You Have To laugh..

Victor Chandler on the front of the Racing Post today saying layers should pay levy, I have to give it to him, its a crackin' joke! I certainly wouldnt have been able to keep a straight face saying it. If Mr Chandler would be so kind as to check the Betfair markets he would see that nigh on every "lesser interest race" (by that I mean the usual meeting, not your Goodwoods etc) has between €30,000 and €60,000 matched up to around 20 minutes to the off, a 25 runner handicap in Leopardstown last week had €1,700 matched around 15 minutes before the off I kid you not, then we get a whole heap of traders coming into the market and the total matched shoots to €300,000+, yes there will always be cases of big backers and big layers, but the market is basically made up of traders, however Mr Chandler wants, and I quote, "Ten per cent of all gross profits from every lay bet on exchanges." HAHA! Its a cracker innit, I laugh every time.

I suppose the really sad part is that, over here in Ireland, the HRI and Government actually plan on bringing in some sort of tax on all online betting. So can you picture if every bet you placed was taxed? It'd be impossible to gamble at all. The part that annoys me is that the HRI seem to think that they have a right to tax gambling on sports other than horse racing to pay their levy. Bollocks IMO. To tax a cricket/football/GAA bet to pay for horse racing - I cant even describe another situation like it - it'd be like Man City buying a player to play for Liverpool? Surely, if all forms of gambling are taxed, then the revenue from gambling on GAA should go to the GAA, and cricket should go to Cricket Ireland, etc etc. I dont know what planet HRI are living on but I wish they'd come join us on Earth 2010 soon.

The worst thing about it all really is theyre all fighting over money, trying to make more money, trying to pay less money. Its all just purely about money. No one seems to give a damn about the horses or the actual sport. The BBC quote that "In 2009, the yield from the Horse racing Betting Levy shrank by more than 20%, from £115.3m to £91.6m. And reports predict that the 2010 levy has dropped even further, to £76.5m." There was, what seemed a fairly decent bloke, on BBC radio the other morning saying it could drop further to only 50M the year after. If every side keeps on pulling and pulling for money, as I said before there'll soon be none left, if they stopped moaning and bitching like old women we might actually solve the problem. But I think the main problem is that we actually dont know what the main problem is, everyone has opinions, opinions always differ, they row, so we get nowhere basically. The obvious seems to cut race meetings and by default save money in the sense of prize money, but they seem to want more low grade meetings with less and less prize money - which in turn just drives people away because theres no real excitement seeing racing like that. So its like a never ending cycle that just has the sport going down and down each year.

Anyway we all have to paddle our own boat bugger the HRI and BHA. They may not have the best of racing in Galway but my god do they know how to throw a party. Although most (nearly all) of my profit comes from Rip hitting 1.12 in running on Wednesday, I didnt lay that low but had an awe-green lay in the system thinking if he went for home first he'd trade odds on. 1.12 seems very low given that he never really had Canford looking cooked, but its understandable because these days with override odds the on course boys just hit a button and it takes whatever is there to 1.01, so its only natural that horses will now trade a bit shorter. Its easy to look at the graph and say "jaysus what was your man thinking" but during the race you only have not even half a second to react, so AFTER the race when you know the result the odds matched take on a whole different complexion because you know the result obviously, its easy to call low odds backers mugs, but your man who matched 1.01 on a loser is probably odds on to have been the first to match the price all the way to 1.01 on the winner too. You can have an opinion on Betfair and it may be good, but it'll only get you so far in life, have a time advantage though, and you are in absolute clover.

No boxing tonight either which is a shame because I look forward to Friday Fight Night, but anyway, cant wait for these Quarter Finals in Croker the weekend. C'mon Kildare..!

Horse Racing: €161.86 Total P&L: €161.86

By the way I've found a video, you know the serious ones that only I find the funny side of. Its a news bulletin on rape and I'm sorry to take the piss if youre a serious person but fast forward to 1 minute in and look at the brothers interview, its priceless, hes a bit of a cross between Ronaldinho and Graham Norton, "Hes climbin' in yo windows, hes snatchin' yo people up, tryin' to rape 'em. So y'all need to hide yo kids, hide yo wife, an hide yo husband cos they rapin' everybody out here." "Fo real, homeboy." This is the greatest man of all time.

