The Sports Trader

Sunday 4th March 2007

With only one UK horse racing card beating the weather it has been a disappointing end to the week. I traded in 6 races and three football matches, with no losing trades.

I started with the 14:20 at Bangor with a small winning trade. In the 14:50 I started with a lay of the aptly named Heavy Weather for £120 @ 1.60 and backed back £80 @ 2.20 and a further £10 @ 1.80 to result in a profit of £30.

My next was the 15:20, where I backed the short priced favourite, Classic Fiddle, for £250 @ 1.40 and laid off @ 1.31. Later I backed her for £41 @ 1.10 and laid this off @ 1.02 to result in a profit of £26. My next two trades were both small winning ones.

My last race of the day was the 16:50 and here I laid Lifes A Flyer for £88 @ 6.50 before backing back £50 @ 7.60, £17 @ 9.60 and £2 @ 6.00 to leave me with a profit of £19.

My race trading day had finished with a profit of £77.

I had a lot of other things to do today so I only played with a few trades on the football today. The first match I traded was the Birmingham v Cardiff clash where I only caught the last 10 minutes of the game and I backed the correct score line of 1 - 0  for £85 @ 1.26 before laying off £62 @ 1.23 and £23 @ 1.13. In the final minute of the match I backed the correct score again for £83 @ 1.08 and put up a lay @ 1.02. I only got matched for £48 when the final whistle was blown and I ended with a profit of £11.

My next match was the Real Madrid v Getafe one and here I also only caught the end of the match. I backed the under 2.5 goals for £90 @ 1.23 and laid off £50 @ 1.10 to leave me with a profit of £15.

My final trade of the day was in the Recretivo Huelva v Atletico Madrid match. With one minute to go plus injury time, and the score at 1 - 0, I backed the under 2.5 goals for £310 @ 1.06 to result in a profit of £19.

I finished my day's trading with a profit of £122. Added to the rest of the week's profits I ended up with a profit for the week of £1629. A pretty good result when you take into account the £1K I lost to a trap bet earlier in the week.

The 'Computer Kid', aka David Stewart and his HorseGraphs has been at it again today with another impressive performance, I make that a 50 point win in the last 4 days. I really do believe he has an excellent system and it's not like he just tells you his lays or backs for the day he clearly shows why they are his selections with his graphs.

There is another new blogger on the block today, but, what makes this one stand out is that the author Gavin, has, like me, chosen Betdaq as his preferred Betting Exchange and I like the name of his blog - The Purple Layer. Good luck Gavin I hope all goes well for you.

Saturday 3rd March 2007

The Sports Trader has had a decent day with 19 UK horse races, 1 Rugby match and 3 football matches traded and only two losing trades all day.

I started with the 13:35 at Newbury where I backed Minella Tipperary for £50 @ 2.50 before laying off @ 2.21. I also laid La Dame Brune for £50 @ 2.21, £90 @ 3.24 and £25 @ 22.00 as she weakened out of contention and I backed the eventual winner when jumping the second last fence and going into the lead for £222 @ 1.71 to start the day in good style with a profit of £278.

My next trade was in the 13:50 at Kempton where I laid Cathedral Rock for £50 @ 2.68 then backed back for £50 @ 2.72. I had a further 6 similar trades to net myself a profit of £19.

The 14:25 at Kempton was my next race and here I had 10 small trades on Tallow Bay to result in a profit of £27.

My first loss of the day was in the 14:30 at Navan where I backed Valain for £50 @ 2.00 and later backed Alqaab to end with a loss of £45. Next I traded in 11 races that all resulted in small profits.

I made a complete mess of the 16:20 at Newbury by backing Illicit Spirit for £265 @ 1.45 when well in the lead and just clearing the final hurdle only to see him headed near the finish with no possibility of trading out to cost me £265. Ouch. I followed this with another small winning trade.

Then my best result of the day came in the 16:55 at Newbury. I laid Procas de Thaix for £270 @ 4.50 soon after being headed on the run in to result in a profit of £270.

