The Sports Trader

Sunday 29th April 2007

It has been a successful day for the Sports Trader, although it has been a bit of a grind. I traded in 10 horse races and 1 football match.

My first trade was in the 14:10 at Brighton where I laid Concertmaster for £20 @ 7.80 to result in a profit of £20.

My next trade was in the 14:30 at Ludlow where I laid King Diamond for £50 @ 1.50 before backing back £35 @ 2.00 to leave a profit of £15. I followed this with a small winning trade.

In the 15:05 at Ludlow I laid Precious Dancer for £29 @ 5.90 and then backed back £6 @ 72.00 to result in a profit of £22. Next was another small winning trade.

My next trade was in the 16:25 at Brighton where I laid Treetops Hotel for £12 @ 7.50 to give me a £12 profit. In the 16:45 at Ludlow I laid Go For Bust for £7 @ 4.62 and then I laid Old Marsh for £5 @ 8.10 to result in a £12 profit. Next was a small winning trade.

In the 17:05 at Wetherby I laid Neutrino for £10 @ 14.50 and I laid Perfect Punch for £6 @ 13.50 before backing back £4 @ 15.00 to result in a profit of £12. My last race trade of the day was a small winning one.

My race trading had therefore ended with a profit of £103.

I missed the early evening football as I had to go and pick my children up and get them all ready for bed.  By the time I got back to trading the Athletic Bilbao v Real Madrid match had started and Real had already scored one goal. I backed the under 2.5 goal market for £29 @ 2.66 and laid this off @ 2.46. The second goal was scored and I then went back in and backed the under's for £20 @ 5.55 before laying off £10 @ 4.57. I then backed the unders again for £112 @ 4.36. I had laid off £39 @ 4.15 and £4 @ 4.00 when the third goal was scored leaving me with a loss of £80.

I then concentrated on the under 3.5 goals market and backed for £962 @ 4.03 which I considered to be a very good price at this stage of the game. I laid off at a range of prices from 3.80 down to 2.15 in a total of 31 trades. At this point I had no liability but a potential profit of £700 on the unders. With the way the game was going I decided to start greening up and made another 4 lay trades totalling £150 at an average price of 2.10. I had a further £200 of lays in the market but these were not matched before the 4th goal was scored so I ended the match with a £150 profit on the under 3.5 goals to give me a net £70 profit on the match.

My day had finished with a profit of £173.

That is the end to an eventful week where I have been clawing back the losses of two weeks ago. I ended the week with a profit of £2873.

Saturday 28th April 2007

The Sports Trader has had a decent day with 10 race trades and 2 football trades including just one losing trade.

My race trading started with my only loss on the day in the 14:20 at Leicester where I backed Legendary Guest for £75 @ 1.47 just before he started to weaken in the final furlong whilst contending the lead to cost me £75.

In the 14:35 at Market Rasen I backed Major Belle for £10 @ 2.00 to result in a profit of £10. I followed this with a small winning trade.

My best result of the day came next in the 15:00 at Punchestown where I backed Dalucci going over the final hurdle for £204 @ 1.50 to result in a profit of £102. My next trade was another small winning one.

 

I didn't trade in the Betfred Gold Cup but I did watch as Hot Weld made history by being the first horse ever to win the Coral Scottish National and The Betfred Gold Cup which, with just 7 days between the races, was a remarkable feat.

In the 16:05 at Punchestown I backed  All Rise for £54 @ 1.35 whilst leading and on the run in to result in a profit of £19. Next was another small winning trade.

In the 17:50 at Ripon I backed Peppertree Lane for £80 @ 1.80 in the final furlong to give me a profit of £64.

My next trade was in the 17:40 at Punchestown where I laid Sir Moko for £10 @ 40.00 when headed for the lead to result in a profit of £10. My final race trade was a small winning one.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £137.

I decided to cut the grass in the evening so I missed most of the Atletico Madrid v Real Betis football match and ended up with a trade on the match result by backing the Draw for £27 @ 1.13 during injury time to give me a small £3 profit.

In the later Spanish match between Valencia and Recreavito Huelva I traded the under 2.5 goals market after both goals had been scored by backing the unders for £62  @ 1.47 and laying off at 1.31. I then backed the unders again for £158 @ 1.22 and laid this off @ 1.11 to result in a profit of £27.

