tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68077320547041484962024-03-13T00:32:54.420+00:00Stephen MaherBlog Of Professional Sports Trader Stephen MaherStephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.comBlogger646125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-13820873346754407542012-05-13T20:29:00.001+01:002012-05-13T20:30:20.363+01:00MovingWell, I thought it might be time for a change so I've spent the week working on <a href="http://www.GamblerFalls.com/">www.GamblerFalls.com</a><br />
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Nothing will change from here to the website, I just fancied a change, now that I have more space I can do a few previews and that, like I used to when I started here, I'm looking forward to that and sure its just something different and new to do.<br />
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I apologise to long time readers in advance for a bit of the jargon I had to use to fill up space on the homepage at the website - sure what are you supposed to say to fill up space, at least I picked a few nice looking photos.<br />
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As I said, absolutely nothing will change from here just now I have GamblerFalls the website instead of GamblerFalls the blog, no subscriptions or any other of that nonsense.<br />
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Hopefully at least a few of you will keep reading :) All the Betfair P&L posts will be under €100 - €100,000 Challenge.<br />
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<a href="http://www.GamblerFalls.com/">www.GamblerFalls.com</a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-88792501654151710902012-05-07T15:10:00.000+01:002012-05-07T15:13:34.322+01:00New BrowserFinally took the plunge and downloaded the new Firefox, so its a bit better writing posts now its compatible with the new blogger layout - it also means a different look on the Betfair screen shots but its not overly different. Although one problem I had this week was clicking that bloody "try Betfair BETA" link placed RIGHT over the refresh button, annoying when you click on it during an in-play market..! I use Gruss for trading but I do like to have the main site open at the same time, probably a case of habit.<br />
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Anyway, a better week this week and steadily getting better with the IPL, it gave us a reminder why you dont lay big prices this week - 400 matched down to 3ish.. that would have been scary for the layers.
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The markets have been getting better for me too, my stakes have been a lot smaller than they would be normally, but because I'm getting involved later than usual, I dont have the time to turn over as much as I would usually do. Its not too bad though and I've been aiming for €40 - €50 a game which seems the best way for me to go, and keep liability a bit lower than usual - just because its so bloody mad.
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I had been looking forward to the start of the English season but I made a right bollocks of that on Friday night, shouldnt have even got involved after it was such a high score first innings, discipline slip there. But it was a good week over all and happy enough with the plays. I managed to fluke the 1000G winner yesterday too, although it was my Girlfriends idea because Homecoming Queen won the day we were in Leopardstown so thats where I got it from - dont mind taking the credit though you know, ha!
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I think with the trouble at the start, if you ran the race again you'd probably get a different result but sure its hard to know, she was quite impressive. I thought she'd make the running for Maybe and then because she was so tough in Leopardstown stay on for a place, wasnt expecting her to have it wrapped up by 3F out. Nice to see Camelot win the 2000G too, hopefully he goes onto The Derby now and we have a few big clashes over the season with whoever comes out from the pack, I wonder will Frankel possibly take him on at some stage, hopefully.
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W_dpeahtT0c/T6emlpaAVDI/AAAAAAAACZE/iqKd_B15e1k/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-05-07%2Bat%2B11.25.50.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W_dpeahtT0c/T6emlpaAVDI/AAAAAAAACZE/iqKd_B15e1k/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-05-07%2Bat%2B11.25.50.png" width="320" /></a></div>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-559402606717245582012-04-30T11:57:00.000+01:002012-04-30T12:00:52.917+01:0030/04/2012Well, still in slow progress mode carrying on from last week, but with Punchestown on (and I'm amazed it went ahead for the five days!) I was limited with my online time. Real shame about the weather but Tuesday and Saturday were lovely days, I didnt know we'd get to see Moscow Flyer, he looks great, nice to see the old fella doing well and having a happy retirement.
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Anyway onto the trading, I thought it was shaping up to be a bigger week than it was in the end after my first market on Wednesday, only to give back €60 of it on the completed match market on the next game.. they took off the covers and the market went from 1.2ish to 1.8+, was just about to flip so I was carrying a bit of red when it started to drizzle again and we went straight to 1.01 more or less, argh. Happy enough with the play though all the same. And in the match odds markets I seem to be doing much better the later I leave it to get involved, even going to as late as two overs left - although it does leave an awful lot of 'no plays' but I'm not overly bothered about that. Yesterdays games werent on TV but Mumbai were 1.09 by the innings break, those type of games are never any good for me you know (unless it gets gubbed).
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Then, carrying on the theme of this years IPL, I'm just on the wrong team, its OK because I'm not finishing red though, but I suppose I should be greening out a little more too. The English domestic season is back on Friday, I think my style is probably more suited to games like that and Internationals than the IPL these days.
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The great news of the week though is Kildare won the NFL division 2 final in Croker yesterday, still a second half team IMO and I'm looking forward to making a few quid from that during the summer when we get more liquidity in the GAA markets. Cork were very impressive winning the division 1 final later on and pulled right away after going into HT at odds against. Gutted Real Madrid didnt go through in the Champions League though because I wanted to use this:
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Also from the Champions League, what a typo this is..! Amazing.
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And I'm really looking forward to City v United tonight, should be a cracker!
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Anyway onto the week, its been slow going the last two weeks - last week was +€115 and this week is +€124, but after the bad, frustrating and annoying start to the IPL I dont mind going slowly along for a bit just to get a bit of confidence back and get back into the grove of trading fast T20s. Maybe theres a case towards the start of this week that my stakes were too small - but after the first few games when I did something the opposite happened next ball so I was keen enough to keep staking low, of course when things go right its only in hindsight you think I should have just done that staking normally. I have to say though again bringing the Betfair balance down to €300 and going from there has helped yet again, I dont think its failed me yet (I've just gone and jinxed it saying that but anyway!) and its good to just get back to basics every once and while I suppose.
Obviously I would like to be hitting €100+ green each IPL game but, again you know, I said last year the markets have become an awful lot smarter since it started and youre not getting the low odds lays like before, but I'm happy enough getting between €30 and €40 a game atm - theres so many games on its just a case of taking things a bit slowly and not getting into trouble. I suppose its good in a way I had a few mares the first week and was still finishing only -€10 or whatever, so it could have been worse. And its my own fault for thinking "IPL = easy money" in the first place.
We had the 2nd Test match between Windies and Aus this week too but it really wasnt a runner with all the rain, I was happy enough building up a book of result green trading the draw when we nearly lost a whole day and the draw crashed to odds on.
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There wasnt much really I could with it after that, changed around a bit and leveled the book completely at €65 - then threw away a few quid backing The Windies at big prices to chase down the score Aus set them - only for them to come into 5ish and then go off for rain again, and sure they never came back out. Test matches would be my biggest form of income lately but I dont mind finishing with a low profit or small loss when its a draw - especially on 'result' pitches like that, bloody rain.
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Anyway, onwards to next week, we have Punchestown on this week so I'm not sure how much online time I'll have but I cant wait to head down there for a few days, I have free tickets for tomorrow but just looking at the card there theres plenty of short prices favourites, still it'll be nice to see Sizing Europe I suppose, and Hurricane Fly on Friday. I'll do bits of the 3rd test and try eek a few quid out of the IPL again.
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EDIT - I apologise for the lack of paragraphs between the photos - I'm actually putting them there but Blogger isnt showing them, so it might read a bit odd.Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-31799428887677954302012-04-15T19:44:00.007+01:002012-04-15T20:36:08.600+01:0015/04/2012Well, the IPL is still somewhat a frustration, but it did get better on Thursday and I havent traded it since (wasnt on TV today) so I'm feeling a bit more positive about it from last week. I was royally fed up with it on Tuesday though - Monday was a struggle and I was sat looking at -€60 Deccan and €0 Mumbai and ended up finishing with €0 through some miracle, then on Tuesday RCB were 1.8ish to chase down 166 at The Chinnaswamy, which is IMO one of the best chasing grounds in the world (par is usually nearer 200, its also where Ireland beat England in the WC after Kevin O'Brien set the fastest 100). 1.8 to chase 166, great I think, after 9 overs they were 33/5 - luckily I hit the equal red button in between all the wickets, if someone told me that score without me seeing it I'd have never believed it. <br /><br />So I was fairly depressed Tuesday evening thinking nothing is going right at all after that. But the Test match has perked up my spirit, really and truly I should be focusing on Test matches and not doing the IPL but its hard to change from what I've been used to over the last few years. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw_emJCmXQ0/T4sad_cehNI/AAAAAAAACU4/NfSQ5JHbjBo/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-10%2Bat%2B20.08.32.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aw_emJCmXQ0/T4sad_cehNI/AAAAAAAACU4/NfSQ5JHbjBo/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-10%2Bat%2B20.08.32.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731704053308490962" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Ironically enough the only IPL game I've been green on bigger than €6, 1.01 got busted! €500k at 1.02 must have hurt a few out there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h1OVw0Pw6_g/T4sarT1hj3I/AAAAAAAACVE/nevLHOF8THI/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-12%2Bat%2B15.08.30.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 247px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h1OVw0Pw6_g/T4sarT1hj3I/AAAAAAAACVE/nevLHOF8THI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-12%2Bat%2B15.08.30.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731704282120556402" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Hopefully things will continue to pick up next week, €115 may seem a bit small in the grand scheme of things but I'm delighted to just get out of that little bit of an IPL lull from last week and just get back in the black.<br /><br />Took the opportunity to head to Leopardstown today for the Guineas trial day, the nice weather made it a lovely day out, not sure if any of them will go in on the big day but Furners Green quickened up well from where we were standing and he had strong form ties with the winner of the Ballysax later. The horse racing loss online was from the Grand National, even backing five I still couldnt pick the winner!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gnIPlsJSTB8/T4sgkROFJ3I/AAAAAAAACVQ/xWYtUHjPl_Q/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gnIPlsJSTB8/T4sgkROFJ3I/AAAAAAAACVQ/xWYtUHjPl_Q/s320/photo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731710758228928370" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETwqm1tPig4/T4shmSyuW2I/AAAAAAAACVc/myVKAGA7ngk/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-15%2Bat%2B19.44.33.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETwqm1tPig4/T4shmSyuW2I/AAAAAAAACVc/myVKAGA7ngk/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-15%2Bat%2B19.44.33.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5731711892522425186" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-79095556732045361332012-04-08T17:38:00.009+01:002012-04-08T19:01:45.185+01:00FrustrationOne of the most frustrating weeks I've ever had on Betfair this week. The IPL leaves your head spinning at the best of times, but I really cant get anything going on it at all so far. I was saying on twitter earlier in the week that I couldnt get a strong hold/opinion on any of the games so far, but even today when I was happy to have a fairly strong opinion I was miles off, one of those weeks!