Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Risk and Reward of In-Play

I have not been able to fit in any trading since the weekend. However I saw something very interesting on Saturday(that I forgot to include in my blog) that has got me thinking. I was trading a novice chase at Wincanton on Saturday and had just closed my position on the 2nd or 3rd favourite (the horse was trading at about 5 at the off.) I was trading close to the off so had not greened up my position before the off. I had a £40 green so £8 profit if I had greened up before the off. I was just about to green up when the favourite fell at the first. Suddenly my horse came in to 3.5 I thought that is nice and again went to press the hedge button just before I did this the other fancied horse fell at the second and the price on my horse crashed in to just under 2. At this point I thought how lucky I had been and greened up for a nice profit of £20. It again showed me how risky taking any pre-race trades in play would be e.g. if you had backed the fav and gone in-play your money would have been gone in seconds.

However if you did some research and knew your horse was a good jumper then could you not take a small stake in-play and see what happens in the frst few fences, then close out your position? This could be one of many strategies that could work in-play. If I am going to use in-play strategies then my stakes will be minimal £10 at the most. I will also not rely on a strategy where seeing fast pictures are crucial as you probably know there is always someone with quicker pictures and reaction times. I will be looking to try one strategy over the weekend this will not be used in every race but I am sure it could draw in some extra cash.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Drifter,

    Ever since I started this lark, I've wanted to get involved in-play somehow. Less stake, more ticks was the plan but trading in-running without fast pictures was out for me.

    The other option was as you describe. Place a hedge in advance and look to it being matched in-running. To do that, it is imperative that proper research is carried out. That's where I came unstuck. I know nothing about horses and I really don't have time to learn to read form.

    If you are able to do that, then this strategy can be very profitable in my view. Good luck with it.

    Alistair

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  2. Alistair

    Yes I think with a good strategy and patience there could be some money to be made from in play. Time will tell if I can find an edge.

    Drifter

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