Quick catch up

Result since last update: £211.25

I've mainly been concentrating on the 2nd test between England and the West Indies since my post about the Betfair new commission rates. Not been having the best of times on it but have at least managed to pick up some profit on some of the side markets. Add that on to a quick dip into tonight's Wigan v Hull rugby league and that's where the profit since the last update comes from.

As for the test itself I just haven't been on song. The best move I've made so far was catching the draw price at 3.0 when some of the firms went up with their initial prices. I eventually effectively arbed this today in another Betfair account when it was becoming apparent it was that or lose the stake, but even then I missed the sub 2.0 prices on the draw and effectively lost out on a few hundred pounds extra profit. I don't normally bother arbing but as the West Indies started losing wickets you could just smell the proverbial Calypso Callapso!

The weather has been frustrating in as much as it simply hasn't arrived! And the forecast has improved markedly from the doom laden washout we were being promised just a few days ago. That said, tomorrow will see the worst of it so I dumped some England green at 1.13 at the end of play today and hope to get it back higher at some point before play resumes.

My overall book on the game isn't looking that great. About £150 green all round if I was to level out. But in practice I have reds of over £2k each on the West Indies and the draw. Kicking myself I'm not in a better position. Really missed the boat several times in the match so far. I've already mentioned missing the pre match swings by trying to be too greedy. Worse was today though. My reading of the various weather sites I use was that the weather simply wasn't going to be as bad as the market thought. The market was insistent though. And I just didn't have the courage of my convictions to lay the draw heavily. No doubt partly due to the fact that I was effectively several hundred red all results at the time. Any rain would have crashed the draw price. And I couldn't have predicted the scale of the Windies' batting collapse either.

Still, opportunities may have been missed but the bottom line is I'm in ok shape and, fingers crossed, should be able to increase my green before the match finishes. You can't beat yourself up over these things. On another day I'll get it all right and be all smiles. Just can't do it all the time. And anyway, we've also been treated to some fantastic batting - a double century from Kevin Pietersen and a century from Michael Vaughan on his return to test cricket - which has made game great to watch for several periods.

What else? Well, following the new commission point structure I've booked a Betfair points holiday for next week. Will probably do the darts, some tennis and the domestic day / nighter but figure I won't make as many points as I'll lose in this week's 15% weekly decay. By taking the holiday I'll be on a 6% reduction rate. Not quite the 10% I would have been on without the change but better than the 4% I'd be on without the holiday. I need to take one anyway so it seemed as good a time as any. I'm sure a fair few people will be doing the same to save a bit of commission.

Anyway, that's that. Pub time. Be lucky and catch up again soon.