The Sports Trader

Saturday 13th January 2007

The twins are now both 100% fit and Zoe is 80% but recovering well. I am still suffering and on top of that my Au pair could not help to day as she is now ill. So Leo went with his Gran and Auntie for the afternoon and I had to juggle looking after the two remaining children and my Sports Trading. I couldn't have got off to a worse start.

My first race was the 12:20 @ Lingfield where I backed Fares for £100 @ 1.05 when well in front on the final furlong to see him weaken in the last 100yds and cost me £100. In the next race, the 12:30 at Kempton I laid Mr Excel for £100 @ 5.20 when making a mistake at 3 hurdles out and I backed him back for £50 @ 8.00, to give me a £50 profit. I then had a small, profitable trade in the 12:50 at Warwick.

My next race was the 12:55 at Lingfield and here I laid Blue Monkey for £77 @ 3.80 in the final furlong whilst third and backed him for ££13 @ 8.20 moments later to give me another £64 profit. I switched back over to ATR to see the final stages of the 12:55 @ Punchestown and managed to back Forget The Past for £88 @ 1.40 again on the run in to give me a £35 profit. I then had a small, profitable trade in the 13:15 at Wetherby.

Next for me was the 13:25 at Warwick where I backed Roley Hill for £412 @ 1.05 just as he cleared the final hurdle and well in the lead to leave me with a profit of £21. I then had two small trades, one gave me a £2 profit and the other, my only other loss today of 10pence.

My next race was the 14:20 at Wetherby and here I laid Matmata de Tendron for £32 @ 2.95 when challenged for the lead and overtaken on the run in, to give me a profit of £32. In the 14:30 at Warwick I had 6 trades on Labelthou. I started with a back for £100 @ 1.62 and laid back @ 1.45, I then backed £185 @ 1.40 and laid back @ 1.30. I had a further two small trades in this race and ended with a profit of £33. I then had a smallish, profitable trade in the 14:45 at Kempton.

The next race I traded was the 15:00 at Warwick where I had a straight lay on Offermont for £20 @ 2.85 whilst under pressure about 3 fences out to net me a profit of £20. I then had another two small , profitable trades. Next was the 15:50 at Kempton and here I laid Cousin Nicky for £50 @ 5.70 before backing him for £40 @ 7.00 to give me a profit of £10. I finished the day with a further two small profitable trades. So I had traded in 18 races and lost in 2, with a final total profit of £185.

I started my football today with the Blackburn v Arsenal game. I had missed all the first half and started watching well into the second half. After the Second goal had been scored I continued to watch as the odds moved about. Eventually I struck with a back of the under 2.5 goals for £315 @ 1.92 with just 16 minutes of the game to go. The odds fell away very quickly and I was able to lay £130 @ 1.75 within about a minute. I then laid £110 @ 1.70 and £75 @ 1.66. I then waited a few more minutes before greening up with lays of £ £25 @ 1.36 and £25 @ 1.13. In the final minute I backed £23 @ 1.14 just because the price was too good to leave. So I finished the match with a profit of £55.

I had intended to trade on the Espanyol V Barcelona Match. Back in a past life of mine I was quite successfull at exporting lamb carcases to Spain and watched the rebuilding of the Espanyol de Barcelona whist attending the Bi-annual Meat Exhibition, Alemantaria,  just down the road. The Stadium was rebuilt to accommodate the 1992 Olympic Games. Any way back to the match. As my football trading has not been great of late and with this one expected to have plenty of goals I decided to wait before getting involved. I also had a quick flick through some other channels on the TV to see what was on and I stumbled across an old episode of Bergerac. It was the Christmas special from 1981 where a renowned jewel thief, Philipa Vale, was on the Island. Now Philipa Vale was played by Liza Goddard and I have always had more than a soft spot for her, so I decided to continue watching the episode for probably my 10th time. That resulted in me missing most of the match, although I did catch the final few minutes and, boy, was I glad that Liza had come to my rescue. So I had finished my trading day with a total profit of £240.

