Chelsea v Barcelona

Well, tonight's champions league semi final features Chelsea against Barcelona and on paper looks a mouth watering tie. The only problem we have is deciding how we are going to make money from it. Chelsea are an unprecedented 5.5 to back on betfair and i cannot remember seeing them at such a big price at home before ever. I appreciate they are playing the top footballing club side on the planet but they are not a 9/2 shot against anyone, especially at the bridge.

A couple of solid looking markets that have some appeal and i may look further into are:

• Over 2.5 - currently 1.93 (Barcelona games normally average about 1.4/1.5ish)

• Barcelona to qualify - available to lay @ 1.19. (this is far to low with an away leg to play first in my opinion and i believe this will be a profitable trade and easily greened up during the first leg depending on how the game is progressing)

• Over 3.5 looks like it may be worth a squeak @ 3.3 and lay off after a couple, again, depending on how the game is progressing.  

•  Lay 0-0 HT @ 3.4. Once more Barcelona games are normally much higher than this so i feel that advantage needs to be taken with such low liability compared to an average Barce game. Chelsea are also more than capable of finding the net multiple times in Europe at home and have the fire power to hurt the Spaniards very vulnerable back line.

• There is always the possibility of either backing Chelsea at their current high price and laying off later on or laying Barce, whichever is your preference. ( you won't be seeing these 2 teams being quoted at 5.5 and 1.74 respectively very often.

• Of course laying the draw is always an option although this might not be too profitable should Chelsea take the lead as they are the dog and draw price may not contract as much as expected. 

These are all obvious options for the game tonight although i am probably more inclined to go with over 3.5 or over 2.5 options as i feel there is a great deal of risk in trading either team. If i had to trade one team i would be backing Chelsea now and laying off pre-kick off or during game. I think they have a better chance tonight, particularly being at home then their price would suggest and surely if they are to progress from this tie overall they would HAVE to get a result tonight to have any chance going to Spain.

Whatever market you ultimately decide to get involved with good luck and here's to greening up.

Regards
Fluffnut

Barcelona too short??

Im going to keep this brief as kick off is only minutes away but all week i just can't find a good reason to back Barcelona tonight aganst Milan and due to this i will definetly be laying Barce, currently 1.25-1.26 but even slighty lower in the "to qualify" market - 1.22-1.23. The price would be understandable if playing a european minnow but they are playing Milan for god sake and i honeslty think the prices are completely wrong for this game tonight. They haven't even got the luxury of an away goal to play with so anything Milan do Barcelona will have to beter and i don't think they will.

Lay Barcelona to qualify @ what is now 1.22 and get out at expected profit range or whatever criteria it is you use.

Regards
Fluffnut

Midweek internationals

this week sees lots of international fixtures be them friendlies or u21 qualifiers there should be lots of decent trading opportunities for us to try and exploit.

Some games of note which i believe have a high chance of profit in the overs market (2.5)

• Rep Ire v Czech Rep. Over 2.5  - 2.72
• Germany v France. Over 2.5 - 2.04
• Greece v Belgium Over 2.5 - 2.6

Even the England game could prove a suprise to many, although i think the trade for this game is laying the draw early on and backing it back for equal stakes looking to green up a little later should an equaliser come. This is one of my favourite trades to do as you only need 1 goal to completely eradicate the possibility of any loss while at the same time really maximising any profits as you don't hedge until the 3rd bet.

If its value you are after then i think the USA are probably slightly over priced at a very appealing 7.2. Yes i appreciate we are talking about USA and football in the same sentence but Italy are not a shadow of their former selves and i reckon there are several ticks to be made in this. Whether you want to lay Italy rather than backing USA is completely up to you although laying Italy would keep liability down as they are currently priced at 1.68 to lay. I wouldn't advice staying in this too long though as not sure USA will keep them out for the duration, however,i am anticipating a closer game than the exchanges would have you believe.

Thats it for now, good luck if getting involved in any of tonights games. I may be back a bit later with some more opinions but for now, good evening.

Regards
Fluffnut

Monday night football.

Liverpool v Spurs.

