Sports Trading Thread.

[ffsear]

Morning all.

Have decided to set up a sports trading thread. I trade pre race odds on the horses using the betfair exchange.

This is a scalping method. I'm only looking to make 1 tick per trade,. But you can trade the same horse multiple times before the race does.

Most important rule: ALL BETS ARE CLOSED BEFORE THE START OF THE RACE.

For this thread, I'm going to start a bank of £100.

Firstly, a look at the program I use to trade the betfair exchange. As you'll see its some what different from the website, and gives you a lot more information to help you with making trading decisions.

As you can see, theres not much happening right now, the first race of the day insist off until 14.10. The prices start to move in the last 15 minutes with most of the action happening in the last 5 minutes as regular bookies stay to lay off their exposure into the exchange.

I#'ll be back after lunch to to trade this first race.

 

[ffsear]

Ok, i thought id start with an early example...

The 3rd horse in this race interests me.

As you can see where I have circled red, this horse is trading in a tight range. 7 - 6.4

So what I have done is straddled the current price. I have put in and order lay this horse at 6.4 £10 (circled in green) and Back it at 6.6 (£10). Now i just have to wait for these to orders to be filled and I will have a 1 tick profit.

 

[ffsear]

So we can see now that my back bet for £10 @ 6.6 has been matched. Now we are waiting for the £10 at 6.4 to be matched and we'll have our 1 tick profit.

 

[ffsear]

Ok, so our lay bet got match. which gartered a profit of £1.04, regardless of who wins the race.

 

[ffsear]

So using the same strategy on the next race, have managed to book £1.70ish

 

[ffsear]

Another method I use is looking for prices with low liquidity. Or none at all

Look at the favourite, See price 1.79 and note how there is no money available at that price. I'm going to stick £100 in there now. This means that if price does hit 1.79, my money is right at the front of the cue. So if i see money getting taken at 1.78, I will quickly lay £100 at 1.78, and then if 1.79 gets hit, it will be my money getting hit first.!

 

[ffsear]

So there's my £100 in at 1.79. Just waiting to see if price drifts out.

 

[ffsear]

So 1.79 got taken, price flashed back down as it was near the top of the trading range, we traded out at 1.74 for a £3.47 profit.

 

[ffsear]

Balance now £114. Will continue to trade the rest of today's races and see where we are at the end of the day.

 

[hhiusa]

Balance now £114. Will continue to trade the rest of today's races and see where we are at the end of the day.

That's interesting how did you come to that figure? I count £15.99-1.96-1.96-1.96+3.91-3.11-0.12 =£10.79

 

[ffsear]

That's interesting how did you come to that figure? I count £15.99-1.96-1.96-1.96+3.91-3.11-0.12 =£10.79

Because i don't have time to post ever trade. Will post statement at the end of the day!

 

[ffsear]

What a lot of fun.

Do you really think this is a valuable use of your time?

Are you 10 years old, on the dole or under house arrest?

Seriously FF what the hell are you doing with your life!

Pathetic! Grow up!

 

[NickBk]

Because i don't have time to post ever trade. Will post statement at the end of the day!

He's too busy coppering up.

Ok officially done, you want a betting thread but run from a real bet on your own terms lol.

 

[ffsear]

That's interesting how did you come to that figure? I count £15.99-1.96-1.96-1.96+3.91-3.11-0.12 =£10.79

.

 

[hhiusa]

.

Why don't you increase your trade size? You made 14% on £100. At that compounding rate you should be rich in no time. It sounds like you have the sports betting down to a bit of a science. That's why ask why not increase your trade sizes?

 

[ffsear]

Why don't you increase your trade size? You made 14% on £100. At that compounding rate you should be rich in no time. It sounds like you have the sports betting down to a bit of a science. That's why ask why not increase your trade sizes?

Because this is Betfair. The liquidity is limited. It dosent have the hundreds of millions that the index's or FX pairs have.. On an average day a race will have about £500,000 traded on it. So if you up your stake to much, you can end up not getting you bets matched and then you end up with some exposure in the race which amounts to pure gambling.

If i back a horse for £5000, then I want to lay it off at a lower price for £5000, yet I've only got 3 minutes till the race starts... I could find myself in a bit of trouble if my lay bet is still in the market and and has not been matched. Betfair cancel all unmatched bets when an event goes "in-play" ANd then the prices movements become wild.

If I straddle the market with £5000 each side of the current price, I effectively become the market maker. But i have no control over the balance of the market. I could get hit on one side and leave the other side totally exposed.

Bigger events such as the Cheltenham Festival, and the Grand national where you can up your stakes as there a a few million matched race. But as you can imagine, A Monday afternoon at Plumpton racetrack dosent quite generate the same level of interest.

As i've mentioned before, I've not quit financial trading, just spread betting, I want to learn to trade using price, volume and depth of market, and trade off the ladders direct on the exchanges. Betfair offers a perfect learning experience for this, without having to risk too much of your own capital.

 

[ffsear]

Done for the day. Cheltenham Festival starts tomorrow. The biggest event in the racing calander. Bring it on!

 

[hhiusa]

Done for the day. Cheltenham Festival starts tomorrow. The biggest event in the racing calander. Bring it on!

Since this is a bigger event with much more liquidity are you going to increase your trade sizes?

 

[ffsear]

Since this is a bigger event with much more liquidity are you going to increase your trade sizes?

No, i wont be trading. I'm going to Cheltenham to actually watch the racing.

 

[itspossible]

Pathetic! Grow up!

nb has deleted his post.hes now back on the fantasy island thread making ££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££