Cry Foul!

I'm not a happy bunny this evening.

On Sunday, I took part in the Betfair promo whereby, if I backed a fourfold and it failed, I'd have half my stake returned up to a maximum value of £25. I do not have the link to the original terms and conditions for the offer, but I interpreted it as the maximum refund was £25. Not according to Betfair.

Based on my understanding of the T&C, I placed a £50 fourfold which ultimately failed. Betfair credited my account with £12.50 and not the full £25 as I expected.

On querying the figure, they claim the £25 refers to the stake size and not the maximum size of the refund. That's not how I read it, and not how others I know read it.

I cannot take it any further as I don't have access to the original terms and conditions. If anyone has, could you forward it to me please?

In the meantime, I've suggested to Betfair that they remove any possible ambiguity from their T&C so that users won't fall foul of such offers again.

While on the subject of Betfair, I was checking my premium charge statement when I noticed a figure of £197 in the 'Lifetime profile' column under the heading 'Other Charges', whatever that means. It's been a while since I checked my premium charge, and this was the first time I had seen this, or remember seeing it.

To be honest, I was completely confused by this for two reasons. Firstly, I didn't recall the money ever having left my account, and secondly, I had no idea what they were for as Betfair had never notified me of any additional charges I was about to incur.

A quick email to Betfair resulted in the following:

The 'Other Charges' are not charges you have paid yourself in the past. When we changed the Premium Charge calculation process in October we had to ensure that each customer had paid back at least 20% in charges to October 11th 2009. This would be to ensure that they were not placed at a disadvantage when the charge was introduced.

To ensure that all customers had paid back at least 20%, the customers who had paid below 20% over the lifetime of their account were given a hypothetical top-up to ensure that the calculations read at least 20%. The hypothetical top-up you were given is the figure under 'Other Charges'.

So, after wading through that waffle, it appears I haven't paid these charges after all and it is just a fictitious adjustment that Befair have applied to all such qualifying customers.

Nice of them to tell me, or did I miss the memo?

The Inevitable Betfair Crash

A major upgrade and downtime was announced for this morning so I trust you all tread with care as the odds for the system falling over after it had been brought on line again must have been shorter than 1.01. Sure enough, around 12:10 down it went.

I managed to get an hour of trading on the dogs and added a few pounds to the pot before it fell over. No idea when it will come back, but, as ever, extreme caution advised.

The 'Rabbit' Is On The Move

Some comical goings on at Nottingham this evening when a real live rabbit managed to find its way into the stadium. The 6:44 race had to be delayed while numerous ground staff and officials tried to catch it or chase it out of the arena.

One can't help but think it would have been quicker if they'd just turned the dogs loose. Then again, that may not have been quite so entertaining. Probably just as well as the animal rights lobby would no doubt be up in arms complaining about the natural instinct of the dogs to chase down a cute and defenceless, small cuddly bunny.

How To Profit With Pre-Match Soccer Trading

On paper, it should be the simplest thing in the world. Assess a match, team news, form etc, etc, and place a bet accordingly with a view to trading out for a pain free profit before kick off. The price will move in your favour as everyone else comes to the same conclusion as you. Don't they?

Not in my case they don't. I've tried pre-match trading many times, in a variety of different markets, but I never seem to assess the mood of the market correctly. I may very well get the outcome of the match correct, but the pre-match moves? Very rarely, if ever. Indeed, I'm beginning to think that I should, once I've formed an opinion, oppose it. Certainly, going on past results, I'd be in profit.

My latest venture into the pre-match arena was for the St Etienne v Monaco game taking place today. After reading of the home side's depleted team; the fact that they struggled to get past a 4th level amateur side in the cup midweek, requiring extra time and penalties to do so; not to mention their poor home form where they've scored only five goals in eleven home games, I decided to back Monaco on Saturday evening.

I placed a back bet waiting to be matched at 3.15 and went to bed. When I got up this morning, the price had gone out to 3.45 at which point a traded out for a guaranteed loss of £7.50. Thank goodness I did, as the price was out at 3.70 late afternoon.

So, how does one go about correctly assessing what all the other traders are doing (and by definition, the market), in order to successfully trade pre-match? If I ever find out, I'll be keeping it to myself.

Alternatively, just oppose whatever I think of the game. I know I am going to.