Err, yeah. So I've been away. Bit longer than planned as it happens. Ok. Much longer then. So sorry about that. I'd planned a short break but with so many other things going on guess i just got lazy about restarting it all. Nice to see some Betfair forum diehards hassling me every now and then to start up again though. Thanks for the support and for better or worse here I am. Blogging again. I don't know, I must be mad. And as for you reading my ramblings.... ;-)
One of the interesting things about stopping was seeing all the theories as to why I had. I'm sure I said I was going to and explained why before I did. And I did try to answer the question on various Betfair Forum threads several times. Some of the explanations I came across were that I was a Betfair plant, had done my bank and nads in or had just made the whole thing up. While one cheeky fecker decided I had succombed to early marital pressures and was under my new wife Emma's thumb and unable to trade! (Cheers for that one pj!) Well, all are wrong :-) Truth is I'm still trading. More than ever in fact.
So some of the questions I've been asked the most via email / MSN over the last few months...
Will you be starting the blog up again?
Yes! From now. But it will be different. I got bored of the daily grind of talking about how much I'd won or lost and why. At first it seemed an interesting thing to do. And it was a nice way of keeping up to date with how much I'd saved for my wedding.
Once the wedding and honeymoon was sorted I kind of lost interest though. Tried a new challenge to turn the £1k into £100k but again that just meant I ended up droning on about how much I'd won or lost even more. It just got a bit dull to write to be honest. I much preferred discussing the various trading ideas / techniques / theories that we all use. So that's what I intend to do going forward. Not as many updates. But hopefully ones that are of more interest. Or more interesting for me to write anyway. Sure I'll discuss some wins and losses if there is something worth chatting about. But just not every day with a running tally.
How's the trading going? Done your bank or made the £100k?
It's going well thanks :-) Though no, I haven't turned the £1k into £100k. With a little luck maybe I'll get to mention that one day soon. :-) I have been trading a lot though. And although I will shy from mentioning figures as much as in the past I'll post up last month's results to give an idea of how I've been doing recently. Partly to show I didn't do my bollocks in. And also because it was my best month to date on Betfair and I was bloody pleased with it!
That said it hasn't all been plain sailing. A couple of months ago I had my first losing month on Betfair since starting the blog in May 2006. It wasn't a big loss and I was not all doom and gloom about it. Disappointed yes but it was still a profitable month. Only though because my attentions are increasingly focussed on other betting and trading opportunities in conjunction with Betfair. I still use Betfair the most but since the wedding have increasingly used bookmakers and spread firms to try to maximise any profit available from my reading of the various in running situations I come across in the events I trade. Can't think why I hadn't explored this properly before as it can add a fair bit to the bottom line so a big thankyou to the people who've pointed me in the right direction in doing this. You know who you are!
Can you tell me how to make money on Betfair?
I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said I've had thousands of emails asking this since starting the blog. I used to try to reply to them all but just couldn't keep up in the end. Basically I don't have an easy step by step guide and anyway there are people out there who are far smarter traders than me who make a lot more money than I ever will. I guess I just found some ideas that work for me and overtime if you look hard enough maybe you will too. I've discussed a lot of my ideas and strategies on the blog in the past and will do so going forward so perhaps that might be a place to start.
So what else? Well the the betting blogosphere seems to have changed a lot since I stopped. Many blogs appear to have died a death while John's over at The Gambler has turned into an enjoyable read about all things life rather than gambling. Especially pleased to see Mark Iverson is still going strong and that Matt over at Punt has managed at least the odd update! Just hope Ray over at The Sports Trader gets the bug again someday soon. Anyway, guess I'll get round to updating the links to them all sometime soon. If you have a gambling blog and want a link just let me know and I'll add one when I change them.
Right, that's it for now. Rambled on a bit longer than expected there but hope it answered some questions. I'll be busy trading the Trent Bridge test match over the next few days but hopefully will get round to updating again sometime soon. See you then hopefully!
Well that's a bit surprising! Mainly because I didn't really get too involved in anything between Christmas and New Year. Did a lot a eating, drinking and family stuff so missed the start and end of the two test matches, traded a set or two of darts and a a single quarter of an NFL match. Looking at the result maybe I should take this less hands on approach into the New Year!
Obviously pleased the results. Nice bit of unexpected green to add to December's results. My most successful market was the first test between South Africa and West Indies. Only caught a few sessions really but there were some absolutely staggering prices available. Knowing I was unable to do much of the match, including the scheduled end, I just kept my liabilities limited and my position in such a way that I could leave it at any moment. I know I discussed the price on the 3rd night / start of the 4th day with some people on MSN but I'm aware it still smacks a little of aftertiming to say the the price on South Africa seemed sheer lunacy. From memory everyone and their dog on the Betfair cricket forum was of a similar view so I'm sure some very nice wins were landed. As it is I couldn't do the start of the 4th day so just left my book in an all green position with some weighting towards the West Indies. Was able to look in later in the day but by then the West Indies were 1.2x and I'd missed all the real action. Still, there's more to life than trading and despite the missed opportunity I'm more than happy with the result.
Anyway, I'll tot it all up another time but from a quick look through my results I'm staggered. It appears I've made over £45k profit this year - while still trading with a £1k bank for the first few months. Tell you something now - if you'd offered me that kind of result at the start of the year when I was still saving for my wedding I'd have wripped your hand, elbow and arm clean off!