In my opinion this game has goals written all over it and after a weekend of some pretty high scoring games i see another on the cards at Anfield tonight. I am expecting a cagey opening however so will be looking at backing over 2.5 after 7-8 mins or so depending on how things are moving along.

Current price on over 2.5 is 1.91 so i think i will be trying to hold put for atleast even money with a view to laying it of somewhere in the 2nd half and shifting all of the green onto overs with zero liability on unders.

Thats my plan anyway will let you know the outcome of tonights trades once we are off. Another tempting trade is the "old" LTD but will be backing the draw after 1st goal for same stake giving maximum return on draw and zero on a winner and then if an equaliser comes green up for huge returns and if no goal then liability is already at 0.00 anyway. Just need that 1st goal.

Good luck all who get involved in tonights game and lets hope for a corker.

Regards
Fluffnut

A day to forget

Yesterday i experienced one of my worst days for a long long time and while i am relunctant to share, i feel people that read blogs deserve the truth at all times otherwise it defeats the object of the blog and risks turning into a mist of successful trade after successful trade which isn't realsitic or reflective of fulltime trading. This said, the losses i endured yesterday far outweighed my own personal risk and am still analyising why this happened.

Anyway, like i said this is all about the losses so lets have a look.

Other than getting up a little earlier to watch the rugby it was a pretty normal Saturday, i had done the vast majority of my research the night before so i already had a good idea of what i was trading, what markets i were gettng involved with and the strategies i were to employ. All that remained to consider was team selections and any other news throughout the morning that may effect my trades.

The first trades were over 2.5 goals in both Dunfermline v Rangers and Man City v Everton. I was able to trade the first to expiry as it was 3-0 by about 50mins so never went into the red after the first goal which came in the 9th minute - Great trade. The next though was not so straight forward i entered at about 1.74 as city have scored for fun at home this season thorughout the 90 mins not just good starters or finishers. Now, i realise i should have exited at half-time - 50mins ish but as mentioned City goals have been spread relatively evenly with an emphasis probably on the 2nd half - v spurs 2-0ht/ 5-1ft -  v wigan 1-0ht/3-0ft. It was due to this that i felt pretty comfortable holding my position for a little while. The goal finally came with about 20mins left as city had started to turn the screw. This is the second point that i should have exited by still i stayed in. From this point on it was a case of watching my red increase and although City scored again and also had another ruled out it was too late and i just had to swallow the loss. I was kicking myself for the next 15mins as it was my own fault for not getting out and was really amateurish behaviour.

No time for self sabotage it was approcahing 3pm and time for the the next trades. A couple i had identified were Chelsea v Swansea over 3.5 at about 2.7 and Arsenal v Bolton over 3.5 at a similar price. Chelsea went off like a steam train and were 2-0 up after 36 mins which is exctly what i wanted, however, although an exit would have shown a 40% ROI i thought that staying in was the best tactic as they were looking very good and it was not even half time. One thing i did not anticipate though was the sending off of Torres - 3 mins after Chelsea had gone 2-0 up. This completely devastated Chelseas price and i ended up exiting just after half time for a 10% loss on my original stake. As we know Chelsea went on to score another 2 goals as well as Swansea scoring a concelation. Not much we can do in situations like these as the 2nd half goals were all relatively late and a red card will drasitcally change things.

Arsenal v Swansea was another bad experience as in hind sight i should have gotten out at half time when 0-0 for a manageable loss. I stayed in and when Arsenal did score had yet another chance to exit with a reduced loss, i finally exited for a 40% loss on investment only to watch on as Bolton were reduced to 10 men 3 minutes after my exit. I then entered in the over 2.5 goal market this time as Arsenal can be ruthless against 10 men, arsenal did score and their price bounced around in profit for a little while. I thought i would use this profit as leverage for another goal and increased profit but exited at 85mins for a small gain. Obviously the way my day had gone so far, Arsenal scored a 3rd a couple of minutes later.

The biggest loss came in the days final game, Stoke v Utd. Got my strategy horribly wrong and have suffered since!!! I will explain this game in detail later on.

