What advice would you give to new punters

Tanlic

Tanlic

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Don't do what I do is probably the best advice we could give them:lol:




My advice would be have one bet a day and never vary it no matter what.

Try and back horses around 11/10 to 2/1 that are clear by around 3 points of the second fav.

I did this a few weeks ago using a excel spread sheet with a fictitious 60 pounds bank which grew to 135.31p and had a 64.5% strike rate with 10 pound stake. That was over 21 days .

That is only an average profit of 3.59p per day but once you build up you can be having 20, 30 , even 100 pound bets on the machine with no chance of anyone banning your account

If I had the patience I would do it for real but living in Thailand and backing only one horse that might be running at midnight my time..........
That would have me chomping at the bit to have a bet in between times especially when racing like the DRF is on
 
Don't bet 'blind', ie if you're gonna start punting do a lot of reading and think seriously about what you want to achieve from your punting. Then try and work out how to achieve it.

As a teenager, I didn't spend enough time reading for background info. My old man used to say "the wee 'f' in the Daily Express is good at finding winners", and he was also a fan of Speed Plus in the Chronicle. But he also bought the Form Book three or four time per year and it was very well thumbed by the time he'd finished with it.

I recall toying with speed ratings after reading up on how Ken Hussey calculated his. It made sense then and it still makes sense to me but I always found collateral ratings worked best and time ratings were more of a useful means of backing up good performances.

I was probably married before I started compiling actual ratings. UNtil then it was a question of working out what had how many pounds in hand over something else via which third-party horse, etc.

As I've said many times over the years, I wouldn't have continued if I hadn't felt I was doing okay.

I've fine-tuned my approach over the years but am still open to new approaches (eg sectional timing) but remain extremely reluctant to have a bet on anything that I haven't studied up first.

Oh, and I still get a real buzz out of landing a longshot!
 
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All dont's from me

Don't think you've ever got it sussed
Don't chase
Don't bet after you've had a skinful
Don't bet on bank holidays
Don't back mares which fell within last 30 days
Don't listen to me
Don't bet **** (insert trainer's name here) when it looks like theirs has been backed
Don't bet in races which bookies are pushing (unless you're following one of the good judges on here)

etc etc
 
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My advice to anyone thinking of starting is DONT.

If you do, dont bet more than you can afford.
 
Advice? Get in touch with your local MP before the commons debate on affordability checks coming up soon.

Because...we are entering an era where the choice and power of individuals over their own finances could be getting taken away from them, moreover the bookies and government prying on you before you place a bet.

I wouldn't be one to usually give too much time of day to a mainly upper middle class trainer and owner elite, who I often think treat punters with disdain, but the concerns about the future of the sport many have are very real.
 
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Latch onto someone who knows the game, and bleed them for information. Leverage their experience, and treat every discussion as a school-day. Ask searching questions as to why they like a particular horse in a given race.

Unless you have an incredibly rare knack for assimilating form study, there’s a better than 50/50 chance you will have lost sufficient money sufficiently quickly, to give up entirely and move back to Fixed Odds footy.

Watch plenty of replays.

Don’t restrict your bets to short-prices between Evs and 2/1. Your strike-rate has to be too high to make the game pay sustainably, and the chances are you’ll go skint, have to move to Thailand, and eke out a living offering hand-jobs to burly German tourists.

:whistle: ;)
 
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Desert Orchid said:
I was probably married before I started compiling actual ratings. UNtil then it was a question of working out what had how many pounds in hand over something else via which third-party horse, etc.
Click to expand...

I just remembered. It was the decision to publish ORs in the results section of the Handicap Book that got me compiling ratings more methodically and working on a scale to 100 (Flat and jumps). I used to spend a lot of time going through the weekly entries working out the OR of the top wight in the handicaps so that I could then rate a result more accurately. It soon became obvious that it needed to be scaled up to 168 (NH / 126 Flat) to enable me to compare my figures to Timeform's. There's pretty much always been an average 5lb differential between us.

It wasn't long after that that ORs became very widely, a huge leap forward for form students like me and it probably more than halved the amount of time I spent studying.

In short: study, study and then study some more.
 
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For my twopennyworth I’d say enjoy the racing and treat the punting rather like the mustard that complements and enhances the taste of the steak.
 
A rookie should start with small stakes (regardless of means) and set a target bank with a time limit. The target could be anything - even a small % loss on stakes.

Up the stakes if the target is hit, and adjust the target bank in line with it.

Rinse and repeat. If you start making a profit after (say) a half-dozen cycles, you’re probably getting the hang of things.

