Merry X'mas to all !!!

Thanks everyone who have read my blog for the past weeks, i would like to wish you all have a Merry Christmas.

Qaulity racing on Boxing day, the main attraction is Kauto star in the King George, can he win it again, or will he blunder his way into defeat.

anyway, hope everyone is sober and alert when playing in-running on Boxing day :-)) Good Luck !!

Cheltenham bankers ??

Because the dreaded Flu refuses to go away i didn't go for the glory when playing in-running this afternoon even though there were some winners which i could have made more money out of them--like Issaquah (i backed it last time and impressed by the way it's won), not to mention there were some easy lays in the big hurdle race at Ascot--Ashkazar looked in trouble after two jumps, Aigle D'or was going backward before the home turn-- both horses could be laid at odds under 7 in-running. i didn't get any money out of them cause my reaction was sluggish, not a penny left when i eventually pointed the cursor in the lay box :-((

Today we witnessed two impressive winners in Binocular and Punchestowns.

Cheltenham Bankers imho !!

should have stayed at home !

Still got the F***ing flu, been taking paracetamol, lemsip, Chinese herbs , nothing works so far.

As for the in-running this afternoon, i kept making wrong decisions race after race ,it's just not my day !!

Under the weather :-(

A small loss today, The 2-20 at Exeter cost me most, as i thought the jockey timed his run perfectly to hit the front half way up the run in on Pass me a dime. Basically the keep clicking policy backfired :-((

Been having flu for the past two days, i will have a hot hot "ginger" bath before i go to bed and hope i can get rid of it by tomorrow.

Ascot, another favorite track of mine, i wouldn't miss it for all the tea in China !!

Keep clicking !!

A nice winning day today thanks to perhaps my favourite track Kempton (know all the cameras' angle inside out ), a track I always seem to do well at. I also prefer flat racing to be honest, as I like to back horses I see coming with a well-timed run. If I see a horse I fancy with momentum I will click and keep clicking !!
Jump racing, on bad ground particularly, is the other end of the spectrum and can be fraught with danger ! So it proved earlier as I went into the evening session a little bit behind mainly due to Qozak getting beat at Newbury. In my opinion Ruby Walsh may have returned from injury a bit too quickly because I think he would have got this one home on his best form. All is well that ends well though and as long as the p n' l is showing a plus at the end of the day i am happy !! :-)

Fooked Laptop !

Got off a good start today laying Latanier at Folkestone, then everything went ok until the last few races, dropped £1300 in the space of thirty minutes, nevermind, it's still a winning day !!

Spend a whole evening trying to fix my fellow trader's Laptop, as usual it was completely fucked. I found a virus disguised itself as "shopping report" programme in the system. just for curiosity sake, i tried to find out what he has bought over the Internet, but the "virus" wouldn't allow me to open up, so regrettably i cleared the thing from the OS registry editor.

May be a blowup doll----i wonder :-))

Mundane Monday !!

Just an ordinary and with little excitement afternoon, oops hang on, there was one moment of madness happened today at 3-40 at Plumpton,
Carly bay looked the winner with yards to go, only to be caught by the re-rallied Rosoff right on the line--22k matched at 1.01--unlucky to some !
People might question the wisdom of backing at 1.01, it seems insane to risk £100 to win a £1 !!
However, i know a couple of traders specialise in this field and make good money out of it. This particular strategy is not for the faint-hearted though.

Stick to the horses !

Got back to winning trail this afternoon, horses wise !! As rain, rain and more rain seem to piss down on every racecourse the jumping game has proved harder then usual, so a much more cautious approach is needed at the moment ( greening up before the last and not get involve in close finishes )

From my experiences, from now till the early January is the best time to make money, cause every owner wants a X'mas or New year winner,as a result, the good horses are more likely running true to their form--no strangling by the Jockeys perhaps :-)

All we hope now is a bit of settle weather so to make in-running less hazardous !!!

:-((

Lost on X Factor---thats me finished !!!

X Factor the final !!

Another small winning day-but it was due to a tardy start to the afternoon.
I laid West with the wind at Doncaster when he turned into the home straight with a clear lead. At that time i was pretty sure the horse would fold when challening by other horses, cause i laid him a few times when he ran on the flat--always crusing in the lead but found nothing towards the end of the races.
However, he managed to maintain the gallop right to the line this time,much to my annoyance !!
Tomorrow is the X Factor final, as you all know i laid Alex to win big money and i have no intention of redded up my bet,cause i still think Eggy or may be JLS will win the contest.
According to the Daily Star JLS topped the vote in the semi-final, so 1.7 about Alex is a crazy price, and if all the young teenage girls ( mutil-voters) have a Betfair account and make a bet, Jls and Eognog will both be bet down to 1.3 or lower !!

