The Sports Trader

Friday 16th November 2007

At last the Sports Trader has had a good day of trading. I traded on 16 UK horse races and 1 football match with just 1 losing trade.

My day started with 2 small winning trades and 1 small losing trade. In the 12:45 at Cheltenham I laid Top The Charts for £65 @ 3.20 and backed back £50 @ 4.00 which resulted in a profit of £15. My next 3 trades all resulted in small profits.

In the 13:55 at Cheltenham I laid The Rooney Man for £16 @ 88.00 and then laid Milord Lescribaa for £59 @ 8.00 before backing back £6 @ 11.00 and £9 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £60. Next came another small winning trade.

My next trade came at Cheltenham again, in the 14:30, where I laid Puntal for £61 @ 25.00 before backing back £30 @ 35.00 and £7 @ 40.00 to result in a profit of £26. I followed this with 2 more small winning trades.

Next was the 15:45 at Cheltenham and here I backed Imperial Commander for £80 @ 1.61 before laying off @ 1.43 to leave me with a profit of £20. I had one more small winning trade to finish my race trading for the day. 

I had managed to make a profit of £142 from my race trading.

I had arranged to out tonight so I only had a few minutes of football trading. I traded on the under 2.5 goals on the England v Bulgaria under 21 match. I backed the unders for £107 @ 1.55 and laid off at 1.36 to result in a profit of £20. I also backed the under 3.5 goals for £224 @ 1.01 to give me another £2.

My day had finished with a profit of £164.

Thursday 15th November 2007

It was a reasonable day for The Sports Trader after trading on 11 UK horse races and 1 snooker match with 1 losing trade.

My day started with 4 trades that all resulted in small profits. Then came my only loss on the day in the 14:25 at Clonmel, where I backed Emma Jane for £38 @ 1.77, when leading and on the run in, only to see her overhauled close to the finishing line, to cost me £38. My next race finished with a small profit.

In the 15:10 at Taunton I backed Swift Half for £86 @ 1.51 before laying all off @ 1.12 to result in a profit of £33. Next I had another small winning trade.

In the 15:30 at Ludlow I laid Hitaaf for £124 @ 2.10 before backing back £80 @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £24.

Next was the 15:55 at Clonmel and here I laid Sister Moira for £17 @ 66.00 to give me a profit of £17. My last race trade of the day finished with a small profit.

My race trading had therefore finished with a profit of £52.

After racing I traded on the snooker match between Higgins and Junhui. I only had 1 trade in the final frame when Higgins had secured the frame and this was for £5000 @ 1.01 to give me a profit of £50.

My day had finished with a profit of £102. 

Wednesday 14th November 2007

This was one of The Sports Traders quietest days of the year but it did end with a small positive result. I traded on just 9 UK horse races with 1 losing trade.

My day started with the 12:50 at Bangor where I backed Evelith Echo for £50 @ 2.20 before laying all off @ 2.00 to result in a profit of £10.

My only losing trade of the day came next, in the 13:00 at Lingfield, where I had backed She's Humble for £40 @ 2.00 when leading on the run-in, only to see her headed just before the line to cost me £40. My next 4 races all resulted in small profits.

In the 15:50 at Bangor I laid Domino Dancer for £10 @ 11.50 to give me a profit of £10.

Next was the 15:30 at Lingfield and here I backed Domenico for £400 @ 1.01 when well in the lead and approaching the finishing line. I also laid Beaufort at the same stage of the race for £12 @ 100.00 to result in a profit of £16. The final trade of my day finished with a small profit.

It was parents evening so I did not trade in the evening and my day had therefore finished with a profit of £6.

Tuesday 13th November 2007

It was another day and another mistake for the Sports Trader. I traded on 7 UK horse races and 1 football match with just 1 loss.

My day got underway with a small profit in the 12:40 at Kempton. Then in the 13:00 at Sedgefield I backed John Dillon for £286 @ 1.55 before laying off £108 @ 1.48 and the remaining £178 @ 1.29 to result in a profit of £70.

In the 14:05 at Sedgefield I backed Soulard for £229 @ 1.86 and laid this all off at 1.61. A little later I backed him again for £188 @ 1.50 and then laid off £47 @ 1.46 and £141 @ 1.19 to result in a profit of £103. I followed this up with 3 small, but profitable trades.