<br /><br />So far theyve been very one sided games though, and the market is hitting sub 1.2s pretty early on, if it hasnt reached 1.2s near to the end of the 1st innings, its going quickly in the 2nd innings - but there has been loads of early wickets. From Monday on I wont be getting involved at the break at all - and just judge things on how the chase is going rather than forming it during the break.<br /><br />I've also withdrawn a fair few quid from the account too so I cant have any big liabilities, I know theres loads of opinions on bank size but it never really bothered me you know, I've always thought you only really need what your using at the time in the market rather than be sat there looking at €10,000.. when theres no chance of putting that in the market, I've always thought it only opens the door to a miss click really, but each to their own of course. Anyway, I usually have around about €1k, I'm going into tomorrow with €300 - purely to keep IPL trades a bit lower than usual, confidence is pretty low after that battering of a week. I think I did really well to only be down only €80 really.<br /><br />I was heavy on England too in the Test, without getting up at 5-30AM so I cant really complain, but I traded out of that (was carrying red) just before they went odds against towards the end of day four, then a few minutes later Swanny took two wickets in an over and they won easily on day five. Happy they won to keep the number 1 spot for the summer, not happy with my timing, or patience - patience is (IMO) number one key for test cricket trading.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9dLwFtJjnp4/T4HCTNiJ3xI/AAAAAAAACUc/skw2ZEg7Kgk/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-06%2Bat%2B11.52.51.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9dLwFtJjnp4/T4HCTNiJ3xI/AAAAAAAACUc/skw2ZEg7Kgk/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-06%2Bat%2B11.52.51.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729073836298198802" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />That probably sums up this week though, bad timing and bad patience, but sure next week we'll have another go and thats what its all about. Just have to relax a bit, losing never bothered me at all once I know I've done the best I could - just need to find that bit of patience again for the IPL - I forgot how crazy it is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ziUivvW5sLQ/T4HR3RFE6-I/AAAAAAAACUs/uL1wzMdJ27Y/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-08%2Bat%2B18.58.29.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ziUivvW5sLQ/T4HR3RFE6-I/AAAAAAAACUs/uL1wzMdJ27Y/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-08%2Bat%2B18.58.29.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729090948399688674" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-33733447766957866972012-04-01T18:59:00.013+01:002012-04-01T19:49:15.377+01:0001/04/2012Well, nice to be busy again and maybe find a bit of form. Although probably cocked up a little Friday night getting into a good position and still losing €50, not a big sum but no need for it at the same time. Old me probably would have lost more though, and I suppose its nice to be more risk adverse these days, it was a half throwback to the old days at the same time where I get an idea in my head and a certain team/player "cant" or shouldnt lose and take a pigheaded approach to viewing the market - really couldnt see Aus not getting 161 after Windies finished so poorly, but shit happens I suppose.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cY-vzKVuy80/T3iZfkX4C7I/AAAAAAAACTU/CCg3dv4dc2o/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-30%2Bat%2B21.26.37.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 51px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cY-vzKVuy80/T3iZfkX4C7I/AAAAAAAACTU/CCg3dv4dc2o/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-30%2Bat%2B21.26.37.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726495693820398514" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />I've always thought that if something has gone wrong that it was always my fault, rather than blame players (or more popularly jockeys!), there are certain situation where you can get fecked over quickly but very rarely, and it tends to happen (to me anyway) it low liquidity markets. Things were going grand until Wade got on strike and buggered it up - but I dont blame him, more so me for not reacting to it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZmpKRGLmEtQ/T3icwO7hd8I/AAAAAAAACTs/BmIZLGCKD7k/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-01%2Bat%2B19.11.25.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZmpKRGLmEtQ/T3icwO7hd8I/AAAAAAAACTs/BmIZLGCKD7k/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-01%2Bat%2B19.11.25.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726499278656993218" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I thought it was bit like I'd gone back a few years by not reacting and thinking 'ah, it'll work out' in hope rather than confidence - I used to do that ages ago but not now, and consequently had a lot more €300+ losses. Its 'only' 50 quid at the end of the day but its daft behaviour not using my experience you know, its a perfect prep for the IPL on Wednesday though and getting rid of red when I can (or should) because the swings in that will be unreal!<br /><br />Tuesday was better and ideally I'd love to have every book like this..!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lYdihphweAI/T3icar_5HXI/AAAAAAAACTg/ytqS0lEOp58/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-27%2Bat%2B21.41.39.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 72px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lYdihphweAI/T3icar_5HXI/AAAAAAAACTg/ytqS0lEOp58/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-27%2Bat%2B21.41.39.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726498908502826354" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As I mentioned Monday I wasnt getting up at 5AM for the SL v Eng test but what drama - I was just looking on for the most part.. I really wanted Eng to win but that 2/1 to chase their highest ever chase was (IMO as said on twitter) a terrible price really.. but they went down to sub 1.6 before ending up getting beaten. SL at 1.5 was a "walk the dog" price if ever there was one, and thats four tests losing in a row for Eng!<br /><br />I forgot to mention Monday I'm no longer a horse owner, Kitty Dillons last run was shocking to say the least and sure there wasnt much point carrying on with her, positive is it didnt cost that much at all given it was a lease, exactly like our last one SeeSea. Thats three weve had now and have ended up having to be retired through injury or whatever (put down in Marshal Dillons case) and I think that will be that for my ownership venture - we have to be one of the most unluckiest bunch going.<br /><br />Better news is though I broke 80 at Citywest on Thursday, managed to get it over the water on the last this time! I downloaded a few apps there the weekend and they put the idea in my head to maybe change my grip but I'm not sure if it'll be a terrible idea or not. My trading shocks course is going alright too, although I'm not sure if its for me yet or not, a lot of it so far is to do with chart analysis and I cant put my finger on it but I think its just all happening a bit slow for me - maybe when I get a go in the markets it'll pick up.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iat6LYKYwv0/T3if_EVxDHI/AAAAAAAACT4/2RPrSzrp4cI/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iat6LYKYwv0/T3if_EVxDHI/AAAAAAAACT4/2RPrSzrp4cI/s320/photo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726502832047197298" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NclcvuSU9o4/T3ihV68hL4I/AAAAAAAACUE/nR6VA2unhfs/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-01%2Bat%2B18.57.38.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NclcvuSU9o4/T3ihV68hL4I/AAAAAAAACUE/nR6VA2unhfs/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-01%2Bat%2B18.57.38.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726504324174000002" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ge3RVycbQWA/T3ihcnvCnGI/AAAAAAAACUQ/AEmGfqLaeTs/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-01%2Bat%2B18.57.54.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ge3RVycbQWA/T3ihcnvCnGI/AAAAAAAACUQ/AEmGfqLaeTs/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-04-01%2Bat%2B18.57.54.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726504439276280930" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-67473555643722964192012-03-26T18:28:00.007+01:002012-03-26T18:56:47.558+01:0026/03/2012Well, relatively quiet P&L this week.. Windies v Aus has still been extremely difficult for me, thinking about it I dont think I've done anything differently to normal, havent broken any rules etc, just cant make it work - but some series' are just like that I suppose. Still, if you cant be good, be lucky..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S7EuKVGRA-c/T3Cn2HpoLCI/AAAAAAAACSA/a5uT-wpIUbc/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-20%2Bat%2B20.12.56.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 67px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S7EuKVGRA-c/T3Cn2HpoLCI/AAAAAAAACSA/a5uT-wpIUbc/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-20%2Bat%2B20.12.56.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724259674596322338" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Was very happy to take a tie and a void market, I cant recall the last time I had a tie go in my favour so delighted with that. Leaving aside me, Windies had 3 balls to score 1 run for the win, and ended up with a run out with two balls left.. patience! <br /><br />I had more or less the same books during the week with zero on one team and profit on the other and theyve just been getting turned over.. I forgot to take a screen shot last night (it was mental!) but ended up with +€1,300 Windies and -€10 Aus, but the market was never giving Windies a fair chance IMO, I dumped red at 1.38 and the momentum stopped at around 1.44 - but I was never thinking of going equal at the time so no point complaining about it after when it doesnt go my way.<br /><br />The Asia cup was hit and miss this week too, I went equal after catching a good position on Bangs, they went on to win in a 1.01 train so maybe I left a few quid behind on that one, hard to know, but it went fairly quickly to 1.01 and then when I did leave all green on them, they buggered it up.. even though that seemed a very hard match to trade and was happy enough not to lose more than anything.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUwQpnYhaI/T3CqFTUz2fI/AAAAAAAACSM/C7dVq-w9x-w/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-20%2Bat%2B16.09.05.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 76px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uiUwQpnYhaI/T3CqFTUz2fI/AAAAAAAACSM/C7dVq-w9x-w/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-20%2Bat%2B16.09.05.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724262134451526130" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OpdHwO77hf8/T3CqLE8fHrI/AAAAAAAACSY/sxWrCFLKleI/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-22%2Bat%2B15.11.04.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 76px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OpdHwO77hf8/T3CqLE8fHrI/AAAAAAAACSY/sxWrCFLKleI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-22%2Bat%2B15.11.04.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724262233670622898" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Its been 100% me rather than any particular thing going against me or being out of my hands, just not in fantastic touch, its been a slow March after having two weeks where there was nothing on and then Cheltenham was tough because I've fallen so far behind on the horses, but its hard to have full confidence in teams like Windies and Bangs anyway and confidence in teams/players is very important to my mindset trading and always has been. I decided to give SL v Eng tests a miss for getting my full attention too, I dont feel in great form to be getting up at 5AM anyway, it'd kill me to get up and lose you know, plus we have the IPL clashing with the 2nd test so I'm fairly happy to not change my natural hours.<br /><br />I'm back to school tomorrow at 7PM for trading stocks so hopefully that goes well.. And the weather is amazing atm in Ireland, played Citywest golf course today and I have to say its probably the best course I've played, apparently its in receivership and someone said its going for 10M, better buy a Euromillions ticket, I've found something to spend it on! Great to see Tiger back winning last night too, I cant wait for The Masters, best week of the year IMO.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AJ0yYUJXuPo/T3CrfLqU80I/AAAAAAAACSk/3x4QU3Evf9U/s1600/472213_10150736645271760_529076759_11821359_947699391_o.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AJ0yYUJXuPo/T3CrfLqU80I/AAAAAAAACSk/3x4QU3Evf9U/s320/472213_10150736645271760_529076759_11821359_947699391_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724263678582518594" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Jv9CEAfxlU/T3Crp9XlM-I/AAAAAAAACSw/MozmjxioUhA/s1600/541302_10150753092165081_529410080_11674070_329131727_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Jv9CEAfxlU/T3Crp9XlM-I/AAAAAAAACSw/MozmjxioUhA/s320/541302_10150753092165081_529410080_11674070_329131727_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724263863724356578" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DinSmXZxG00/T3CrzjhFDcI/AAAAAAAACS8/vZAwZRfPn-c/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-26%2Bat%2B18.28.15.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DinSmXZxG00/T3CrzjhFDcI/AAAAAAAACS8/vZAwZRfPn-c/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-26%2Bat%2B18.28.15.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724264028583562690" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--MLJQUu4i_k/T3Cr6oBmYHI/AAAAAAAACTI/oqCUmFdCFL0/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-26%2Bat%2B18.28.27.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--MLJQUu4i_k/T3Cr6oBmYHI/AAAAAAAACTI/oqCUmFdCFL0/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-26%2Bat%2B18.28.27.