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I have followed racing since I was 8 (learned to read at around 5 from Dad’s racing paper ). The people who use this forun obviously have a deep interest in the sport and I do not suppose that the members here contain too many mug punters but I have always wondered why the average betting shop punter starts with his first bet and learns how to write a bet and a few other basic essentials and then carries on for donkey’s years learning absolutely nothing more than a lot of hard knocks. After all it is only a hobby and if you take up a hobby you buy the appropriate books or equipment and start getting better at it ! It can be a very interesting and sometimes rewarding hobby but it must be hellish expensive to those who make their selections from the SUN or follow the favs, or second favs. I see them in the betting shop every day and they really do not have a clue. I speak from experience because over the years I have managed to keep a bit ahead of the game on average having managed to find many winners from 50 to 200/1. The least people should do is give themselves the ability to read form,and the knowledge how to read form,and to recognise where there is value for money.
Why does this hobby attract so many people who don’t take it seriously? I’d better shut up now or I’ll end up sounding like a commercial for gambleaware.comHi John..
I think you’ve missed one hugely important word out of your post and that’s ‘luck’.
You can know everything there is to know about racing, you can spend hours looking at a single race, but IMO if you’re luck is out then something will happen against you. Likewise, I believe if luck is on your side then things will fall into place and the way you worked the race out will happen.
Don’t buy the mug punter bit either, some people will do ok for themselves by picking out of the Sun, picking horses names, jockey’s colours etc…
I have an example of this which ties everything together I’ve just written…
A friend of mine who I went to school with about 20 years ago has been with the same lass all that time. A couple of years after leaving school they moved in together and not long after that the lass won £7,777 on a scratchcard. It kind of set them up nicely allowing them to buy just about everything they needed for the house.
The lad who I went to school with was always a keen racing fan and is and always has been a very regular punter. He would spend hours and hours studying the formbook etc, etc… and his partner would just pick 4 random horses each Saturday, probably names, colours, etc…and he would put a Lucky 15 on for her.
A few years ago one of them got all four winners on a Lucky 15 and won something like £23,000. Guess which one it was.
That’s why I firmly believe when luck is on your side you could stick the paper on the wall and throw a dart and find a winner, and when your luck is well and truly out you could spend 3 days looking at every possible thing you could possibly look at in a race and still not find the winner!
Luck and discipline all the way for me, whilst enjoying it at the same time win or lose!
Put the above 2 posts in a mixing pot and add a squeeze of lemon and you have the perfect recipe for betting on horses! Well said both of you!
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Hi Zamorston,
Anything to do with MORSTON ? I entirely agree with your comments on the luck element and you couldn’t have had much worse luck than myself in 1973 when Noble Decree was pipped ‘on the nod’ by Mon Fils in the 2000 guineas.
I had taken 100/1 on Noble Decree a few days early, and 14/1 about Mysterious in the 1000 guineas (which she won), in 2 each way singles and an each way double,so Noble Decree losing cost me at least £7500,a lot of dough to a young working guy in 1973.If that one had come off then I like to feel I would have had a crack at making a living at it. I’ve been close a few times but now I’m quite content that I have a profitable hobby.
So of course I wouldn’t disagree with you one bit but as far as possible I reduce the element of luck by having taken into account as many elements of form as possible,coupled with always looking for value for money in the odds,and sticking mainly to my beloved placepots.
Who needs to back winners when there is a very real science to picking placed horses and opposing the jollies. Anyway what I was really getting at was the fact that you can have a conversation with people who have been punters for 20 or 30 years and they think the form constitutes a 1,2,or a 3 next to the name on the racecard ! I once pointed out to someone that a nag who had won it’s last 3 races had beaten a total of 8 very poor horses in those 3 races. And if you tell them that one of the most important elements of form is ‘the going’ they look at you as though you came from another galaxy ! Anyway thanks for your input, and happy punting.I entirely agree with your comments on the luck element and you couldn’t have had much worse luck than myself in 1973 when Noble Decree was pipped ‘on the nod’ by Mon Fils in the 2000 guineas.
I had taken 100/1 on Noble Decree a few days early, and 14/1 about Mysterious in the 1000 guineas (which she won), in 2 each way singles and an each way double,so Noble Decree losing cost me at least £7500You did well oldjohn69 to get 100/1 a few days before, the price must have collapsed prior to the race. Pity exchanges weren’t around then and you could have laid it back for a healthy profit, especially with Mysterious already in the bag.
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