My day had finished with a profit of £167.

I came across a new horse racing blog today called HQO where the author specialises in picking 2 year olds to win and gives his opinion on every 2 year old race. His results are very promising and are well worth following.

Friday 27th April 2007

It has been an exceptionally quite day for the Sports Trader but that didn't prevent a loss on the day. I only trade in 5 horse races and 1 football match.

My day started with a trade in the 14:15 at Sandown where I laid Kilburn for £32 @ 26.00 to result in a profit of £32. My next trade was a small winning one.

Then came a ten minute spell of trades that went against me as opposed to bad trades. The first of these was in the 15:50 at Wolverhampton where I backed Diksie Dancer for £250 @ 1.50 when clear of the field and in the final 2 furlongs only to see her headed at about a furlong out with no possibility of trading out of my position to cost me £250.

Next was worse as I had backed Sunshine Kid for £443 @ 1.11 in the 16:00 at Sandown when clear and on the run in only to see him headed close to the finishing line to cost me a further £443.

My final race trade was in the 16:05 at Punchestown where I laid Iktitaf for £10 @ 3.50 to result in a profit of £10.

My race trading had finished with a total loss on the day of £649.

In this evenings football match between Sunderland and Burnley I only traded in the final 2 minutes of the game with a back of the correct score line of 3 -2 for £154 @ 1.31, before laying off £4 @ 1.19, £60 @ 1.15 and £30 @ 1.11 to leave me with a profit of £35.

So my day had finished with a loss of £615.

Thursday 26th April 2007

The Sports Trader has had a slow but profitable day. I only traded in 6 horse races and 1 darts match as I had a lot of jobs to do around the house.

I started with a small winning trade. My first significant trade was in the 15:05 at Perth where I laid Guymur for £190 @ 2.00 when in second place to result in a profit of £190. I followed this with another small winning trade.

In the 15:40 at Perth I backed Sir Jimmy Shand for £50 @ 2.50 and £31 @ 2.70 when leading and looking to be going well with 3 fences to go. He made a mess of the next fence and weakened quickly so my lays were not matched and I ended up losing £81.

In the 16:40 at Punchestown I laid Mighty Man for £146 @ 2.37 when leading and I laid him again for £43 @ 6.50 when he started to show signs of distress shortly before he was pulled up to result in a profit of £190.  It looks like he had suffered damage to a tendon and hopefully he will be back racing before too long.

Refinement  powers home under McCoy in th 16:40 at Punchestown

My last race trade was in the 19:00 at Yarmouth where I backed Sparkling eyes for £50 @ 1.50 in the photo finish and ended up with a loss of £12.50 as the race finished in a dead heat.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £296.

I only traded in the Peter Manley v Denis Priestley Premier League darts match in the evening where I laid the draw for £25 @ 4.00 to result in a profit of £25.

My day had finished with a profit of £321.

Wednesday 25th April 2007

The Sports Trader has managed to repair much of the damage done earlier in the month with a really good performance today. I had no Au pair again today due to her rat having surgery to remove a tumour but my day started with a visit from my eldest daughter, Jenny and my son Oliver which put me into a really good frame of mind for the rest of the day. I traded in 10 horse races and 1 football match with no losing trades.

My first trade was a small winning one. In the 14:30 at Perth I laid Pigeon Island for £20 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £20.

Next was the 14:45 at Catterick where I laid Bajeel for £10 @ 4.90 to give me another £10 profit. My next trade was another small winning one.

Then came my best result for a long time in the 16:05 Guinness Gold Cup at Punchestown. I had been watching this race closely and fully expected In Compliance to win. He had been held up by Barry Geraghty to track the leaders and when clearing the 4th last fence came under increasing pressure to close on the leaders. At this point there were some very large sums of money still wanting to back him for a win. I delayed for a short while making sure that I had got everything correct and then I laid In Compliance for £2633 @ 2.90. I put up backs and got matched for £48 @ an average of 10.60 before I cancelled my remaining backs as I was now satisfied that he would not be winning. Good old Ruby Walsh went on to win with Neptune Collonges to land me a profit of £2585.