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724264150052790386" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-23062195651718629962012-03-19T10:31:00.010+00:002012-03-19T11:18:32.423+00:00Thats It For Another Year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lgSJ0RiPBaY/T2cOFg_6kqI/AAAAAAAACRE/zI0Eewc7KT0/s1600/1224313370678.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 248px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lgSJ0RiPBaY/T2cOFg_6kqI/AAAAAAAACRE/zI0Eewc7KT0/s320/1224313370678.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721557339517653666" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Well, thats Cheltenham over for another year. If anything this year it reminded me how out of touch I've become with trading/punting on horse racing, it seemed to go on forever and it was a real struggle - I suppose I dont really have the tools for in running anymore anyway having got rid of RUK (replaced it with BoxNation) and in general I was just rusty with the speeds you have to go at anyway. Sizing Europe hurt the most - I backed him at 1.9+ and was looking at 1.25-ish thinking (you know that negative mindset) hes going to get done here I can feel it, but at the same time I thought 1.25 was too big to even lay off the stake, let alone go equal green, so I let that run only for the farce at the last to take place and sure he may not have won, but that did hurt and left a lot of 'what ifs' which is generally the worst feeling after a market has closed. Big Bucks was my highlight of the week though, and rescued the week back to level, I had said beforehand on Twitter that after the race we'd be commenting on the 1.9 either thinking WTF were the layers at or saying they knew, turned into a very exciting race though, and sure whats left to say about Big Bucks. I finished up -€1.59 for the week anyway, having not had a bet on Friday, it was pretty stressful, I know why I dont do it anymore every day, every so often I forget and try again, and it only takes a few hours to remember.<br /><br />I should just stick to cricket really, which I do, but its hard to ignore things like Cheltenham, Aintree and Punchestown. I'm finding it very hard to get a handle on Windies v Aus atm but hopefully that will pick up a bit better as the series goes on, you just cant trust Windies and trust while trading has always been a huge issue for me, more times than not it leads to a lot of small chopping and changing when even the slightest thing goes against, and sure you only end up giving away ticks all over the place, its not like when youre confident and can sometimes top up on an overreaction or whatever. The Asia Cup has been better, I still cant believe Sachin got his 100th 100 only for Bangladesh to chase it down - slightly embarrassing game for the history books!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S5eLyPGwdyQ/T2cQ1ES5ChI/AAAAAAAACRQ/vGQtU6iHv0g/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-16%2Bat%2B15.37.24.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 73px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S5eLyPGwdyQ/T2cQ1ES5ChI/AAAAAAAACRQ/vGQtU6iHv0g/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-16%2Bat%2B15.37.24.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721560355469593106" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I'm looking forward to the next few weeks, all are jam packed so thats always positive. My horse Kitty Dillon is running in the 2-40 in Limerick today too, not too sure how she'll go over 2M3F and it looks a fairly strong race for a mares race, hopefully she'll be involved in some way shape or form, I still havent backed her yet at all..!<br /><br />I finished reading AP McCoys autobiography at the start of the week too, amazing some of the stories, would highly recommend it to anyone interested in racing. And I registered for a stocks trading course with Ava FX - I dunno how that will go but sure I'll give it a bash and see what its like, chatting to the guy over the phone he said a fair bit of people come with a sports trading/odds background and he knew what Betfair was when I mentioned it so thats a huge plus, youre always on a loser trying to explain it to people who dont know what it is. It might clash a little with cricket games but its only Tuesdays and Thursday for an hour at 7PM, hopefully I learn a few things, back to school! And who knows I might be seen wearing a suit heading to an office yet, in the mean time I'm happy hitting golf balls out the back, this is on Amazon for around 50 quid, bargain.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5ysQinwdWY/T2cThxoTBII/AAAAAAAACR0/sDKkUeXzJXc/s1600/AoCIJM4CEAAwBrY.jpg-large.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5ysQinwdWY/T2cThxoTBII/AAAAAAAACR0/sDKkUeXzJXc/s320/AoCIJM4CEAAwBrY.jpg-large.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721563322576471170" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2rdTFp77Z1Y/T2cRgHwjYRI/AAAAAAAACRc/MRh4950IKKw/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-19%2Bat%2B10.33.24.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2rdTFp77Z1Y/T2cRgHwjYRI/AAAAAAAACRc/MRh4950IKKw/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-19%2Bat%2B10.33.24.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721561095133683986" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvdKYC0h6GY/T2cRminokUI/AAAAAAAACRo/5m-veNoyoaY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-19%2Bat%2B10.33.36.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvdKYC0h6GY/T2cRminokUI/AAAAAAAACRo/5m-veNoyoaY/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-19%2Bat%2B10.33.36.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721561205423247682" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-46225684608292720722012-03-11T18:52:00.007+00:002012-03-11T19:32:07.782+00:00The Drought Is OverI was filling in my calendar on Friday and finally there seems to be plenty happening, although there was one slight head in hands moment, one of the Tests between Sri Lanka and Eng overlaps with one of the Tests between Windies and Aus while, wait for it, the IPL is on too. FFS I've had two weeks of doing nothing and then theres more on than I can handle..! But its nice to be busy rather than doing nothing, and the discipline held up well over the two weeks and that seemed to be the main thing heading into it, but it wasnt really a big worry because with the calendar if theres nothing on it on a certain day I wont be on Betfair anyway, I never had a discipline problem to begin with but it keeps me away from even thinking it.<br /><br />I did do a small bit on Sri Lanka v Aus on the three finals, the 3rd final kind of slipped away a little, I had every chance of going equal at the flip flop but decided to let it run, I thought SL should have been shorter at the time but it was close enough, Aus ended up winning and I thought I was probably being a tad greedy really, I had laid 1.3s and then to get it down to just under 1.6 the other side - should have got at least a little something, but c'est la vie.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ujHgSkcaTUg/T1z2oRkLrJI/AAAAAAAACP8/jRAwOC7UIeI/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-08%2Bat%2B11.07.08.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 55px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ujHgSkcaTUg/T1z2oRkLrJI/AAAAAAAACP8/jRAwOC7UIeI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-08%2Bat%2B11.07.08.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718716798624050322" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />I've had a busy weekend with Kitty Dillon running too, I was fairly gutted when she got in to Naas on Sunday over three miles not to take that option up and instead head to Gowran over two, because the idea was she'd be far more suited going right handed first time over hurdles after doing it slightly while schooling. Interestingly enough when I was reading AP McCoys book he was of the opinion that when a horse does that they are protecting themselves in some way shape or form with their muscles or something. But anyway, just my opinion but I'd have rather jumped right at a left handed track over the right trip than jump 'correctly' over a trip where she had zero chance of winning, but at least the RP seemed to pick up she could be half decent (which I think too) when she does finally settle and get a trip, I actually thought she settled quite well yesterday and I love the way shes made up lots of ground down the back straight in both her runs, before obviously not having near the turn of foot needed for two miles. Fingers crossed for the future anyway.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7YgQREWdlZA/T1z30aB41mI/AAAAAAAACQI/e8gHrQcjHx0/s1600/426943_170447503075024_100003293270092_251183_1208615585_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 218px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7YgQREWdlZA/T1z30aB41mI/AAAAAAAACQI/e8gHrQcjHx0/s320/426943_170447503075024_100003293270092_251183_1208615585_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718718106566186594" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />More good news is that its not a million miles away from the English summer and handy trading hours (bar SL v Eng at 5AM-ish), the clocks change soon enough too, and its then time for flip flops and shorts..<br /><br />(Also just for transparency the screen shots from Betfair are for the last two weeks not the usual because I skipped last week, but sure nothing happened anyway!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yg12VDkJLNg/T1z4x3k7bwI/AAAAAAAACQU/ydSnChKotzw/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-08%2Bat%2B17.09.20.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yg12VDkJLNg/T1z4x3k7bwI/AAAAAAAACQU/ydSnChKotzw/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-08%2Bat%2B17.09.20.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718719162469805826" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGLxT8SXzO4/T1z474lO-LI/AAAAAAAACQg/OObuO43IHMQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-08%2Bat%2B17.09.15.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 231px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGLxT8SXzO4/T1z474lO-LI/AAAAAAAACQg/OObuO43IHMQ/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-08%2Bat%2B17.09.15.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718719334538213554" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-istejBmeiFw/T1z5Effs-uI/AAAAAAAACQs/swySGfjwz8k/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-11%2Bat%2B18.53.24.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-istejBmeiFw/T1z5Effs-uI/AAAAAAAACQs/swySGfjwz8k/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-11%2Bat%2B18.53.24.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718719482422950626" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SqYulxwdBqI/T1z5MKDOsXI/AAAAAAAACQ4/Xi3Z-D_68QQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-11%2Bat%2B18.54.15.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SqYulxwdBqI/T1z5MKDOsXI/AAAAAAAACQ4/Xi3Z-D_68QQ/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-03-11%2Bat%2B18.54.15.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718719614105334130" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-56606249097882168392012-03-07T12:26:00.001+00:002012-03-07T12:27:37.115+00:00Everything Has A Price..?Well, not everything apparently. Fernando Torres. The bookies have finally copped on..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PiiudtsRl2o/T1dUJoSZiYI/AAAAAAAACPw/jh5h47FcmC8/s1600/532366286.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 116px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PiiudtsRl2o/T1dUJoSZiYI/AAAAAAAACPw/jh5h47FcmC8/s320/532366286.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5717130776380279170" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-45617440731733648422012-02-26T18:50:00.009+00:002012-02-26T19:37:41.738+00:00DramaCarling Cup final penalty shoot-out = immense! It was a mug fest but still love a bit of sporting drama, shit penalties though really, Charlie Adams was hilarious. And Liverpool actually won a cup, amazing scenes..!<br /><br />Anyway, worse drama took place on Thursday in Dubai, it was mental I'm sure anyone that watched will know how quick the market was moving, I forgot to take a screen shot (FFS), but anyway Eng failed to get 35/30 which was fairly sickening, I had +€750 on them at one stage after going out to 3+ when the RRR was still under 8, they were panicking for no reason. But eventually they went down to 1.25 before making an absolute bollocks of it.. I got €200 out of it (laid that at in between 1.3 and 1.4 as insurance more than anything) and €200 would be a great result on a T20 any day except for having near €700 on Eng and watch them muck it up, but c'est la vie.<br /><br />I missed the second one yesterday because we went to The Music Show at the RDS, Bell x1, Royseven, Aslan were all there that type of thing - first time seeing Aslan live, the lead singer is nuts with all the hand movements and everything, didnt have a clue what was going on.. but it was good all the same, something different sure.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qPEvI9PYVz4/T0qDoqgjlkI/AAAAAAAACPA/4YdKzeGb-LE/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qPEvI9PYVz4/T0qDoqgjlkI/AAAAAAAACPA/4YdKzeGb-LE/s320/photo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713523811901740610" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Theres just the T20 left on Monday and then the tour is over.. and more worryingly for me I cant really find anything I want to trade for two weeks after. I've never been in such a situation being at home, wanting to work, and theres nothing on for such a length of time. Not sure how to cope with it to be honest. I've bought the Millennium Trilogy books (three quid each on Amazon, VALUE) really enjoyed the film version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo so hopefully the books are as good, I bought a golf net for the back garden (€50 on Amazon too, driving range in the back garden, VALUE) so I have to build that and knowing me it will turn out arseways but anyway. I dont plan on being on Betfair at all but will obviously check livesportontv.com every day in the hope of something. Its probably going to be the longest two weeks of my life!