Monday 19 January 2009

A Premium Pressie


Since Last Update P/L: £333.97
Monthly P/L: £831.48
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It had to happen sooner or later. Last Wednesday saw me incur my first Betfair Premium charge and even though I thought I'd prepared myself, it still left a sour taste in the mouth. I know it's only £15 but when there are no tools/warnings to help predict what this charge will be then it's very difficult to budget for. Being a successful trader/punter is all about control. From stake sizes to discipline it's all part of the big picture, so not having a clue how much Betfair will take at the end of the week tends to go against the grain of things. With this week providing a decent profit, I've got a funny feeling that the size of my gifts are about to start getting bigger.
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Okay, rant over.
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Here are my latest results:
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American Football : £119.79
Cricket : £21.46
Greyhound Racing : £10.22
Horse Racing : £2.88
Rugby Union : £195.55
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Premium Charge : £15.93
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The NFL playoffs have so far provided a mix bag. I've been able to make surprisingly good amounts on trading individual matches but a lot of my picks for the big prize have fallen by the wayside. My top seeds Pittsburgh will now have to deliver if I'm to finish the Superbowl Winner market in profit.
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What about the rest? The 2nd ODI International between Australia and South Africa was fun to trade and helped me get back into the swing of things but once more I made too many wrong decisions. That's the beauty of cricket though - you get so many opportunities to put things right.
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The Heineken Cup has been great entertainment (how good were Cardiff?) and my mouth is now watering at the prospect of the Six Nations. From a Welsh perspective I'm confident of another good show but I wouldn't be backing them at 15/8 for the Championship. Scotland will be a tough opener and a lot rides on that first result.
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Best not to ask about the Horse and Greyhound Racing ;-)
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6 comments:

amorphous said...

Congratulations on your first Premium charge :(

A lot of hard work for me to do before I reach such giddy heights of trading excellence!!

Cassini said...

Mark - I think the unknown aspect of this charge is the worst part of it. No way of calculating what you will be paying. I got hit with £500 last week - I felt like I'd been robbed. A bit like taxes, it'd be much better Paying As You Earn. Oh well. Good luck.

Mark Iverson said...

Thanks Amorphous :-)!

I'm sure your pressie will arrive soon!

All the best,

Mark

Mark Iverson said...

I totally agree Roberto.

To have little idea how much will get debited at the end of the week is bizarre and very bad business ethics by Betfair in my opinion.

All the best,

Mark

321-on said...

I am well up over 52 weeks so not long for my premium charge, what is to stop me pulling all of my money out of the account and setting up a new one at Betfair with a new card? Its daylight robbery in my opinion and if Betdaq was a legitimate alternative I would do all my bets there period! Good luck with the blog just got into it and I am reading it with interest. I am still dreaming of going full time but don't have the balls.... keep it going. Dave

Mark Iverson said...

Hi David,

Thanks for leaving a comment - it's nice to hear from you.

I believe that Betfair trace IP addresses so even if you open a new account they can link it to the one you already have. Bugger eh?

I'm glad you're enjoying the blog and I hope you keep reading.

All the best,

Mark

www.stanjames.com