It’s up to you to learn how to be good punter! In general most punters lose because they lack certain qualities. Less than 2% of punters worldwide show a profit at the end of a racing season.
It’s a fair thing to say that most punters lose. I’m sure the vast majority reading this article would agree with those comments. But why? – With careful study of people, there are typical trends that follow the losing punter.
Not having a plan. If you don’t have a plan, you can do nothing. It doesn’t matter whether it is for investing on a horse or buying a new suit. If you don’t have a plan, you’ll buy a dress and if you don’t have a plan the horses you invest on will lose you money.
I have closely monitored many aspects of the racing and betting industry. The ‘online forums’ have been very informative, especially when dealing with other people’s opinions.
No system
One area of discussion I frequently have come across is the opinion that there is no system – no one can use a system and systems don’t and cannot work!
This is not true…… Whilst it is true that there are no winning systems (that is to say, a system that will win ALL the time) – One must still have a system of operation.
Yet – these same people all use a system or some version of a system to select the horses on which they bet. They study the form, they study the ratings, attempt to do their own handicapping or whatever, all deny they use a system, but do it every day. You have to have some kind of system or plan.
If I were to hang the daily form-guide on a door and throw darts at it to select my horses, then I am using a system. – every day I will throw darts at the form guide, select my runners, and go bet on them…this is a system.
Not a good system, but still ‘a system’. I am following a daily a plan.
You must have a plan, if you don’t have a plan, then you will get no-where with horse racing. Even by throwing darts, you can get lucky! – But we are not discussing being lucky. We are professionals and it is our aim to learn how to invest on horses and make a profit annually.
Believing publications that “tell you how to win every time”
There are numerous publications available showing you “how to win at the races every day” and how easy it is to do it….blah blah blah… you know the ones I am referring too. But, just think for a moment, it is not as easy as often made out – however it can be easy when you understand the right way to do it.
Firstly consider who has put out this wonderful NEW publication which has been designed to make you fortunes…every day, every week…and all so easy too… who has written this information?
Often these plans have been written by someone who knew nothing about horse racing, even ten minutes ago! and yet they are giving you instruction. Again, often by someone who has just left school, Internet savvy and have had a few successes on ‘The Betting Exchanges’ – and writes a book about it. One really has to give this some thought.
Secondly, these so-called wonder systems half of them have only been tested as long as it took to write the book!
By all means check out the good publications… but avoid the others.
Another aspect on this subject to consider is, most if not all of these publications show only one side, the successful side. Not one that I have read deals with horses that LOSE and not one deals with losing runs! – These are cardinal points to know and understand. When betting on horses, you are ALWAYS going to back some losers and ALWAYS going to have losing runs.
You must know how to counteract this and still make that profit. Not one of these publications discuss this side of racing.
Punting can be easy – and it should be too… my axiom has been – KISS – ‘Keep It Simple Sweet’ – You’ll often find systems so complicated it’s mind boggling… sometimes purposely written in this manner to make you believe they really have the ‘answer’…Don’t be fooled by such rubbish.
We are taking a look now at why most punters lose. The first thing to learn are the attributes of a professional, you need the following characteristics:
Not having patience
Most punters lose and one reason for this loss of money is not having any, or enough patience, backing almost every race at every track everyday with no hope at all of ever coming away with a profit, not even a small profit.
To be successful when punting, you require patience and the will power not to do the above. – When there is no bet available, DON’T BET – Don’t manufacture a bet just for the sake of it.
Professionals carefully choose the animal they are going to back, according to the PLAN they follow. In most cases perhaps just one bet in a day, perhaps two, possibly just one bet a week. – They make no further bets and go home – WITH A PROFIT.
Being Inconsistent with the method of selection, or the method of staking, or both. One cannot select a runner or bet in this manner. Find your plan of selection. Find your plan of staking and then stick to it. Do not swap and change all of the time.
Being greedy
Many punters are of the mind to win a fortune in a day. It can’t be done. Some punters will have a few lucky breaks, get a couple of hot winners and for the sake of greed put the money on a another horse, usually one they might not have chosen… you know the story, of course it lost. They had a profit but by stupidity gave it all away.
Discipline is necessary
Discipline is a combination of all the above attributes of a professional punter. A plan is essential – A staking strategy and knowledge of how to select the horse you are going to invest your money on. – don’t be greedy. – Professionals know they cannot win a fortune in a day. YOU must be disciplined enough to religiously stick to these attributes, there are NO short cuts – you have to do it.
You Need: Patience – A Selection Method – A Staking Plan – Consistency – Discipline – Will Power and don’t get greedy!
The 5 habits of habitual losing punters and how you’ll profit by doing the opposite
If you want a short and fast rule for succeeding in punting on horses as an investment, it is this: find out what the majority of people do and then do the exact opposite! As I may have mentioned previously, the majority of punters are simply there to kick money onto the pot for the professionals to take home at the end of each race day.
I’m going to outline the major characteristics of long term losing punters. Take careful note and do the opposite:
1. They don’t have a plan
There is a well known saying: “fail to plan and you plan to fail”. A punter without a plan is like a ship without a rudder. In racing a good plan means identifying the amount of money you would like to make over a pre-determined period of time and then breaking that goal down into monthly or weekly targets. Without a plan you have no way of measuring your success and lay yourself open to a loss of betting discipline and the likely losses that that will bring.
2. They don’t have enough patience
Losing punters are looking to make a killing in one day. This can happen every now and again but it won’t happen consistently. Adopting this approach using whatever spurious criteria – lucky numbers, betting only on horses with astronomical dividends – is a guaranteed way to empty your pockets. Disciplined investors look for smaller daily returns which they compound (by gradually increasing the size of their betting bank) over a number of months and then years.
3. They aren’t consistent
Losing runs are part of every profitable betting system. Successful betting investors will work through these because they know a winning run will be just around the corner. A losing punter however may abandon a profitable system after a few losing days, robbing himself of an income stream that could go well into the future. This point is closely related to point 1: work the plan and be secure in the knowledge that losing runs will be part of that plan. Consistent and constant action is the hallmark of long term profitability.
4. They are too greedy
Have positive expectations of high returns but don’t confuse this with getting greedy. There are two common scenarios for the losing punter: he will be having a successful day but then abandons his plan to go for the big score which can often erode or completely eliminate his gains made earlier in the day OR he’s having a losing day and tries to recoup his losses on the same day. This “throwing good money after bad” is the single worst trait of a losing punter. As a professional investor you need to stay away from it at all costs.
5. They are ill disciplined
Having a plan, patience, being consistent and keeping your greed in check all amount to nothing unless you adhere to each of these facets strictly. The professional investment better will stick strictly to is rules and not stray from them. The law is simple: if it works, do not change it! The temptation will come to have a flutter on a horse with positive media coverage or surrounded by favorable rumors and betting a few dollars on such horses is OK but don’t lose sight of your main objective: making consistent profits using the rules outlined in your betting plan.
That’s all of them. Irrespective of which betting plan you end up adopting, make sure you avoid the pitfalls outlined above. As a final word, grant a small blessing to the habitual losing punters: the more there is of them, the easier it is for the rest of us to make more money!