The Sports Trader

Thursday 31st May 2007

It has been another slow day for the Sports Trader. The good news is that I now have Be broadband on line but my new computer is not ready yet, it should be with me by early next week. So far I am very impressed with the service from Be broadband but I will wait until I get my new computer before trying it out for speed. I think the fact that I know I am losing out on trades, due to my existing computer and internet connection both under-performing, I am not really trying to trade in my normal way. I did trade on 8 horse races today.

My first two trades were both small winning ones. My first loss of the day came in the 16:20 at Ayr where I laid Trance for £13 @ 6.20 to loose me £68.

In the 16:50 at Ayr I laid Prospect Place for £90 @ 5.20 when sitting in third position and making no headway on the leaders to result in a profit of £90.

Next was the 17:20 at Ayr where I backed Baileys Outshine for £767 @ 1.10 whilst in the lead and close to the finishing line to result in a profit of £ 77.

In the 20:10 at Sedgefield I backed Thedublinpublican for £57 @ 2.41, intending to lay off but was caught with no possibility to trade out to cost me a loss of £57. I had two more small trades to finish my day, one of which was a loser and the other a winner.

My day had finished with a profit of £48.

That is the end of another month and one that has seen me struggle to maintain the level of profitability that I had been getting used to this year. I finished the month with a profit of £4463.

Wednesday 30th May 2007

Well it has been a non event for the Sports Trader today. I did trade in 6 horse races and 1 football match but ended all square on the day.

My first race trade was in the 14:20 at Cartmel which ended with a small profit. My best race result came next in the 15:30 at Cartmel where I backed Westfield Dancer for £28 @ 2.20 and laid all this off @ 1.77. Later in the race when well in control of the race I backed him again for £175 @ 1.35 to result in a profit of £74.

My worst result came next in the 15:45 at Brighton where I backed Shaheer for £143 @ 2.00 when regaining the lead with 2 furlongs to go. He was headed again inside the final furlong and I could not trade out of the situation. I therefore lost £143.

In the 17:15 at Cartmel I laid Welsh Dream for £44 @ 9.60 and backed back £24 @ 16.00 to result in a profit of £20.

In the 20:00 at Leopardstown I made a complete horlicks of things and managed to back Fancy Dance for £67 @ 4.00 instead of lay. You can probably tell my mind hasn't been fully on the job this last few weeks and this is what you can expect when not concentrating 100%.

My next and last race trade resulted in a small loss. So my race trading had finished with a loss of £123.

As soon as the horse racing had finished I turned my attention to the International friendly football match between Austria and Scotland. With the score at  0 - 1 and well into the second half I backed the under 1.5 goals market for £17 @ 1.80 and then with 88 minutes on the clock I backed Scotland to win for £1000 @ 1.11 to result in a profit of £124 on the match.

My day had finished with a £1 profit.

Tuesday 29th May 2007

The Sports Trader has had another decent day whilst trading on 13 horse races and only 1 loss.

My first 2 trades were both small winning ones. In the 15:45 at Redcar I laid Murbeck for £26 @ 5.00 when just overtaken by Tartan Tie around 2 furlongs form the finish to result in a profit of £26. I followed this with another 3 small winning trades.

My best result of the day came next in the 17:00 at Leicester where I backed Yerevan for £60 @ 2.00 to result in a profit of £60. My next 2 trades were both small winning ones.

My next trade came in the 20.00 at Ballinrobe where I laid Simple Approach for £76 @ 6.40 and then backed back £36 @ 12.00 to finish with a profit of £40.

In the 20:40 at Hexham I suffered my only loss of the day when I laid Royal Glen for £2 @ 13.00 to lose £24. My day finished with a further 2 small winning trades.

I had finished the day with a total profit of £153.

Monday 28th May 2007

The Sports Trader has started the week with a decent result after trading in 17 horse races and 1 darts match with just 1 losing trade.

The first result to report is from Sunday nights Crowne Plaza Invitational Golf tournament as this finished after midnight and therefore the result comes into my Monday results. I only followed the final 2 holes and the play off and managed to back Rory Sabbatini for £14 @ 2.25 and £13 @ 1.17 to result in a profit of £19.

My first race trade of the day ended with a small profit. In the 14:25 at Cartmel I laid Pont Neuf for £40 @ 10.00 to result in a profit of £40. I followed this with 2 more small winning trades.

In the 15:50 at Redcar I laid Hassaad for £40 @ 6.80 and backed back £10 @ 10.00 to result in a profit of £30. Next I had 3 small trades, one of which was a loss.