Anyway, off to celebrate the new year now. Hope you and yours have a great one tonight and 2008 is a winning year for you. Happy New Year!
So I didn't get round to trading that late NFL match last night as I got sidelined. Ended up watching The Hustler again which is always worth a viewing. :-)
Anyway, just thought I'd say Merry Christmas and all that. Thanks for reading the blog this year and hope you have a good one over the festive season and that Santa delivers a few winners for you.
Whoa! I said there could be some dynamite trading opportunities in the last two days of the final test between Sri Lanka and England and it looks like traders that involved weren't let down. Sri Lanka were 1.2x at the time of writing from memory. I believe the draw hit a similar price on day 4 before blowing to 2.7x + on the fifth - and then rushing back in to 1.01! Sure there were some small fortunes won and lost on that little lot.
As I mentioned in my last blog entry I was unable to get involved in the last couple of days. Was spending some time in London with Emma. All good fun and refreshing to have a few days away from trading. Even is the christmas shopping crowds were little short of a nightmare!
The profit since the last update mainly comes from that final test. Had greened out for a reasonable win despite the result before heading off to London. Took a £200 hit on Sangakarra as top Sri Lankan batsman for the series but some profit on today's NFL more than accounted for that and left me with just shy of £1k profit on Betfair since the last update. Happy with that! Also made a bit elsewhere having got the draw with some books at 6/4 early doors as previously mentioned elsewhere. Didn't let that run but layed it off at various odds on prices elsewhere to effectively hedge for an equal all green position on that too. Smiles pretty much all round on the trading front then. Certainly helped out with buying some Christmas presents anyway :-)
Anyway, may do some of this late NFL game shortly before another few days away from trading. Will be back with another entry tomorrow anyway.
It seems I keep starting new posts with apologies for not updating the blog more regularly recently but again things have been both very busy with normal work and I've also been snowed under preparing for some changes to my trading in the new year. Both on Betfair, the results for which I record on this blog - and the other exchanges / bookmakers and spread firms I use.
I was considering finishing the blog at the end of the year but sentiment and a few encouraging messages (thanks) have more or less persuaded me to keep it going. That said I'll probably change the format from a daily results round up to more of a notepad for my thoughts on trading and comments on various events. Something more along the lines of Punt I guess. But with a few more updates ;-) I don't know. If I do that I'll explain my reasoning at a later date as some at least might find it interesting. See how I feel after the festive period I guess.
As for my trading since the last update. Well, not managed to look in on the darts yet but have done some Twenty 20, NFL and ODIs and that's what makes up the green. Had a nice early green wiped out in an abandoned ODI but not much I can do about that. On the down side I've a £200 loss on Sangakarra as top Sri Lankan series batsmen to book soon. But more than making up for that is an all green position on the Galle test between Sri Lanka and England.
The rest of the test could provide some dynamite trading opportunities but I'm not going to be able to get involved further. Am off to London in the morning to do some shopping before taking Emma to the ballet for her annual Nutcracker fix. Staying over and going out for drinks and dinner too. Should be a great little break and will be back at some point over the weekend when I'll update again.
It's great to see cricketers back in whites. Competing at "proper" cricket in a true test of tactical savvy, concentration and endurance. But while I love test cricket - and especially trading it - recent matches have proved tough for me. Just not been getting them quite right - at least on the exchanges - and keep being left to look at what could have been.
The two tests earlier this month were a little hit and miss for me - winning on one, losing on the other - and the end of yesterday's third test between India and Pakistan proved to be another frustrating one. Eventually made a tiny profit on the game - from what had been a moderate one - when, realistically 12 balls away from an agreed draw, Pakistan embarked on a suicide mission losing wickets almost as quick as I could utter abuse in their general direction!
The end of today's second test between Sri Lanka and England bought better news and is where most the profit since the last update comes from. Always happy with a profit but can see where I went wrong earlier in the match which ultimately cost me a far larger win.
Anyway, I've done a review of my trading in the last few tests to try and see exactly where I've not been getting things quite right. Always useful to review relatively poor performances and all worth bearing in mind as we go forward to the final test at Galle next week. And, indeed, over the next couple of months where there is a pretty full test cricket schedule that will hopefully provide some nice profits!
Nothing like a bit of Twenty 20 to get the old blood pumping. Enjoyed today's smack and run fest between Australia and New Zealand. Made a nice distraction from the two tests that are grinding along at the moment and added some green to the monthly balance.
Only transferred over a little money to the Australian wallet for the match. Decided I didn't want to get involved too heavily but was happy to have a go. I got on the Aussies fairly early, was in and out a few times but essentially as they racked up 186 it was always likely to be too much for for New Zealand to chase.
As indeed it was. Only saw the first 5 overs or so of the Black Cap reply. By then the price was 1.01 and I was out of the market and back on the test matches. Not looked up what their final score was but it was looking pretty woeful when I left the game. Anyway, not complaining. Made around £370 on the match. The other £55 or so came from a couple of quick look ins on some NFL earlier in the week.
Was an interesting story to come out of the Twenty 20. Aussie state cricketer Luke Pomersbach was parking up at the WACA with his girlfriend to watch the match when he got a call from the Aussie team asking if he could play! Brad Hodge had hurt his back in the dressing room and instead of watching the match with his paid for ticket in the stands Pomerbach took to the field and picked up 15 from 7 balls at the innings' death - including a 6 and a 4. One of the stranger international debuts you're likely to come across!
again which is always worth a viewing. :-)
