. I then had two small trades one profitable and won not.

Next was the 13:55 @ Haydock and here I backed the Outlier for £20 @ 1.70 and then a further  £32 @ 1.10 and on the run in £60 @ 1.01 to give me a profit of £18. My next race was the 14:05 at Lingfield where I laid Lorikeet for £351 @ 6.00 just after being headed with a furlong to go to give me  a very solid profit of £351 on the race.

The next race for me was the 14:15 at Wincanton where I backed Kaldouas for £50 @ 1.01 approaching the line. This race ended with a photo finish and I was lucky to get £1880 matched @ 1.01 during the photo betting to give me a further £19 profit.

My next race was the 14:50 at Wincanton. I started with a lay of Blackhills for £834 @ 4.10 and immediately put up a back of £800 @ 5.00, which was matched almost instantly. I made further lays for a total of £50 @ an average price of 5.00 to leave me all green with a profit of £90 if Blackhills lost but a profit of £391 if he won, which he did eventually do leaving me with my biggest profit on the day of £391. I then had another small but profitable race.

In the 15:15 at Naas I backed Benefit Night for £81 @ 1.20 for a profit of £16. My next was in the 15:30 at Haydock where I backed The sawyer for £350 @ 2.00 and quickly laid back @ 1.70 to give me another £105 profit.

Next for me was the 16:00 at Haydock where I backed Lease Lend for £129 @ 1.51 for another £66 profit. I then traded in the 16:25 at Wincanton and backed Amour Multiple for £123 @ 1.81 before laying back at 1.05 to net a profit of £93. My worst race of the day was in the 16:50 at Kempton where I had backed Double M for £41 @ 1.48 only to see him caught on the line when idling in front to lose me £41.

That was my last race as I had to go and pick up my children. It has been a very good day where I felt everything was set up for a good performance and so it proved. I have often said This is a mind game' on a day like today when I was totally on my own and, knew I would be, feeling fitter than any day for the past two weeks and decent racing, I just have so much more confidence in my ability to trade. I finished my day with a profit of £1043.

Friday 19th January 2007

Very little to report today with only two trades of note and one was a mistake. I started with the 13:10 at Musselburgh where I backed Pevensey for £30 @ 1.72 before laying off at 1.60 and then on the run in I backed Pevensey again for £2000 @ 1.20 to clear a profit of £404.

My other trade of note was in the 14:20 at Musselburgh I had been watching the race closely and had put up a lay of £50 @ 7.00 on Bright Sparky. Then my office door burst open with my Au pair and Amie crying as Amie had hurt her head whilst playing. I got up form my desk and cuddled her. By the time I had got her settled down and realised there was no damage my lay had been taken and I had just blown most of my earlier gain. That was not an easy one to take but my priority is always the kids and well, the money will be clawed back soon.

I had four more trades, all quite small, and my result for the day ended up at an £84 profit.

Thursday 18th January 2007

A total wipe out of the UK racing scene today due to high winds. Will they now have to call our All Weather tracks, Most Weather Tracks. There is no doubt that the Stewards took the right decision as racing would have been dangerous. Lets hope tomorrows two remaining meetings get the go ahead along with Saturday's card.

I did have a little bit of trading in two of the Nad Al Sheba races and made a small profit on each. I also had a little trade on Ronnie the Rocket v Ken Doherty again with a very small profit.

I had a look at the football tonight mainly due to the boredom of having little trading to do today. I backed the unders for £35 @ 1.91 in the Hibs V Aberdeen match. The gods are still shunning me as soon after a goal was scored. Then a second was scored and I then backed the unders just before half time for £50 @ 6.4 to lower my break-even exit point, and again a goal was scored so I decided to watch Judge John Deed.

My result for the day was therefore a loss of £76.

Wednesday 17th January 2007

I had a solid day trading horse races and managed to trade 8 races with no losses. I started with the 12:40 at Newcastle where I backed Dance The Mambo for £7 @ 1.86 and laid Political Pendant for £2 @ 5.6 to earn an £8 profit.

In the 12:50 at Lingfield I laid Moon Bird for £68 @ 10.50 at about two furlongs out when coming under pressure to catch the leaders to leave me a £68 profit. My next race was the 13:30 at Newbury and here I laid Stoway for £10 @ 6.30. I also backed Opera Mundi for £33 @ 1.80 before laying back @ 175 and then backing at 1.10 for £100 and again for £680 @ 1.01  when well in the lead and approaching the line. The net result was a profit of £30.

Next for me was the 13:45 at Newcastle where I laid Noir Et Vert for £31 @ 2.00 when outpaced to give me a further £31 profit. I had 4 more small, profitable trades to end my racing day with a profit of £145.

In the early evening I watched the final frame of the Stephen Hendry v Mathew Stevens snooker and had a little trade to make £2.

As you know I have decided to go easy on football for a while. I did still watch the  Newcastle v Birmingham match and had a few very small trades when the odds looked right and I ended up with a very small profit.  I also entered a very speculative back on over 2.5 goals on the the Spurs v Cardiff match which I didn't expect to see matched but it was and I ended up with a profit of £500 on the match.  So the result for today is a much better profit of £647.

Tuesday 16th January 2006

There seems to be a shortage of liquidity about at the moment on the in-running markets. I only managed to trade in 7 races today and all but one were profitable.

