Cheltenham 2017

[Korattt]

morning all, the thing that slightly concerns me with being a Cheltenham Festival Trading Virgin so to speak is that it has been drummed into me by JollyGreen to 'forget scalping',

now.. this week as I gather will be nothing like what I've seen before & from what I fathom the markets will be slow moving with telephone numbers on the ladder when it comes to staking, and from what I can see with my limited trading experience 'a scalpers dream', am I barking up the wrong tree?, there will be swings but not in the 20 to 30 tick range from 3.00 down say?

[Bluesky]

I think you are probably correct about scalping being a reasonable strategy at Chelteham. Also people have told me that races at other courses can be good for swing trading while so much is going on. Personally I doubt I will be doing much trading over the next few days. Cheltenham is a good time for match bettors and although I have less bookie accounts now than this time last year, the extra match betting experience I have gained will hopefully allow me to make some decent profits once again.

[spreadbetting]

morning all, the thing that slightly concerns me with being a Cheltenham Festival Trading Virgin so to speak is that it has been drummed into me by JollyGreen to 'forget scalping',

now.. this week as I gather will be nothing like what I've seen before & from what I fathom the markets will be slow moving with telephone numbers on the ladder when it comes to staking, and from what I can see with my limited trading experience 'a scalpers dream', am I barking up the wrong tree?, there will be swings but not in the 20 to 30 tick range from 3.00 down say?

Just because there's stacks of money on either side doesn't neccessarily mean that prices will be static or stable, you still get large moves at Cheltenham and sitting at the back of a very large queue isn't the best way to scalp. So much of the time you'll be tempted to scratch and once prices move you'll either get your one tick scalp or maybe have to chase down the prices just to get out. Obviously you can scalp at Cheltenham but it's certanly not a newbie scalpers wet dream come true.

[Euler]

Works better on Betdaq

[Naffman]

I probably make 65/35 on betdaq during Cheltenham then don't even use it till the other festivals.

[SeaHorseRacing]

morning all, the thing that slightly concerns me with being a Cheltenham Festival Trading Virgin so to speak is that it has been drummed into me by JollyGreen to 'forget scalping',

now.. this week as I gather will be nothing like what I've seen before & from what I fathom the markets will be slow moving with telephone numbers on the ladder when it comes to staking, and from what I can see with my limited trading experience 'a scalpers dream', am I barking up the wrong tree?, there will be swings but not in the 20 to 30 tick range from 3.00 down say?

Just because there's stacks of money on either side doesn't neccessarily mean that prices will be static or stable, you still get large moves at Cheltenham and sitting at the back of a very large queue isn't the best way to scalp. So much of the time you'll be tempted to scratch and once prices move you'll either get your one tick scalp or maybe have to chase down the prices just to get out. Obviously you can scalp at Cheltenham but it's certanly not a newbie scalpers wet dream come true.

From last years experience. If you have relatively good knowledge of trading, Cheltenham should be a breeze. I had unresolved physiological trading issues this time last year and I only dropped one race from the whole festival.

What I can say for certainty. Lets say your trading with a £100 bank and on a normal good days trading you make £10 profit, I can guarentee you wont make £10 a day at Cheltenham. The moves never really go that far and getting money through the markets are very slow. If your scalping a runner and can only get £20/30 on each side of the book its likely your only get it through a couple of times, whereas on a normal day or Saturday you might get it through 15/20 times.
Cheltenham is all about ploughing big sums through. you can still profit but if you have a small bank your likely to only make a few quid.

The way I look it is use it as a training workshop for the future. I still dont have the bank to make big sums at Cheltenham and if it wasn't for having so many bookies accounts closed I would definitely be clearing up on match betting.

If you have a 4k bank... and your laying at odds of 5 thats only £1,000 sat in a cue on the lay side when there is 40k in front of you. You want to get favourable positions too to make it work which means you want to block up your stakes either side of the prices so just to get 1k through for a good scalping market you would need a bank of about 15k.
Last year I did it without aggressive scapling just using the back side of the book to get my bank on but it makes it much harder.

