Post on 02-Dec-2014
Lesson 1 Getting Started
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate at the time of writing to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this
information is used, or the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more
money than they can comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
Introduction
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I am absolutely delighted to welcome you to one of the most powerful home study
courses you could possibly subscribe to.
You have overcome the most difficult obstacle of all and demonstrated to me that
instead of sitting on your backside and waiting for your financial situation to improve
you are actually prepared to go out and do something about it. Furthermore, you
are prepared to invest a little money (the cost of this course) into your financial future.
There is no return without investment.
Now for the really good news - this information given in this course has been
successful for five consecutive years!
And more importantly, it works so that you don’t have to.
What a refreshing change! Something which actually works instead of the usual old
rubbish which passes for a ‘business opportunity’ these days. Believe me, I’ve seen
them all!
During this course I will spend most of my time ensuring that you do the absolute
minimum amount of work. If you spend more then one hour per week on this
fantastic money making opportunity, then you are doing something seriously wrong.
For this reason, the lessons are fairly short and simple - I could easily have padded
each lesson out to fifty pages of waffle so that you would think it was ‘better value’.
The value is in the information I will give you - a way of making up to £12,000.00
a year tax-free.
Doesn’t that make you feel good after all those other ‘get rich quick’ schemes that
either have you working every spare hour in the day, or require you to spend so much
money up front that you don’t have a hope in hell of ever making a profit. Been there?
Done that? So have I! From now on, I take on the responsibility for your training and
you’ll be pleased to know that I will be doing most of the work - not you.
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My Promise To You
After 12 lessons you’ll know everything you need to generate a healthy tax free
income of up to £12,000 a year.
There are no nasty surprises and no overheads. You will never pay me one penny
piece more than the cost of this course. In my opinion, this is the easiest way of
generating a substantial tax free income that I have ever come across.
Do I Have to Wait for all 12 Lessons?
No, you won’t have to wait until you finish the course before the cash starts rolling in.
I will get you into a profit-making situation as soon as I possibly can.
Although this business opportunity is all about betting on horses, I will ensure that
you are always in control of your finances and that the risks are kept to an absolute
minimum at all times. I expect you have all sorts of conditioning about gambling
being ‘bad’, ‘addictive’ and ‘a way to lose everything you own’. Forget all that.
Doubtless there are a few idiots who just can’t stop gambling (or eating, or drinking,
or drug-taking, etc.) but you’re not like that. You are going to need discipline to
follow my system so I hope this is a quality you possess. No doubt, in the first few
months you will be apprehensive, you will be cautious and you will also be desperate
to see some healthy profit as soon as possible.
This is normal!
All I can ask you to do at this stage is sit back, relax, and over the next 12 issues I will
reveal all. Up until now, you haven’t been making £12,000 a year for one hour a week
- I can guarantee that! So be patient.
It’s going to take a little time to get your brain in gear, and the last thing I want you to
do is to rush off and start placing bets all over the place. That would be a disaster!
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But one thing is for sure, from now on, the odds are stacked in your
favour. So let’s start...
“WHAT SORT OF PERSON DO YOU NEED TO BE TO MAKE MONEY
FROM HORSE RACING?”
That’s a rather strange question isn’t it? Surely anyone can make money from horse
racing if they know which horse is going to win the race. You’ve either backed the
winner or you haven’t.
Well you’d certainly think so.
But after five years of successful (no, make that very successful) betting, I can assure
you that amazingly this isn’t the case.
Can we get a few things straight from the start?
The highly effective techniques that I use to generate my profits are not suitable for
people who are interested in horse racing. This course is for people interested in
making money not people interested in horses. In fact the less you know about
horse racing at the moment, the better. Any previous knowledge that you have will
only get in the way of making serious money. The very last people who will make
money from this course are those who bet regularly, visit bookies, study form and
subscribe to tip-sheets. Such people are too corrupt to be saved! By that I mean they
will almost certainly think they ‘know it all’ and will be totally unable to resist the
temptation to modify my method using their ‘superior knowledge’ or (worse)
‘instinct’. Ugh. Spare me from people's instincts!
How I Started
Five years ago, I knew as much about horse racing as Lester Piggot does about
Nuclear Physics.
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In fact, thinking back, I saw gambling as a mug’s game, whether it was the horses, the
lottery, roulette or one-armed bandits. I lumped them all together as ‘evil’ (wrong). I
‘knew’ that anyone who trusted their financial fortunes to the spin of a wheel, six ping
pong balls, or a four legged animal at Epsom needed a good, firm talking to.
Not only that, but the very thought of going into a betting shop was enough to make
me want to throw up. For a start, I’m not a smoker and my recollection of the local
bookies was a cramped dingy room, a six foot cloud base, and a membership criteria
so low that I thought Crippin, Hitler and the ‘thing from the swamp’ would probably
be sitting next to me.
After five years of profitable betting, I know differently.
For a start I don’t even need to go into a betting shop if I don’t want to. I can do the
whole thing over the phone in a couple of minutes. In reality I do occasionally go
into my local bookies, but that’s because I’m interested in watching a particular race.
The point is I don’t need to, and neither do you. It’s also fair to say that more and
more of the old style bookies are being replaced by modern, spacious, air conditioned
betting shops, many with free coffee facilities and a relaxing atmosphere, far more in
keeping with what people expect these days. They are really quite decent places
nowadays!
But that’s not the point.
Games Of Chance
Although there is a certain amount of ‘luck’ involved in horse race gambling, it is not
in the same league as fruit machines, roulette or the National Lottery - these are
games of pure chance, and nothing you do will alter your chances of winning by a
millionth of a percent. Only a complete fool would play such games to try and make
money (I’m not talking about a bit of fun once a week, that’s okay).
To try and get you to understand what it’s all about, let me say this. Imagine you were
betting on the throw of a perfect dice. Such a dice has exactly the same chance of
coming up 1,2,3,4,5 or 6, and so it would be absolutely pointless betting. Over the
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long run, you could only break-even at best. If the ‘house’ takes a little cut (like in
roulette) then you will lose long-term. This is GUARANTEED.
But supposing the dice was weighted very slightly in favour of six. What number
would you bet on? Well you’d be a fool to bet on anything other than six, time and
time and time again. You would never change your bet. Not once. Ever. Six, six, six,
six, six like a broken record - that’s the bet you’d make. Why? Because long term you
would come out with a profit. That slight weighting means that long-term the dice
will land on six more often than on any number.
Get the idea?
Now the important point is this - there is no guarantee that on any particular throw,
the number six will come up. We are not predicting that six (a certain horse) will
‘win’ this throw (race), but the system of betting on six will win long-term. In my
system, you take bets at certain odds and wagering a certain amount of money. This
has exactly the same effect as slightly weighting the dice. It tips the odds in your
favour so that you win long-term.
Supposing you were playing with our weighted dice (in favour of six) and you had a
‘losing run’ like this: 2, 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 3, 3, 5, 3, 4, 1, 3, 3. No sixes there, right? Would
you switch your bet to (say) three? Three’s been looking pretty good during the last
few throws, right? Perhaps it’s a HOT number?
The answer is that a fool or a mug punter would switch their bet on such a spurious
whim. Such a change is typical of the ‘serious’ gambler. But those who just want to
make money - the type of person at whom this course is aimed - would stick to six
through thick and thin.
That’s the best analogy I can give you for the present, and I hope it made sense. I will
return to this subject in more detail later on, because it is essential that you grasp this
important point.
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I’m going to ask something rather unusual. Since you’ve taken the most difficult
step of all - and that’s enrolling onto this course - I want you to try something quite
remarkable. I want you to trust me.
“What, trust a complete stranger,” I hear you say. “Why on earth should I?”
Well, unlike the majority of “let’s make some easy money” schemes that you’ve
heard about, this one works.
If you didn’t quite get that the first time, I’m going to repeat it for those at the back
who aren’t listening.
This system works, and has been working for years.
So why do I ask you to trust me?
Well there’s only one thing that will determine whether you make good money from
my method. And no, remarkably it’s not ‘you’ - not directly, anyway.
You don’t have to be numero uno. You don’t have to be super salesman of the year.
You don’t have to go to conventions and get hyped up like some drug-crazed zealot.
You just have to follow the system that I’m going to explain, in step-by-step detail
during these twelve issues.
Sounds easy, right? Well it is easy for those who can follow simple instructions,
BUT...incredible as it may seem, you are only likely to fail when you start to distort
the system and add your own personality. In our dice story, this is like switching
from six to three because you think: “Aw, that system isn’t working at the moment. I
just know that three is ‘HOT’ - I’m gonna switch to three for a while. I can always
come back to the system later...”
Wrong!!!
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So what I’m asking is for you to just trust me - do as I say - follow the system exactly
- and you can’t go wrong.
For most of you this shouldn’t cause a problem. After all you are paying me good
money to show you how to make healthy profits - and I will. But if any of you
think you know better, I can guarantee you’d be better off not continuing. “When you
can walk on rice paper Grass Hopper, and leave no mark - you will have learned.”
In other words, as long as you study with me then I’m the master and you’re the
student - when you’ve made your first £12,000 then we’ll chat about how you want to
do things and change the system (that’s the day you’ll start losing).
What are the Rewards?
Before you even joined this course I was very up-front about the opportunity itself
and how much money you would, and would not, make, and how much money you
would need to get started. I think you’ll agree that the ‘sales letter’ was quite open and
didn’t promise millions of pounds falling from the sky?
I did this on purpose.
Although there are people who make a fortune from horse racing, they are few and
far between. What I do know is that if you want an extra £12k a year, this will not
present any serious difficulties. More than this? Forget it. I just can’t find a way to
make it work.
Now I know that most of you, even the really keen ones, even the ones who say they
will follow me to hell and back, even those, won’t do exactly as I say. Why?
Because they know best - or they think they do. After all, who will ever know if you
cheat a little? And the first little cheat is that you won’t bet as much on the first
race as I tell you to. You’ll bet a little bit less in case it loses. And if it does lose,
you will feel oh so pleased that you knew best. But that was luck - how could you
possibly have known that it would lose. You couldn’t - so don’t try and pretend.
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As in life, so in racing, little cheats progress to BIG cheats. Soon you will be betting
on horses other than those recommended. Some may even win! Won’t you feel smug
then? However I have to tell you that if you do any of these things, even once, then
you will have destroyed the system. At that point you should put this course aside
and just head off on your own to join the teeming millions of mug-punters who think
they know best.
If you follow the system to the letter and don’t try to get ‘cute’, then after a while
you’ll soon get the idea - you’ll stick to the system and £12,000 a year will be the sort
of figure I would expect you to be receiving. And don’t forget that’s £12,000 tax-free
of course for less than one hour 'work' each week.
Some years you will get less and some years you will get more - and I base that on
past performance after many years of following the exact same system I am going to
give you in these releases.
So why can’t you make much more than that? If £12K, then why not £24K or £48K?
Surely it’s just a question of doing the same - only more? Why would I even be
bothering to share this with you if I could make those sort of returns so easily? I can’t.
Why?
Well the simple answer is that the bookies won’t let you. You see despite the fact
that companies like William Hill and Ladbrokes are huge multi-million pound
companies, the idea that your profit of £250 per week will go unnoticed couln’t be
further from the truth. They DON’T LIKE WINNERS. They make their millions from
the teeming mass of no-hoper mug-punters who bet on whims, hunches, astrology or
just randomly.
Want to know how to get thrown out of a casino (after perhaps being taken into a
back room for a good kicking)? Keep winning at the tables. You’ll soon be noticed.
Believe it.
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You’ll need every trick I can teach you to ensure that your profit keeps rolling in.
You see it’s not the amount of money that you win, it’s the fact that you keep
winning that puts them off.
They know that as your confidence grows the chances are the size of your bets will
grow - and that’s a risk they would rather not take.
What are the Risks?
Surely gambling of any sort is the best way to lose everything you’ve ever worked
for? Yes, I believe for the average Joe, this is true - my job is to make sure that you do
not look or think like an average Joe (or Josephine!).
This is the most difficult task I have ahead of me. I have to make sure that you are
completely prepared, mentally, before you go anywhere near your first bet.
Let me tell you how the average punter bets on a horse - maybe that way you’ll at
least get some idea of what I don’t want you to do. (This is how the bookies make
their money by the way).
Joe Punter decides he’ll have a flutter in the 2.30 at Newbury. Whilst in town he pops
into the local bookies. He’s a bit early for the race that he’s interested in but what the
heck - it’s a social thing, right? and his mate is very excited about a ‘dead cert’ in the
2.20 at Kelso. In fact he’s so excited that Joe decides he’ll try his luck as well.
Nothing too much, so he sticks a fiver on a horse called ‘Not a Chance’.
Unfortunately ‘Not a Chance’ lives up to its name and despite the excitement and
bonhomie Joe soon finds himself a fiver down.
Still, no need to get upset. The race that Joe is really interested in is now on the
screen and Joe's horse is looking good - very good in fact. Joe lays his bet - £30 to
win. The odds aren’t as good as he hoped, but that’s because everyone else has
decided that this is a sure thing. In fact Joe's horse is attracting a lot of attention. Joe
decides to put another £5 on in an attempt to get back the fiver he lost earlier.
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Ten minutes later, Joe is not a happy punter - £35 down on one race, beaten by
another horse. Meanwhile the prices for the 2.50 at Windsor are now showing.
“Kelly’s Boy” looks good. At odds of 4-1, he could win all his money back and
live to fight another day. Hmm.. here’s a chance to redeem himself and be the hero.
Joe checks his wallet, only ten quid left. That was some of the rent but... nothing
ventured...
You get the idea?
This sordid little scene will be played out a million times a day up and down the
country - in fact, all over the world. The most amazing thing of all is that Joe thinks
he knows enough about horse racing to beat the likes of William Hill and
Ladbrokes at their own game.
Give me a break!
You see betting for most people is an emotional thing. Just watch their faces when
they win - and more obviously when they lose. And this is why people lose money.
They let their emotions get the better of them.
From now on you must see racing as something other than an emotional
experience.
If it’s excitement you want that’s a different matter. So let us agree from the outset
that this is a money making venture not a course on thrill-seeking. Once I have you
using your head and not your heart, I know I’m half way towards giving you a
serious second income.
By the time you have completed this course you should be entirely emotion-free when
you place your bets. Incredible as it sounds, you won’t care whether you win or
lose on an individual race. You only care that month on month the profits keep
rolling in.
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Why am I Sharing This Opportunity With You?
Whenever this question comes up there’s always some multi-millionaire telling you
that he’s made his pile and now this is his way of saying “thank you” for all the riches
that have come his way. Excuse me, while I reach for the bucket!
I have no intention of saying any such thing because it simply isn’t true. I’m not
trying to turn you into a millionaire overnight, but what I have got is a fantastic
way of generating an income of up to £12,000 a year tax free.
The reason I’m sharing it with you is that I can make more money by telling other
people how to do it than I can by betting on my own.
Despite what you may think, bookmakers don’t like people winning and will close
down a successful account faster than you can say “steward's enquiry” (please note
there is no limit to how much money they will let a punter lose!).
I had my first account closed after winning less than £3,000 in one two month
period. Can you believe that - a lousy £3,000?
Five years of seriously profitable betting has taught me a lot - not least how to stop
accounts from being closed down. In the early years, I made every mistake going and
my job is to make sure that you learn from my experience. I don’t want you to
make any mistakes. Some very simple techniques will make sure your profits are as
high as possible. In fact, I know many other people who use virtually identical
systems to me and still don’t achieve the same profits that I do.
You may see this as just a way of making enough money for an exotic holiday each
year, or you may be interested in a serious second income, either way, I can guarantee
to teach you everything you need to know about one of the most profitable and
entertaining money making ventures I have ever seen.
I wrote this course to make money!
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I sincerely hope that pleases you instead of alarming you! I am not sharing my secrets
out of altruism to help my fellow man. I have not made a million and just want to
“give a little back”. That’s garbage! I produced this course with the sole intention of
making a very great deal of money indeed. The course costs £240 and I intend to sell
one thousand of them. You can work that out for yourself. Certainly it’s more money
than I’ll ever see out of racing.
Remember that it is tough (I would say impossible) to make more than about £12K a
year from my system. I would have to wait twenty years to make the kind of money I
can make in a year of selling this course. That is my motive.
Is the course ‘worth’ the money? In paper and ink plus a ring-binder, absolutely not! I
make a HUGE profit on every lesson sold. But in terms of the value of information, it
is so cheap I am almost giving it away. £240 for a sure-fire way of making £12K a
year? Come on, that’s good by anybody’s standards! It isn’t the number of pages
which makes this course ‘worth’ the money. If I write down next week’s lottery
numbers on a sheet of paper and asked £100,000.00 for it, I assume you wouldn’t turn
the paper over in your hands and claim to be able to buy the same sized piece for
about 2p in Smiths! You always have to pay for good information. The price I want
is £239.40 (twelve lessons at about £19.97 each) - and that’s non-negotiable!
I could have written up the entire method on one largish manual and sold it for £200. I
didn’t do this for several reasons:
1. People don’t read large manuals which thump onto the mat after being persuaded
through the letterbox. It’s a fact. People don’t read much nowadays, and two hundred
page manuals are used for doorstops - no matter WHAT they contain.
2. Despite what I said above, people just cannot accept that £240 is a fair price for
‘just a book’. They are used to paying £4.99 for a book, not £240. Remember it is the
value of the information you are buying, not the number of pages and a pretty cover.
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3. Some people may decide after a few lessons that this is not for them. Doing it as a
monthly series allows them to cut their losses early, instead of paying £200 up front.
4. People won’t buy a £240 manual as a result of a sales letter. They are too distrustful
and don’t realise the value of what they might receive. They will risk £20 though, to
take a look. This is probably what you have done. This is why the course is like it is!
Where’s The Proof?
Okay, you’ve stuck with me this far. Now is the time to give you an insight into a
typical betting account.
Later on in the course, I will be giving you phone numbers and addresses of
independent organisations that will certify that these results are true and accurate.
These organisations have no links with myself or this publication and operate
completely independently. Okay, let’s look at some figures. If you had subscribed to
this course in 1997 your account could have looked like this:
13.06.97 £100 E/W Dancing
Feather
SP LOST -£200
14.06.97 £100 E/W Refined 5-2 LOST -£200
17.06.97 £100 E/W Carawan 5-2 WON +£300
23.06.97 £200 Sea Deer 5-4 WON +£250
28.06.97 £100 E/W Moontabeh 9-4 3RD -£55
04.07.97 £100 E/W Prix Star 9-4 WON +£270
05.07.97 £100 E/W Pilsudski 11-2 WON +£660
09.07.97 £100 E/W Deterrent 4-1 2ND -£20
11.07.97 £100 E/W Bolin Joanne 4-1 2ND -£20
12.07.97 £100 E/W Ultimate
Smoothie
5-1 LOST -£200
17.07.97 £100 E/W Welsh Mill 2-1 3RD -£60
18.07.97 £200 Butrino 4-1 LOST -£200
21.07.97 £200 Kalimat 6-4 2ND -£200
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26.07.97 £100 E/W Predapio 12-1 LOST -£200
28.07.97 £100 E/W Understudy 8-1 2ND +£60
30.07.97 £140 to win
£60 place
Ali Royal 8-1 WON +£1,216
04.08.97 £200 Selkirk Rose 5-4 WON +£250
08.08.97 £100 E/W Lonely Heart 3-1 LOST -£200
Don’t worry if you are not familiar with some of the terms in the above table.
Everything will be explained at a later date. For the moment though, E/W means
‘Each Way’ and SP means Starting Price.
As you can see, this (typical) 7 week period gave me a profit of £1,451.00.
Now I use the word ‘typical’ very advisedly. I would be happy to show you my
betting account for any three month period and you would see that whichever period
you picked, you would always observe the following 3 things:
I always have losers
I always have winners
I always make a profit over the long term
Now please remember that after many years of betting, I could prove anything I
wanted to with the figures I have to hand.
For example, I could show the times I’ve had seven successive bets and won on every
single horse.
Or I could show you seven successive bets where I LOST on every single horse.
Or I could pick the horses where my returns have been upwards of £1000 winnings on
one bet of less than £100.
None of this would prove a thing because you can prove anything you like with the
statistics (ask a politician if you don’t believe me!).
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What I want to illustrate is that over the long term (usually three months is long
enough) I see continuous healthy profits pouring into my accounts. Picking an
untypical week proves nothing.
Okay, this is a home-study course and so it’s time for you to do a little work.... Here’s
your first test. Please refer to the table on page fifteen and answer the following two
questions.
Let’s imagine that you had taken my advice and started betting on 13.06.97. If you
had bet £200 on 13.06.97 and another £200 on 14.06.97 you would have lost £400 (in
fact because of the small betting tax you pay, you would have lost £418 but I will
explain that later).
Q1. On 17.06.97 would you have had the confidence to bet another £200? Or
would you have thought “this course is total rubbish - I’m giving up and I’m
going to write a stiff letter of complaint!”?
But now imagine that you were a little late in getting your account started and you
didn’t place your first bet until 04.07.97. Lucky you - your first bet was a winner. So
was your next bet. You would have been £930 in profit after only two bets!
Q2. On 09.07.97 would you have had the restraint to bet only £200 as
instructed? Or would you have put more money on the horse (against my
instructions) to try and ‘clean up’? Would you have perhaps thought this horse-
racing lark was easy money, and started placing bets on horses in addition to the
ones selected for you?
And if you had started on 30.07.97, how would you have felt after having placed
only one bet and seen your account soar to over £1200 profit?
Do you see what I am trying to teach you here? I have absolutely no control over
what day you join - the only thing I can say is that over the longer period you will
have a net gain, despite some losses along the way.
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So what I need from you is 100% consistent betting - every time. By consistent, I
mean you just follow instructions. You bet on the horse you are told to bet on, and at
the odds you are instructed to take. You also bet the exact amount instructed - not
more, or less.
As I said earlier, any figures that I use as part of this training course will all be
validated by totally independent organisations which have been set up to monitor
all horse racing tipsters. You do not have to take my word for it.
Not only will these figures show how much money can be made from horse racing,
they will show that people like me have been doing this for years.
What’s so Special About This Course?
When I first sat down to write this course, my main concern was to get you started as
soon as possible. I wanted you to see some profits in order to convince you that
this really does work. Of course it soon became apparent that if I let you loose on
day one, it would be chaos. For this reason, I need to cover some of the basics before
you start to hand any money over to the bookies. You also need time to get your
betting accounts established in anticipation of the big day - your first bet.
Next month you will be opening no less than three betting accounts and I will be
teaching you how to set these up to get the maximum life out of them. Remember, all
profitable accounts will be under threat of closure from the very beginning so it’s
important to structure them correctly from day one.
I will also start your basic training on the techniques of betting that will make you
successful. This basic training will give you sufficient knowledge and confidence to
place your first bet.
What makes this course special is that it is ‘formula success’. I don’t need or want
your creative input or interpretation of my instructions - I just want you to copy what I
do and enjoy the same sort of profits that I enjoy. Do you think you will have the
discipline to do this?
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Hopefully you will know very little about betting. This will make my job a lot easier,
I won’t have to try and undo all the bad habits that ‘an expert’ (ha ha!) may have
developed over the years. If you have been betting for a while then you will have the
advantage of understanding a lot of the race course jargon, but be prepared for some
pleasant surprises and a few shocks along the way. You must be prepared to abandon
your old habits though. Let’s be honest, if you were already successful you wouldn’t
need me or this course.
Finally, I am often asked if people can have the whole twelve lessons in one go. The
answer used to be no. I want you to learn in a systematic and controlled fashion. It is
easy to lose money at this game if you do not carefully follow my instructions. With
my guidance you will have the very best chance of winning. But so many people have
asked for this option that I have relented. If you really want the entire course in one
go, you may now do so. Taking the lessons monthly is still the best way though. I
want you to read and profit from this information, not just own the course and
do nothing with it.
See you next month.
Lesson 2 The Novices’ Enclosure
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate at the time of writing to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more
money than they can comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
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Introduction
Last month I described this course as "one of the most powerful home study courses
you could possibly subscribe to.”
I base this comment on the simple fact that by following my guidelines you can earn
up to £12,000 per annum and you shouldn't expect to spend more than one hour a
week doing it.
I don't know about you but I haven't met many people in my life who couln't use an
extra £12k a year!
In lesson one I spent a lot of valuable time trying to convince you of the merits of
following a proven system and to avoid tinkering with it or trying to do it your own
way. "The system works so you don't have to" would be the perfect motto for this
course.
This month we are going to lay down the foundations for your new business venture,
firstly by setting up a new bank account for your betting activities, and then three
betting accounts with the leading bookmakers in the country.
Betting by phone means that you can place bets quickly and without fuss. Those of
you with regular 9-5 jobs (which includes most people) will find this a real bonus. I
will of course be discussing the pros and cons of using your local High Street bookie.
I will never forget the day I used my local Ladbrokes whilst betting with a friend -
we literally cleaned them out. We were politely asked if we could return the
following day for the remainder of our winnings as we had emptied their tills. What
a buzz! Okay, it's not exactly a major city centre bookie, (and it's only happened three
times in five years of betting), but it was a day to remember. Moments like this make
it more than just a way of generating money.
