I feel like Jesse from the Fast Show – “This week I have been mostly….” Concentrating on short prices. There have been too many really good looking short priced bets this week for me to ignore, and by short prices I mean SHORT prices, around the 1.4 marker or lower.

When backing at these ultra short prices, I need a strategy because to get any reasonable return you must stake a large amount. I bet with a certain peace of mind because I bet with OPM – yes OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY.

I laid the foundations in the previous month by using a £1000 betting bank and winning that £1000 back AND returning it to my bank account as quickly as possible.

This has allowed me to bet with a degree of confidence because if I lose the £1K I have already won, it will be a pain but it won’t heavily impact on my life financially because it’s money won from other unlucky Betfair punters.

So let’s look at the roll call of bets with ultra short prices.

Firstly, there was Dubai Prince under Jamie Spencer at 1/3 on. Now as far as short price betting is concerned I rarely involve myself with horse racing because it can lead to severe heart attacks! This horse was an exception. Look at the circumstances – Jamie Spencer vying for the flat jockey’s championship – a small field of 5 runners and more importantly Betfair’s in running market. So I backed Dubai Prince before the off and got my stake back incrementally through the race by laying off small amounts in running at a price lower than I had “bought”.NOTE – this really does require proper software rather than using betfair’s website

Job done. This was my last horse race using this tactic. These types of bets come along very seldom – the horse had fancy entries, a jockey needing a winner, a small field of other horses not backed in the betting market and no extreme distances, as well as an in running market to monitor my bet and get my stake back as quickly as possible.

Football has been the sport which has made me the most money this past week and generally I have sought out short priced favourites, preferably playing at home, and had a sneaky peek at www.betdevil.com to look at recent past performance and guage the teams’ likelihood of winning.

I began my assault on the shorties with an unpatriotic bet on USA women versus England .With the USA 1-0 up, I backed them at 1.19 and laid them off at 1.03 when they scored again securing a nice £100 with my stake safely returned. A bridge too far for the Brits alas against the world number one’s. NOTE – I waited for the first goal to be scored. If England had scored it I would have backed the USA at enhanced odds.

My next bet was Liverpool v Birmingham. I backed Liverpool pre match at 1.23 expecting an onslaught but Benitez decided to leave out Torres and I cursed him as Brimingham held out for a 0-0.

TIP – if you decide to follow the shorties route why not set yourself a predetermined loss? Here I set my loss at 1.8 – ie if Liverpool reached 1.8 without scoring I would take the dreaded “red screen” so the majority of my stake was returned but I had a loss regardless. With this tactic you can increase your losses by looking to reverse out in running at greater odds – you are effectively “buying time” for your side to score. Here, the 1.81 got me into the 2nd half so Liverpool at 1.23 were give the whole of the first half to score but didn’t!.

I also lay outsiders at big prices using my high risk strategy and that was the case with Westerloo who I laid at 14 away to Standard Liege. Why didn’t I back Standard? Well This is Belgium ! I wanted to cover the draw! Liege won so my huge liability on Westerloo was returned. I also laid Westerloo because this match wasn’t in running.

My next assault on the Ronnie Corbet sized bets came with Bayern Munich 1/8 on at home v Energie Cottbus – Bayern Munich actually won but I lost because this game clashed with Chelsea v Hull where I backed Chelsea at 1.68 ( yes couldn’t believe it!) so an engineered loss of £110 on the Bayern match ( even though I got the bet right) turned into a nice £500 pay day on a superb bet.  TIP – decision making and planning is key!

My next big bet came with Torquay v Droylsden. I went in large on torquay at 1.27 at home in a the Blue Square Premier. Why? Well Torquay have scored some 30+ goals , and are top of the leagu and Droylsden have let in about the same amount, and are propping up the league Well, Droylsden scored 1st. 78th minute ,still 1-0 then Torquay scored in the 79th minute. 89th minute still 1-1 and I was waving my money goodbye ( but it was really other people’s money!) when, miracle of miracles, Torquay scored in the 90th minute to leave me 2-1 up and very very happy.

My final bet this week was on Ajax v VVV at odds of 1.12. This game was in running, and VVV scored first. Now how would you like to back at 1.12 shot at 1.3? Wait for them to go a goal down. Final score 6-1 Ajax, 4-1 half time – I laid my stake back and sat on a guaranteed £200.

So ,working with other people’s money, I’ve generated a nice sum this week but boy oh boy has it been a rollercoaster  especially Torquay United. So what have I learned? Well, stick to what you know! I know the premiership and know that Chelsea still possess quality and, facing a Struggling Championship side like hull, with personnel like Cudicini, Terry, Essien et al, they WILL win despite obvious trepidation from the layers.

I will also leave the Juliper League and Austrian leagues alone . I have also learned patience and avoiding short priced horses for this type of high risk ,low return venture.

I have also learned that this type of betting needs to be operated with money you can afford to lose ( preferably winnings from other people)!  I have also profited from the Rugby to great effect this week, and focussed on France v Ireland and Argentina v Ireland, where I just could not see an Irish victory. These were opinion based .especially the Argies who were not shorties unlike the French Again, the in running markets ensures you can be reactive to events and , more importantly ,TRADE OUT as quickly as possible, greening the screen so profit is shared on all 3 outcomes, however implausible a couple of the outcomes might be. 

I have also learned to leave the Italians alone, and Real Madrid ,who, although they win, tend to leave it underpant changingly late!

This method of betting can pay great dividends. Using bookmaker prices as a guide ( they’ve done the hard work) can show you the likeliest outcomes BUT there must be an element of personal input – some research – any injuries? –recent performance?

Selectivity is the key to success, as is, preferably, the use of in running betting and having predetermined stop loss targets.
They key to this strategy is staying in the game as long as possible, banking all winnings and remembering –THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SURE THING (oh, apart from Chelsea v Hull!)