My final race of the day was the 17: at Navan where I laid Woodbine Willie for £40 @ 2.10 and backed back £35 @ 2.40. I then backed Kimberlite King for £10 @ 1.50 to result in a profit of £10.

My race trading day had finished with a profit of £333.

As soon as the racing had finished I listened to the Radio 5 commentary on the Portsmouth v Chelsea match. After the first goal had been scored I backed the under 2.5 goals for 52 @ 1.90 before laying off £22 @ 1.80 and £30 @ 1.64. In the final few minutes of the match I backed the unders again for £20 @ 1.13 and laid off £3 @ 1.07 to finish the match with a profit of £13.

I then watched the live Rugby Super League between Salford and Catalans. There was a surprising amount of liquidity on this game but I ended up just having a small trade by backing Salford on the -4.5 point handicap market for £20 @ 1.25 and £17 @ 1.02 to finish with a profit of £5.

Next I watched the Valencia v Celta Vigo football match. I only caught the last 15 minutes of the match and backed the correct score line of 1 - 0 in the final few seconds for £258 @ 1.03, to result in a profit of £8.

My last trade of the day was in the Sevilla v Barcelona match. I watched the match with no trades until after the first goal had been scored. I then backed the under 2.5 goals for £183 @ 2.52 before laying all off @ 2.30. After the second goal had been scored I backed the unders again for £45 @ 3.75 before laying this off @ 3.50 I then greened up to leave a profit of £15 whatever the result. I also backed Sevilla in the match result market for £110 @ 1.56 and laid off £49 @ 1.53 and £60 @ 1.48. Later I backed Sevilla again for £20 @ 1.52 and laid this off @ 1.42. I finished this trading with a profit of £7.

At the end of the day I had made a total profit of £382.

Friday 2nd March 2007

After yesterday's mishap the Sports Trader was in consolidation mode. My Au Pair was off all day which meant I had to spend a lot more time than usual looking after the children's needs. I therefore only managed to trade on 6 UK horse races and i football match.

My day started with the 14:00 at Newbury where I backed Signs of Love for £50 @ 2.14 and followed this with a lay of Peacock for £4 @ 2.42 and a further back of the eventual winner, Signs of Love for £50 @ 1.05 to result in a profit of £63.

In my next race, the 14:30 at Newbury, I backed Money Order for £300 @ 1.15 when just getting to the lead in the final 20 yards of the race to result in a profit of £44. I followed this up with a small winning trade in the 16:25 at Wolverhampton.

My next trade was in the 16:40 at Ayr where I backed Nevada Red for £100 @ 3.00 before laying off £70 @ 3.50 and a further £10 @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £20.

In the 16:50 at Newbury I backed Coolefind for £176 @ 1.14 when going over the final fence and well in the lead to land me a profit of £24.

My last trade was in the 17:10 at Ayr and here I backed Quws Law for £15 @ 1.50 and then on the run in when the race was already in the bag I backed him again for £1500 @ 1.01 to result in a profit of £22.

I finished my race trading day with a profit of £177.

I had a very small trade on the Derby v Colchester match and as I was going out I only traded for the first 15 minutes, which is probably just as well as I would no doubt have lost money due to the amount of goals scored. I backed the under 2.5 goals for £7 just at kick off and laid off £5 @ 1.81. The first goal was scored in the 2nd minute and soon after I backed the unders for £57 @ 2.74 and laid all my liability off @ 2.48. I decided to go for a shower before getting ready to go out and when I got back to my office I saw that the score was now at 3 - 0. I switched the TV off and thanked my lucky stars that I had taken a shower. I ended up with a few pence profit.

My day of trading had therefore ended with no losing trades and a profit of £177.

I have added a new link under the Links heading for a very good free site called Sports Betting, Trading and Arbitraging. This is a brilliant site with real practical advice from a full time online sports trader. All the information is offered free of any charges and is updated regularly with the latest trading developments. I would recommend everyone to have a browse of the site to pick up on new ideas for making your trading pay.