The word ‘revenge’ springs to mind!
Don't forget what I said last month though. It's not supposed to be your heart that
does the racing - leave that for the horses.
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Okay, down to business.
When I was twenty-five years old I met a man at a party who, I had been told earlier
by the host, was a multimillionaire. Since I was worth about £1.29 at this time I
decided to make use of this fleeting opportunity to improve my lot. I figured if I had
time for only one question I would make it a good one - maybe I could learn
something here. So I asked this guy what I could do to make my first million pounds.
He asked me how old I was and what I was worth. When I told him, he said without
hesitation "change the way you think!" Of course that meant bugger-all to me. I
thought he was being ‘clever’ and I wandered off in search of another lager and a
date for the night.
Older and wiser I now know exactly what he meant. In this course I want to change
your whole attitude to being successful. Only you can stop this course from giving
you £12,000 a year. Now read that last sentence again - no I'm not joking! Are you
with me or are you going to do it your way - the way you've always done it?
I told you last month that I wanted you to simply follow in my footsteps and you
couldn't go wrong - and I meant exactly that. Right, enough of the pep talk - if you're
ready let's get down to laying some basic foundations for your new business.
Preparing For Business
In this section we are going to discuss opening up your betting accounts and a new
bank account. These accounts are going to provide you with an extremely healthy
income over the next few years and it's imperative that they are set up and used
correctly. This is very important!
The reason you have to be careful in the way they are set up is because there are a
finite number of such betting accounts available to you - they are a scarce resource,
non-renewable. As I warned you last month, successful accounts are in danger of
being closed down much earlier than you would like.
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In the UK, there are a large number of bookmakers. Some of them are large chains
whose names may be familiar whilst other are smaller independent companies of
variable size (and quality).
By far the biggest and most well known of the bookmakers are:
LADBROKES about 2,000 shops WILLIAM HILL about 1,500 shops CORAL about 900 shops TOTE about 200 shops
They not only have betting shops in just about every town and village across the
country but they are also the most efficient and well organised.
The quality of the betting shops themselves has improved considerably over the last
few years and most of them are now undergoing major refurbishment to ensure that
they remain attractive in an increasingly competitive market place.
Now the bad news. Whilst most bookies have spent a great deal of time and money
on improving the appearance and facilities within their shops, these improvements
have been completely lost on the average Joe Punter. By contrast, he hasn't changed
his image much at all over recent years and I'm afraid that you will still be
disappointed that betting shops are inclined to be far more messy and smoky than
they ever need to be.
Now, if you think about it, it's hardly likely that this situation is going to change
much over the next few years (if ever). Remember, the average Joe Punter is losing
money not making money like you and I, so what do you expect?
I think you are already aware that any serious punter (or you could say any successful
punter), will be placing his bets on an account, i.e. over the telephone - not in a shop.
This is certainly how you will be making your money, but there are going to be times
when the local bookies will prove very useful and I will be teaching you exactly how
to exploit this opportunity later on.
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Now the first rule of any business venture is to keep all of your business dealing and
transactions completely separate from your personal accounts. To do this you must
have a separate bank account just for your betting activities.
So how do betting accounts work? How is your bet placed and how does the money
change hands?
There are many types of accounts, but by far the most popular is the 'switch' account
whereby money is transferred to and from your nominated bank account in exactly
the same way as when you pay by switch card at your local Sainsbury's.
If you have an old bank account that is doing very little then you can use this. But if
you don't, then open up a new bank account (with a switch facility) this week - this
can be at the same branch as your normal account if you want, but almost any bank
account will do, provided that it allows you to operate a switch facility.
I personally like the telephone type accounts like First Direct since I don't really
need to go into a branch and I can draw my profits from a variety of High Street
‘cash point’ machines. Please note - you only need one bank account irrespective of
how many betting accounts you open. If you open three betting accounts for
example, they will all draw from, and pay into, the same bank account.
The bank account (with switch) is just there to segregate your betting activities from
the rest of your life. The betting accounts (e.g. with Ladbrokes) are set up to allow
you to place bets with these companies by telephone. I hope this is clear.
When you open the bank account (with switch), whatever you do, don't tell them you
want it as a betting account or as a business account! If asked, you simply want to try
a new bank because you aren't that happy with your existing bank - or you want an
account to pay certain bills out of. It's none of their business why you really want it
or what you do with your money. The great thing is they will not only operate this
switch facility for you free of charge, but they'll pay you interest on your profits as
well - isn't competition a wonderful thing?
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Please note: if you haven't got the discipline to open a separate bank account and
keep a record of your bets, I suggest you go back to dreaming about making money
rather than studying this course. I'm afraid that winning and a certain amount of
discipline do go hand in hand. Do not think you can ‘jog along’ using your normal
current account - you will get into difficulties with this approach because your
gambling transactions are jumbled in with your other daily transactions. You need
strict record-keeping and segregation.
Okay, once the bank account is in place you are now in a position to open your
betting accounts with the bookies. You only need one betting account in order to get
started, but the problem with having just one betting account is that the bookies will
know about every bet you've ever placed - they will have a complete history and be
able to ‘profile’ you.
Why is this significant?
Well, the sooner they notice that you are a regular winner, the sooner your account
will be put under pressure, resulting in eventual closure. You see , they know the
typical ‘mug punter’ beginner pattern of betting. They also know the carefully
informed pro-gambler pattern. The first they are happy with, the second causes loud
alarm bells to ring! By spreading your bets across three bookmakers, it's impossible
for them to see the complete picture and it will take much longer for your accounts to
stand out from the crowd.
Remember, winning is fairly easy. It’s keeping the account open which is harder.
Don't think I'm being paranoid about this. If you only open one betting account, you
will soon need to open a second one and you may not have the time to do this if your
usual bookie has just refused to accept your bet and it's four minutes to the "off"!
There's also another good reason for having more than one betting account. Different
bookies give different odds on the same horses. Quite often you can increase your
profits by 20% or 30% simply by placing your bet with a different company. Of
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course your stake hasn't changed at all so the cost to you of getting better odds is
absolutely nothing. (Don't worry about how the odds are calculated, I'll be explaining
exactly how to place a bet and what the odds actually mean, later in this lesson.)
You'll also be pleased to know that the big four bookies all use 0800 free phone
numbers so your telephone bill is not going to be affected by your new business.
Here are some telephone numbers to get you started;
Bookmaker To Open An Account
To Place A Bet
Ladbrokes 0800 624 624 0800 624624
William Hill 0800 289892 0800 223311
Coral 0800 242232 0800 242232
Tote 01942 824211 0800 825825 Independent Bookmakers As I mentioned earlier, in addition to the ‘big four’, there are plenty of independent
bookmakers around the country who offer a very similar service. Later on I will be
discussing the pros and cons of using these too, but in the meantime I want you to set
up at least two accounts from the above list.
Okay, you now have one bank account with a switch facility plus two or more betting
accounts. Are you dangerous or what?
Learning the Jargon
Now let’s see if we can make any sense out of the gobbledegook language of the
betting world. To start with I'd like to take you through the basics of ‘odds’.
I apologise to those of you who have bet before and understand all of this, but I did
say at the start that you needed absolutely no previous knowledge to get on this
course so just bear with the rest of us while we go through some of the fundamentals.
Remember also that this course is about making money, not getting excited about
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the world of horse-racing. It is far better if you have no previous knowledge
whatsoever of gambling on horses.
Understanding The Odds
About seven minutes before a race is due to be run, all the bookmakers reveal their
'prices' on the horses that are running. Let’s take an imaginary five-horse race at
Doncaster as an example. Here are the prices released just before the race:
Queensway 2-1
King of Thieves 3-1
Into the Black 7-2
Lord York 8-1
Skillwise 14-1
In this example, the horse that the bookies think will win (called ‘the favourite’) has
odds of two to one (2-1). (“The price is two to one,” is another way of saying the
same thing). All the other horses are believed to have less of a chance than the favourite
(Queensway) and so they have odds that reflect that horse’s chance of winning.
Let’s imagine you place a bet of £50 on the 'favourite' (Queensway) at odds of 2-1
and it won. How much would you get back?
Example 1
2-1 means you win two pounds for every one pound you stake, if the horse wins. So
if you bet £50 at 2-1 (that is two to one against it winning), for every £50 you bet,
you would win £100 back (i.e. 2-1). You would also get your stake money back, so
the total return would be £150 giving you a £100 profit.
Example 2
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Let us now look at Lord York. The odds here are 8-1 against it winning. This means
that you win eight pounds for every one pound you stake (8-1), if it wins of course! If
we bet £50 to win on Lord York, (the 8-1 horse) and it won. Our return would be as
follows:
£50 to win at 8-1 = £400 (8x £50)
Plus £50 bet returned = £50
Total Return = £450
Profit = £400
Now, I'm sure that doesn't present any of you with any major headaches. In fact it’s
quite simple, isn’t it?
Example 3
But what happens when the odds are a little more complicated, say 11-8?
Well I always find that the easiest way for a beginner to work these out is to divide
the odds into two halves. In the 11-8 example, for every £8 you bet (i.e. the figure on
the right), you would get £11 back (i.e. the figure on the left) plus your stake returned
to you of course. If you bet £80, you would win £111. Looked at another way, you
always win 11/8 of your stake money. So if you bet £200 you would win:
£200 x 11/8 = £275 plus your original stake of £200 back, of course.
More tricky, but not exactly rocket science, right?
On odds of 7-2, for every £2 you would get £7 back plus your stake. Get it?
Example 4
Of course you can always use a calculator. Lets try it with odds of 7-1:
Multiply the amount you bet (say £50) by the figure on the left of the odds (50 x 7 =
£350), now divide by the figure on the right, (in this case, 1). Return equals £350
(plus your stake back).
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Example 5
Now try a £50 win with odds of 13-8 (for every £8 you bet, you win £13):
£50 x 13/8 = £81.25, plus your £50 stake back = £131.25
It's all quite easy - it just looks a bit complicated first time round. Make sure you can
do all of the above exercises before moving on. If you don’t understand this simple
system of odds, then you cannot (and must not) progress towards making your
first bet.
More Gobbledegook!
Okay, by now you should have a reasonable understanding of the odds (or the prices,
if you prefer), how the 9% tax system works and within the next few days you'll have
your bank account and your betting accounts in place. At this point I think you need
to do just a little more homework before I set you loose.
‘Each Way’ Betting
So far we have only talked about a ‘win bet’ where you place all of your money on
your chosen horse to win. With an ‘each way bet’ you will get a return, (i.e. you will
win some money) if the horse comes first, second or third. If a horse comes in
second or third place it is known as being ‘placed’.
Like all simple explanations, it can't cover all eventualities and you probably already
know that in some of the big races, like the Grand National for example, an ‘each
way’ bet will give you a return if the horse comes in first, second, third OR fourth.
Conversely in very small races where there are only a few horses, you will sometimes
only get paid on the first two. This is fairly obvious. If there were only four horses in
a race, a standard ‘each way’ bet would be almost certain to win at least something,
hence the variation.
Now obviously the bookies aren't stupid. They won’t pay you as much for coming
third as for wining, so how exactly are the winnings worked out?
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Let’s go back to a ‘win bet’ just for a moment. You back a horse called ‘Dead Cert’
at 10-1 and you bet £100 to win. If you lose you obviously lose the lot - if you win
the return is as follows (work this out for yourself before you look!!):
Stake £100
Total invested £100
Horse win @ 10-1 £1,000
Plus stake Returned £100
Total return £1,100
Profit £1,000 (i.e. £1,100 - £100)
I hope you got that right but if not go back to the examples to see where you went
wrong.
Now let’s see what would happen in an ‘each way bet’.
If we bet £50 ‘each way’ the bet is still £100.00 in total.
We are in fact placing two bets here. We are betting £50 for the horse to win and
another £50 for the same horse to be placed (i.e. come in the first three). If the horse
wins at say 10-1, the first part of the bet is exactly the same as a normal ‘win bet’. So
£50 at 10-1 = £500 plus your stake back making £550.
Now the second half of your bet has also won because you bet £50 that it would
come in the first three and it has.
As I said earlier the Bookies are not going to pay you as much if you bet it will come
in the first three rather than win. So, as a rule of thumb they divide the money they
pay you for a ‘place’ by either 4 or 5 depending on the type of race and the number
of runners.
This means that the ‘win’ half of your bet won £500 and the ‘place’ half of the bet
won £500 divided by (say) 4 = £125, giving you a total return of:
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£50 @ 10-1 (‘win’ part of your ‘each way’ bet) £500
£50 @ 10-1 (‘place’ part of your ‘each way bet’) divided by 4 £125
Total £625
Plus stake back £725
How are you doing? You'll either get that straight away or it will take a few reads
before the penny drops. Remember, an ‘each way’ bet is divided into two. Half of the
money is placed on the horse to win at the stated odds. The other half goes to bet that
the horse will be either first, second or third - it doesn’t matter which (you don’t get
less money on this part of your bet if it comes third, for example).
After you've been through it a few times it will all make sense and you'll soon realise
that an ‘each way’ bet doesn't give you as much of a return as a win bet, but you do
get some money back if it comes in the first three. Providing the odds are 5-1 or
higher you will always make a profit.
Taking the Price
Okay, well done for battling your way through the mathematics. Remember I said
that the odds are revealed about seven minutes before the ‘off’? Well as soon as those
odds are revealed, a tidal wave of money slams into the bookies as punters scramble to back the horses. This has the immediate effect of changing the
odds. The odds don’t stay fixed at the opening price, but instead fluctuate as the bets
pour in.
The first prices that you see are known as the 'Opening Price' and the last price is
known as the ‘Starting Price’ (hence the expression S.P.) - this is the final price just
before the race begins or soon after.
In between the opening price and the starting price, the odds are up and down like a
whore’s knickers. “Why is that?” I hear you ask. Well, let's imagine that the opening
price on a particular horse is 10-1. If at this point the world and his dog decide that
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this horse has a better chance than 10-1 of winning, then a huge amount of money
pours into the bookies in a very short period of time. Looked at another way, people
see this as a ‘cheap’ priced horse and want to snap up this bargain. At this point the
bookmaker decides that maybe 10-1 wasn't such a good idea after all and reduces the
price to say 8-1 or 7-1. If yet more money comes in at this adjusted price, then the
price may go even lower say 5-1 or 9-2. You often see situations like this and a horse
that is heavily backed from long opening odds to short closing odds is often referred
to as a "talking horse". This means that the ‘horse’ is trying to ‘tell’ the bookies
something!
The opposite is also true of course. If nobody fancies the favourite at 5-4, the price
will often drift out to 6-4, 7-4, and then maybe 2-1.
Now how does all this Paul Daniel's magic with numbers affect little ol' you and your
betting strategy?
Well, when you place your bet you have a choice. You can take the price that is
available at the time (remarkably this is called 'taking the price') or you can elect not
to take the price in which case you will get the S.P. (starting price), whatever that is
just before the ‘off'. I can assure you that you will always be taking ‘the price’.
You do this by asking to "take the price" when you place your bet and you are then
'locked in' at those odds. Of course the price may subsequently drift out and you'll
wish you had waited, but most times taking the price will ensure you get the best
odds and the fattest return.
Okay, I know how much you like to hear about the money I make from horse racing,
so here are some recent examples (taken from my log) of how long odds equal
handsome returns.
20/9/00 Kind Regards 16-1 £100 e/w Profit = £2,000
16/10/00 Sir Valentine 5-1 £200 to win Profit = £1,000
16/12/00 Celibate 5-1 £200 to win profit = £1,000
3/2/01 Teatral 15-2 £100 e/w profit = £900
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16/2/01 Look First 5-1 £100 e/w profit = £600
15/5/01 Golan 12-1 £100 e/w profit = £1,500
And dare I mention the Kevin Phillips bet that won 40-1 in April 2000?
Now I know what you're all thinking. All you need is one or two bets like that and
you've got it cracked! Well, that may be true but there are plenty of rich pickings
when the odds are short as well.
Making a Killing on Dead Certs
A ‘dead cert’ is a horse which is expected to win (“dead certain”).
Although we all like a 14-1 winner, there are times when a horse is good value at
much shorter odds. In fact there may be times when you back a horse at ‘even
money’, that is, you bet at 1-1. A £50 bet to win would return £50 (plus your stake
money back of course) and I can assure you that sometimes there is value to be had in
an ‘odds on’ price i.e. 4-7, 1-2 etc. Remember that a 4-7 bet means that for every £7
you wager, you will win £4 (plus your stake back). You actually win less than the
amount of your bet, but since you get your stake back you can still make a healthy
profit. Don’t forget that at 1-1, you are gaining a 100% return on your investment.
Most people spend time searching for an investment which will yield 10% per annum
and here we are with these ‘terrible’ odds making 100% per day!
Newcomers have a psychological barrier to ‘odds on’ betting and many people won’t
back a horse at less than ‘even money’ (1-1). I can understand this and it's probably
the only area where I will allow you some discretion in your first six months of
betting. All I would say is that four out of my last five ‘odds on’ bets have won. It's
good money so don't knock it.
Is it a Gamble or an Investment?
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Of course we all like a 25-1 winner but people with money consider a short price
sure-fire winner more as an investment that a gamble. After all, you can't tell me that
putting £10k into the stock market is anything more than a gamble, and the returns
are rarely more than 15% per year. A £500 bet at even money will give you almost
one hundred percent profit in five minutes flat, even when the odds are ‘evens’ (1-
1). Now is that an investment or a gamble?
Any stockbroker with an interest in the Far East in early 1998 would look at your 4-5
winner with considerable envy. Betting on ‘dead certs’ is quite popular among those
with the money and of course the confidence.
The Sunday Times recently reported on an Essex woman who bet £88,000 that
Labour would win a clear majority of seats in the election (‘odds on’ of 1-7); Rangers
would win the Scottish Premiership (1-12); plus another £50,000 on Labour winning
the most seats and Manchester United winning the English Premiership.
Look at the above bets again. 1-7 means that for a £7 bet you win £1 only! 1-12
means that for every £12 you bet, you win back just one pound! Silly bets? Crazy
odds? Well you may think so but she walked away with £25,199.05 profit. So don’t
think you have to always back long odds to get good returns.
Now don't think for one moment this is the route I'm taking you down. I'm merely
trying to change your way of looking at things. You don't need 25-1 winners to make
money so don't come into this with any preconceived ideas.
Betting With Your Account -v- Betting in a Shop
Earlier on I said there would be times when you may consider going into a bookies
rather than using one of your betting accounts and a freephone number. The betting
account is always preferable to the betting shop for several reasons:
1. To use your betting account you must have set up your new bank account. This
shows both your commitment to this venture and that you are prepared to follow
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what I ask you to do. It also means that you've earmarked a certain amount of money
for your new business venture.
2. You won’t get caught up with the emotion of the race. Big highs and lows are not
good in the early days - remember to be Mr. Robot - uncaring - unthinking - just
count the total profit at the end of the month. Nowadays I don’t even bother watching
the race and sometimes only hear the result several days later. I don’t care about the
result. I know that long-term I will win, and that’s all that matters.
3. You won't be tempted by other distractions - like an early race if you have time on
your hands, or the next race if you had a loser - this is guaranteed self destruction.
4. It won't interfere with your day job if you have a weekday bet. Most people find
they can manage a one minute phone call on a freephone number. Popping down to
William Hill when you should be in a sales meeting is not going to do you any
favours at all.
So when would you go into a bookies?
Well, the main advantage of going into a bookies is to get a good price. The odds will
be shown about 5 to 10 minutes before the race starts. You can have your betting slip
filled in ready, your cash in your hand, and as soon as the screen shows the price you
simply go to the counter and hand over the slip and the money.
Now, don't get me wrong - you can do this on the phone just as easily, easier in fact,
but sometimes it is more difficult to get your timing right.
On average, I find 8 out of 10 clients prefer to use the phone most of the time. They
simply phone up about seven minutes before the race is due to start and ask the price
on a particular horse.
Of course you don't have to go to a bookmakers to see the prices or to watch the
races. BBC1 and Channel 4 regularly have horse racing in the afternoon and prices
can be found on both Teletext and Ceefax whether there is horse racing on the TV or
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not. It's most important that if you have access to Teletext/Ceefax, look at the
following pages and familiarise yourself with the information available.
If you do this about seven minutes before a race is due to run you will see the same
information as you would see in the bookies. The only difference is that it's about one
minute behind the real action because some poor soul is having to type the changes in
as quickly as they possible can. That's why sometimes when you phone up the price
may have changed slightly to that which is shown on your T.V.
First of all, look at the times of the race meeting in your newspaper (you'll probably
find Saturday an ideal time) then look at the following pages on Teletext/Ceefax
BBC1 - Ceefax, page 661 - then select the betting page for the race you are interested
in.
CH 4 - Teletext, page 550 - then select the betting page for the race you are interested
in.
I find Ceefax the better of the two services but you choose the one you like. You'll
find a lot of information on Ceefax and I strongly urge you to invest some time
reviewing the information that's available. It will certainly give you a better
understanding of some of the things we're discussed in this issue.
Well, if you've stuck with me this far give yourself a pat on the back. Lesson 2 was
something we just had to get through and if that's the worst you have to do to get
£12k a year, I don't think you can complain too much!
Summary
Okay let’s review what I expect you to have done by the time lesson 3 lands on your
doormat.
1. Open new bank account (with switch facility).
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2. Open a minimum of two, ideally three, betting accounts with either Hill,
Ladbrokes, Coral or Tote.
3. Look at Ceefax P661 on BBC1 or Teletext P550 on Ch 4.
Using the same text page, review at least two races to see prices appear, odds change,
and final results appear.
4. Review this lesson and make absolutely sure you understand the odds
system, including ‘odds on’ bets like 4-7.
Next month is a scary month because I'm going to put the next piece of the jigsaw in
place and when I do, you'll be ready for your first bet! Not only will your gun be
loaded but I'll be giving you something to point it at! I hope you are ready.
I told you that you were getting dangerous! What ya gotta to ask yourself is: "Do ya
feel lucky? Well do ya, punk?” (Done in your best Clint Eastwood if you don't
mind). Get working and I'll see you next month.
A glossary of useful terms appears below.
Glossary 1
"A WIN BET"
The entire bet is staked on the fact that the horse will win. All other places result in
you losing your bet.
"EACH WAY BET"
Effectively two bets in one. Half says the horse will win and half of the bet says it
will come in the first three (sometimes four). You get either 1/4 or 1/5 of the odds if
the horse is placed (i.e. second or third).
"WIN DOUBLE"
This is the same as a win bet except two horses are chosen in different races. They
both have to win otherwise you lose your stake. The winnings from the first race are
used as stake money (automatically) to back the chosen horse in the second race.
Such bets can yield dramatic winnings.
"TALKING HORSE"
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A horse that is well supported resulting in a sharp fall in price (e.g. from 10-1 to say
5-1).
"S.P. OR STARTING PRICE"
The odds calculated at the time of the ‘off’.
"TAKING THE PRICE"
Taking a fixed price from a bookie before the ‘off’. "ANTE POST BET"
This is when you bet on a horse a long time (days or even weeks) before the race.
This is done to get a good price.
"EARLY PRICES"
For most races the prices aren't published until about 7 minutes before the off.
However, each day for some races, bookmakers will reveal prices many hours before
the race. These are called early prices. So on some races you can take a price many
hours before the race is due to run.
"GOING DOWN"
Seen on Ceefax etc. It means the horses have left the enclosure and are literally
'going down' to the starting line.
"AT THE POST"
The horses have arrived at the starting post.
“UNDER STARTER’S ORDERS”
The horses are lined up and ready. The race will start at any second.
"EASY MONEY"
£12k per year for one hour of work a week!
Lesson 3 Placing Your First Bet
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment purposes only. Whilst it is accurate at the time of writing to the best of our
knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more
money than they can comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
2
Counting the Money
Welcome back. Part three of this course is one of the most exciting, but before I
move on to the meat of this lesson, let me share something with you. At the end of
each month I always take a few moments to review just how well my betting account
has done over the previous four weeks. It’s been one of my favourite times since the
first time I sat down five years ago and stared, somewhat amazed, at the success I
was achieving.
Even today, I still get a kick out of it - I don’t know about you but counting money
always gives me a nice warm glow. I know money won’t make me happy but it’s
sure giving me a comfortable life style while I try and find out what does!
There’s another saying too: money might not make you happy, but it sure as
hell allows you to be miserable in comfort!
This month I’m going to show you how to get the information you need to make your
bank account take a serious upward swing. I’ll also be showing you some of the
important strategies you’ll need to make sure that you win consistently, month after
month. Any fool can win occasionally. To make money at this game you need to win
over the long-term.
Last month we established the foundations for your new business - or should I say we
talked about laying the foundations. I didn’t actually do anything.
Why is that? Well my betting accounts are already in place. So is my separate bank
account and I’m doing very nicely thank you very much.
But how did you do?
If you haven’t done what I asked then I suggest you pop this lesson straight back into
its envelope and then reread Lesson 2. I’m not joking. Success is about doing the
right things at the right time and if you really can’t bring yourself to follow a few
simple instructions for £12,000 a year you’ll never make it.