In the 17:00 at Redcar I laid Let It Be for £15 @ 4.00 for a profit of £15. I had a similar result in the 17:30 at Redcar where I laid Hatton Flight for £15 @ 11.00. Next I had 2 more small winning trades.

In the 19:00 at Ballinrobe I backed Jawad for £120 @ 1.10 and a further £322 @ 1.01 to result in a profit of £15.

My next trade was in the 19:30 at Ballinrobe where I laid The Boxer Coffey for £23 @ 8.50 for a profit of £23. My race trading finished with three more small profits which left me with a profit on the day of £175.

In tonights Premier League darts finals I traded in the Barneveld v Jenkins match and started with a back of Jenkins for £253 @ 1.40 which I laid off @ 1.35 for £153 and £100 @ 1.32. Later I backed him again for £160 @ 1.19 and laid off @ 1.06 for £130 and later, when Barney started to improve his game I laid Jenkins for £12 @ 1.93 to result in a profit of £26.

My day had finished with a profit of £220.

Sunday 27th May 2007

The Sports Trader had a pretty dismal day with race trading but managed to recover on football later. I traded in 13 horse races and 2 football matches.

My day started off with 2 small winning trades. Then in the 15:25 at Uttoxeter my losses started as I laid Ruby Dante for £7 @ 7.60 when she made a serious mistake at about half distance only to see her make another mistake 2 out and then go on to win by a neck so I ended up with a loss of £46. I followed this with a small winning trade.

In the 15:50  at Newmarket I laid Pearly Wey for £39 @ 15.00 to result in a profit of £39 and I followed up with another small winning trade.

In the 16:15 at Fontwell I laid Mountsorrel for £10 @ 16.00  and also laid  La Griffe for £10 @ 1.01 and then made a major blunder in trying to back La Griffe at 1.6 for £10, when not watching what I was doing managed to back La Griffe for £116 @ 1.01 to result in loss of £96. The price had changed just before I hit the submit button and I hadn't realised.

More losses where to come next in the 16:20 at Tralee where I backed Jimmy Spot On for £60 @ 2.91 and just could not get matched with my lay so I lost a further £60. I followed this with 3 small winning trades.

In the 17:20 at Tralee I laid Smuggler's Song for £30 @ 2.79 and again could not trade out so I was left with a loss of £53. I had one more race trade on the day which resulted in a small profit, so my race trading had ended for the day with a loss of £196.

I decided to trade the under 2.5 goals market on the Gimnastic v Atletico Madrid football match. I had missed the start of the game and when I started trading the score was 0 - 1. My first trade was to back the unders for £348 @ 2.01 which I laid off between 1.88 and 1.70 for £300. The second goal came and I backed the unders again for £120 @ 2.03 which laid off @ 1.80. I had another 10 trades which were all quick in and out trades just scalping a few points each time and finished the game with a decent profit of £263.

In my second Spanish football match of the night, the clash between Sevilla and Real Zaragoza, I backed the unders, before kick off, for £595 @ 2.25 and laid back £68 @ 2.18 again before the kick off. Once the match got under way I laid off £425 @ 2.01, £101 @ 1.93 and £104 @ 1.76. With 15 minutes of the game played I had a position of £105 profit on the unders and £50 profit on the overs. After the first goal had been scored I backed the unders for £100 @ 2.25 and laid this off @ 2.18. I then made a series of small lays to further green up my position and before the second goal had been scored I had an all green profit of £90 whatever the result. I turned the tv over to watch Kingdom and didn't trade any more.

My day had therefore finished with a profit of £157.

My week has finished with a disappointing profit of £494.

Saturday 26th May 2007

It was not a good day for the Sports Trader. I traded on 15 horse races and 1 football match but ended up losing due to 1 losing horse race trade.

My day started off very slowly with 6 small winning trades and then came my big mistake of the day in the 15:40 at Haydock where I laid Tobosa for £80 @ 7.00 when having serious traffic problems at about the 1 furlong marker. By the time he started to make his way through the field the price had dropped to 4.40 where I backed him for £30 and later as it became clear he would win I backed him again for £500 @ 1.10 and £325 @ 1.01 to leave me nursing a loss of £327.

My next trade was a small winning one. In the 16:25 at Newmarket I backed Jaleela for £282 @ 1.30 to give me a profit of £85.

In the 17:10 at Beverley I laid Augustine for £13 @ 6.00 for a profit of £13 and I followed this with 2 more small winning trades.