Friday 12th January 2007

Well it has been an up and down day today. I am still not feeling 100% and my trading shows that. My first race of the day was the 13:10 at Kelso, where I backed Pay Attention for £266 @ 1.50 just as she was contending the lead about two furlongs out. She did only contend and that was for a very short while as soon she weakened. I did manage to back More Likely for £5 @ 1.84 and £45 @ 1.40 to lessen my loss to £245, but it was a bad start to the day.

In the 13:20 at Huntingdon I backed Sitting Duck for £200 @ 1.25 on the run in for a much needed profit of £50. I then had a couple of small but profitable trades before the 13:50 at Huntingdon and here I backed French Saulaie for £10 @ 2.00 before laying off @ 1.80 and then, when well in the lead backed him again for £400 @ 1.05 for a profit of £22.

My next was the 14:10 at Kelso where I backed Role On for £173 @ 1.55 before laying off for £63 @ 1.38 and  £66 @ 1.40 to leave me with a profit of £44. I had two more small profitable trades before my next mistake. This was in the 15:10 at Kelso where I backed Endless Power for £158 @ 1.55 whilst in the lead with one hurdle to go only to see this one weaken near the line and get beaten by a half length. I did manage to back the winner for £21@ 1.50 to lessen the loss to £147.

Next up was the 15:20 at Huntingdon and here I backed Chopneyev for £84 @ 2.70 before laying off @ 2.29 top give me a profit of £34. My next race was my last, and my best result of the day as I laid Insurgent for £200 @ 6.17 and never saw the need to cover my bet, to leave me with £200 profit. I therefore finished my racing day with a loss of £23.

I decided to trade the West Brom v Luton match. I started with a back of the under 2.5 goals for £100 @ 2.17. When the price eventually dropped I laid £67 @ 2.05 and then £33 @ 1.72. I also bought and sold very quickly a few more times. When the first goal came I had no liability. I traded in and out during half time also. Then in the second half I watched and did not trade until after the second goal. I backed the unders for £80 @ 3.06, £92 @ 2.87 and then a further £224 @ 2.75 and had just set up my lays and been matched for £76 @ 2.59 when I got caught out with a lot bigger liability then I should have. I think my reasoning was that the odds just seemed too high and when that happens there is normally a quick drop in the prices which would have let me lay off my liability and green up with a decent profit on both sides. I was still pretty mad with myself as up until then I had traded the match well. But these things happen and it meant I had a loss on football of £309. This combined with my racing result left me with a loss on the day of £332.

Thursday 11th January 2007

Dr. Sports Trader had other priorities again today but the end of the pox is in sight. Thanks again for all the well wishes that we have received. I did  manage to snatch a few minutes away from my patients to trade in just seven races.

All trades today turned a profit. My first five trades were all small and resulted in a total profit of £15. My best trade was in the 14:10 at Southwell. There had been either a new player or a player with a new strategy on Betdaq today. This player was putting up catch bets at odds of ten times the going rate. I have been caught by them before, but it is a part of trading and we are all looking for ways to make money. He/she had been very successful earlier when odds of 36 were laid about a 3.5 chance for £100.

In this 14:10 race there was a bet put up for £400 at 38.0 on the favourite Bienheureux. I kept an eye on the bet and on the race. With the pack coming into the Southwell straight, Bienheureux was starting to make ground on the leaders. At around one and a half furlongs out Bienheureux looked to be only just holding his own and I decided to strike and hit the submit button. I got matched for £389 and had a few seconds of worry before, what I thought I had seen happening to the horse, was actually happening. He never did gain on the leaders and eventually came in 3rd at a distance of 3 lengths. I had just won £388. To be honest the bet was never in any serious doubt but this was a huge liability to me and for that reason all sorts of things start going through my mind.

I only traded in one more race which left a further small profit. So I had finished my race day with a total profit of £407.

