Mr Wong's In-Running Trading Blog

Chinese New Year !!

2009-01-20T20:05:00.003+00:00

Hi Everyone,
Just an quick update !! At the moment, the Highgate in-running office is undergone further expansion due to heavy demands from new traders wanting to take the plunge and become a full-timer (may be it is because of the recession and rising unemployment ), and as i manage the main in-running trading room, there are a lot things need to be done--like buying new TVs, setting up the computers (i build the computers myself) , wired the Internet connection etc etc.
As you can imagine i was quite busy for the past week or so, not to mention the Chinese New Year is just around the corner, in fact, it is on the 26th of January :-))
i will start posting a daily blog again when the Chinese New Year celebration is over !!
In the mean time---- Kung Hei Fat Choi !!!!

Million dollar traders

2009-01-12T22:09:00.007+00:00

Just finished watching a new series called Million dollar traders on BBC2. it is about some wannabe traders learning to trade for the first time and trying to become a successful hedge fund manager !! Although the programme is about shares trading, the concept is just the same as horse racing trading.

while watching and laughing at the novice traders did some horrible trades and did their bollocks, i couldn't help thinking about their blunders was a true reflection of my early trading days on Betfair--littered with mistakes and more downs then ups.

There was one instance in the distant past, i laid a horse called "Music to my ear"to win good money who was in the forth place and a long way behind the leaders with one fence to jump, then holy shit happened, all three leading horses fell at the last-- i threw the remote at the TV.

These days, big losses are much easier to take as i have made a reasonable amount of money already and have no financial worries whatsoever.

As for today's trades, i completely lost the plot towards the end of the day :-(

Love him or Loathe him ???

2009-01-11T20:34:00.006+00:00

It was all about Jamie Spencer for me today as the top jockey gave me two wins that made up most of the p & l on a decent day at the office. I got some good prices about Dishdasha in the Great Leighs opener and brought up £2k for the day when Safebreaker took the 3.35. I was still backing that one at 1.2 on the line ! Thank you very much layers! :-)

I backed Dishdasha early when he was travelling well out at the back in a view to "green up" before the home turn. as it turned out, the horse always looked the winner behind the leaders and the rest were going nowhere, so i let the bet ride and submitted two more clicks when the horse was about to hit the front.

As for the Safebreaker race,I played a totally different game ! this time was more about patience, cause i needed to gauge from Jamie's riding style to give me the "signal" whether the horse will be able to maintain the lead when he hit the front, Luckily , i guessed it right and kept clicking :-)
I have said before it is important to study your jockeys (as well as your horses) and Jamie is definitely one of the more deceptive riders out there today. Sometimes he may look to have plenty of horse under him to the untrained eye but the horse then finds little. Other times he appears to be niggling the horse along but then it finds loads and wins! You will have to study him yourselves and see if you can spot the difference.

Lost £25 on football though :-(

Only loser needs discipline !!

2009-01-10T22:38:00.004+00:00

Made some terrible trades in the middle of the afternoon, losing five races on the trot, over 2k disappeared in a matter of 30 minutes :-(

There is a broad consensus of opinion on a losing run that a strict discipline is what you require in such situation. However, IMO, good self control can only limit the damage but it will never get back what you have lost !!

It is the amount of knowledge and skills that you possess enable you to make the right decisions again and get out of the shit hole :-) So, you guys, when you hit a losing run you must stop making excuses and blaming on the lack of discipline. To win at this Betfair game - knowledge is king !!

Foggy in-running !!

2009-01-08T21:37:00.004+00:00

What an exciting afternoon ! trading in-running through dense fog at Great Leighs. unfortunately, it wasn't a good day for me.

i dropped 1k when the usually reliable commentator Ian Barlett called the wrong winning horse during the closing stage at 1-55.

Normally, i don't take much attention to the running commentary because i only trust my own observations. and if the commentator were Derek Thomson i probably would have checked the jockey silk against the colour on the paper before i clicked.

Oh well, just a small loss today, not much harm done !!

