23rd January

Self Doubt - No Doubt

Tennis

I stayed up late to trade on the tennis, Del Potro was playing and he was playing Muller, whom prior to the match I didnt rate and still dont, not really, not against the top 10 lads. So I watched the first game which was a Muller service game and I think it went to deuce and Del Potro had a couple of break points - this was a reoccurring theme throughout the first set. On the other hand Del Potro's serve was excellent and by the time the tie break came up he had only lost 4 points - think about that he won 24 points and lost only 4, his first serves was at 82%, my bet was Del Potro to win 3-0, tie break went something like this both held serves, Del Potro breaks, Del Potro mucks up and loses a point, Del Potro breaks, then he mucks up, 5-5, first to 7, Del Potro serves and plays a poor first serve into the net followed by a 2nd serve that was non inspiring and Muller breaks. Muller hits an ace and Del Potro is down one set, my bet has gone south and I'm down £72 - yes I was confident on this match but why didnt I trade out? cos no one would take my lay bets.

Go to bed when Del Potro wins the 2nd set and I'm miffed.

Ivanovich, playing some tubby Russian who knocks the ball hard and from what I can see is quite a good player - Ivanovich, No.1 at some point last year in the world and currently ranked number 5, has a history of coming back in adverse circumstances. Ivanovich leading 5-4 in the first set and serving to take the first set promptly lost the next 3 games and thus 1 set down, she later comes back to make it 1-1 in sets on the tie-break, saving a few match points I believe in the process and promptly loses her first service game in the 3rd set. Comeback queen Ivanovich, then waits until the Russian lass to be serving for the match before breaking back and then goes on to lose the 3rd set. Oh my bet was £34 to win 2-0 when she was serving for the first set @1.68.

Del Potro's odds' were 1.66 to 1.80. I won a couple of bets on the matches but over all I have had a day of self doubting on tennis and I'm not going to do any tomorrow.

Tennis losses amount to £89.65.

Football.

I traded on the Dubai's Emirates Cup matches in the afternoon for about £26 - nothing really to add except that staking for £224 or £448 (double because I was down £90 on the tennis) was virtually impossible in an illiquid market, it was taking odds with whatever was on them, at what I considered good value and then laying them at more of a bookies price and waiting for them to be taken.

Derby v Forest match - I have watched both these teams against my team and out of the two, Forest have the superior attacking force and it was to my surprise that Derby took the lead and then it was tricky to bet on an outcome that I didn't think would last and at stakes of £448. I traded little and concentrated on the Portuguese match. Once Forest had equalised, I rejoined the trading. A total of £48 was made on this match.

Maritimo v Leixoes - I traded on this one and it was a matter of lumping on at less than ideal odds - i.e. odds you could get at the bookies but I could match £448 all in one hit, the ladder was sporadically filled with bets and lays all over the place. The match was less than riveting to watch - which I dont mind as there are less surprises and I layed £61 at one price £122 at another and just kept feeding the prices until the £448 was completely layed. £22 from this match.

Belenenses v Benfica - By the time this game had come around I was pretty much level for the day having traded the loss away at the higher stakes on the previous matches, so I reverted to the 15% of bankroll again. Another boring game and good to trade on, the pitch was a mud bath and it tipped down - anyone watching the Gloucester rugby match will get the idea of the pitch (not as bad as the Gloucester pitch - but pretty bad for a football match). Didn't trade much in the first half as I felt that Benfica the league leaders should score and looked dangerous, but in the 2nd half neither side looked threatening. Benfica did score but I was not in the middle of a trade but it was deemed to be offside. A profit on the reduced stakes of circa £32.50.

No doubt, I am far more confident with Football than Tennis.

Results.

£41.89 - 2.80%