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Am I being too tough on you? - no way! You’re paying me good money to get
you through this course and I’m determined to see you with a fat wedge in your
back pocket as soon as possible and I can’t do that if you don’t follow my
instructions.
For reasons that I’ll never understand, many people can’t find enough inner resources
to follow these simple instructions. That’s okay, because the remainder will be
successful - and I hope you’re one of them. Let’s move on.
Investing in Your Future
This part of your training is probably one of the most important for two reasons.
Firstly I will be discussing where we get our information from in order to generate
the sort of money I’ve been talking about, and secondly I’m going to discuss the
concept of the 20-point banking system. These two items alone will ensure your
income increases significantly over the coming months.
When I first invited you to join ‘Racing for Cash’ I said that you would need around
£500 to get your new business off the ground.
I also said that if you didn’t feel that you could raise this sort of money then you
would be wasting your time in ever hoping to make any serious money, although
clearly you would make the perfect wage slave.
Apart from three subscriptions to this training course (about £60) your business
hasn’t cost you a penny so far. If you have tried other so-called ‘money making
schemes’ in the past you will remember that it wasn’t long before you were asked to
lay out huge amounts of money for a long list of unexpected overheads. Don’t
worry, I’ve been there too! Garages full of stock, huge telephone bills, two thousand
pounds for a mail shot which drew zero replies, driving here, there, and everywhere
to secure a 5% commission on bugger-all. If you’d known the whole story at the start
you would never have joined in the first place, right?
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Sorry to disappoint you guys and girls but with this little earner you can forget
all of that.
When I said that you’d need about £500 to get this business started I meant exactly
that. You’ll have no other overheads apart from a biro to write up your
winnings each month.
Sounds too good to be true? Read on.
Buying Our Information
If you are a cynical, hardened ‘business opportunity seeker’, you will no doubt be
disappointed to hear that the £500 I said you would need will not be going to me.
Amazing! That’s a first already!
If you joined just to find out what ‘the catch’ was, you are also going to be
disappointed. The truth is that the cost of this entire course will normally be
paid for within one month from the profits you will make from following my
advice.
Everything you have read is absolutely true - there are no catches.
“Okay,” I hear you cry. “I believe you. So what the hell do we need the £500 quid
for?”
Well that answer is very simple. The only money that you will invest in this
business will be used to secure the very best insider racing information that
money can buy.
Now don’t get confused here. I know the racing press (and Teletext/Ceefax for that
matter), are full of adverts for so-called racing tipsters. You know the sort of thing:
“I’ve had nine winners this week alone. Phone this number (always at premium rate
of course) and I will give you a 12-1 guaranteed winner”.
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Yeah right! I can assure you this is not the way to make money, and this is not
the route for you or me.
The remarkable truth is, the very, very best tipping services not only deliver
fantastic profits year on year, but their results are audited by a totally independent
company to ensure that the service provided is absolutely bona fide.
In fact, if you ignore the ‘unregulated’ tipping services, you will find that there are
still around 160 companies that provide consistent audited results.
Amazingly those that regularly appear in the ‘top ten’, with consistent profits in
excess of £10k per annum only charge between £400 and £1,000 a year for their
services.
This is one of the key weapons in your betting arsenal. By using only the very best
service that we can find, your profits are as near as possible to guaranteed. Although
I said at the beginning that you would need around £500, in fact many companies let
you pay monthly or even by credit card to help you if you are just starting. In fact, for
those of you with very little in the way of capital, I will be showing you how to build
up a worthwhile betting account with very little initial outlay. More on that next
month.
Some companies let you pay monthly or by the season although a one year
subscription is by far the cheapest in the long run.
In the early days you may go for a monthly subscription or for a season subscription
(either the flat season in the summer or the jumps season in the winter).
I can assure you that after a few short months you will be keen to sign up for a year,
(or even longer if they’ll let you). These companies are not a ‘flash in the pan’ they
are serious companies who have been around for years. We will only use companies
that have proven themselves over many years of successful racing.
Take Advantage of Promotional Offers
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When I first started this system I was in the situation where I wanted to win £500
(immediately - I had debts) rather than spend £500. Instead of buying a year
subscription to my chosen tipping service I joined for just one season. This way I
only had to fork out £250 (as it was in those days).
In the first month alone I won enough to pay for the entire subscription and
show a profit. I couldn’t believe it. Then the strangest thing happened. The tipping
service offered me a discount if I was willing to pay there and then to subscribe for a
full year.
This didn’t make any sense at all. Surely they should be putting the price up not
down?
Suspicious to the last I phoned up and asked to speak to the proprietor.
“Why,” I asked, “would you offer a discount when I’ve just won a fat wedge of
money, all thanks to you?” (Deep down I suspected that this was a ‘one off win’ and
they were trying to grab back as much money as they could whilst I still had it in my
pocket.) What didn’t make sense though was that this company had been
making month on month profits for a many years - that’s why I had chosen
them in the first place.
Although the proprietor had obviously suffered people like me on the phone before,
he still spent a great deal of time patiently explaining his problem. Despite a success
rate exceeding 40% “punters would be punters” as he put it, and for reasons that
remained a mystery to him as well, they always seemed to blow the profits one way
or another, usually by betting on horses that they thought would win.
Consequently he always tried to offer an incentive just after a good run. What! I
couldn’t quite believe my ears. So you give them the winners and they still blow it
on other horses that ….. what did you say, they thought would win. Are these
people raving mad?
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“Ah yes,” he replied - “but you obviously don’t know anything about horses do you,
so you’ve only been doing what I tell you.”
I resolved there and then that I would follow his advice to the letter. I have to tell you
here and now that you must do the same. If you do not follow my advice to the letter,
then you will join the large crowd of hopeless, losing mug-punters. Do you have
what it takes to follow simple advice? I wonder...
The Tipping Service Top Ten
Now it gets even more exciting.
First of all can I get one very important thing out of the way? My brother does not
run a tipping service. (Nor does my Dad, my Uncle, my mate Ken or anyone else
I’m remotely connected to).
Secondly, because all the reputable tipping services submit their suggested bets to an
independent agency BEFORE they are given out to punters, you and I can easily
review the top ten (either month by month or year by year) and then simply stick
with the best performing company available. You will always make far more
money that you ever pay them. In fact it’s no different to putting money into stocks
and shares via a unit trust (PEP, etc.) based on how the company has managed
people’s money over the last financial year.
Now, I’m sorry if that’s taking the risk out of gambling but you did say you
wanted £12k a year tax free didn’t you? I mean. if you really want to risk your
money, there are plenty of casinos around...
Okay, so who should you buy your information from? Well I have my favourites
based on personal experience of using different companies over the last five years,
but there are two key things you should consider when choosing your own tipping
service:
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1. Consistent profits over previous years.
2. Profits that are normally generated by only 3-4 bets a week.
Whatever you do, don’t be put off by the cost. The cost of the service is tiny
compared with the profits you will make provided you follow my instructions. I
know I sound like a broken record on this one, but the biggest trap awaiting you is
your own (misplaced) confidence in your ability to pick winners. You have no such
ability and you’d better start believing it!
As I said, most reputable tipping services will give you the option of joining for a
season (either the jump season in the winter, or the flat season in the summer) or for
the whole year. Some of them will let you pay monthly by credit card which will
really improve your cash flow - but remember, do this properly. If you haven’t got
the money to do it in the first place - don’t do it at all. Only use your credit card if
you have the money in the bank to finance it.
Chef’s Recommendations
So how do you go about picking a first class tipping service? Here are the important
factors:
1. Consistent results over a long period. This is important. The new kid on the
block is always good for a season but we’re looking for a company that has proved
its worth over many years.
2. Not too many bets each week. You probably have a full time job and placing 2-3
bets a day simply won’t fit into your schedule. I’ve always found that 2-3 bets a week
is about right. (Note: if you subscribe to Racing Information Database, they will
give you monthly reports on those companies that give 12 bets a month or less. This
is known as their ‘Category C’ report, more on this later.)
3. A company that understands. I know this may appear a strange priority but I
promise you, when your hard earned cash is at risk, you want to deal with people
who can see it from your point of view. It’s easy when you’ve been betting for a
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season or two because you can take it in your stride, the first few months though you
tend to be a bit more sensitive
I’ve found that some companies can be a wind-up, particularly those that try to sugar-
coat everything. I much prefer a company that is open and honest about the way
things are going. Don’t tell me we all had a great 4-1 winner when we both know
that this price lasted about three seconds and most people only got on at 5-2.
During this course I will be recommending several companies to you who I feel offer
extremely good value, give excellent returns and offer a very personal service.
This month I would like to recommend two companies to you, the first is Isiris
Racing. Isiris are one of the leading racing tipsters in the UK and over many years of
dealing with them I feel that they give outstanding value. I have never had a losing
season with Isiris which certainly says a lot about the quality of their bets.
With such consistent profits, it’s not surprising their services are quite expensive, but
for those of you who are hoping to make good money from this course, I do not
hesitate to recommend them.
Kevin Booth who owns and runs Isiris is a straight talking Northerner who is
passionate about his work. His enthusiasm and commitment are legendary and I find
his style refreshing (if frank at times).
Telephone messages are kept to an absolute minimum in length (usually 60 seconds)
and this is done on ordinary telephone lines not premium rate. He also lets you
know, at the same time each day, whether there will actually be a bet on that day or
not. If you have a full time job or other commitments, this is a real bonus.
In summary, I highly recommend Isiris as an excellent means of getting quality
betting information. Their fee is, without doubt, one of the best investments you
could possible make.
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If you would like more information or you would like to subscribe to Isiris, phone
07000 560330.
As a special incentive to readers of Racing for Cash, Isiris will give you a 10%
discount on your first membership if you mention this course when you subscribe.
Can I repeat one thing? The cost of this tipping service is absolute peanuts
compared with your winnings. And remember, you really do get what you pay for
in life. A company that costs an extra £200 or so has based its higher price on the
fact that it consistently delivers the goods. One extra winner a year is all you need to
pay the difference in fees and leave you with an enormous profit.
Earlier on in this lesson I mentioned that the results achieved by these companies are
verified by a totally independent company. In the UK, the Racing Information
Database is an independent Company that monitors the performance of tipping
services throughout the country. Not only does it monitor over 150 services on a
daily basis, but it also monitors those services that elect not to supply details of their
bets on a voluntary basis, (I would certainly avoid these).
The Racing Information Database does a superb job in protecting the British Public
from rogue and pirate tipsters. More importantly it shows which companies
regularly deliver the goods, and which ones should be avoided at all costs.
Many of the top tipping services (and those are the only ones you’ll be interested in),
not only supply details of their bets to the Racing Information Database but also
supply them to the Racing Post and Sporting Life as well. This is done by phoning
or faxing the appropriate information before the bet is given out to the general public.
If you would like to subscribe to the Racing Information Database, and choose your
own tipping service rather than one of my recommendations, please write to them at:
Racing Information Database
12 Southwest Centre
Archer Road
11
Sheffield
S8 0JR
The annual cost is £99 per year and in return you will receive a monthly print-out
detailing the leading tipsters and exactly how much money they have made. They
will also send you a trial copy of one month’s information for £10 which is
deductible from the £99 if you then decide to subscribe for the year.
Again, I would like to point out to the cynical amongst you that I have no
connection with the Racing Information Database whatsoever!
Since I wrote this course, my favourite tipping service has been extremely successful
and, as you would expect the price of the service has increased to more than the £500
we have allowed in our budgets. (Well wouldn't you?) They have also restricted their
membership to only 350, which has many benefits to those people that do join.
Whilst this will not detract the big players amongst you (I have won £4,000 in the
last 5 weeks with them), I know that they will have priced themselves out of the
market for newcomers like yourself. So I'm going to give you 2 other
recommendations for companies that, for between £300 and £600 provide an equally
impressive service. (I'll give you one this month and one next month).
When I say excellent service, I mean exactly that. For example in 1996 one of these
tipping services made a profit of £15,058. In 1997 one of these companies made a
profit of £21,600 and in 1998 one of these companies made a profit of £23,200. At
the time of writing both companies had made profits in excess of £9,000.
(Information courtesy of the Racing Information database).
So, based on this performance my second recommendation is :
Second Recommendation : Time Line 020 8989 8983
Timeline is run by a very genuine guy by the name of Alan Darke, who, unlike many
tipsters, makes serious money from betting and not just from selling tipping services.
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This is always an encouraging sign - a man willing to put his money where his mouth
is!
As you will see, Timeline is always in the R.I.D. top ten and offers a service that will
require very little of your own time and is very easy to follow.
Currently, Timeline prices are very reasonable and I encourage you to go for the 12-
month membership if you are serious about doing this properly. Their results really
do speak for themselves with annual profits in excess of £12,000 being the norm. Over the next 4 weeks I would urge you to contact the companies I recommend and
ask them to send you full details of their services. Again mention the Racing For cash
course by David Fairweather to see if they are willing to give you a discount.
Don't forget if you subscribe to the Racing Information Database, you can get the
very latest information on how well all the tipping services are doing and make your
own selection.
The 20 Point Banking System
Okay, it’s time to sort the men from the boys.
If you’ve never come across the concept of the 20 Point Banking System can I offer
you the “key to the inner sanctum”? This is the jewel in the crown, the 8th wonder of
the world, your passport to £12k a year. Excuse me if I get a little excited but you
see this really is superb in its simplicity.
The 20 Point Banking System is designed to make sure you are never ever going to
lose your shirt on horse racing. It will also remove all worries about exactly how
much you should bet on a race. Sounds simple? This is how it works.
Let’s imagine you decide the most you would ever consider losing on horse racing
before you would quit is £400. This is effectively your ‘bank’. Now divide that
figure by 20. This gives you the maximum amount you should bet on each race -
in this case £20.
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Let’s take another example. Supposing you are going for this in a more serious way
and consider £2,000 to be the most you would ever want to lose on horse racing
before you called it a day. If you divide your “bank” (£2,000) by 20 you would get a
figure of £100 per bet. This is the amount you should never exceed in any one bet.
Over time, as your profits grow you should aim to have a £4,000 “bank” giving
you a £200 stake on each race. I know that this may sound a bit rich for you now,
but believe me, as your profits grow you will soon consider a £200 bet an everyday
occurrence.
Since a tipping service does not know what your stake is, it will often refer to each
bet as a ‘one point stake’ or a ‘normal bet’. ‘One point’ meaning a different thing for
each person depending on the size of their bank. ‘One point’ is your normal stake in
any one bet (e.g. £100 in the last example given).
Some services will recommend ‘2 point’ bets when they are really confident they
have a better quality bet than normal. These are sometimes also called ‘maximum
bets’.
You probably don’t appreciate this now, but knowing exactly how much to stake
every time is a major comfort factor when you are placing your bets. This
consistency is vital to your success.
Just watch other punters next time you happen to be in the bookies as they agonise
over which horse, what odds, how much to bet. Dear, oh dear, and isn’t it funny how
they always know they should have gone for a different horse to the one they backed
- after the race has run, of course!
Believe me, consistent stake money will take away all of the pressure of betting
on horses.
But how does a 20 point bank stop you losing your shirt? Because it allows you to
back twenty straight losers in a row before you are ‘out of the game’.
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After five years of gambling, I have never had more than eight losers in a row -
worst case. Remember, you will get losers and losing streaks. This is all about
statistics - winning in the long run.
Now I know what you are thinking, if the worst run of losers I’ve ever had is eight,
why are we allowing for twenty losers?
Well the reason is quite simple. In the early days of your betting career you are
going to make a few mistakes. Nothing major of course but you’re not even half way
through this course and I’ve given you enough information to start placing bets, so
you can see there is obviously room for error here.
Once you are underway and have started to see some monthly profits, I would have
no problem in you having a ten point banking system, provided you are with one of
the leading tipping services of course. (If the company that you chose has had more
than eight losers in one go, I would suggest you stay with a 20 point bank).
Also, please bear in mind what I said last month about not knowing if you will start
at the beginning of a winning streak or a losing streak. Even if your first five horses
win and you are massively in profit, please keep your bets at exactly the same
stake level. For those of you who don’t have large capital resources to start with -
don’t worry, your profits will hopefully soon build up and as your confidence grows
you can slowly increase the size of your bets.
My first ever bet was the princely sum of £4 (that's four pounds, not four hundred!).
I remember it seemed a huge amount of money to be gambling and you can’t believe
how gutted I was when it lost. £4.00 down the drain. It depressed me all day.
Which is stupid when you know that a 40% strike rate (i.e. 4 horses in ten winning)
will bring you a handsome return. Nonetheless, pissed off I was, and so will you be
if your first bet loses.
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Please note: if you join Timeline they use a 100 point system which is exactly the
same except you divide your bank into 100 instead of 20. Bets are then given out
which vary between 1 and 5 points. I'm sure you can see that 5 points as a proportion
of 100 is still 1/20th, so effectively you have the same protection as with the 20 point
bank.
Month on Month Happiness - Not Day on Day Misery
I know that you will find this terribly hard, but try to assess your betting profits either
weekly or even better - monthly. Moping over a loser is not going to do you any
favours at all. You should try and lock into the following mentality as early as
possible in your betting career:
1. You will have more losers than winners - fact, so get used to it.
2. Despite the above, you will make continuous monthly profits.
I hope the above is clear to you, but if not, consider betting £50 a time on the roll of a
dice. If it comes up 1,2,3,4 or 5, you lose. If it comes up six, you win £1000. Will
you bet? Of course! But you will have five ‘losers’ for every winner, on average, yet
still make great profits.
As your confidence builds you will soon take a totally different view of betting. You
know there will be losers so you just shrug and walk away. Also, don’t try and watch
every horse run. I know this is going to come as something of a shock but jumping
up and down on your settee, or shouting “go on my son!” when you’re down at the
local bookies will make absolutely bugger-all difference to whether the horse wins,
loses or falls into the first ditch. The best way to handle this is not to watch any races,
or even to check the results until the end of each month. The ideal set-up would be to
program a computer to place the bets for you, and to report each year the amount of
money it has made for you!
Make it part of your new business resolution to become a slab of ice. Be Mister (or
Misses) Cool - because at the end of the day it just doesn’t matter how upset or how
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excited you get. While we’re on the subject of attitude, I would also strongly urge
you to keep quiet about all of your betting activities. It’s no-one’s business but your
own why you can afford another lavish holiday or some swanky new clothes (or
whatever else turns you on).
New found success rarely attracts genuine compliments, or genuine friends, so keep
your business to yourself, and your money for that matter!
Placing Your First Bet on Your Account
If you’ve never placed a bet before I would like to talk you through how the process
works.
If you have already set up your betting accounts with the leading bookmakers, you
will have found this to be a very easy exercise. The bookies of course are always
keen to take on new business (on the basis most punters lose money, not win it) and
they won’t give you the third degree when you phone and ask to set up an account.
Normally they only require your name and address and details of the bank you wish
to use for your betting - don’t forget to use your new bank account with the
Switch facility. The reason they don’t really care who they take on is because when
you place a bet with them, they always make a check to ensure that your bank will
honour the bet (just the same as when you pay by switch in a shop). The money is
then automatically deducted from your account.
The money is usually debited that day and any winnings are also credited to your
account that day. Ask your bank to send you monthly statements so that you can
keep a check on all of your bets. Be meticulous about this because even the ‘big
four’ make mistakes - often in your favour you’ll be surprised to hear. I only ever
get round to telling them when it’s not in my favour. Funny that, eh!
This is what a typical phone call to (say) Ladbrokes would sound like.
“Ladbrokes, Jane speaking, can I help you?”
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“Good afternoon, can you give me a price on Mely Moss please?” (Note,
bookies only need the name of the horse, provided it is running the same day as you
place your bet).
“Yes, Mely Moss is 6-1 at the moment.”
“I’ll take the 6-1 price, and I’ll have £100 to win please.”
“Thank you sir, that’s £100 on Mely Moss, at 6-1. So that’s £100 invested.
Does that complete your bet?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“One moment while I check that with your bank ……..(5 second delay) ……
that’s fine Sir. Thank you for betting with Ladbrokes.”
Now immediately write down the details of your bet in the log book. Date, time,
amount, race, horse and odds.
Not surprisingly the bookies can’t afford too many mistakes so every phone call is
recorded. If later on you claim that you really bet £50 not £100, or that you bet on
Missy Mol, not Mely Moss they will check the tape and politely inform you that
you’ve made a mistake.
By the time you’ve put the phone down, your bank account will have been debited
with £100 and when Mely Moss romps home at 6-1 your bank account will be
credited with £700. Result happiness!!
As you will see on your bank statements, the bets are normally debited on the day
you place the bet or the day after. The only exception to this is Cheltenham when the
racing world goes absolutely bananas and everything takes much longer than usual.
(I remember one year waiting over seven days for a £2,000.00 credit - but it’s very
unusual to wait that long).
Credit Accounts
In addition to the usual switch facility, the Tote will give you a credit account which
you settle monthly (i.e. at the end of the month they send you a cheque or you send
them one depending how successful your Tote betting has been). This is worth
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having but to start with they will only give you a £100 credit until they have
established a ‘relationship’ with you and know you are trustworthy. After a few
months you can write to them and ask for your limit to be increased.
Nine Instalments To Go
Left to my own devices I would prefer you not to start betting until you are both
fully trained and confident in what you are doing. The techniques that I am going
to teach you over the next few months, and the secrets I will share with you will
ensure that this is a highly profitable business for you - not another ‘also ran’
However, I know how keen you are to get started so I leave you, somewhat
tentatively, till we speak next month. I feel like a flying instructor getting out of the
plane to watch the student make their first solo flight! If you have followed my
instructions so far, particularly with regards to the “20 point bank” I know that you
can’t go too far wrong.
Please try to remember that the results of any one race are totally insignificant. The
results from any one week are totally insignificant. What matters is that month on
month you see your profits grow.
If you can lock into that mentality now you really will be a winner. If you think you
are going to be totally discouraged by a few losers, then, respectfully, I suggest that
you haven’t got the courage to follow in my footsteps and you should leave this
alone.
Next month I’ll be showing you how to literally double your profits without doing
any extra work or betting any more money. I’ll also be explaining why ante-post
betting is so lucrative. (In November 1997, punters following the advice of one
tipping service bet over £1million on a horse at 20-1, four months before the race was
even due to run. Makes my £4.00 bet look a bit sick doesn’t it?)
I’ll also be showing you how you can build up a sizeable betting account if you don’t
have enough funds to get started right now. See you next month.
Lesson 4 Spreading Your Risk
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
Welcome Back!
2
Is it possible to be embarrassed about how successful this training course is
becoming? I don’t think so.
In the first month of seeing this course go out, I have been absolutely delighted with
the huge amount of money we have taken off the bookmakers, and the way the profits
are building already. As you are new to this business, I’m passionate about seeing you
through your first three months (always the most delicate time) and making sure that
you find betting on horses both enjoyable and enormously profitable. From the letters
I’ve received many students are achieving both of these things.
If you followed my advice and joined one of the leading tipping services as I
suggested last month, your betting account should have grown by around four points
over the last four weeks. That means that if you are betting £100 per bet, I would
expect your profits to be around £400. If you are betting £200 per bet, you would
have made around £800 profit.
Of course I’ve no way of knowing when you started this course, but whether you had
an amazing first month, an average first month, or even a bad first month, I do expect
you to have a profitable season.
Last month I recommended two tipping services to you: Isiris, and Time Line. Since
they usually have only one losing month in a year, your chances of having a losing
month are 12-1 against so I’m confident you are more than happy with your bets and
how things are proceeding at this stage of the course.
This month I’ll be introducing you to a third tipping service, and one that in many
ways is very different to last month’s recommendations. I also promised that if you
were starting off with very little money, I would show you how to build up a
considerable betting bank over the coming months.
Please remember that the companies I recommend are chosen because of their long
term achievements. Don’t be tempted by “this month’s hot shot”. Anyone can have
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one good month - but you need a tipping service that delivers time after time -
and I’m really talking year after year here.
I’ve had a letter from a client asking why I don’t just choose just one tipping company
and leave it at that - why offer two or three? In fact why do I suggest that by
subscribing to Racing Information Database you could even pick you own
tipping service?
Well the answer is that if a tipping service is hugely successful, the subscription cost
will obviously go up each year. Eventually the subscriptions will reach the point
where new members like yourself will become rather wary about investing such large
sums of money when they first start. Of course, regular clients will be happy to pay
higher fees. First of all they know a good tipping service is worth the money and
secondly the dearer it becomes the more exclusive it becomes, and that can have many
benefits as you will see later on.
But for me, the most important factor is the long term view. You see, I know that
because of the profits you will make by following my system, you are bound to be
betting on horses for many years to come. In that time tipping services will come
and go - not too regularly I hope, but often enough for you to need to change now and
then.
Remember, the system is far more important than any of its individual elements.
I happily pay two thousand pounds a year in subscriptions but only because I know
the profits justify the investment. Okay, let’s get down to this month’s business. I
know I keep going on about the importance of the first three months of your new
betting business but I cannot stress enough how important this period really is.