I had intended to trade on the Copa del Rey match in Spain between Real Betis and Real Madrid but for several reasons missed the start and decided I would wait for a goal to be scored before I got involved. A goal never came and I wasn't even tempted into the correct score market. So my day was over. I hope you all made loads on the unders market tonight.

As mentioned in a comment on yesterday's post I have now forgiven Walter Smith for taking the Rangers Manager position. It appears that if the SFA had offered to extend his contract to the same 3 years that Rangers had offered he would have stayed with the Scotland team. I think the SFA have made a huge blunder here. There is no better man in Football to motivate a Scottish team.

Wednesday 10th January 2007

Not much success on the trading front today. It was one of those nearly days where I just missed out on some decent sized wins. My first three races were small in trading terms and ended with a very small loss. In the 14:00 at Lingfield I laid Zam Zammah for £98 @ 1.45 at about half distance when still held up near the rear of the field. By the time he started to get involved in the race it was too late for me to back him, I therefore lost £44.

I then had another three small but all profitable trades. The next race for me was the 15:40 at Wincanton and here I laid Copper Bay for £41 @ 2.05 just as he blundered at the third last fence to secure a profit of £41. In the 16:00 at Lingfield I laid Rapid City for £9 @ 4.00 to win a further £9.

My last race of the day was the 16:20 at Kempton where I backed Amwell Brave for £50 @ 1.33 in the final furlong and in the lead to net me a £16 profit. I ended my racing day with a profit of £31.

Mid way through the afternoon Rangers announced the appointment of Walter Smith as their new manager. I got that totally wrong. I really thought that Walter would try and honour his contract at the SFA. I will have to stop using my gut instinct on these New Manager markets. The last time I did it I lost money on the Portsmouth manager market, I still can not believe that Harry Redknap went back. Anyway this time it cost me £350.

In tonights football I had a choice of game and decided to trade the Aberdeen v Hibs match. I choose this match mainly because it is very windy in Scotland again tonight and as the Aberdeen match was on BBC1 in Scotland I knew I would be able to see all the match. I laid the under 2.5 goals market for £100 @ 1.99 before kick off. I started to lay back at 1.66 for £25 then 1.56 for £25 and a further £10 @ 1.46. Then the first goal came and I backed the unders for another £54 @ 1.87. The price was falling nicely and with the half time interval only a couple of minutes away I decided to wait for the break before I laid off. Then the second goal was scored. I didn't back the unders again as the price seemed too low for me. Well through the second half I put up a lay of all my liability plus £50 which would have left me with a  £50 profit whatever the result. Moments later the third goal was scored which left me with a loss of £93.

I then had a look at the under 3.5 goal market and backed the unders for £500 @ 1.80 in the 76th minute. I started laying off at 1.66 and then all the way down to 1.33. Now I had a £100 liability with a potential profit of £180. In the final minute of the game I just entered a lay of £180 @ 1.32 which would have given me a profit of £100 whatever the result and again a goal is scored. This therefore cost me another £100. I continued watching the match but saw no decent opportunity to recoup any of my loses so I switched on the Chelsea match. I just saw the equalising goal and then in the 80th minute I backed the under 2.5 goals market for £375 @ 1.55. I probably laid off a bit hastily as I didn't want to make the day any worse so it was in the 86th minute that I laid the unders for £375 @ 1.34 to give me a profit of £78. In total my trading today has cost me £85 plus the Walter Smith loss of £352. I will endeavour to get it back tomorrow. 

Tuesday 9th January 2007 Update

Thanks for all the messages I have received over the last few days. It's very good to know that people care. On that subject Brian the author of Life of Brian could do with some support just now.

Yesterday's trading was very light for me. I traded on 8 races and did not have a losing trade. My first 5 trades were all very small profitable ones and my first significant trade was in the 13:35 at Sedgefield. I backed Terlan for £101 @ 2.90 and laid off £100 @ 2.70 to leave me with a profit of £22.

