Good morning all,

It's now Friday morning and we are all still waiting for confirmation that Monday's meeting at Newcastle is definitely going ahead, with still no word from the Government as to whether they are allowing it. We can only hope.

If we do get back racing then this will be the last of my articles on my own life. I was asked about my betting in the comments, and how I go about things, so there's some detail about that in today's piece. I hope you all enjoy it.

I was asked in the comments about how I bet these days, and given we are (hopefully) getting going again next week, today seems as good a time to talk about it as any.

I think the first thing to say is that I’m not a professional gambler. In fact, the term is virtually obsolete these days – to me, a professional gambler gambles and does nothing else towards his or her income. Most good gamblers I know either have their own businesses that fund their gambling, or those that gamble but work within the industry either write, or make a few TV appearances each year. The pro-gamblers there are tend to be the in-running boys, but even they are far less in numbers than they used to be.

I’ve always considered myself much more an enthusiast that takes it seriously. To me, it matters not what your stakes are, but how seriously you are willing to put some homework in and how disciplined you can be. I’ll be the first to admit the latter point can still sometimes let me down, especially when I see somethng flashy in the paddock that turns out to be useless, but on the first, I’ll happily put in as much work in as is necessary before I go to the races. When I’m by the paddock the last thing I really need to be doing is thumbing through the paper to see if something goes on the ground or not, or whether it's well drawn.

Do I keep a record of my bets? No, but if I’m trying out something new – maybe a system I’m giving a whirl, then I will keep a spreadsheet as I “paper trade” it for three months, to see whether it is worth my while or not. As I write up notes for horses that I need to keep an eye on, I find the recording of bets alongside that too much like hard work. If I need a record then you can always download them from websites anyway. I’m happy to leave the recording side of things at that.

Staking basically depends on how much value I’m getting. I’ll happily have more on a 33s shot that I think should be 10s than I will a 7-4 shot that should be 6-4. I recently read an article by Tony Calvin, always a man to take note of, where he talked about his betting and I agree with him completely when he says it is all about spotting a price that’s wrong, knowing it’s wrong, and acting quickly on it. Instinct, gained through experience, tells you a price is wrong, and actually teaching that is very hard.

The Betfair exchange these days is a harder place to win. When it first started, there were a lot of mug punters that thought laying horses was easy, but if you knew a horse’s run style you could often make it pay. Basically as soon as something came under pressure in the run it would drift like a barge, but if you knew it found plenty you’d often be on a good priced winner come the jamstick. Sadly, those days are long gone and the money on the exchange is a lot shrewder than it used to be.

I’m enjoying the Colossus way of betting and in some ways I ought to be concentrating on it more, as jackpot bets are probably the way to go in the future. I know Matt Bisogno and the Geegeez crew have landed some good ones and he too has written a recent article on winning these pots – I agree with many of his points but to me one of the main keys is finding a race where the front two are vulnerable. And in that respect, playing when the weather forecast is changeable can often be profitable – in fact, I do think stepping in when the variables of a race change – maybe the front runner has come out late, and now the race will be run differently, or some unexpected rain has changed the ground, or a draw bias is starting to show itself as the day goes by – can often pay dividends.

I know gamblers that have relatively small stakes on but put plenty of work in, and I know some gamblers that happily have three (or, in one case, four) figure bets without knowing anything at all about the runners. If you don't put the work in, it doesn't matter what you stake, you will lose in the long run. Keep your gambling within your limits, put the work in, and you’ll find some good priced winners along the way!

Stay safe,

David.