Let’s assume that this week you start to place your very first bets. There are only three
routes your bank account can take - let’s look at these for a minute.
1. They all keep winning - what do I do?
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I know it sounds remarkable but it’s quite possible that in the first week of gambling,
nearly every horse you back could win and your betting account could go ballistic.
Strangely enough, people regularly phone or write to me when this happens, but
they never phone me if their first bets all lose. This is crazy, you’d expect it to be
the other way round wouldn’t you? (Maybe I’ve really managed to convince people
that this ‘20 point bank’ system is the answer and so their first losing bets get taken in
their stride - I do hope so).
So what do you do if you started with a £1,000 betting bank (i.e. £50 per bet) and in
the first month alone it doubled to £2,000? (No I mean after you have cracked the
bottle of vintage champagne or drunk the eight pints of Yorkshire Best, or whatever
turns you on!)
Well basically you have two choices:
Option 1 - Keep your stake money exactly the same and continue to bet £50 on each
race. Or...
Option 2 - Now that you have a £2,000 betting account (increased from your original
£1000 because of your winnings), the twenty point bank principle dictates that your 1
point bet should now be adjusted to £100 (i.e. one twentieth of your bank).
My recommendation would be as follows:-
Every time your betting bank doubles in size - readjust your ‘point’ stake to
double the amount. So in the example above I would increase my bet from £50 to
£100 when my betting bank increased from £1,000 to £2,000.
2. They all keep losing - what do I do?
When you hit a losing streak it will probably worry you - so what should you do if
your first bets all lose.
The first thing to remember is that you will get losing streaks many times in your
gambling career. This is a certainty. But, of course, you should always win long term.
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Well, confident in the knowledge that your chances of having twenty losing bets on
the run are almost nil, and confident that you have taken my advice and are using the
twenty point bank system, I would not adjust my stake if I had a losing run. But if
your bank gets down to half in value, you should halve the bet (just like you doubled
it when the bank doubled in value).
Please note, there is an unfortunate rule called “sod’s law” that states if you increase
your bet the next horse always loses and if you decrease your bet the next horse
always wins. (Gets me every time!)
Remember how last month I was trying to remove all the worries of how much you
should bet? I stressed the importance of not playing around with your stakes,
especially in these early months. Consistent stakes are vital to your long term
profitability, so only alter your stake money when your betting account doubles or
halves. Later on I will be showing you some clever techniques with varying stakes but
in the first few months, when you are bound to be a little timid, please keep
everything as simple as possible. Always bet the same amount every time until your
bank doubles. Finally:
3. My bank account hasn’t changed at all - what do I do?
There will be many times during the season when you are having a regular flow of
bets but your bank account hardly changes. No big ups and no big downs. Personally
I never mind these periods of stability. In fact I often feel that if I’m regularly getting
chances of making big profits and the worst that’s happening is that I’m “treading
water” so to speak - well that’s okay with me.
You’ll often hear people refer to a certain gamble as “a bet to nothing”. This is very
much the same sort of thing. Say you’ve been given information by your tipping
service on a horse at 5-1 and the recommendation is for an each way bet. If the horse
is certain to come in the first three, then at odds of 5-1 you will either win or at worst
break even. Now, that’s my sort of bet.
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Some of you may have already worked out that in the above example, if you wagered
£50 each way (total stake = £100) the profit would be either £312.50 or £12.50
depending on whether the horse won, or was placed. For the rest of us this is how the
profit is calculated (revisit lesson two for a refresher course!):
Stake £50 each way (total £100) at 5-1, on a race paying 1/4 for the first three.
(Sometimes you get a 1/4, sometimes you get a 1/5 depending on the race and the
number of runners). Remember, an ‘each way’ bet is actually two bets in one. You
have £50 to win at 5-1, and £50 to place (i.e. first 3) at a quarter of these odds (i.e. 5-1
divided by 4 = 5-4).
Scenario One - Horse Wins
£50 @ 5-1 £250 (The ‘win’ part of your bet.)
£50 @ 5-1 but divided by 4 £62.50 (The ‘each way’ part of your bet.)
plus £100 stake returned £100
Total returned £412.50
Less investment £100
Profit £312.50
Scenario Two - Horse Comes 3rd
£50 @ 5-1 lost
£50 @ 5-1 but divided by 4 £62.50
plus £50 stake returned £50
Total returned £112.50
Less investment £100
Profit £12.50
You can see now why it’s called a “bet to nothing” - you either win or draw. I love
this sort of betting and that’s why I view periods of stability on the account as a good
thing rather than a bad thing.
Horse Racing and the Stock Market
7
In Lesson 2, I explained why you should consider each bet you place as an
investment, not as a gamble. In fact if you have already started to place bets on your
telephone account you will have noticed that the bookies actually refer to your stake
as ‘an investment’ when they read your bet back to you.
If you put your money into a building society account your investment will increase
in value by such a paltry amount that on a daily basis that the increase is barely
noticeable (what is 4% divided by 365? Work it out!). By contrast your betting
account will take major leaps every time you have a winner.
Probably, a better comparison would be with the stock market which has far greater
ups and downs. Unlike the stock market however, your betting account will never
have a crash, you simply can’t lose it all overnight because of your 20 point bank
system.
Once your betting account starts to make a profit you are guaranteed to feel a nice
warm glow, not least because from then on it’s not your money you’re gambling with
- it’s the bookies. I won £17,000 last year alone with Isiris, betting £200 each time.
Now, how many losers would I need to lose that lot? You get the point.
The Importance of Keeping Records
Before we move onto this month’s excitement (hey, even I have a spare riding crop
hidden under the bed!) I want to mention the need for good record keeping. Yes, yes,
I know it’s boring but it’s one of the few things you have to do for all this lovely
money, so stop moaning.
Have you noticed how people who are broke always complain that they don’t know
where the money goes? And they’re dead right - they have absolutely no idea!
But have you noticed how people who do have money always know where their
money goes? There is a lot more I would like to cover on personal finance and wealth
creation, but this isn’t the time or the place. (Maybe another course, eh?).
8
Next time you go into a bookies, make a note of how many people are keeping
records of their bets. You’ll soon discover that most people (more commonly known
as ‘losers’) don’t even bother - but you will, and for good reason.
I want you to know how much money you are staking (and how much money you
are making) so you know exactly how well your account has done at the end of
each month.
For now, it is enough to say that I want you to keep meticulous records on every bet
you place. Remember at the beginning of this course I said that I would do most of
the work for you? Next month I’ll give you a sample form for you to photocopy.
Please use it to keep a record of all your bets. Okay, back to business.
The Betting Tipsters - How Do They Work?
Last month I recommended that you joined one of the leading tipping services in
order to guarantee a good quality source of information. But how exactly do you get
your information and how do tipping services work?
If you took my recommendation of joining Isiris, for example, this is what you could
expect to happen.
First of all you will be given a telephone number and a Personal Identification
Number (or PIN for short).
You will also be given a back-up number. More on this later.
Each day at a predetermined time, usually 12.00 or 1.00pm you phone the main
telephone number and using the key pad on your phone you tap in your PIN number
when instructed.
You will then be told one of three things:
1. There is no bet today.
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2. There is a bet today and because there are “early prices”, here are the details so that
you can place your bet now.
3. There is a bet today but we want you to phone back later on.
Now this system is ideal for people working 9-5 because it means you can normally
make this phone call during your lunch break. If there is ‘no bet’ you can relax and
get on with your normal routine.
If there is a bet and there are early prices you can immediately place your bet on the
telephone betting account and the whole process will have taken no more than two
minutes maximum.
Of course if a bet is given out early and there are no early prices, you could still place
your bet but you will not be able to ‘take the price’. Instead you will take the SP
(Starting Price) which you will recall is the starting price of the horse at the moment
the race begins. It’s fair to say that successful companies like Isiris are very loathe to
give out details of a bet hours before the race is due (unless you can get an early
price).
There are many reasons for this. First of all ‘word gets around’. Suddenly all and
sundry are backing this horse and the price is greatly worsened as a result.
This is bad news for you. The fewer people that know about the tip, the better.
Secondly, over the years it has also been noticed that a horse tipped early by a first
class tipping service doesn’t seem to do so well. No I’m not suggesting the horse gets
embarrassed by the popularity. It could all be coincidental, but when a leading tipster
like Isiris recommend a horse too early, and there’s a lot of money at stake, well let’s
just say they don’t always do as well as they do when the bet is given out closer to the
“off”. I’ll leave you to imagine why this would happen...
Clearly the effect on shortening prices is a major factor and one that can affect your
profits enormously.
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So what happens if you are asked to ring back for a bet. Let’s say you are asked to
call back at 3.15.
From experience, if the phone back time is 3.15, the chances are the race will be
running at 3.25. Seven to ten minutes before the “off” is quite common as it
ensures you get the best chance of a good price.
Although having to phone back at 3.15 may not sound convenient, the advantage for
you is that once you’ve got details of the horse in question, you can then place your
bet straight away now that prices are available. Again this means the whole process
of getting the tip and placing the bet will only take around two minutes or so.
Getting details of each bet is extremely simple and you shouldn’t feel intimidated by
the process. Let me give you an example of what you could expect to hear when you
call for your information. With Isiris the information is put out as a pre-recorded
message which goes something like this...
“Thank you for phoning back. We have a recommended bet in the 3.25 at Southwell.
It’s horse number four, and it’s a win bet on “Mount Holly”. Guide price is 9-2.
Good luck and I’ll speak to you tomorrow at the usual time.”
Now the “guide price” is the sort of price you can expect to be offered by the
bookmakers, and it is exactly that, just a guide as to what you will get.
You then phone your favourite bookmaker, give them your account number and ask if
they have prices yet in the 3.25 at Southwell. These normally come up about 5-10
minutes before the off.
Sometimes I will use a mobile phone (or even a phone outside a bookies when I forget
to charge the battery) and then I walk straight into the bookies with my slip already
filled in to save time.
But, having got details of the bet if I decide to use my telephone betting account, this
is how the conversation might go.
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‘Coral Racing, good afternoon.'
‘Hello there, account number 123456C, the name is Fairweather.’
‘Yes Mr. Fairweather, how can I help you?’
‘Do you have prices in the 3.25 at Southwell yet?’
‘Yes they’re just coming through now, which horse are you interested in?’
‘Can you give me a price on Mount Holly please?’
‘Mount Holly is four to one.’
‘Yes, I’ll take the four to one price.’
‘Okay, I’ll just read that back to you. It’s account 123456C, and you have £100
invested in Mount Holly at 4-1. Just wait a moment while I clear that with your
bank.... yes, that’s been accepted. Thank you for betting with Coral Racing.’
And that’s all there is to it. Bet placed.
Now, earlier on I mentioned a back-up number - where does that fit in? Well, when
you make your regular lunch time call you use the main number plus your PIN
number. This is a great way to protect the phone lines from unauthorised use, but a
protected system like this can only handle so many calls at any one time - it cannot
cope with a huge number of incoming calls if everyone calls at exactly the same time.
At lunch times this isn’t a problem because there’s no rush and the calls tend to be
staggered over a 15 or 20 minute period (depending what time people get round to
making the call).
But when there is a bet and everyone is asked to call back at exactly the same time
(e.g. 3.15), this is when you use the back-up number. The back-up number does not
require a PIN and can cope with a huge number of calls at once. This means you will
get through first time, every time, and this will improve your chances of getting a
good price.
Frequently Asked Questions
One of the most common questions I get asked is: “With so many people backing the
same horse at the same time, doesn’t the price fall like a stone?”
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Well the answer is yes sometimes it does, but not always. It really depends on the race
and which horses all the other punters are betting on. Remember that only a tiny
percentage of punters use a tipping service.
“So how do you get the best price?”
If the opening show (i.e. the first price) is reasonably close to the guide price, I
invariably take it. Most times it will shorten, but often it will stay the same and if
there is a lot of money for other horses, the price can even drift out (and yes you will
get annoyed when you don’t get the best price).
Recently, I was given a bet with a guide price of 5-2. Somehow I missed the opening
show of 3-1, I missed the 5-2, and by the time I got my bet on I was offered 2-1. With
all my years of experience, I was confident the price would drift out, so I decided not
to take the 2-1 and opted for SP instead. The horse won and yes you’ve guessed it -
the SP was 6-4. How can you win £300 and still look miserable? Just accept the fact
that you can’t get it right every time.
Earlier on in this lesson, I gave you an example of a typical bet and it was referred to
as a “recommended bet”. Whichever tipping service you subscribe to you will find
that bets are often graded in one way or another, or to put it another way they are
given different values.
For example, Isiris have “recommended” bets and “maximum” bets.
Other companies grade their bets in relation to your stake money. You could have a
“1 point bet” for ordinary bets and a “2 point bet” for those tips they feel are going to
be particularly successful. Remember, in our system, ‘one point’ represents one
twentieth of your bank. You should never be betting more than 1/20th of your
bank at any one time.
Throughout the season your chosen company is bound to have some races when they
have inside information on a ‘guaranteed’ winner. In such circumstances different
companies will refer to the bet in different ways - a “double maximum” for example,
or maybe a “three point bet”.
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This means that the quality of the advice is higher than usual. Yes it probably does
mean your chances of winning are higher than normal but don’t get carried away with
your enthusiasm or indeed their enthusiasm. Always stay with the suggested stake and
never try to win back any previous losses on one race. This is horse racing and
despite what anyone tells you nothing is a dead cert - and I mean nothing.
Never, ever, and I mean never bet more than you can afford to lose.
If I could only give you one piece of advice for the rest of your gambling days, it
would be this;
“Never try to make big money from one race - make modest money slowly, from
a lot of races and this will build over time into big money.”
If a race is so important to you that the horse must win - then you’ve bet more than
you can afford to lose. If you only remember this one thing, then gambling on horses
will give you lots of pleasure and lots of money.
Anyway, back to the plot, and on to my third recommendation.
Another Tipping Service For Consideration
This month I would like to tell you about another tipping service called “The
Clevelander”.
Those of you who have subscribed to the Racing Information Database may well be
considering this company already as they have made regular appearances in the
“Racing Information Database Top 10”.
There are several reasons why I feel that they are worthy of your consideration, not
least the fact that the service is extremely well priced at the moment.
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The current low price means that it will be attractive if you are on a restricted budget.
The Clevelander offers a totally different service to that offered by Isiris and without
any embarrassment for the worst pun yet, this really is a case of horses for courses.
If you really like what I have had to say over the last four lessons but don’t have
a betting bank of any value to get started, then The Clevelander has the perfect
answer. Meanwhile for those of you who do have sufficient funds to place significant
bets they offer a similar service to Isiris as well.
Let me quickly run through the options available:
Clevelander Services, Platinum Line
“The Platinum Line” is what The Clevelander describes as a Computerised Staking
Plan, and at the time of writing is around £300 per year.
Each day the company gives out approximately three bets for you to follow. They
also tell you how much to bet on each race with a view to give you a minimum profit
of £50 per week. Of course you could double every stake in order to make £100 per
week. Now I know this is really small fry for a lot of you, but if you have very little
cash this is a great way to build up a reasonable betting account over the next few
months. Then you can use these profits to follow the advice given in this training
course.
The computerised staking plan is different from everything I’ve taught you so far in
one very significant way. Although you are given three bets each day, you stop
betting at the first winning horse.
The information is given out at about 1.00 p.m. each day and because the stakes tend
to be relatively small you can place all your bets early if you like by taking the SP.
The service tends to back horses with quite long odds (anything from 5-1 to 33-1 is
quite common) and from my experience of both using, and monitoring this service, it
is consistently profitable. I would recommend this system if you have little or no
resources and a need to build up a reasonable betting account before moving on to the
more expensive services.
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Premier Line - 12 Bets Per Month
The Pemier Line is very similar to the Isiris service in that you only get around twelve
bets a month. For my money this is far better service than ‘the platinum line’ is for
those of you with busy schedules (i.e. 9-5 jobs).
The “Premier Line” service has regularly appeared in the Racing Information
Database Top 10 and is often at the number 1 position.
Considering this service is currently less than £500 a year, I think that this is
remarkable value.
Of course there’s no such thing as a free lunch and although the subscription fees are
incredibly low, there is a downside. On this service you will be asked to place an
additional £10 bet for the company - this is called an 'odds to' service. If the horse
wins you will be asked to send the profit from this £10 bet back to the company.
Some of you may prefer this because it means the cost of joining is kept low and you
only have to pay out each time you get a winner. Over the course of the year you will
probably pay more with this system that you would with Isiris but the initial low
subscription fee and the ‘pay as you go’ idea will appeal to a lot of people. (Note: If
you don't like the idea of an 'odds to' service, Clevelander will offer you a
subscription only option - ask for urrent prices when you call.)
I think it’s fair to say that The Clevelander’s willingness to trust you to send the
winnings on the extra £10 bet is a reflection of their confidence in your continued
support. Clearly their customers are very happy with the service. If you think that The
Clevelander would be of interest to you, then contact Lawrence on 01642 897698.
You will find the service very laid back but extremely friendly. I’m sure in two years
from now the fees will have doubled (and quite rightly in my opinion)!
Maximising Profits
16
This month I want to spend a little time looking at your betting profits, and most
importantly making sure you get the maximum profit from each bet you place.
You will often hear people talking about “value betting” and getting good value is
fundamental to your success.
There is often a misconception amongst punters that this game is all about picking
winning horses. Now obviously there is a lot of truth in that but I want to get you into
a totally different way of thinking about betting on horses.
Let’s establish one thing from the start - there is no such thing as a guaranteed
winner. There are simply too many variables. Even if a top-class race horse were to
race against five donkeys, the outcome would not be certain - the race horse could fall
and break a leg, for example. And don’t think for one moment that you are the only
person on this earth to have ‘inside information’.
You wouldn‘t believe what goes on behind the scenes of the horse racing circuit and
if you think that you are the only person to know the probable outcome of a particular
race, then you are seriously fooling yourself.
Just stop for one moment to consider some of the variables;
1. Have you ever woken in the morning feeling slightly off colour or maybe you just
couldn’t be bothered to get ‘up and at them’? Well, don’t you think horses feel the
same way sometimes? It only takes a minor bug in the stable and that “dead cert” in
the 1.50 at Windsor suddenly looks a lot less appealing.
2. That outsider at 50-1 that has run so badly on the last six outings - is it just
conceivable that the owner or the jockey knows something you don’t? Perhaps it will
‘miraculously’ shine at this particular race, almost as though it previously had been
held back.
3. That sudden unexpected downpour that has changed the going from good to soft -
has that worked in your favour or against you? A horse that likes firm ground is going
to struggle in the wet. Conversely other horses may prefer the going to be soft and
benefit from the sudden change of conditions.
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Do you see where all this is heading? And that’s why I said earlier you should
never risk more than one twentieth of your bank on any one horse.
Now, I do accept that there will be times in the season when your tipping service is
particularly advantaged by information it has received on a specific race. In these
circumstances you may be advised that the bet is a “two point stake” or a “double
maximum” or whatever. If on these (rare) occasions you double your bet to one tenth
of your betting bank that’s fine - but don’t go any further.
If we are saying that there is no such thing as a sure fire winner, how on earth can I
possibly guarantee you the sort of profits we’ve been talking about in this course?
Well this is where ‘value betting’ comes in.
Value Betting
All of the tipping services refer to their success in two ways. First of all, how much
profit they have made, and secondly in terms of their “strike rate”.
The strike rate is a key weapon in your armoury. If a company has a 30% strike rate
(which is quite typical) this means that 1 in 3 bets will win. Now, if the typical price
for these bets is 6-4, you will lose money. If the typical price is 5-1, you will win
money.
Value betting is all about picking horses that are at better odds than they should
be. This is quite a hard concept for newcomers to grasp but it can be best summarised
in the following way:
“If you consistently bet on horses at a better price that the horse is worth (i.e. 10-1
when it should be 5-1) you will make consistent profits.”
Of course this doesn’t mean to say that every horse will win. In fact in the above
example the horse has a five to one chance against, so it’s by no means a foregone
conclusion that it will win, but value betting means that your returns are far
greater when it does win. The bottom line is that if you are backing what should
be a 5-1 horse at 10-1 you will make big profits in the long term.
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I think it’s easy for you to see now how a good tipping service can make you money
in different ways. It’s not just a case of knowing which horses have an above average
chance of winning, it’s also a case of knowing which horses are priced above their
true value.
Hopefully, this knowledge will help you enormously in understanding why you are
given certain bets and why you can’t expect every horse to win.
How Good Prices Can Double Your Profits
Now, it should be obvious that if you regularly back horses at 5-1 that everyone else
is backing at 5-2, you will literally double your profits.
So how exactly do you get the best price. Let’s look at three different scenarios;
betting at the time of the race; betting on the day of the race; and finally placing a bet
several weeks or even months before the race (these are called ante-post bets).
Betting at the Time of the Race
This is the one that requires the most skill and judgement on your part. I don’t want to
turn this lesson into an anorak’s bible for odds assessment but I would like to give
you a few key pointers.
The first thing to consider is that the first show (or the first price displayed) is the
bookies’ “guess” at a reasonable price for each horse. The market, or thousands of
punters around the country will then decide whether or not to back at those prices. If
money pours in for a particular horse the price will shorten, if nobody likes the horse,
or more accurately, the horse at that price, then the price will drift out.
Now bear in mind the following, sometimes conflicting, patterns:-
1. If anything, the first show tends to be rather short. That means the price will
normally improve or “drift out”.
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2. If a lot of money goes on a horse the price will quickly shorten, often in a series of
small steps.
3. If the price for three or four of the horses drift out, the price for the other horses
may well shorten.
4. If the price for three or four of the leading horses shorten, the price for the other
horses will often drift out.
(‘Shorten’ means that the odds get worse. ‘Drift Out’ means that the odds improve or
lengthen.) But remember, that those are only guidelines. Every race is different, but if
you watch enough races you will start to see patterns that will help you with your
betting.
If you have joined one of the big tipping services the sheer weight of numbers, and
the large amounts of money involved will affect the price. After a while you will be
able to estimate the affect of your particular syndicate on the price. What you
don’t know is how many other people, including other tipping services, are aware of
the information you have been given.
I know all of this is very much for the horse racing enthusiast and since you might
never go near a betting shop or bother to watch teletext you might not be interested in
this fine detail. However, I would recommend you take a little bit of time now and
then to watch the prices, maybe when you have a Saturday bet for example, I think
you’ll find it most interesting.
Okay, so let’s look at some easier ways of getting a good price. There are two
possibilities here - early prices and ante-post prices.
Early prices are when prices are given out in the morning for racing in the afternoon,
and ante-post prices are early prices for races later that week, month or even later that
season.
I get really excited about ante-post bets because the price tends to be so good. There’s
nothing like a 25-1 winner to get your profits going through the roof! Both Isiris and
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The Clevelander have ante-post bets at these prices and you’ll just love it when you
get some of these bets.
But be warned, there is a downside - since you are placing a bet on a race that is two
weeks or even 2 months away, a hell of a lot can happen between you placing your
bet and the day of the race. The horse may be ill, the ground may change for the
worse, or the owner may decide not to race the horse at all. In all these cases say
goodbye to your stake because you don’t get your money back if the horse
doesn’t run.
Despite all of the pitfalls, the odds you get still make it worthwhile.
The same applies to early prices but here the chances of the horse not running are
greatly reduced. Even a change in the weather is less likely over an eight hour period
and so early prices will be a great way of getting good odds without the risks
associated with ante-post bets. Finally, always remember that you’ve got three
betting accounts not one. One of the reasons for opening more that one account is
that the price difference, particularly on early prices and ante-post bets is significant.
If you have the time, always phone around for the best price before placing your bet.
It costs you nothing but the difference it will make to your profits is enormous. More
good stuff next month including a review of big meetings like Cheltenham and the
Grand National. Gambler’s paradise or a graveyard for the unwary? Are these races
that would interest you? All will be revealed.
There is a lot of material in this lesson and I strongly suggest that you reread all four
lessons for your ‘homework’ this month.
See you next month.
Lesson 5
Avoiding The Pitfalls
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used,
or the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
2
Introduction
Hello again and welcome to Lesson 5.
First of all, thanks for your kind letters and it's great for me to hear how much you
are enjoying the course and, more importantly, just how much money you are
making.
Let’s make no bones about it - this is the reason why we are all interested in this
horse racing malarkey and that’s what keeps us all motivated. Money!
I’ve had one letter from a gentleman in Manchester who’s using his betting profits to
pay for a luxury holiday in America (for his family of five) after only 3 months of
following this course - but he says none of his friends believe him.
Tell me about it! Sometimes it’s like trying to sell £10 notes for a fiver. People just
don’t believe you. If you remember in lesson one I said that most of my efforts would
be spent in trying to convince you that my system worked.
It also seems to me that while half of the British population is complaining they
haven’t got enough money to last them to the end of the month, most of them
are just too idle to get off their arses and actually do anything about it - even
when given the method!
I won’t bleat on about it, especially as I’m preaching to the converted, but if you are
one of these who have written in to say “thanks” - why don’t you give yourself a pat
on the back for actually taking some positive action to improve the state of your
bank account. Well done!!!
