Welcome to this brand new and exciting venture. Exciting for me anyway! My name is Matt and I have been betting on horses for the best part of 25 years, in which time the betting world has been transformed. When I first bet you had to go into smoke filled punter unfriendly betting shops to get your fix. Bookmakers worked together to keep odds down and you also had to factor in the vagaries of betting tax. As with the majority I was a losing punter.
The internet and the introduction of betting exchanges transformed everything however. All of a sudden you could get significantly higher odds on your bets than previously imaginable. This forced the major bookmakers to be more competitive in their odds making, particularly in fighting each other over a share of the internet market where there are a plethora of offers such as best price guaranteed if SP is higher, and particularly at the major festivals at Cheltenham, Aintree and Ascot. Furthermore the modern day Racing Post offers a mine of information not previously available, and there are also invaluable handicapping publications attached to big race trends, which if used sensibly can help an ordinary punter make a profit.
The ChallengeIn the last 10 years I have made regular profits on horse race betting. One of my best friends, Anton, though is a serial doubter that anyone can make money in the long run, even though he likes the occasional small stakes dabble himself. Anyhow I have decided to take up the challenge by putting my neck on the line and proving my success by starting this blog and recording all my bets in advance, with strictly no after timing. So from 14th June and the start of Royal Ascot I will record all my bets on this blog. I have no qualms about any of you following my bets should you wish. Effectively you’ll have a free tipping service. A constant record will be kept of profits and losses and each days betting reviewed honestly, warts and all. There will be good and bad days, but in the long run I am confident of showing a good profit. A final count will take place in a years time, just before Royal Ascot 2012. If I lose I will buy Anton a case of Bordeaux, if I win he’ll probably buy me pint of John Smiths!
StakingAll bets will be recorded on a points basis on a 1 - 8 scale, with 8 being the maximum bet. My own staking works out to 1 point = £25, so my maximum bet of 20 points = £200. If you choose to follow my bets I would urge that you only bet what you can afford, decide on your maximum bet and use the scale accordingly. The table below should assist you to decide the best staking plan for you. As a guide I would expect the average bet to be in the region of 2 points.
| 1 | £2.50 | £5 | £10 | £25 | £50 | £100 |
| 2 | £5 | £10 | £20 | £50 | £100 | £200 |
| 3 | £7.50 | £15 | £30 | £75 | £150 | £300 |
| 4 | £10 | £20 | £40 | £100 | £200 | £400 |
| 5 | £12.50 | £25 | £50 | £125 | £250 | £500 |
| 6 | £15 | £30 | £60 | £150 | £300 | £600 |
| 7 | £17.50 | £35 | £70 | £175 | £350 | £700 |
| 8 | £20 | £40 | £80 | £200 | £400 | £800 |
When to betAs a rule I only bet on the bigger races, so apart from the big festivals most of my betting will centre around Saturday’s and those races that are televised on BBC and Channel 4. The bigger the race the more reliable the form, where the longer established races throw up trends which can help the knowledgeable punter in their handicapping , not open to your run of the mill mid week meeting.
Where to betTo maximise betting value it is vital to be able to shop around for value, and obtain the best odds available on your pick, and would recommend having internet accounts with the bigger more established bookies, namely Betfred, Corals, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Totesport, William Hill and of course Betfair. When I blog my bets I will state the odds taken and the bookies that are offering those odds, and this will be as up to date as possible at the time of posting. When posting my bets I will try to do so at least an hour before the first race of the day.
That's fun and informative!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. ;)