Thursday 1st March 2007

Well it has not been a good day for the Sports Trader. I got caught by a trap bet that cost me £1K. To who ever put it up I just want to say well done, enjoy it, but remember, I have only lent that win to you and I will get it back. I traded in 13 horse races and 2 darts matches.

I started with a small winning trade in the Betdaq First For Multiples Novices Hurdle at Ludlow. My next trade was in the 14:20 at Taunton. I backed Storm Prince for £27 @ 1.51 when challenging for the lead at the last hurdle but could not get his head in front and cost me £27.

In the 14:40 at Ludlow I started with a small lay of Petite Margot for £3 @ 3.00. At the last fence I backed her for £300 @ 1.40 to result in a profit of £114.

My next race was the 14:50 at Taunton and here I laid Nemetan for £52 @ 3.25 before backing back for £25 @ 3.00 and £12 @ 7.00 to leave me with a profit of £15. Next I had a small winning trade.

In the 15:50 at Taunton I laid Nobody Tells Me for £5 @ 2.20 and backed back £4 @ 3.00. Later I laid him again for £50 @ 2.70 and backed him back for £30 @ 3.50 to result in a profit of £21.

My next was the 16:00 at Lingfield, where I backed Kabeer for £13 @ 3.75 with the intention of laying off but could not get matched so I lost £13. Next was a small winning trade.

The 16:10 at Ludlow proved to be a difficult race for me as I started with a lay of Highland Games for £80 @ 3.40 and then backed him back for £20 @ 8.00. I cancelled my lays as it looked as if my money was safe but later when I realised I was in trouble I could not get matched so I took a loss of £52.

My next was worse as I laid Paktolos in the 16:30 at Lingfield for £21 @ 4.60 to lose £77. In the 16:40 at Ludlow I laid Galik Dawn for £10 @ 8.00 to win £10.

My disaster of the day was in the 16:50 at Taunton. I had got myself into a decent winning position by Laying Sea Snipe for £36 @ 5.20 before backing back £20 @ 5.60. I then laid her again for £119 @ 4.70 and backed back £35 @ 5.50. Now came my big mistake. I was already showing a profit of £100 on the race but in the closing stages a back came up on the screen for £1000 @ 1.10 on what I thought was the horse going on to win, Royal Scandal, but in fact it was on Holly Walk which was the next one on the card and in my eagerness to make a bit more profit I took the bet and it was only just after the finish that I realised what I had done.

I was more than just a little mad with myself for not double checking before placing the trade. It's not the first time I have done that sort of thing and I am sure I will do it again. You know what it is like, in the heat of the moment, when you are having to make split second decisions, and eager to take a bet before someone else beats you to it. I was mad with myself for at least an hour after the event for being so stupid and for ruining a potentially good week. I am over it now though and back into my normal mode.

I had one more race trade and it was in the 18:20 at Nad Al Sheba where I backed Eu Tambem for £56 @ 1.50 to win £28. My race trading result for the day was a loss of £878.

I like Thursday night's because of the Premier League darts matches. I think it is a brilliant format and it is, as one of the Sky commentators said tonight, 'a similar concept to twenty twenty cricket'  in that it is played over much fewer legs than normal darts matches and you have the real possibility of a draw.

I traded 18 times in the Lewis v Scholten match, mainly because I had taken the wrong view early on, but I did end up with a profit of £7.

The match that I was really looking forward to was the Barney v The Power match. After seeing the improvement in Phil last week over the way he had been playing for a few weeks I really thought that Phil would win this one. I took what I think were the best odds I have ever seen on Phil the Power before a match of 2.20 for £200.  I laid off £16 @ 1.90 and £54 @ 1.85 as Phil broke in the first leg. I then backed Phil for £500 @ 1.80. Well I thought I was wrong again as Phil went form being 1 leg up against the throw to being 5 - 1 down. With the odds changing so quickly in the match I had no option but to sit and hope & prey that Phil could turn the match around.