27/07/2010

What a crackin' game at Essex this evening, up there with one of the best run chases I've seen, suppose it helps to have the home team win with everyone locked roaring. Made a few mistakes along the way, but it was just a phenomenal run chase, I think they went at 10s+ for 14 overs and needed 12 an over at one stage. I didnt believe when the rate got that high, before that I had +€200 Essex -€50 Lancs, but finished with +€75 -€10, in hindsight not touching the book would have been the better play because IMO €200/-50 is better than €75/-10, purely because €50 isnt that much to lose really for the actual chance of it happening. I went awe-green with the €200/-50 position and then changed my mind again to support Essex, so basically backed 10 ticks shorter and then re-laid at 10 ticks higher.

Shame not to have been able to bet on the first game, innings SP at 1.04/1.05, nothing doing. My best trading was on the game that I lost on - I had €200ish red and got it down to just over €20, Sussex really bottled it in the middle overs, was just pure luck I had the "feeling" of it going tits up so was half way out of it when it started going wrong, then it went tits up in spectacular fashion. 1.2, 1.4, flip flop, 1.7 other side, 1.2, 1.0x, GSM pretty quickly.

I've messed about at Galway pre-off/in running but to no avail. I had €250 on Tashqeel yesterday though, and he hit 1.5ish in running so I got out of that without losing, I backed Why this evening and didnt quite get out of that fully, she hit 1.5ish too. I have to laugh, every single time I back against a Ballydoyle horse the hoor beats me, I was full sure Dec would win when he pulled out yesterday, Joeys 7 pounds made the difference though and the horse was by Galileo pulled out more. Then when I am involved in a Ballydoyle runner she goes on to lose, I should just do the opposite of what I think and I'd be in clover.

I think we'll see an improved Rip tomorrow, which wouldnt be hard looking at his first run, but I've a massive amount of time for Canford Cliffs since being a non-believer at the start of the year. I want 3/1+ on Rip and dont think I'll get it really, he does like Goodwood though and if Ryan Moore can time it as to go early but not go too early to burn out of gas, he could get first run. No Johnny an obvious negative though because he knows Rip so well. And if I could get Majestic Concorde 9/2 E/W first 5 places 1/4 odds tomorrow (if the ground stays fine for him) it would be a cracking bet too, but the only one going that at the moment is Stan James, I cant get on online there and theres only one shop in the country (or two, Limerick? Too far away anyway). I wont get that either, so shouting for Nicanor, I still remember Carbs flying past Denman sitting on him at Cheltenham, ahhhhh..

Online Betting Tax In Ireland.

Go away and fix your own problems horse racing.

As we all know horse racing is going down the swanee pretty fast. For anyone who missed the report on the news last night stating that "all online betting" will be taxed in Ireland to fund horse racing, you can watch it here, under Sunday 25 July, its from RTE six one news so its not shite talk either, its four videos down on that page.

Betfair was specifically mentioned. But no dates or anything like that.

It used loose words and didnt define the actual law/rules but given that they quoted that "all internet betting is to be taxed," I'm presuming it means absolutely everything (cricket, GAA, football), which is a total disgrace to be honest if thats the case, but it didnt define anything like that 100% so we dont know for sure yet. For everyone who bets in Ireland - its not our fault horse racing has become boring with low grade racing and people are less and less interested in it.

Equally it is not our fault if William Hill etc move off shore and pass on the tax bill, theres nothing against the rules there really lets be honest, they simply moved around a loophole that if the Government had any sense wouldnt be there in the first place.

Horse racing has put itself in a hole with more meetings which means more prize money (or less each race but more overall) and cant pick up the bill itself, and equally now cant compete with other sports in terms of excitement, but we all have to foot the bill instead. Sigh..

Anyway feck Ireland, we have to decide what country were moving to? (Bollocks to paying betting tax), I vote somewhere warm with fast internet.. Spain or Portugal? Or even I'll head to England. Lets be serious if it comes in on every sport it will have a massive impact on the P&L to the point where it'll be difficult to keep up. 5% from Betfair and 5% from tax, means every even money shot becomes a 1.9 shot, that'll catch up with everyone eventually..

I'm thinking it'll be too hard to tax "winnings" because its too hard to keep track of, so they'll tax every bet, what happens then trading? Youre goosed.

To be a professional gambler and stay here to pay tax on every bet that you could avoid in another country, would be insane IMO.

In summary - Ireland is finnish.

