Chris Keating

For those Betfair Traders amongst you, the England v Croatia game was a fantastic opportunity. I took one position. I laid England, not an unpatriotic bet as I was looking at as tight game and a  0-0 scoreline. From my perspective, Coratia scoring first enabled me to get the fabled green screen nice and quick.

Well the jumps season has certainly started unspectacularly thanks mainly to the ground reducing fields and creating a welter of non betting races. This has had an impact, as those of you who follow the horse betting tips blog will have noticed.

The small fields which are a hallmark of this new jumps season can afford us an ideal opportunity to spot stable gambles – horses who may have been deliberately run over the wrong distance in their previous races, or with deliberate tactics to put them at a distinct advantage in their previous races suddenly win at 25/1 in their next race, or at least go very close.

I have found a nice easy strategy which the more eagle eyed amongst you will be getting to grips with. It's common sense really. Look for the smallest number of runners who pay out 3 for the place - 8 runners

On the football front, and feedback suggests that thefootballmaestro, who provide free football tips, are making some users profits – and that’s what’s important. I didn’t like the fact that the selections are ridiculously obvious, but I guess not everyone has the time or inclination to research their bets without recourse to a tipster when it comes to football.

It’s been an interesting week in the betting world this week, with football naturally taking centre stage. How did I approach these matches? Well there were so many mismatches that the opportunity was there to back one of the shorties and lay off as soon as they scored the first goal.

Can we take this backing at enhanced odds into horse racing? Well the in running markets are a whole different kettle of fish. They’re over in a flash. BUT, you can always submit unmatched bets in running on favourites in the hopes they will drift and then come back to win.

If you want to profit from football, at whatever level, you must do your research and then make an informed opinion based on how you interpret the information. Here are some key factors I think will improve your strike rate.

No this week’s eletter is not about recycling or reducing your carbon footprint, it’s about taking a profit when a profit presents itself! I learnt this lesson well last weekend, particularly in the Arse versus Sunderland Game.

This plan is usually made up of 2 parts – the selection system and the staking plan. If you are a backer or a layer, your staking plan must work in unison with your selection system. For those backers amongst you, how do you categorise yourself? Are you a place only backer using the tote or betfair?