Dairy of spread bettor July
Thursday 2nd July
Wimbledon [http://www.sportingindex.com] Ladies Semi-Finals Day and both Venus and Serena look like good things in their respective matches. Serena is up first against Elena Dementieva and then older sister Venus tackles the double-fault machine that is Dinara Safina! However, I'm torn between trying to nick a few quid by buying set supremacy again or selling the total number of games in their respective mismatches.
I watched the opening set of Serena's match and was relieved not to have sold total games when she lost the opening set in a tie break. I bought her set supremacy in-running at 5 for £15 and was thrilled when she bounced back to land the next two sets to go through 6-7 7-5 8-6. I had won £150, but had won it the hard way.
I left Venus's game alone and kicked myself for not selling total games. She blew Safina away and only lost one game in the whole match. The total games make-up was just thirteen - I now know what they say it's unlucky for some!
Friday 3rd July
Andy Murray's date with destiny. Could the British number one become our first finalist for donkey's years (and plenty of British donkeys have tried in that time)? I was massively against him and was all over Andy Roddick. If Murray struggled to cope with the power of Wawrinka, he was hardly likely to contain a man that can serve over 150mph (not even my sneezes go that fast!).
I had £100 on Roddick at 11/4 to make the Wimbledon Final (he was actually the same price to win the game, but this bet eliminated the risk of Murray wimping out with an injury and the bet being voided - good thinking eh!). I also sold Murray's set supremacy for £10 at 8 in-running.
The rest, as they say, is history. Roddick won the first, third and fourth sets which was enough to send him through, Murray out and me home happy! The perfect result and at last I'd won back my losses from earlier in the tournament. I won £275 on my fixed-odds bet and £280 on my spread bet.
I was glad that Murray lost because I still think he has a lot to learn about losing. His rant at the umpire after losing the third set was one thing, but to have a go at a ball girl was shocking... 'get me a water' he demanded! At the end of the game he acted like a spoilt child, grabbed his bag and sulked off to the changing rooms. No proper thank you to his thousands of fans, who in some cases had paid a small fortune, and no proper wave goodbye.
Judy Murray needs to buy her son a copy of Rudyard Kipling's IF. In it he'll read a line about meeting with triumph and disaster... the latter he is now only too familiar with. However, it is the bit about treating 'those two impostors just the same' he needs to brush up on!
Saturday 4th July
I'm now the one who has to learn to meet disaster as well as triumph. My theory that the final Lions test would be free-scoring was way off the mark. I bought £10 of points at 48 and the 28-9 final scoreline meant a £110 loss. That wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't followed a £10 buy of Venus Williams' set supremacy at 8 and a £280 loss. I still don't know how or why she played so badly - particularly when she performed so well in the doubles only hours later. I'm convinced that the girls' father decides who is going to win each match-up and the girls follow orders - this year it was Serena's turn!
Listen to me. Just a few paragraphs after having a go at Murray for being a bad loser, here I am ranting about a conspiracy theory... there is something in it though!
Sunday 5th July
I fancied buying total games in the Men's Final at 39 (as I'd cleaned up 12 months earlier with the very same bet), however, I was put off by the potential danger of a quick Federer demolition job. He'd seen off the big serving Karlovic earlier in the week in straight sets and I was afraid he'd do the same to Roddick. I left it alone and it made up at 77! Basically, I let a 38 point profit slip me by... in monetary terms... £380.
It was really irritating and was made more so by the fact that total aces also made up at 77 and I had seriously considered buying those too! I didn't lose a penny on the final, but missing out on those two bets had inadvertently cost me a fortune. I think that Sporting Index need to nick the SAS's motto 'Who Dares Wins'. Maybe that will encourage more 'fence-sitters' like me to climb down from their perches and back their opinions and hunches!