Next was the 18:45 at Stratford where I laid Allumee for £28 @ 25.00 to result in a profit of £28. My race trading finished with 2 more small winning trades which left me with a loss of £175 on the day.

In the evening I decided to trade the Real Madrid v Deportivo La Coruna football match. I traded my favoured under 2.5 goals market and had a total of 28 trades but ended with a loss of £50. I had got into a position of a profit on the unders of £285 and a loss on the overs of £50. I had my last lay next in the queue which would have left me with £100 either result but just missed out by the third goal being scored. All this trading was in a fifteen  minute spell before and just after half time. I did have a small trade on the correct score market in the final couple of minutes by backing 3 - 1 for £46 @ 1.34 to give me a profit of £16.

So my day had ended with a loss of £209.

Friday 25th May 2007

It was a quite day of trading for the Sports Trader with only 13 races and 1 football match traded. The children had a holiday so I took them all out in the morning and by the time I had dropped them off with my eldest daughter, Jenny, I had missed the start of the race trading day.

My first trade was in the 14:55 at Newmarket where I backed Chantilli Tiffany for £101 @ 1.50 when leading with 2 furlongs to go which resulted in a profit of £51. I followed this with a small winning trade.

In the 15:45 at Goodwood I backed Record Breaker for £100 @ 2.40 and laid off almost immediately @ 2.10 to secure a profit of £30. I followed this with another small winning trade.

My next trade was in the 19:40 at Wexford where I backed Souvenance for £140 @ 1.25 when travelling well an in command of the race to result in a profit of £35.

Next came my first losing trade of the day when I backed College Ace for £27 @ 4.80 in the 19:45 at Stratford, when regaining the lead at the 14th fence. I put up a lay to cover my liability but could not get matched as he soon started to lose his position and I ended up losing £27.

Worse was to come in the 20:00 at Pontefract where I laid Colorado Rapid for £35 @ 3.00 to result in a loss of £70.

My next trade was in the 20:15 at Stratford where I laid Maximoss for £50 @ 4.00 and then backed back £20 @ 6.00 and £15 @ 8.00 to leave me with a profit of £15.

The best result of my day came in the 20:25 at Tipperary where I laid Square Ball for £100 @ 4.00 before laying off £15 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £85. I followed this with a small losing trade.

In the 20:55 at Tipperary I backed Your Sum Man for £40 @ 3.50 and laid all off @ 2.50. Towards the end of the race I backed him again for £140 @ 1.10 to result in a profit of £54. Next and my last for the day was another small winning trade.

My race trading had finished with a profit of £176.

After racing I decided to watch the second half of the England B v Albania football match. With the score at 3 -1 I decided to lay the correct score of  3 - 2 for £24 @ 12.00 which resulted in a profit of £24.

My day had ended with a profit of £200.

Thursday 24th May 2007

The Sports Trader has made more progress on my new IT set up today as a very decent BT engineer came round today and installed my new line. As soon as he had finished I completed an on-line application for the  Be.com 24 Meg broadband service, which is the fastest in the UK, and within an hour they had emailed, and sent me a text message, saying that the new service would be installed in 7 days time. I thought that was brilliant service. I am looking forward to using my new system next week and it looks like there may well be a lot more liquidity on Betdaq by then as many Betfair customers are taking the new increased commission structure very badly and are plotting to boycott the Betfair site. I can not see their rationale for increasing commission rates as surely increased turnover at the same rate is the way to get better profits.

I traded in 11 horse races today with 2 losing trades and my first trade was in the 14:10 at Bangor where I laid Go Solo for £13 @ 6.00 and Barton Legend for £19 @ 9.00 before backing back £8 @ 15 on Barton Legend to result in a profit of £24. My next two trades where both small winning trades.

My first loss of the day came in the 15:20 at Bangor as I laid Ice Tea for £9 @ 6.00 when in sixth place and looking held but I had got this one wrong and could not trade out so I suffered a loss of £48. I followed this with two more small winning trades.

In the 16:30 at Bangor I backed Johnston's Swallow for £150 @ 2.60 before laying off @ 2.40. Next I backed him again for £100 @ 2.00 and laid this off @ 1.59 to result in a profit of £71.

The next at Bangor was the 17:05 and here I laid Beau Nash for £50 @ 25.00 and backed Eleazar for £24 @ 1.50 to give me a profit of £62. Next was a small winning trade.

