Tuesday 3rd April 2007

The Sports Trader has had a solid day of trading with no losses in the 6 horse races and 1 football match that I traded.

I started with my best trade of the day in the 14:30 at Wetherby where I laid Hold The Bid for £200 @ 4.00, early on in the race, with the intention of backing back at around 5.00. I did put up some backs but before any were matched the unfortunate horse had fallen. In the final furlong I also backed the eventual winner Arctic Ghost for £250 @ 1.01 to result in a profit of £203.

I followed up with 2 small, but profitable trades.  In the 16:30 at Southwell I laid Spectested for £12 @ 26.00 to give me a profit of £12. Next was another small winning trade.

My final race trade of the day came in the 18:05 at Gowran Park where I laid Just Naturally for £50 @ 10.00 before backing back £15 @ 22.67 to leave me with a profit of £35.

My race trading day had finished with a profit of £263.

I decided to trade the PSV v Liverpool football match in the evening. I had missed the start of the game and just watched until the first goal had been scored, then I backed the under 2.5 goals for £197 @ 1.81. I laid off £152 @ 1.67 and £45 @ 1.70. I had to make a couple of telephone calls so I missed the rest of the first half of the match. When I got back to trading the second goal was scored and I had a small back of the unders for £7 @ 2.95 which I laid off at 2.71. The third goal came and meant that I had neither won or lost on the match.

I then had a look at the under 3.5 goal market and backed the unders for £100 @ 2.20. Soon after I laid back £50 @ 1.98 and £50 @ 1.85. I then backed the unders for £11 @ 1.88 before laying this off @ 1.59. Finally I greened up this position with a lay of £25 @ 1.28. This left me with a profit of £25 on the match.

I finished my trading day with a profit of £288.

Comments

[Andrew Rigby]

Hi Ray,
There is something about your entry from yesterday that is troubling me... Concerning your trade on Hold the Bid, you say that 'I did put up some backs but before any were matched the unfortunate horse had fallen'. Without fast pictures, how can this be ? Surely if you don't have fast pictures, your bet will have been matched before you are able to cancel it...
I don't want to cast doubt on the validity of your blog, but it's statements like this - which seem almost impossible - that are picked up and attacked on the betfair forum...
Andrew.

[Ray]

Hi Andrew,

This was a race with just a few runners and the horse in question had unseated it's rider before which is the reason I had laid it early. In a siutation like this and when the odds of all the horses are similar I often take this approach. Then I have a back put up which if matched would leave me a profit, but I will also watch my pictures very closely for any possible mistake. When I saw the horse hit the fence I only had to hit the cancel button which I did in this case. You will have seen that I did put up this trade on the forum so there is no disputing I actually did do this. As for the speed of pictures I know I am at a disadvantage without SIS, but then there are very few SIS players and even fewer that use The Daq and even then they have to be concentrating 100% to catch everything. Unless they had a lay already on their screens and just ready to hit the submit button I would probably still beat them.

Ray

[The Gambler.]

I suspect there may be a logical answer to this. Ray is playing on BETDAQ. If he left backs up on BETFAIR they would get swallowed by the SIS boys. At the moment it is quite possible that the SIS boys concentrate on BETFAIR, thus allowing Ray to clean up at The Purple Place.

[The Gambler.]

You beat me to it Ray.

[Andrew Rigby]

Ray/John,
Fair enough. As I said, I don't want to cast doubt over the blog - and thought it better to raise the question here rather than on the public forum. I guess the rules are different on Betdaq - I just know that if I put up a in-running back on Betfair, I need to cancel it a few seconds before each fence and then re-submit ! (a little tedious, so I don't do it very often !).
I appreciate your willingness to answer every question asked of you (no matter how hostile !) - this underpins your credibility.
Keep up the good work - and the blog, which continues to be as entertaining as it always has been.
Andrew.

[Bri]

Morning Ray

Have to agree with the Gambler on this one. In Ray's case he may be the bigger fish in a smaller pool. Betfair is where all the sharks feed. All the more reason to get on the Daq as you are less likely to get hoovered by Bots.

Keep up the good work Ray and I admire The Gambler's non chasing attitude to his golf misfortune.

Best of luck to you both

Bri

[Ray]

Hi John, Andrew & Bri,

Sorry for the delay in answering I have been out sorting some personal problems out. Good Luck to you all and thanks for your comments.

Ray

[The Gambler.]

Cheers Ray. :-).