Dont You just hate it when this happens

[ron]

Trading one of the late/twilight races yesterday, i lay a selection for £100 @ 4.4 matched instantly hoping to back @ 4.5 for a quick 1 tick profit order placed then whoooooshhh all lay orders down to 3.6 are taken this being less than 1 minute to the off, i can see that the horses are being loaded, i have 2 choices let it go in-running and lose £340 should it win or place a back order in the hope it will be matched, i eventually decided to back at the by then odds of 3.80 for £100, so loss is now £60 and then hedge Red =£15.78 , in-running now and the horse loose's, if i had left it then i would have got out green, but sods law dictates if i had it would have been the big red, then i would have lost a lot more.
i then traded the remaining late races including the new arab track, and reduced my overall loss to £1.49 on the night.

[Scumbag trader]

You did the right thing taking the hit

[Cran]

if i had left it then i would have got out green

Why was there not a a Betfair Crash when you needed one...?

[The Joker]

ST's right if you had let it go in play then you can bet ur Ass it would have won, and though it didnt on this occasion the next time your presented with this conundrum, you think "worked last time" and do it again, this time though you wave your bank good bye!

The only people who should do this are those with very strong opinions on horses, I mean from experience reading the form etc. people who are gamblers or those who trade in running and see it as a decent position to be in at the off

Shergar

[nigelbleddfa]

Trading one of the late/twilight races yesterday, i lay a selection for £100 @ 4.4 matched instantly hoping to back @ 4.5 for a quick 1 tick profit order placed then whoooooshhh all lay orders down to 3.6 are taken this being less than 1 minute to the off, i can see that the horses are being loaded, i have 2 choices let it go in-running and lose £340 should it win or place a back order in the hope it will be matched, i eventually decided to back at the by then odds of 3.80 for £100, so loss is now £60 and then hedge Red =£15.78 , in-running now and the horse loose's, if i had left it then i would have got out green, but sods law dictates if i had it would have been the big red, then i would have lost a lot more.
i then traded the remaining late races including the new arab track, and reduced my overall loss to £1.49 on the night.

I had a similar situation to you once and I allowed the bet to go in running. The horse stayed in the starting stalls and I lost £ 200 in seconds. Now I only let a race go in-play if I have a tiny potential loss. I am trying out betting in play as a general strategy. I am not placing back bets before the race and only backing at higher odds than those available pre-race. If the horse is doing well, the price falls and I trade out for a small profit.
I can remember doing this on the last race on the card one day. I had no pictures of the race and relied on Betfair radio commentary. My horse was about six lengths clear and I was able to, and did, take a profit of just over £ 160. Part of my reasoning for the greening was that my horse could fall. It was the last race of the day. It was a National Hunt flat race and I threw away another potential £ 70 winnings
There are infinite ways to screw up, I'm afraid.

[Wednesday 13]

I know the feeling, I had it many times on footie - I lay the draw, or back the overs, match is still goalless by 80th minute, so I decide to trade out for a loss, and then, in matter of minutes after I redded my screen, the goal comes in!

[Knight Rider]

Always best to hedge. As Scumbag and Hairy have said sods law it would have won if you had not hedged. Although in the long run these type of decisions to hedge or to leave will more or less reflect in a breakeven situation regarding your P/L, small losses are always easier to comeback from physcologically than bigger ones.Taking a big hit will more than likely interfere with any subsequent races you do that day because your concentration will be affected. Never lose in one race what you don't have the ability to make up for in the next or next few.

[jimmy]

You did the right thing taking the hit.Lets say you let it go inplay and you win, what happens is you start to become confident about letting it go inplay and so you start to let them go 1-2-3-4-5 winners on the trot and then boom game over.

[AuTrader]

Did the same thing on some donkey that hadnt won a race in a few years at high odds so let it run (didnt have vision at the time) and the bloody thing won and i lost a fair bit of bank.Biggest lesson to stay clear of letting them go in running,so i think you did the right thing reding for a small loss.

[1/4 of a millionaire fund]

You did the right thing, traders who can't accept a red on the odd race, no matter how it happens, won't very far in this game. If you'd let it run and profited from it it'd become part of your trading strategy and only a matter of time before one of them hits you.

[Anonymous]

in the long run these type of decisions to hedge or to leave will more or less reflect in a breakeven situation regarding your P/L

That might be correct with regards to the number that win or lose but the amount you win or lose will not level out unless you are risking/winning the same each time. If sometimes you let £1,000 go i/r but other times it is £5. You might win the 10 times you let the £5 go but 10 times of £1,000 losing and you are in the pooh.

[The Joker]

That might be correct with regards to the number that win or lose but the amount you win or lose will not level out unless you are risking/winning the same each time. If sometimes you let £1,000 go i/r but other times it is £5. You might win the 10 times you let the £5 go but 10 times of £1,000 losing and you are in the pooh.

I think the break even that's referred to is more whether you hedge your profit evenly or leave it on the one runner, rather than going inplay with a open position, winning some and losing some.

Shergar

[Talisman]

I concur, you did the right thing. The way I look at it is -

How long would it take me to get -15 back?
How long would it take me to get -340 back?

It's only a small blip, no matter how frustrating. There will be times when it will go your way, as well, and you will have backed at 4.5 and have it crunched into 3.8.

[Emkayracing]

Experience is the answer to most 'What if...' scenarios.

If you had backed first looking for a one ticker and the price shot down you would have rubbed your hands and taken the profit.

It is always fast and furious in the final minutes before a race, traders are doing their thing at the same time as punters and some on-course bookmakers. Gaff track money can be all over the place during this time.

For me it is a big Risk vs Reward issue - if you went in looking only for one tick every time you would need a pretty decent strike rate to compensate for when the price goes the other way.

[ron]

Why was there not a a Betfair Crash when you needed one...?

i'd have had kittens though

this evening was much better p/l £32.09p will manage to trade an 1 hour tommorow then sunday... bring back evening racing !