<br /><br />There is cricket on from New Zealand and Australia but I'm really against switching to being nocturnal - especially when were so close to the 'normal' hours season, the games from Aus starting at 3AM might be an option if the market is still live getting towards 7/8AM, so hopefully that might be something. Its just about keeping discipline for two weeks and then we can feast on Cheltenham, then onto the IPL, and sure then it never ends the amount of opportunities.<br /><br />In the meantime, looking forward to watching the golf tonight, hopefully Rory does the business.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyw8c3Bu7bs/T0qHGsSD1VI/AAAAAAAACPM/aBPJItW8EPM/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-26%2Bat%2B19.24.34.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zyw8c3Bu7bs/T0qHGsSD1VI/AAAAAAAACPM/aBPJItW8EPM/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-26%2Bat%2B19.24.34.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713527626308769106" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P1jxMnADWuk/T0qHuBFUGwI/AAAAAAAACPY/uslD5P9eTLw/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-26%2Bat%2B18.48.32.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P1jxMnADWuk/T0qHuBFUGwI/AAAAAAAACPY/uslD5P9eTLw/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-26%2Bat%2B18.48.32.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713528301907352322" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VJqwPNWl9EE/T0qH0zGpppI/AAAAAAAACPk/jQ5s96M_7lQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-26%2Bat%2B18.48.49.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VJqwPNWl9EE/T0qH0zGpppI/AAAAAAAACPk/jQ5s96M_7lQ/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-26%2Bat%2B18.48.49.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713528418413946514" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-84398063644576379152012-02-19T19:55:00.008+00:002012-02-19T20:56:23.216+00:0019/02/2012Well, it all happened this week.. I have to say I enjoyed the drama between Chisora, Haye and the Klitschkos last night, I know it was unsavory but I thought it was great! For some reason I'm OK with things like that happening in Boxing - if it was football or rugby I'd be thinking what a pair of twats - but they spend their lives fighting and well things like that are always going to happen now and again arent they, everyone loved Tyson and sure he was a major nutter, I think it just adds a bit of drama around the place and gets us away from the usual shite in the news. I've said this defending Amir Khan too, the problem is no one likes arrogance, but boxers are programmed to think they are better than everybody, so it just comes with the sport and thats basically it, it comes with the sport. Theyre arrogant, and everyone wants them to get knocked out but imagine how crap it'd be before a big Las Vegas fight if one of them in the pre-fight interview said "Ah yeah, I'll get beaten up and knocked out, sure I'm shite, I'm useless and a loser.." Thats not going to happen is it, no. <br /><br />As for their back pockets, Chisora was relatively unknown outside the UK boxing fans before yesterday - he is known now, all his antics, he knew what he was doing sure. Haye was "retired" and needed to do something to get back in the limelight (hence even turning up to the fight) - hes major news again. I can see lots of people saying "its bad for boxing" "theyre behaving terribly" yadda yadda yadda, but they'll be the exact same ones buying the PPVs though when theres fights between the four of them involved last night, they'll talk about and they'll have an opinion on it afterwards. If I remember correctly Shane Mosley had a shouting match with Floyd Mayweather after a fight, next fight? Mosley v Mayweather. Last night was a fantastic sell for PPV if ever there was one. And anyway its Boxing, its much MUCH better when they hate each other.<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MWQs8nMsZNg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <br /><br />Anyway, onto the cricket. Well, Monday didnt start good, I said Sunday I was feeling unwell so feeling like shite is never good for trading but I managed to go from +€290 on England back to zero, annoying to not even get €100 out of it, I laid Eng heavily after a wicket at 1.29 (which was such a big over reaction IMO) and it bounced back to 1.4ish so it wasnt too bad of a move but then another wicket at just the wrong time and it was soon 1.08.. I accept the 1.29 lay but really should have finished a bit better off than €3 after being +€290 even with things going tits up because I had so much leverage in the first place, stomach feeling crap didnt help the mood, it was just one of those when you sit there after thinking "Why am I such a gobshite.."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GF2mmAiVfic/T0FcNPtnUhI/AAAAAAAACOE/tHARZitMtzY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-13%2Bat%2B13.11.40.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 75px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GF2mmAiVfic/T0FcNPtnUhI/AAAAAAAACOE/tHARZitMtzY/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-13%2Bat%2B13.11.40.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710947185108406802" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Wednesday was better, I went equal when I had the chance around evens the pair (rare for me!) main reason for that was the market was in 'swinging between the 1.7s' mode and even though flip flops always sound good for trading when they happen so quickly and change a few times, it only takes one bad move to ruin everything you know, so I was happy to sit out for most of that, it turned out it was more England going from 1.5 to 2.1 rather than 1.7 to 1.7 after Pak lost wickets but it was just one of those markets that was loaded with quick danger. Old me would be involved in some shape or form but new me tries not to get hung, drawn and quartered now - even though it just happened on Monday, ha!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wmkbNZ184o8/T0FdJVUiP2I/AAAAAAAACOQ/OzFI2xS79wg/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-15%2Bat%2B16.52.33.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wmkbNZ184o8/T0FdJVUiP2I/AAAAAAAACOQ/OzFI2xS79wg/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-15%2Bat%2B16.52.33.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710948217405980514" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And yesterday was relatively easy compared to the rest of the week, I said on Twitter Eng at 1.7 at the start of the chase seemed very high and it was a 1.01 train from there.. which always helps! First time in a while I traded first innings too laying Pak at odds on, they just seemed in swing at everything mode so there was always a chance of crumbling when you have quality bowling.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VcM_3RlrZUs/T0Fdxt8QJTI/AAAAAAAACOc/WjqQAEMCOKQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-18%2Bat%2B15.56.31.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 76px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VcM_3RlrZUs/T0Fdxt8QJTI/AAAAAAAACOc/WjqQAEMCOKQ/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-18%2Bat%2B15.56.31.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710948911209784626" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I had my first horse bet today too in ages at Navan today, not on Betfair though because someone had €2k up before I woke up at 3.7 when you could get 3.75 minus commission cash. Berties Dream, I think hes worth a follow, IMO the ride he got today was suicidal kicking on that far out in Navan will only end one way really, I thought the horse did fantastically well to still even have a chance going to the last. You might remember him he would the Albert Bartlett in 2010 before turning to pot but he seemed to find his old form last time out, and was even better today IMO but hopefully that race doesnt leave a mark, I felt sorry for him going that far out and trying to get up that hill, maybe he might be a Irish Grand National horse in time.. and when I say that I mean it in the sense that he'll win it at 25/1 and I wont have backed him.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pHWmXSNgFc0/T0FfhagNhuI/AAAAAAAACOo/rUW9jhm-c0A/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-19%2Bat%2B19.55.00.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pHWmXSNgFc0/T0FfhagNhuI/AAAAAAAACOo/rUW9jhm-c0A/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-19%2Bat%2B19.55.00.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710950830137247458" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-85jRycKNHFQ/T0FfpmBhuRI/AAAAAAAACO0/nfLeicmpx-k/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-19%2Bat%2B19.55.16.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-85jRycKNHFQ/T0FfpmBhuRI/AAAAAAAACO0/nfLeicmpx-k/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-19%2Bat%2B19.55.16.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5710950970668726546" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-70566209176214479572012-02-12T18:06:00.005+00:002012-02-12T18:19:43.626+00:0012/02/2012Well, I enjoyed the ten days or so off from Betfair, only thing is I am now dying sick..! Hopefully I'll feel better for the ODIs next week and get back into a routine again, reckon it was just something I ate so I'll keep this short - although I only had two markets for the full two weeks anyway.<br /><br />Big kick in the balls to see the BPL (Bangladesh premier league) is 15 minutes behind live on English TV (Sky CH834), there are links around but trading off links is very hit and miss for me - I did try it on Friday and ended up -€40 so I think I may just pretend its not happening at all if the TV pics arent fixed. Its a shame but what can you do.<br /><br />And I have a P&L from the Pak v Eng third test, although I was down the country for three out of the four days, its mostly from just messing around really, I got to watch it for the odd hour here and there. Obviously Eng were poor enough to lose from having Pak all out for 99 first go, but I think the ODIs might bring them closer together, its hard to know until first look tomorrow I wont be trusting Eng too quickly, but I dont think it'll be a complete stroll for Pak like some are suggesting.. cue 4-0 and four 1.01 trains..!<br /><br />Looking forward to watching Tiger tonight, hopefully he does the business although no financial interest, I cant move from the couch anyway so what better to do than watch Tiger..<br /><br />Hopefully things are back to normal next week, whether I be right or wrong on them, at least I'll have a few markets to think about.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9D8wa71GI5I/TzgBhOviemI/AAAAAAAACNs/NRnpqjhAr00/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-12%2Bat%2B18.05.26.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9D8wa71GI5I/TzgBhOviemI/AAAAAAAACNs/NRnpqjhAr00/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-12%2Bat%2B18.05.26.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708314198096902754" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rlOZJkBeSxE/TzgBnhWxhhI/AAAAAAAACN4/RPoVH4UKWag/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-12%2Bat%2B18.05.44.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rlOZJkBeSxE/TzgBnhWxhhI/AAAAAAAACN4/RPoVH4UKWag/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-02-12%2Bat%2B18.05.44.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5708314306172519954" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-72769063400292502002012-01-29T16:28:00.004+00:002012-01-29T16:40:26.971+00:00AmazingThere are times in life where you are stuck by the awe of a situation, and you just have sit back and think to yourself "thats fucking amazing," Hurricane Fly today was superb, Djokovic v Nadal was epic sport, but this, this is fucking amazing - Peter Casey live on Irelands national TV station RTE giving his reaction after winning his first Grade 1:<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3pnHS7PbRts" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />What. A. Legend. "You cant say that on television!" Hahaha!<br /><br />Anyway, its been a great week on the test and it was good that it finished a day early yesterday so I could go see Hurricane Fly today, that and watch Tiger make a bit of a balls of it this morning but sure he cant win everything. Bit of a weird feeling with England collapsing chasing 144, really wasnt expecting it, but I was against the draw mainly and level both teams so I wasnt supporting anyone really, just was expecting it to be closer thats all.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9FQ5_aBX66s/TyVhf5WtaGI/AAAAAAAACMw/B7YsB9Rjpek/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-27%2Bat%2B08.50.24.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 76px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9FQ5_aBX66s/TyVhf5WtaGI/AAAAAAAACMw/B7YsB9Rjpek/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-27%2Bat%2B08.50.24.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703071703734511714" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Life is always far handier when the draw goes odds on so early, 10 minutes into play on day 1 this time, I'm skeptical about laying it in subcontinent conditions but England were bowling first so went with it. Only small thing I missed out on (well maybe), a lot of people on my Twitter timeline were laying Eng at 1.2 when they came out to chase, that was a top shout and I thought about doing it because Strauss was in such bad form, as it turned out he was still there when three or four others had already gone! <br /><br />I ventured over to tennis this week too, only small stakes, mainly listening to other people, but when it goes five sets the market always swings a fair bit anyway doesnt it, the final this morning (although I missed half of it) was amazing, cant describe it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UYEEpnkbTp0/TyVjCbFPhvI/AAAAAAAACM8/dBBWxuSJG_0/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-29%2Bat%2B10.54.50.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UYEEpnkbTp0/TyVjCbFPhvI/AAAAAAAACM8/dBBWxuSJG_0/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-29%2Bat%2B10.54.50.