Sunday Shocker

Tipperary v Galway was probably the best game of hurling I've seen in years. Unfortunately it was incredibly difficult to trade, I think my first mistake was backing Galway rather than laying Tipperary - I always like the draw cover, but even so, it was just so 50/50 that every position I took I just wasnt 100% sure so was left awe-redding/switching with no conviction either way, everything bad basically. At least I was consistent all game though, was €40 awe-red at HT and then €80 awe-red at FT. Tipperary only scored the winning point in injury time, it was really one of those 50/50 ones.







The good thing of the day was Taylor won though, the Barney draw in the final was probably one of the easiest around because, IMO, Barney is completely goosed mentally against Taylor from all the beatings, he doesnt believe he can beat him. Someone like Whitlock or Wade are a bit more scary when backing Taylor at the start of the competition, but he even bashed Whitlock off the stage only losing four legs. I've said it before but - Genius.

Darts: €39.18 | Gaelic Games: -€83.40 Total P&L: -€44.22

That knocks the week back to plus €40 which is a small bit annoying, but I'm pretty happy tipping along without seeing any outstanding bets/opportunities, take out the hurling today which I wasnt that sure of myself on and I'd be looking at €150+, but sure take out every losing market and only count the winners and I'd be a millionaire. I'm fairly confident I didnt do anything wrong so just get on with it and onwards to next week.

Kildare got Meath in the draw for the quarters, which is a proper result IMO, I think we'll beat them, and we'll be a good enough price too, maybe 5/4 I'm thinking? Evens at worst. Meath arent that good sure they robbed the Leinster final on poor Louth, the bad thing is though were on the same side of the draw as Kerry who we'll play in the semi if we beat Meath, dont think we'll beat Kerry (Kerry probably be under 1/2 to beat us - ish), dont think anyone will actually, but sure quarter final or semi final of an All Ireland is a cracking result. Beat Meath, play Kerry in the semi and sure all we can do is have a go.

By the way, is this the best newspaper headline ever? I'm actually full of news today, BBC news reported earlier that Cheryl Cole was down to only 84 pounds - what a fooking bargain, I wouldnt even mind if her cooking was bad for that price. Newspapers and news channels are great for useful information.

Hello Quarter Finals!

County Kildare OI OI, won with a bit of style again today and keep getting better with every game, need a good draw next round though because I reckon if we get Tyrone or Kerry we could be goosed. Obviously no one wants to get Kerry, but sure we'll take what we get (please let it be Roscommon! We'd be around 1.3ish to beat them).

Struggling to update the blog this week because of the Caribbean T20, one game starts at 9-00 and the next at 1AM, so its difficult to find a proper time to suit. Liquidity has been gash though, this was last nights game..






I'll keep an eye on it because it strikes me as the sort of tournament where you'll see meltdowns and amazing scenes on a regular basis, staying up past 1AM to look at a market like that though, no chance. But sure just have to take each game and see, Canada - who are the only invited team there, are one of the worse cricket teams I've ever seen, theyre playing now as I type and the other team (who I've equally never heard of) are 1.05 to beat them. Not great trading craic.

Neither was the boxing last night, as Halls SP was 1.24, 1.1 after round 1 and then 1.03 a few rounds later. I ventured over to the darts only to be reminded what a mug I've become on them this year on games dealing in legs rather than sets. In fairness I backed Baxter - who hit 2 doubles from 13 shots after only six legs (seething officially), I backed Webster who got totally blown away by Stompe, and I backed Stompe to beat Barney because the market loved Barney - Barney was playing poorly enough but Stompe just couldnt take advantage. The odds were all fair at the time but just no support from the actual players, ended up awe-red for 20ish in all them, which I thought I traded well enough but its just when your first pick in the market doesnt do well, youre always on the back foot and its very hard to turn it around.

I actually laid a 1.01 loser today too (amazing scenes!) on the GAA. How much did I win on the market? 22 cent exactly.

Boxing: €0.40 | Cricket: €21.55 | Darts: -€64.20 | Gaelic Games: €128.50 Total P&L: €86.25

Very sad to hear about Alex Higgins passing away today, he was a total genius and a true legend of the game, may he rest in peace.

I Cannot Do Any More..

Feckin' rain..! I'm still convinced that had we got the full 40 overs in Derby would have won, but sure cant control the weather. We were told about rain concerns at the start so thats fair enough, but was pretty keen on Derby having notched up 225, then in one over (it rained obviously) the price went from 1.65 to 1.1, a proper head in hands moment staring at this..





