Wow. Yesterday was simply the most amazing day of my life.
Off on honeymoon shortly. Be back in 3 weeks.
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
I'm back
Daily Result: £373.94
Well that was all a bit messy. Four days of drunken excess in Spain for my stag and I feel like I've aged about 10 years. Which I guess is better than the 15 years or so it looks like I have. Think it's fair to say we went for it and comfortably surpassed expectations! It's all a bit hazy but I arrived home knackered, safe and in one piece. So well done the Best Man. Job's a good'un. :-)
Had the mother of all lie ins today but just about made it up in time for the Pro40 match between Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. Given all the flooding while I was away I wasn't expecting to do any cricket but when I realised there was a real prospect of getting a full game in I decided to give it a go. Small stakes for the most part just to ease back into things so was more than happy with the £370 or so profit.
Not much to say about the game really except Warwickshire got off to a good start with the bat and then blew it. Had an awful end to their innings which resulted in a below par score of 191 that Nottinghamshire knocked off with ease. Swann's 80 off 53 negated the much discussed floodlight effect as by the time they started to kick in the required run rate was around 3. Notts eventually wrapped the match up to win by 6 wickets with 50 balls to spare.
Had a very quick peek into the darts after. Just a few legs of the Terry Jenkins v John Part match at the World Matchplay. Hope to fit in a few matches during the tournament and just wanted to check out what the picture delay was like. All seemed fine so hopefully I'll get a look in tomorrow.
Looks like I missed some carnage in the England v India test match from Lords. Must have been some big winners and losers on that little lot. Looking forward to getting stuck into the second test but fear it could become another 5 day weather watch. Still, at least the darts can keep us all busy if it rains. :-)
Well that was all a bit messy. Four days of drunken excess in Spain for my stag and I feel like I've aged about 10 years. Which I guess is better than the 15 years or so it looks like I have. Think it's fair to say we went for it and comfortably surpassed expectations! It's all a bit hazy but I arrived home knackered, safe and in one piece. So well done the Best Man. Job's a good'un. :-)
Had the mother of all lie ins today but just about made it up in time for the Pro40 match between Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. Given all the flooding while I was away I wasn't expecting to do any cricket but when I realised there was a real prospect of getting a full game in I decided to give it a go. Small stakes for the most part just to ease back into things so was more than happy with the £370 or so profit.
Not much to say about the game really except Warwickshire got off to a good start with the bat and then blew it. Had an awful end to their innings which resulted in a below par score of 191 that Nottinghamshire knocked off with ease. Swann's 80 off 53 negated the much discussed floodlight effect as by the time they started to kick in the required run rate was around 3. Notts eventually wrapped the match up to win by 6 wickets with 50 balls to spare.
Had a very quick peek into the darts after. Just a few legs of the Terry Jenkins v John Part match at the World Matchplay. Hope to fit in a few matches during the tournament and just wanted to check out what the picture delay was like. All seemed fine so hopefully I'll get a look in tomorrow.
Looks like I missed some carnage in the England v India test match from Lords. Must have been some big winners and losers on that little lot. Looking forward to getting stuck into the second test but fear it could become another 5 day weather watch. Still, at least the darts can keep us all busy if it rains. :-)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Stag
So I'm off to Spain later for four days of stag type things. Think it's fair to say it's a wedding tradition I don't mind following. :-)
Looking forward to it loads. Sure there'll be some photographic evidence of something I'd rather not be reminded of at the end of it all but in between the drinking we'll be chilling by pools and getting some surfing in on some of Europe's finest waves.
Also got an obligatory visit to a casino planned. On these one-off trips I'm always tempted to brush up on my counting skills and, leaving subtlety at home, try to massacre the blackjack tables with ridiculous hikes in stakes on favourable counts before some friendly pit bosses have a word. Probably just stick to some basic strategy though and have a laugh. Last two holidays I've been on with my best man I've been lucky enough to cover the costs with a few hours of piss taking. Be nice to make it three from three. Probably do my bollocks at it now. :-(
So anyway. Will be a bit quiet for a few days now. On the blog front at least. In the meantime good luck with your betting and trading. I'll be back next week. :-)
Looking forward to it loads. Sure there'll be some photographic evidence of something I'd rather not be reminded of at the end of it all but in between the drinking we'll be chilling by pools and getting some surfing in on some of Europe's finest waves.