Monday 6th July
Not much going on in the world of sport, but just 48 hours to go until the start of the Ashes series and time to build up a selection of long term positions. I sold the lowest all-out team score at 155 for £5 even though the Racing Post advises a buy at 165. England showed in Sabina Park in February that when they want to roll over, they roll over properly. They were all out for 51 that day and 155 just looks too big in my book with little downside (hopefully)!
I sold Cook series runs at 355 for £5 because I think he'll get found out and bought Mitchell Johnson's all-rounder performance at 650 for £3.
As for the first test, even though all the pundits are suggesting it will be a spinners paradise, a good source has told me that the square will be pretty flat as Cardiff are desperate for five days worth of gate receipts. I had a fixed-odds bet on the draw (£200 at 6/4) and will sit back and hope.
Tuesday 7th July
It's pouring with rain and while normal human beings go out and buy umbrellas, spread bettors look to buy distances at national hunt venues in the wettest parts of the country.
Now, I don't live too far away from Uttoxeter and after a lunchtime downpour of biblical proportions, I was certain that their evening meeting was going to be run on heavy ground rather than the good to soft as advertised in the paper. However, their six race card was full of big field open looking handicaps and my desire to be a buyer was quickly diluted.
In fact, I was tempted to sell once the market had risen above 40 and did so at around 6pm... let the lemmings jump over the cliff and watch them fall I thought! Sadly for me and my lemmings, the rain continued to fall and the meeting was abandoned without a race being run. Surely a make-up of zero?!
Wednesday 8th July
I missed the first ball of the entire Ashes series listening to a spotty teenager in an o2 shop bamboozling me with different packages for my new blackberry - my old one took a crashing fall in London last week and hit the pavement hard. If it had been a racehorse, the green screens would have been erected straight away!
Anyway, having told me that my new phone could do everything, my able assistant asked me if I needed internet access. I asked her whether it could vibrate in my pocket every time a wicket fell in the Ashes. She laughed at my joke - I wasn't joking though.
Back to the cricket and Cook was back in the pavilion early which was good news for my long term positions and Johnson struck with the ball twice before lunch. This series is going to be fun, I can feel it in my blackberry.
Wimbledon [http://www.sportingindex.com] Ladies Semi-Finals Day and both Venus and Serena look like good things in their respective matches. Serena is up first against Elena Dementieva and then older sister Venus tackles the double-fault machine that is Dinara Safina! However, I'm torn between trying to nick a few quid by buying set supremacy again or selling the total number of games in their respective mismatches.
I watched the opening set of Serena's match and was relieved not to have sold total games when she lost the opening set in a tie break. I bought her set supremacy in-running at 5 for £15 and was thrilled when she bounced back to land the next two sets to go through 6-7 7-5 8-6. I had won £150, but had won it the hard way.
I left Venus's game alone and kicked myself for not selling total games. She blew Safina away and only lost one game in the whole match. The total games make-up was just thirteen - I now know what they say it's unlucky for some!
Friday 3rd July
Andy Murray's date with destiny. Could the British number one become our first finalist for donkey's years (and plenty of British donkeys have tried in that time)? I was massively against him and was all over Andy Roddick. If Murray struggled to cope with the power of Wawrinka, he was hardly likely to contain a man that can serve over 150mph (not even my sneezes go that fast!).
I had £100 on Roddick at 11/4 to make the Wimbledon Final (he was actually the same price to win the game, but this bet eliminated the risk of Murray wimping out with an injury and the bet being voided - good thinking eh!). I also sold Murray's set supremacy for £10 at 8 in-running.
The rest, as they say, is history. Roddick won the first, third and fourth sets which was enough to send him through, Murray out and me home happy! The perfect result and at last I'd won back my losses from earlier in the tournament. I won £275 on my fixed-odds bet and £280 on my spread bet.
I was glad that Murray lost because I still think he has a lot to learn about losing. His rant at the umpire after losing the third set was one thing, but to have a go at a ball girl was shocking... 'get me a water' he demanded! At the end of the game he acted like a spoilt child, grabbed his bag and sulked off to the changing rooms. No proper thank you to his thousands of fans, who in some cases had paid a small fortune, and no proper wave goodbye.
