Season Half Way Point - How's It Going?

Seeing as we are 19 matches through the Barclays Premier League season I thought I would do a review of my trading, and bring you up to date with my positions thus far. Firstly, as the section to your left tells you, I had intended on attempting to trade the markets each week to make a modest £500 in order to cover any losses elsewhere. I never really anticipated needing to 'cover my losses' though, which is quite handy considering my trading has been rather poor these last few months! I have made a profit of just over £70 but it has been quite inconsistent profit, due to poor trading or lack of trading each weekend. I realised the other day that I have been quite poor at showing P+Ls this season, particularly compared to last year, but this is mainly due to lack of activity, or the P+Ls being distorted due to matched betting. I am also trying to move away from that side of the blog and have therefore decided to withdraw the P+L from the site. I originally had it up more as a record for myself than anyone else, and also to encourage myself to report every loss with my readers, but I don't really need it for either of those purposes anymore, so it is getting the chop! Aside from trading I have made around £170 from matched betting since August, so things are moving quite smoothly, albeit at a slow pace!

Now on to the part I have been focusing most on this season: the 'outrights'. It's difficult to place an exact P+L on my trades as a lot of them are still in motion, but my expert conclusion is: it is going alright. To expand on this point I will show you all of my moves over the last few months and explain how they went.

The best trade so far. Top two selections backed at start of year and after Chelsea's collapse both prices went below 3 making an easy trade out. Since United have gone ahead I have layed the low price of 1.86 on the top selection, and backed City/United at 5.7, as can probably be deduced from the picture. £175 initially wagered, if cashed out now total profit would be £78.

Layed Chelsea at 2.2 for £121 shortly before their collapse and traded out at 2.9. They went as high as 6.8 during the sacking of Di Matteo however, meaning I could have taken a much higher profit. I was a tad premature to trade out of this one.

Perhaps with the previous trade in mind, I did the opposite of this one and missed the opportune moment to trade out. They traded as high as 1.8 after I layed at 1.27, but recent form has seen their price drop again and I only managed to trade out £15 at the top price. Will stay in for a bit longer, if I cashed out now I would take a profit of £18.

The Chelsea loss was made over the summer so that can be ignored. The Arsenal bet I struggled with hugely, as the form of the sides listed here are so unpredictable I found it hard to manage. I think the trick with this one is to not look at the fixture lists, but to just lay low and wait for the inevitable dip in form from either team. Total profit £15 from risk of £186.

This was a fairly simple one, a back at 1.733 for £200 and a lay at 1.399 after just a few weeks. I initially left the profit on Spurs to finish top 6, but thought it best to spread it later on, especially at low odds.

Fulham I chose to back from the beginning, and after their good start to the season I had hoped I could trade out. Liquidity was a problem here though and I only managed to get half of my liability out, choosing to stay in for a bit longer. Their form however, dropped, and if I was to trade out now I would take a scratch. I will stay in for now though. Secondly we have West Brom, who had a brilliant start to the season and I chose to lay them at 1.283 anticipating the inevitable dip. It came and they went up to 1.65 briefly before regaining form and now they are back to 1.31. On this occasion, I mixed greed with their fixture list and decided to stay in for a bit longer for a better price. I will wait for a bit longer as I don't imagine they can continue this all season. If I traded now I would take another scratch.

Another fairly simple one, I backed Everton at 2.388 for £100 and Liverpool's woeful form has made this quite simple. I am in the process of trading out, I just need a bit more liquidity. 

There are a few here so I'll keep it simple. Stoke: I was wrong, they have been superb, 100% loss. At least it is only £12. Norwich I really thought would actually go down, but was wrong again (so it seems so far anyway). Luckily all I needed was their poor start to take a £31 profit from an £82 stake. Similarly I backed Reading for relegation early on, but was a bit premature in trading out on this one, taking only a £10 profit on each outcome. Since, I have layed Reading at 1.29 as I think they have the potential to see a higher price before the end of the season. With QPR I made a big investment and so far it hasn't paid off. I may wait until the end of the transfer window before deciding what to do. Layed at 1.872, if I traded now I would have a £32 loss. With Sunderland I made the decision to back at odds of 4.7 a few weeks back, and it is now looking like a foolish decision. If I traded now I would take a £33 loss.

As I said before I thought Norwich would be down there, and their good start gave me the chance to square up here, but I missed the chance to green all round. I could have taken a £14 profit on all outcomes but I thought the price would go lower. I was wrong.

Poor decision to get involved with this league. I was taken by last year's outcome and this year just isn't turning out the same way. I chose to take a loss early on as I didn't think it would get much better, and so far that has turned out to be wise.

Current balance 'in-play': £456 of the £500 bank.

Best call of the season so far: Backing United/City, City/United in the straight forecast.

Worst call of the season so far: Stoke to be relegated. 

Well there you have it. That is how it is going for me this season, I hope I wasn't too long-winded for you. In the coming weeks I will be compiling some data on who still has who to play, and then taking up a few new positions based on this. I will also most likely do a 2012 review in the next week or two, just as I did last year for 2011. Based on what I have provided here, I would say that I am very pleased with the start I have made to the season, and feel that my target of £500 profit is within reach. Should I fall short however, I will be happy as long as I make a decent profit on my maiden season trading in this way.

Happy New Year everyone, I am looking forward to 2013 already.