Also got an obligatory visit to a casino planned. On these one-off trips I'm always tempted to brush up on my counting skills and, leaving subtlety at home, try to massacre the blackjack tables with ridiculous hikes in stakes on favourable counts before some friendly pit bosses have a word. Probably just stick to some basic strategy though and have a laugh. Last two holidays I've been on with my best man I've been lucky enough to cover the costs with a few hours of piss taking. Be nice to make it three from three. Probably do my bollocks at it now. :-(
So anyway. Will be a bit quiet for a few days now. On the blog front at least. In the meantime good luck with your betting and trading. I'll be back next week. :-)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Rain, wedding pics and Twenty20
So I haven't traded again since the last update. Sunday's cricket was again washed out without a ball being bowled. While I had other commitments on Monday meaning I was unable to do the game.
Not all doom and gloom though. One of the things I had to do Monday was meet our wedding photographer again. Wow he's good! And I'm glad we booked him last year as it seems he's so much in demand his prices have disappeared off the affordable radar. Luckily we're contracted up at last year's price list though. :-)
Pictures were important to us for the big day so are something we didn't skimp on. In a previous job I've spent enough hours hidden in coffee stinking cars and vans with snappers to have an idea about what is and isn't a good picture. And this guy's work was impressive. Refreshing too. Didn't want a big list of posed pics. Just a few important ones. On the whole he and his assistant will be doing more of a reportage style catching the day as it happens rather than getting everyone to line up for hours. We'll then have around 1500 pictures to choose from to put in an album which we're having done like a large printed book. All looks amazing and we're both excited. To top it all the photographer is a genuinely nice bloke too. :-)
Anyway, apologies if you prefer to read about the trading stuff rather than the wedding stuff. But there are some (yes, you know who you are!) who couldn't give a toss about the trading and just want to hear about the wedding plans. And as there's been nothing trading wise to write about I thought I'd do a quick catch up.
Tomorrow we're back to the Twenty20. The televised match is Nottinghamshire v Kent. Have been tempted to get out of my outright back of Nottinghamshire incase their quarter final with Kent is reduced to a 5 over shoot out. Weather looks ok so far though so I'll leave it and hopefully take another look when they reach finals day. Trouble is there's not the liquidity to get out at a decent price so I'm kind of stuck anyway.
In the non-televised game I'm considering a rare punt. Like the 1.72 available about Gloucestershire to make it a hattrick of Twenty20 wins over Worcestershire this season. Looking at it I'm actually better off taking this price away from Betfair at the moment. Both
Ladbrokes and Stan James
go 8/11 without commission. Again, will look at the weather but if I think it will be a full match I'll probably have a nibble with one of those. That's not a tip by the way! All things considered I was just surprised by the price.
Anyway, hopefully be back tomorrow with a Twenty20 result or two to chat about.
Not all doom and gloom though. One of the things I had to do Monday was meet our wedding photographer again. Wow he's good! And I'm glad we booked him last year as it seems he's so much in demand his prices have disappeared off the affordable radar. Luckily we're contracted up at last year's price list though. :-)
Pictures were important to us for the big day so are something we didn't skimp on. In a previous job I've spent enough hours hidden in coffee stinking cars and vans with snappers to have an idea about what is and isn't a good picture. And this guy's work was impressive. Refreshing too. Didn't want a big list of posed pics. Just a few important ones. On the whole he and his assistant will be doing more of a reportage style catching the day as it happens rather than getting everyone to line up for hours. We'll then have around 1500 pictures to choose from to put in an album which we're having done like a large printed book. All looks amazing and we're both excited. To top it all the photographer is a genuinely nice bloke too. :-)
Anyway, apologies if you prefer to read about the trading stuff rather than the wedding stuff. But there are some (yes, you know who you are!) who couldn't give a toss about the trading and just want to hear about the wedding plans. And as there's been nothing trading wise to write about I thought I'd do a quick catch up.