If you do your brains in each cycle, then you’ve limited your exposure and possibly learned it’s not for you.
 
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It’s always increasing the stakes beyond my comfort zone that kills me in the end, grassy. I know it shouldn’t make a difference - but it does.
 
Stakes should never really have to increase beyond the comfort-zone, barjon. Everyone has their ceiling and everyone’s is different, I dare say. In the model above, it’s even more important for a rookie. At the very least, it teaches discipline, which is a valuable commodity in a variety of ways for a horse-player.

The occassional haymaker is obviously permitted, if backed-up with confidence.

The above is obviously personal opinion rather than dictat.
 
I like to see horses before I back them which is why I like going Pointing as it’s pretty easy to back winners there. I often have 3-4 winners each meeting but then I have often done the preview so have really read up on the form. That said I don’t bet big because I don’t have it...and anyway the bookies wouldn’t let you stick huge amounts on. A few people I know bet in the hundreds but only a few.

Last Sunday I was at one of my favourite meetings at Milborne St Andrew in Dorset. The sun was shining and there was a huge crowd. Nichols was there (his Duc du Bourbon won the last), Tim Vaughan saddled the winner of one of the maidens ridden by his son and Alice Plunkett was wandering around with her hubby. Anyway, in the Mixed Open, I strongly fancied a horse called Macklin who won three last year in the same ownership as Porlock Bay, trained and ridden by Will Biddick. It was his first time out and he was opposed by Highway Jewel who’d had a run and looked superb. So I dithered. And a long standing pointing mate said to me “don’t even think about not backing Biddick (on Macklin) as he’s a 10lb better jockey round here than anyone else (so I backed him at 6-4, HJ was evens fav). In the race Highway Jewel and Bradley Gibbs made the running and it was a proper searching gallop. I was kicking myself as I didn’t think she’d come back to them. But Biddick just popped away on Macklin and hit the turbo two out. It was pure brilliance. He joined the leader at the last and positively mocked Bradley Gibbs as he cruised last. This is a serious horse if he runs in a hunter chase!
 
Grasshopper said:
Latch onto someone who knows the game, and bleed them for information. Leverage their experience, and treat every discussion as a school-day. Ask searching questions as to why they like a particular horse in a given race.

Unless you have an incredibly rare knack for assimilating form study, there’s a better than 50/50 chance you will have lost sufficient money sufficiently quickly, to give up entirely and move back to Fixed Odds footy.

Watch plenty of replays.

Don’t restrict your bets to short-prices between Evs and 2/1. Your strike-rate has to be too high to make the game pay sustainably, and the chances are you’ll go skint, have to move to Thailand, and eke out a living offering hand-jobs to burly German tourists.

:whistle: ;)
Click to expand...

Ok smartypants lets see how it turns out over 10 days stake 20 quid a pop bank 100 pounds

Todays selection The Craftymaster 11/8 bet365
Sat Selection Storm Heart 2/1 Betfair Exchangestorm.jpg
 
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Use your eyes,they're your best tool for watching and understanding what happened in a race,and figuring why.
Pace study is vital in comprehending form,yet is glossed over or ignored by pundits who should know better & the MPH figures on many replays become a useful asset when used correctly. Sectionals can help to judge pace if used wisely, but they're subject to loads of hype,though I've yet to come across anyone turning a regualr profit from their use in our racing.
Lastly,endeavour to find an edge (though you're unlikely to find anyone discussing theirs), polish it and cherish it, it's certainly the route to better returns.
 
Agree with reet and grassie re watch as much racing as possible and try and find someone to mentor you. Failing that there are some cracking books (old now) that may help - Alan Potts, Nick Mordin, Stewart Simpson I would recommend. Try and work out where (down the line) your strengths are and specialise. Don't spend £50 a month on the RP "ultimate" membership.
 
1.Bet small
2.Try and stick to the big races
3.Always back the best jockeys but never back them E.W, they stop riding when they know they can't win
4.Back in form trainers

I can't think of any others, the OP's question was for beginners not old croakers like us who've been betting at least 30 years:D
 
Truncheon said:
1.Bet small
2.Try and stick to the big races
3.Always back the best jockeys but never back them E.W, they stop riding when they know they can't win
4.Back in form trainers

I can't think of any others, the OP's question was for beginners not old croakers like us who've been betting at least 30 years:D
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Good advice re ew betting It's not nearly as bad over jumps as it is on the flat I dicovered when playing the place market.

What makes it annoying is the stewards never do anything about it.

Buick and Luke Morris I trust but as for the rest they are all abit guilty of it
 
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