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703073396415235826" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I wont be around next Sunday so I'm doing a two weeker the following week.. I'll miss the first three days of the 3rd test too so hopefully it goes five days, shame about it not going 1-1 for a decider really but sure it doesnt matter who wins youre only trading it. <br /><br />I could open a can of worms on Liverpool v United but I wont (well, not open fully), booing Evra was pretty harsh I thought "Booooo, youre a victim of racial abuse, boooo" I remember thinking with ten minutes to go hopefully someone scores so we dont have to go through a replay, Suarez would have been available for a replay too so you can only imagine what we'd have to go through with the media and all that. Thankfully its over anyway, I was wondering afterwards where all the hatred in football comes from? EVERYONE hates EVERYONE, its a load of nonsense really when you think about it, especially when you look at photos like this from yesterday, I dunno what age he is but he looks old enough that he "should have" some sense. I also realise its only one out of 50 odd thousand and theres no way to stop it, but hating another player so much to do something like that without evening knowing him, I dont see the point, I dont see what it achieves, its only a game..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kyuD5di9bRM/TyVmsIUZzJI/AAAAAAAACNI/fx40R9_WOfg/s1600/Liverpool-fan-monkey-gesture.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 278px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kyuD5di9bRM/TyVmsIUZzJI/AAAAAAAACNI/fx40R9_WOfg/s320/Liverpool-fan-monkey-gesture.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703077411467938962" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xEyC87PwfgU/TyV0Ivp4VII/AAAAAAAACNU/xnTry2u3WB8/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-29%2Bat%2B16.29.27.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xEyC87PwfgU/TyV0Ivp4VII/AAAAAAAACNU/xnTry2u3WB8/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-29%2Bat%2B16.29.27.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703092196714501250" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9aX3nJhA6-Q/TyV0PME5DbI/AAAAAAAACNg/RIsfQUD_-jE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-29%2Bat%2B16.30.08.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9aX3nJhA6-Q/TyV0PME5DbI/AAAAAAAACNg/RIsfQUD_-jE/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-29%2Bat%2B16.30.08.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703092307423202738" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-19944153986452065742012-01-22T19:23:00.005+00:002012-01-22T19:50:52.164+00:0022/01/2012Well, I'd be lying if I said this week wasnt a disappointment, I managed to get to €500 green on the England test, and end up getting -€21 in the end. Obviously given Englands rise to the top over the past year, you dont expect them to get under 200 both knocks, it was the second time around that did the damage, but sure c'est la vie.<br /><br />I thought it was shaping up to be a really nice test early on and the market was just ticking away to get against Pak when Eng lost a crucial wicket..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YEoF-d5sN6I/TxxjZpmKd_I/AAAAAAAACMA/l4OCC97PD9Q/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-17%2Bat%2B11.16.27.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YEoF-d5sN6I/TxxjZpmKd_I/AAAAAAAACMA/l4OCC97PD9Q/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-17%2Bat%2B11.16.27.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700540520658008050" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It was never going to be a really massive test after that, but I was still happy enough with this..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W5_bQzi_740/TxxjoGTDrMI/AAAAAAAACMM/6KXfTHYmYnY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-18%2Bat%2B11.48.04.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W5_bQzi_740/TxxjoGTDrMI/AAAAAAAACMM/6KXfTHYmYnY/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-18%2Bat%2B11.48.04.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700540768880667842" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Before ruining it by laying Pak when England came in to bat second time around - I'm not particularly bothered by it too much because I had planned to do it for a while during the game, Pak be 100-150 ahead, England get 400-450 and Pak chasing 250-300 would never be easy, added you'd probably get extra downward pressure on the draw price.. so I dont mind it too much, I was just wrong and sure theres nothing you can do about it just take it on the chin, the only thing is its disappointing to get up at that hour every morning for no return you know.<br /><br />There is an argument I over-staked on the lay, it was mainly after Strauss had went (because he hasnt been scoring massive runs while England have been doing well anyway) but a little before that too, however, I've always done that - if I was €1.6k green the next number put in would probably be €2k - because youve got so much leverage and being ahead of the market, at one stage I could have had my book at -€2 Pak & Draw and €2,000 on England, getting 1000/1 when England are 5ish/6ish, even if that goes wrong theres still plenty of options. Obviously its annoying when it goes wrong but when it goes right I end up with €2k and €3k equal green books, just accept being wrong this time and sure life goes on.<br /><br />I've watched all the Saffer games, done one of them and it ended well to at least make it a winning week and keep moving forward, didnt do todays game because Super Sunday was excellent viewing!<br /><br />Kitty Dillon scoped wrong on Wednesday so never ended up running in Thurles on Thursday, I had planned to go on the Tuesday anyway and decided to skip a day on the test, so when I found that out I decided ah sure I'll just get up and do the test now, that was the day I turned +€500 into -€21.. that could have worked out slightly better..!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rekUQk5FHcY/TxxndTZtiVI/AAAAAAAACMY/9JbODd-6AkY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-22%2Bat%2B19.22.57.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rekUQk5FHcY/TxxndTZtiVI/AAAAAAAACMY/9JbODd-6AkY/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-22%2Bat%2B19.22.57.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700544981466188114" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4VptVlUza5E/Txxnj9FSBvI/AAAAAAAACMk/mXT7P55iYi4/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-22%2Bat%2B19.23.11.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4VptVlUza5E/Txxnj9FSBvI/AAAAAAAACMk/mXT7P55iYi4/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-22%2Bat%2B19.23.11.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700545095734003442" /></a><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/grM2sb7VYSs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-75013477499231762122012-01-15T18:34:00.006+00:002012-01-15T19:13:55.872+00:0015/01/2012What a week for comebacks, Paul Scholes and Thierry Henry both scoring, but while everyone was fawning over Henry (although you couldnt have wrote a better script), they missed the most important thing to happen..<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0ACcNOlN4rw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />HA!<br /><br />Anyway, quiet week on the trading front because we only had two international matches on during UK time, theres plenty on Aussie time but I dont regret ignoring most of it this year, India seem to be making a show of themselves in Aus anyway and the market was pretty much dead after day 1. So I'm stuck with Saffers v Sri Lanka, I dont really like SL for some reason, I remember last year I was €800 green on one of the England tests against them and still only manged €25 profit in the end, theyre very hard to form a solid opinion on. <br /><br />The 1st ODI was more or less a waste of time with them on 13/6, FFS!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYKWk7AtYI8/TxMeVpcl1KI/AAAAAAAACLQ/pXF9yY0Teh0/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-11%2Bat%2B17.34.25.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 135px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYKWk7AtYI8/TxMeVpcl1KI/AAAAAAAACLQ/pXF9yY0Teh0/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-11%2Bat%2B17.34.25.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697931310805669026" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Before that, or during that, I was happy enough with my position, it was lucky to have the €75 leverage after the 2nd wicket went in the end to finish with zero, but sure I cant help teams being absolutely crap on a particular day you know, shit happens.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXc3KZM53s4/TxMesYff6kI/AAAAAAAACLc/yCNYzX921WE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-11%2Bat%2B16.19.12.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 77px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NXc3KZM53s4/TxMesYff6kI/AAAAAAAACLc/yCNYzX921WE/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-11%2Bat%2B16.19.12.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697931701391452738" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The 2nd ODI was a bit more like an Indian conditions match with the market sticking between the 1.05 and 1.3 range, and topping up after a wicket worked OK if you could trust the batsman coming in. I'm looking forward to Pakistan v England in Dubai on Tuesday for some proper action, just a shame its a 5-30AM start, I dont necessarily mind getting up, its just the psychological aspect of it that bothers me. Its difficult to get up at 5-30AM and not have a position because you (or I do anyway) tend to think 'I didnt get up at this hour to do fuck all' instead of waiting and picking a moment like you would normally during the day. Just have to get over that 'I'm up, I have to do something, I got up for this reason' idea and try not to just click for the sake of it - or to stay awake! Fingers crossed the market will be lively, no 1.01 trains and the pitch isnt a highway and were getting up to look at 600 v 600. From memory England v Pakistan a summer ago was pretty decent, so hopefully it'll be good to watch.<br /><br />A personal thing that might get in the way is my horse Kitty Dillon is entered (and got in) to Thurles on Thursday, I'll miss a day if I go, its so hard to decide because its over 2M and that doesnt suit, I wont be backing her until she gets at least 2M4F but it'd be terrible to miss it if she actually did pull it out and win. That Mullins horse that won the first at Navan today comes out so thats a help, she wont be held up as much as last time we learned that, I'd still be happier with a longer trip but sure we'll learn something about her I suppose. An England and Kitty Dillon double next week will do sure, I dont ask for much..!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rew-UFAfNg0/TxMiWg4wrjI/AAAAAAAACLo/V9_gmEWT_UE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-15%2Bat%2B18.29.28.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rew-UFAfNg0/TxMiWg4wrjI/AAAAAAAACLo/V9_gmEWT_UE/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-15%2Bat%2B18.29.28.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697935723734281778" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N_s2iXoPPbw/TxMidIUwvDI/AAAAAAAACL0/JXHZqY_mtT4/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-15%2Bat%2B18.30.24.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N_s2iXoPPbw/TxMidIUwvDI/AAAAAAAACL0/JXHZqY_mtT4/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-15%2Bat%2B18.30.24.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697935837399923762" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-3508000559561198412012-01-08T12:36:00.005+00:002012-01-08T19:32:40.400+00:0008/01/2012First week of January over and done, and no damage, success! The Saffer v Lanka test was a bit of a struggle really, but I missed day 2 and that turned out to be the most important day with the declaration, it hasnt been a good series, sometimes teams dont gel for trading for me, for whatever reason - I remember last year whatever I finished green on Aus v Eng I gave back a day later on Saffers v India. Happy enough to get €86 and not lose and get the series over and done with to be honest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGx7_G9wBIE/TwnujhffntI/AAAAAAAACKs/ypKJdRj9e7g/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-05%2Bat%2B14.03.08.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 86px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGx7_G9wBIE/TwnujhffntI/AAAAAAAACKs/ypKJdRj9e7g/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-05%2Bat%2B14.03.08.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695345497840000722" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The darts has moved to the BDO now which is on BBC, anything on terrestrial TV is alright for speed, I reckon you'll still get sniped on the red button though - I think. Standard isnt as good as the PDC but its not terribly awful, its something that might keep things ticking over anyway because theres only two games of cricket next week.<br /><br />For the most part as I said in the 2011 review, most of January and February I'll be trying to keep my head down, out of trouble and keeps things relatively simply - with lower stakes etc, hopefully it'll be an improvement on the last two years. It'd be nice to get off the a good start of the year on the blog, for once!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vy9UXPEEKEU/Twnut_PDzII/AAAAAAAACK4/OFHUhHCtgyU/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-08%2Bat%2B19.25.26.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vy9UXPEEKEU/Twnut_PDzII/AAAAAAAACK4/OFHUhHCtgyU/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-08%2Bat%2B19.25.26.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695345677622824066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TwYHyf8sjjw/Twnu0TEKURI/AAAAAAAACLE/r2zljO5r5YE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-08%2Bat%2B19.26.04.