The Emperor strikes back !!

As you can see from today's total I got back on track today and the journey home after a few evening races at Great Leighs didn't seem so long this time. Hopefully my luck has changed just in time for Saturday's x-factor final and I won't have a losing week after all !!

I think most of the boys in the shop did well today because a few fancied runners got beat and yet they were available to lay at short odds for longer than usual. A big player seemed to be on the chase backing wise !!

To answer "Trader" enquiry as to whether I study much form, watch a lot of videos etc. Basically, I am lucky to have a very good memory and so I just watch the evening replays on Racing UK or ATR's morning replays. This gives me a chance to spot things I may have missed or confirms the impressions that i have had on a particular horse during the afternoon. Any useful info usually stays with me once I have watched a replay.

The things I look for are whether a horse finished it's race strongly (then I can be confident to back it next time) , or perhaps got an easy lead,or weak finishers like Pressgang this afternoon(and was therefore flattered to win) etc.

For each race during the afternoon I will have a quick scan of the race and assess the 2 or 3 most likely contenders. If I can't remember their previous runs then I will usually watch a video of it on the RP or ATR websites.

For any newbies I would suggest watching as many races and replays as you can and run over in your mind how you would have played them 'live' in running.

Goodwill to all men !!

A small winning day today - better than losing !! - but I'm still not getting the breaks! I backed Zahra's Place to win at Leicester and she looked sure to win when falling at the last hurdle. Oh well, these things usually even themselves out so maybe I will get some luck soon. Earlier in the day I had a nice win on Orkney at Southwell, including £150 at over 8/1, but unfortunately I gave most of this back on Mile High Lad at Kempton, I thought this one would get up :-(

Wednesday's are usually premium charge days but after an ups and downs week I paid just over £40 this week. And, presumably Betfair are getting into the Chritsmas spirit nice and early because they have given me a 'goodwill payment' of £45 this week. Thank you very much, Betfair. Maybe things are looking up....

A long journey home

This week could be one of my rare losing week as i didn't play well all afternoon,worse still, i clicked the wrong horse at the last at Punchestown :-((

as you can see from the pictures, i backed Checkherout at odds up to 1000, would have won over 130k if the horse had won the race :-))

My "luck" has certainly gone AWOL lately !!!

Out of form :-(

Apart from one good winning day last Friday,i haven't been playing well lately. Down £500 today, not big damage,nevertheless it is still not ideal.

For the next few days i will try not going for big wins too often, as i have made a few bad calls recently.

My style of playing in-running trading is akin to a Pro-poker player, i am happy to take a small win or loss when there is no opportunity "rubbish hand", but from time to time i will go for a big win "all in". unfortunately, i have suffered from too many "bad beats" lately :-(

I am finnished :-((

Saturday is normally a very good day for me, mainly because its better quality horses racing and they are more reliable and run to form and also because I am up against a lot of weekend-only players. However, it didn't work out like that for me today with a lay of Notabotheronme at Chepstow proving the difference between a good day and a bad day :-(

Sometimes there are so many races on a Saturday that you can lose your concentration for a moment and it proves costly. I laid Notabotheronme and was so sure it would lose after it made a mistake two out ( three horses was in front of him ) that I switched over to another race at Wetherby. however, when i looked up to check on another TV the horse was now in second and coming fast and I thought "oh shit" !!! Had I stayed with that race I'm sure I could have traded out for a small green or red figure. With hindsight I should have just stayed on one race at a time, so there's a lesson learned and something for you all to be aware of.

To rub salt into the wound, Alex is in the X factor final :-((((

Come on Eggggggggggggggggggy !!!!! you can win it !

A good day !

Just a quick update, as it was quite a long day trading and i need to study tomorrow racing.

The big race Tingle Greek chase sees the return of the two mile champion Master minded,But to me Tidal bay is a bit underrated for what he have done so far. i will definitely keep my cursor hover on the back button on Tidal bay and hope i can get some juice prices in case Tidal bay wins the race handsomely and proves himself a genuine top two miler !!

X Factor !!

In yesterday's blog I showed how I made a small profit with an easy trade on a football match. However, while that was an 'interest bet' to pass the time between races I have a much stronger opinion on the outcome of the x-factor and as you can see from my bet I have a much more heavier involvement !