It's getting warmer !

2009-01-07T22:26:00.006+00:00

Fingers cross, it looks as though the recently cold spell is finally losing it's grip. we could have a full racing programme on Saturday. Trading with one or two meetings a day in a trading room is quite a boring job:-( cause the gap between the races is too long and one cannot take a lie in on the sofa (wearing pyjamas) in between races just like home.
The enforced rest has probably done me some good -betting wise. Now, all we need is some kind weather !!!

Power cut !!

2009-01-06T22:01:00.002+00:00

There was a power cut in Highgate just before the first race at Kempton, half of the street in Archway Road had no electricity. Luckily, some pre-race traders were able to close their position before the off by phoning up Betfair. so no one has suffered any losses by the outage. i waited for an hour in the hope that the power will be back on in time for the last few races later in the afternoon, needless to say, nothing happened, another frustrating day :-(

Trading at home.

2009-01-05T20:08:00.006+00:00

Took a day off yesterday and with only one meeting this afternoon i decided not going to Highgate, and playing in-running at home with ATR instead. i mainly focused on the place market cause as you all know Atr picture is light year behind SiS. i managed to make a small profit largely due to backing kings topic to get placed during in running.

Kings topic was making the running at a slow pace early, However, as all other horses dashed past him before the home turn, (they went for home too hard and too soon, imo) So instead of laying Kings Topic like most players did, i backed him to get placed, Luckily, the horse stayed on to past other horses to get up for the second :-). i probably would had won a lot more if i had fast picture. nevertheless, i got a lot of satisfaction out of it by reading the race correctly !!

It's freezing outside !!

2009-01-03T21:27:00.005+00:00

The British jump meetings were wiped out by the freezing frost this afternoon, it looks as though tomorrow will be the same ! anyway, i like trading in-running on all the all weather tracks as i have studied every aspect of all the sand tracks from the layout of the courses , camera angles and which type of horses best suited to different sand surface , not to mention the pace of the races is much easier to read.

Bring on the beach donkey racing !! I love it !

Happy New Year !!!

2009-01-02T21:26:00.004+00:00

Sorry for not posting for the past few days, cause I've been busy partying, drinking, shopping and having a good time.

Wish everyone has a profitable year--back plenty of winners and lay plenty of looooosers.

The end of the year has always been the time for looking back at the past and thinking over what we have done during those 12 months. Everyone is looking forward to the the new year. Everyone takes resolutions that they hope to follow through the coming year.

My New Year's resolution-betting wise, is try not to get too involve with the Irish Jump racing especially those low grade races !! I have a check on my last year PnL , the Irish jump races were my weakest link !! a lot of money were being squander away on dodgy camera angle, dubious Steward's decisions and non trying Jockeys.

I hope you are fairly certain what your new year resolutions (in-running betting) are going to be. Do make yourself some good resolutions and follow them. A happy new year to all of you.

Merry X'mas to all !!!

2008-12-22T22:26:00.002+00:00

Thanks everyone who have read my blog for the past weeks, i would like to wish you all have a Merry Christmas.

Qaulity racing on Boxing day, the main attraction is Kauto star in the King George, can he win it again, or will he blunder his way into defeat.

anyway, hope everyone is sober and alert when playing in-running on Boxing day :-)) Good Luck !!

Cheltenham bankers ??

2008-12-20T21:39:00.004+00:00

Because the dreaded Flu refuses to go away i didn't go for the glory when playing in-running this afternoon even though there were some winners which i could have made more money out of them--like Issaquah (i backed it last time and impressed by the way it's won), not to mention there were some easy lays in the big hurdle race at Ascot--Ashkazar looked in trouble after two jumps, Aigle D'or was going backward before the home turn-- both horses could be laid at odds under 7 in-running. i didn't get any money out of them cause my reaction was sluggish, not a penny left when i eventually pointed the cursor in the lay box :-((

Today we witnessed two impressive winners in Binocular and Punchestowns.

Cheltenham Bankers imho !!

should have stayed at home !