In the 14:20 at Southwell I backed Tiegs for £1000 @ 1.10 just as she regained the lead about 5 yards form the finishing line to give me a £100 profit.

My final final trade on the day was in the 15:35 at Sedgefield and here I backed Cloudmor for £200 @ 1.05, whilst well in the lead and on the run in to result in a profit of £10. So my day was over with a final result of a £137 profit.

If you have ever thought about looking into Sports Arbitrage there is a very good offer on at the moment from BetRiskFree where, for £1, you can have a month's trial of there service which also includes free SMS alerts. On average they advise 20 arbs a month and the service comes with the guarantee that if you do not receive arb info to earn you 10 times your monthly fees you can claim a full refund. You also have free access to an arbitrage calculator even if you don't take their service.

Tuesday 9th January 2007

Hi guys, I am sorry but I will have to update this blog in the morning. Amie has now got her spots but feels better. Now Zoe my 6 year old is feeling rough and I can't find the words to say how I am feeling. It looks like I have had a lucky escape as I was intending to trade on the Liverpool v Arsenal match tonight, but as soon as I put the twins to bed at 7, Zoe asked me if I would lay on the sofa and watch Emmerdale with her. I fell asleep within seconds and woke to Andy Gray shouting about Dudek's goal keeping and, when my eyes got into focus, saw the score was 4 -1. I hope not too many of you were caught out as I surely would have been. I am up on the day but traded very few races.

Monday 8th January 2007

I’m not well, I’m tired, I‘ve got an ill daughter, my blog host is offline at the moment and I have lost money after being up on the day until the last few minutes of tonight’s football match.

My youngest daughter fell ill on Sunday afternoon. Nothing too serious but she was running a high temperature and was losing her balance. So I picked her up, along with my other two youngest kids from their mother’s and gave her Calpol and Nurofen and put her to bed. She woke at 11.00pm screaming and delirious and very hot again. She sat cuddled up on my lap as I wrote last night’s blog, then we went to bed. All was fine until 2.00am this morning and she woke up again and needed more cuddles. She fell asleep in my arms and in my bed. At 5.00 am she woke again and that was that, no more sleep, hence the reason I am knackered. She is a little better tonight and I will take her to the doctors in the morning if she hasn’t improved. I think it is a viral infection and could be the start of chicken pox like her twin had last week. Now I can’t stop shivering and just feel terrible.

My trading has been much interrupted today and in hindsight I should have taken the day off, but I hate days off. My first trade was in the 13:00 at Ludlow where I baked Remember Ramon for £104 @ 2.60 whilst he was vying for the lead at about two thirds distance and I might add whilst I was on the telephone –this should not be done. Soon after I had placed the back I knew I had blown my stake and because I was still on the phone didn’t even attempt to trade out in case I made the situation worse. I then had two small, but profitable trades, before the 13:50 at Taunton and here I backed Marcel for £1067 @ 1.02 whilst about a yard from the line and a good neck in front to salvage £21.

My next race was the 14:30 at Ludlow where I backed Wiscalitus for £20 @ 1.98 and laid back @ 1.50 all within a few yards at the 3 from home. This resulted in a profit of £10. Again at Ludlow and in the 15:30 I backed Gunship for £11 @ 2.4 and laid back @ 1.60. Then I laid Peveril Pride for £20 @ 8.20 to net me a further £18 profit. My last race of the day was the 16:40 at Wolverhampton where I backed the brilliant Kilimandcharo for £134 @ 1.15 and again for £17 @ 1.02 to give me a £20 profit. So my total result for the UK horse race trading today was a loss of £32.

Tonight’s football match had all the hallmarks of a high scoring match according to SoccerSTATS.com. Milton Keynes are the top scoring club in the English second division and Lincoln City are the second top goal scorers in the league. I looked at the state of the pitch and thought to myself that it would be a scrappy game which often results in not too many goals so I ploughed into the under 2.5 goals with £200 @ 1.97 and before I had even thought about laying off MK Dons scored.