Then came my mistake in the 15:40 at Exeter. I had put up a lay for £155 @ 3.45 on Deep Quest whilst making mistakes at the 4th and 3rd fences from the finish. I had a visitor arrive and then one of my daughters came into my office and I started talking to her and totally forgot about my lay. It is unusual for me to have lays on the market for any length of time as they are normally either matched or I cancel them. In this case I left the lay up as I still thought the horse had little chance of winning and then with talking to others I forgot the trade and paid with a loss of £380 to wipe out what had been a decent day.

My race trading had finished with a loss of £186.

I had intended not to trade on football in the evening as I was still mad with myself for the error I had made earlier and that is not the best frame of mind to be in when trading. However, I did still watch the Bournemouth v Milton Keynes match. After the two early goals had been scored I was tempted to trade on some of the big prices on offer for the under 2.5 goals market but I still held off. Then I thought it would be good therapy to trade lightly on the match to rebuild my confidence. So I backed the unders for £12 @ 3.25 and laid off @ 3.00, then a very high price came on the screen and the value light went on in my head and I backed the unders for £90 @ 3.77 and a further £20 @ 3.55. I started to lay off @ 2.90 down to 3.08. I had a few more smaller trades and then at the end of the match I backed the unders for £54 @ 1.22, £50 @ 1.13 and £100 @ 1.11, this all resulted in a profit of £144, not bad considering I was only going to have a few small trades.

My day had finished with a loss of £42.

Today was also the anniversary of starting this blog and I would like to thank all the readers for your most welcomed support, ideas and good wishes throughout this year.

I have tided up the My Favourite Blogs listing on the left had side of this page by removing some of the links where there have been no updates recently and by adding two of the blogs that I regularly visit, these are Man Of Mystery and Betting Blogs, they are both a great read.

 

Monday 12th November 2007

The Sports Trader was having a reasonable day until the football where I can only conclude that greed got the better of me. I traded on 11 UK horse races and 1 football match with just one losing trade.

My first 5 race trades all resulted in small profits. In the 15:00 at Carlisle I laid Black Smoke for £30 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £30. The remaining 5 race trades of my day all finished with small profits.

My race trading had produced profits of £65.

Now the football match between Coventry and West Bromwich Albion. I backed the under 2.5 goals for £106 @ 2.10 before kick off and then laid all off within 5 minutes @ 2.00 as I had to make a few phone calls. When I got back to the match, with the score still at 0-0, I backed the unders for £600 @ 1.50 and proceeded to lay off @ 1.41 for £110, 1.38 for £50, 1.33 for £50, 1.25 for £100 and £100 @ 1.22. With my normal style of trading I would have laid off my outstanding liability by this time, however I thought that as no goals had been scored in the first half and now into the second half I would wait a little longer before laying off and then greening up. I could have had an all green £90 but I wanted to get the full £100. Then the goals started and I just held on to my position which ended up costing me £157. Another lesson learnt and duly paid for.

My day ended with a loss of £92.

Sunday 11th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a great day to more than make up for yesterday's losses. I traded 15 UK horse races and 1 football match.

My day got underway with a small but profitable trade. Then in the 13:10 at Hereford I had one of my best results since I started trading. I was quite fortunate that ATR were showing live pictures, and commentary from the 13:05 at Limerick instead of the Hereford race. I decided to concentrate on the Hereford race, as I always prefer to trade races with fewer runners, and in particular, if there is a short priced favourite, as was the case here. The race started off normally with all 6 runners well bunched up and Sowdrey, the favourite, tracking the leader at a price of around 1.40, then someone put up a back on him @ 1.20. I continued to watch when the favourite appeared to be running very green and not jumping well. He made a real blunder at the next hurdle and it was here that I laid him for £3689 @ 1.20. He started to race a little better and I put up backs on him @ 1.30 for £800. Again he started to run around, quite novicey, but I backed him for a further £600 @ 2.00 to leave me with a certain profit. whatever the result. He was soon pulled up with a suspected burst blood vessel and you can only imagine my delight at being left with a profit of £2294.

In the 13:50 at Market Rasen I backed Mamlook for £106 @ 1.50 and laid this off at 1.42. Later I backed him again for £632 @ 1.33 and laid off @ 1.28 for £178, 1.15 for £462 and 1.06 for £25 to result in a profit of £100. My next race trade ended with a small profit.