Its more about learning experience for me as I know I wont make huge profits but i have a good sized bank to hopefully make it my biggest days profits to date.

[SeaHorseRacing]

I will come out and say it too.

Ive only traded one year at Chetlenham but I think the best strategy is to scratch your positions no matter what, Even on the swinging markets you do not want to allow your position to go behind. I found there is very little noise in the markets and if you have chosen a direction for a bit of a move, if it goes a tick or two the other way it could be very likely you have got it wrong. There are exceptions but just an overall guide.


There are so many opportunities to scratch even on the swing markets. The markets all appear to have a very similar rhythm so you can get a feel when a move has stopped or will return.

They seem to be very decisive and move smoothly.

Anyway it worked for me last year.

[Euler]

They seem to be very decisive and move smoothly.

Once they move they rarely return

[Niko]

How about dobbing?? I was hoping with some of the strong favourites to get 10-20% through?

[Dallas]

How about dobbing?? I was hoping with some of the strong favourites to get 10-20% through?

Their is a bit of DOBing advice give in this 'Trading Cheltenham' video (around 16:50) though i would recommend watching the whole video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjSf-koEz-E&t=1023s

[Niko]

How about dobbing?? I was hoping with some of the strong favourites to get 10-20% through?

Their is a bit of DOBing advice give in this 'Trading Cheltenham' video (around 16:50) though i would recommend watching the whole video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjSf-koEz-E&t=1023s

Cheers Dallas, had seen that but hoped small stakes might be ok??

[Dallas]

How about dobbing?? I was hoping with some of the strong favourites to get 10-20% through?

Their is a bit of DOBing advice give in this 'Trading Cheltenham' video (around 16:50) though i would recommend watching the whole video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjSf-koEz-E&t=1023s

Cheers Dallas, had seen that but hoped small stakes might be ok??

Yes small stakes are fine they'll still be matched as the price moves in running, In pre-race if using small/medium stakes i would recommend using Betdaq for cheltenham as you'll get them filled far quicker

[SeaHorseRacing]

I think we are going to see a Superstar tomorrow. Melon. I have watched Melon over and over again. This horses stride reminds me of Frankel. For a maiden race, the horse looks the business, ears pricked and running like its been doing it for 10 years. It led round the bend on its wrong leg, jumped the last and accelerated on a different leg. The way it pings the fences is extremely impressive. My only concern is the trip and inexperience, but the fact Willie Mullins has had the horse in his yard since 2015 and Ruby hasn't mentioned about any injuries we could be in for a delight.

Keep an eye out on that being backed.

[Halliday]

I think we are going to see a Superstar tomorrow. Melon. I have watched Melon over and over again. This horses stride reminds me of Frankel. For a maiden race, the horse looks the business, ears pricked and running like its been doing it for 10 years. It led round the bend on its wrong leg, jumped the last and accelerated on a different leg. The way it pings the fences is extremely impressive. My only concern is the trip and inexperience, but the fact Willie Mullins has had the horse in his yard since 2015 and Ruby hasn't mentioned about any injuries we could be in for a delight.

Keep an eye out on that being backed.

Agreed could be a superstar in the making , but the form of his win hasn't really worked out, and he won't win if he jumped like he did at Leopardstown.Just ordinary form on provincial tracks on the flat in France.

Race has thrown up some real super stars over the years .. last three winners Altior, Douvan and the sadly departed Vautour, not to mention Brave Inca.

Let's hope Melon is another Mullins superstar in the making .

[oscar123]

I think these are the accumulator markets that Betfair are hedging into. I assume the big amounts on the lay side is their money and the price they are currently willing to hedge at. Presumable these markets stay in play and change as the day goes on.

A good way for the punter to hedge too if you are sitting on some nice ante post accas at juicy prices.