I am convinced Alex will not win the ITV's talent contest and I have laid her continually in the last few weeks. Sometimes you have to go against the crowd in this game and that is what I am doing. At around 2.28 at the time of writing I think she remains an excellent lay !!

My reasoning is that she faces two strong rivals in Eoghan (huge patriotic fans from Ireland) and Diana (has sung the winning song "Hallelujah" already), plus it can't be denied that black people generally don't do as well as white people when it comes down to votes from the british public in these type of events. Furthermore, although this is a 'talent show' in reality it is a 'popularity contest'. I mean, if John Sergeant had stayed in Strictly Come Dancing and it had been decided on a public vote he would have won hands down... and he definitely wasn't the best dancer was he ?!

When you bet on horseracing there is always the chance that someone know more about the horse you are backing than you (ie the stable staff ,owners etc) so there is an element of risk. However, with the x-factor all the information is in the public domain and having followed the programme every week I'm confident of success. I'd advise you all to follow me in and lay Alex on Betfair, not as a potential trade but as a pure outright lay.

Fingers crossed and c'mon Eoghan and Diana !!

Football expert ??

The only bright spark came through this afternoon was the performance of Little Shilling, who has completed a five timer in the space of a fortnight and proved he is as effective over fences.

Stayed for the Kempton's evening racing cause i

have promised a newbie to show him the basic

trading techniques.The horse trades were a disaster,however, i managed to demonstrate to him on how to green up the book with the help of the football match between Watford and Tottenham spurs. i laid Watford after it had scored an early goal. I was quite confidence Spurs can at least get a draw as i couldn't see Watford capable of scoring another goal. Luckily, Spurs scored a penalty just before half time and i greened up immediately.

Hooray !! Football trading is so easy :-)

A quiet day

Nothing exciting happened during today's racing, just went through the motion, made some copybook trading and earned just under 1k.

Went to Brent Cross shopping centre on my way home to take advantage of the drop VAT and bought some clothes and presents for X'mas.

All in all, an uneventful day :-)

The things an in-running player must have !!

Carrying on yesterday's theme here are some other crucial attributes for a successful IR player....

• Fast reactions - be ready to take any opportunities that may present themselves. This is especially true if you are playing on SIS and you want to take advantage of anything that happens before other viewers may have seen it. However, it is also applicable if you are watching on a level playing field of bbc and c4 pictures. On Saturday I spotted a horse being pulled up and managed to get some 'free money'( six clicks ).It is the fastest finger first on these occasions!! There are sites where you can test your reaction speed so have a look on google and see if you have what it takes! try this site http://mindbluff.com/reaction.htm
• Balls of steel..... on races where you have a strong opinion, try to get the maximum out of it. If you think a horse will definitely win or definitely not win have plenty of clicks! Make sure you're certain though :-)
• Patience.... I look for opportunities in every race but if nothing comes to light I will not have a bet, or sometimes i will just claim a small win, just a few pounds maybe to pay for the guiness after racing !
• Be prepared - Have pen and paper ready, mark your racing paper etc. Have a look at each race and have an idea of what may happen ie: which horse will set the pace, which horse will be help up, which horse is a bad jumper...etc etc, anything that may help you during the race basically. I have seen a lot of new players came to highgate office completely unprepared and with the notion of fast pictuers alone will make them loads of money !! needless to say, their money ended up in others players' accounts.
• Luck.... It is better born lucky then born rich !!!! so they say...

The things an in-running player needs to know !

• Every race course's characteristics. ie:uphill finish,long straight,short straight,position of the stall (flat racing), etc etc etc
• Horses' running style. ie: strong stayers or weak finishers.
• Jockeys' riding style.
• How to read the pace of a race.
• How to operate API like gruss, betangel, racingtrader etc,etc, API--stand for Application Programming Interface.
• Trainers' habit of placing their horses.
• How to spot non triers :-)

As for the racing today, i had a good win on the second last race at Kempton. Greed got the better of me and i went for a big win again on the last race,sadly, it didn't win :-(

Nevermind, as Gekko says in Wall Street---Greed is good

Another tough day !!

Yesterday i started poorly then came back strong towards the end. Today was the exact opposite,kept making bad decisions towards the end of the afternoon races.

Well, making the right decisions is easier said than done, a new trader in our office made a bad call on the 3.05 Towcester and lost heavily. he stormed out of the office soon after.

In-running--it is certainly not an easy game.

Smashed my way out of trouble !!

What a roller-coaster ride !! How i got out the black hole and ended up winning i honestly have no idea !! Feel completely knackered now after a long day trading :-(
Hope tomorrow racing less stressful .

