Boring Betting is Better

Years ago in the financial sector there were people who were known as “tape readers”. Basically what these people did was to analyse news as it came in and try to interpret that into a decision as to which stocks and shares to buy and sell. This strategy still holds good today, the only difference is that news comes from more sophisticated sources than it did years ago.

These days financial news can be obtained from sources like Bloomberg and sports news from places like Sky Sports News or any number of up to the minute websites that reveal the latest sporting news. It is a well known fact that news affects public opinion and when public opinion is affected then this knocks on to how they bet and wager money.

Most gamblers fail for one overwhelming reason, they place too much action. Whether it is poker, online betting or financial day trading……the pro will be highly selective in what trades or bets they have in any given day/week/year.

Quite often making money in these areas boils down to the bets and trades that you didn’t have and not the ones that you did. Gambling or financial trading should be summed up in one word…..boring. If it isn’t then you probably are not doing something right and are over trading probably due to emotional reasons.

There is money to be made for people who are prepared to be “bored”. This brings with it rewards for the people who follow correct and proper disciplined procedure and who have the patience to wait for the right opportunity. There will always be news that affects sporting markets and when that news arrives, experienced sports news traders assess its value and what impact if any it will have on a particular market.

For instance, imagine if there was breaking news that came through on Sky Sports News that the Chelsea player Joe Cole would miss the rest of the season due to a serious injury. This news would likely not have any effect on any market that was connected with Chelsea for the simple reason that Chelsea have a squad of players that are good enough and big enough to cope with the injury to just one player.

So their prices to win certain competitions or matches will not alter. However, compare this piece of News to something like Roy Keane being appointed as the new manager of Championship side Ipswich Town.

Keeping in mind that Ipswich only narrowly missed the play-offs last season then it is clear that this appointment would certainly have an effect on the price for Ipswich to either win the title or get promoted this season and this is what happened. When you consider the effect that Keane had when he arrived at Sunderland when they were bottom of the same league just two years earlier and he not only got them promoted but he also took them to the title……the effect is pretty obvious.

Once you see news like this then the only obstacle left is for the market to have enough liquidity for you to be able to make substantial profit. In the example of Roy Keane, the market for the Championship promotion and title races would be nowhere near what it was for that of say the Premier League. But it is the concept that holds true here…..news moves markets….always has and always will.

How long or how far that move will last is one that professional traders have a good feel for and experience is vital here. But following and then reacting to news is a time honoured tactic that still holds good today.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson