Week 21 - Steady progress

Ah, almost forgot to update the blog this week. Sorry about that, it's been a busy week with half term holidays in the UK this week and I've been shoe horning in the trading along with my parental responsibilities. As there had not been many comments posted on the blog it just slipped to the back of my mind a little. Given the numerous problems with Betfair recently I pleased to be continuing in pretty much the same mode of operation as normal. It's definately been a bumpier ride recently but not anything I haven't been able to cope with.


This week and next are really weeks that should be reasonably steady if unspectacular, as the horse racing world is now on a waiting game till the Derby meeting at Epsom. On these big races you either love them or hate them from a trading perspective. I've swung in both directions over time, excuse the expression, I used to like them but I find them much harder to read now. Also the run of the mill stuff makes up the vast majority of opportunties so you really need to get that cracked in order to do well. The big meetings are few and far between, especially in the winter. In summer the frequency increases quite a bit so the period we are about to enter suddenly gets a lot more interesting. I'll see if I can offer comment on the Epsom meeting next week.

Farce...

I was looking forward this week to getting some momentum back behind things and the first couple of days have gone ok but today.... What is going on?

First the meeting at Ayr was abandoned due to 'false ground' and now the evening meeting at Sandown has gone the same way, what a complete farce! It's not as though the clerk of the courses haven't had any practice or been through similar scenarios before. I can't believe two of five UK meetings have had to be abandoned due to the poor prepartation of the course. Still, I am lucky, I have fared better than most, I still made some money but I bet all people involved with or whom travelled to the courses and lost plenty are furious. Really poor show. It seems the racing community sometimes does its best to shoot itself in the foot, repeatedly.

Week 20 - Good recovery

Not my best week, but probably my best week of the year. Ok a bit confusing, but when we suffered that Betfair crash I really felt it was a big setback on the week and my confidence sank. However I dug deep and managed to pull out a good week anyhow.


I think this week brings up an important point. When you face an exceptional loss, the temptation to chase that loss is very high and I bet a few people completely busted their banks this week. It wasn't easy to take the loss, especially as it wasn't self generated, but knowing I had to post here stopped me from doing anything irrational and also motivated me onto a better week. So thanks for your help! The loss can now pass into history and I can move on, but trading is hard enough without having these problems. I can cope with the odd glitch as that is part of the risk in the 'system' but the constant problems Betfair is experiancing at the moment is a nightmare. Given their focus on punishing excessive use I really expected to see a much better site performance. The fact the opposite has happened is very concerning, lets hope it is a smoother week this week.

Crashing and burning

Well that's pretty typical, I have been cruising recently and things have been looking up. I was looking forward to this week and saw plenty of opportunity, then pow!!!!!! Betfair goes do lally and my week vanishes down the drain. At this point I don't know if I can regain the losses over the remainder of the week, this is always so frustrating when it happens. Personally I think Betfair should void any markets where their system crashes. It is clear that the majority of volume on Betfair is traded and therefore when the site goes it's traders that suffer from positions they can not close. These are often at many multiples to any potential profit. Betfair however, get a lovely bonus in commission from traders who have open positions. Surely this an incentive for site instability not a disincentive? If markets were voided then Betfair would suffer and this is clearly who needs to suffer when the site crashes, not the customers. Any how, I now have to knuckle down and reduce the damage for the remainder of the week.

Week 19 - In full swing

The sun is out the flat season is starting to motor and the market is flying about all over the place. Great conditions for swing trading. I took some time out last week to enjoy the weather and it's given me a lift, my mood that is. I am tempted to do the same this week as we have a three day meeting at York , so with the early part of the week looking less likely to throw up opportunties I may take time out again. The trouble with trading is that you can never be sure if it is a good time to take a break or not. I know what is a good and bad week but I can't exactly tell when they are coming. It makes sense to take every opportuntity you can but I know that I, for sure, can't sit here endlessly without a break. With racing extending across the afternoon and evening now, it's better than I split out some time to relax a little; else I think I may go mad!!! Winter provides plenty of breaks, whether you want them or not. The only problem with winter is that there isn't as much to do in winter and very little sun. So keeping yourself in good spirits will help your trading, even if you think missing a few races may not help your bank balance. Overall try and keep things in balance.

I've been pretty consistant recently, I am hoping this continues during the busy periods ahead but I can be sure that is always the case. So this nice run I am having I am mentally banking for the inevitable bruising. Hope you are all enjoying the sun!

Week 18 - Fun in the sun!

Ah, sorry for the delay in posting up last weeks responses and results. The weather has been so good this week, week 19, that I just couldn't resist the temptation to go out and enjoy the weather. The weather is often so poor in the UK that you just have to enjoy it while you can. Therefore I forecast a low total for week 19!

Last week continued the good run I am currently on. The big meeting at Newmarket made some good opportunties and the markets appeared to be generally favourable at the moment. Now we are really into the flat season there seem to be plenty of opportunties to get stuck into. I trust my favourable run will continue.

Week 17 - Momentum continues

Another good week in the bag so for the time being onwards and upwards. The evening racing started last week so there were many more opportunities available in the markets. It often pays to to pick and choose your opportunties. With the amount of racing now on I've often found that some meetings are more favourable to trade than others. It shouldn't really be that way, they should all exhibit similar characteristics but I keep finding that if I start the day slowly certain courses seem to throw up more opportunties than others. So from that point onwards I'll play some safe and be a bit more daring with others.

I am expecting a harder week this week. There doesn't seem to be much on until we get to Newmarket at the weekend and I made a hash of that last year!! Still, everything is still headed in the right direction. I trust everybody else is fairing ok out there!