CHAPTER NINE

BETTING STRATEGY
The best staking plan in the world is useless if your horses do not win. By the same token a system which helps you to uncover a high percentage of winners will not make you money if you have no betting strategy. I must admit I have never tried sticking to a rigid staking plan, but I don’t think you need to as long as you follow a few simple rules.

1. KEEP A BOOK
There are no excuses. Keeping records of all bets is essential whether they are major bets or fun bets. If you have not got the discipline for this simple necessity then gambling probably is not for you. You may think I am being harsh here but carrying out this simple procedure will not only show you how well you are doing (or not doing whichever the case may be) it will also help to keep you focussed and in control.
I started my first book in 1995, a diary with a page for each day. Things were fine for about three weeks, then I hit a losing run and did not make another entry for three months. This pattern continued for a couple of years. At the time I did not realize how important it was to keep records and when a losing run came along I did not have the heart to persevere. At the end of 1997 I had my first complete record. During the following two months I went through it with a fine tooth comb, analysing every bet I had made. I worked out totals staked and totals returned for horses on both flat and jumps, football, rugby, golf, dogs, even the kind of bets, singles, doubles, trebles, yankees, and round robins. The most amazing statistic was that although at that time I was only betting small and thought I was doing well I had turned over £10,000 and returned £8,000. Out of a £2000 loss I had paid £750 in tax. Jump racing and the dogs cost me the most money, and the biggest losing type of bet was the yankee. No wonder the bookmakers love them. Out of 129 attempts I hit all four winners once, had three out of four just three times and only managed to get a double up 20 times with 105 losers. A further study pinpointed my biggest losing day. If I had kept out of the betting shop on Saturdays I would have made an overall profit. .
The following year I was determined that the jumps and dogs would have to go. On the few occasions when I transgressed (and when I did they usually lost) I would circle the entry in my diary in red ink and add a suitable comment. My turnover increased and my losses were reduced. I had a setback in 1999, a serious family illness curtailed my gambling activities, and I took a six month sabbatical. I was back in the harness by the start of the 2000 flat season, determined that my new found speed ratings would catapult me into profit. Although there was further improvement the year still ended with a small loss. The speed rating were proving time consuming and I was having difficulty keeping them up to date, but the encouraging thing was, that had it not been for betting tax I would have ended up in the black.
Despite being behind for most of the following year the speed figures came good on the all weather in November and December. Betting shop tax had been abolished on October 6th and at the end of the year for the first time in my life, I was showing a profit. It may only have been £697.65 but it was a milestone I thought I would never reach. Keeping a book helped me convert substantial losses into profit. Once I started to analyse each year’s results I was able to attack from two directions. While the ratings were gradually producing winners, the discipline gained from the analysis was helping to cut losses.
Not exactly Andrew Beyers ‘My $50,000 Year at the Races,’ but it does emphasize the importance of keeping records

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