2008-12-19T21:28:00.004+00:00

Still got the F***ing flu, been taking paracetamol, lemsip, Chinese herbs , nothing works so far.

As for the in-running this afternoon, i kept making wrong decisions race after race ,it's just not my day !!

Under the weather :-(

2008-12-18T21:32:00.002+00:00

A small loss today, The 2-20 at Exeter cost me most, as i thought the jockey timed his run perfectly to hit the front half way up the run in on Pass me a dime. Basically the keep clicking policy backfired :-((

Been having flu for the past two days, i will have a hot hot "ginger" bath before i go to bed and hope i can get rid of it by tomorrow.

Ascot, another favorite track of mine, i wouldn't miss it for all the tea in China !!

Keep clicking !!

2008-12-17T22:55:00.003+00:00

A nice winning day today thanks to perhaps my favourite track Kempton (know all the cameras' angle inside out ), a track I always seem to do well at. I also prefer flat racing to be honest, as I like to back horses I see coming with a well-timed run. If I see a horse I fancy with momentum I will click and keep clicking !!
Jump racing, on bad ground particularly, is the other end of the spectrum and can be fraught with danger ! So it proved earlier as I went into the evening session a little bit behind mainly due to Qozak getting beat at Newbury. In my opinion Ruby Walsh may have returned from injury a bit too quickly because I think he would have got this one home on his best form. All is well that ends well though and as long as the p n' l is showing a plus at the end of the day i am happy !! :-)

Fooked Laptop !

2008-12-16T21:19:00.004+00:00

Got off a good start today laying Latanier at Folkestone, then everything went ok until the last few races, dropped £1300 in the space of thirty minutes, nevermind, it's still a winning day !!

Spend a whole evening trying to fix my fellow trader's Laptop, as usual it was completely fucked. I found a virus disguised itself as "shopping report" programme in the system. just for curiosity sake, i tried to find out what he has bought over the Internet, but the "virus" wouldn't allow me to open up, so regrettably i cleared the thing from the OS registry editor.

May be a blowup doll----i wonder :-))

Mundane Monday !!

2008-12-15T20:44:00.002+00:00

Just an ordinary and with little excitement afternoon, oops hang on, there was one moment of madness happened today at 3-40 at Plumpton,
Carly bay looked the winner with yards to go, only to be caught by the re-rallied Rosoff right on the line--22k matched at 1.01--unlucky to some !
People might question the wisdom of backing at 1.01, it seems insane to risk £100 to win a £1 !!
However, i know a couple of traders specialise in this field and make good money out of it. This particular strategy is not for the faint-hearted though.

Stick to the horses !

2008-12-14T21:32:00.005+00:00

Got back to winning trail this afternoon, horses wise !! As rain, rain and more rain seem to piss down on every racecourse the jumping game has proved harder then usual, so a much more cautious approach is needed at the moment ( greening up before the last and not get involve in close finishes )

From my experiences, from now till the early January is the best time to make money, cause every owner wants a X'mas or New year winner,as a result, the good horses are more likely running true to their form--no strangling by the Jockeys perhaps :-)

All we hope now is a bit of settle weather so to make in-running less hazardous !!!

:-((

2008-12-13T22:56:00.003+00:00

Lost on X Factor---thats me finished !!!

X Factor the final !!

2008-12-12T21:32:00.004+00:00

Another small winning day-but it was due to a tardy start to the afternoon.
I laid West with the wind at Doncaster when he turned into the home straight with a clear lead. At that time i was pretty sure the horse would fold when challening by other horses, cause i laid him a few times when he ran on the flat--always crusing in the lead but found nothing towards the end of the races.
However, he managed to maintain the gallop right to the line this time,much to my annoyance !!
Tomorrow is the X Factor final, as you all know i laid Alex to win big money and i have no intention of redded up my bet,cause i still think Eggy or may be JLS will win the contest.
According to the Daily Star JLS topped the vote in the semi-final, so 1.7 about Alex is a crazy price, and if all the young teenage girls ( mutil-voters) have a Betfair account and make a bet, Jls and Eognog will both be bet down to 1.3 or lower !!