You know what the most amazing thing was? They never went off! They didnt even stop play FFS, whoever was backing 1.1 was a nutter. Its gets back to just under 1.3ish so I can take a reasonable loss thinking it was the best thing to do at the time. Then of course in true seething style a wicket goes so if I held my position I'd be awe-green, but instead I am awe-red. Great. Isnt gambling fun.






Then it rains again, and this time we go off, usually whenever I'm red I tend to make it worse for some reason, havent worked out why, I'm sure if I knew it wouldnt happen, but anyway I managed to get it down to €3 awe-red from €50 trading the market moves when they were putting on covers and taking them off, on, off, on, off. Which I'm pretty chuffed about to be honest given the circumstances.






Then, with 3 overs to go, it rains and Derby go off having lost by one run on D/L.

You know when Floyd Mayweather is in training, he shouts "Hard Work" and the rest of the team shouts back "Pays DA Bills," well in my case hard work means a €2 loss instead of €50.. not quite the same thing really.

I'm fairly annoyed how the market panned out because if you look at excel at the bottom they start off incredibly slow and the rate goes up on what was a difficult pitch, but Lumpy kept shoving on money at 1.7 and wouldnt let it break through. It was raining when they got 13 and 10 off the 10th and 11th (30 and 29) overs they basically had free hits, then if you look from 26 to 19 they couldnt score at all and the rate was going up massively, play the full game I reckon Derby could have won, or easily at least been in the position to flip the market.

D/L wasnt too bad to them, RRR over 8 when they came back but with wickets in hand you know its always easier to get a high rate at the end, 6.8 with 18 to go is harder (IMO) compared to 8.1 with 9 to go because you can speed up obviously nearing the end when losing wickets isnt too key.

The West Indies T20 competition is on Thursday, ESPN have it, never seen it before so will have a little look to see what the story is, think it goes on every night until 1AM or so, if I dont do that, thats it until Friday Fight Night. Giving the racing up means far more free time, but I'm 100% sure I'll be a happier person away from gaff meetings in running markets during the day once I fill the time, played golf today got the whole "The Open Buzz" out of the system.

18/07/2010

What a bumper weekend of GAA, absolutely knackered. That Cork v Waterford draw last night left me hanging, although it was the Cork penalty late on that messed my book up really, I had -€200 Cork +€400 Waterford and +€200 draw, GAA markets dont suspend so Cork were 1.8 stepping up to take it, I level out Cork/Draw looking after myself, then he misses and I was left head in hands. Got €20 off extra time though.

Finally Kildare won in style though, praise be to Allah, about time FFS! Was a bit timid in that market, they were in a fantastic position one point up at HT and still odds against (cracking price IMO), but just being a fan I sort of didnt want to jinx them.. no gambling logic at all but you get the idea. I reckon we have a good chance against whoever we get next, I'll love to play Dublin in Croker at some stage.

I've stayed away from everything else and I'm thinking from now on I'll stay away from the smaller horse meetings too for good, for the mental side of things more so than profit, I wont get bored or annoyed. Theyve been the only thing thats annoyed me this week, everything else is fine you know.

I notice too that Betfair have plans to float sometime around September, I dont really know what to make of it. On one hand you could argue it might open up more markets, India, America, China, more of Asia, it could really pick up for business if those countries get involved. On the other hand, one has to remember that Betfair are greedy bar-stewards and dont do anything for a reason that doesnt suit themselves so you could say profits have peaked and they want to cash in while they still can. Then theres legislation? Competition? Premium charge bad press? All sorts of things really. Either way I wont be buying shares, ideally from a gambling point of view you'd be hoping it kicks off and we get a huge amount of new customers betting into what seems like a shark only pool at this stage. I dont know what'll happen anyway, I do think though that the valuation looks far too high, massively high.

I also think its brilliant though that in the 'Live Chat' section held on Tuesday Betfair said, and I quote, "We’re certainly trying to run the business well and keep it growing and successful but have no immediate plans to float." As honest and trustworthy as ever lads, cracking job youre doing!

Gaelic Games: €111.40 Total P&L: €111.40

The weeks been up and down, I was a bit fed up on Monday/Tuesday, took Wednesday and most of Thursday off as a result, boxing and cricket was on Friday so I was all happy again, then the weekend GAA couldnt ask for more. If I give up the horses small meetings I should be grand for less frustration, because it leaks over into other markets, like the Pakistan match seething when there was no reason to seethe. Apart from that happy days, Tiger playing shite in the Open takes a fair bit of gloss off yesterday and todays work though, will he ever win a major again? You'd seriously have to question it.

