October
SeptemberGetting Practical
Very amusing tongue-in-cheek letter from Chalky (27/8) regarding the basic ingredients to successful punting.
Chalky places his trust in luck. Well, as we all know, there is no such thing. It is purely an expression to indicate good or bad fortune that befalls all of us many times every day.
It is unpredictable, and impossible to possess.The good fortune is that statistics, being based on the past, have already allowed for any good or bad luck that has occurred in compiling those figures, and those occasions should continue to repeat themselves.
I hate to consider how much money I lost over the years before the penny dropped, only about four years ago, and I kick myself that for 25 years I had the solution in my hands, but was too “smart” to take notice and take action.
That solution was a magazine called Practical Punting Monthly, published from April 1985 until 2015. I have every copy in a cupboard, all 300 editions, but it was not until recently, after having read and ignored the advice in every edition, that I pulled them all out and re-read the lot. In particular I loved a monthly article called “Educating the Punter” written by an expert with the nom de plume “The Optimist”.
It contained some wonderful words of advice, and although I am only a small recreational punter, I decided to adopt a professional approach. Like any serious professional in any walk of life I studied and compiled notes, burning the midnight oil extracting the gems of advice to compile a process that has led to profitable punting for those four consecutive seasons.
The Optimist insisted on establishing a totally separate punting bank account, depositing profits, withdrawing losses every week, and keeping accurate, updated records of all bets and results.
He also insisted on level-stakes investment based on a small percentage of the highest point of the bank balance, and never going backwards until your bank doubles. You then withdraw the profit to enjoy, and start again.
That was only the start, and on its own will lead to nothing, but combined with other advice too long to publish here, has proved lethal for me.
What on earth was I doing for 25 years?
Did you know that a massive 70 per cent of all winners come from the first four lines in the betting market in the Saturday morning newspaper? Not just the first four favourites, but all horses on the first four lines.
That was many years ago, and the newspaper markets have now been replaced by corporate fixed odds, but the principle remains.
So why would you apply all your other processes of elimination to horses not on those first four lines? This greatly reduces workload and number of bets (another Optimist axiom — don’t over-bet).
I am getting along in years now, an octogenarian in dodgy health, and I would like younger punters, serious about winning and prepared to work hard, to benefit from my experience. Winning can be done. You just need dedication and work ethic.
There is no more Practical Punting in newsagents, but I believe they have a condensed online version. I am not good at online stuff. However, I don’t need it anymore. I am happy with that which I have learnt.
Brighton (Qld)