This month’s lesson is important because I’m going to teach you how to avoid some
of the pitfalls you might encounter over the coming season and I’m also going to
look at the big events like the Cheltenham Festival and the Daddy of all race
meetings, The Grand National, to see what opportunities they offer.
More on that later.
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Now, if you’re anything like me, you probably get about a dozen pieces of junk mail
through your letter box every week. Some people seem to get really upset about this,
but I can’t say I give a damn, most of it goes straight into the bin anyway, either
unopened or maybe given just a cursory glance. Let’s be honest, the majority of it is
pretty dire and since the demise of the ‘big slipper’ I don’t even get a laugh out of it
these days. (The ‘big slipper’ you’ll recall was a huge oversize woolly thing that you
put both feet in while watching television. Come on, own up, someone must have
bought them!)
This week my letterbox was host to no less that three promotional leaflets on ‘how to
win money on the horses’. Now there’s a funny thing. I know I must be on the
mailing list of just about every betting company in the country but what’s prompted
this sudden surge in activity?
One of the reasons for the interest in making money from horse racing, or indeed any
other form of proven gambling is the current uncertainty with the more traditional
ways of investing your hard earned wonga.
How low will the FTSE 100 actually go? Will the USA drag the whole world into
recession? What's happening in the gold market? Is interest on your savings actually
worth anything these days? Will your endowment be worth enough even to pay off
your mortgage in twenty years time? Probably not!
There’s growing demand for faster ways of making the most of your money and
there are very few opportunities around that are tax free. So bearing in mind this
current deluge I thought I would start off this month's lesson with a salutary warning:
BEWARE OF TIPPING SERVICES BEARING STRANGE
GIFTS AND TALKING BOLLOCKS!
“Hang on a minute!” I hear you say, “Isn’t this the guy who started the course by
extolling the virtues of a good tipping service?” Yes that’s me alright, but if you
remember I laid down two very important criteria.
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1. The company must have a long proven track record.
2. They must guarantee their pedigree by proofing all their bets to the Racing
Information Database or a similar organisation to make sure everything is above
board.
Before you get any further into this course, I want to point out a few things you
should be aware of, or should I say beware of:
What is the True Cost of Your Chosen Tipping Service?
In my opinion, the ideal tipping service charges between £400 and £1,000 per
year and gives out around 12 bets per month. Now, some services are much,
much cheaper than this to join, in fact some can be as little as £50 or £100 a year but
they ask you to place an additional bet for them on each tip they give you. This
is called an ‘odds to’ service since you pay the tipping company the winnings from
an additional bet at the odds given on the race.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with this type of service provided
the additional stake you have to make for the company is reasonably low (for
example The Clevelander as mentioned last month is only £10) and providing the
strike rate is reasonably high. In fact I think this is a great way of starting off if you
can’t afford to join one of the more costly ‘up front’ services.
So why the warning? Well, the problem is some tipping services these days are
asking you to place a whopping £50 bet for them on each tip given, the profits of
which go to the company. This may sound appealing if the joining fee is low, but
over the course of the year this will work out to be an extremely expensive
option - far dearer than paying a one off fee up front.
Just look at these startling figures on ‘odds to’ services for a moment:
10 bets per month (say) @ £50 per bet for the company = £500 per month. Therefore
the cost for the year is 12 x £500 = £6,000 plus any up front joining fee.
5
If you decide to go for this kind of service just make sure the strike rate is high
enough, and the profits large enough for you to still make a profit.
By comparison, most ‘money up front’ tipping services are relatively cheap
(compared to your winnings) and a good one will make you enough money in the
first month to completely pay for the whole year’s subscription anyway.
Is your tipping service quoting profits for the week, for the month or for the
entire season?
Every week you’ll see the sporting press is full of adverts from ‘Flash Harry’
claiming yet another 16-1 winner. The truth is that anyone who regularly tips
horses is bound to have at least one good week. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean
to say they’ll ever have another good week and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a
thousand times - DON’T BE FOOLED BY SHORT TERM WINNING TIPPING
SERVICES PROMISING THE EARTH.
If you find you’ve joined a losing tipping service - swallow your pride, cut your
losses and move on to new pastures.
Believe me, you’ll soon know if you’ve picked a lemon. I accept that all tipping
services have losing spells but you must quickly realise if you’ve picked a complete
dud. If you have, just cut your losses and trade up to a better company. Here are
some of the warning signs that you’re with the wrong company:
Clue 1: Promises to recover recent losses with just one good bet.
Okay, it’s theoretically possible, but in practice this rarely happens. A good tipping
service will never promise this and when times are bad they will usually reduce the
number of bets they have until things settle down. Remember - a good tipping
service will always try and recover losses slowly over a period of time.
6
Clue 2: Confusing telephone messages often mentioning several horses in the same
race.
Many tipping services are prone to ‘muddying the waters’. This can be done in many
ways and new subscribers can often be fooled into thinking that they simply didn’t
understand the message.
This is a very successful way of conning new subscribers (and indeed old ones too)
into thinking they are having a successful month when in fact they are doing quite
badly, this is why it’s essential for you to keep good records of all your bets.
Clue 3: Claiming horses were available at better odds than you ever seem to
achieve.
This is one of the best cons going. Over time you’ll soon learn that getting the best
price for each and every one of your bets is one of the easiest ways of significantly
increasing your profits. Look out for companies that claim their winners were
available at more favourable odds than you achieved.
They don’t actually lie. They just pick the best odds for their winning horses from
all the prices that were available before the race.
A good tipping service will always show its results based on a price that the average
punter could get without too much difficulty.
Let me give you an example of how this particular ‘sleight of hand’ works so you’ll
recognise it when you see it.
Let’s imagine that you are given a tip with a guide price of 4-1. The opening show is
4-1 and, of course you take it. The price doesn’t change for five or even six minutes
and then, just before the off, the price suddenly drifts out to 9-2.
If you’re with a reputable tipping service, they will show the 4-1 price on their results
at the end of the week - not the 9-2 price. After all, who would have waited until the
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very last second before placing their bet? And of course, if in the last few seconds the
price shortened to 7-2, guess which price they will claim after the race has been won?
Yes, you’ve guessed it, 4-1.
I’m sure you’re starting to see that by choosing the best prices from all of those
available during the betting, a rogue tipping company can easily make its profits look
far better than any of its subscribers are actually achieving. Avoid this sort of
company at all costs. You’ll know if you are with the right company if they use
typical prices whenever they show their results at the end of the week, or month, or
whenever they declare their results and profits.
I won’t spend any more time on this just now because I’m sure you’ve taken my
advice so far in this course and I’ve no doubt that you’ve chosen a quality tipping
company. Do remember though, if the company you have chosen starts to act in any
way that you feel is less than 100% honest and professional, write and tell them your
views immediately. People power is a wonderful thing, so don’t get fobbed off.
If you don’t get the service you think you deserve, simply take your business
elsewhere.
The Less You Know About Racing - The More Money You Make.
This month I want to review a point that was made very early on in this course. At
this point you should be feeling a little more comfortable with placing bets and are
starting to feel that you (now) know a thing or two about racing.
But can I please remind you that you probably wouldn’t know a winning horse
if it walked past you in the high street - and can we please keep it that way?
Every student I have ever taught always goes through a period when they start to
think they know a thing or two about betting on horses - usually
because their betting account is starting to look rather impressive. Mistake! BIG
mistake.
8
Usually at around the sixth month mark they decide to mention to a friend or work
mate that all this extra money they have is a result of their horse racing activities and
‘their’ ability to pick winners.
“Wow, tell me more! How much money do you actually make?” they ask and within
a very short period of time, stories of 10-1 winner and maximum bets start to emerge.
It doesn’t take much more than a couple of pints down the local and most blokes just
can’t help themselves.
WARNING *** WARNING *** WARNING
Soon you start to think that you know better than the tipping service that has actually
made you all this money in the first place. Time for a reality check. Whose
knowledge gave you the winners? Yours? I think not. You merely (and correctly)
followed instructions.
Please, please, please recognise this when it happens and do something about it.
As soon as you start thinking you know a thing or two about this horse racing
malarkey this is what will happen:
First of all you start to grade the tips you are given, (based of course on your
distinguished betting career so far, coupled with your superlative knowledge about
picking winners). Without doubt, every student I’ve ever had has made this mistake
at least once.
Suddenly, you know best!
The next thing you know is that your stakes start to vary because you think the horse
is a particularly good choice or a particularly bad choice.
“Odds on favourite, I’m not backing that.”
“16-1 chance, I think I’ll stick a bit extra on that.”
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“Split bet eh? They expect me to back 3 horses in the same race? I’m not
doing that.” ………….. and so on!
You’ll soon know when you’re starting to go off the rails. When the results come in
for the week or the month and your profit isn’t what it should be, you just know
someone’s been tinkering with the stakes.
Here’s what to do.
If the day comes when you don’t take a bet that your tipping service has given you,
AND THEN THE HORSE ACTUALLY LOSES, then I suggest you stop gambling
immediately and start your own tipping service instead. You obviously have superior
knowledge to the fifty man-decades of experience going into running a first class
tipping service.
Don't Fool Yourself
After all these years of betting, I still follow every tip I am given to the letter because
I know that even when a horse loses, the tipping service that gave me the losing bet
will always know a thousand times more about picking a winner than I ever will!
Remember the spinning coin weighted in favour of ‘heads’? The ‘tip’ is to bet on
heads every spin even though you will get some runs of tails. Only an utter moron
would start betting on tails because he felt he ‘knew’ when a run of tails was coming.
The tip is ‘heads’ - that’s what you follow. The trick is to win long term, not every
bet. Nobody can win every bet.
Okay, on the subject of picking winners, let’s have a look at two of the most popular
events on the racing calendar - The Cheltenham Festival and, probably the most well
known of all racing events - The Grand National.
Cheltenham and the National
An opportunity or a graveyard for punters?
10
If I had a pound for every time I’ve been asked about these two events, I could
probably retire tomorrow.
During the run up to The Grand National, my phone will be red hot as a result of
endless calls from friends and family, (and people I’ve never even heard of) and they
all want one thing - “can you give me a tip for the National please?”
Do me a favour!
If there is one race in the entire year that you should probably leave well alone, it
would have to be The Grand National. For a start it’s one of the most gruelling races
in the world and when one of the 150-1 outsiders falls at the first, there’s not a lot
you can do if your ‘dead cert’ horse is eight feet behind it. You’ve only got to look
at the size of those jumps to realise that this really is anyone’s race. Secondly,
because the race attracts so much attention, the chance of finding a hidden gem or an
underpriced horse is pretty remote.
The same goes for Cheltenham. How could you ever hope to find real value when
the whole country is picking over the form of every horse in every race?
When there are so many other opportunities for a tipping service to find lucrative
winners, why would anyone be interested in the most studied meetings of them all?
Quite frankly if my tipping service started to talk about how much money it was
going to make me from either The National or the Cheltenham Festival, I would
probably be tempted to cancel my subscription there and then.
I know for a fact that one very well known tipping service lost its members over
twenty points in four days at the Cheltenham Festival, so be warned.
Cheltenham can be a real graveyard for the unwary.
11
Now I don’t want to leave this chapter on a complete downer, so is there anything
good I can say about the bigger and better known events that make up the racing
calendar?
The one thing that both The National the Cheltenham Festival offer is the opportunity
to get some very good ante post prices. In fact I’ve collected on 50-1 chances before
now by taking very early prices but do remember the risk. 50-1 prices are very
lucrative when they win, but you have to accept the fact that if you back a horse six
weeks before the event there’s no guarantee the horse will even be entered for the
race, never mind get its head first past the post.
I always treat both events as a bit of fun and something of a holiday from my usual
serious betting interests. After all who can resist a bit of a
flutter on such marvellous racing occasions?
Betting When You Are Out of the Country
On the subject of holiday, can I also bring to your attention the fact that it’s very easy
to keep your betting account running even when you are out of the country or away
on business.
Not only that, but you can make your calls for free!
Not many people realise that you can call all of the major bookmakers absolutely free
of charge by using international freephone numbers. (Now come on guys, it doesn’t
get any cheaper than free!)
So next time you’re away on business or pleasure, take these telephone numbers with
you and make sure you don’t miss out on any big winners.
I’ve only listed the numbers for the Tote Credit Club this month otherwise this lesson
will turn into a telephone directory - more freephone numbers next month.
International Freephone Numbers
12
Tote Credit Club
From Dial
Austria 0800 29 72 49
Barbados 1-800-534-0044
Belgium 00 800 33 825825
USA & Canada 011-800-33-825825
Denmark 00-800-33-825825
France 00-800-33-825825
Germany 00-800-33-825825
Ireland 00-800-33-825825
Switzerland 00-800-33-825825
Finland 990-800-33-825825
Italy 800 873620
Netherlands 0800-022-0419
Norway 001-800-33-825825
Portugal 00 800 33 825825
Spain 900-984445
Sweden 009-800-33-825825
Please note - when using these numbers you only need to dial the number I have
given above, you do not need to add on an international code.
Also, when using payphones, you may need to insert a coin, but this should be
refunded at the end of the call. Obviously numbers are likely to change so I
recommend you check the latest numbers before going abroad.
Finally this month, I’ve had a request from my publisher (the original ‘he who must
be obeyed’) asking that I explain in my own much loved and admired style, why on
earth we are having ‘each way bets’ on horses with odds of only 5-2 or even shorter
in some cases.
The reason that this concerns him, and possibly you may feel this too, is that if you
back a horse each way at 5-2, and the bookie is paying one fifth of the odds for the
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first three - you will actually lose money if the horse gets placed. You would only
make money if the horse wins.
So why do we do it? Surely we should be putting all of our money to win - not
splitting it into an each way bet?
To answer the question, it’s fair to say that most punters just don’t use each way
betting to their advantage and you need a major mental rethink to get your head
round this one. Ready……..?
Most punters think each way betting is for horses at long odds - say 10-1 or better.
The argument is that you make huge profits if it wins and medium profits if it’s
placed.
Now that sounds sensible doesn’t it?
In reality, mug punters tend to be victims of each way betting rather than profit from
the advantage it can give them.
Mug punters often use each way bets when they are not confident a horse is good
enough to win. If they double their stake to cope with the each way element, they
stand to lose twice as much. If they halve their bet, then they only win half as much.
That’s why bookmakers encourage you to place each way bets.
Let me quote Kevin Booth, one of the country’s leading experts on each way betting
and a man who has taken literally millions of pounds from bookmakers over the
years.
“One of my own rules of thumb in sorting professional punters from mug punters
when they are talking to me is to float the idea of each way betting at 5-2 or 3-1.
Those that pooh pooh the thought are guaranteed to be the regular losers in this
business.”
14
So having told you not to back each way in competitive races (as a general rule) let
me tell you when you should back each way.
The first occasion is when the race is so uncompetitive that your horse is almost
certain to be placed.
Let me give you an example of that. We recently looked at a very uncompetitive 8
runner field with the following prices: Evens, 5-2, 11-2, 20-1, and the rest outsiders.
With only the two favourites fancied (i.e. the evens horse and the 5-2 horse) both
horses were almost certain to be placed.
At the prices given, the ‘value bet’ was clearly the 5-2 horse, especially as there were
suspicions about the staying power of the ‘talking horse’ (i.e. the evens favourite).
Given 1/5 the odds at 5-2, the each way theory goes like this:
50 pounds to win at 5-2 returns 175 pounds.
50 pounds to place at 1-2 returns 75 pounds.
In other words, we stake 100 pounds total, but the most we can lose is 25 pounds.
If the horse wins, as expected, you collect 175+75=250 pounds, which is a net profit
of 150 pounds after deducting your stake.
Therefore you are risking 25 pounds to gain a possible 150 pounds - odds of 6-1
on a 5-2 chance!!!
How many times does a bookmaker offer you a 6-1 against a horse quoted at 5-2?
With value like that you will always make a profit from horse racing if you know
what you are doing.
Read through that example several times until you thoroughly understand it.
15
The second situation where each way betting works is the mathematical each way
bet. Now I know this might lose you, but this is how it works, (hang on to your hat
readers - Kevin juggles numbers like a chancellor on ecstasy).
For example, a five runner race with odds of 2-5, 7-2, 20-1, 20-1, 20-1.
That’s what is known as betting to 109% - in other words, a 9% profit margin to the
bookmaker. (The mathematically inclined amongst you can work this out for
yourselves by means of the following calculation: If you bet £1.00 on the favourite at
odds of 2-5 the return is £1.40. Turn this into a percentage (100/1.4) = 71.42%. Do
this for all five horses and you get 109%.)
For a ‘place bet’ the bookmaker is paying one quarter of the odds. So for place
betting the odds are 2-20, 7-8, 20-4, 20-4, 20-4
That adds up to 194%, but since 2 horses are placed, divide by 2 to get 97% which is
12% less to the bookmakers!!
(Editors note: I’m beginning to see why we pay this man for our tipping information
now).
That is why bookmakers price these races up very late, often just 2 minutes before
the off - because you could back every horse in the race to get placed and still make a
profit.
So you can see that each way betting is much more complicated that you might have
imagined - it is not to be used because you are not confident enough to back a horse
to win in a competitive race. Each way betting is probably the most profitable
weapon of all in a punter's armoury if he knows how to use it properly. You don’t
have to understand these explanations. I just want you to realise that there is a lot
behind these tips you receive.
16
Many thanks to Kevin for those comments and you can see why I have quoted his
own words. The man is rapidly becoming a legend in horse racing circles and it’s
good to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth (God, I must stop doing that).
Well, after last month’s mammoth edition I promised ‘he who must be obeyed’ that I
would keep this month’s lesson to a reasonable length.
Don’t forget to make yourself a Betting Form like the sample below, and make sure
you use it regularly to keep details of all your bets.
More exciting stuff next month.
See you then.
Sample Betting Form
Date Stake Selection
Price Result Return Profit Total A/c
Lesson 6 "The only difference between success
and failure is discipline."
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
Introduction
2
I'm delighted to say that at the time of writing we have yet another profitable month
behind us and once again I must thank all of you for your very kind letters. Don't
forget though, we do have the occasional bad month as well so please stick to those
level stakes at all times.
Remarkably, I did have cause to speak to a disgruntled client earlier this week (shock,
horror, amazement) and I want to share it with you because it really was a salutary
lesson. In fact I was so amazed by what this guy had to say that it made me wonder if
this was just a 'one-off' or whether there were any other people out there in the same
category.
Basically this guy phoned me up to say that he already knew absolutely everything in
this course and he didn't feel that he was getting value for money. I was amazed.
Especially after the results we've had over the last 12 months. How could anyone
not be getting good value?
I asked him how much he was currently making from horse racing and how much he
had made last season.
And do you know the answer? Zilch. Zero. Absolutely bugger all. In fact worse
than that, he had actually lost money this season and last season and the season before
that...
How could this be? If this guy already knows everything I've written in the course
how could he possibly be losing money.
There had to be a damn good reason. Now, they say that knowledge equals power -
but that's really only half the story. The real truth is that knowledge alone isn't power
at all, it's only when you use that knowledge that you can ever hope to make things
happen.
It's not what we know that counts, it's how well we use that knowledge that will
determine how successful we are. And we're all guilty of making this sort of mistake -
I know, I've done it and you've done it, probably many times.
3
We get parking tickets because we park on double yellow lines. Of course we know
what double yellow lines mean. They mean "don't park", but we chose not to act on
our knowledge.
We get speeding tickets because we break the speed limit. Of course we know what
the speed limit is. It means that if we go faster than the limit, we run he risk of losing
our licence. But we chose to ignore that knowledge.
We get fat because we eat too much and don't exercise enough. Of course we know
about calories and cholesterol, and all that stuff. But we don't act on our knowledge,
so that knowledge is useless - it might as well not be in our brain.
We suffer for years with horrible malignant cancers and thousands of people die every
year from smoking. Of course we know that smoking damages our health. But...
Do I need to go on?
If only people would use the information they are given, what a different world we
would all live in.
Now go back and look at the title of this months lesson: "The only
difference between success and failure is discipline".
Read that again. It's one of the most powerful sentences and one of the most powerful
ideas you could ever subscribe to. (Editor: Hang on, what's this got to do with horse
racing?)
Stay with me for a minute - this is important!
The problem for the average person is how to translate that idea into his or her
everyday life.
Let me give you an obvious example. I'm writing this lesson at 7.50 on a Wednesday
evening. Why? Am I doing it for altruistic reasons? No certainly not. I know this
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course will make you huge amounts of money - disproportionate to the small sum of
money you are paying me for it. But that's not why I'm doing it. I'm writing it
because it makes me money. I want to improve my lot - I want to buy the clothes that
I want, to eat in the best restaurants, I want to drive the best cars - I want to be worth a
bob or two when I retire.
So to get these things, I'm prepared to put myself out - make an effort.
So what's that go to do with discipline?
Well absolutely everything really. You see nobody is making me do this. I'm under no
pressure from anyone else but myself, I could put my pen down right now, nip off to
the pub and have a nice relaxing evening with my mates. So, I'm doing this of my
own volition. I'm giving up my Wednesday evening to make my life better in the
future. In fact you could say I'm investing for the future. The investment is in "Me
Ltd". For this I need to be self disciplined.
And here's an interesting thought. While I'm doing it, 16 million people are watching
Coronation Street...
This is the same 16 million people who watch Coronation Street every Monday night
as well. They are the same 16 million people who will watch it every Friday and
probably watch it every Sunday as well. In fact, if they have to go out somewhere,
they'll probably record it on the video recorder and then watch it later.
Now if you don't get the point, let me explain one more thing. There's absolutely
nothing wrong with watching Coronation Street - or any other soap or indeed any
other television program for that matter, I'm just pointing out that if you really want to
achieve something (as opposed to moaning that you want more from life), you've got
to do something to make it happen - simply knowing isn't enough - you need to be
doing.
Okay, now let's get back to my disgruntled reader.
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A fine example if ever there was one of someone having the knowledge but not acting
upon it.
Now there's a very interesting point here that really does need spelling out.
Most people spend their lives acquiring knowledge and very little time acting on it or
using it. Think about it for a moment. Just look at the incredible volume of
information that pours into our lives every day.
* Millions of newspapers are bought every day, (we even get them posted free through
the front door).
* We get 24 hour news from around the world on television and on radio. * We have
televisions in the lounge, in the bedroom, and in the kitchen.
* We have direct access to that huge electronic library in the sky called the Internet.
* Computers are now everywhere - in schools, at home and just about everywhere at
work.
Never have we had access to so much information in the entire history of mankind
and yet how much of that information do we put to good use?
You see it's not more information you need to make you successful, it's more action
you need to turn these ideas into a reality.
Let me ask you a question. How many friends do you have who are endlessly talking
about their knowledge but never seem to achieve anything in life? In fact the more
knowledgeable people become, the less they seem to achieve.
I've got one friend in particular who is an absolute expert on any subject you could
mention (I'm sure you know the type). Every social occasion is perceived by this guy
as a military exercise during which his mission is to ensure that everyone in the room
recognises the fact that he knows more than everyone else. You name the subject and
he's been there, done it and got the T-shirt. And the irony is he has achieved very little
in his life. Who cares if he knows 100 times more than me? He doesn't earn 100 times
more than me. The truth is he earns a lot less than I do and it will always be that way.
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You see, it's not what you know, but how you use that knowledge that determines
whether you will be successful or not.
A communication guru by the name of Peter Thomson calls this "Performance
Efficiency Quotient." Peter states that your success in life can be measured by
multiplying what you know, by how well you use that knowledge, multiplied by
how often you use that knowledge.
The bottom line is you need to act - you need to actually do something, not talk about
doing something.
The remarkable thing is you don't need to be Einstein - in fact it's a positive
disadvantage if you are - you just need to act.
I know that if you are one of those readers who have acted on my advise you will
already be well on your way to improving your personal finances. Once you learn
how to make money it's not a skill you will ever lose. That's why you are always
reading about the self made millionaire who lost the lot and now he's a millionaire
again. It's like riding a bike.
Only people who are given money will lose it, people who make money once can
always make it again. So where does that leave you?
Kickstart Yourself Into Action
Okay, here's the action plan for the those of you who are still sitting on the side lines
wishing you had more wonga in your back pocket.
1. Open 2 or 3 betting accounts with Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral or The Tote
(remember this costs absolutely nothing to do). Do it now - not next week.
2. Deposit as much cash as you can comfortably afford into a new bank account and
keep this account purely for your new betting business.
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3. Join the Racing Information Database (£90 per year) to find out who are the top 10
racing tipsters and then subscribe to one of those leading services based on their
performance and product. Alternatively subscribe to one of my recommended tipsters.
4. Follow the advice in this course to the letter. A tipping service alone is not enough.
I will give you the discipline and all the tricks of the trade that you need to get the
profits started and keep the money flowing in.
5. Watch your bank account grow. (This is my favourite bit).
6. Do not introduce your own ideas until you are at least £10,000 in profit because by
then you will have learned the correct way of making money from betting on horses
and that's something you will never lose.
Remember, we all need a bit of motivation now and then (sometimes known as a good
kick up the backside) and I hope this will help to kick start you into action, or to keep
you on the straight and narrow if you have already followed my advice so far.