Tomorrow we're back to the Twenty20. The televised match is Nottinghamshire v Kent. Have been tempted to get out of my outright back of Nottinghamshire incase their quarter final with Kent is reduced to a 5 over shoot out. Weather looks ok so far though so I'll leave it and hopefully take another look when they reach finals day. Trouble is there's not the liquidity to get out at a decent price so I'm kind of stuck anyway.
In the non-televised game I'm considering a rare punt. Like the 1.72 available about Gloucestershire to make it a hattrick of Twenty20 wins over Worcestershire this season. Looking at it I'm actually better off taking this price away from Betfair at the moment. Both
Anyway, hopefully be back tomorrow with a Twenty20 result or two to chat about.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The blog after the wedding
First of all apologies for the lack of updates recently. I mentioned in my last post it would be a quiet period on the trading front and it has been. In fact I've traded precisely zero events since my last entry. Just not been anything suitable for me to get involved with. Couple that with my celebrating my birthday this week, being silly busy on some proper work projects and trying to get everything ready for the wedding and I've not had a lot of spare time to blog.
Anyway, the quiet period has led to me getting a few emails over the last week asking if that's it for the blog. I've mentioned previously that I've saved enough for both the wedding and honeymoon and it seems some of you were nice enough to worry I might be stopping! Well, the answer is no. I won't be stopping the blog. I will be continuing it after the wedding.
Obviously I'll be changing the focus somewhat. And I intend to cover more general betting exchange and trading topics as I find these posts tend to get more comments. Which I figure means they are more interesting to people stopping by for a read. :-) There's a heap of topics I'm hoping to get through but will also keep the daily profit / loss format going with discussion on each event. Afterall, writing about the profits and losses helps keep my trading focussed and disciplined. And that's one of the reasons I started the blog in the first place.
So there you go. I will be carrying on after the wedding. And, time permitting, I will be trading in the run up to the wedding. In fact I'm hoping to trade the first televised Pro40 match of the season this afternoon between Worcestershire and Hampshire. Following that there's televised cricket each day until I head off to Spain on my stag next Friday which means I'll hopefully be trading and updating the blog daily again.
Anyway, the quiet period has led to me getting a few emails over the last week asking if that's it for the blog. I've mentioned previously that I've saved enough for both the wedding and honeymoon and it seems some of you were nice enough to worry I might be stopping! Well, the answer is no. I won't be stopping the blog. I will be continuing it after the wedding.
Obviously I'll be changing the focus somewhat. And I intend to cover more general betting exchange and trading topics as I find these posts tend to get more comments. Which I figure means they are more interesting to people stopping by for a read. :-) There's a heap of topics I'm hoping to get through but will also keep the daily profit / loss format going with discussion on each event. Afterall, writing about the profits and losses helps keep my trading focussed and disciplined. And that's one of the reasons I started the blog in the first place.
So there you go. I will be carrying on after the wedding. And, time permitting, I will be trading in the run up to the wedding. In fact I'm hoping to trade the first televised Pro40 match of the season this afternoon between Worcestershire and Hampshire. Following that there's televised cricket each day until I head off to Spain on my stag next Friday which means I'll hopefully be trading and updating the blog daily again.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Trading and wedding update
Daily Result: £239.70
Not really got much to say today except pleased with the result. Especially as I missed the first part of the Twenty20 match between Lancashire and Yorkshire, had to go out before the end and didn't manage to catch it all inbetween. So a good profit for tuning in for the middle part of the game. With all the price swings it looks like it would have been a cracker to do from start to finish.
Was busy painting and decorating at the start. Have had some furniture on order for a while and it's all arriving next Tuesday so need to finish off some DIY. Then in the evening we were off to the wedding venue to finalise a few details. Also had to pay for it so that took a dent out of the savings I've made from since starting the blog. Still, that's what it's all been about - saving for the wedding and honeymoon. Starting to pay for the major expenses just makes you realise how near it all is now. Butterflies in the stomach time soon.
We've also booked the honeymoon up this week. Flights and several hotels in Sri Lanka. We both love Sri Lanka so decided to skip the Maldives as there was just too much we still haven't seen in Lanka. All very exciting and we can't wait. Got some spectacular stuff lined up along with some chill time.
Anyway, back to the trading. I'll no doubt have a look in on the England v West Indies Twenty20 tomorrow. Hoping the West Indies bat first so I can maybe get stuck into this 1.5 about England. The most likely scenario for some decent price movement anyway. Might finally get a proper look in on Wimbledon too though still got heaps of painting to do yet.