On another note, happy 92nd birthday to the living legend that is Nelson Mandela. A true inspiration, what a man. That poem was probably the only good thing to come out of Invictus however..

16/07/2010

Been very quiet this week until today, since Monday I'm..

Boxing: €40.79 | Cricket: -€29.36 | Horse Racing: -€47.28 Total P&L: -€35.85

I've done the horses Monday, Tuesday and today, just havent been there mentally at all. Its a game of patience these days I know, dont bet on some races, no money on some races, cant bet off ATR, the list goes on, so basically the tactic is to tick over and accumulate money really. I havent been in the right frame of mind to do that today, it wasnt that I was chasing, sure I had no losses to chase, but I sat here Monday and for the whole day I didnt get a single bet matched, honestly, and then Tuesday I had got €7 matched by halfway.

I'm fairly odd in the sense that I'm one person thats never bored, I always find something to do, play golf, gym, jog, clean the house, talk to the cat, anything at all, but my god sitting there all day not getting anything matched - I was steaming. Just felt like such a waste of time. I dont mind betting all day and finishing on zero, at least I tried and feel like I did something with my day. Monday was just depressing sitting here.

Having already said I dont want to go back to college, thinking about it - over the winter there'll be no cricket English hours, no GAA because the Championship is over, boxing only Friday/Saturday night, rugby, darts, etc evening/weekend hours. What am I gonna do? Honestly, if I sit around the house all day everyday watching 7/8 runner fields I'll go insane. So, I'm heading back to college, I've decided. I just want something to do for the winter basically that gets me out and about when theres nothing to bet on. Summer is grand because you can do stuff, all my friends are about too and theres loads of sport on, if I dont go back to college over the winter I'll end up sitting here everyday watching Lingfield on my own, its not worth missing out on 'life' is it. I still havent decided on the course yet, but sure I'll find something new.

Its a bit sad when I think about it really because I dont like college (the going to class bit), but I have nothing else to do Monday-Friday during the day. Its a bugger for when I'm older too because what job would just let you do part-time during the winter and then feck off for the summer.

Anyway, cant believe the scoring on the boxing tonight, 7 rounds to Matthew Hatton FFS, he got knocked down in the first! How'd he win by 7 rounds..! The draw was sitting at 8ish at the bell, the other fella finished fairly strongly IMO, I would have loved a Friday Fight Night draw special for my book..






Had calmed down a bit trading the boxing, was pretty seething on Pakistan v Australia this morning, Lumpy kept Aussies pretty low after a good start from Pakistan, I was on them but sure I mean they are Pakistan after all so I expect meltdowns, but twice I was in the middle of greening out and twice a wicket went. Norths first wicket, terrible, my bet was ticking down to go in at 1.53 FFS, then theyre back to 1.3ish. I managed to get some matched so it wasnt a terrible loss and a wicket could have went straight after I laid so it was alright in a sense, just one of those "AH FFS" moments. The 1.3 was a good get out though in hindsight.






Away from the blog, I'm on Tiger in the golf (whats new?). I cant find the post where I said I'd never back him again (HA!), but anyway Boylesports E/W 8 places has tempted me in at 6/1. Hes in a cracking position to win (IMO), but to be honest I'd be happy enough first 8 and get 6/4 on the place money. Would have done it for the blog too but Boylesports a bit dodgy getting on online. C'mon Eldrick son!

Sometimes I Wonder Why I Bother..

After maybe a solid three weeks away from racing I come back to seriously poor liquidity yesterday and today. I took six screen shots (at the bottom of post) during the 5-30 at Beverley, place market, its in order of when they were taken and theres money to lay on no more than four horses in any of them, from start to finish of the race.

Now, I know this doesnt represent the in running markets on a whole, far from it actually, but it isnt an isolated incident either. The same problem usually occurs on Irish racing, low grade national hunt racing, mainly midweek racing on both codes.

So, whats the problems for the racing markets?

IMO..
1) The premium charge. Its an absolute fact there was more money in the markets before it was introduced. And its knocked back some of the sharks.

2) The delay in pictures. Its finally in the last year dawned on some people that theyre SO far behind off ATR its unworkable to win 'fairly' day-to-day. I've given up on ATR ages ago, I'm sure most have too, or least dont leave money up to be hoovered up. RUK is OK-ish, but its a pay-per-month channel so you wont get the casual viewer on a day off from work.