I think that this was due to a collection of reasons though, primarily a result of suffereing consecutive losses probably, losses which could have been avaoided if i exited at the correct points or losses which would not have been losses had i stayed in longer...

....note to self: Concentrate on finding a balance between these two.

Don't know the answer but why is it that after we take a couple of hits trading do we get all philosophical about it like we are some sort of spiritual guru??

Perhaps it helps ease the discomfort losses bring...i don't know... certainly doesn't excuse the losses though.

Regards
Fluffnut

Taking on New Zealand anyone?

Right, time for part 2 of my rugby world cup trading preview and with minutes to go before the tournament kicks off lets get straight to it.

New Zealand are overwhelming favourites here but then they have been overwhelming favourites in practically every single world cup since the first one in 1987.  Another element that you need to factor into the mix is that they are hosts and hosts have historically faired very well in this Tournament:

  

• New Zealand 1987 - Won by New Zealand   
• England 1991 -England runners up
• South Africa 1995 - Won by South Africa
• Wales 1999 - Wales 1/4 finals
• Australia 2003 - Australia runners up
• France 2007 - France - semi finals

As you can see host nations have an astonishingly good record and as New Zealand are already ranked no.1 in the world you can see the bigger picture starting to develop. This picture though, in my own opinion does not even begin to tell the whole story; the question is, are New Zealand really worthy of an odds on price of 1.67?

NO is the answer. New Zealand are historical bottlers, they seem to almost always choke in the later stages regardless of how pretty they look during the pool matches where they are basically playing against part timers. Clearly they are a dangerous outfit and are capable of beating anyone but they are usual under so  much pressure from an expectant nation that a complete mental collapse is normally not far away - which has been the case in each of the last 5 world cups.


The question is that as they have found the pressure too much being favourites in previous world cups how do i think they will cope witht the added pressure of being at home?

Now, i am not saying lay New Zealand - yet anyway, because their first 2 games should be pretty straight forward and I am almost sure that New Zealand's price will come in further after everyone jumps on the pretty rugby bandwagon. In actual fact you could probably back them early on and lay off after an expected good start.  The real test will be in their 3rd pool game against France who seem to have a bit of sign over the all blacks. This is a team that have knocked New Zealand out twice in the last 3 world cups and just seem to know how to stop the all blacks’ fast and expansive play.

Another concern i have with the legitimacy of a New Zealand assault on the title is that in all the years of watching sport i am not sure any team has gone into a world cup in any sport and won it after suffering back to back defeats. That’s right...the force that is New Zealand lost twice in a row coming into this tournament, firstly against South Africa and then a week later against Australia - granted there were some major changes with the squad but nonetheless a pre world cup loss can never be a good thing and losing 2 in a row is almost unheard of although the damage this may have done is yet be known.

Basically, what I am suggesting, however mad it may sound is that New Zealand will not win this world cup and I will 100% be laying them, like mentioned after the first 2 group games to maximise value. Even if there were to beat France which they may well do I feel that France will still expose some weaknesses which in Rugby, is almost seen as a loss when it comes to pool matches thus pushing New Zealand’s price out for us.

Contrary to what you may now be thinking, there are other teams in this world cup, other teams that have expectations in their own right. England are a strange team when it comes to World Cups, strange in the sense that regardless of the form they show coming into the tournament they are always there or there about.

Similar to Germany in the football world cups, no matter what type of form they are showing in the build up, they know how to play knockout football and will undoubtedly peak at exactly the right time. England know how to play knockout rugby - look at the last world cup in 2007, England were massively out of form and not playing anywhere near what they were capable of but fast forward a month or so and they were lining up in the final against South Africa which baring a very controversial disallowed try could have seen England retaining the title. 

Simply put, 17.00 is far too big a price for the 3 time finalists and a team that know their way around the business end of a world cup. 

There is a very high chance of playing France in the quarter finals but in the reverse of the France v New Zealand fixtures, England appear to have an almost identical hold on the French knocking them out of both of the last 2 world cups and watching the Le Bleus mentally fall apart before our very eyes. Australia are also a heavily fancied team having twice won before but like France, England have also knocked them out of the last 2 world cups which has really damaged the ego of an otherwise very strong sporting nation. 