I was a little hesitant to get too heavily involved so I didn’t go in with another £200 instead I backed the unders for £18 @ 3.27. As the game progressed I saw an opportunity to back again for £370 @ 2.61 and immediately put up lays from 2.51 down to 2.22. By the 42 minute I had got rid of my liability and was holding a potential profit on the unders of £116. Then I started baking the unders and laying off in quick succession to try and build my profit. By now I had £50 on both sides and again in hindsight I should have called it a night but I didn’t. I had one more back on the unders and within 20 seconds the third goal went in and left me with a loss of £26. I did look at backing the correct score and under 3.5 goals but just did not see tempting enough prices an d bearing in mind the day I was having called it quits. So I ended a miserable day all round with a total loss of £58. Who would care to join in a hot toddy? I think that will cure everything for me tonight.

Sunday 7th January 2007

The Sports Trader had a slow start again, but as yesterday, things got better as the day went on.

My first two races where both profitable but very small. So my first significant race was the 13:10 at Plumpton. I backed Phar Bleu for £64 @ 1.30 just as Alph blundered, whilst duelling for the lead at the last fence, to leave Phar Bleu well in the lead and net me a £19 profit.

In the 13:40 at Plumpton I had backed Thirty Five Black for £50 @ 2.40 and put up a lay @ 2.20. but only got matched for £4 as he soon began to weaken and I was left with a loss of £45. My next three races netted me a £3 profit.

Next was the 14:10 at Plumpton and here I backed Pass Me By for £73 @ 1.40 and a further £116 @ 1.02 whilst on the run in and fending off the ungainly Zimbabwe to give me a profit of £32. Now to the 14:40 also at Plumpton where I had backed Dance With Wolves, when in the lead and with three hurdles to jump, for £202 @ 2.20. I later started laying off, as he was headed and came under pressure with two hurdles to go, for £189 @ 2.01, and £10 @ 2.10 to leave me with a profit of £37 when he eventually rallied on the run in.

My next race was at Naas where I backed Pennyforurthoughts for £50 @ 2.50 when in the lead and in the final two furlongs to give me a profit of £75. In the 15:10 at Plumpton I backed The Hardy Boy on the run in three times for £400 @ 1.25, £90 @ 1.05 and £73 @ 1.03 to give me another profit of £105.

I had two more small profitable trades before the end of the racing day and finished my racing with a profit of £236.

After the racing I tuned in to see the Cardiff v Spurs  FA Cup match. It was approaching half time, with in fact just 20 seconds of the injury time to be played, and the score was still at 0 - 0 when I noticed £332 @ 1.01 just begging to be matched on the Half-Time 0-0 correct score market, so I took it to make £3 profit.

I missed the second half of the Cardiff v Spurs match as I had to go and pick my children up from their mothers house. When I got back and had the children safely tucked up in bed I started to study the Spanish football matches.  I had missed all the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half of the Deportivo La Coruna v Real Madrid match. I just watched the game for a while before deciding to back the under 2.5 goals market for £14 @ 3.50. I laid this back @ 2.94. With 23 minutes left in the match I thought the unders price was too high @ 2.29 so I backed them for £221. I laid this all off at prices form 2.15 down to 2.04. Then later with only 10 minutes left the price was @ 1.50 so I backed this for £43 and then a further back for £157 @ 1.43. The price started to drop very quickly and I laid off £168 @ 1.21 and then greened up for £84 @ 1.15 to leave me with a profit of £73 what ever the result.

