Bet Angel - Betfair sports trading and betting blog » Alternative markets

Seeded vs non-Seeded tournaments

Peter Webb — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 22:31:52 +0000

We have a couple of classic divergences being display in full glory in the markets at the moment.

In Melbourne we have the Australian open Tennis where, in a seeded tournament, the semi finals look like they will be played out amongst the top four seeds. Seeded tournaments are basically there to ensure the top competitors have every chance of meeting in the latter stages.

In the UK, I just watched Bradford City complete a remarkable cup run to make …

SPOTY

Peter Webb — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:08:51 +0000

I’m enjoying watching sports personality of the year this evening. A self congratulatory indulgence, but justifiably so after a wonderful year for sport in the UK. Difficult to pick an outright winner from a general perspective, so many valid candidates, but Bradley Wiggins has been the short priced favourite for ages.

A point of note however, public based voting competitions can often throw up some really unexpected results. Voting patterns are difficult to predict and campaigns, deliberate or well intentioned …

Next US president is……

Peter Webb — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:08:47 +0000

US Presidential markets are surprisingly good trading fodder.

OK, I know we have some European football on this evening and the Melbourne cup just passed, but once in four years means I will devote this post today to draw your attention to this market.

The last market in 2008 drew total traded volume of £13m. This was actually down on the previous election in 2004 where a lot of uncertainty created a wild swing in the market. At one point it seemed …

Trading the Olympics

Peter Webb — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 07:30:53 +0000

Wow, what a busy few weeks it has been!

For me the School holidays and the Olympics on home soil has been too much temptation to miss. There are not many chances in life to do what I have done over the last couple of weeks, so I’ve jumped at the chance to do it. It has been really great experiance.

Doing that has meant putting trading on the back burner recently. But that’s no problem really, a couple of …

Betfair create Olympic market without winner

Peter Webb — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 08:22:00 +0000

I’ve been interested in what the Olympics couldn’t bring on the trading front for Bet Angel users. Athletics markets are pretty quiet in general, but are often full of surprises. Nothing is guaranteed in sport, especially where markets are tricky to price.

I watched the Men’s Cycling race today with half a eye on whether Mark Cavendish was to get his just reward, alas it was not to be. As the competitors re-entered the streets of London I started collecting …

Home advantage when trading the Olympics

Peter Webb — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 08:54:30 +0000

So it’s here, never thought it would be possible but I’ll be going to the Olympics on home soil. At 08:12 this morning bells rang out across the country, which woke me up, and announced that the Olympics games has officially started.

When I was young, I was very sporty and dreamt of being in the Olympics. That never happened but I did join at Athletics club when I was older where some of the members were Olympians and we …

Will Eurovision get the hump?

Peter Webb — Sat, 26 May 2012 06:08:00 +0000

Over the years I’ve had a good play on the Eurovision song contest. In 2006, after boring myself with the entrants, my evening was lit up by the performance of Lordi which was hilarious to see in a straight laced contest such as the Eurovision. Soon after the voting started it was clear the voters were sending a signal to the contest and the rest, as they say, is history. As soon as I saw the voting patterns I had …

Next manager markets

Peter Webb — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:42:53 +0000

Not so long ago I asked for more next manager markets. We now have three in play at once!

We have managerial vacanies at West Brom, Liverpool and Aston Villa . The interesting this about these markets is that there are a number of mutually exclusive outcomes. For example, Roberto Martinez can not be manager of all three, so two of his prices in the other markets must be false; but which ones?

I don’t actually try and make special …

London Marathon

Peter Webb — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 08:38:11 +0000

Good luck to all those running the London Marathon today. I still harbour ambitions to do one more marathon, but for the moment I will remain on the side of the road encouraging support. Not a big trading market but it can throw up the unexpected. In 2005 you could have backed the women’s runner in running at 1.50 at 22 miles while firmly in the lead thanks to an unusual situation. It’s worth laying low or backing high …

Punting on the Thames

Peter Webb — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 08:53:54 +0000

My first rule for getting involved in the market is liquidity. If there is enough liquidity in a market, it’s usually worth getting involved. So on Saturday I thought I would give the Boat Race a go.

Liquidity wasn’t great at only around £50k when I joined the market, but rose to £300k at the completion of the event. I managed to put a fair amount of money through the market but ended up with a paltry total really in …