Not trying hard enough ??

I have a horse to watch out for in the next couple of weeks - Right Option who ran at Taunton today. After held up right at the back,some twenty lengths behind the leaders,the jockey made a rapid move down the back straight and was just about a length behind the leader then with no apparent reason he swung the horse wide into the straight and finished a never near fifth.He looks a possible improver and should get a reasonable handicap mark over hurdles now. Let's just say he received quite a tender handling today! Looking at the P&L it is another winning day without being a 'belter'. The 2m5f novices handicap hurdle at Newbury was the race that cost me an arm and a leg :-(( Oh well mustn't grumble !!

British economy !

Just a short update today as I must study for a good day's racing tomorrow - 4 afternoon meetings including a good card at Newbury. As you can see from the p&l an average sort of day for me... but on hearing the news about MFI and Woolworths going under today I am relieved to still be able to make a good living from in-running trading !! The British and World economies continue to struggle but we havent seen any downturn in liquidity on Betfair. Long may it continue !!!

Max performance !!

As my prefer OS is XP pro, the recommendations here are based on XP system.

Right click the My computer icon from the desktop or from the start menu, then select PROPERTIES, then click Advanced, and you will see a Performance box, then click settings. you will see under the VISUAL Effects tab there are four options, by default the dot is on --let windows choose what's best for my computer. To get the best performance, you can check the adjust for best performance box,then click Apply. the computer will be grey out and look ugly:-), however, in this setting,the processing speed of your computer will be at its fastest.

Well, if you don't want your PC looks like a cardboard,you can tick the CUSTOM box,and then un-tick the top nine boxes below,then click Apply. IN this way,the PC still regains some visual effects but at the same time the computer will also get a better performance.

Is your computer really fast ??

To make money in this in-running game,apart from having good race reading skills and a bit of luck you need a half decent tool--the computer.

Hey that's easy !! some might say,just go to PC world ,give them a thousand pounds and buy the best one on offer. The fact is most people have little knowledge about computer,all they can do is to put the plug into socket and switch it on. The super computer might work well in the beginning, then after a while it starts running slow....Betfair not load up with IE , Firefox illegal scripts, Gruss freezes, refreshes fucked, etc etc ..

You know WHY !! A Computer is the same as a car, it needs configuaring and tuning !! In my opinion, a well tuned Mini Cooper can always out run a badly set up Ferrari in a sprint . So, to get the best out of your computer you need to set it up properly !! How?? tell you tomorrow :-)

Carnage !!

Wintry weather had turned today's meetings into mud wrestling colosseums !!

The bad ground,coupled with the uphill finishes of Towcester and Plumpton,made in-running play very difficult !! Backers of 1.01s have certainly had their fingers burned,no less then four 1.01s were "Gubbed". Even the mighty Nina Carberry failed to win the last bumper race at Navan.one of my tried and tested system--irish meeting, the last race (bumper) , and Nina's mount (first or second favourite).

A typical Saturday in a trading room !!

Five meetings,forty races,cramped into four hours of action !!

The frantic clicking sound near the end of the race,the moaning and groaning moments later, a punch up into the air at one end,a quiet celebration at one corner,an exchange of thumps up between two players...."Race off,channel 4" someone shouted !! everyone one picked up the remote, clunk,click,,paper flicking,headphones clipped back on ears....mice clicking...

Credit crunch, recession, no jobs.....who cares !!!!

Cool temperament needed !!

Another 'almost' day for me, the luck is not going my way at the moment but that is the way it goes. Sometimes when you play In-running,You can play well all day and then one mistake or a bit of bad luck can wipe out all your hard work. Overall I played well, but there is one blot on the p & l that stopped an average day being a good one. I saw Palomar making a bad mistake at the second last fence in the 1.50 at Kelso and was pretty sure that was him done for, so laid for more than 2k. Unfortunately for me, the horse survived the error and came back to win! Having also gone for a good win on Shoreacres at Ascot (caught late) I was now staring at a 3k loss for the day. It is best to try to remain cool at these times, as we all know, It is a marathon not a sprint in this game! So for the rest of the day I chipped away at the deficit and with the help of a good win on Issaquah at Kelso I got my nose back in front ! !

A bad day !!

Nothing to say really,just one of those days !!

Hope i will have better luck tomorrow.