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TwYHyf8sjjw/Twnu0TEKURI/AAAAAAAACLE/r2zljO5r5YE/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-08%2Bat%2B19.26.04.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5695345786025038098" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-12981955123425903562012-01-06T19:06:00.005+00:002012-01-06T21:30:46.925+00:002011 ReviewWell, where to start..! I was doing the #2011Highs on Twitter the other day and completely forgot some massive moments which were great at the time, my brain has officially turned into a 'traders' one and I now forget what has happened ten minutes ago! But its been a good year in terms of life in general and the P&L, its hard to know what to put in down to really because there have been a good few changes which only really took effect fully this year, after last year being such a struggle going through the ordeal of losing horse racing off the portfolio which went from being number one to nothing at all.<br /><br />At the start of January the blog was sat on €30,261.72 and now sits on €58,259.99, which is an increase of €27,998.27, so €28k give or take - which is well over my "target" of €7.5k each year.<br /><br />I dislike using the word target, because its not really a "target" you could use goal or aim or whatever, its just the figure that if I were not to make it, or even come close to it say under €7k, I would consider stopping, so I dont really know what word to use to describe it because I dislike targets in general because it leads to the idea that you HAVE to do something every day, which isnt my style I like to pick and choose moments, but anyway. The house bills more or less come to €6k-ish or thereabouts (average 3 bedroom semi) so its linked in to that figure a bit.<br /><br />So anyway the changes, as I said it was the first full year without horse racing, which was different to say the least, you get so used to the daily routine. But giving up has improved my life tonnes with loads more free time and obviously not having to deal with the on course boys being miles ahead every day which is the reason for stopping in the first place, I'd only be sitting here struggling and frustrated at some point each afternoon, which naturally impacts on other sports too, and that was probably the best decision I've ever made on Betfair.<br /><br />It was also the first full calendar year that I wasnt in college, so that helps being around whenever the games are on etc and not having to miss either lectures or a day of a Test match or anything else that might be on. I remember sitting there in 2010, I might not remember sporting events now but I remember this conversation as if it happened yesterday, I was sitting beside one of my close friends Tomas in Business Finance after getting up at 5AM to trade India v Australia and then headed in to the lecture at 1ish, it was horrible and I knew I really didnt want to be there, I remember we were talking about it and not listening, I wanted to focus on my trading and he wanted to travel Australia, and here we are a year later and I've done everything I've wanted and he has flights booked. <br /><br />If things were to ever go tits up I do have degrees/certs to fall back on obviously being there four odd years, and theres also courses I want to do too in the future, but it was just at the time and not what I wanted to be doing with my life. Realistically in Ireland at 23 it'd be tough for me to find a job to be on €28k a year, without the added travel expenses and everything, there is the argument that it does leave a hole in the CV if you like but I dont see a problem doing what I do, if some people want to take a view its up them and none of my business, if someone sits there in a job interview and says 'you didnt really do that' its probably more the fact that they cant do it and havent got the first clue about trading, you know if people want to have that perception thats fine, you cant change the way people think, but I'm happy with what I do and if someone has a problem to put it bluntly its not my issue.<br /><br />I was down in the IFSC at the start of 2010, I'm not sure if the exchange shop is still open or not, but it was only down there I started using Gruss, reason being I have a Mac and had to get all the relevant stuff to run it so I never had the option to experience the trial. 2011 has been the first full calendar year with Gruss, although I had it for most of 2010, I have to say its been more use on sports betting rather than horse racing because of the delay, I did go on one of those course thingys to learn fully what it can do, even if I dont use half the things, at least knowing of them and more education can only help really. Its hard to gauge how helpful Gruss was or whether it was just me improving the cricket trading because I'm a year more wiser on it and so on, but being as quick as you can with positions naturally helps - especially for redding out, and since I've started using Gruss I genuinely think I'm ten times better at not losing and getting rid of poor positions quicker/better.<br /><br />Bit of a daft change, but its the first year I've had a desk, sort of an office space if you like, and a event planner. Might think that 'ah sure its viewing at TV it doesnt matter' but I've found that it helps a lot, just makes the mind a bit sharper and a bit more reactive to situations sitting at a proper desk, as opposed to slumping on the couch or something. Having my own space helps too because it just makes life more handy and not having to move anything each evening is nice, especially when you have two computers which I now have too. I cant speak highly enough for having an event planner or a calendar - it might sound daft but penciling in events/games and having a schedule is pretty awesome IMO, I'm never at Betfair for no reason, I touched on this a fair bit in a post on discipline a few weeks ago, I think its helpful to always have a reason to sit down at the desk more so than just sitting down to kill time and see what happens, because more than likely you'll open a position on whatever is on at the time of sitting down, and obviously the number of people who can do all sports is fairly small I imagine, so its good to specialise and be organised. <br /><br />Going forward, I dont think I'll reach €28k next year, I think that England v India series was ridiculously easy (in Betfair terms) and that bloats figures, winning €2k+ on an ODI wont happen a lot..! Test matches will remain the flagship and I dont see that changing, I dont see much changing really unless Betfair changes, but even last year when I had to swap horse racing for cricket I still managed to make €10.7k which was ahead of the "target" and I dont see any reason for changing the "target" each year.<br /><br />I suppose theres an argument of liquidity dropping a small bit on my two side sports, boxing and GAA, Prizefighter which brought in four figures a year has gone by the wayside with them changing the layout to have the draw live before the fights, a nightmare for getting money into markets. And I suppose the early GAA markets could suffer because of economic issues in Ireland, its hard to know with that one really as its only a summer sport - its still really the only market where I could find myself hung, drawn and quartered in a position with no way of getting out because of liquidity, but thats something that I know before it starts, so at least I can go into it with that in mind and its never too bad when youre expecting it.<br /><br />Other than that I'll just get on with it and sure it is what it is, good things and bad things will always happen. In the more immediate future I'll be trying to get through to March without any harm as thats been the most awkward time of the year for a while now, I dont know why, I spend a lot of time thinking about it during the time, I have no records of early 2009 because my Grandad was in hospital at that time so I wasnt involved in anything (he survived thank god!), then started the blog in March after starting back with €100 to get back into things really, I didnt really plan on still being here three years on but here we are.. I always kept a daily diary of things I did that worked, didnt work, things I wanted to work on, change, whatever, so blogging comes naturally rather than a chore you know. But anyway, I can waffle for Ireland too completely went off the point there, in 2010 I went into late January with €20k-ish or so (I lost exact records after dropping the laptop) and fell back to €19.3k-ish before March got things going up again, 2011 I started on €30.25k and the last week in February was sat on €30,156.31 so two months of faffing about really, I remember saying at the time 'ah fuck this I'm going on a two month holiday next year' but things are a bit different now so I'll give it a go and sure if I'm still here going into March with less or around the same figure I might see about just holidaying next year, thats probably something I'll always say that never happens.<br /><br />Other than that, perfect time to say thanks to anyone who reads and comments, I appreciate it, as I said I always kept a diary anyway so the only difference is its online and sure people can read it if they want and ignore it if they want its up to them and each to their own. Its three years now and I havent any adverts or started selling something so at least thats something! I actually wanted to say this but didnt know where to put it without sounding twat-ish but I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in adverts or selling tips or anything like that at all, its just a personal trading blog for craic and thats the way its going to stay. Hopefully something (even one thing!) I've said as helped someone along the way and sure at least I've havent punched you in the face so it could far worse..<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jzhSTOW_dKM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-2993015757067307112012-01-01T18:50:00.004+00:002012-01-01T19:26:11.306+00:00Happy New YearWell, hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years. I managed to beat my chest infection and make it to Leopardstown so it was all good here, ventured down to Limerick on the 27th to see the new horse Kitty Dillon make her racecourse debut in the bumper, she finished 7th, but it wasnt so bad - her p2p and schooling races were over 3M and her breeding suggests she wants 2M6F+ too, wasnt really expecting a win you know yourself most bumpers are only 2M and sure we learned a bit about her anyway in that she wont be held up so much next time, she seemed to settle grand which was the reason for that anyway. <br /><br />Being out in the real world on the 28th I missed all the amazing scenes taking place online, I was stood in the stands watching Voler La Vedette hose up unbeknown to the fact Betfair Towers were in complete meltdown! Obviously not being online at the time I have a more light hearted view of the situation, from what I have been told €25 million popped up at 29 (28/1) about 15 to 20 seconds into the race and stayed there until they reached the line, obviously everyone backed it at some stage, theres a video on YouTube of it..<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ySQ94Ha5a2U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />You see there your man had €100,000+ green on her passing the post, so I assume a lot of people had big payouts. However, (again to say not being online at the time I have a more light hearted view so dont kill me) realistically every reasonable thinking and experienced person on Betfair would know it was a mistake and that there arent people sitting there with €600M+ sitting in an account, so even backing it (I would have lumped too) surely the thought process was theres a fair chance of a void market, and theres been an awful lot of fuss over, what in added hindsight, seems an obvious conclusion. Going back to the idea no one has €600M+ in their account, Voler absolutely hosed up by 4L+ and took the lead cruising before jumping the last, there was untold millions of "free money" available yet it wasnt all taken, simply because people dont have those sort of funds. And if everyone together hasnt got the funds to back it, no one person has the funds to lay it.<br /><br />Anyway, being at the races I've been unable to take the two test matches on this week seriously, and both ended up being a small loss, trying to do something part-time always ends up arse ways, especially when its a test match and requires 6+ hours a day, but never mind thats something I already know..! I've been watching the darts too which have been great, unfortunately its the same craic as the Premier League and someone is miles ahead of the clock, which makes trading virtually impossible, but sure its good viewing anyway without a position, I presume I'll have to knock darts off the 2012 schedule completely but I'm going to do a 2011 review some time next week so I'll see then. ATM its looking like just cricket, GAA, boxing and a bit of 'specials' betting for 2012.<br /><br />Hopefully anyway things will return to a bit normality next week and I'll be online more, but even then I'll miss the 2nd day of the Saffer test due to my Grandads birthday. It hasnt been a great series trading wise anyway so not much harm done and most of the next while will be waiting around for England v Pakistan I think!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pd0WP-jAdyA/TwCw6gF1sBI/AAAAAAAACKU/scwUXEIFOk0/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-01%2Bat%2B18.48.11.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pd0WP-jAdyA/TwCw6gF1sBI/AAAAAAAACKU/scwUXEIFOk0/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-01%2Bat%2B18.48.11.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692744448089632786" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GKvJ3rrIDPk/TwCxBMTlGcI/AAAAAAAACKg/jF0qOxxxtpk/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-01%2Bat%2B18.49.04.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GKvJ3rrIDPk/TwCxBMTlGcI/AAAAAAAACKg/jF0qOxxxtpk/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2012-01-01%2Bat%2B18.49.04.