Betting at the Track
Okay, that's the pep talk over, now let's get on with the business of making money.
One area I haven't yet covered is the rather exciting prospect of placing your bets at
the racecourse itself as opposed to using your telephone account or going into the
bookmaker in the High Street. At this stage of your learning whether this appeals to
you or not it is a useful weapon to have in your armoury and you should at least know
the basics.
As you have already learned, your tipping service will often only give details of a bet
some 5 or 10 minutes before the off. Clearly this doesn't give you much chance to
leap in the car, drive 250 miles to the selected race course and then place your bet.
Only by being at the correct racecourse with a mobile phone could you even hope to
place your bet in this way.
But as I will explain later there are times when you will be able to place a bet on the
course itself and there are some significant advantages in being able to do so.
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Unless you are already a seasoned horse racing enthusiast you are probably not aware
that you'll have no problem at all in getting your bet accepted by the bookies at the
track. The huge amounts of cash that change hands on a racecourse are absolutely
staggering and even if you are placing reasonable sized bets you will still be open
mouthed at the size of some of the bets placed by the big players.
Also you'll have an excellent choice of bookies to place your bet with, all within a
few paces. All of the bookies (or turf accountants as they prefer to be called) line up
only a few feet away from one another. The 'prices' are clearly displayed on somewhat
flimsy blackboards which are continually updated as the bookies vie with one another
for the punters hard-earned cash.
Going to a racetrack requires disciplines that have not been covered previously in this
course so please pay attention. The biggest risk to you as a punter is that you get
caught up with the atmosphere and all the things I've taught you so far in this
course go out the window - along with your cash.
In the cold light of day the risks are rather obvious really. After the journey to the
track, (probably with a friend or a loved one) and then the excitement of going into
the racecourse itself, it all seems a bit of a waste if you don't have a bit of a flutter
doesn't it?
The first discipline you must learn is to differentiate between 'account betting' and
pure entertainment betting.
Account Betting
Let's look at account betting first, i.e. those bets that you would normally place on the
phone or at the bookies as a result of information you have received from your tipping
service.
There are times when you know there is going to be a bet at a racecourse because you
have been told in advance. This doesn't happen that often, but often enough to enable
you to make several visits a season to a nearby racecourse. Tipping services will often
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give the location of a particular bet a few days before the race and sometimes a few
hours before the race. Also there will be occasions when the complete bet is given out
in the morning for a race in the afternoon. If you live reasonably close to the course
mentioned you will be well placed to consider having your first bet with real money
and real horses. Everyone should do it at least once - you'll either absolutely love it or
absolutely hate it.
Sometimes you can plan a day at the races without even knowing whether your
tipping service will give you a bet or not and simply take pot luck. If there are only
three or four meetings on that day you have got a reasonable chance of striking lucky.
Now whether you get a tip or not there are some rather obvious distractions. Yep,
you've guessed it - the other five or six races that are going on that day for a start.
I've always found that 3 or 4 gin and tonics also have a remarkable effect on my
wallet. If you're looking for a Golden Rule - don't drink and
gamble. Trying to impress the girlfriend is another well known way of losing a
packet.
Bearing in mind that you are now on Lesson 6 I'm reasonably confident that you
know enough to be able to guess the two golden rules of on-course betting.
Rule 1: You don't bet on every race.
Rule 2: If it's an 'entertainment bet' (as opposed to a money making bet), don't risk
more than the price of a pint of Yorkshire Best (that's £3.50 by the way if you live
south of Watford).
Entertainment Betting
Remember, if you haven't been given a bet by your regular tipping service you
are just another mug punter. Nothing wrong with that, as long as you realise that
this is the category of your bet. Treat this like you would a visit to the casino. You go
in with fifty quid, and expect to lose it. It's the price of admission, if you like. If you
win, it's a bonus, and pure luck - nothing to do with your skill. Entertainment betting
on horses is the same. You're just there for a fun day out. It's a bit of a laugh. You
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place bets on horses because you like the sound of their names. You don't expect to
win. If you DO win, it's a bonus, and nothing to do with your skill.
Are you clear on the difference? Don't go to any racecourse unless you are firmly
aware of which 'mode' you are in - entertainment betting or account betting.
So, how exactly do you place a bet on the course?
Well, you won't have any difficulty spotting the turf accountant, that's for sure. He's
the guy stood on the soap box with his little chalk board which is updated more often
than the government's policy on social security payments. First of all always check
out several different bookies to make sure you get the best possible price. Of course
they all watch each other very closely but when prices shorten you will always find at
least one bookie who is offering a better price than the rest. Sometimes this is because
he wants to - other times it is because he simply hasn't caught up with the general
trend.
Having chosen the bookie with the best price you simply tell him what you want. As
far as phraseology goes, probably something like:
"Thirty quid on 'Sure Fire Winner' please mate" would not be far off the mark. At this
point he will take your thirty quid (cheers John!) and push a small ticket with a
number on it into your hand. He will also repeat the bet loudly and his mate will write
it down in a large ledger.
This all comes as a bit of a shock first time round. Especially if you are used to your
High Street Ladbrokes where you walk away with a nice carbon copy of your bet with
all sorts of useful information like the horses name, the time of the race, the track and
the odds. But now all you've got to show for your money is a something resembling a
raffle ticket at the local summer fete. All rather disconcerting really.
Doesn't exactly fill you with confidence does it? Well no - first time round it doesn't
but don't think he's committed your bet to memory.
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If you were paying attention when you placed the bet you would have noticed that
when he read all those details of the bet back to you there was another guy behind him
writing down the horse, the odds and the wager against the ticket number that you've
just been given.
So you simply stuff the 'raffle ticket' in your pocket and pick your preferred vantage
point to watch the race itself.
There's nothing to beat the thrill of watching your chosen horse thunder first past the
post when you're there in person and there's nothing better than holding a fat wedge of
£20 notes after a successful wager. As I said everyone should do it at least once just to
feel the blood rush through their veins.
But don't forget the golden rule - only play with money you don't mind losing on
all the other races. After a big win, the bookies rely on you becoming 'bet happy' to
get all their money back. Don't fall for it - if you have a big winner, get a bottle of
champagne and a taxi home - don't give it all back because you think you are on a
winning streak. Only mug punters think that there is such a thing as a winning streak.
When you are at a racecourse you will be staggered by the size of some of the bets
that are placed. And believe me there's some funny money around.
Don't Let the Bookies Close You Down
If you are new to racing you will also be amazed to know that the leading bookies
have their own men working the course as well. By this I mean that there will be
representatives of the big bookmakers, carrying huge amounts of money whose job it
is to try and control the price of certain horses by betting on the course.
They do this by betting large sums of money on specific races. Their aim is to distort
the market to the advantage of the bookmaker. This goes on all the time. Let me give
you an example of how this might work.
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Let's imagine they want to stop the price of a particular horse from drifting out. By
betting their own money on that horse they increase the chances of the price
shortening.
While we are on the subject of bookmakers there is some very interesting stuff I want
to share with you about your betting account. For most people who think that they are
nicely concealed in the woodwork - slowly milking the bookies for £10,000 plus a
year - here comes the reality.
Contrary to popular belief, bookmakers do not sit idly on the sidelines, content in the
knowledge that they'll make a big fat profit at the end of the day no matter what they
do. Every potential risk to their profits must be eliminated and they'll go to
extraordinary lengths to protect their business. Despite their huge turnovers, the profit
margins are wafer-thin, hence the need to reduce their exposure as far as possible.
If for example you belong to a successful tipping service you can rest assured that the
major bookmakers will have joined up as well. Of course this doesn't stop you making
money - but it does mean that they have inside knowledge of every bet you will ever
place.
This is how they build up a betting profile on you. Don't think for one minute
that you are one in a million of non-entity punters whose lousy £200 bet goes
unnoticed. No Siree - on the contrary. Within six months of opening your account
they'll have a pretty good profile on both you and the way you bet.
For example they will know:
1. Which tipping service you use by the profile of your bets. (They probably joined
before you did).
2. How much you typically bet on each race.
3. How many bets you will have a month.
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As your profits grow they will carefully monitor how your stake is getting bigger and
bigger. At first this will not be important but later on when your stakes reach several
hundreds of pounds a time you will come under very close scrutiny.
If you haven't taken my advice and you've placed all your bets with the same bookie,
expect the following things to happen:
1. There will be unexplained delays when you try to place your bet.
2. Your bets will have to be 'authorised' by some remote supervisor.
3. Restrictions will be put on the amount of money you can place on a particular bet.
4. You will not be allowed to place an 'each way' bet. You will be offered SP only.
5. You will not be allowed to 'take the price' - you will be offered win only.
6. Eventually your bets will be declined and you will receive a nice polite letter telling
you that your business is no longer required.
That's why you have to spread your bets across a range of bookmakers. Keep them
guessing. Don't let them see a pattern to your betting. Mixing a few cash bets at the
local bookies and the occasional trip to the race course will all help. When you have a
winning run with one bookie move onto another while things cool down.
Now if you think that this is all paranoid nonsense, remember I had one of the major
bookies close me down after I had won a lousy £4,000. Now tell me I'm paranoid.
Here's another tip. Before you even start to get 'pressure' from the bookies, open an
account in your wife or girlfriend's name and use a relatives address for mailing
purposes.
This works very well since the bookies have no link between you and the new
account. Obviously you will need a new bank account in the new name so make sure
you do this with someone you can trust and not the latest girlfriend or boyfriend who
is likely to be off the scene in six months time.
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Remember, the more accounts you have, the less chance you have of standing out
from the crowd, and the longer you will get before the account comes under any
pressure.
Opening Betting Accounts With Independent Bookmakers
The opportunity to get good early prices is another excellent reason for opening as
many accounts as possible. You should understand that different bookmakers offer
early prices for different races and even the early prices on offer for the same race can
vary enormously.
If there are exceptionally good early prices from a company you do not have an
account with, you will have little choice but to sit and watch the price fall lower and
lower as everyone else piles in.
Worse still, you may not even be aware that there are better prices available than
those you are being quoted.
And remember; having another account doesn't oblige you to use it. But it is there
when you need it. Of course it costs absolutely nothing to set up apart from the price
of a telephone call or a second class stamp.
So far in this course I have recommended that you set up accounts only with the
leading High Street bookmakers, but this month I want you to open an account with
one of the larger independent bookmakers.
It may surprise you to know that gambling debts are no recoverable in law. If
you win a huge pile and the bookmaker goes bust, you can say goodbye to your
money. So when you choose an independent bookmaker you should pick a well-
established company who will not disappear if the punters seem to be getting the
upper hand.
There are several well-known independents to choose from, and your Yellow Pages
will offer even more options.
15
Two of the better know independents are:
Stan James 01235 861024 (new accounts)
Surrey Racing 01932 888333 (new accounts)
Independent bookmakers are an important weapon in your armoury. They each have
their own individual style but it is fair to say that the good ones put customer service
much higher on their list than ever before. This means that you can afford to be
choosy.
Open an account with an independent bookmakers TODAY!
Do not leave it until next week because you will never do it.
You must get your account set up NOW, when you don't need it so that it is ready on
the day when you DO need it.
As promised last month, I want to give you some more overseas freephone numbers,
this time for William Hill.
International Freephone Numbers William Hill
From Dial
Austria 0660 - 6556
Denmark 800 - 10 - 468
Eire 1800 - 535008
Finland 00800 11223311
France 00800 11223311
Germany 00800 11223311
Italy 1678 - 76040
Luxembourg 0800 - 2155
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Netherlands 06 - 0224287
Norway 0800 - 11079
Portugal 0505 - 449066
Spain 00800 11223311
Sweden 007 800 11223311
Switzerland 0800 55 - 3981
USA 011 - 800 - 322 - 11223311
Please note - when using these numbers you only need to dial the number I have
given above, you do not need to add on an international code.
Also, when using payphones, you may need to insert a coin, but this should be
refunded at the end of the call. Many of these numbers change regularly so it is best to
call William Hill before travelling to make sure you have the very latest number.
Now let's look at some more key words and phrases you are bound to come across in
the next few months.
"FORECAST"
A forecast is when you predict both the first and second horse in a race. This is an
unusual because your betting slip is filled in based on the horse's number rather than
the horse's name. (e.g. 5 to beat 3 rather than 'Dead Cert' to beat 'Second Best' past the
post).
Note: In Ladbrokes a forecast is known as a showcast but it's the same thing
"SPLIT BET"
A split bet is when you back more than one horse to win in the same race. Usually this
bet is to back two horses but I've actually backed three horses in the same race before
now. Obviously only one horse can actually win but if the prices are right, the bet can
still be worth placing.
"RULE 4 DEDUCTION"
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If one horse is withdrawn from a race after betting has started the bookies will
sometimes reduce the amount they pay you if you have taken a price and your horse
eventually wins. The amount they deduct depends on the odds of the withdrawn
horse. If it's an outsider at 50-1, there may not be any deductions at all. If the
withdrawn horse stood a reasonable chance of winning, the deduction may be 5%,
10% or even more. The reason for this is obvious. If (say) the favourite is withdrawn
this makes it far more likely that your horse at, say 5-1, will win. Always a bit of a
bummer this one. Rule 4 does not apply to ante post bets.
"EACH WAY DOUBLE"
You could probably work this one out for yourself. It's the same as a 'win double' but
both horses only have to be 'placed' in order for you to get a return. The profits from
the first race go onto the second part of the bet. Very lucrative when both horses win
and a reasonable return if both horses are placed.
"WEIGHED IN"
I've had several students who have had big wins in a betting shop and when they've
gone to collect their winnings they've been told to wait for the jockey to be 'weighed
in'. This will normally happen when your winnings exceed £1000 although a lot of
shops have a £500 limit. After the race the winning jockey has to be weighed to make
sure that there has been no infringement of the rules (remember in handicaps the
jockey has to carry additional weights) - this normally takes around 10 minutes. I'm
sure you'll agree it's well worth the wait.
"BURLINGTON BERTIE"
This is the classic "if only I had a pound for every time someone had asked me what a
'Burlington Bertie' is." Well, it's nothing more complicated than Cockney rhyming
slang for odds of 100-30. I have no idea where it originated, or when.
Well that's all from me for now. See you next month.
P.S. Write to the Tote and ask them to increase your limit from £100 to £250.
Lesson 7 If you want a good tip, don't ask a stable boy, a trainer, a jockey or
even a racing press tipster.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
Welcome to Lesson 7!
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There’s a lot to cover this month so I’m afraid there’s no time for any of that
motivational stuff. What I will do though is try and go through some of your most
regularly asked questions at the end of this lesson. If space permits, I’ll try and make
this a regular feature over the coming months.
No matter how many bets you’ve placed since you joined this course, you’re bound to
have some sort of an impression as to how really good betting information is
acquired. How exactly does ‘inside’ information ‘get out’ and how, most important of
all, do you get to be privy to that knowledge.
Well, they say there are many ways to skin a cat and there are certainly lots of reasons
why a particularly horse is given out as a winning bet.
‘Inside information’ - even the sound of it conjures up a world of intrigue and secret
whispers, and how we love to think we can get a piece of that action. If you’re one of
those people who think that a winning horse can be picked on form, i.e. how well a
horse has done in previous races, I’m afraid you’re wrong. I wish it was that simple.
Whilst a horse’s form may be a useful guide it will never be anything more than that -
mainly because everybody is cheating.
Most people believe that because of the media circus surrounding horse racing, and in
particular the ever present TV cameras, the remotest hint of cheating would be
jumped on immediately. Surely those nice people down at the Jockey Club will make
sure that everything is legal and totally above board?
Well they’ll certainly do their best, but against an avalanche of cheats, fraudsters and
non tryers, they never have, and never will, have a hope in hell of making any race a
clean and open contest. Let me ask you a question - what do think is the biggest factor affecting a horse's
ability to win a particular race?
Is it the going? (the condition of the ground). Is it the fitness of the horse? Is it the
quality of the jockey and whether he had a few pints at the Dog and Duck the night
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before? Is it the stable or the quality of the training? No - the most important factor
affecting whether a horse will win or not is whether the horse is ‘trying’ or not.
I’m afraid to say that in any given race only a proportion of the horses entered
will actually try to win. (I’m sure you realise that when I say the horse is trying, I’m
really talking about the jockey here!)
The rules demand that all horses must try their best in any race although a horse that
is obviously going to lose is allowed to back off in the final run up. However, a horse
that may be ‘placed’ must continue to try right up to the winning line.
Of course it’s very hard, in fact virtually impossible to prove that a particular jockey
is not always doing his or her best.
But the next time you get a chance to watch a race look at how many times horses that
are going to be placed have a strong tendency to tail off. Also, pay particular attention
to those horses just behind the leading group. You’ll be amazed how many horses
aren’t even taken off the bridle, never mind break into a sweat. And you can forget
the whip being used - that’s right out of the question. Only because the horse runs
better if the whip isn’t used.
Yes of course - why didn’t I think of that myself?
Every now and then the stewards will penalise a jockey for not trying, just to show
they still have the clout - but it’s more of a PR exercise than a genuine deterrent.
Owners and trainers will encourage a jockey to hold back a good horse in many of its
early races. That is until such time as the price is good and (surprise, surprise) the
trainer and owner have got some of their own money on the horse winning.
Of course, this leads to a very distorted market and has major repercussions for you as
a punter.
It’s pretty safe to say that in many races the best horse does not win because the
owner or trainer does not want it to win at that particular time.
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Consequently, jockeys will often be instructed to ride a horse a certain way and that
may well include ensuring a horse does not win. The result of this is obvious.
Many a jockey will return to the paddock to quietly confirm that the horse could
easily have won if the jockey had let him. This information, as you can imagine, is an
absolute gold mine to a stable-yard, or indeed anyone else who intends to back that
horse in a future race.
Anyone armed with that information is in the unique position of knowing the
horse's true ability despite the fact that, on form, at least the records show that
the horse only came, say, fourth when running against so called ‘better’
competition.
Do that trick 2 or 3 times and you’ve got a nice little earner just waiting to be cashed
in - preferably when the horse is at extremely favourable odds.
Ever noticed how often you get 10-1, 12-1, 20-1, and even 50-1 winners? Of course
the trainer/owner is always in front of the cameras declaring that they are delighted
the horse is ‘finally fit’ and no he didn’t have any money on it this time round.
Yeah, yeah, yeah - and my name’s Frankie Dettori. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not
disputing that a horse's performance is associated with its fitness on the day. This is
indeed a factor, but none more so than when the person on its back is deciding how
fast it will run, how well it will jump or indeed whether it will finish in the first three
if it’s good enough.
If You Want a Good Tip - Ask a Stable Boy
All the best tips come from a stable boy right? After all, he eats, drinks and sleeps
with the horse. If anyone is going to know a winner, it’s him, right?
Wrong! Do you know how much a stable boy earns? Do you know how many hours a
stable boy works for 10% of bugger all? Do you really believe for one moment that if
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a stable boy had access to this sort of information he would get up at 5 o clock in the
morning to shovel horse shit every day?
No sir, I can assure you he would not. He would cobble together every last penny he
could find and as a result of his inside knowledge he would make an absolute fortune.
And do you really think that the trainer or owner is going to tell him at which meeting
the horse will actually be trying?
Of course not. That would guarantee everyone in the village, and everyone in the next
village, his mum, his mates from the pub, their mates, the lad with the orange hair and
twitchy eye, his hairdresser, me, Uncle Tom Cobley and all would be backing this
horse.
What a great way to ensure the price gets cut at the earliest opportunity.
Clearly this is not going to happen.
Okay, so we can’t rely on form and we can’t rely on stable information. Let’s move in
the opposite direction. Let’s use computers instead. Let’s load all the information we
have onto a computer and sit back and watch the names of the winners pour out.
Yes, that’s a great idea provided nothing happens between the time the information is
actually loaded onto the computer and the time of the race itself.
Not a chance in hell! Just stop for one minute and consider the endless variables;
1. The going changes at the last moment due to unforeseen weather conditions.
2. The horse is not fit.
3. The horse is very fit.
4. The jockey knocked back nine gin and tonics at the ‘Dog and Duck’.
5. The ‘form’ of a horse entered into the computer is incorrect in the first place.
This could be for a hundred reasons or more, for example:
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The horse wasn’t trying last time out.
The horse was injured last time out but only the jockey is aware of it.
The horse was ill last time out.
The horse was badly ridden last time out.
Computer buffs will tell you, GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT.
Okay, so we can’t rely on form, and we can’t rely on inside information and we can’t
programme a computer to give reliable results. How does a good tipping service get
their quality information? How do good tipping services make such enormous
returns?
The truth is you need a combination of all these elements if you really want to
achieve consistent results.
As a leading tipping service once observed:
“Understand that using stable information intelligently is not the same as blindly
repeating stable whispers to 10,000 people on a telephone line.”
Don’t go With the Herd
It’s a well known fact that the majority of punters are regular victims to the ‘herd’
instinct. You know the sort of thing - a word here, a rumour there, and off they all go
into a frenzy of unfocussed activity.
"My mates had a word .., I hear on the grapevine that …., I’ve just been given the nod
…, this one is just waiting to have a touch ….."
Oh please, gentlemen please, give me a break!
If it was that easy I would bottle it and sell it by the truckload!
There is no one source of guaranteed information. It’s far more complex than that.
That’s why you have to blindly follow what your tipping service tells you. Please
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don’t try and second guess or rationalise their decisions. If they’ve been making big
profits for the last five years you don’t need to question the information. Just do it, do
it, do it, do it. Don’t change a thing. Don’t even think about changing a thing.
Their information will come from a whole network of previously proven sources and
ideas, and even the odd gut feeling thrown in for good measure. Why should you give
a damn providing they bring home the bacon? You wouldn’t dream of asking your
pension company which shares they intend to buy this week. You just look at the
bonuses at the end of the year and count the profit (hopefully there is one). In whisky
terms a good tipping service would be described as a good blend rather than a good
malt.
Unfortunately our industry is full of under-qualified advice givers and over the years
many people have been disappointed by taking the advice of so called experts. For
your amusement, here’s a sample.
On the 12th August 1993, trainer Wen O’Neill advised his wife not to go ahead with a
£5 double she was planning on the two horses he had running at Bath that afternoon.
Both horses subsequently won at odds of 50-1 and 66-1 and Mrs O’Neill had been
expertly ‘saved’ from netting a cool £17,000. I bet she laughed at that one over
dinner!
And what about the racing press tipsters?
In March 1993, a reader wrote to the Daily Telegraph to complain about the quality of
tips given out by their ‘racing expert’ Tony Stafford.
In one particular race, Mr Stafford had featured no less than seven out of the eight
runners in his race review - the one horse he didn’t mention raced home at 9-1.
So what about the average Jo Punter who goes about his daily grind and has the odd
flutter down at Ladrokes now and then?
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Well, in 1992 a certain Mr Mussell (yes I know!) backed five horses at Cheltenham in
a bet costing only £7.40 which consisted of five one pound win bets, ten 10p doubles,
ten 10p trebles and a 20p each way accumulator. All five horses won and Mr Mussell
picked up £567,066.00 - not bad for a morning's work!
(My thanks to Graham Sharpe, Media Relations Manager for William Hill for the
above anecdotes. If you like stories like this, get a copy of his book “Racing Shorts”
published through Guinness Publishing.)
As I’ve said over and over again, if you want consistent high quality information
you must go on previous track record as an indicator of future performance. Use
a tipping service that is monitored, one that has consistently delivered top quality
results and one whose style of operation suits you and your work hours. As
individuals, we all have different tastes and what suits one punter, doesn’t suit
another.
You can pick a tipping service that gives out a lot of bets each month (usually giving
a lower strike rate) or you can pick a service that gives fewer bets but normally has a
higher strike rate. Again, go on previous results as a guide to future performance.
Your own lifestyle will also determine which service is best for you.
Retired people may relish 2 or 3 bets a day whereas nine to five types would much
sooner have a couple of bets a week which they can fit around their busy working
schedules. I know one person who subscribes to four tipping services every season,
(total profits last year were over £30,000 for an outlay of less than £3,000).
Now I know you all think that I’ve either got shares in the Racing Information
Database or I’m on a good backhander (I can assure you that isn’t the case) but once
again I must mention this worthwhile organisation and thank them for the following
information.
Here are some fascinating statistics from RID for the period Jan 2001 to Sept
2001.
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Service name No of bets Strike rate Profit Timeline 673 19% £15,638 Sport Spread Net 291 28% £11,633 Clevelander Platinum 492 39% £10,082 Important points 1. These are the profits for 9 months 2. These are net profits so the cost of joining the service has been deducted from the profit figure shown 3. Based on £100 stakes only. Your profits would be double if you had bet £200 per bet. 4. Unless early prices are recommended and available the figures shown are at SP. Very few people will take SP as early prices or first shows will nearly always be better.
As you can see, my claim that you make £12,000 per annum is an under estimate of
how much money you should make from horse racing. Equally important is the fact
that all of these companies appeared in the top 20 for the previous year (1996) as well.
I cannot over emphasise the value of this information to you.
