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Game, Set and Matched

Posted by Keith Eckstein on Mar 18, 2014 in Articles | 0 comments

About 6 months before I started Focus Ratings I also started a small blog which detailed my learning curve with all things Horse Racing.

Once Focus Ratings was under way though, I found that I didn't have time to do both and so I stopped updating the blog.

I am now shutting down the blog and have decided to move some of the content over here - purely for your amusement only.

Game, Set and Matched - one year on the betting exchanges

"It's all on.

The lot.

Every pound left in the account £2,644 on Warrington Wolves.

Why am I doing this?

Could they lose?

Can you believe I was calm?"

This is what Iain Fletcher's one year as a 'pro' on the betting exchanges had come down to - 80 minutes on a mid table Rugby League game.

The author of the acclaimed On Tilt, was subbed GBP5000 by leading matched betting company, Betfair and given 12 months to turn a profit and learn the intricacies of the new online betting phenomenon.

Game, Set & Matched is the fascinating diary of his efforts to master Matched Betting.

Along the way he details how to bet successfully on the exchanges on all types of sports from horse racing to soccer and rugby to golf.

As importantly he highlights the financial and psychological disciplines required to come out ahead.

Get the book here... Game, Set and Matched - one year on the betting exchanges

A Review...

Although I don't think that you are going to learn much about trading on Betfair from this book...

Certainly not enough to be able to jack in the day job!

It does give an insight into the mentality of someone who lives by "greening up" on sports betting opportunities.

There's some useful advice which would be as applicable to a financial markets trader and...

A potted history of Betfair as well.

Conclusion

I think that if I've learned one thing from this book it's that I'd hate to do this sort of trading on the exchanges.

After all, life's too short and anyway...

That's why they invented bots!

The book is well written though and, about 18 months after I first read it, parts of it are still lodged somewhere in that cesspit I call my mind.

So, overall...

A good read and an ideal present for anyone who harbours dreams of jacking in the day job, trading on Betfair a few hours a day and then spending the rest of the day on the golf course!

Get the book here... Game, Set and Matched - one year on the betting exchanges

keith-eckstein the horse racing scholar

Have you read this book?

Did you like it?

Feel free to leave a comment if you have something to say.

Your opinion is valued!

Links and further study...

1). Frankel: The Wonder Horse - Champions Day, Ascot 20 October 2012, saw Frankel win his 14th race, a 100 per cent win record, and a truly outstanding performance confirming his status as a superstar. Frankel: The Wonder Horse is the complete illustrated story of the world's best racehorse. The book charts the superstar's career from his birth through each of his races to his 'retirement' at Banstead Manor Stud. Frankel set the bar higher than any horse has ever done through utterly memorable performances and the book relives these races and the incredible training feat by Sir Henry Cecil. Assembled from the archives of the Racing Post, the book includes contributions from all his connections as well as a complete record of all his races and full statistics of his phenomenal career. Fully illustrated with stunning photographs from the Racing Post's archives.

Get the book here... Frankel: The Wonder Horse.

2). Kauto Star: A Steeplechasing Legend - It is widely accepted in the world of jump racing that Kauto Star is the best steeplechaser since the immortal Arkle half a century ago. The only horse ever to have regained the Cheltenham Gold Cup crown, and a scarcely credible five-time winner of the other classic of the jumps season, the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park, Kauto Star has posted an extraordinary record during eight seasons racing in Britain. But it is what lies behind the statistics which make the Kauto Star story so compelling: the rivalry with stable companion Denman, his next-door neighbour in the Somerset yard of trainer Paul Nicholls; the fallibility expressed in his earlier chasing years by the heart-stopping habit of making at least one major blunder in a big race; the apparently terminal slump in his form as he reached veteran status, which only made the resurrection more glorious. Kauto Star: A Steeplechasing Legend tells that uplifting story as it unfolded through the pages of the Racing Post and the incomparable photographic skills of the Post's photographers, to make a worthy celebration of the life and career of one of jump racing's all-time greats.

Get the book here... Kauto Star: A Steeplechasing Legend

3). Precision: Statistical and Mathematical Methods in Horse Racing - "Precision ... Statistical and Mathematical Methods in Horse Racing" thoroughly discusses the mathematical and statistical methods in handicapping and betting techniques. Differentiations, combinatorics, normal distribution, kernel smoothing and other mathematical and statistical tools are introduced. The jargons and equations are kept to a minimum so that it is easy to understand for most readers. More than 20 professional programs are freely available to download, which can allow readers to easily apply the methodology introduced in the book.