OK I have just bet that Swansea will not beat Millwall. I have done this based on form as Millwall have won 3 and drawn 3 of their last 6 home matches, and Swansea have won only 1 of their last 6 away. I layed £8 at 3.5 so a total liability of £20.
This is meant to be the diary of a learner right? Well I've just done the most stupid of basic errors...I betted the wrong way and lost £5 because of it. I wanted to lay less than 2.5 goals in the Coventry v Scunthorpe match which is playing as I type. However lack of familiarity and concentration made me lay the over 2.5 goals instead. I realised my mistake but an early Coventry goal meant my exit was at poor odds, losing half of my £10 stake..
Stupid boy...as long as I learn from this then it is a good mistake to make while I am still playing with pocket money!!
This betting lark is easy isn't it. Officially 10 wins from 11 now.
I layed "under 2.5 goals" in the Chelsea v Birmingham match. I should have blogged in advance, so you probably don't believe me ;-) and I bailed out after 10 minutes with Chelsea one up.
Layed at 2.6 then cashed out at 4.5 with a £4.01 profit.
I have also layed Stoke at Aston Villa on Saturday. £8 at 5.0
My £10 bet on a goal-fest at Reading came good and I took my winnings off the table early netting £7.60
Hull came good to. Early in the game Doncaster equalised after Hulls 1st goal. This made me very nervous for a while because I was about to take my winnings off the table as soon as Hull scored...my patience paid off and I made a net £4.47 from the initial £8 stake.
I think I will investigate the + / - 2.5 goals market further as it seems to be a good one to make money on "in-play".. I would love to hear from anyone who bets this market regularly and would like to share some tips with me as I learn...
So far I have won 9 out of 10 bets...beginners luck I fear but if I can keep a 90% win rate I will be a very happy (and rich!) man.
I have been away this week (a little trip to Budapest) but before I went I made a few quid by betting against my team (Chelsea)to win against United...I made a couple of quid, not enough to soften the pain of losing to United.
I also layed "under 2.5 goals" in the Watford v Norwich match (thanks Zero Hype) and made another couple of quid.
Today I have layed "under 2.5 goals" in the Reading Leicester match (£10) and also layed £8 against a Doncaster win at Hull (another Zero Hype tip)....
My bets are getting slightly bigger giving me the option of getting out "in-play" if things go my way...
Two weeks ago a "trade off for a nice green up" would have meant nothing to me. Tonight that is what I did!
I layed off Getafe playing at Zaragoza. I bet £6 at 3.75 as Getafe were having trouble scoring goals away. 14 minutes into the match Zaragoza scored and I traded off at 9.8 making a profit of £3.50....
Now, this is small beer but it is the first time I have "traded off" and it felt good!!
After decimating my initial bank last week with a freak Madrid result I stumped up another £30 for week 2.
Without much time to do my own research I am piggy-backing on Zero Hype, a much more experienced outfit! So all of this weeks action was today. I followed Zero Hypes dutch bet on the National and won £50, and another £4 laying Doncaster against Cardiff.
So my bank is up to a healthy £85...yipee. I can start to lay bets a little more professionally in future (i.e. covering rather than letting it run)...
I opened my account a week ago with a small trial bank of £30. Just to test the water. I have a finance and a maths background, and I love football, so I have decided to try to find a way to make a little money. I realise that this is a zero sum game (less the 5% commission!) so I am under no illusions that to win consistently I am going to have to find my "edge".
My natural instinct is to lay bets of underdogs, especially when playing away. One week ago I didn't understand the concept of hedging or taking money off the table so here is what I have done so far...
Bet 1 - Lay Scotland v Brazil
Bet 2 - Lay Ghana v England
Bet 3 - Lay Bournemouth at Peterborough
So all going well winning £2 less commission on each....
This is easy, right?
Then I went a step too far trying to claim another £2 from the free cash dispenser of laying bets. I picked Gijon to not win against Real Madrid. Jose Morinho hasn't lost at home for 150 games so...a sure thing.
So a £2 lay at 14.0 went horribly wrong with 10 minutes to go at the Bernabeu. I quickly backed Gijon at 1.42 with all I had left, suffering a net loss of £22.61
At the end of Week 1 my £30 is a meagre £13.
This is going to be harder than I thought. I keep thinking that one freak result shouldn't put me off. So I should persevere right?
LESSON #1 - Don't lay at odds greater than 6
Please follow if you want to track my progress or offer advice!!