The Emperor strikes back !!

2008-12-11T21:30:00.004+00:00

As you can see from today's total I got back on track today and the journey home after a few evening races at Great Leighs didn't seem so long this time. Hopefully my luck has changed just in time for Saturday's x-factor final and I won't have a losing week after all !!

I think most of the boys in the shop did well today because a few fancied runners got beat and yet they were available to lay at short odds for longer than usual. A big player seemed to be on the chase backing wise !!

To answer "Trader" enquiry as to whether I study much form, watch a lot of videos etc. Basically, I am lucky to have a very good memory and so I just watch the evening replays on Racing UK or ATR's morning replays. This gives me a chance to spot things I may have missed or confirms the impressions that i have had on a particular horse during the afternoon. Any useful info usually stays with me once I have watched a replay.

The things I look for are whether a horse finished it's race strongly (then I can be confident to back it next time) , or perhaps got an easy lead,or weak finishers like Pressgang this afternoon(and was therefore flattered to win) etc.

For each race during the afternoon I will have a quick scan of the race and assess the 2 or 3 most likely contenders. If I can't remember their previous runs then I will usually watch a video of it on the RP or ATR websites.

For any newbies I would suggest watching as many races and replays as you can and run over in your mind how you would have played them 'live' in running.

Goodwill to all men !!

2008-12-10T23:00:00.003+00:00

A small winning day today - better than losing !! - but I'm still not getting the breaks! I backed Zahra's Place to win at Leicester and she looked sure to win when falling at the last hurdle. Oh well, these things usually even themselves out so maybe I will get some luck soon. Earlier in the day I had a nice win on Orkney at Southwell, including £150 at over 8/1, but unfortunately I gave most of this back on Mile High Lad at Kempton, I thought this one would get up :-(

Wednesday's are usually premium charge days but after an ups and downs week I paid just over £40 this week. And, presumably Betfair are getting into the Chritsmas spirit nice and early because they have given me a 'goodwill payment' of £45 this week. Thank you very much, Betfair. Maybe things are looking up....

A long journey home

2008-12-09T21:31:00.005+00:00

This week could be one of my rare losing week as i didn't play well all afternoon,worse still, i clicked the wrong horse at the last at Punchestown :-((

as you can see from the pictures, i backed Checkherout at odds up to 1000, would have won over 130k if the horse had won the race :-))

My "luck" has certainly gone AWOL lately !!!

Out of form :-(

2008-12-08T20:36:00.003+00:00

Apart from one good winning day last Friday,i haven't been playing well lately. Down £500 today, not big damage,nevertheless it is still not ideal.

For the next few days i will try not going for big wins too often, as i have made a few bad calls recently.

My style of playing in-running trading is akin to a Pro-poker player, i am happy to take a small win or loss when there is no opportunity "rubbish hand", but from time to time i will go for a big win "all in". unfortunately, i have suffered from too many "bad beats" lately :-(

I am finnished :-((

2008-12-06T21:43:00.004+00:00

Saturday is normally a very good day for me, mainly because its better quality horses racing and they are more reliable and run to form and also because I am up against a lot of weekend-only players. However, it didn't work out like that for me today with a lay of Notabotheronme at Chepstow proving the difference between a good day and a bad day :-(

Sometimes there are so many races on a Saturday that you can lose your concentration for a moment and it proves costly. I laid Notabotheronme and was so sure it would lose after it made a mistake two out ( three horses was in front of him ) that I switched over to another race at Wetherby. however, when i looked up to check on another TV the horse was now in second and coming fast and I thought "oh shit" !!! Had I stayed with that race I'm sure I could have traded out for a small green or red figure. With hindsight I should have just stayed on one race at a time, so there's a lesson learned and something for you all to be aware of.

To rub salt into the wound, Alex is in the X factor final :-((((

Come on Eggggggggggggggggggy !!!!! you can win it !