My final trade for the day was in the Villarreal v Valencia match where I was expecting a few goals. I thought the odds on offer for under 2.5 goals at the start of the game where too low and decided just to watch for a while. I ended up watching nearly all the game before I saw an opportunity to make some profit. With only 6 minutes to go and the score at 0 -1, I backed the under 2.5 goals for £680 @ 1.03. I did put up a lay @ 1.01 but cancelled soon after as the game drew to a close and I ended up with a £21 profit. So I finished my football trading tonight with a profit of £98 and a total profit for the day of £333. This weekend has been better than my last few weekends and has resulted in a profit for the week of £2261 and all this with a commission charge of just £19.42 for the week, thank you Betdaq.

Saturday 6th January 2007

I had a solid day of Sports Trading after a very slow start. It looked like being a similar day to yesterday where I found trading difficult. However things turned around towards the end of the horse racing and I have managed to produce some good figures.

My first race of the day was the 12:40 at Haydock. I started with a back on Corlande for £55 @ 3.80 with about a third of the race to go. I laid back £55 @ 3.00 a furlong or so later. Towards the end of the race I laid Notanotherdonkey for £17 @ 4.00 and this resulted in a profit of £17 on the race. I then had two, small but profitable trades.

Next for me was the 13:10 at Haydock, and here I had started with a lay on the odds on favourite and eventual winner, Scarvagh Diamond of £10 @ 1.68. With two fences to go it was apparent that she would win so I then backed her for £200 @ 1.10 to result in a profit on the race of £13. I made a real mess of the next, the 13:45 at Haydock, where I started with a back of £30 @ 3.00 on Harmony Brig and then quickly laid off at 2.78. Then I laid Dictum for £50 @ 3.00 just before he started to improve through the field and backed him for £50 @ 1.01 just before the line to leave me with a loss of £99.

My next race was the 14:05 at Sandown and here I backed Bohemian Spirit for £16 @ 2.51 and laid back @ 1.40, to leave me with a profit of £18. In the next three races I had a mixture of small profits and losses totalling a loss of £13. The next race for me was the 14:50 at Haydock where I had a total of 9 trades and ended up with a profit of £28.

The 15:05 at Lingfield was to be the highlight of my day. Sri Diamond had been held up last by Jamie Spencer in this 12 furlong race. At about two furlongs out Jamie said go and  Sri quickly got in to second position with a furlong to go. Just as he challenged for the lead I backed him for £1422 @ 1.50 and he went on to score by a half length to net me an impressive £711 on the race.

In the next at Sandown, the 15:10, I backed Papini for £71 @ 1.80 whilst challenging for the lead. He went on to win and give me a further £57 profit. I had another five small but profitable trades in the remaining races to give me £20 more profit. So I had finished my racing day with a profit of £759 and not a penny paid in commission to Betdaq as all my trading had been in-running.

Now to the football where I had really wanted to watch the Liverpool v Arsenal cup game but due to having to make the evening meal had to miss a lot of it. I kept nipping through from the kitchen into my office to catch the odd few minutes. On one such occasion with 58 minutes on the clock and the score at 1 - 1, I saw a chunky £377 @ 3.33 offered on the under 2.5 goals market. I  took the lot and then immediately put up a lay for 177 @ 3.05 and then further lays @ 2.79, 2.76, 2.72 and 2.55. These had all been taken with 66 minutes on the clock and had left me with no liability and a profit on the unders of £140. I then decided to gradually green up and laid a further £25 @ 2.30 and £25 @ 2.28 when the third goal was scored. OK I should have greened up a bit quicker but was happy with my £50 for less than 10 minutes work.  In injury time I also backed the 3 - 1 score line for £24 @ 1.10 to give me an extra £2 and leave me with a £52 profit on the match.

It was also the start of Spanish Football after a near three week break. Tonights live match was the Real Zaragoza v Sevilla game which looked like being a high scoring game. After having a good day to date the last thing I wanted to do was spoil it so I initially decided not to trade the match. However with 10 minutes on the clock and the under 2.5 goal price virtually unmoved since pre kick off I decided to back the unders for £100 @ 1.93. I laid back £50 @ 1.80 and a further £25 @ 2.61. Then the first goal was scored and I backed the unders for £25 @ 2.61. The game was settling down a little now from the early frantic pace and I backed the unders for a further £182 @ 2.31. I began laying off @ 2.16 all the way down to 1.77, when the second goal came whist I still had a liability of £50. Again I backed the under 2.5 goals for £113 @ 3.53. I proceeded to lay at 3.10 and again at 3.00 for my full liability. I then greened-up for £25 @ 2.70 just before the third goal was scored. So here is an example of winning money on the under 2.5 goal market even if 3 goals or more are scored.