In the 14:20 at Market Rasen I had my first loss of the day as I backed Nez Rouge for £55 @ 1.60 when taking the lead, only to see him headed by the eventual winner, Minaad to cost me £55. My next trade finished with a small profit.

Next was the 14:30 at Kempton where I laid Fernlawn Hope for £1 @ 28.00 to cost me £27. Again my next race resulted in a small profit.

In the 14:50 at Market Rasen I laid No Guarantees for £22 @ 2.00, before backing back £10 @ 2.30, I then backed again for £10 @ 2.60 to result in a profit of £27. I had another small winning trade next.

Next I had my final 2 losing trades of the day, the first when I backed Fox 'n' Goose for £50 @ 1.50 for a loss of £50 in the 15:10 at Hereford and then in the 15:20 at Market Rasen I backed The Dark Lord for £50 @ 1.30 to cost me another £50. My final 3 race trades all resulted in small profits.

My race trading had produced a profit of £2274.

In the evening I only traded in the final few minutes of the Real Madrid v Mallorca football match where I backed Real Madrid for £314 @ 1.03 to give me a profit of £10.

My day had finished with a profit of £2284.

This has been a very good week for the Sports Trader with a total profit of £2827.

Saturday 10th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a very bad start to the day but things did improve later on. I traded on 15 UK horse races, 1 Flat Jockey Championship and 3 football matches, with 3 losing trades.

My day started off in the 12:35 at Kelso where I laid The Shy Man for £5 @ 5.00 to give me a losing start, costing me £20.

My second trade of the day ended in a similar way. This was the 12:40 at Wincanton where I backed Procas de Thaix for £23 @ 2.00, when challenging for the lead in the final furlong, only to see him beaten on the line by a short head to cost me another £23. My next 4 races all resulted in small profits.

The worst result I have had for a while came next in the 13:25 at Naas. I backed Montana Bay for £845 @ 1.45 when in the lead and looking quite comfortable at about 3 fences out. I put up a lay for the whole amount at 1.30, which, had it all been matched would have left me a decent potential profit, however, I only got £83 matched and he finished a close second so I managed to lose £762. I know this was a hefty loss but it is the type of trade I would willingly take on again everyday of the week, sometimes they just go against you. My next 5 trades all finished with small profits.

In the 15:35 at Sandown I laid Fields of Clover for £79 @ 4.30 to give me a profit of £79. My final 2 race trades of the day both resulted in small profits.

That was the end of my race trades and I finished with a loss of £686. I did have a few trades on the Flat Season Jockey Championship which helped me to claw back some of my losses. Early in the day I had backed Seb Sanders for £91 @ 1.20 and laid this off @ 1.15 then after the 2:05 where Jamie Spencer came 5th I lumped on Seb again for £1247 @ 1.18. At this stage Jamie needed to win on 2 out of his last 3 rides to take the championship away from Seb. I took the view that he was unlikely to win 2 more. I did lay off my liability @ 1.08 and then backed Seb again after the next for £250 @ 1.04 which resulted in a profit of £148. I have been a supporter of Seb Sanders all through the season but was pleased to see the pair share the title.

After racing I watched the Liverpool v Fulham football match and backed the under 2.5 goals for £457 @ 2.25 just before kick off. I started to lay off @ 2.11 and all the way down to 1.82. I then had 3 more lays to green up my position and give me £70 whatever the result.

I managed to see the final few minutes of the Stoke v Sheffield United match and backed Sheffield to win for £21 @ 1.14, £350 @ 1.06 and £21 @ 1.01 to result in a profit of £24.

My final event of the day was the Getafe v Barcelona football match. I backed Getafe for £41 @ 8.00 before the first goal and laid off £113 @ 2.86 to give me a profit of £73 again whatever the result.

My day had finished with a loss of £369, which is the first losing day I have had for 14 days.

Friday 9th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a quiet day of trading as my Au-Pair had the day off to go to a graduation ceremony. I ended up trading on 13 UK horse races but I did have 4 losing trades.

My day got under way with a small but profitable trade. In the 13:20 at Hexham I sustained my first losing result as I backed Hollows Mist for £50 @ 5.00 although I did also lay Cash On Friday for £9 @ 15.00 to reduce my loss to £41.

In the 13:40 at Fontwell I had another loss as I laid Big Al for £14 @ 5.20 to result in a loss of £60.

In the 13:50 at Hexham I backed Cash Man for £715 @ 1.12 to result in a profit of £86.