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692744563037641154" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-30837877054589046832011-12-22T12:33:00.005+00:002011-12-22T12:59:50.240+00:0022/12/2011Apologies for the lack of update this week but I've been stuck down in the prime of life with a chest infection, its negative craic, but I did plan for the week off anyway so I suppose its no real harm in that sense, and the main aim is to be at Leopardstown on the 26th without dying, fingers crossed..!<br /><br />Anyway, not much to say because not much has happened, the Aus v NZ market settled on Monday night but that work was done last week really - Aus hit 1.02 Monday night before losing, and NZ went from 1.01 back to 3+ apparently before winning, long live test cricket for trading. I was in bed when all this happened but I'm sure it was good for anyone that stayed up.<br /><br />Bit ironic I say I'll skip the overnight tests for "better life" reasons and then go and get sick, but even so I didnt miss much with Saffers v SL either - Saffers were 1.4ish after the toss, 1.15 by the end of day 1 and 1.1 by the end of day 2, it was never going to be a big test from those positions/odds you know.<br /><br />Really appreciate having the darts on each evening to pass a bit of time, the Anderson match was brilliant, Barney going out was good viewing too, and Whitlock doing the business with a broken ankle last night, I havent been trading obviously, I havent even looked at the markets to see if someone is still well ahead of the clock like the Premier League, which makes quick trading virtually impossible (for me anyway). It seems more of a position takers market - I think its easier to be a position taker over the sets layout more so than the Premier League so I'll have a look at it after Christmas and see.<br /><br />Anyway wont be around again this Sunday because its Christmas, so have a Happy Christmas everyone and back a few winners on Boxing/Stephens day.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DX4j6DOFMPw/TvMnXWg_WlI/AAAAAAAACJ8/J3Rf3uj6Y0M/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-22%2Bat%2B12.30.22.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DX4j6DOFMPw/TvMnXWg_WlI/AAAAAAAACJ8/J3Rf3uj6Y0M/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-22%2Bat%2B12.30.22.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688934036433492562" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-URwSmLgev7s/TvMneGYSN6I/AAAAAAAACKI/99cwitR4wFI/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-22%2Bat%2B12.31.33.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-URwSmLgev7s/TvMneGYSN6I/AAAAAAAACKI/99cwitR4wFI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-22%2Bat%2B12.31.33.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5688934152361097122" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-88875808558326129992011-12-11T18:01:00.013+00:002011-12-11T19:28:48.893+00:0011/12/2011Well, its been an alright week at +€400, I say alright because at one stage it was +€900, but I wouldnt have changed either position over the weekend.<br /><br />Eh, suppose I'll start with Khan.. where do you start with him. The interview after, why does he make it so hard to like him? I want to be a fan because he has tonnes of talent (IMO) and is exciting to watch, but you cant really say it was me v him + the ref straight after a fight. I think his SP was around about 1.11ish, but I had average odds of just under evens, I've no complaints with the scoring or the ref, for starters without the two docked points he would have won by unanimous decision and secondly the ref warned him about docking a point so obviously he has to avoid doing it again in a close fight, dont get docked the point in the last round (how annoying, last round FFS!) and he wins. Oodles of talent, no brain. <br /><br />Then today, I was happy enough to be on Windies..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-flEmg6ujtFg/TuTyLg9hsMI/AAAAAAAACIo/bVntCO_j-FE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B14.34.54.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 66px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-flEmg6ujtFg/TuTyLg9hsMI/AAAAAAAACIo/bVntCO_j-FE/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B14.34.54.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684934909288886466" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It did go to 1.8s afterwards, but I didnt think that was fair at the time, sadly there was a run out an over or two after that and then it was a case of typical Windies, reliably unreliable. I always find myself in trouble though when a team are covering the rate needed easily but losing wickets, frustrating, but I wouldnt take it back. And it'll happen again no doubt.<br /><br />Naturally life is much easier when you have a more solid team chasing and Monday was far easier than today - still a bit dodgy and on the wrong team - but because there was so many bounces from 1.6 Windies to odds against, was able to create a fair bit of green on India, was only afterwards looking back I thought I could have been €700ish equal but I did think India would win, so no real complaints about that. Its just one of those things, because I was against India today I was getting around 10 ticks less for good things and 10 ticks more against me for bad things - Monday was the opposite so it was far easier in that sense you know, 1.6 would bounce to 1.9 for 5 runs after a wicket.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YHcT3g6pnuI/TuTz_CZHknI/AAAAAAAACI0/xwCyuD5IfJQ/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-05%2Bat%2B16.23.58.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 82px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YHcT3g6pnuI/TuTz_CZHknI/AAAAAAAACI0/xwCyuD5IfJQ/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-05%2Bat%2B16.23.58.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684936893947941490" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Anyway, so good to see Tiger back to winning ways last Sunday night! Delighted for him, and it was pretty exciting watching it, he was odds on when I posted last week and then eventually went back out to 4+ so it wasnt without a scare. I ended up backing him, probably more in silliness rather than shrewdness, he'll probably be too short for all the majors next year now wont he? Still, nice to see him back, his position in the market seems to be the only thing I have a proper understanding of in golf.<br /><br />In the rush to watch him last week I forgot to mention, I've decided not to do the overnight tests this year - I'm glad I forgot to mention it because I actually have a book on this weeks, say one thing do another! It started at 11-30 which isnt so bad for an hour or two, doing the whole night though is really a 'life ruiner' its too hard on the system. From memory I didnt do all of The Ashes tests last year either, so I dont plan on doing the India series over there - although I would imagine they'll be good for trading, unless it snows and I'm stuck in all day I'd prefer to keep my hours (and life) as normal as possible. Its impossible to be normal doing this, but close enough will do..! I'll start putting up the Aussie wallet shots from now on too I suppose, I'd say the second test should finish up tonight anyway.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T4ADvFhffUs/TuT1_lM25hI/AAAAAAAACJA/groYz_0m_ig/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-08%2Bat%2B23.47.55.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 86px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T4ADvFhffUs/TuT1_lM25hI/AAAAAAAACJA/groYz_0m_ig/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-08%2Bat%2B23.47.55.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684939102315013650" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In terms of cricket going forward, as far as I can see we only have the Saffers v Lanka first test on Thursday and then thats it until Christmas, and then after Christmas it gets a bit hectic but I think I'll skip a fair bit of it, much rather head to Leopardstown for the four days thats in it, its only once a year and it wouldnt be Christmas without it really. Never mind the 25th, roll on the 26th and we can all have a bet! <br /><br />Final of the X Factor tonight, so that has to settle but some markets have already (Amelia Lily to go last night), I have zero on them all so no point waiting - made a mistake this year (in hindsight) laying off Johnny far too early, he was 70-75 after the first show and after a few weeks traded as low as 16, I traded out far too soon. I should know by now, ignore the majority and stick with the idea that the 'fun' act does well, it was only the double elimination that caught him out, and that was randomly threw in somewhere in the middle this year by surprise, Wagner got caught by the double last year too. The funny thing is everyone sits at home and thinks 'smoke and mirrors' doesnt work on me, but the smoke and mirrors really does work.. IMO its been completely set up for the girl band to win tonight, I'd like to see the bloke win it, but sure theres no money on it so who cares.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9XJPeuMi3bg/TuT36YrfZrI/AAAAAAAACJM/LlVwXIJ3Ulo/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.18.53.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 142px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9XJPeuMi3bg/TuT36YrfZrI/AAAAAAAACJM/LlVwXIJ3Ulo/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.18.53.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684941212077745842" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And lastly, I noticed (theres no escaping it FFS!) that the Euro is having another "crisis" this week. I'm not sure what crisis this is by now, whether its the first one or a new one or number 691, whichever crisis it is anyway, William Hill are going 3/1 for the Euro to be gone by the end of 2012, so, if youre one of those "the world is doomed" "the Euro will be gone in five days.. three days.. no wait six days.. any moment now.. anyyyy moment now" people, get yourself down to William Hill and take 3/1 and let the rest of us live in piece and quiet, if only for a day, I hear were having Euro crisis number 692 next week, how exciting, its never happened before. Also, Greece are 11/8 to stop using the Euro by end of 2012 too if thats of interest. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YBlYgZj-5X0/TuT8wMebsII/AAAAAAAACJw/4O5M-JANc84/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.36.53.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 84px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YBlYgZj-5X0/TuT8wMebsII/AAAAAAAACJw/4O5M-JANc84/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.36.53.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684946534561198210" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I also have no comment to make on Manchester United exiting the Champions League, no comment at all, haha. Except to say if you, like me, love watching European football, the listings for watching your team in Europe in the new year are as follows:<br /><br />Arsenal & Chelsea - ITV & Sky Sports.<br />Man City & Man Utd - Channel 5 & ITV 4.<br />Liverpool - ESPN Classic.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZaArsBtF_I4/TuT4Bj48I2I/AAAAAAAACJY/Syltw80czho/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.01.29.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZaArsBtF_I4/TuT4Bj48I2I/AAAAAAAACJY/Syltw80czho/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.01.29.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684941335346029410" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GVWzE69IGuY/TuT4HwH010I/AAAAAAAACJk/fbOpsCASBKo/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.02.11.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GVWzE69IGuY/TuT4HwH010I/AAAAAAAACJk/fbOpsCASBKo/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-11%2Bat%2B18.02.11.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5684941441708906306" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-9694108499444476112011-12-06T18:09:00.003+00:002011-12-06T18:23:22.644+00:00Budget 2012Just to copy and paste the wording on the new online betting laws/rules in the Budget..<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Betting Duty<br />The Betting (Amendment) Bill is now at an advanced stage of drafting with a final draft expected from the Attorney General’s Office early in the New Year. The Bill will, inter alia, facilitate the extension of the betting duty of 1% to remote betting and the introduction of a betting intermediaries’ duty (Gross Profits Tax of 15%) to cover betting exchanges. Following publication of the Bill there is a legal requirement to notify the EU Commission 3 months in advance of enactment of the Bill. It is intended that the new taxation regime will commence from the second quarter of 2012.</span><br /><br />First reaction is I'm guessing when they say 15% gross profits, it means 15% of Betfairs profits and not 15% of our profits. I believe when there was a bit of furor over this a while back Betfair said they'd be happy enough to pay it (although I cant find a link now so dont trust me on that), because they have made a 'voluntary donation' (or something along those lines) to the HRI in the past.<br /><br />Interesting if they say anything about it over the next few days anyway. It doesnt seem like theres anything to be overly worried about.<br /><br />I'm actually interested to see how much the figure will be, I still meet people interested in betting in Ireland who have never used Betfair, or even know what its about (with regards laying etc etc). We'll see anyway.Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-61396688242139761452011-12-04T18:45:00.006+00:002011-12-04T19:03:54.336+00:0004/12/2011Following on from my post on discipline last week, this is another angle on doing things..<br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JhbhExed-OE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Whos the Daddy! I'm a huge Boardwalk Empire fan myself, great show. For anyone that watches, Chalky White is also the man.<br /><br />Anyway, fairly quiet time on Betfair week only the two games/markets/days. I did actually get up to do both Bangs v Pak games but sure Bangs collapse so easy I shouldnt bother really, the market was dead quickly in the 1.0x's.