Finally, a few more blogs that I'll be adding to the blog list when I get a spare 20 minutes. The excellent Cloning Arteta, bettrading £100 to £100,000 (hope the wedding went well!), and the fairly newish heads-n-tails which covers some interesting trading topics in amongst the daily results roundup.
If anyone else has linked to me, or has a blog that is updated regularly and wants to exchange links, just leave a comment or drop me an email via the contact me link at the bottom of the right hand column.
Not really got much to say today except pleased with the result. Especially as I missed the first part of the Twenty20 match between Lancashire and Yorkshire, had to go out before the end and didn't manage to catch it all inbetween. So a good profit for tuning in for the middle part of the game. With all the price swings it looks like it would have been a cracker to do from start to finish.
Was busy painting and decorating at the start. Have had some furniture on order for a while and it's all arriving next Tuesday so need to finish off some DIY. Then in the evening we were off to the wedding venue to finalise a few details. Also had to pay for it so that took a dent out of the savings I've made from since starting the blog. Still, that's what it's all been about - saving for the wedding and honeymoon. Starting to pay for the major expenses just makes you realise how near it all is now. Butterflies in the stomach time soon.
We've also booked the honeymoon up this week. Flights and several hotels in Sri Lanka. We both love Sri Lanka so decided to skip the Maldives as there was just too much we still haven't seen in Lanka. All very exciting and we can't wait. Got some spectacular stuff lined up along with some chill time.
Anyway, back to the trading. I'll no doubt have a look in on the England v West Indies Twenty20 tomorrow. Hoping the West Indies bat first so I can maybe get stuck into this 1.5 about England. The most likely scenario for some decent price movement anyway. Might finally get a proper look in on Wimbledon too though still got heaps of painting to do yet.
Finally, a few more blogs that I'll be adding to the blog list when I get a spare 20 minutes. The excellent Cloning Arteta, bettrading £100 to £100,000 (hope the wedding went well!), and the fairly newish heads-n-tails which covers some interesting trading topics in amongst the daily results roundup.
If anyone else has linked to me, or has a blog that is updated regularly and wants to exchange links, just leave a comment or drop me an email via the contact me link at the bottom of the right hand column.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Back - and ready to roll!
So, hope the new year is treating you well and you're off to a winning start. Had a great week away with Emma. Really fantastic. And am now feeling refreshed, recharged and ready to start trading again. It's good to have a break from it all from time to time and am hoping I'll benefit from it. :-)
In between the drinking, eating and serious relaxing while away (I'm pretty lazy at heart and it doesn't take long to revert to type!) I took the opportunity to review many aspects of my trading and money management and also had a think about improvements that can be made to the blog to make it more useful for anyone who reads it. So hopefully you should be seeing some changes over the coming months.
That said I've been true to type, have been a bit lazy, and still haven't filed my tax returns for 05/06 yet. My accountant appears to be pulling his hair out in frustration and I need to spend a day or two checking everything over before I hand everything to him. It's just so boring I always manage to find something else more important to do. But, mind-numbingly dull as it is, the deadline looms, so that'll be my main priority at some point in the coming week.
Finally got around to reading Market Wizards by Jack D Schwager while I was away. A fantastic read. OK, it doesn't mention Betfair, or sports betting exchanges even once (and was published before they were invented) but I defy anyone to read even the first chapter and not realise they're holding pure gold. Sure, the traders interviewed operate on financial markets and offer differing advice. But many of the general principles are the same as with sports trading, the pyschological stuff is totally relevant and much of the money management discussion makes sound advice. It's a book well worth reading. And then re-reading. Several times. There's honestly hundreds of pieces of advice in it that I could copy onto this blog and they'd be totally relevant. I've no doubt I'll be cribbing bits from it in the coming months. So a big thanks to whoever it was who recommended the book to me through a comment. And I'll pass that recommendation on to anyone who hasn't read it.