I then looked at the under 3.5 goal market and with 12 minutes left on the clock I backed the unders for £5 @ 2.20 before laying off @ 1.29, to leave a profit of £4. I also backed the 2 - 1 score line for £164 @ 1.18 just before injury time started and laid off @ 1.07 two minutes later to give me another £18 profit. In total I made £48 profit on the match. This gave me a profit for the day of £859.

Friday 5th January 2007

After such a good day yesterday I was due a poor day and that is what I got. It's been a day of very little horse race trading,  I only traded in 8 races. I have no excuses, I just could not get things right although I only had one losing race and in that I only lost 19p.

My day started with the 12:40 at Musselburgh and this race along with my next two races where all profitable but  I only made a total £1. My next race was the 14:00 at Newcastle. I started with a back on Regal Heights of £25 @ 1.80, which I laid back @ 1.60. Then a further back of £13 @ 1.65 and a lay of 14 @ 1.25 to net me a total profit on the race of £10.

I had three more trades which where all very small and resulted in a combined profit of £1. And that was that, a very quite day of UK horse racing which resulted in a profit of £22.

Tonight's live football match was the game between Yeovil and Huddersfield. I did my usual analysis of this match with the aid of SoccerStats.com. My conclusion was that this would be a low scoring game. I tried to get on pre kick off at 1.78 and luckily did not get matched. I therefore watched the game for a few minutes, still wanting to get involved. I put a back up just before the first goal was scored and had not been matched. Once the market was reformed I backed the unders for £159 @ 2.56. I had just got matched for £10 @ 2.30 when the second goal was scored. At this stage it was looking like a goal feast could be on the cards so I was more than a little worried about getting too involved. I ended up backing the unders for a further £10 at 5.25. So when the third goal went in I was standing with a liability of £160. I watched the game for a while before getting involved in the under 3.5 goal market for £42 @ 4.30 and had put up a lay at 3.20, which did not get matched before the fourth goal was scored. So I now had a liability of £202.

I watched the game for a while before deciding to trade the correct score market to recover some of my losses. I ended up backing the 3 - 1 score for £256 @ 1.69 with 14 minutes left on the clock. I started to lay off @ 1.41 for £56, then 1.31 for £50, 1.21 for £50 and 1.13 for £100. In the 89th minute I backed the 3 - 1 score for a further £259 @ 1.12 and put a lay up for £259 @ 1.02, which I cancelled just before the final whistle which resulted in a profit of £146 on the correct score market. I therefore made a loss of £56 on the game tonight and this resulted in a loss on the days trading of £34.

If you believe this mornings newspapers and the state of the markets, I have blown my money on the next Rangers manager market. I have now laid Walter Smith for £400 and am still not convinced that he will take the manager's position but would not rule him out of the position of Director of football. I will watch with interest over the next couple of days.

When I started writing this blog about 8 weeks ago there were only a handful of blogs on the go, some of which I would read everyday to get an insight of the way other people traded the markets. Now there are in excess of 40 blogs related to Sports Trading. The latest one that I found is Punt.com -  a Blog about Gambling, by a Professional. This is written by Matt, who has been trading since the start of the exchanges, six and a half years ago. His speciality is tennis, which is an area I intend to look at more closely this year as I know some people make a lot of money on this sport. The other thing I notice about the writers of these blogs is that we all trade in different ways, which is good and only goes to enforce my belief that there are virtually limitless ways of making money trading the exchanges.