Anyway, need to study saturday's scoop six races now as i have formed a syndicate with friends trying to get that £4 million pot.Fingers cross :-)

In-running place market part 2

Further in-running place market hints:

• The money in the place market is nothing like that in the win market. More often than not,if you take a view early in the race,you have to stick to it. As "greening up " is not always viable.
• Know the Jockeys !! Jockeys riding styles can be misleading. Some sit there motionless but have little in the tank, while others will push their mounts along for a whole circuit and get them placed.
• Know the colour !! Some Jockeys' silks are similar or with owners having more than one runner. As the camera more likely focus on the leaders towards the end of the race,you will only have a distant view of the place horses(especially over Jump racing ), So knowing the colour will help you back or lay the right horse.

Thats it for the IR place market, Good luck !!

In-running place market part 1

For many newcomers trying the in-running win market for the first time could prove to be a daunting task, therefore the place market is a good way of starting.You can learn many things that would be useful in the win market if you ever want to switch.Here are some hints:

• Always check the rules concerning how many places Betfair are paying on 2,3 or 4.
• Non-runners do not change Betfair's number placing like the traditional high st. bookies.
• Any stewards enquiry or objections do NOT give you any chance of limiting losses ( green up or red up). but it is a rare occurence however.

will give some more advice tomorrow.

Betting wise,another frustrating day for me.kept getting one big hit for the past few days:-((

lost today:-(

Not a lot to say today-a bit of a low key Monday and a small loss for me .

Started badly laying A P Mccoy's winner,Pop ahead, at Leicester and one more mistake when i misjudged the Back in the red race at 3-40 at Kempton. I didn't think he would stay 6 furlongs at the pace he set, and he had never won at 6f before today's race.

Basically, i tried to be clever.

Horses to note.

Finished last day of the November Cheltenham meeting on a high note.There are some notable performances emerged from today's card. Tatenen,made all the running and jumped really well to win unchallenged. Daimond Harry, won with plenty in hand despite running green. Punchestowns,won a competitive handicap with ease.

Other horses that can make you loads from the laying point of view are Mick the man, the ultimate bridesmaid and Bolodenda, who struggled to beat some trees after travelling well most of the way at Newcastle.

It goes without saying that laying horses with weak finishing kick when travelling well near the head of the affairs is one of the most profitable ways of making you loads of money .

Moment of madness !

A Chinese proverb says " bad luck always comes in pairs". Guess what, after yesterday debacle at Cheltenham,today once again i dropped 2k in a sudden rush of blood !!
As i strongly fancied Pride of Dulcote to win the 3-10 at Cheltenham, and after seeing it jumped beautifully and travelled powerfully behind the leaders with three to jump,i decided to leave the bets open.Uncharacteristically, the horse made a mistake at the next hurdle and fell heavily. So from one moment i was counting the winning to next thinking about recoup the losses.
Without much thinking i thought the winner Fair Along would be struggled to get up the Cheltenham hill, so as soon as i saw Powerstation came with a strong run to close on the winner, in a panic second i clicked the preset one click button backing powerstation a few times too many :-(
Powerstation didn't get up and i lost a packet, to rub salt into the wound, my fellow traders ridiculed me all afternoon saying that powerstation would never get up even with a circuit to go !!

What a shambles !!!

There was a lot of drama in one of the televised races at Cheltenham and it proved costly for me. Dix Villez and jockey Davy Russell appeared to take the wrong course in the cross-country chase. I have watched these 'novelty' races at Cheltenham for many years and I have never seen a horse go inside the bushes that act as markers for the course. Therefore, I assumed Dix Villez was sure to be disqualified, So i laid the horse close home and I backed second placed Garde Champetre to win as well. Unfortunately for me, the rider had walked the course before racing and was told he was allowed to go inside the bushes. There was a Stewards Enquiry into the result but Dix Villez kept the race and I was out of pocket! I could have limited my losses as you can bet on stewards enquiries on Betfair but I decided to let the bet ride,because i thought the clerk of the course must have given the jockey the wrong instructions !! I'm sure the Cheltenham racing authorities will change the course layout for next year's race but that won't get my money back !!
This is British racing at its best--Jockey can take a short-cut to win races !!!

Optical illusions

There are 60 race courses spread throughout Britain. To study each race course's camera angle in relation to the winning line and to find out what "stories" it actually tells might prove to be a time-consuming task.

To make the job easier and to get a better understanding from what you see from your TV monitor, you can group the race courses' camera positions into three categories, A: cameras placed before the winning line, B: cameras placed right on the winning line, C: cameras placed after the winning line.

Naturally, i am not going to give out my findings on the blog. However,if you spend some times to study each categories closely, i am sure you will be able to weed out the optical illusions and to read the races in different perspectice when close finishes are involved before the winning line.

Camera never lies....... I wonder