So what else? Well, I've updated the results page. Had an all green position on the 2nd test between South Africa and India before going away so have added that to December's results. After a relatively quiet trading month in December it all kicks off again in January. Even just looking at the cricket January is a busy month - and the schedule gets busier still over the coming months as we approach the world cup. Much of January's action is over night but as it'll be one dayers I'm planning on staying up for a lot of it. Though there are a few UK daytime tests that I'll no doubt have a dip into. On top of that the BDO darts has started (gutted I missed the PDC final between Taylor and Barney) and the tennis season gets going again. So there should be loads to keep me busy.
Finally, it is, of course, 2007. Which means I'm getting married this year. :-) Time seems to be flying by towards the big day and it's all getting a bit exciting. We had one of our favourite bottles of champagne on New Year's Eve to celebrate and now need to start planning all the small details soon. All the big stuff like venues, cars, photographer etc was sorted a while back. Which all gives me a great incentive to get on with the trading, keep everything disciplined and hopefully start collecting some more green again to help pay for the big day!
In between the drinking, eating and serious relaxing while away (I'm pretty lazy at heart and it doesn't take long to revert to type!) I took the opportunity to review many aspects of my trading and money management and also had a think about improvements that can be made to the blog to make it more useful for anyone who reads it. So hopefully you should be seeing some changes over the coming months.
That said I've been true to type, have been a bit lazy, and still haven't filed my tax returns for 05/06 yet. My accountant appears to be pulling his hair out in frustration and I need to spend a day or two checking everything over before I hand everything to him. It's just so boring I always manage to find something else more important to do. But, mind-numbingly dull as it is, the deadline looms, so that'll be my main priority at some point in the coming week.
Finally got around to reading Market Wizards by Jack D Schwager while I was away. A fantastic read. OK, it doesn't mention Betfair, or sports betting exchanges even once (and was published before they were invented) but I defy anyone to read even the first chapter and not realise they're holding pure gold. Sure, the traders interviewed operate on financial markets and offer differing advice. But many of the general principles are the same as with sports trading, the pyschological stuff is totally relevant and much of the money management discussion makes sound advice. It's a book well worth reading. And then re-reading. Several times. There's honestly hundreds of pieces of advice in it that I could copy onto this blog and they'd be totally relevant. I've no doubt I'll be cribbing bits from it in the coming months. So a big thanks to whoever it was who recommended the book to me through a comment. And I'll pass that recommendation on to anyone who hasn't read it.
So what else? Well, I've updated the results page. Had an all green position on the 2nd test between South Africa and India before going away so have added that to December's results. After a relatively quiet trading month in December it all kicks off again in January. Even just looking at the cricket January is a busy month - and the schedule gets busier still over the coming months as we approach the world cup. Much of January's action is over night but as it'll be one dayers I'm planning on staying up for a lot of it. Though there are a few UK daytime tests that I'll no doubt have a dip into. On top of that the BDO darts has started (gutted I missed the PDC final between Taylor and Barney) and the tennis season gets going again. So there should be loads to keep me busy.
Finally, it is, of course, 2007. Which means I'm getting married this year. :-) Time seems to be flying by towards the big day and it's all getting a bit exciting. We had one of our favourite bottles of champagne on New Year's Eve to celebrate and now need to start planning all the small details soon. All the big stuff like venues, cars, photographer etc was sorted a while back. Which all gives me a great incentive to get on with the trading, keep everything disciplined and hopefully start collecting some more green again to help pay for the big day!
Friday, August 25, 2006
Wedding time!
No, not mine. That's still 358 days away! But one of Emma's friends is doing the deed today and we're off to somewhere in Berkshire for the ceremony and celebrations!
We're looking forward to it and will be picking up tips as we go. Obviously going to miss today's cricket and no doubt will miss most of tomorrow's C&G final too. But it's all very exciting. So far it's the last wedding we've been invited to before our own big day. Right, got to go and remind Emma to pack some tissues!!
Popular links: Betfair trading software .....Bookmaker Free Bets.....Bet365
We're looking forward to it and will be picking up tips as we go. Obviously going to miss today's cricket and no doubt will miss most of tomorrow's C&G final too. But it's all very exciting. So far it's the last wedding we've been invited to before our own big day. Right, got to go and remind Emma to pack some tissues!!