Neptune Collonges is clear at the last in the Punchestown Guinness Gold Cup

I followed up with 2 small winning trades. Then in the 17:30 at Catterick I laid Compton Plume for £33 @ 18.00 to result in a profit of £33.

In the 19:50 at Kempton I laid Over To You Bert for £97 @ 5.00 when weakening with two furlongs of the race left to result in a profit of £97. My last race trade of the day was another small winning trade.

My race trading day had therefore finished with a very solid profit of £2759 and of course with no commission paid due to the continuing 0% commission offer for all in-running bets on Betdaq.

I had given preference to the racing and had therefore missed the first half of the Chelsea v Liverpool football match. I watched the second half and decided to back Chelsea to win with about 6 minutes to play for £156 @ 1.29, I laid this off at 1.27 for £88 and £68 @ 1.23. Well into injury time I backed Chelsea to win for £500 @ 1.03 and didn't lay this off which left me with a profit of £21.

My day had finished with a profit of £2780.

Tuesday 24th April 2007

Well the Sports Trader has not had a great day but at least I didn't lose money. I have had a very quite day with only 5 horse races and 1 football match traded.

My day started with a small winning trade in the 14:05 at Punchestown. My next trade was in the 16:15 at Southwell where I had laid Hiccups for £5 @ 27.00 to cost me £130. Not a great start.

In the 16:35 at Wolverhampton I laid Hurlingham for £220 @ 3.50 and put up a back @ 5.00. Only £15 got matched before I cancelled as he could not make up ground on the eventual winner, Prince Sabaah, to leave me with a profit of £205.

My next trade was another small winning one and my last race trade was in the 18:20 at Towcester where I messed up what was looking like a reasonable day by backing Wenger for £116 @ 1.50 to result in a loss of £116.

My race trading had finished with a loss of £31.

I couldn't decide which of tonight's live football matches to trade and in the end I watched the first half of the Man. U match with no trading. I then watched the second half of the Scottish Cup Semi-Final between Dunfermline and Hibernian. With the value already gone on my favoured market of the under 2.5 goals so I traded on the match result. I started with a back of the draw for £253 @ 1.74 before laying off £175 @ 1.70, £65 @ 1.68 and £13 @ 1.65. Next I backed the draw again for £50 @ 1.54 and laid this off @ 1.50. I then greened up my position with a lay of £25 @ 1.38. Soon after Dunfermline were awarded a penalty which they converted into a goal. I then backed Dunfermline for £220 @ 1.14 and laid off £120 @ 1.11 and £75 @ 1.05 to leave me with a profit of £39 on the match.

My day had finished with a profit of just £8.

Monday 23rd April 2007

Welcome back from the Sports Trader. I am sorry for the lack of posts over these past few days which has been due to my on going personal problems. I would like to thank everyone for their wishes of support which have been the high points of an otherwise very difficult period. I can not go into any details of what has been happening as legally, doing so, may have a bearing on what happens in the next few months. Needless to say the safety and welfare of my children has had to come first which has curtailed my trading over these days. My trading has not been good over the past two weeks as a direct result of these problems which has meant that I have not been able to concentrate fully or trade with the clarity of mind that is needed to succeed. I know that many will say I should not have been trading at all over this period, and you are probably correct, but, as this is my only form of income I get a sense of guilt if I do not try to earn a living every day. An outsider or psychiatrist will now be thinking 'compulsive gambler' I would rather label myself as a compulsive bread winner.

As already stated I have had some trades over this period but I do not intend to detail them as I would normally do. I will just give a profit or loss for each day and will start my regular postings with todays trading later.

Friday 20th April 2007 -       -£478 mainly due to me forgetting to cancel a lay bet that cost me £670

Saturday 21st April 2007 -    +£275  ten trades with 1 losing trade

Sunday 22nd April 2007 -       +£190 fifteen trades with 2 losing trades

Monday 23rd April 2007 -       +£38   five trades with no losers

I have found a very interesting site for any one that follows football. It is free and called Footiemap.com and is a map covering most of Europe and Australia and New Zealand. It is basically a massive Google map of these countries with all the major football teams placed on top. Each clubs full address is on the map and then by clicking on the team of your choice you get to the teams official website. You can also get a detailed map of the stadium location by clicking a little tag on the side of the team details, so no need to get lost on the way to an away fixture. There are many more useful features to be found on the site.

