Category: General
Betdaq up the ante
First off, get FREE fully featured Betdaq software at www.betdaqangel.com – Don’t worry if you don’t have a Betdaq account as you can get one when you first log in.
Volumes have been inching up on Betdaq’s horse racing markets for some time and they are encouraging even more activity with some new offers and a completely new commission system.
The firs thing that should catch your interest is that Betdaq are commission free at Ascot and Newmarket on Saturday. …
Life on the trading desk of a bookmaker – Pt. 3
This episode, how bookmakers trade their markets….
Click on the text for Part one and Part two.
The model
For all sports, a model kicks out the updated prices so there is no extra work involved, it’s just a case of keeping an eye on your position.
Everybody trades differently, some like to keep the liabilities very small and will tend to adjust prices regularly to balance the books, some like to take larger risks and are comfortable with …
Life on the trading desk of a big bookmaker – Pt. 2
The day came to start my new role as an ‘in-play sports trader’……
Inside the offices
The department was massive, large TV screens covered the walls, there were rows of desks with multiple screen set-ups. It looked fantastic, I knew I had made the right decision to apply for this job, I felt a buzz just from being there.
I pictured it to be like the trading floor of a stock broker’s with everyone rushing …
My life on the trading desk of a big bookmaker
Introduction by Peter
Some one recently joined me in helping prep for the new football season. His former job was on the trading desk at a big bookmaker, I thought it may be interesting for you to hear his story. With ‘Britain at the bookies’ on TV, I think it makes it even more relevant. First we start with some background: –
Life before Betfair
I left school with absolutely no idea of what I wanted to do for a …
Britain at the bookies
Couldn’t help but notice a new TV series on BBC ‘Britain at the bookies’, if you are in the UK you can view it here: –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b063ly3s/britain-at-the-bookies-episode-1
It seemed a pretty fair and balanced first episode comparing life at the head office of a bookie, with the life of a shop and the realities of problem gambling. I think a fair picture was painted.
It was disheartening to see the jobless guy withdraw his benefits check then head straight to …
7/7 – Why I never turn my phone off, ever….
Most people know the significance of this date, but for a small group of traders this date has even more significance.
Our story of this day
It started the same as any other day. I was scheduled to do a talk in central London on guess what, trading on betting exchanges. I took the train in central London, as did my delegates and after switching from overground to underground I remember clearly looking at the clock on the exit at …
My Betfair Birthday
I celebrated my ‘Betfair Birthday’ this week. It’s now been just over FIFTEEN years since I opened my account and started on Betfair. It’s also been a decade since the first version of Bet Angel was released. We are currently on version 1.40 with version 1.41 right around the corner.
When I first started my journey my eldest child was three, she is now eighteen and able to trade herself. I didn’t envisage that when I started! I also didn’t …
Busy, Busy, Busy
Was going to do a full update today with videos but completely manic at the moment with sports, potential liabilities and profits coming out of my ears this morning. If this were a financial market I think the term they used is ‘fully invested’. I’m sorry I can give you a full update but at least you know when I can’t its because I’m putting my balls on line, just like our customers!
So. a quick appraisal.
Royal Ascot
Royal …
Touching distance
Updated my spreadsheets and stuff last week. When I looked, I realised I was finally within touching distance of a very long term goal. One that would have been inconceivable back when I started. I would have thought you mad if you set me this as a target! It’s been a long journey….
The start
Back in June 2000 I had a neat idea.
I’d use these new fangled exchanges to arb between bookmakers and the exchanges. It was slow …
Spring is definitely here
European clay court Tennis, Racing at Newmarket and shock of all shocks, some decent weather in the UK. Spring is definitely here!
So we are now on the cusp of a lot of major sporting action. This year wont be quite as busy as last year but it’s something to look forward too.
The Monte Carlo Masters Tennis is a signal to start dusting down things for the French Open. The clay court season in past years has been interesting …
Bet Angel version 1.38
We are pleased to release version 1.38 of Bet Angel Professional for Betfair. It contains a significant enhancement to Advanced Automation and also fulfills a couple of common customer requests.
You can download the latest version from – https://www.betangel.com/download/
Betfair’s new API
Since our successful transition to the new Betfair API in November we have been keen to start adding new features. The new Betfair API allows you to make more calls to the API. The previous API capped data …
2014
Well that was an interesting year, It always is.
2014 vs 2013
From a broad perspective I’ve just repeated last year again. I’ve ended on almost exactly the same total as 2013 on a like for like market basis (Excluding one offs like the world cup), I’m slightly lower by a small percentage but that’s not bad considering I’ve cut back the amount of markets I’ve traded. This is a concious decision to add some balance back into my life.…
Ghost of Christmas past
One thing I’ve always been very good at is keeping records, I’d recommend it. You can look back and recall what you did previously and improve on it. Or just use it as a point of reference. I tend to archive a lot of trading records and make notes against them so I can remember how the markets traded, what I did and what I was thinking.
I was browsing my records from previous years this evening and came across …
Get rich slowly…..
I woke up to another negative gambling story the other morning: –
I’ve almost given up trying to champion the more positive aspects of what I’ve and others achieved over the last 14 years. Because everytime I try, something like this gets thrown into the ring. I seem to be commenting far too frequently on these sorts of things, but it’s …
Mexico 1 – 0 USA
I’ve written about this sort of stuff before on the blog, but given my location at the moment it’s worth visiting it again. I’ve added a video at the bottom to bring home the point a bit more this time.
