The Sports Trader

Friday 30th March 2007

It has been a difficult day once again for The Sports Trader. I made a bad start and spent the rest of the day trying to claw back my losses. I only traded in 6 horse races, 1 football match and 1 cricket match.

My first two trades were both small but profitable ones. Then my bad day started with the 14:35 at Wolverhampton. I backed Suhayl Star for £73 @ 1.99 and a further £22 @ 1.49 and £14 @ 1.39. The horse was in the lead several times and by the time I realised that it wouldn't be winning I could not trade out of my position, which cost me £109.

It was nearly an hour before I had my next trade, in the 15:30 at Ascot, but I had a similar result. I laid Shouldhavehadthat, ironic I thought, for £73 @ 2.42 to cost me another £104.

My next trade was in the 16:30 at Lingfield where I laid Eva Soneva So Fast for £139 @ 1.83 before backing back £23 @ 9.40, to result in a very welcome profit of £116.

My last horse racing trade of the day was in the 17:15 at Ascot where I just laid Make It A Double for £30 @ 8.00 to claw back another £30 profit.

My race trading day had finished with a loss of £62.

I was determined to try and end the day with a profit and therefore decided to trade the under 2.5 goals market in the Leeds v Preston football match. I backed the unders for £413 @ 1.91 soon after kick off and had laid back £106 @ 1.81 when along came a very early goal. At this stage I was starting to get that horrible losing feeling, however I thought I would practise what I preach on this unders trading and went back in with more backs for £200 @ 3.00 and £322 @ 2.90. This gave me a breakeven exit point of around 2.56. I started laying off my position @ 2.62 for £160, 2.59 for £70, 2.48 for £100, 2.45 for £272, and then smaller lays down to 1.75. I now had a potential profit on the unders of £115 and no liability or profit on the overs. Then along comes a second goal. Again I went with my old method of backing the unders after a goal and this time backed £140 @ 2.70 and £313 @ 2.67. This was all laid off very quickly with £140 @ 2.67 and £313 @ 2.52. From here on I just started to gradually green up my position and ended up with a profit of £82 no matter what the score ended at.

In injury time with less than 30 seconds of the match remaining I backed Leeds to win for £638 @ an average price of 1.015 to result in a profit of £9.

After the football had finished I switched channels to watch the final few overs of the England v Ireland cricket match. There was no value to be had on the match result as England were looking the winners with only about 6 overs to go. So I looked for a better valued bet and found someone was trying to lay Niall O'Brian as top scoring Irish player and as Andrew White was caught behind by Nixon I backed Niall for £220 @ 1.07 to result in a profit of £16.

After a difficult day I just managed to turn around my losing position and ended up with a profit of £45.

Thursday 29th March 2007

The Sports Trader survived a day where it was best to expect the unsuspected. There were plenty of strange results and few favourites went on to win. There has been a big response to my earlier post where I put up a link to the ATR Survey. It's good to see that so many people are still trying to get live pictures with the minimum delay possible. I ended up trading in 8 horse races and 3 darts matches, with two losing trades early in the day.

My first trade was a little disappointing as I had backed Investment Wings in the 14:10 at Hereford for £250 @ 1.90 and laid off @ 1.30 to leave a potential profit of £150. However McCoy's magic didn't work and he finished third. I did try to lay off more but the price went quickly and I was left with no profit.

The 14:25 at Thurles was my worst result of the day. I managed to lay Shabahar for £86 @ 2.00 to lose me £86. To make matters worse I had my only other loss of the day in the next, the 15:00 at Towcester, where I laid Pro Dancer for £98 @ 2.98 before backing back £78 @ 3.40 and then in the final furlong backed him again for £50 @ 1.20 to lose me £30.

I followed up with a small, profitable trade. I then had my Mother-In-Law and Sister-In-Law come round for afternoon tea and chat about my complicated domestic situation. This went well and put me in a better frame of mind for the rest of the days racing.

So I got back to work in the 16:30 at Towcester where I backed Inherent for £104 @ 1.91, then laid off @ 1.30 and a little later managed to back her for £58 @ 1.86 to leave me with a profit of £113.

My best result of the day was in the 16:40 at Hereford where I laid Viscount Bankes for £138 @ 10.00 soon after being headed for the lead. I also laid Kyper Disco for £23 @ 9.40 before backing back £5 @ 40.00. This all resulted in a profit of £156.

Next I had a small winning trade. My last race trade of the day was in the 17:25 at Thurles where I laid Irish Nation for £28 @ 30.00 just before he unseated his rider to result in a profit of £28.

My race trading today had yielded a profit of £189.

