Top Gear

Since Last Post P/L: £449.73
Monthly P/L: £767.22
.
After experiencing an initial setback I was able to recover this week and finally managed to ‘build the lead’ that I described in my last post. I’m delighted to have what I would describe as a decent total ‘on the board’ but not everyone is pleased. The comment I had from Nic on Monday said it all – “How can you go from making £2800 in one month to £750 the next?” I could see her point but replied in a flash, “quite easily!”
.
That’s one of the problems with this gambling lark – managing expectations. It’s so easy to get ahead of yourself and to start spending the money you’ve yet to earn. Even if you’re able to control those thoughts you then have the issue of reigning in those close to you who are only too eager to start jumping the gun. I keep reminding myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint but now that she’s had a sniff of my winnings I think I’m in trouble – she’s not going to let up!
.
Here’s a list of my results for the past week:
.
Cricket
Worcestershire v Somerset : £155.59
Lancashire v Yorkshire : £298.78
Northants v Glamorgan : £16.86
Hampshire v Surrey : £28.58
Essex v Sussex : £23.25
.
Horse Racing
Redcar : £3.87
Ascot : £0.49
Wolverhampton : £0.08
.
Formula 1
French Grand Prix : £217.84
.
Tennis
Hewitt v Haase : £15.69
Kanepi v Williams : £0.04
.
With Wimbledon underway I decided to dabble into the tennis markets and had a brief but positive experience. Lleyton Hewitt versus Robin Haase was the focus of my attention and with the Australian’s price trading at 1.17 before the start I was quite confident it would trade higher in play. It did. I wasn’t exposing myself to large amounts so gradually traded my way out of my position as his price rose to 1.55 within the first couple of sets. In the end the match went the full five sets which makes me believe that no one except Federer and Nadal can be considered as shoe-ins.
.
You’ll also notice that a nice green figure came from the French Grand Prix. Prior to the race, the market made it a two horse race between Raikkonen and Massa due to Ferrari’s dominance. With the Scandinavian trading as a strong 1.50 favourite it didn’t look like he’d have much competition and within a few laps his price had crumbled to 1.28. He was in control and extending his lead – what could possibly go wrong? Thank heavens for a dodgy exhaust. I latched onto the fact that Massa was catching him through each sector pretty quickly, and nudged in a lay for a conservative amount at 1.20. Sure enough, every man and his dog then realised the severity of the situation and within minutes his price had shot out to above 30! I’m gutted that I didn’t lump on the mortgage but I can’t be greedy – there’ll be plenty more opportunities throughout the rest of the Championship and I’ll learn from this.
.
I don’t usually like to end my ramblings on a sombre note but I’d like to mention how saddened I was to learn that John Lovell (page 33) the Cardiff bookmaker had died recently. I’d met John a couple of times during some Betfair Education evenings and he seemed like a very likeable guy and a genuine person. My thoughts go to his family at this difficult time.
.