I would like to trade this week, but I’m going to move location to do it. I’ve shifted out of LA and down the coast to cross the border. It’s only a couple of hours from LA and from San …
Betfair US – California HQ
As you know I’m in la la land at the moment and it’s not the first time I’ve been here. Having worked for a couple of US companies in my time and thanks to my interest in Warren Buffet et al, I’ve often popped over here to do something or another most years since the early 90’s.
When Betfair started taking off in the UK I was quite interested in seeing how legislation would play out over here. To give …
Holiday booked
Having worked hard during the summer I’ve been using the time since the end of peak season to catch up on a few must have moments. So this week, until Saturday at least, you wont have me in the markets. I’ve taken care to book my Betfair holiday or else its going to cost me 15,000 points or so!
I hopped on a plane on Sunday and headed out of the country for a short while. I’ll be back trading …
Sometimes trading can take a back seat
No trading for me this afternoon as I’m am off to the funeral. An old school friend has lost his father and, to cut a very long story short, I wasn’t lucky enough to have a conventional upbringing but his family and that of another friend filled in the gaps for me. So it’s the least I can do to offer him my support at a time like this. But as they say, his Dad had a good innings, so …
The trading dead zone
It doesn’t happen often, but now and again all things conspire to produce a dead zone in the markets. We are currently in that dead zone.
First off, this relates to the racing markets. Racing markets are seasonal and peak and trough around major meetings. The last was, obviously, Ascot. So you can get a trough before a major meeting, but you almost certainly get one after it.
Summer racing can be a bit weak as there are more meetings …
Chaos awaits!
OK, take a deep breath, we are about to descend into one the busiest periods in four years.
First up, the US Open Golf teed off this morning. A few hours later Racing starts and runs into the evening, when that’s over the World Cup starts. No pausing for breath before we delve deep into Royal Ascot then with the World Cup thick into its schedule Wimbledon upon us.
It’s going to be busy, but what great fun! What a …
Slacking
I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog and video front this week, but it’s not through want. It’s just been a very busy week. Even after 14 years I still get excited and motivated by getting stuck into the markets. My desire to solve problems and push forward is always at the front of my mind. Everything else can take a back seat when the desire is at its strongest.
I welcomed another group of people to the office …
My Sports trading journey – Part five
A new year seems a good place to try and round off my story of how I got trading and my journey through the markets.
Click on the links to catch up with parts one, two, three and four
The jump
So I had taken the great leap into the unknown. For years I’d worked diligently up the corporate ladder and could have stayed in a senior position, but had now stepped off. At the back of my …
£17k
After I posted up my summary of 2013, I realised there was another statistic I could have added to the mix. Commission paid. I used a number of strategies last year. Including some experimental ones and that meant that the most I paid over a four week total in commission last year was a staggering £17,697.
To clarify that’s commission generated, not profit. Eye watering stuff. I hadn’t realised just how much until I ran over the stats! Just wanted …
Happy New year – Mission impossible 2!
Bit of an exaggeration, but not far from it!
New years day brings a smorgasbord of activity on the sports markets and it’s a tough day. Not least because most people will be hungover, but there is also so much sport going on, it can be a demanding day.
It’s better than boxing day though as it’s a bit better aligned. Cheltenham has often produced decent results for me on the first day of the new year. Lots of footy …
A year in the life
You may recall my blog posts a day, a week and a month. So what better way to sign off 2013 than a year in the life.
The year
I tend to follow a predictable pattern each year, skipping between major events where liquidity is highest. I used to do everything a few years ago but as my percentage return on invested capital shrinks, I am much more picking nowadays.
So I can tell you at the start …
Consistency
So the festive trading period is over and we now return to more mundane matters on the racing front.
Nothing outstanding occurred for me on the trading front, but Sprinter Sacre pulling up at an SP of 1.20 was probably the high or lowlight of the period depending on which side of the book you were on. You could hear the howls of anguish like never before coming from the crowd. Another reason why trading is much better than traditional …
Some rest for the wicked
So we are almost at Christmas and the sports schedule is thinning out into the run up to Christmas day. No racing today and it’s the same until boxing day. It’s lined up quite nicely this year to give me the opportunity to actually have a decent rest and do nothing! Well I’ll try at least, certainly there isn’t much to be done on the trading front.
So it will be a time of reflection and looking forward. With that …
Conversation with a Journalist
Had breakfast with a journalist last week in London.
Here is the background to why we met up when I was in town. Over the years I’ve seen so many stories about people who lost a lot, I mean a real lot, gambling. Some lost through there own fault, but sometimes it was for completely nefarious means, by gambling with other people’s money. I wondered why the media doesn’t publish the opposing story, somebody that actually made something.
So I …
Betfair Trader Scam – Please read and share
I refer everybody again to a post we made back in July warning people of a scam that is going around. Please do your best to circulate and share this blog post so people don’t get caught and so that people who have been caught, can come forward.
I’m happy to champion this cause to try and bring this scam to a halt. But I need anybody affected to contact me so we can gather enough evidence to do something …
Marmite Monday
It’s that day of the year that you either love or hate. The August bank holiday in the UK brings a whole bunch of racing, all on the same day.
There will be lots of meetings on today and about a billion races. This may seem like heaven for some, but it’s a nightmare for others. Quite a few races will attract little liquidity, a lot isn’t of quality and many races will clash meaning that you can’t do much …
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