Judy Murray needs to buy her son a copy of Rudyard Kipling's IF. In it he'll read a line about meeting with triumph and disaster... the latter he is now only too familiar with. However, it is the bit about treating 'those two impostors just the same' he needs to brush up on!
Saturday 4th July
I'm now the one who has to learn to meet disaster as well as triumph. My theory that the final Lions test would be free-scoring was way off the mark. I bought £10 of points at 48 and the 28-9 final scoreline meant a £110 loss. That wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't followed a £10 buy of Venus Williams' set supremacy at 8 and a £280 loss. I still don't know how or why she played so badly - particularly when she performed so well in the doubles only hours later. I'm convinced that the girls' father decides who is going to win each match-up and the girls follow orders - this year it was Serena's turn!
Listen to me. Just a few paragraphs after having a go at Murray for being a bad loser, here I am ranting about a conspiracy theory... there is something in it though!
Sunday 5th July
I fancied buying total games in the Men's Final at 39 (as I'd cleaned up 12 months earlier with the very same bet), however, I was put off by the potential danger of a quick Federer demolition job. He'd seen off the big serving Karlovic earlier in the week in straight sets and I was afraid he'd do the same to Roddick. I left it alone and it made up at 77! Basically, I let a 38 point profit slip me by... in monetary terms... £380.
It was really irritating and was made more so by the fact that total aces also made up at 77 and I had seriously considered buying those too! I didn't lose a penny on the final, but missing out on those two bets had inadvertently cost me a fortune. I think that Sporting Index need to nick the SAS's motto 'Who Dares Wins'. Maybe that will encourage more 'fence-sitters' like me to climb down from their perches and back their opinions and hunches!
Monday 6th July
Not much going on in the world of sport, but just 48 hours to go until the start of the Ashes series and time to build up a selection of long term positions. I sold the lowest all-out team score at 155 for £5 even though the Racing Post advises a buy at 165. England showed in Sabina Park in February that when they want to roll over, they roll over properly. They were all out for 51 that day and 155 just looks too big in my book with little downside (hopefully)!
I sold Cook series runs at 355 for £5 because I think he'll get found out and bought Mitchell Johnson's all-rounder performance at 650 for £3.
As for the first test, even though all the pundits are suggesting it will be a spinners paradise, a good source has told me that the square will be pretty flat as Cardiff are desperate for five days worth of gate receipts. I had a fixed-odds bet on the draw (£200 at 6/4) and will sit back and hope.
Tuesday 7th July
It's pouring with rain and while normal human beings go out and buy umbrellas, spread bettors look to buy distances at national hunt venues in the wettest parts of the country.
Now, I don't live too far away from Uttoxeter and after a lunchtime downpour of biblical proportions, I was certain that their evening meeting was going to be run on heavy ground rather than the good to soft as advertised in the paper. However, their six race card was full of big field open looking handicaps and my desire to be a buyer was quickly diluted.
In fact, I was tempted to sell once the market had risen above 40 and did so at around 6pm... let the lemmings jump over the cliff and watch them fall I thought! Sadly for me and my lemmings, the rain continued to fall and the meeting was abandoned without a race being run. Surely a make-up of zero?!
Wednesday 8th July
I missed the first ball of the entire Ashes series listening to a spotty teenager in an o2 shop bamboozling me with different packages for my new blackberry - my old one took a crashing fall in London last week and hit the pavement hard. If it had been a racehorse, the green screens would have been erected straight away!
Anyway, having told me that my new phone could do everything, my able assistant asked me if I needed internet access. I asked her whether it could vibrate in my pocket every time a wicket fell in the Ashes. She laughed at my joke - I wasn't joking though.
Back to the cricket and Cook was back in the pavilion early which was good news for my long term positions and Johnson struck with the ball twice before lunch. This series is going to be fun, I can feel it in my blackberry.
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