I traded in three of tonight's Premier League darts matches. The first was between Van Barneveld and Lloyd and I started with a small back on Lloyd for £14 @ 1.50 before laying off @ 1.20. Later I backed him again for £78 @ 1.06 and £77 @ 1.03 to result in a profit of £30.

Next I traded the Jenkins v Scholten match and here I just laid the draw for £2 @ 25.00 to result in a profit of £2.

My final match of the day was between Lewis and Manley where I backed Manley early on for £34 @ 3.20 before laying off @ 3.00. Later with the match well in the bag I backed One Dart for £250 @ 1.36 and laid off £204 @ 1.21 to result in a profit of £39.

I finished my day with a good profit of £260.

How Good Is the ATR service?

I received a survey this morning which is looking for peoples views on the ATR service and it is clear that they are looking at offering a paid for service from the questions asked. I have posted a link here to go directly to the survey. It does take about 15 minutes to complete but you will have plenty of chances to tell them what you think about their service and what they are doing wrong. I have obviously mentioned the lack of ATRxtra as often as possible. By completing the survey you will be entered into a prize draw to win a spectacular day out to see The St.Leger at Doncaster or one of 25 pairs of tickets to a summer evening meeting at Windsor.

Wednesday 28th March 2007

It's more of the same for The Sports Trader. I read most of the other blogs by fellow traders and gamblers, and it seems it has been a tough period for just about everybody. It must be the post Cheltenham blues but what ever the reason I hope I can find a solution soon. I ended the day trading 5 horse races and 3 football matches, with just one, all be it horrendous, loss.

I started my work looking at the first horse race of the day but it wasn't until the 15:25 at Kempton, that I had my first trade. As you probably know I have to leave my trading between 2:45 and 3:20 each day, whilst I pick the children up from nursery and school. So my first trade was to back Poppy Maroon for £72 @ 1.50 before laying off @ 1.20 to result in a profit of £22.

In the 16:00 at Kempton I laid Star Shot for £11 @ 9.60 and backed back £6 @ 16.00. Later I backed Treasury Counsel for £500 @ 1.01 to result in a profit of £10.

Now for my worst trade and my only loss on the day. It was in the 16:10 at Towcester where I started off OK with a lay of Seafield Bogie for £39 @ 2.70 before backing back £35 @ 2.80. I then laid him again for £200 @ 3.00. I just got my timing wrong on this, if I had done it earlier I would be telling you how much profit I had made but as it is I lost £403 on the race. I did put lays up but could not get matched.

My next trade was a small winning one. My last horse trade was in the 17:15 at Towcester and I saw my chance of getting back a lot of my loss. I backed Deckie for £393 @ 3.60. I should of held on slightly longer but conscious of not making an already bad day even worse I traded out of my liability quickly. I laid £39 @ 3.60, £200 @ 3.20, £71 @ 2.70 and £84 @ 2.20. On the run in I backed him for £30 @ 1.25, this resulted in a profit on the race of £268. I know many will say if I had held on to my back I would have been up over £1k, and that is a fact, but I am a trader and not a gambler. It is by trading that I have made a real success of using Betdaq and I could point to many other cases where if I hadn't traded out of my liability I would have sustained some heavy losses.

I finished my horse trading with a loss of £96.

With all the European Football qualifying matches on television tonight we were spoilt for choice. In hindsight I should have been on the unders in the England match. I hope some of you made a killing on that. It's not often you can back the unders at 5.00 and over. By half time with the price around 1.70 some traders will have made a lot of profit.

I decided to watch the Italy v Scotland match, mainly due to the fact that it was on BBC1 Scotland so I had faster pictures than most. I also thought there would be better trading opportunities with this match. I was expecting a few goals so unusually for me I waited until about 10 minutes had been played and then I backed Italy for the win for £500 @ 1.30. Luckily I didn't have to wait long for a goal as Toni scored in the 12th minute. Almost immediately I laid off @ 1.08. I waited until around half way through the second half and greened up with a lay of Italy for £100 @ 1.09. So I ended the game with a profit of £101.

I had a few trades on the Andora v England game on the under 2.5 goals market and had got a position of a profit on the unders of £70 and no liability on the overs. I was waiting for the price to drop a little further before greening up this position but was beaten by a 90th minute Defoe/Nugent goal so no profit or loss there. I looked around for some decent value odds and decided to back the under 3.5 goals market for £500 @ 1.10 whilst in the 3rd minute of injury time and did put up a lay @ 1.02 but cancelled as the referee blew his whistle to result in a profit of £50.