<br /><br />I thought the same was happening on the second India game this week but they drifted from 1.09 first innings to 1.6 at the break, I managed to start at 1.9 which was a nice starting point after an early wicket, it did bounce from 1.5 to 1.9s again afterwards but that wasnt too much of a worry because it was just back to where I started in the first place, and it was more or less a 1.01 train from there, with a few again stops of resistance - always works out well when the team you favour end up a 1.01 train though.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7CLf3DD7FbY/TtvBBFsJ0tI/AAAAAAAACH4/S958LP-efWg/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-02%2Bat%2B16.07.25.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 83px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7CLf3DD7FbY/TtvBBFsJ0tI/AAAAAAAACH4/S958LP-efWg/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-02%2Bat%2B16.07.25.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682347579309413074" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Was delighted to see Cotto really give Margarito a beating last night, IMO it proves Margarito used the illegal wraps last time they met, he only got caught with them in his next fight but anyone that watched 24/7 could see the photos after the first Cotto fight and judge for themselves, IMO he definitely used them, so a bit of boxing justice there! I ended up going out to watch that, and ended up at Fairyhouse today too so its been a busy weekend, really hoping Tiger can finish it off nicely tonight. No money on him because I thought 3/1 was a bit short at the start, hes slightly odds on as I type, but sure a Sunday night watching the golf from the couch with no hassle is always great when Tigers involved, although I have to say I dont really have a huge amount of faith in him getting it done, hopefully though, it'll be good for the game to have him back winning.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UO-3E9VEyis/TtvB_T6atrI/AAAAAAAACIE/ng7sQ7DX9ks/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-04%2Bat%2B18.45.36.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 146px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UO-3E9VEyis/TtvB_T6atrI/AAAAAAAACIE/ng7sQ7DX9ks/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-04%2Bat%2B18.45.36.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682348648279226034" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And lastly, I know it was around the place this week, I think it made the national news (Haha!), but I am a true romantic deep down really and you never know maybe Mark reads the blog. So Mark, if youre reading, I think youre a Daddy.. YAY!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XNAP5TKfoE0/TtvCohg2GgI/AAAAAAAACIQ/mrIZSX_wi4Q/s1600/383199_10150490093215783_672850782_10853242_1764211806_n.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XNAP5TKfoE0/TtvCohg2GgI/AAAAAAAACIQ/mrIZSX_wi4Q/s320/383199_10150490093215783_672850782_10853242_1764211806_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682349356304701954" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cVe2_dBYkOc/TtvCu8HjQ_I/AAAAAAAACIc/euUBv0mmJwI/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-04%2Bat%2B18.55.33.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cVe2_dBYkOc/TtvCu8HjQ_I/AAAAAAAACIc/euUBv0mmJwI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-12-04%2Bat%2B18.55.33.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5682349466525582322" /></a><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/J0sWPFGy860" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807732054704148496.post-73623713542532890442011-11-27T20:20:00.010+00:002011-11-27T20:50:25.826+00:00DisciplineIts been a weird sort of day today even though I havent done anything on Betfair, started off brilliantly with our new horse, Kitty Dillon, having her first run in a p2p this morning and finishing third - everyone was delighted with that and she'll have learned loads being held up and coming through them and was given a relatively easy time of it, at least we know now we'll get a few decent days with her when she gets to the track, it'd have been terrible if she finished last this morning or something. Then an hour or so later you hear Gary Speed was found hanging in his own house, very sad news. Its nearly always said when things like this happen but it does put life into perspective, you think of all the daily things we give out or moan about it, when we dont appreciate what we have really. I complain when the weather is cold FFS, when the wind is blowing too much on the golf course, its daft really, all the nonsense we talk about pales into insignificance compared to what some have to deal with on a daily basis. <br /><br />Anyway, going back to last Sunday, I ended up laying Misha B for bottom two - I wanted to on Saturday but the market took her out to odds against, then Sunday after posting she went back odds on so was happy enough laying after the sob story. Its hard to find an angle tonight, I actually dont like any of them, Misha and Janet are both odds on bottom two and I would lay them but the other three seem pretty strong - there must be a fair chance Janet will get the sympathy vote which Misha got last week, problem is they'll probably drag each other down, not confident enough to put money down anyway.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kZS9iHpohjU/TtKNop2zZ2I/AAAAAAAACG8/RL0-n7nBI9w/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-20%2Bat%2B20.18.20.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 88px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kZS9iHpohjU/TtKNop2zZ2I/AAAAAAAACG8/RL0-n7nBI9w/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-20%2Bat%2B20.18.20.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679757809637615458" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Then up bright eyed and brushy tailed for the finish of the test on Monday, it worked out well in the sense that Aus won in the end, not before going out to 12 though, and not before the draw hit 1.3s, Saffers traded odds on too, it was crazy..! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RZMhQkj22_s/TtKOWxgmu1I/AAAAAAAACHI/P3MfDgkADbI/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-21%2Bat%2B15.00.48.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 81px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RZMhQkj22_s/TtKOWxgmu1I/AAAAAAAACHI/P3MfDgkADbI/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-21%2Bat%2B15.00.48.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679758601965976402" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />On my screen shot last week all three were sitting at 2.3+ so whatever you backed it could have worked out well. I've been doing Pak v Lanka too but having some troubles, erm, almost confusing - at the end of each game I've thought "I could have won more there" while at the same time thinking "lucky I didnt lose a fortune.." I did make exactly the same mistake as I did on Eng v India though in ruining a good book, going from this..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mcjUJZsYihU/TtKPJVRkyAI/AAAAAAAACHU/2bxyULBAIsA/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-23%2Bat%2B16.50.08.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 68px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mcjUJZsYihU/TtKPJVRkyAI/AAAAAAAACHU/2bxyULBAIsA/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-23%2Bat%2B16.50.08.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679759470560069634" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />To this in under 10 minutes..<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOjHfNMMuiw/TtKPRC4-AQI/AAAAAAAACHg/fjnwimcgDZk/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-23%2Bat%2B17.03.24.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 68px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QOjHfNMMuiw/TtKPRC4-AQI/AAAAAAAACHg/fjnwimcgDZk/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-23%2Bat%2B17.03.24.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679759603063980290" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Its that top up again, exactly as Eng v India. Erm, I dont know how to fix it really or avoid it because sure if you think the odds are good youre gonna back it, at the same time the hard work has already been done for the most part at that stage and as I said the last time, if it goes go tits up without the top up, can go €100ish equal at around evens and its still a good days work, whereas with the top up its back to square one if it does go wrong with no cushion. The conclusion was I was probably being greedy, but its hard to actually 'fix' the idea that I shouldnt top up when I think a team are big in price - just it always goes wrong for me! The odd thing about it is as a first bet into a market, I would probably never go near the top up odds, most times the first move into the market is odds against or 1.6+ or something, you know I wouldnt be bothered backing a 1.3 shot first up. <br /><br />I got a good comment last week on discipline, and basically how I managed to only bet/trade on certain sports compared to others. Its got to the stage where I know what I can do and I know what I cant - and I can accept what I cant do, example being I know I'm fairly shit at trading soccer, a shame because I love watching it but I just cant trade it. But what I normally do is, ever see those desk calendar thingys - Sunday night or Monday morning I'll look at the schedule (livesportontv.com is handy at times) and pencil in the games I want to do.. obviously last week I put in Saffers v Aus as a priority and then things like India v Windies as a 'maybe' and things like that.<br /><br />So when I'm sitting at my desk, and on Betfair, I'm here for a reason - to work on whatever game - and when theres nothing on my schedule to do I wont go near Betfair, I never ever log into Betfair for entertainment, if I've a blank day (and there are a good few in the winter) I go off and find something else to do, wouldnt even think of Betfair.<br /><br />You know people always tend to say its ignorant when you dont follow all the news or current affairs happening around you, but I cant follow and do everything on Betfair - so if something happens in the tennis, its blunt but I really dont care, its none of my business, I can only care about so much stuff that goes on. Its a running joke here that 'I live in a bubble' but I'm not an expert on all sports so I have to live in a little (sports I can do) bubble to make things work.<br /><br />The only way I can compare it to something is watching the news - if something happens in say France, sure who cares I live in Ireland, I wouldnt have a feckin' clue what happened in a different country if it wasnt for the internet. Now thats probably ignorant, but same sort of thing with Betfair, if something happens on Snooker, sure who cares because I'm a cricket/boxing/GAA trader. Its impossible to do everything.<br /><br />Obviously over time things change and I have to change with them or I get left behind, things get taken away from me, a lot more so than given, horse racing got taken away with the start of people going to the course - that was more so to do with the technology that allowed it really, so doing it from home became unworkable (for me anyway). The darts, someone started going to all the Premier League games and was miles in front of the Betfair clock, that made it equally very hard to trade - you make a mistake youre punished without getting a chance to cancel and you do something right youre not matched. Boxing, Prizefighter changed the rules this year so that the draw is made live on Sky before the fights, I can completely understand it from a non-betting viewers point of view, but not giving us the markets until two minutes before the off was such a killer for liquidity. But sure I just dont put them down on the desk calendar and maybe put down an extra cricket match or GAA match (in the summer) and then instead of being at the desk for Fontwell on a Monday I'm off playing golf, gym, visiting the Grandparents going odd jobs for them, having the usual date night, whatever, and I'm at my desk another time when theres something on thats fair to do (in the market sense of fair).<br /><br />As for staking/chasing discipline, well I've never been a chaser - but clocking in and clocking out does help, because its like finishing work, I just go after the game is over without even thinking. Obviously its easier because there might be only one game I want to do most days, but when its over win or lose I clock off without thinking - IMO naturally horse racing is the most 'chasy' sport because theres a race every five minutes or so, even then I was never into chasing. Its just been imprinted into me that gambling never finishes because it just goes on and on and on, so being up/down at the end of a day is irrelevant - but I say irrelevant and then if given the chance to be level I always take it rather than risk losing, but I'm getting more risk averse as I get older, and try and pick positions that if things go wrong I can go level and if things go right I win - again, thats something thats changed with Betfair changing too, you can be risk averse on a test match no problem, you cant really be risk averse on a 5F sprint at The Curragh.<br /><br />In terms of staking, I have always used the 'feel it yourself' idea that at the given time I'll pick the stake anywhere between €50 and €500 on how confident I am at the time, its just the way I've always done it. Most of betting/trading is down to what suits the person rather than whats viewed as "normal" anyway, you have people who are obsessed with the word 'value' and you have people like me who never use it (I HATE the word!), its all just down to what suits the individual. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IgYNq_tIia4/TtKbOWnk0vI/AAAAAAAACHs/U9hlq-_KV80/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-27%2Bat%2B20.18.43.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IgYNq_tIia4/TtKbOWnk0vI/AAAAAAAACHs/U9hlq-_KV80/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2011-11-27%2Bat%2B20.18.43.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679772750959661810" /></a>Stephen Maherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02270118313544476198noreply@blogger.com12