Where else can you invest £2,000 and see such fantastic returns at the end of just one
year? If you would like to receive this information on a monthly basis, the Racing
Information Database will give a 10% discount to new members if you mention you
subscribe to ‘Racing for Cash’ by David Fairweather.
Top 10 Shares vs Top Ten Tipsters
Most people consider that investing thousands of pounds on the stock market with
well known companies like Fidelity or Virgin is not a gamble. I think that this is an
absurd mentality.
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I would ask you to compare what the top 10 tipping services can do with £1000 of
your hard earned cash, against what the top 10 investment companies can do
with £1,000 of your money.
A Major Twist to the 20 Point Bank
No doubt you will clearly recall the principle of the 20 point bank - and I trust that
you are following it to the letter.
Basically the 20 point bank works on the principle that the leading tipping services
have never had anywhere near 20 losing bets in a row. So if you divide your betting
bank by 20 it is a reasonably safe assumption to say that you will never lose your
entire betting bank. (Remember, for Timeline, divide by 100.)
This concept, to some people at least, is a rather cautious approach because it assumes
you join at the beginning of a very bad run and that your betting account hasn’t had a
single winner before the bad run starts. I agree that this is a doomsday scenario but
you should always work on a worst case scenario. I remember placing seven bets
when I first subscribed to one particular service and they all lost. No one was going to
take me for a fool, so I ignored their next three bets - all of which, as you would
expect, romped home at really good prices. Life - don’t tell me about life!
So the principle of the 20 point bank has always worked extremely well, but there is a
twist on this theme that I would like to introduce you to this month because it can
literally double your profits across the season.
At the start of your betting career you probably had enough to cope with working out
the return on an each way winner at 9-2 with a quarter of the odds and a rule 4
deduction of 5% thrown in for good measure. (Phew!) But now is the time to revisit the 20 point bank and consider a quite lucrative
variation.
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In the past I told you to divide your bank by 20 and to stick with that stake until your
bank either doubled (or halved if you were really unlucky) at which time you would
‘revalue’ your stake (i.e. one twentieth of your new balance).
But what would happen if instead you always bet one twentieth (5%) of your bank,
calculated daily, i.e. as your betting bank increases, your bet increases and if your
bank decreases, your bet decreases.
Let’s see how that technique would compare with your current fixed stake. Once
again, I would like to thank Kevin Booth of Isiris for the following information based
on some of their actual results during 1997. The following example assumes that you are starting with a £4,000 bank and betting
£200 per bet. In the left hand column, the stake is fixed at £200, but in the right
hand column the bet is 5% of the new bank.
W = Winner, P = Placed, L = Loser
Profit New Profit New Balance Balance 1 W 5-1 +1000 5000 +1000 5000 2 P 5-1 0 5000 0 5000 3 P 9-4 -44 4956 -55 4945 4 P 5-2 -50 4906 -62 4883 5 W evens +200 5106 +244 5127 6 P 3-1 -40 5066 -51 5076 7 P 4-1 -20 5046 -26 5050 8 W EVENS +200 5246 +253 5303 9 L 7-2 -200 5046 -265 5038 10 W 3-1 +360 5406 +454 5492 11 L 5-2 -200 5206 -275 5217 12 W 5-2 +300 5506 +391 5608 13 W 4-1 +500 6006 +700 6308 14 W 5-2 +300 6306 +473 6781 15 P 5-2 -50 6256 -85 6696 16 P 7-4 -65 6191 -109 6587 17 W 4-6 +133 6324 +219 6806 18 P 25-1 +525 6849 +893 7699 19 W 7-2 +420 7269 +809 8508 20 L 6-1 -200 7069 -425 8083
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21 P 14-1 +250 7319 +505 8588 22 W 6-4 +300 7619 +644 9232 23 W 2-7 +57 7676 +132 9364 24 W 9-1 +1800 9476 +4212 13576 25 L 11-4 -200 9276 -679 12897 26 W 11-10 +220 9496 +710 13607 27 L 2-9 -200 9296 -680 12927 28 W 1-2 +100 9396 +323 13250 29 P 3-1 -25 9371 -83 13167 30 L 4-5 -200 9171 -658 12509 31 W 5-2 +313 9484 +978 13487 32 W 8-11 +145 9629 +490 13977 33 W 1-2 +100 9729 +349 14326 34 W 13-8 +195 9924 +698 15024 35 P 9-2 -10 9914 -38 14986 36 W double +798 10712 +2989 17975 37 L 9-4 -200 10512 -899 17076 38 L 5-1 -200 10312 -854 16222 39 W split +150 10462 +608 16830 40 L double -200 10262 -842 15988 41 W 5-4 +250 10512 +999 16987 42 W 1-2 +100 10612 +425 17412 43 P 2-1 -60 10552 -261 17151 44 P 3-1 -40 10512 -172 17979 45 P 4-1 -20 10492 -85 16894 46 L 8-1 -200 10292 -845 16049 47 L 4-5 -200 10092 -802 15247 48 L 4-1 -200 9892 -762 14485 49 L 14-1 -200 9692 -724 13761 50 P 10-1 +150 9842 +516 14277 51 W 8-1 +1088 10930 +3884 18161 52 W 5-4 +250 11180 +1135 19296 Profit of £7,188 Profit of £15,296
I realise that working out 5% of your current bank is an added complication, but I’m
sure you’ll agree the results make it well worth spending a moment or two with the
calculator?
This technique not only gives you bigger profits during the good months, but it
means you also lose less money during the bad months. Pretty good eh?
So why didn’t I tell you this earlier? Well, you already know the importance of
having a disciplined approach to your gambling - almost to the point of removing the
word ‘gamble’ altogether.
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In the early months of your betting career, any suggestion of varying your stakes
would have given you the impression that you could bet whatever you liked. I have
never subscribed to the chaos theory - particularly when money is concerned, and so
in the early months I prefer the discipline of consistent betting.
This month I’m offering you an alternative which requires more discipline than the
fixed stake - not less discipline. I think you are probably now able to use this tool
effectively but I would not have been confident in suggesting this three months ago.
Remember, it’s not a varying stake - it’s 5% of your bank - there’s a big
difference.
That’s not the only reason though.
The 5% bank means you bet a lot more money as your bank grows. Big bets are both
harder to manage (remember what I said about being closed down) and require a more
experienced punter to come to terms with this sort of investment. Betting several
hundred pounds a time does take some getting used to .
As I said, I think you probably have the experience now to review your approach to
the 20 point bank.
By the way, I know plenty of people who take five figure sums from the bookmakers
every year but still maintain the same stake each time simply because it’s a figure
they feel comfortable with - and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that approach
whatsoever.
Okay, before I get on to your letters, let me quickly go over a couple of the more
unusual bets and how you work out the profits.
Calculating Profits on Win Doubles and Each Way Doubles
Win Double
A win double is when you pick 2 horses in different races. Both horses need to win if
you are going to get a return. If one horse loses, you lose all of your money.
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Let’s assume you back two horses, one at 5-1 and one at 5-2, both to win. You bet
£100.
If the first horse wins your £100 stake will now become £600.
£100 @ 5-1 = £500 + £100 stake = £600.
The entire £600 will now go on the second horse to win at 7-2
If the second horse wins your total return will be £2,700.
£600 @ 7-2 = £2,100 + £600 = £2,700
Each Way Double
This is very similar to a win double. One part of the bet is looking for a win, and one
side is looking for a place, again using the horses in different races.
Provided both horses are placed you will get a return. If one horse wins, the return
will obviously be better, and if both horses win, it will increase even more.
If both of your chosen horses win, a win double will always give you a higher return
than an each way double, since half of your bet will only attract a quarter (or one
fifth) of the odds.
Let’s look at a particular example.
In this example, let’s assume that your first horse wins (again at 5-1), and your second
leg (at 7-2) comes third, odds given are 1/5 for a place.
First leg
£50 each way @ 5-1, total stake £100.
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If the horse wins, the win return will be £250 + £50 stake = £300
and the place part will be 250 divided by 5 = £50 + £50 stake = £100
You now have £300 to win and £100 to place on the second leg of your bet.
Second leg
If your second selection only comes 3rd, the win side of your bet is lost but the place
part returns as follow:
£100 @ 7-2 = 350 divided by 5 + 100 stake = £170 return.
Now a quick word of caution here. There is a way of placing an each way double
whereby if the first horse wins, the total amount won (£400 in the above example) is
then equally divided for the second leg. This means you would have had £200 to win
and £200 to place going on to the second leg as opposed to £300 to win and £100 to
place.
If you want to take this option, you must ask for an EQUALLY DIVIDED EACH
WAY DOUBLE.
My preference is not for the equally divided option because I always want my second
horse to win, not be placed, and this give me the greatest returns.
Please go back and read through these two examples until you fully understand the
difference and can work out a similar example on your own.
Well I think that’s more than enough maths for one day, let’s look at some of the most
regularly asked questions I have received recently.
Question 1
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"I won just over £15,000 on horse racing last year. Since betting is tax free, do I still
have to declare my income?"
Answer
As with any matter involving the tax office, there is never a straightforward answer.
Having said that, it is reasonable to assume that you do not need to declare your
winnings in the example given. Since you are not liable to income tax on your betting profits you do not need to
declare your income. However, I would advise you to keep details of all your bets in
case the tax office starts asking questions about how you got all this extra money.
Question 2
"If my betting involves me visiting a race course can I claim expenses?"
Answer
Business expenses are normally used to reduce the amount of income tax you pay.
Since you aren’t paying any income tax in the first place, you cannot claim expenses
since you have nothing to deduct your expenses from. Nice try though! Looks like
you’ll have to pay for your own champagne at Ascot this year.
Question 3 "I've received a mailshot from Bloggs & Co. tipping service and they are
claiming fantastic results, however they don't seem to proof their results. Can you
recommend them?"
Answer
I would recommend that you contact the Racing Information Database. If they haven’t
heard of them, I would tread very carefully indeed. If you ran a tipping service that
was taking huge amounts of money from the bookmakers month after month, why
would you not want to proof your recommendations. Surely this would be the best
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and cheapest way of advertising your company? This is why I consider companies
that are not prepared to proof their results as being, at best, rather suspicious and at
worst, downright liars.
Question 4
"I took an ante post price recently on a horse, each way at 10-1. At the time of
placing the bet, I was given a quarter the odds for the first three. Now I hear two of
the other horses in that race are non runners. How will this affect my bet?"
Answer
Taking an ante post price has both advantages and disadvantages. The main reason
you place an ante post bet is to get a good price but you do take a chance that if your
horse does not run, you lose all your money. In the example you have given, two
other horses have dropped out and this is a real big bonus for you. You will still get
the price and you will still get paid on the first three places even though there are only
6 runners. In fact if yours is one of only three horses that end up running, you will
still get paid for coming in the first three. Now that’s my sort of bet!
Question 5
"My tipping service has given three ‘odds-on’ bets since I joined I think betting an
odds-on horses is a waste of time. I stand to lose more money than I stand to win.
Why do they make such silly recommendations?"
Answer
Many punters refuse to back odds-on horses and some people I know set an even
higher limit for their bets of 6-4 and even 7-4. This is a mistake and there is a lot of
money to be made from backing odds on favourites. Many tipping services have an
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incredible success record with odds-on bets - some as high as 90%. We all like to bet
piddling amounts of money and win huge wads of £20 notes, mainly because it’s risk
free. You need to see odds-on betting in a totally different light if you are to profit
from this form of betting.
A bet that is (almost) guaranteed (obviously almost is as good as it gets) often has
odds that do not really reflect how good it’s chances are. I regularly place bets at
evens, and odds on, and you will often hear these referred to as a ‘buying money’ bet.
The view is the more you can afford to put on, the more you will get back.
I know betting £100 at 1-2 doesn’t sound very exciting but a 50% return on your
investment in one day compares very favourably with 4% per annum from your local
building society so don’t be quite so aloof when these opportunities come along.
What I would suggest is if you feel uncomfortable backing short price horses then set
your own limit and stick to it at all times. After, say, 6 months of watching how the
short price horses perform, you may like to re-assess the opportunity you are being
given. The worst thing is if you take the occasional short price. The law of sod
dictates that if you only back 2 odds-on favourites all year, you will pick the only 2
that don’t win.
The message, as always, is to be consistent with your betting. Have a system and
stick with it.
Well that’s all for now.
See you all next month.
Lesson 8 "The Racecourse Of Life"
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
It's You That Makes the Difference
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Welcome to Lesson 8. As I sit down to write this I find myself in an unusually
contemplative mood. This could be the result of a rather fine bottle of Bordeaux that I
finished off a couple of hours ago, or maybe today's 6-4 winner has given me that
warm glow of contentment that always comes at the end of a profitable day's racing.
Either way, I find myself thinking about you - and about how well you are doing on
the 'racecourse' of life.
The one thing that never ceases to amaze me is the enormous variety of people
attracted to a course like this. My readers include just about every profession from
every walk of life you could possibly imagine.
I have people write to me because they are having trouble placing bets in excess of
£500 and I have others who don't even know where the next week's rent is coming
from, never mind having spare cash to invest on horses.
The one thing we all have in common is a passion to improve 'our lot' and you, dear
reader, by subscribing to this course, have demonstrated that not only do you want to
improve your lot but also that you're prepared to put yourself out a bit and do
something about it.
So this month I want to spend a little less time talking about horse racing and a bit
more time talking about you. Where are you now with this course and what do you
hope to achieve in the near future? By the time you finished last month's lesson you
will have read over one hundred and forty pages about betting on horses, (plus a
few other odd bits thrown in for good measure).
This should have been for one reason - and that is to generate a useful second
income, hopefully with very little effort, and to pay the minimum amount of tax
possible in the process.
I think it's fair to say that by now you probably fit into one of three categories;
Category 1 "I read the course every month, enjoy the content but I've done nothing
about it yet."
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Category 2 "As above but I have only dabbled with a few of the ideas I've been
given."
Category 3 "I follow all instructions to the letter and as a result I bet regularly every
week."
Category One
All things being equal, I'm told on very good authority that Category One types will
probably represent the largest group of people. I was quite astonished to read recently
that most self improvement courses, motivational courses or home study courses
rarely get taken out of their wrapper, never mind get read or indeed acted upon.
Apparently, people who buy the 'learn another language with 10 easy tape courses'
rarely get past tape one side one, let alone learn or be able to speak another language.
I guess that despite my best endeavours, and indeed my genuine desire to see you
improve your financial position, the old adage is still true: you can lead a horse to
water but you can't make it drink.
Well that may indeed be the case, but this month I would like to offer a few
suggestions if you do happen to fall into this non active category. Since this course is
based on the real profits of real people over the last five years, let's look at some of
the ways that I might be able to kick-start you into action.
Last month I gave you names and phone numbers of leading tipsters based on
information supplied to me by the Racing Information Database. Pick any two
companies, phone them up and ask them the following two questions.
Question 1. "If I had joined your Tipping Service and bet £100 on every bet you had
recommended, how much money would I have made last year?"
Question 2. "How much would it cost me to join your service?"
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You know from previous lessons that this information can be verified through the
Racing Information Database so you will have to accept that the answers you get to
the above two questions are an accurate representation of how much money is on
offer if you are prepared to take the gamble.
If your budget is limited, or you want to start off slowly until you build up some
reserves, well that's just fine - you can easily work out the profits for yourself if you
want to place smaller bets. The same applies for those of you who would be happy to
bet £200 stakes - just double the figures you are given based on a stakes of £100.
Of course you'll soon realise that there are 'fixed overheads!' The cost of the Tipping
Service is fixed, i.e. it is not dependent on how much you bet. Although a cautious
approach is to be expected at the start, as confidence and profits grow, it makes
economical sense to ensure that your bets are increased to a more profitable level.
As always I must stress:
1. Only bet what you can afford.
2. Always use the 20 point bank principle and you'll never lose your shirt.
Category Two - A Tale of Two Dabblers
So what about the Category Two types - the occasional dabblers? Are you an
occasional dabbler?
Dabblers only come in one variety - people who lose! Now that might seem a harsh
thing to say (yes it is - Ed), but if you stop and think about it for a moment, whilst all
Dabblers start off equal they will very rapidly split into one of two groups:
1. Dabblers that win.
2. Dabblers that lose.
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Of course, dabblers that consistently win, stop dabbling and start betting consistently
(who wouldn't?). This immediately takes them out of the Dabbler category leaving
only the losing dabblers.
Surprisingly few losing dabblers give up straight away. Their desire to make money,
and the occasional winning horse is usually enough to keep them in this category for
quite a while.
If you're a dabbler stop the disgusting habit straight away. I don't care if it is behind
closed doors and between consenting adults.
No, you can't stand in the corner and sulk. Either do it properly or not at all. After
all it's only your wealth improvement I'm interested in here and the sooner you start
betting consistently, and with a long term view, the richer you will become.
Category Three - Smug as Can Be
Okay, so all I'm left with now is the consistent, follow the theory to the letter, don't
miss a trick, never put a foot wrong, category three readers.
Excellent! So let's put all you smug Category Three types to the test.
Answer the following questions honestly to see whether there is room for
improvement in your betting technique.
(Please have your betting results for the last 8 weeks to hand before reading any
further - and fill your answers in with a biro, if you skim across these questions
nodding and grunting as you go, you will gain absolutely nothing from the exercise).
Race-goers Health Check
1. Do you know the profits of your chosen Tipping Service for last year?
2. Have you opened 4 betting accounts in order to spread your bets?
3. Have you consistently bet the same amount on every bet for the last 8 weeks?
4. Have you bet on every tip you have been given by your chosen service?
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5. Have you only bet on the tips given? (i.e. not been distracted by other horses that
have caught your eye).
6. Have you stuck religiously to the 20 point bank? (Complete honesty please).
7. Have you kept meticulous records of all your bets?
8. Do you have a medium/long term approach to gambling? (Or do you need a winner
this week in order to pay your overdue gas bill.)
9. Do you always keep calm even when you have a losing bet?
If you can honestly answer YES to all of the above questions then you clearly have
the discipline for a long and profitable future in gambling on horse racing. If there are
any questions to which you have answered 'No' (or 'sometimes'), now is the time to
review your betting technique and make the necessary changes.
Please believe me when I say that there's less than 1% difference between success
and failure.
Your answers to question 3,4 and 6 are probably the most important. Please go
back and look at these three questions again.
If I ever get a letter of complaint from a reader I can guarantee that the answer to at
least one of these three questions is "NO".
Normally the answer to all three is "no".
Of course the biggest deciding factor in whether you will take a long term view or not
is regrettably your results in the first month.
Unfortunately although I can pretty much guarantee a profit in the medium term, I
have no way of knowing how profitable your first month will be.
Despite five profitable years myself, most people prefer to judge me by their first
months results. This is something I have come to accept as inevitable - there's
absolutely nothing I can do about it.
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It may help to put things in perspective if I look at the last 10 bets of my favourite
Tipping Service, we had five winners and then five losers.
Across the 10 bets there was a very healthy profit, but you can imagine the letters I
get from those people who joined at the beginning of the five winners, and you can
also imagine the letters I get from those people who joined at the start of the five
losers.
Although I try to reply to every letter I receive it's fair to say that only by encouraging
my readers to take a long term view can I ever hope to demonstrate the profitability
of this course.
What's Stopping You Making Money?
Having established that this month's lesson is mostly about you, I want to see if I can
reach through these pages and 'fine tune' your approach to gambling and, to some
extent, to winning in general.
Let's step a little bit beyond horse racing for a moment and look at the bigger picture.
I know you've heard this question before but this time, give it more than a cursory
glance.
Why is it that people with money always make more money?
The simple answer of course is that life is always easier if you've got the money to
invest in the first place but both you and I know that this glib answer doesn't really
address the key issue.
People who are born to money very rarely manage to keep it.
"Rags to riches and back again in three generations" - and in my experience this
is absolutely true.
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You can whinge as much as you like about how life has dealt you a lousy hand but if
you want to make it in life, you will - no matter how difficult your personal
circumstances.
Ask anyone whose personal assets exceed one million pounds what their secret is and
they will all tell you the same thing. It's your attitude alone that will determine
how successful you are.
The more money you make, the more successful you become and the more you
appreciate the value of this one simple lesson.
I knew this before I wrote this course, but every month I have one of life's failures
phone me up telling me why this course will not make them any money.
If it wasn't so tragic, it would be laughable.
Here's the top three excuses for failure:
Excuse No. 1
"Dear David, Following your advice I started betting on horses 4 weeks ago. Since
then I have actually lost money, not made money. Obviously this course is a load of
rubbish and I shan't be risking any of my hard earned cash on horse racing ever
again."
This one will always be at number 1. What the reader doesn't seem to grasp is I
probably lost money on the same horses as he did. So what? You knew that only 30%
to 40% of the horses would win before you even started, so how come you seem so
surprised now? Don't give up just because of a short losing run. Do you really think
that I would go to all this trouble if every month was like that?
Excuse No. 2
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"Dear David, It's alright for you, but I don't have enough money to follow your
course. I can't afford five or six hundred quid for a decent Tipping Service. I want to
make money - not spend it."
I told you at the beginning that you would need a reasonable wedge of money to get
started. No one is going to give you everything for free in life just because you're a bit
short of cash.
This sort of reader will probably skip his road tax, car insurance and television licence
for the same reasons. Remember if it's cheap in the short term, it's bloody expensive
in the long term. More on this later.
Excuse No. 3
"Dear David, I've been gambling on horses for over 10 years now and I know a thing
or two I can tell you. I also know I don't need to pay good money for racing tips. You
quote 40% strike rate as being good. You must be joking! There's a guy working at
my Dad's place who has a 75% record and he'll give me tips for a fiver a go. Who
needs your course?"
Sorry, how much money did you say you won last year? And this mate of yours, how
much money did he make last year? I can't imagine for one minute that he only
mentions his winners. In fact I'm confident he keeps records of every bet he's ever
placed and could show them to you anytime he likes.
Yeah, right!
The above three arguments, plus of course inconsistent betting probably represent
99% of my 'negative' post bag.
After all these years of profitable, proven results behind me, these people want to tell
me why my system won't work. It's a strange old world. I'm sure the conclusion is
obvious. If a rich man takes the trouble to tell you how to make money - you ought
to take the trouble to listen. If a poor man tells you - walk away.
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Buy a New Broom - It'll Change Your Life
Being successful, (some people call it being lucky) is not so much about learning
something new, it's more about doing something new. Everyone knows how to be
more successful, but somehow just can't bring themselves to using that knowledge
and do it.
Success breeds success and failure breeds failure.
If you can start to break the downward spiral of failure you can only go one way, and
that's on the upward spiral of success. Don't make excuses for not achieving
success."You are the sum total of every decision you have ever made in your
life." Now that's a sobering thought.
Since this course is based on years of huge profit making, what makes you think you
can bring along your own personal history of bad luck and change things for the rest
of us? This isn't your world you're sharing with me, it's my world I'm sharing
with you - so get on board.
Finally, a little story for those of you who want to do things on the cheap - 'cos cheap
is best - right?
Last Spring I bought a new broom to replace the one I'd had since the year dot.
Now, as far as I was concerned, there wasn't much wrong with broom Mk I, except
for the fact that it was past its sell by date, so I went into my local garden centre with
a view to buy a similar model as a replacement. That was until I saw broom Mk II.
What a beaut. For not a lot more I got a decent style (you know, a proper wooden
handle instead of a thin plastic thing), a pure bristle head, chrome detachable base and
a swanky gold label down the shaft, (sounds like something from that sex shop in
Brighton).
Now here's a funny thing. Did you know that a good quality broom actually sweeps
better than a cheap and cheerful one? You know how people always say "one
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broom's much the same as another" (obviously the word broom can be replaced with
pretty much any purchasable item), well it's absolute bollocks.
My new broom sweeps better. My new broom feels better. My new broom looks
better.
As a result of all of the above my new broom gets used more often. (Which is what I
bought it for).
No one would dare borrow my new broom, so it doesn't get lost, nicked, abused or
broken by the neighbour's kids, or 'friends'.
My new broom even makes me feel better when I use it (sad bastard I know).
You see I got all that, for just a few quid extra.
If all of that applies to something as lowly and menial as a broom, imagine the results
I can get if I apply that same attitude to other areas of my life.
Ever bought a cheap car? Ever bought a cheap suit? Ever bought a cheap pair of
shoes?
I wonder how much those things really cost in the long term?
The lesson?
Don't ever write to me and say it's not worth paying for good advice - because you're
wrong.
How to Win - Even When Your Horse Comes Second
Last month, you'll remember we talked about the importance of whether a horse was
actually trying to win a particular race, and we discussed the impact that it had on
you as a punter.
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This month I want to develop that a stage further and show you how to make sure that
you always benefit from a trying horse. Many Tipping Services always try to back
horses that they know will actually be trying in a specific race. You can normally spot
this just by watching the horse run but you may also notice when looking back at your
own results just how often your losing bets still come either second or third. Clearly
these horses fall into the 'trying' category.
Again this affects different people in different ways.