3) Its painfully boring for the general public. Monday - Friday racing just doesnt cut it, no one cares outside the racing circle who wins some handicap on a Tuesday afternoon in Brighton or Yarmouth. Even people who love racing, its hard to get "up for it" on the low grade stuff day after day.

4) Its too hard to understand for the general public. Trying to work out who'll win the grand national is one thing, but at least theres bits and pieces of form to work off. Midweek you'll have claimers where you'll find no horse has ever won a race, you'll have handicaps where the first five in the betting have form figures reading 926764, 989083 or 3-30484. Its hard for professionals never mind the "normals."

Theres a few other smaller (IMO) factors, (money etc) but those are the basics really from a getting new customers point of view, especially points 3 and 4. Shite racing, delayed pictures, boring, too hard to understand, is it any wonder "racing for change" are trying to work out how to bring people into the sport. Because as it is, its plainly has very little to offer.

So, how do you fix it? I dont know. It breaks my heart to see race courses put on these music concerts after racing, half price drink days etc etc, because those people arent there to see the horses, they couldnt give a monkeys, they wont be back after JLS or Jedward finish the gig. It fills the place for one night, but then I head to an average meeting at a smaller track, its half empty and the only people there are over 60, trainers, owners, bookies and jockeys, no one my age is there (unless I go with mates), so what happens when they all kick the bucket?

You cant have Cheltenham every week, you cant have Sea The Stars running every weekend. People always turn up for the good stuff. But theres just SO much low grade stuff these days its unreal. Then again, how do you fix that, less meetings? The bookies want more meetings though, the BHA agree because it means more levy for them. What do you do?

Coming back to in running, Betfair said in the live chat just this evening "There are now so many people utilising what they think are faster picture service providers that the playing field for in-running betters is probably more level than it has ever been. With reference to concerns about liquidity there is no evidence to suggest any decline in the popularity of in running betting." If you look at the markets, it doesnt exactly back that up does it.

Betfair arent innocent at all in any of this, the delay in suspending the market on ATR is nothing short of a farce. They can open in running 6secs before the stalls open on ATR but they dont suspend 6secs before they cross the line. I'm smart enough to cop on to that myself, but I'm sure newbies could still be betting AFTER the race has actually finished.

Its a shame because football, cricket, sports like that are all seemly booming. Blocks of over €200,000 in running on nigh on every game on TV, one million plus matched at a single price (1.14 or 1.15 or whatever). Whys that? Probably because its a "fair" market with no delays and proper suspending.

The most annoying thing is, ATR could speed up pictures IF they wanted too (the delay is imposed on purpose - as shown with their ATR Extra), Betfair introduced the premium charge, and the BHA put on more and more low grade meetings answering the bookies calls. None of that HAD to happen. One word though, greed, greedy ATR want people to buy SIS, greedy Betfair want more commission and money, greedy bookies want more money, greedy BHA want more levy and money. A few years and there'll soon be none left. Then what happens?

11/07/2010

Well, I'm sure everyone saw what happened in Croker today, sure enough I was involved, was obviously not a goal but the way the fans tried to hit the Ref after was shocking. I wouldnt mind but its the umpires job to see what happens for points and goals, the Ref was half way up the field, he asked the umpire after was it a goal and he said yes, yet the Ref gets all the abuse. Joke.

For anyone who doesnt know the rules of GAA, youre not allowed carry the ball over the line, and youre not allowed throw the ball (has to be fist passed), he did both FFS. Last kick of the game. Should have been more Guards protecting the Ref as he went down the tunnel though definitely, that could have been nasty.



The cricket chipped in but I couldnt do both sports at the same time so leveled up after backing Somerset, they won in the end in an almost 1.01 train bar a 1.1 to 1.2 jump, could have let that go a little more in hindsight. I'm gutted over that because I level up there to do another sport and then lose money on the other sport..!

A frustrating day and I'm glad to be off to the pub for the World Cup to relax, bit tilted.

Cricket: €17.19 | Gaelic Games: -€91.63 Total P&L: -€74.44

Been a short week, got to see Tiger Woods on Monday! But on the gambling front its been a little annoying, I've been the 'nearly man' on the end of everything. No complaints at all about odds, bets or what I've done, its not that things went wrong just couldnt get anything to go bloody right. At one point today I had €120 green on Meath, switch to Louth at good odds and theyre winning, Meath score in the last minute (gubbed!), that just about sums up the week.