I also had a very small trade on the under 3.5 goals market in the Wales v San Marino game. This resulted in a profit of £3.

I have therefore finished a difficult day in profit to the tune of £57.

Tuesday 27th March 2007

The Sports Trader has only traded in 4 horse races, I greyhound race and 1 tennis match but with no losing trades it has been a reasonable day.

My first two trades were both small winning trades. My best horse race trading result was in the 16:20 at Sedgefield where I laid Silver Bow for £25 @ 3.25 and a further £10 @ 10.00 to finish with a profit of £35. I only had one more trade and that was a small winning one.

My race trading had ended with a profit of £52.

Unusually for me I decided to watch a few Greyhound races in the televised event from Hall Green. Many years ago I used to watch the dogs regularly at Rye House and more recently at Shawfield in Glasgow. Well tonight in the 19:40 race I had laid Meenala Babe for £124 @ 6.20 and had intended backing back for a profit but the price moved against me and after looking at the form figures I decided to hold on and ended up winning £124.

I had a very small trade in the Ferrer v Roddick tennis match to earn me £2.

My day had finished with a profit of £177.

Monday 26th March 2007

More of the same poor performance from the Sports Trader today where I traded in 10 horse races and 1 football match.

My day started with 2 small winning trades. In the 15:20 at Plumpton I backed Tommy Carson for £40 @ 4.00 and then laid of @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £37.

In the next at Plumpton, the 15:50, I laid Park Lane Princess for £19 @ 3.60 before backing back £17 @ 4.00. I then backed Young Owen for £100 @ 4.00 before laying off, too early,  @ 3.75 to result in a profit of £27. I followed this with a small winning trade.

My first losing trade of the day came in the 16:40 at Kempton where I had backed Cnoc Moy for £28  @ 1.50 when leading with a furlong to go. This cost me my stake of £28.

In the 16:50 at Plumpton I had my other loss of the day. I started with a lay on Clearly In Motion for £5 @ 2.00 before backing back £2 @ 6.20. I then made the mistake of laying him again for £50 @ 3.00. on the run in I did manage to back him for £250 @ 1.14 to result in a loss of £60.

My next two trades were both small winning ones. My final trade of the day was in the 17:30 at Stratford where I backed National Trust for £40 @ 1.31 to give me a profit of £12.

My race trading day had finished with another disappointing profit of just £10.

In the evening live football match between Oxford United and Dagenham and Redbridge I started trading on the under 2.5 goal market, after the first goal had been scored,  with a back of the unders for £42 @ 1.72 and laid this off @ 1.64. I followed this with a back of £182 @ 1.55 and laid off £82 @ 1.45, £50 @ 1.41, £25 @ 1.36 and £25 @ 1.26. All this before the second goal had been scored. With the goals then coming fast I did not trade any more on this market and ended with no profit or loss.

I watched for other trading opportunities and eventually I backed the draw, with 25 seconds of injury time left on the clock, for £2508 @ 1.04 to result in a profit of £87.

My day had finished with a profit of £97.

Sunday 25th March 2007

The Sports Trader has finished the week in the same mode as the last few days, a little disappointing but in profit. I traded in 13 horse races, 1 football match and 1 golf tournament.

My first trade was my best trade of the day and it was in the 14:00 at Southwell. I backed Bronson F'sure for £5 @ 2.90 and then for £231 @ 2.00. I laid off £236 @ 1.68 and greened up a little with a lay of £23 @ 1.20 to result in a profit of £76.

My next trade was in the 14:10 at Taunton where I laid Cockatoo for £30 @ 4.60 and backed back £10 @ 8.00 to result in a profit of £20. I followed this with a small winning trade.

In the 14:40 at Taunton I laid Remember Ramon for £46 @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £46. Next I had two more small winning trades.

In the 15:30 at Southwell I laid Golden Child for £150 @ 2.28 and backed back £100 @ 2.50. Later I backed again for £25 @ 2.90. In the closing stages I laid him for £17 @ 5.00 and backed back £5 @ 8.50 to result in a profit of £35. I followed this with another small winning trade.

My first loss of the day came in the 15:55 at The Curragh where I backed La Conquistadora for £66 @ 2.00 when contesting the lead in the latter stages of the race. I did put up a lay to cover this liability but did not get matched and therefore lost £66. Next was a small winning trade.

In the 17:10 at Taunton I backed Team Chaser for £68 @ 2.85 and proceeded to lay off @ 2.26 for £68. Later I laid a further £20 @ 1.20 to partially green-up my position and to result in a profit of £37.