Popular links: Betfair trading software .....Bookmaker Free Bets.....Bet365
Friday, August 18, 2006
One year and counting
It's August 18th! And that's a pretty important date for me. Because in exactly one year I'll be sitting at the front of the church, all nervous and sweaty-palmed, hoping for someone rather special to arrive!
Anyway, to celebrate we're going to pop a bottle of bubbly or two this evening and have a cosy night in. A kind of wedding anniversary in reverse I guess.
I know most readers are interested in the sports betting side of things (and I'll do an update at the end of the 4th test which I've been dipping in to) but there's also a smaller group who couldn't give a toss about betting and just want to know about wedding stuff. So today seems as good a time as any to do a quick update.
So, we've now booked the church along with bell ringers and a choir. (£40 for a choir!!), a secluded country hotel for the reception, cars, and a photographer. Emma, my fiancee, has ordered her dress, two pairs of shoes (Nope, no idea either) various bits of jewellery, a make up and hair bod and is well down the route of sorting bridesmaid bits and bobs. The cake is sorted (someone talked themselves into making it for us and is no doubt now regretting it as they've never done a wedding cake before)and we're currently listening to cds of dodgy string quartets and harpists. Some kind of insurance would be a good idea and I guess at some point I should pick an outfit for myself.
Which kind of all means we've done just about eveything we need to at this stage bar a few small things like florists etc. We'll send out some save the date type cards soon and then there's not really much to do for a few months before sending out the invites and arranging the details of the day.
Anyway, today has got us both excited about it all again. Sure the time will fly between now and the big day. And hopefully I can continue to keep up the good results to help pay for it all!
Anyway, to celebrate we're going to pop a bottle of bubbly or two this evening and have a cosy night in. A kind of wedding anniversary in reverse I guess.
I know most readers are interested in the sports betting side of things (and I'll do an update at the end of the 4th test which I've been dipping in to) but there's also a smaller group who couldn't give a toss about betting and just want to know about wedding stuff. So today seems as good a time as any to do a quick update.
So, we've now booked the church along with bell ringers and a choir. (£40 for a choir!!), a secluded country hotel for the reception, cars, and a photographer. Emma, my fiancee, has ordered her dress, two pairs of shoes (Nope, no idea either) various bits of jewellery, a make up and hair bod and is well down the route of sorting bridesmaid bits and bobs. The cake is sorted (someone talked themselves into making it for us and is no doubt now regretting it as they've never done a wedding cake before)and we're currently listening to cds of dodgy string quartets and harpists. Some kind of insurance would be a good idea and I guess at some point I should pick an outfit for myself.
Which kind of all means we've done just about eveything we need to at this stage bar a few small things like florists etc. We'll send out some save the date type cards soon and then there's not really much to do for a few months before sending out the invites and arranging the details of the day.
Anyway, today has got us both excited about it all again. Sure the time will fly between now and the big day. And hopefully I can continue to keep up the good results to help pay for it all!
Monday, June 19, 2006
Wedding Cars
Something rather strange is happening. It seems my humble blog is attracting attention from two kinds of readers. There's guys who want to chat and read about betting, trading techniques, API software and all things Betfair
. And there's women who couldn't care less about all that boring stuff and want to read all about the wedding plans!
Well, this week's televised tennis tournament is another grass court Wimbledon warm up from Nottingham. But Sky don't start showing until Wednesday. And although I'd love to have a punt on Tursunov to beat Murray tomorrow I'll steer clear. Which leaves me with no trading for today. I'll do the 2nd ODI between England and Sri Lanka tomorrow but in the mean time here's some of the wedding stuff for those more interested in that!
The most recent thing we've booked is a couple of wedding cars (it's amazing how early these things have to be booked in advance!) The cars, pictured below, are Bentleys. Or Bentley S1s from the late 1950s for those who know about these things. And very pleased we are with them too!
Other things we've booked so far are the church, bell ringers and choir (£40 for a choir is a bargain!) reception venue, photographer, wedding dress and hair and make up bod. Emma has so far bought two pairs of wedding shoes (I'm confused too!) and is busy sorting bridesmaid stuff and stationary. I'm guessing we should really get some wedding insurance pretty sharpish and I should take a look at kitting myself, best man and usher types out.
So basically I guess we've booked the main things and can relax for a several months now before getting all detailed about the planning.