Thursday 19th April 2007

It has been a very quite day for the Sports Trader due to some on going personal problems that I am having to try and sort out at the moment. I only traded in 2 horse races and 1 Premier League Darts match.

My first trade was in the 14:45 at Ripon where I laid Eloquent Rose for £100 @ 19.00 when struggling to keep with the leaders to result in a profit of £100.

My only other trade was in the 16:55 at Newmarket where I laid Yaqueen for £31 @ 1.95 with two furlongs to go to cost me a £29 loss.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £71.

I missed most of the evenings darts matches but did have one small lay of the draw in the Manley v Scholten match to result in a profit of £7.

My day had finished with a profit of £78.

Wednesday 18th April 2007

The Sports Trader is continuing a bad vein of form but the damage was limited as I only traded in 6 horse races and 1 football match.

I started with the 14:20 at Cheltenham where I laid Laustra Bad for £10 @ 4.00 to lose £30. Then in the 15:30 also at Cheltenham I laid French Saulaie for £20 @ 7.00 to cost me another £120.

I followed up with 2 small winning trades and then in the 17:40 at Beverley I laid Dansimar for £125 @ 3.20 to result in a profit of £125. My final race trade of the day resulted in a small winning trade.

My race trading day had finished with a loss of £21.

Then came tonight's football match between West Ham and Chelsea where I backed the under 2.5 goals market for £250 @ 1.87 before laying off £50 @ 1.75, £50 @ 1.70, £50 @ 1.68, £50 @ 1.60 and £25 @ 1.48. At this time the first goal was scored and I had a liability of £25 on the unders. I backed the unders again for £49 @ 2.20 and then the second goal was scored and I decided to wait a while before getting back in. The third goal came and that cost me £74. I went on to back the under 3.5 goals for £42 @ 5.00 and had my lays up at 4.2. My lay must have been next in the queue when the fourth goal went in to cost me another £42.

I was looking at ways of trading out of this position but I had to take a telephone call and by the time I had finished the game was over.

My day had therefore finished with a loss of £137.

Tuesday 17th April 2007

The Sports trader had a difficult day where almost everything I touched went wrong. It is amazing just how quickly you can loose confidence at this trading lark. It's probably a good thing as over confidence can be the real killer, where you think you can do no wrong. I traded in 7 horse races and 1 football match.

My first trade of the day ended up all square with no profit or loss. My second trade, in the 14:20 at Nottingham, was a total mistake. I ended up backing Irvine Place for £100 @ 3.52 when I thought I had backed Grand Fleet, don't ask me how but it was an amateurish mistake that I should not be making and was due to lack of concentration on the race which cost me £100.

In the 14:30 at Warwick I made a partial amends by laying Andrasta for £60 @ 8.00 to result in a profit of £60. I followed this with a very small winning trade.

In the 14:40 at Exeter I backed Mariday for £100 @ 3.05, when in the lead, but just before he came under pressure for the lead and started to weaken giving me little chance of trading out of my position so I had lost another £100. I followed this with another small winning trade.

My final race trade of the day was in the 17:10 at Exeter where I laid Lit Up for £74 @ 1.37 before backing back £63 @ 1.42. Later with him now being driven hard to keep in touch I laid him for £23 @ 2.00 and £59 @ 2.51. Just as I had laid him he decided to pick up and went on to win the race comfortably to cost me a further £83.

My race trading had finished with a loss of £218.

In the nights main televised match between Manchester United and Sheffield United I decided to watch the start of the match before getting involved, just to see if the goal scoring machine known as Man U. where still in devastating form. After the first goal had been scored I backed the under 2.5 goals market for £196 @ 3.13 before laying off £186 @ 2.94. Next I backed the unders for £171 @ 2.50 and then laid £71 @ 2.25 and £120 @ 2.22. At half time I had more trades just scalping a few points each trade. The in the second half and after the second goal I backed the unders for £30 @ 5.17 and for £113 @ 5.00. I started laying this off @ 4.35 in £25 blocks all the way down to 2.20 before greening up with several small lays to leave me with £166 whatever the final score.

My day had therefore finished with a loss of £52.