PUNTING
ON RACING - WHAT ARE YOU REALLY TRYING TO ACHIEVE?
So what
are you trying to achieve? No, REALLY – what are
you trying to achieve in the world of punting on horse
racing?
Are you
trying to find a slow steady and safer way to increase
your punting bank or do you just crave the excitement
of having a huge win every now and again to hell with
the long term financial risks.
Both are
achievable. Both take differing periods of time. Both
take totally different levels of application and dedication.
To be the
“huge-winner here-we-go, to-hell-with-risks”
type of punter takes no skill whatsoever. No work. No
hours of study. No checking and re-checking past results.
Just a sense of devil may care bravado and half an idea
that you, and you alone, control all destiny and can
exercise your mental will to give you an unbeatable
edge at racing.
That because
you are wearing your lucky red socks or slacks that
nothing can go wrong. But of course it always does.
You’ll see this type of punter at the Totalisator
agency every day. They are frantically scanning the
Best Bets form guide in the minutes before they jump
trying to find that “well priced” get out
bet and race over to the computer terminal with just
seconds to spare to “get on”.
Inevitably
they then run to the TV monitor and slap their thigh
with their form guide as if that somehow urges their
selection on and then they make strange hissing sounds
at the TV. I find it very hard not to laugh out loud
at this point! Which is why I much prefer the solitude
of my HOME office and the peaceful and quiet environment
in which I can then (hopefully) make wiser judgments.
Yes, the internet is a wonderful thing.
Those judgments
are always about price/value – they are NEVER
about “which horse” because those decisions
have been made hours before any horse has even reached
the track. You never win making selection calls on the
fly.
Being slow
and steady IS boring but I can’t afford excitement.
As I have said before in different articles the formula
is very easy: e=r=l or excitement = risk = loss.
You have
to be slow and steady in your assessment methodology.
You must have a passion for figures and analysis. You
have to LOVE that aspect of it all.
When you
do something wholeheartedly, you do it well. This is
another key to success. Do what you love to do. In cases
where you are doing something which is not in your area
of interest then your chances of success become significantly
diminished unless you find out what you would love to
do.
Doing what
makes you happy will lead you towards happiness in your
life. Poring over form angles and selection criteria
is long hard work (and boring for most people) but no
work done with enthusiasm is ever lost.
I love
doing what I do. I do figures and facts really well.
There are lots of people who do it better than me and
good luck to them. In the world of gambling and percentages,
application to the task at hand is absolutely paramount.
You can’t
win without a systematic approach. You don’t necessarily
win with a systematic approach but your chances of having
modest gains are far improved by using a good solid
approach based on the analysis of gambling events gone
by conducted under similar circumstances. And a method
you have trialled FIRST over a significant number of
gambling events to give a statistical indication of
the likelihood of success.
Once you
have that model ironed out then it is up to you . You
have to hunger to achieve and that hunger should never
wane. Don’t give in to temptations, boredom or
frustrations if they come to you before you achieve
what you’ve set out to do.
That’s
not to say that you follow your system to the death
even in the face of overwhelming evidence that it’s
not going to work in the long term. You have to be able
to adapt if it is proven to YOU that you may be on slightly
the wrong track. Bury the dead horses and move on. But
make sure you’re moving on to something better
than that approach you are seeking to abandon. Test
your new idea first before jumping ship.
That approach
may still be successful if a change or two here and
there is made but you won’t know that unless you
are prepared to keep records of every bet and every
form guide and be willing to spend hours and hours revising
the approach and looking for improvements.
That’s
where you have to “love it”. That’s
where most people fail the test. That’s where
the losers who make up the pool, that the winners drink
from, originate.
Stick to
the plan. Don’t be diverted by “interest
bets”. You know the ones – oh, I’ll
just have a boxed trifecta on the next race so it gives
me an interest. Over the long haul, those random bets
will cost you a small fortune over a year and that doesn’t
seem too interesting to me.
To be successful,
at anything, not necessarily gambling, you simply have
to adopt some positive attitudes. For starters, every
morning, as my mother often says, you just have to get
up, dress up and show up. It’s still her attitude
as she approaches her 90th birthday!
Rule
1: Get up, dress up, show up. No matter how
down you feel. No matter how large the task. If you’re
not trapped in a bed, and many poor souls are, do it.
Rule
2: Battle the odds. Don’t quit the fight
half way through the fifth round and say it’s
all too hard. It’s never too hard if you love
it.
Rule
3: Know your short comings. Really know them.
Ask yourself the tough question when you’re all
alone in your thoughts: what don’t I do well?
Look at those fears straight in the eyes and work towards
changing them. Overcome them. It doesn’t matter
what it takes to do that. Do it.
Rule
4: Understand that you don’t have to
achieve all your goals today – especially long
term financial goals. Break it down in to smaller mini
goals. At times they all may seem too far away but don’t
be distracted. We all know the feeling of the first
day after you’ve signed the mortgage papers on
your HOME. It seems unbelievable that you could ever
pay off that amount of money. But as surely as the sun
comes up every day, eventually you get there.
Rule
5: (And perhaps a very important one if you
love punting) Be patient. Things may not always seem
to be on track and achievable. If you believe you are
on the right track don’t be distracted. Don’t
have the rush of blood to the head. Don’t adopt
the “oh to hell with all this time taking”
idea and go for the big bet because “seven losers
a row this has thrown up – it must be due for
a win”. It never is. It never will win. That’s
the law of the gambling gods.
Would you
have a go at building a house yourself without any floor
plans and parameters and accepted measurements clearly
defined? Of course you wouldn’t. So why are you
betting blind without a defined system or method in
mind that gives you a better edge than those that don't?
Above all
else, and this is a MUST—enjoy yourself. If racing
and punting doesn’t give you enjoyment, you are
on the wrong tram! If the selection method you use is
not a long term winning one, get one
that is. If you can't devise your own or don't have
the time and information base to devise one, buy one
- but choose carefully.
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RaceRate.com 2010 . All rights reserved. May be copied
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