.Since Last Update P/L: £76.14
Monthly P/L: £755.34
.Monthly P/L: £755.34
I'm not in the best of moods right now following the discovery of my Betfair Premium Charge for last week - £76.14!
.So that everyone that reads this post understands, let's make this clear. This is a charge that Betfair make even after they've taken commission AND one which incurs no risk to themselves!
.To make that £400 profit I had to put big sums of money on the line (to me at least) and back my own judgement. I could have lost, but because I don't very often (through skill and hard work) I'm victimised and left feeling like an employee. The graph above shows all of my wins and losses for the month so far and you can see that the Premium Charges (the dark red columns) are currently clocking up most of the negative figures.
.I know there are many other traders out there paying more than this but I still find it unbelievable how a company can change their business ethics and hike their charges up so much (and get away with it) practically overnight.
.Until now I vowed to myself that I'd give Betfair the benefit of the doubt until I could at least judge for myself, but after the last couple of weeks I'm now convinced they're totally taking advantage of their position in the marketplace and extorting the people they've previously gone out of their way to attract! I'm not a happy bunny and with the cricket season fast approaching I really need to consider my options.
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I'll change topic briefly. Tomorrow sees the final of Celebrity Big Brother and I've gone 'All In' on Coolio. For some reason I've got a feeling Verne won't win, so it's seems a straight shoot-out between Terry and the American rapper.
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13 comments:
Mark,
Up until reading this post, I had really thought the Premium charge wasn't quite as bad as people had been making out, and it wouldn't really have that much effect on the ordinary small time trader.
This has really brought the reality of it to me.
The amount you have been charged this week seems grossly out of proportion to what you usually earn.
Its a terrible situation to be in....stick with Betfair and get ripped off, or go to Betdaq and suffer due to the poor liquidity.
Amazing how quickly Betfair has declined from being the punters friend, to being the evil empire!!!
Not sure about your position re BB Mark.
If you are going to go green on Coolio, then you surely must have Ulrika in your book as well. She's generally polling higher and has momentum. I dont think last nights show was very positive for Coolio either especially his Ulrika bashing towards the end.
I think Verne still looks likely but i agree doubt is creeping in and there could be a suprise.
Check out the BB thread on UBF before you make your final book.
Betfair should be re-named one of the following:
BF-Greedy
BetUnfair
This premium charge seems akin to income tax. The more you earn, the more you pay!
The only difference is that income tax is then used to fund society; the premium tax goes straight into BF's over-stuffed coffers.
I have had very little to do with BF, just a few TV punts now and then. After a problem with their SP system I told them to close my account. They should remember the old adage: The Bigger they are, the Harder they Fall.
Additionally, the BF Casino stuff is further evidence of their grasping nature.
From what I understand alot of the cricket traders (don't quote me on this) have moved over to Betdaq, so perhaps liquidity on cricket may be good? Ovbiously not all the big traders have moved there but enough to make some of the games at the end of last season more liquid than Betfair! that said though that did coinside with the announcement of the premium charge, maybe they've all moved back to Betfair, who knows! Anyone know what the money was like on Betdaq over the winter for cricket one days?
Hi Amorphous,
It appears that even those like ourselves are in the line of fire and it doesn't feel right.
I'm really hoping that Bet Angel will launch full market depth for their Betdaq software soon, as that will be another hurdle crossed of in making the switch.
All the best mate,
Mark
Hi Gary (shipwreck?)
Nice to hear from you mate.
I just feel Coolio is over priced and although he's controversial there's a bit of the lovable rogue about him. Google searches for this week also indicate that Ulrika and Verne are struggling in comparison so I'll probably stick with my book for the time being.
If Coolio gets to the final two I may hedge my bets though :-)
All the best,
Mark
Hi Philip,
The worst thing about all this is that I've been a huge Betfair fan in the past and have sung their praises to everyone who's been willing to listen.
How they can victimise a portion of their customers and not others doesn't make sense to me.
All the best,
Mark
Hi Anonymous,
I intend to be taking a very good look at the in-play Betdaq cricket markets when the IPL kicks off in April.
If they're half as good as Betfair's then I think I'll be doing most of my trading there.
All the best,
Mark
How many markets do you trade on Mark? I only trade cricket and had I been playing more markets then I would certainly be paying the premium charge myself.
It'll be interesting to see how many markets I will be playing in the summer when I will be trading full time, with the IPL, the T20 WC, Pro40 and the Ashes. I only trade match odds (currently) so I imagine I'll be fine regards the 250 market threshold. Is another account not an option to avoid paying the PC, that would give you a further 250 markets to play with.
Hi johnterry,
In the last 10 months I've played around 700 markets so I'm well over the 250 threshold so it would take me way too long to try and get my 60 week total below that moving forward.
Betfair did the analysis on this type of thing before releasing the Premium Charge and knew the situation people like me would be in regarding this.
I only trade match odds too so it's surprising how these things add up.
Can't wait for the cricket you mention to kick-off - it should be great.
All the best mate,
Mark
Hope you changed that book mate!
Hi Shippy,
Yes mate, I did.
As soon as Ulrika made it to the final two I could see the writing on the wall. Greened up at that stage for a very small profit.
All the best,
Mark
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