Paul The Octopus said Spain will win tonight so theyre clearly free money.. (I havent had a bet btw just saying!) The Octopus is the daddy.

Bugger!

What a finish to England v Bangladesh, England 9 wickets down needing 10 with Trott and an injured Bell, the 1.5 lay on Bangers was unreal considering Trott was on 90 not out and Morgan was running for Bell. Trott got it to 6 off 4 needed (market at 1.9 England) before edging to slip and getting out. Gutted, lost €150, but knew I was taking the risk, the 1.5 Bangs lay to get 10 with Trott and Bell though, what a cracking bet. No complaints about losing.

Small bit disappointed though to finish the GAA "only" winning €100, won €350 on the first game after laying Galway at 1.2 - 1.3 nearly the whole game, and backed Wexford at 3.8. Then to only go and lose €250 on the Clare/Dublin match straight after, real sickener, only a point in it when the goal went in against Clare, heads went down a good bit after that and they were trashed in the last ten minues. Happy with the €100 for the day all the same but just dont like losing €250 on a market you know. Dublin lost to Kilkenny by 19pts a couple of weeks ago, totally different team today, they were gash that day, they were much better today.

End the Friday-Saturday combo €25 down, could have been so much better €375 up an hour ago, but sure like its one of those where theres nothing else I can do, backed my opinion, and sure didnt win, what else can I do. No point losing the head or thinking about it too much.

Couldnt do the boxing last night with the Raoul Moat saga on Sky, we were glued to the TV like everyone else, the drama, Moat was surrounded by 250 armed police aiming guns at him while he had a gun to his head near a riverbed just outside the town. Then what happens? Gazza turns up! Seemly hammered drunk he goes on the radio, "I brought him a fishing rod, cos I is heard he is besides a river." I reckon for the situation thats probably the greatest quote of all time.. what a man. A shame Mr Moat shot himself, didnt want anyone to die, but we knew heading to bed at around 12-30ish though it wouldnt go on all night, something had to give.

08/07/200

Have to say it felt a bit weird sitting at the computer today for the first time since the 27th of June, good to be back definitely, just a little different, nearly forgot what it was like to think properly because I havent had a bet (over €20) that I've had to think about while I was away.

Anyway, did two races, nicked a tenner, then the cricket started and was on the right track IMO, just things didnt work out exactly as planned (its below), right thing to red out too for a small loss. But a gentle first day back anyway, ease my way into the daily Betfair grind again.

Only thing I'm seething about is I'm gonna have to watch Sky News all night FFS, cant find the raoulmoat control anywhere..

Cricket: -€19.32 | Horse Racing: €9.81 Total P&L: -€9.51

One of my favourites, Starspangledbanner, is out tomorrow at Newmarket. Being in love with him (especially after Ascot!) I think he'll win, love is blind though. He aint half short enough at around the 6/4ish mark in a Group 1 sprint, sprints are hard enough to predict when its 7/1 the field never mind 6/4, I hope he wins, I'll cheer him on, but I'll watch rather than back at that price.

You know, it goes without saying almost that hes the fastest horse in the yard, but he hasnt done an awful lot since Royal Ascot like the rest of the runners I'm told, I havent been there, I was always of the opinion that Royal Ascot was the whole plan for the year and anything else was a bonus (why I backed him antepost for that and nothing else).

I really hope he wins though, I remember two years ago I flew over to back US Ranger and from where I was standing thought he'd won, never seen Marchand D'Or coming up the near side rail, did a little dance gave it the whole whos the daddy viva la Ballydoyle, then they called the photo, it was a long flight home that night. I remember we backed him off the boards in York too, was drawn completely in the car park, flew for 4th and he won on his side actually I think. Feckin' sprints eh..

England v Bangladesh (1st ODI)

This is mad, the market is giving Bangers absolutely no respect whatsoever for a solid base. England will be 1.25 to chase 280ish at this rate FFS.

The problem here is, betting on Bangers while batting is like playing Russian roulette with five bullets. But anyway, they have a powerplay left and serious hitters, theyre 166/3 after 34, a run a ball gets them to 262, you'd nearly think they *should* get more than that. However, they could easily be all out for 180 in 20mins known them, thats the problem. Either way, fook it the England price is nuts (IMO).