Next was the 14:20 at Hexham and here I backed Ice Tea for £80 @ 1.22 before laying all off @ 1.05 to result in a profit of £14.

In the 14:50 at Hexham I laid Neutrino for £25 @ 10.00 for a profit of £25. I followed this with 4 small winning trades and 1 small losing trade.

The worst result of my day came next, in the 21:10 at Dundalk, where I laid First In Line for £40 @ 3.20 to cost me £88.

Fortunately my best result was to come in the 21:20 at Wolverhampton where I started with a back of £50 @ 2.59 on Spirit of Coniston before realising I had got this wrong but I then managed to lay the same horse for £200 @ 3.00 to result in a profit of £150.

My day had finished with a profit of £95.

Thursday 8th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a reasonable day after missing the early races. I traded on 7 UK horse races, 1 cricket match, 1 football match and 1 tennis match and had 2 losing trades through the day.

My first trade was in the 13:00 @ Musselburgh where I laid Desert Hawk for £61 @ 22.00 to result in a profit of £61.

In the 13:15 at Thurles I backed Optimus Prime for £452 @ 1.03 for a profit of £14.

My only losing race trade on the day was in the 13:50 at Huntingdon where I laid Calusa Caldera for £100 @ 1.20 to cost me £20.

Next was the 14:15 at Thurles and here I backed Rindoon for £100 @ 2.08 before laying off @ 1.90 to give me a profit of £18. My next trade ended with a small profit.

In the 15:20 at Huntingdon I laid Bauhaus for £42 @ 3.00 before backing back £28 @ 4.00 and then towards the end of the race I laid Bauhaus again for £52 @ 50.00 to result in a profit of £65. My last race trade of the day resulted in a small profit.

My race trading had produced a profit of £139.

In the early evening I managed to watch the final 4 overs of the One Day International cricket match between India and Pakistan. I backed Pakistan for £30 @ 1.38 and £50 @ 1.08 before laying off £80 @ 1.02 to result in a profit of £14.

Later I watched the Aberdeen v Lokomotiv Moscow UEFA Cup match. I backed the under 2.5 goals for £183 @ 1.77 and laid off between 1.72 and 1.16 to result in a profit of £20. I also backed the draw for £50 @ 1.15 and a further £26 @ 1.04 to give me another £8 profit.

After the football I watched the tennis match between Jankovic and Chakvetadze and ended up losing £35 as I backed Jankovic for £36 @ 2.20 just before she had her service game broken and I had little chance of trading out.

My day had finished with a profit of £145.

 

Wednesday 7th November 2007

The Sports Trader had a good day after trading on 11 UK horse races and 1 Football match with no losing trades.

My first 8 race trades all resulted in small profits. The best result of my day came in the 14:55 at Nottingham where I backed Cuban Missile for £555 @ 1.03 to result in a profit of £83. My next race trade resulted in another small profit.

The last race trade of my day was in the 16:10 at Chepstow and here I laid Charlotte Street for £200 @ 5.84 and then backed back £150 @ 6.09 and a further £9 @ 12.00 to result in a profit of £41.

My race trading had produced a profit of £146.

I had an interesting evening of trading on football as my eldest son Oliver (21) brought his lap top round to my house and wanted me to start teaching him how I trade. As you know, I always advise new traders to start trading on the under 2.5 goals markets, with small stakes and profit targets, to build their confidence and banks. We decided to trade the Barcelona v Rangers match. Oliver had deposited £100 into his account so I advised he used no more than £10 stakes at any time, which is a lot bigger percentage of a bank than I would normally use. I also advised that he should be looking to make 1% of his bank. A 1% profit / day may sound very low, in particular with a small starting bank, but the original £100, as in this case, would grow into £3700 after 1 year and over £140K after 2 years. By then end of this match Oliver had produced a profit of over 3% as he traded in and out of the market a few times riding the steep price declines that happen at particular times of most matches.

I started the match with a back of the unders for £100 @ 2.46 before kick off. I had put up a lay @ 2.30 but by the time the first goal was scored none of my lay had been matched. I therefore backed the unders for £50 @ 4.40 in the reformed market. I then started to lay off @ 3.40 and all the way down to 2.66. I partially greened up with a lay @ 1.80 for £20. In the final minute of injury time I backed the unders again for £520 @ 1.15 and laid off within 20 seconds @ 1.06. This had resulted in a profit of £82.

My day had finished with a total profit of £228.