With no previous financial trading or betting experience, I entered the world of betting exchange trading armed only with a love of sports, a decent amount of nouse and one hell of a dream. Having opened my Betfair account in May 2009 with $500, a fair amount of pissing about with backs and lays here and there in numerous markets, I came into February 2010 with a war chest of $639.50. The one other item I had in my armoury was a new subscription to Bet Angel Professional.
I managed to trade on seven separate days, racking up 115 horse races and 11 greyhound races. My first foray, on the 5th, was predictably hit and miss, with a losing sequence of five in a row opening proceedings. I lifted afterwards, my minimum $5 stakes helped no end by my first few disasters, where I failed to get a bet matched and ended up in play or, worse, in a suspended event, on three occasions. Fortunately two went in my favour, helping me finish up with 22 events trades, 13 successes and an overall profit of $3.61. Hardly the stuff of legends, but a positive start nonetheless. Even more valuable were the tactics learned to avoid going in-play.
The following day I was more disciplined, only ending up in-play once, with the resultant $5 hit undoing all my good work and, despite 11 successes in 13 events, I came out with a $1.21 loss.
The next Saturday, I settled in for 33 events and 29 successes, all the while getting more confident in my strategies, which largely involved plugging the gaps in markets early and piggy-backing of larger bets in the market by entering one tick above or below, closer to the off.
There were no in-play stuff-ups on that day, and I returned a healthy $10.65 profit, giving me the confidence I needed in my strike rate, which had increased from 59% at the start to a consistent 80%+.
Family commitments reduced Day 4 activity to four races, all of which were traded successfully at increased $10 stakes for a modest return of $2.35.
Day 5 I hit the UK greyhounds as it was the only marketable commodity that Friday night. 11 events, 8 successes, and another $2.74 for the kitty.
Day 6 was the Saturday just gone (27 Feb 10), and I felt comfortable enough to crank it up to $50. Learned a few big lessons as my inexperience showed, letting my losses run too far in the hope of an upswing in five failures. However, the other 28 successes kept everything ticking over nicely, with the increased stakes bringing a far more respectable return of $67.09.
The last day in February for trading was the after midnight (AEST), when I switched to the main wallet to trade in 10 UK and SA meetings, profitting in nine to arrive at an overall profit of $52.32. The main reason for the elevated success here was a switch in tactic from trading to in-play backing and laying, with orders placed when I considered the result to be more or less beyond doubt. This strategy worked well in the end, but it was not without its heart stopping moments as other horses threatened to ruin the party.
Overall I ended up $137.55 up for the month, with some very valuable lessons learned, the type of which only live experience can teach you.
Having traded solidly at $50, I intend to continue into March for at least the first weekend at this stake and hopefully continue to crank it up, should I be able to maintain my strike rate and confidence.
I certainly enjoyed my first month of trading although the limiting depth of the Australian market looks to be a hindrance, as is the legislation blocking in-play internet gambling that effectively restricts trading to the horses.
Final summary:
Start Balance: $135.90 (UK); $503.60 (Aus); Total: $639.50
No of Days Traded: 7
No of Events: 126
Strike Rate: 81.75%
Best Day: $67.09
Worst Day: -$1.21
End Balance: $190.96 (UK); $586.09 (Aus); Total $777.05
Profit/Loss: $ 137.55
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