My worst result of the day was also my last horse trade of the day. It was in the 17:20 at Downpatrick where I laid Another Biffo for £22 @ 6.00 before backing back £8 @ 8.00. Later I backed Leney Dow Jones for £40 @ 1.50 to result in a loss of £98.

My horse trading had finished with a profit of £76.

I had a small trade in the Milton Keynes Dons v Walsall football match where I backed the draw for £60 @ 1.60 before laying off @ 1.52 to leave a profit of £5.

In the CA Golf Championship in Miami I backed Brett Wetterich to win in the without Woods market for £15 @ 1.35 and laid V J Singh in the same market for £10 @ 15.00 to result in a profit of £15.

My day had finished with a total profit of £96. This brought another profitable week to close with a profit of £1193.

Saturday 24th March 2007

The Sports Trader has had another very slow day, only managing to trade in 11 horse races and 1 football match. Three of these were losing trades. Although I have been on my own all day today it was difficult for me to concentrate on my trading as I have been worried about my three youngest children. They have been staying with their mother but I have a feeling that all is not well with her at the moment.

My first trade of the day was in the 14:10 at Lingfield and was a small winning trade. Next was in the 14:15 at Bangor where I laid Lady Maranzi for £8 @ 4.00 to lose me £24.

In the 14:45 at Bangor I backed Anie's Answer for £3 @ 1.98 and a further £25 @ 1.38 to result in a profit of £13. This was followed by two small winning trades.

Next was the 15:20 at Bangor and here I managed to lay Super Lord for £2 @ 1.50 and £3 @ 3.50 to result in a loss of £11. My worst result of the day was next in the 16:25 at Bangor where I laid McKelvey for £6 @ 10.00 to lose another £51.

In the 16:50 at Lingfield I laid Hesivorthedriver for £14 @ 42.00 to win £14. My best horse trading result of the day was in the 16:55 at Bangor where I laid Private Be for £33 @ 4.00 and backed Nice Try on the run in for £90 @ 1.11 to result in a profit of £43.

My next trade was in the 17:05 at Newbury. I laid Buddys Lookout for £16 @ 36.00 to win £16. My final race trade of the day was in the 17:30 at Navan where I laid Save The Bacon for £20 @ 4.40 and backed back £5 @ 5.00 to result in a profit of £15.

My race trading day had finished with a profit of just £20.

I decided to watch the Israel v England match in the evening. I didn't get involved trading until the 82nd minute when I backed the draw for £163  @1.36 and then a couple of minutes later backed the draw for £139 @ 1.24. Just into injury time I laid this all off @ 1.09 to result in a profit of £65. The less said about the England performance the better.

I therefore finished my day's trading with a profit of £85.

Friday 23rd March 2007

Well I am pleased that I put the Bob Woolmer story on earlier today as I have very little trading to talk about. My Au pair let me down for the second time this week and it meant that I had to spend a lot more time looking after the twins and then I had to collect Zoe from school. This all just breaks my concentration and I then feel less confident to take on trades. So I only traded on  5 horse races. These were all winning trades although all but one were small trades.

My only trade therefore of any note was in the 14:20 at Wolverhampton where I laid Blushing Prince for £17 @ 10.00 to result in a profit of £17. If you fancy having a simulation of a ride around the Wolverhampton track click here.

In the early evening I took my three youngest children to their mothers house and then I came home and did some jobs about the house before going out to have a few drinks with Oliver my eldest son, so I had a night off from trading. My total profit today was just £27.

Bob Woolmer book on Cricket Corruption

Murdered Woolmer was writing book on cricket corruption

Copy of Original Story in The Daily Mail

Last updated at 11:18am on 23rd March 2007

• Not a sound as Woolmer was murdered
• Mystery of coach's corruption book
• He 'probably knew his killer'

Cricket coach Bob Woolmer was overpowered and strangled in his hotel room in total silence, Jamaican police said today.

There were no obvious signs of a struggle and detectives believe he knew his killer or killers and may have let them in.

A Pakistan player in the adjoining room spoke for the first time today to say he had not heard a sound on the night of the murder.

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Family man: Bob Woolmer with his wife Gill and their two sons in 1994

It was also revealed that 58-year-old Woolmer had been worried that key parts of a book he was writing on corruption in cricket had gone missing. His death has led to speculation over match fixing at the World Cup by betting syndicates.

The former Kent and England all-rounder was found unconscious by staff at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Sunday morning, the day after his Pakistan team's shock defeat to Ireland. One theory is that Woolmer was killed because he had uncovered a betting scandal involving Pakistan being paid to throw the game.

He was found in the bathroom of his room on the 12th floor, an executive area of the hotel where there would have been tight security and where access would have been restricted.

