Andy,
Just for info from where I stand now currently. I no longer trade, havnt done for a few months now and no longer use Betfair. I still hold an account with them but my deposit limit is £1 a month. My online firms are either closed or I have restricted them to something like £10 a week limit too as Im limited on many things now, apart from roulette, slots etc... !!
I have Betfair downloaded to my phone, use a £10 O2 top up each month which gives me free internet usage. Apart from the odd horse here and there that I get given or hear about I will categorically never place a bet on anything unless I have checked what its current price on Betfair is, and that is on anything (horses, dogs, football, any sports really).
I take the understanding that after many years of trying to make the game pay and failing that Im actually not as good as I hoped I once was. Instead by using Betfair as a guide Im taking advice off the millions thats use their service. Low league European games which appear on the various coupons, I wouldnt have a clue about but by checking Betfair and following the money, it gives me a guide on who to back etc... Im mainly a £10 / £20 better, on coupons, trebles etc.. but very rarely select anymore teams to take my winnings over £200. Id check say Hills coupon against Betfair select the teams that are either under or very near to the Hills price on Betfair, circle them and then do a quick calculation of how many teams to put in a line to make the £200 mark. Sometimes Im a little over, sometimes Im a little lower, sometimes Im way below as they have cut them all !!
The best Ive hit last season was a £20 line on 4 teams at Ladbrokes, which included a 7/2 winner. Which hit for £1060. All 4 teams Id have never backed untill I looked at Betfair.
The greyhound angle which I discussed earlier to trading, I no longer trade. Instead of having £200 on and trading it off, Id have £20 on the dog as a normal bet. In some races Id have more on dependent upon how things are going and how the Betfair price has shrunk. If 2 dogs are under or very near their current price on Betfair, Id back both. Mainly to the same stakes say £20 on each and have £2.50 r/f/c too. Its hit a few times over the past few weeks, in fact it hit today on my only bet. 6 dog was 6/4 and trading at 2.68. 4 dog was 4/1 trading at 4.1. I had £10 win on the 4, £10 win on the 6 and £1.50 RFC. 4 dog lead all the way and beat the 6 for a £50 win and £10.96 f/c. Obviously its not all good times, many dogs that are backed on Betfair dont win, but you take the rough with the smooth like you do when betting on anything.
The best tale I can give you on greyhounds was at Sheffield around August last year. Dog opened up 9/2, it was 3.2 on Betfair for big big money. I had to have a decent go and had £60 on it. The price plunged, 7/2, 5/2, 6/4 and it continued. It ended up 4/6 and was 1.7 on Betfair. It flew out, won by 8 lengths. There was a thread about the race on Betfair somewhere, think it was something to do with the Barney Curley of greyhound racing.
Its not rocket science, and trust me the world isnt as rosey as Ive probably made it out to be, but over the past year if I sat down and worked out my profit and loss it would be a lot healthier than its ever been in the 15 years Ive been betting.
and once laying Hull KR at 1.04, then laying Leigh at a similar price in the NRL final a few years ago. Looks like Richie has found a bit of a niche for himself with these European games, looks quite interesting, many a dodgy game played in Eastern Europe.