This only really leaves South Africa as the only other team with a realistic chance and a chance which I honestly think has been undervalued. This is a super strong squad with talent right through the entire 15. Like Australia, have won twice before, are the holders and in an effort that would have not done their confidence any harm coming into the world cup - beat New Zealand in the summer.

The strength of these 5 is really illustrated by the prices for any other team bar one of these to win with Ireland next at a mere 75.00 which in my mind may as well be 750.00 such is the likelihood.

To summarise:

Here are some scenarios that I think have potential to prove profitable over the coming weeks.

• Laying New Zealand in outright market either now at 1.67 or after their first 2 games at around 1.5 - 1.55
• Back England at 16.00 - 18.00 and look to lay off at semi final stage - performance dependant.

I will be definitely be looking at trading some of the tighter games in play where you can get a feel for the game within the first few minutes and then make a decision whether it will be high scoring, low scoring, a kicking battle, free flowing the handicap and winning margin markets, total match tries and total match points. 

These are all very tradable markets and like always you don't have to be right as we aren't betting, we just need to get the pendulum swinging in our favour and then exit our position and enjoy the rest of the game.

Good luck in whatever you decide.

Regards

Fluffnut

Rugby world cup 2011

The RWC 2011 is almost here after 4 years of waiting, 4 years that hasn't really seen any dramatic changes in the world of rugby union. Nonetheless the RWC represents some great sport, which, after the precession that the pool stages usually are guarantees some tremendous excitement, drama and lots of nail biting tension which is certainly not for the faint hearted.

Yes rugby is sometimes regarded as a sport for the hardcore fans but the showpiece which is the world cup inevitably brings with it fans that would otherwise not even think of watching club rugby, this can only be a good thing for the sport and I am sure there may well be sports traders getting involved for the sole fact that is going to be on our screens for next few weeks. (This isn't something I would recommend as rugby is more difficult to trade than you may think) All this aside, I am a massive fan of rugby and would like to share my thoughts - trading wise, on what promises to be a "proper" spectacle.

The problem with trading international rugby, mainly the world cup is that there are many lesser nations taking part that are there to "unofficially" make up the numbers. This may sound a little harsh but you have to remember this is only the 7th RWC since it's inception in 1987. Only four countries have ever lifted the Webb Ellis trophy. Arguably, a more startling fact is that only 5 countries have ever competed in the final - The four winners, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England plus twice beaten finalists - France. These 5 countries between them have created somewhat of a 24 year monopoly on the international rugby scene.

To put this into perspective, the FIFA World Cup final has been contested by 6 completely different countries in the last 3 finals.

So, why is this a problem?? Well.... take the first game of this year’s tournament. World Cup hosts and odds on favourites for the title New Zealand kick off the action tomorrow morning against Tonga.

Now, Tonga are ranked 12th in the world on the official IRB world rankings and so are obviously nowhere near the worst team in a competition containing 20 nations. Tonga’s best ever performance was twice finishing 3rd in their 5 team pool and so have never gone beyond the pool stages.

I realise we are yet to get to the real hardcore trading discussion but in my opinion this is all very relevant if you are going to trade the RWC.

Back to trading....so what price New Zealand for this particular match?? 1.50....1.30....1.10 or even 1.05????

“Unbackable”....that’s the price of a New Zealand win, you cannot even get a price, 1.01 to lay. This goes a long way in illustrating my point that trading international rugby can sometimes present a problem, this isn't always the case as the 6 nations and tri-nations are very competitive but it certainly affects the early stages of the world cup.

This sadly will not be an isolated event as there will probably be around 5 or 6 “unbackable” favourites and countless 1.01 and 1.02 shots during the pool matches such is the gulf in class. What we as traders need to do, is try and spot other markets with trading potential and capitalise on this potential.

I am going to talk about some strategies that I think could prove most profitable during this tournament in my next post to avoid making this too long. I have covered the main areas of what to expect and really aimed this post at rugby trading newbies to give a general feel of the markets and why some of the prices we will encounter seem so lopsided.

Look out for my next post going up shortly.

Regards

Fluffnut