My second and final loss on the day came in the 19:30 at Clonmel where I backed Warrior Drive for £7 @ 2.62 which I laid off @ 2.00. Later I backed him again whilst leading for £25 @ 1.75 only to see him fall at the 2nd last to cost me a £25 loss.

My final trade of the day was also my best and was in the 20:00 at Clonmel. I backed Prince Massini for £2034 @ 1.88 whilst in the lead and looking to be going very well. I also had in mind the way the price had shortened up just before the start of the race and the fact that my favourite jockey, Ruby Walsh, was on board. Soon after my back I started to lay off @ 1.75 for £70, £861 @ 1.66, a further £792 @ 1.66 and £7 @ 1.28 before I cancelled the rest of my lays to leave me with a profit of £638 on the race.

So I had finished a good day with a profit of £737.

Wednesday 23rd May 2007

It has been a quite day on the trading front for the Sports Trader. I only traded on 10 horse races all day. I spent time with my friend the computer expert and we have more or less settled on the final spec for my new computer. I had already bought an AMD 64 x2 6000+ Dual Core processor which will be the heart of my new machine. I will detail the final spec one day next week when I take delivery of it.

My first trade was in the 15:30 at Kelso where  I had laid Possextown for £17 @ 3.40 before backing back @ 3.50 and at the last hurdle I backed Megaton for £340 @ 1.20 to result in a profit of £69. My next 4 trades where all small winning ones.

In the 19:40 at Huntingdon I laid King's Head for £50 @ 2.70 and later backed back £14 @ 4.50 and £6 @ 7.00 to result in a profit of £31. My next trade was a small losing one.

My worst result of the day was next in the 20:10 at Huntingdon where I laid Cape Stormer for £33 @ 2.00 to leave me with a loss of £33.

In the 20:20 at Sedgefield I backed Programme Girl for £75 @ 1.66 for a £50 profit. My final race trade of the day was in the 20:30 at Sligo where I laid Definite for £13 @ 50.00 when well behind the leaders in the final furlong.

So my day had finished with a profit of £136.

I did watch the Champions League Final but didn't trade as I just wanted to enjoy the spectacle.

Important News Flash - Liverpools Secret Weapon

The Sports Trader can exclusively reveal that the entire Liverpool squad have been relaxing in the build up to tonight's Champions League final with one of our own - non other than The Smiling Assassin aka Philip Wilson.

 

I have copied an extract from today's Belfast Telegraph for you to read and enjoy. It is also good to hear that The Smiling Assassin blog will soon be up and running again after a break of a few months.

Our new pals ... the Reds squad

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

By Claire McNeilly

An Ulsterman will be cheering on his new pals in tonight's Champions League football final.

That's because Philip Wilson has just spent five days in the sun with the Liverpool squad who take on AC Milan in the showdown in Athens.

Belfast man Philip (35), his wife Gillian (34) and their six- month-old daughter Eva went to the exclusive Spanish resort La Manga for a break as Gillian's maternity leave drew to a close.

Instead, they found themselves sharing a hotel with Rafael Benitez and his men who were acclimatising for the big game.

Philip, a computer trader, has always been a Reds' fan, but he says his wife - who has never watched his team play - will also be glued to the screen tonight, now that she knows the players.

"I met all of the players," he said. "It was brilliant. I have been an absolutely diehard fan since I was seven and I literally got to spend five days with the team.

"I thought I would have been starstruck, but I just found that I had a thousand questions to ask (them) about football tactics."

Peter Crouch, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler and Xabi Alonso were among the big guns hanging with the Wilsons - as well as Philip's hero, Reds' captain, Steven Gerrard.

"There only seemed to be two or three other couples apart from us and we were allowed to sit and chat to the players," said Philip.

"When I met Gerrard, he seemed to have a lot on his mind. Crouch, Carragher and Fowler were great craic though. They went out of their way to sign autographs for people."

The Liverpool lads also charmed primary school teacher Gillian.

"My wife thought some of them were very attractive," Philip admitted. "She doesn't like football at all, but she was very impressed at just how nice some of the players were.

"A lot of the guys have children of their own and Daniel Agger and Mark Gonzalez even spent time teaching Eva how to swim."

"I will never forget that holiday the rest of my life."

With his feet now back in Ulster, Philip, who plays rugby for Belfast Harlequins, will support his side from the sofa tonight.

"I would absolutely love to have gone to the Olympic Stadium, but the prices are exorbitant," he said.

"But we'll be watching the match - and I think they're going to win."