My only profitable one of any note was the 13:40 at Wolverhampton where I managed to back Topiary Ted for £152 @ 1.50 after trying to back for £1000. So I ended up with a profit of £76 on the race.

My last race was the 16:00 at Southwell and here I backed Rainbows Guest for £29 @ 1.81 when in the lead about two furlongs out. My horse was overtaken in the final furlong and I was unable to get matched in my attempts to lay off so I lost £29. My racing day finished with a profit of £64.

Then the football. Again I decided not to trade pre kick off and that I would watch and see how the game progressed. In fact I got involved just after the first goal and just before half time. I backed the unders for £370 @ 1.75. Soon after the half time interval a second goal was scored and I backed the unders for a further £192 @ 3.62. Then as normally happens for me at present the third goal was scored. I did not have the stomach to back the under 3.5 goals and therefore accepted my loss of £561. My daily total is therefore a loss of £497.

I have therefore decided to stop trading football for a while as the football gambling gods are just not with me at the moment. Although my horse racing results are not what they should be either, I am relatively happy with the racing as it is mainly lack of good quality races and therefore liquidity that is having the effect on my profits. I have also been very close to some big wins with the horses. So I will be taking things a bit easier in the evenings for the next few weeks while I recharge my batteries and concentrate on racing.

Monday 15th January 2007

A poor start to the week here,. I only traded in 9 races and managed to lose money on 5 of them. It was just one of those days where things go against me, thankfully it doesn't happen too often.

My first two trades where very small with one losing a few pence. So my first significant trade was in the 14:30 at Plumpton.  I backed High Life for £139 @ 1.17 just before she took the lead about 3 fences out and fully expected to be able to lay off a few seconds later. She was headed at the next fence and I had done my dough for a loss of £139. In the 14:40 at Wolverhampton I laid Lady Hopeful for £11 @ 7.40 for a profit of £11.

The next race for me was the 15:20 at Fakenham. Here I backed Beau Torero for £200 @ 1.30 and again for £57 @ 1.10 before laying off £%8 @ 1.06 to leave me with a profit of £62. Next was the 15:30 at Plumpton where I laid Levallois for £28 @ 8.00 and also backed the winner, Strolling Vagabond, on the run in for £200 @ 1.05, to give me a profit of £38.

The day only gets worse from here on in. My next race was the 15:50 at Fakenham where at about half distance I started laying Thenford Star for £5 @ 12.00 and then again for £7 @ 2.00 only to see her pull to the front and win by a head to cost me £62. My next trade was in the 16:00 at Plumpton where I had backed Haggle Twins for £138 @ 1.42 whilst in the lead and looking good, only to see him overhauled by the eventual winner Brendar. I did manage to limit my loss by backing the winner for £82 @ 1.30 on the run in. The net result was a loss of £114.

My final race of the day was the 16:40 at Wolverhampton where I laid Players Please for £6 @ 6.00 and backed Six Day War for £6 @ 12.50 to give me another loss of £36. So I ended the day with a loss of £240 but I am determined to have a good week this week.

I decided to leave the football alone tonight, mainly due to family commitments. However I did just catch the last few minutes of the Kilmarnock v Hibs game and had a small trade on the unders for £100 @ 1.15 and for £70 @ 1.04. Then I backed Hibs to win for £14 @ 1.10. This resulted in a profit of £19 to leave todays loss at £221.

Sunday 14th January 2007

A very quite day for me today. I only traded in 9 horse races and 1 football match. I started with my only losing trade of the day in the 12:20 at Leopardstown where I backed Savitha for £13 @ 2.00 whilst getting to the lead entering the final straight only to see her headed close to the finish to result in a £13 loss. I then had a small, profitable trade in the 12:50 again at  Leopardstown.

My best result of the day was in the 13:20 at Leopardstown where I started with a lay of One Cool Cookie for £52 @ 10.00 and backed back for £15 @ 22.00. I also laid Mister Top Notch for £50 @ 8.00 when making a mistake at the last fence and I backed the eventual winner close to the line for £50 @ 1.02 to leave me with a profit of £87 in the race. I then had a further two small, profitable trades.

Next for me was the 14:55 at Leopardstown where I laid Stage Manager for £50 @ 12.00 when well beaten on the run in for another £50 profit. I then laid Ever Cheerful for £26 @ 7.00 at the 15:45 at Kempton when being driven about two furlongs from the finish for a £26 profit. I had two more small, profitable trades to finish off my trading day with a total profit of £165.

The only match I could watch tonight was the Real Madrid v Real Zaragoza game. This was expected to have over 2.5 goals scored by ScoccerSTATS.com so I took a cautious approach and started with a back of the unders for £174 @ 2.15. I started to lay off when the price got down to 2.02 for £24. I laid another £25 @ 2.00. I then backed for £85 @ 1.96 and laid off £100 @ 1.83 almost at the same time. I then gradually laid off the rest of my liability in £25 tranches down to 1.54. After the mistakes I have been making recently by holding out too long to green up I decided to start greening up at 1.38 for £25 and also @ 1.32 for £25. The goal came very shortly after I had an all green £50+ on both sides. I decided to sit back and watch the rest of the match rather get involved again, happy with £52 for my 40 minutes work. So I had finished my trading day with a profit of £216.

This has not been one of my finest weeks but the one consolation I can take from the week is that the whole family has been ill throughout and I still turned a profit of £172 and that was after getting the next Rangers manager market wrong to the tune of £352. I will endeavour to have a much better week next week.