Anyway, hope that satisfies on the wedding side of stuff. As there's no betting updates today those more into that may want to check out Phil's blog over at Smiling Assassin whose back to winning ways after a couple of losing weeks.
Well, this week's televised tennis tournament is another grass court Wimbledon warm up from Nottingham. But Sky don't start showing until Wednesday. And although I'd love to have a punt on Tursunov to beat Murray tomorrow I'll steer clear. Which leaves me with no trading for today. I'll do the 2nd ODI between England and Sri Lanka tomorrow but in the mean time here's some of the wedding stuff for those more interested in that!
The most recent thing we've booked is a couple of wedding cars (it's amazing how early these things have to be booked in advance!) The cars, pictured below, are Bentleys. Or Bentley S1s from the late 1950s for those who know about these things. And very pleased we are with them too!
Other things we've booked so far are the church, bell ringers and choir (£40 for a choir is a bargain!) reception venue, photographer, wedding dress and hair and make up bod. Emma has so far bought two pairs of wedding shoes (I'm confused too!) and is busy sorting bridesmaid stuff and stationary. I'm guessing we should really get some wedding insurance pretty sharpish and I should take a look at kitting myself, best man and usher types out.
So basically I guess we've booked the main things and can relax for a several months now before getting all detailed about the planning.
Anyway, hope that satisfies on the wedding side of stuff. As there's no betting updates today those more into that may want to check out Phil's blog over at Smiling Assassin whose back to winning ways after a couple of losing weeks.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Who I am and what I'm doing
About the blog
Boring git that I am I've been writing this blog since May 2006. It all started shortly after I got engaged and I decided to see if I could pay for my wedding by trading sports on Betfair and saving any profits. There were some highs and lows but from an initial £1,000 I eventually managed to shock myself and save over £33k for the wedding in August 2007. Which was more than enough for a fantastic day and honeymoon! :-)
Since the wedding I have decided to try and turn that initial £1,000 into £101,000. Again through trading sports on the Betfair betting exchange.
* Fuller details of the £1k to £101k challenge and my bankroll management
* Below is some more about me and what I initially wrote about the wedding challenge.
About me and the Wedding Challenge
Well, I'm the guy that's trying to pay for my wedding through trading on Betfair. So I guess that makes me not quite your average bloke. In most ways I fit the bill but it's always the "what do you do for a living" question that stumps people. It's my job, or lack of, as they see it, that seems to interest people. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me explain...
I guess my last proper job ended on March 15, 2002 when I was made redundant by a mate at the dot com company we were busting our balls to keep afloat. For you shrewdies out there you'll notice the date was kind of ironic - the Ides of March - but as ever these things worked out for the best. I've been pretty stress-free since and the company now prospers without my expenses bill. :-)
Being made redundant isn't a great experience though so I decided it wouldn't happen again. And what better way to ensure that than to become your own boss? So after a bit of thought I stumbled into the gambling industry.
I say stumbled but the reality was it was a bit of a no-brainer. I was already a regular on Betfair, had been spread betting for years before the exchanges appeared, had more than a few bookmaker accounts and could spot the bloke who'd smell of piss the moment I walked into a bookies.
Cap that with having some friends in the industry and a chat with an unnervingly sharp online gaming analyst bod from Merrill Lynch who explained how it was going to be a massive growth area and I'd found my new income source.
So how to cash in? Well, even now I'm not a professional gambler. By that I mean I make a useful income from my betting activity but it is not my sole income. Exciting as it would be to go for it I decided to keep the bank manager and tax man on board.
After all, I figured it was much better to have a provable income and accounts when you're doing the boring stuff like applying for a mortgage rather than casually informing the mortgage company: "Oh, I'm a professional gambler. But don't worry. I'm up again this year."
So the provable income meant falling back on my journalism background to write some gaming related stuff for whoever I could tart myself too when I felt like it and becoming an affiliate to various bookmakers, casinos and poker rooms. It also took the stress off the betting side of things.
So here I am now, over 4 years later and still enjoying my "work" from home. I mainly trade cricket and tennis and get to watch an awful lot of it which is great!
But I wouldn't call myself "full time" in the way many obsess over on the Betfair forums. Instead I keep my writing and affiliate income ticking over while always keeping an eye on the sporting calendar for good trading events.