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FFS Bangladesh ugh. Rahims shot ONE ball before the PP to get out. Hasan pissing about for five minutes on the ground after getting hit by the ball (get on with it FFS like), Mahmudullah LBW follows next ball after the wait. Hasan run out follows because he was using a runner. 243/8 now, head in hands man. I should be used to it by now though, they seriously havent got a brain between them.

Handy get out all the same as far as the odds are concerned, but there was very little place the odds could go at the time anyway, I dont normally play the first innings but the price was just so low, now nearly everything that could have gone wrong went wrong and theyre still only 5 ticks shorter. Such a massive chance to get 275+ though, England still short enough but I reckon they'll stay short all game but end up winning, market basically knows Bangers might look like winning but wont.

They left the powerplay until the last five overs too which is standard 'doing what your opponent wants most,' ah, just head in hands man..

Tiger Woods Is God

Monday was amazing! Surreal getting that close to the great man, went with him from the 1st all the way to the 18th. You know er, what he does in his private life is none of anyones business and has no impact on my life whatsoever, but to see him playing golf in the flesh, a sport I play too, was just awesome..!

Got incredibly close to him going through 12 to 14 I think, I lost the feckin' map running through a corn field later that evening (I love my life), could nearly touch him if I wanted. Hes the greatest sportsman of my times, IMO. And just like, being from Ireland, how many times in my life am I gonna see Tiger Woods.. it was unreal.

On other matters, I've not had a bet on Betfair but plan to start back tomorrow, and this Raoul Moat story has really caught my attention. Now, I know its terrible and awful when it happens, but ya cant beat a good Sky News Manhunt for a bitta drama. The police intelligence analyst fellow was on talking about how Moaty will be found if he lights a fire, saying that obviously the police have all the heat seeking technology known to man.

Couldnt find him last night though when he lit a big fire, had dinner, wrote a letter and slept in a great big tent, had a wash and shave before heading off again. Apparently hes living off "cold rabbit," he held a chippy up the other night, I reckon he still has a few cheeseburgers left. Hes now into 1/4 after heavy support at 4/7 to become the new undisputed hide and seek champion 2010.

Ah but being serious, I have to say I'm starting to get a little bored of the Raoul Moat jokes. Theyre not even raoulmoatly funny..

Blank Week..

Back in Ireland after an epic week in London. For sport, IMO, it is the best city in the world. Played in my friends four poker tournaments, I left before the final count but I think he raised over €120,000 for charity which is amazing in the recession, I finished 4th, busto level 1, busto level 5 and 6th. The 4th was a good 4th, the 6th was sightly muggish as I was 2nd of 6 at the time and the only player who could bust me was the one I got involved in a big pot with (I had a flush draw, up and down straight draw and top pair, he had a bigger flush). But anyway, I've never actually won a tournament so I'll stick to trying for final tables.

I've had Ems with me all week so thats the reason for no betting, went to Leicester Square for the Eclipse premiere which got me major brownie points so I reckon I'm OK for coming home late, gambling, drinking and swanning around without her saying a word for at least 8 months, at least. Went to Wimbledon too which was the main reason for going, got to see Djokovic play, but the highlight undoubtedly was seeing Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova playing doubles. The standard of tennis, the score, backhands, forehands, I cannot comment on, but they are babes.

And the JP McManus Pro Am is on tomorrow and Tuesday in Limerick, heading to that, seriously I've never been more excited for a sporting event in my life, TIGER WOODS! Hes on at half one, we have to leave here at around 10 bells sharp and drive for maybe three hours, but it'll be totally worth it. Hes on a 8AM Tuesday too, but thats a bit early for getting there, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Samuel L Jackson, Ernie Els, AP McCoy, Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood, Michael Douglas - its going to be awesome..! Was only €50 in for both days too.

The only spot of bad news is, I got my exam results back on Wednesday and failed one, so I'm gonna have to take a couple of weeks off when the repeat is on, maybe sometime in August I havent got the letter yet. I cant find the post where I gave myself odds on each exam, but I passed the 33/1 shot (gubbed!) with 42%, best 2% of my life. The one I failed I think was in at 9/4 or thereabouts, was all definitions and formulas, basically it was the only one I couldnt waffle and couldnt get away with not going to class. I'll pass the repeat though if I study a good bit.

I'll be back to betting on Wednesday, I have to squeeze in a visit to my Grandad too because I miss visiting on a Monday like normal with the golf. I'm also making sure, Emma, my Mother and my Grand Mother are all locked up indoors while Tiger is in the country..