Video...Jamaican police make the grim announcement that Bob Woolmer was murdered
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Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria said he "did not hear any noises coming from Woolmer's room" despite being next door at the time the killing is believed to have taken place.

Jamaican police said today they are now treating the death "as a case of murder" after a pathologist revealed he had been strangled. A bone in his neck was broken and traces of poison are said to have been found.

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Mark Shields, Jamaica's chief of police, makes the grim announcement that Bob Woolmer was murdered

A Pakistani television station announced that a suspect had been arrested. Reports said the man was not a Jamaican national and had been a regular visitor to Mr Woolmer. Hours later the arrest claim was denied by Jamaica's deputy police commissioner Mark Shields.

The former Scotland Yard officer said that the fact that there was no sign of a forced entry into Woolmer's room pointed to the possibility that he knew his killer or killers. None of his possessions were taken.

Mr Shields told Radio 5 Live: "It looks as if it may be somebody somehow linked to him, because clearly he let somebody into his hotel room and it may be that he knew who that person was." Police are going through video recordings from the hotel CCTV.

Bob Woolmer's widow Gill

Mr Shields also raised the possibility that there were two killers, saying: "It would take some force because Bob was a large man, and it would take quite a deal of force to subdue him. It could be one or more persons."

There were signs of blood, vomit and faeces in the room which was yesterday still sealed off and being searched. Woolmer's body was not discovered until the following morning.

Mr Shields said: "Somebody or some people must have vital information that they should tell us."

Pakistan Captain Inzamam (right) at a memorial service for Bob Woolmer

Jamaican commissioner of police Lucius Thomas said: "It is our belief that those associated with or having access to Mr Woolmer may have vital information that would assist this inquiry. We appeal to these individuals to come forward now to assist us with our investigation." Pakistan team spokesman Parvez Mir said he was deeply shocked by the revelation that Woolmer had been murdered but played down any suggestion that his death was linked to allegations of match fixing at the World Cup.

Mr Mir said that Woolmer had told him that proofs of a book he had been writing on corruption in cricket had been going missing.

He said: "Bob told me the proofs of the book had been misplaced and he was very disturbed. I don't know what was in the book, but that was his only copy at the time."

International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said Woolmer's death had been a "huge shock" to the cricketing community, but said the World Cup tournament would continue.

Former Met chief Sir Paul Condon is on standby to got to Jamaica, a spokesman for the International Cricket Council confirmed today.

The ICC set up an anti-corruption and security unit under Lord Condon in 2000. In May 2001, Lord Condon published a damning 75-page interim report into cricket corruption.

The shock news emerged hours after Mr Woolmer's wife Gill admitted she could not rule out murder.

Speaking from the family home in South Africa, she said: "Some of the cricketing fraternity, fans, are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game, and also a lot of it in Asia, so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that.

"It fills me with horror, I just can't believe that people could behave like that or that anyone would want to harm someone who has done such a great service to international cricket."

An international news agency issued photographs of his body in a Kingston morgue. A cut above the bridge of his nose was clearly visible, as was a scrape across his right cheek.

Gill with Bob in his playing days in England

Mrs Woolmer categorically ruled out suicide, although she admitted her husband was "very down" after the shock defeat to Ireland.

She said: "He was very depressed and he sent me an email to that effect but then he always got depressed and down when the boys didn't do as he expected and hoped they could, and he knew what sort of state they were in.

"He knew they could perform and just got very down about it but that was normal....he was a very competitive person. But there is no way that suicide was involved, he would never, ever.

'He didn't take drugs unless it was a painkiller for his sore knees and ankles."

Asked about her husband's health, she said: "He was very fit, he did training a lot, he had been trying to lose weight to control his diabetes and had been swimming at the hotel, walking and playing golf."

The first suggestions that Mr Woolmer was murdered came from former Pakistan test bowler Sarfraz Nawaz, who has frequently spoken out against match-fixing that has tainted cricket. "I feel that he was bumped off. It was the betting mafia," he said.

The former player claimed bookmakers were manipulating results and that five members of the Pakistan World Cup party were involved.

Reports from Pakistan say five bookmakers flew to Jamaica before the World Cup in a bid to fix Pakistan's first game against the West Indies, which they also lost.

Mr Woolmer, who has two grown-up sons, was South African coach in 2000 when their captain Hansie Cronje rocked the world of cricket by admitted accepting bribes.

A year earlier, three Pakistani players were banned over allegations of fixing matches.

Cronje was killed in June 2002 in a plane crash. Some observers believe he was murdered to stop him giving more details of the match-fixing