The challenge
On January 10th 2006 the gorgeous Emma said Yes and we got engaged. :-) We are getting married on August 18, 2007. Now, as any of you who have done the deed recently know getting married ain't cheap!
So to help cover the costs I'm running a separate Betfair account from May 1, 2006. I have a £1,000 bank. At the end of each day / event I will either withdraw the balance above £1,000, or add the difference. Meaning at the start of each event I will always have a £1k balance.
I don't expect to cover the entire cost of the wedding with the sums involved but a hefty contribution would be most welcome! The key thing is any profit from this account goes directly to the savings for the wedding. Any losses come out of my pocket. (My trading funds are separated from our day to day accounts).
That's it - Wish me luck!!
Boring git that I am I've been writing this blog since May 2006. It all started shortly after I got engaged and I decided to see if I could pay for my wedding by trading sports on Betfair and saving any profits. There were some highs and lows but from an initial £1,000 I eventually managed to shock myself and save over £33k for the wedding in August 2007. Which was more than enough for a fantastic day and honeymoon! :-)
Since the wedding I have decided to try and turn that initial £1,000 into £101,000. Again through trading sports on the Betfair betting exchange.
* Fuller details of the £1k to £101k challenge and my bankroll management
* Below is some more about me and what I initially wrote about the wedding challenge.
About me and the Wedding Challenge
Well, I'm the guy that's trying to pay for my wedding through trading on Betfair. So I guess that makes me not quite your average bloke. In most ways I fit the bill but it's always the "what do you do for a living" question that stumps people. It's my job, or lack of, as they see it, that seems to interest people. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me explain...
I guess my last proper job ended on March 15, 2002 when I was made redundant by a mate at the dot com company we were busting our balls to keep afloat. For you shrewdies out there you'll notice the date was kind of ironic - the Ides of March - but as ever these things worked out for the best. I've been pretty stress-free since and the company now prospers without my expenses bill. :-)
Being made redundant isn't a great experience though so I decided it wouldn't happen again. And what better way to ensure that than to become your own boss? So after a bit of thought I stumbled into the gambling industry.
I say stumbled but the reality was it was a bit of a no-brainer. I was already a regular on Betfair, had been spread betting for years before the exchanges appeared, had more than a few bookmaker accounts and could spot the bloke who'd smell of piss the moment I walked into a bookies.
Cap that with having some friends in the industry and a chat with an unnervingly sharp online gaming analyst bod from Merrill Lynch who explained how it was going to be a massive growth area and I'd found my new income source.
So how to cash in? Well, even now I'm not a professional gambler. By that I mean I make a useful income from my betting activity but it is not my sole income. Exciting as it would be to go for it I decided to keep the bank manager and tax man on board.
After all, I figured it was much better to have a provable income and accounts when you're doing the boring stuff like applying for a mortgage rather than casually informing the mortgage company: "Oh, I'm a professional gambler. But don't worry. I'm up again this year."
So the provable income meant falling back on my journalism background to write some gaming related stuff for whoever I could tart myself too when I felt like it and becoming an affiliate to various bookmakers, casinos and poker rooms. It also took the stress off the betting side of things.
So here I am now, over 4 years later and still enjoying my "work" from home. I mainly trade cricket and tennis and get to watch an awful lot of it which is great!
But I wouldn't call myself "full time" in the way many obsess over on the Betfair forums. Instead I keep my writing and affiliate income ticking over while always keeping an eye on the sporting calendar for good trading events.
The challenge
On January 10th 2006 the gorgeous Emma said Yes and we got engaged. :-) We are getting married on August 18, 2007. Now, as any of you who have done the deed recently know getting married ain't cheap!
So to help cover the costs I'm running a separate Betfair account from May 1, 2006. I have a £1,000 bank. At the end of each day / event I will either withdraw the balance above £1,000, or add the difference. Meaning at the start of each event I will always have a £1k balance.
I don't expect to cover the entire cost of the wedding with the sums involved but a hefty contribution would be most welcome! The key thing is any profit from this account goes directly to the savings for the wedding. Any losses come out of my pocket. (My trading funds are separated from our day to day accounts).
That's it - Wish me luck!!
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