After the interval Phil started playing much more like himself and if anything I would suggest that Barney looked as if he didn't want to win. Anyway Phil started to win and when the match was all square at 5 - 5 I laid off £32 @ 2.60 and then with the score at 6 -6 laid a further £274 @ 1.59. I also backed the draw for £170 @ 2.33. With the score at 7 - 6 to Phil and him leading in the 14th leg I backed Phil for £1000 @ 1.40. The end result was an 8 - 6 win for Phil and a profit of £522 for me.

My day had therefore finished with a loss of £349.

It was good to see David Stewart get back to winning ways today after a difficult few days for his Horse Graphs. He only went and landed a near 40 point win by backing Cinematic in the 5:00 at Lingfield. His system clearly had Cinematic as the best rated horse in the race but the odds on offer were around the 44/1 mark and even higher at times.

Wednesday 28th February 2007

After a very good start to the week The Sports Trader has had one of those days where nothing went well. It's been a frustrating day, full of interruptions and I just could not get into the grove.

I ended up trading in 11 UK horse races and 2 football matches. My first trade was in the 13:40 at Folkestone where I backed Captain's Legacy for £61 @ 2.00 and put up a lay @ 1.40. I got matched on £19. I later laid him for £8 @ 8.00 to result in a loss on the race of £34.

My next was in the 14:10 at Folkestone and here I backed Ballyrainey for £37 @ 1.50 when in the lead and going well only for him to weaken on the run in and finish second to cost me another £37. I then had 4 small winning trades.

My next race of significance was the 16:05 at Downpatrick where I backed Cake It Easy for £50 @ 2.60 and a further £4 @ 2.96 and again I put up a lay @ 2.40 but only got matched for £2 to result in a loss of £52. I followed this up with a small winning trade.

In the 16:35 at Southwell I laid Global Strategy for £30 @ 3.50 and £20 @ 2.97 before backing back £10 @ 4.00 and £7 @ 3.80 to result in another loss of £66.

My next was the 16:40 at Downpatrick where I laid Freneys Well for £45 @ 3.00 before backing £16 @ 3.50, £7 @ 6.70 and £5 @ 2.85. I then laid Howryafeelin for £5 @ 3.20 and backed him back for £3 @ 4.50 to result in a profit of £19.

My final race trade of the day was in the 16:55 at Folkestone where I backed the short priced favourite, Nike Walker, for £208 @ 1.30 before laying off @ 1.18. Then going over the last I backed him for £668 @ 1.03 to result in a profit of £45. This left me with a loss on the days race trading of £110.

I decided to trade on two football matches at the same time tonight. One was the Motherwell v St.Johnstone FA Cup Fifth Round match. I started with a back of the under 2.5 goals for £200 @ 1.90 pre kick off. I then had a lay @ 1.70 for £50 and had further lays of £25 @ 1.66, 1.50 and 1.43. When the first goal came I had a liability of £75. I backed the unders again for £76 @ 2.12 and laid off £51 @ 1.66 and £25 @ 1.63 . When the second goal was scored and I still had a liability of £75. I didn't think the odds where good enough after the second goal so I hung on to try and lay off later in the game but a third goal came which had therefore cost me £75.

I then turned my attention to the under 3.5 goals market and I backed the unders for £41 @ 1.30 and with 90 seconds plus injury time left I backed the unders for £499 @ 1.15 which resulted in a profit of £88. I had therefore made a profit on the match of £13.

In the Blackburn v Arsenal match I backed the under 2.5 goals for £100 @ 1.68 soon after kick off. With two matches running together I thought I would try a different strategy on this game and simply set up lays of £25 @ 1.59, 1.50, 1.40 and 1.30 and left them alone and watched the other game which I had more money on. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, if only I had been more heavily involved on this game, but the end result was that I made a profit of £23 on this match.

I therefore ended my trading day with a loss of £74.

I have completed a very successful February with a total profit of £7,188.