I dislike losers as much as the next man, but if my losing horses are coming close I
know they are trying and I know I'm with the right Tipping Service. Some people
argue that if you've backed a horse to win, and it doesn't, then it doesn't matter where
it comes. I don't agree. (Unless of course the horse is being 'saved' for another day in
which case, provided I know when, I'm prepared to forgive and forget.)
Now horses that 'try' tend to have one failing quality and that is they will sometimes
be just a bit too enthusiastic and they don't always care who they have to push out of
the way in order to win. An enthusiastically ridden horse is bound to do a bit more
pushing and shoving than most and unfortunately this often results in a steward's
enquiry. If the stewards decide that there has been too much rough and tumble, your
winning result may be overturned and suddenly you find yourself with a very
unacceptable loser. But just because the horse has lost it doesn't necessarily mean that
you have to lose as well.
Here's how it works.
If you are with a Tipping Service that always attempts to back tryers, then you should
instruct your bookie that all your win bets are placed on a 'FIRST PAST THE POST
BASIS'. On telephone accounts this can be done as a blanket instruction for all your
win bets so you don't have to keep telling them everytime you phone in.
So, will this technique ever work against you?
Well obviously it can do. If your horse comes second, but then the result is overturned
and you are given first place you would not collect. But remember, since you are
backing trying horses every time, there is a far greater chance that it is your horse that
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is more likely to be the offender. The 'first past the post' technique can make a big
difference to your monthly profits so please give it careful thought and decide
whether it is right for you.
A Friend in Need is a Pain in the Ass
Over the last few lessons I've spent a fair amount of time trying to get the 'winning
instinct' drummed into any reader who finds losing to be his natural state of things.
But for the great majority of you this has not proved necessary. Anyone who has been
betting for a reasonable period of time (and followed the system) will already have
found that for the price of a phone call a day you a getting a return on your investment
that far outweighs anything your local building society can ever offer.
I've held back until now but I must say a big thank you to those people who have
written in to say how well the course is working for them - and thankfully you remain
the majority of my mailbox.
As a writer, of course it seems that I cannot win.
You'd think that letters from contented readers would be the perfect way to start the
day but I'm afraid that isn't the case. A new reader in Norwich who has had an endless
run of winners is just as likely to go off the rails as the Cleethorpes housewife who
hasn't had a winner at all.
(These artistic types are all the same - stop moaning and get on with it - Ed!).
Okay, for all you successful types out there, let's look at some useful tips for you.
1. Keep a low profile. Don't get known at the local bookies as a 'winning punter'.
Keep your business to yourself and certainly avoid getting on first name terms. You
are there for business - not pleasure. When you become well known as a winner,
it's not just one Ladbrokes shop that will turn away your business (do you think these
Managers never get together?).
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2. Don't brag to your friends. If you want to impress your friends, don't tell them
about your gambling activities - talk about what your profits are bringing you instead.
A holiday, a new car, a new suit are all worthy of discussion - but don't talk about
three year old fillies in the 2.15. Before you know it the in-laws will be after a tip for
the Derby and they simply won't understand the concept that although it lost it was a
good value bet at 7-1. You've been warned.
3. Don't spend all your profits. Like any business venture you should try to invest in
your own company. If you are using the twenty point bank properly, leaving your
profits in the bank will enable you to increase your 1 point bet gradually. If you
always spend all of your profits your stake will never increase. As a guide you should
try to build up your betting bank to a minimum of £4,000. This will give you a £200
stake.
4. Spend some of your profits. There's nothing nicer than having something to show
for your efforts so don't be a complete miser. When you have a big winner, buy
something that you will remember the race by. It's not just a symbol of your success
but a constant reminder that sticking to the system really pays dividends. Far better
than seeing your profits go on gas bills and television licences - use your regular
income for the boring bills.
5. Don't get fooled into a false sense of security. A fat bank balance and a large
wedge in your back pocket can lull the novice punter into a false sense of well being.
You never know if there's a losing streak ahead so don't start throwing your profits at
other horses that take your fancy while you're stood in the betting shop.
Okay, let's move on to some of your questions that I think are worth sharing.
Reader's Questions
Many thanks to NL who asks: "My Tipping Service are giving me bets on events other
than horse racing. Should I avoid these, and also, how come a slight change in the
going has such a drastic effect on a horse's ability? Is this just an excuse for a lousy
tip?"
15
Tips other than for horse racing are usually called Sporting Bets. Whether you take
them or not is a matter personal choice but from my experience these specialised bets
are usually very profitable. I know some of the bets are sometimes rather odd but if a
Tipping Service has inside information that gives you an unfair advantage then I think
you should take the gamble. I remember one year betting on snow falling in Norwich
on Christmas day, as bizarre a bet as you'll ever get, but it gave me a £300 profit so
who cares?
Your second question is very interesting and links in very nicely with last month's
lesson on 'trying' horses.
The first half of the answer is straight forward. Although some horses will run well on
any ground, most horses have a preference for either hard or soft ground. There is no
pattern to this and whereas some horses come to a grinding halt in, say, soft
conditions, others will simply love it and take on a new lease of life. Now, whilst a
change in conditions may not go in a horse's favour, there is another reason why its
performance may be so astonishingly poor.
Now the darker side of the answer. Often you will be given information on a horse
that is known to be trying in a particular race, and the bet of course will have taken
into account the expected conditions of the ground at the time you were given the
bet.
Let's imagine that for unforeseen circumstances those expected conditions do not
materialise. This could be for a variety of reasons - the expected rain doesn't
materialise or an unexpected downpour occurs on an otherwise dry day.
Now, not only is the horse disadvantaged by the change, obviously resulting in a
poorer performance, but also the trainer may decide that the horse should be saved for
another day resulting in the horse running even worse than it may have otherwise
done.
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What was going to be a winning horse on one type of track suddenly turns into an
also-ran when the conditions suddenly change for the worse.
If you've been given a bet early, and told it is dependent on certain conditions, you
may be able to reduce or even stop your wager altogether, if you become aware that
the going will not suit your chosen horse. Sometimes it will be too late.
If your particular Tipping Service gives out bets 10 minutes before the 'off', you
may well find that a planned bet is suddenly called off at the last minute.
Annoying as this may be at the time (money in hand, all fired up and ready to go),
bets are only cancelled for good reason and your interests are normally the prime
consideration in these circumstances.
Always err on the side of caution - there's always another day and another race.
And finally I've had several readers ask why we don't get many early price bets -
especially when they seem to be so regularly available.
Well, bookmakers mainly price up competitive handicaps which, surprise surprise, are
most profitable to the bookmaker. Whilst we do get the occasional nugget, it's fair to
say that most times they are not normally the sort of races you or I would be
interested in.
Of course when you do get early prices that's when you really appreciate the benefit
of having lots of betting accounts available to you. You've probably already noticed
that the price difference between bookmakers on long odds early prices is enormous.
With long odds (i.e. in excess of 20-1) you will regularly find one bookie offering 25-
1 whilst another is offering 40-1. I don't need to tell you what a difference that one bet
can make to your monthly profits.
Lots more stuff next month - see you then.
Lesson 9 Come on Down - The Price is Right
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used,
or the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
2
Hello again and welcome to Lesson 9.
Everytime you pick up the phone to a bookmaker, or walk into your local bookies to
hand over the folding stuff, you experience what must be one of the biggest
emotional upheavals known to man. The thought of seeing your hard earned money
doubled or trebled, all within a matter of a few minutes, is bound to make your pulse
race and your throat dry with anticipation. So too is the thought of seeing it
disappear!
I accept that many 'each way' bets can leave your account pretty much unchanged if
all you manage is a place, but in most races you are either ecstatic with the joy of
winning or seriously pissed off for two hours because ‘those idiots calling themselves
tipsters made a right horlicks of things this afternoon.’ You have probably already
discovered there is no middle ground. It is all either euphoria or doom and gloom.
Now I could say go back and read Lesson 1, page 12. I could say don't get excited,
do not get carried away with it all. I could say do not look at individual races,
instead take the long term view - all the stuff I have given you before.
But somehow I just know you will not listen.
I know, and you know, that come the race you will have your nose as close to the
action as you can possibly get it. As they turn for home you will have the whip in
one hand, the reigns in the other and you will be willing that horse to win as if your
very life depended on it.
In the heat of the moment it is as if your entire betting future is hanging on the
success or failure of this one race. This is it. This is the big one, this is make or
break. It is as if your very existence is dependent on today’s selected nag pushing
his nose to the front and claiming victory. That means victory for you by the way,
not him. This is confirmation of your belief that you could ever make money from
horse racing was right. Could anyone have ever doubted you? That is why this race
above all others, is so important.
3
Of course you accept losers - we all do don't we? It comes with the territory. But
let us have the loser tomorrow if you will, not today. Not when you got on at 5-1.
Especially as the price has since fallen like a stone to 5-2. Not today, please not
today. Not after you put that little bit extra on because you have already had two
losers this week and this means you can pull it all back (and more). You will be
quid's ahead. Just let this one win. Please.
Come on, I know exactly what you do when you think I'm not looking!
I know for a fact that you have been tempted to put a little bit more on (or a little bit
less) on, at one time or another.
With the best will in the world, we all have days when we just cannot stop ourselves
from breaking the rules. We know we shouldn't but we hear ‘the voices’ saying ‘go-
on, you know it makes sense.’
What’s more, sometimes the voices are right. That is why you have started to
listen to them isn't it?
We miss a bet because, well, just because …….. and then it loses. So we were right
and our 'decision' was vindicated.
This month, in a most unusual demonstration of brotherly love and understanding, I
have decided that shouting at you is probably a complete waste of time. Spanking no
doubt will give you the wrong idea altogether and I suspect that taking a fatherly
‘now listen to me son,’ will probably make you do it even more! So I won’t
bother.
Instead I have decided I am going to try to guide you through some of the more
frustrating moments that you are bound to experience over the coming months. (That
is if you have not already). And without doubt the most frustrating thing of all is
getting a good price!
4
Oh God, Please Give Me a Decent Price
By now you have already learned that getting a good price for a winning horse is
vital to your profits.
Over the years many people have said to me that it is not the price that is important -
it is your ability to pick winners. Sorry guys, but you have only got half of the
story. You would be right if every horse (or nearly every horse) you picked won. But
it does not work like that as the following figures clearly show.
If your strike rate is 40% (a pretty good strike rate I must add) and your average
price is 2-1, you would only make £400 per month (assuming an average of 10 bets
per month).
Bet Stake
£
Result Odds Return
£
Profit £
Running total £
1 200 Lost 2-1 Nil -200 -200
2 200 Won 2-1 600 400 200
3 200 Lost 2-1 Nil -200 0
4 200 Won 2-1 600 400 400
5 200 Lost 2-1 Nil -200 200
6 200 Won 2-1 600 400 600
7 200 Lost 2-1 Nil -200 400
8 200 Lost 2-1 Nil -200 200
9 200 Lost 2-1 Nil -200 0
10 200 Won 2-1 600 400 400
At the end of the month you would see only a 2 point profit. This would give a
profit for the year of £4,800 tax paid, or around £400 per month - not a fortune.
Okay, this will certainly pay for a nice family holiday for you and the kids but if we
can improve the price, even by a small amount, let’s say 3-1, the difference to your
profits is absolutely enormous.
5
See the table below.
Bet Stake
£
Result Odds Return
£
Profit after tax £
Running total after tax
£ 1 200 Lost 3-1 Nil -200 -200
2 200 Won 3-1 800 600 400
3 200 Lost 3-1 Nil -200 200
4 200 Won 3-1 800 600 800
5 200 Lost 3-1 Nil -200 600
6 200 Won 3-1 800 600 +1,200
7 200 Lost 3-1 Nil -200 1,000
8 200 Lost 3-1 Nil -200 800
9 200 Lost 3-1 Nil -200 600
10 200 Won 3-1 800 600 +1,200
This would give as a profit for the year of £14,400 tax paid.
I do not know about you but £14,400 per year TAX FREE seems a lot nearer the
mark.
What is particularly significant here is to note that we are having 6 losers a month
(that's more losers than winners) and we are still making excellent profits and the
odds as I am sure you would agree, could hardly be described as impressive.
Would those readers who write in and complain they have had six losers on the
trot please read the previous two paragraphs over and over until you
understand what I am saying here.
So if it makes such a big difference how can you get the best possible price every
time you bet?
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Well, your first job is to work out the typical ‘price profile’ of any bet given out by
your chosen tipping service. What you will find is that 80% of your bets will
always follow a similar price pattern.
If you belong to one of the big profitable companies you will find that since you are
one of many people betting on the same horse the following price variation would be
quite typical:
Opening show 5-1
Second show 9-2
Third show 4-1
Fourth show 7-2
SP 7-2
This is caused by the sheer volume of money going on to one particular horse as a
result of the tipping service you use advising all of its members.
When you first start to bet, keep a record of how the market reacts to the money your
tipping service controls. Remember your group collectively will be pretty much
putting the same amount of money on each recommendation. This consistent buying
power will have a consistent effect on the way prices change, assuming everything
else is equal..
Of course about 20% of bets will not follow this pattern. There are many reasons for
this but the main ones are;
1. Another tipping service disagrees and has picked a totally different horse in the
same race. Net result? Your price holds up much better than you may otherwise
expect.
2. The entire market disagrees, in which case the price of your horse may stay the
same or even drift out. Great news if you are right and everyone else is wrong.
3. The word is out and everyone backs your horse in which case the price falls like a
stone, (this is called a “steamer”).
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Now I am sure that you do not need little old me to tell you that if the opening show
is the best price most of the time, then you should always aim to take the opening
show.
My statistics show that with my main tipping service, 75% of first shows are
better than or equal to the SP.
Some tipping services will use the power of their membership to try and control the
market. For example you may always be told to take the second show for all your
bets. This works because the prices are normally marked up slightly short to test the
market and see where the big money is going. If a tipping service tells its entire
membership not to take the first show, the price may then drift and everyone can dive
in at the higher price. In this instance a typical price profile might be:
Opening show 5-1
Second show 11-2
Third show 5-1
Fourth show 4-1
Fifth show 7-2
SP 7-2
After a while you will soon see a pattern forming and you will be able to time
your bets to try and get the best price. Recognising this pattern can be worth a lot
of money to you over the season.
Guide Prices - How to Use Them
I hope the tables that I gave you earlier make it obvious why some tipping services
give out ‘guide prices’. The guide price is their guess at the sort of price you can
expect to be offered. At this price the horse is considered to be good value. You
may also be given a minimum price and the expectations are, that if you can't get
that price you should not take the bet. Whilst it remains true that a dead cert is a
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good bet at almost any price, I am sure you have learnt by now that you won't
be given that many dead certs during the season. And as I have shown, if you are
averaging a 40% strike rate you really need a 3-1 average in order to generate a five
figure income.
What to do if the Price is Shorter Than the Guide Price?
I can only tell you what I do in these circumstances.
Let's say the guide price is 7-2.
If the market opened at 3-1 or better I would take it, I feel that this is near enough.
If the market opened at 5-2 I would wait.
If the market then shortened the horse to 2-1 I would let it go. In other words I
would walk away.
I work on the basis that if the horse was considered to be good value at 7-2, I should
not be betting at 2-1.
Now here is the clever bit.
You can take all the pressure out of gambling (“should I back it, should I not
back it, is that the best price I am going to get?" etc. etc.) by deciding the price
you are prepared to take before the first show.
I do this for every race I bet on without fail, and you should do this too. Make life
easy for yourself.
This way there is no indecision - no major heart flutters and hot flushes. If the price
you are prepared to take comes up - then take it. If it does not leave it well alone.
There should be no grey areas - no maybes, ifs or buts.
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And if the price is significantly better than expected?
Well this does not happen that often, but if I have been told that the guide price for
my bet is 4-1 and it opens at 6-1 I would have to put a little bit more on.
(What? I don't believe you have just said that! - Ed!).
Yes I know it comes as a shock. After all, I have told you in the past but let me put
this into context before you dash for the Basildon Bond and start writing any hate
mail.
If you are with one of the leading tipping services you will find that their ability to
identify the true value of a horse is absolutely stunning. They will rarely be far out in
their estimate of the price.
Now and then the bookies do make a mistake and you will get the occasional
opening price that comes as a bit of a surprise. (I can assure you this will only
happen two or three times a year and it makes up for all those times the price is much
shorter than expected). I am afraid that on these odd occasions I cannot let a good
thing pass me by.
So there you go, which proves I am almost human after all!
But do be careful - wait until you know just how good your tipping service is at
estimating prices and bide your time until a genuine error is staring you in the face.
Like I say, this will only happen two or three times a year.
What To do When You Miss a Good Price
The law of sod dictates that the one day you are late making your phone call to get
your information, you find that an early price has been given out and you have
missed it. A 6-1 each way ante post bet has suddenly shortened to 5-2 and you have
missed the price. What do you do?
Quite simply walk away. If the horse was value at 6-1 but is not value at 5-2 why
would you be interested?
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And do not forget that with early prices, and particularly ante post bets, an awful lot
can happen anyway between now and the race. You may well find that the horse
drifts out again, and there is many a time when I have taken an early price only to see
the horse drift out so much that I would have been better off taking SP. It does
happen.
My records show that due to other commitments, busy business schedules, holidays
and minor family problems etc. I miss 3% of all bets given by my tipping service.
That includes missing early prices as well as missing bets completely. My attitude
is if my yearly betting profits are dependent on this 3%, I am probably with the
wrong company.
In reality I do miss winners, but of course I miss losers as well so overall it balances
out. Don’t beat yourself up because you miss a price or even a bet now and then -
life's too short.
Which brings me nicely on to this month's readers' letters. S.D. from Manchester
would like to know: "Why my tipping service hardly ever gives out early price bets -
particularly as there are so many of them around?"
I realise, that a willingness to give early price bets does vary enormously between
tipping services but clearly, from this and other letters I have received, there is a
general view that you would like more early price bets if you can get them.
This is only to be expected. Bearing in mind the thrust of this month's lesson it
would be simpler for all of us if we could just take an early price and then get on with
our lives.
Unfortunately this is not going to happen.
11
For a start, early prices are no different to the prices posted ten minutes before the
off, in the sense that the bookies will cut them as soon as they see where the money is
headed. That means you still end up chasing a good price so you are no better off.
Don’t think for one moment that early prices are the bookies' way of giving you
more of a chance - quite the opposite. First of all it gives them an early chance to
check out the market and find out where the money is going.
Secondly, early prices are only ever given in races where it suits their purposes not
yours. (Surprise, surprise).
Most early prices are for competitive handicaps which are most profitable for the
bookmaker. They are rarely the sort of races that you or I would be interested in.
In short, do not be too surprised if you find your tipping service is not giving out
quite as many early priced bets as you might otherwise expect. Timeline is one of the
exception here and they specialise in early price races.
My second readers' letter this month comes from J.W. in Leicester who asks:
“Each week my tipping service gives out additional bets, that is, other than the two
or three weekly main bets. Should I take these as well as the normal bets and how
successful have they been in the past?”
Now if this question had come up earlier in the course I would have said a categoric
NO! You should not take them.
You must understand that all tipping services want to give a good impression -
ideally all of the time if possible. Unfortunately for them (and for you) they will
always have losing runs and it does not take much of a losing run to see all your
‘loyal’ subscribers running for the hills. Particularly new clients who think they have
made a bad choice.
Over the years I have learned that all tipping services have a habit of mentioning
‘other’ horses which are not really bets at all. Or should I say they are not bets if
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they lose. If they win you will often find them mentioned the following day or at the
end of the week in the round up message.
This can be all very frustrating when you are following my instructions to the letter.
As I have said many times before, most punters do not keep accurate records and do
not bet consistently. This makes them highly gullible when it comes to how well
they are really doing.
If the tipping service says it has been a good week, and they have had a bad week,
they put this down to their own erratic betting rather than bad advice.
So why did I say “if this question had come up earlier in the course?”
Well the difference is I assume that since you are reading Lesson 9 you would have
learned by now the difference between a good and bad tipping service.
A good tipping service will live and die by its mainstream bets and will only use
these in its monthly figures.
However, many of the top ten tipping services also mention other horses for those
clients who like additional information, or more bets than the usual two or three a
week.
Whether you should take these bets or not is very much down to the individual but in
my experience they can be extremely profitable. It is really a matter of whether you
have the time or not to place these extra bets.
I have tried both the Clevelander 'odds to' service and the Isiris warm horses and they
have both proven to be very profitable. In year 2000 for example the Isiris main bets
made £13,827 and the warm horses made a further £1,266. They do vary quite a lot
and in some years I have made over £10,000 from the warm horses alone. The
key factor here is whether you actually have the time for several bets a day and this
will very much depend on whether you have a full time job or not. Remember,
whatever you decide, you must bet consistently. It's no good taking just some of the
bets when you have the time. The law of sod will dictate that you will end up taking
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all the losers and then missing the winners. Of course the strike rate is generally
lower the better the odds. So take 'em all or not at all.
I would suggest that if you do want to give them a try, wait until your second year of
betting. This is because the strike rate tends to be much lower (even though you get
some great odds) and you will often have long runs of losers as well as long runs of
winners. This can often cripple a novice punter with a small, fragile betting bank,
and a nervous disposition.
My final letter is from P.M. in Lichfield who says:
“Whenever I win with an each way bet, I get a different return every time. There
seems to be no pattern to it all although you always seem to talk about a fifth for the
first three.”
I have had this question come up several times recently so here is how to work it out.
The returns on an each way bet are dependent on:
1. The type of race, i.e. whether it is a handicap or not
2. The number of runners.
All Races Non H'cap Handicap Handicap Handicap No. of Runners
5-7 8+ 8-1 12-15 16+
Odds qtr fifth fifth qtr qtr Places First 2 First 3 First 3 First 3 Firts 4
Of course, there is nothing to stop a bookmaker varying the above for a particular
race. This is not common and if anything is usually in your favour. For example,
bookies will sometimes pay the first four for less than 16 runners in a handicap,
rather than the first three. Normally to be found in high profile events when they
want some good PR, but heck, who’s complaining?
Can You Have Too Much of a Good Thing?
Well my girlfriend tells me not but that is another story altogether.
14
What I am really asking here is are we limited to making £12,000 a year through
Racing for Cash or is there more to be had? After all you are probably only doing an
hour a week tops if you are doing this correctly.
If we look at any other business, let's say the retail industry or the food industry there
are some very useful parallels to be drawn.
Walk down any High Street in this country and what do you see? Wherever you
live I bet you have got exactly the same shops as I have.
Boots, Woolworths, Littlewoods, Kentucky, Virgin Records, W.H Smith, B&Q,
Gap, McDonalds, Body Shop, Burger King, the list is endless. So why so many
chains?
Obviously there is the 'economy of scale' issue to consider. The more you sell the
cheaper you can buy for, but that is not the key issue here. The principle here is that
if one shop makes you £20K a year, how much will ten shops make you, or a
hundred shops, or a thousand shops?
If a shop loses money - you close it.
If a shop makes money - you repeat the same formula somewhere else. If you have
any experience of franchises then you know what I am talking about.
So how can we use this principle to help us with our betting?
I said at the beginning that the biggest thing stopping you making money from this
course, after yourself of course, is the bookmaker. He will close you down as soon
as he spots you are a winner.
But can we beat him? If we can make £12k a year with so little effort can we double
it? Can we repeat the same formula somewhere else and make £24k a year?
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Well, yes you can, but it is not easy.
First of all you must remember that anything over £12k requires you to keep a very
low profile for all the reasons that were covered in previous lessons. I will assume I
do not need to repeat all that stuff and so I will move on.
Here is how to create a ‘Racing for Cash chainstore.’ And double your profits.
1. IF YOUR EXISTING TIPPING SERVICE IS MAKING GOOD MONEY,
INCREASE YOUR STAKES.
Now you all know the rules here. Leave plenty of money in your betting account so
your 20 point bank steadily increases in value. Then spread your bets in the
following ways:
a) If you have a mobile phone, use it to place a bet on your telephone acount
straight after you have bet using cash in your local bookies.
b) If you live near a large town centre you can nip between two different bookies
in a matter of minutes.
c) Consider opening a second account in a different name (family, girl friend,
boyfriend, wife’s maiden name etc.) and bet on both accounts.
d) Get a trusted friend to help place bets for a small percentage of the profits
2. JOIN A SECOND TIPPING SERVICE TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR FIRST
ONE.
Again, this is best done in your second year since you will need a 20 point bank for
both services but well worth the effort.
Not only will you make more money when times are good, but investors amongst
you will appreciate the benefits of spreading your risk when times are not so
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good. But do not spread yourself too thin - if you have not got a 20 point bank for
each account do not do it or you will never survive a bad run.
In addition to needing a larger cash reserve you will also need to make sure that you
actually have the time to double the number of bets you make, particularly if you
have a full time job.
I am sure that after your first successful year, your girlfriend or wife will be keener to
help when she realises that the system actually works.
Conclusion
This month I have concentrated on two areas that I feel are extremely important -
getting the best prices and getting the max. out of the system.
I know this has made for a more serious lesson than normal but let’s be honest,
money is only a laughing matter when you have got plenty of it. I am sure you can
relate to this only too well.
Right now I have no way of knowing which particular tipping service you are with or
whether you have had a good month or a bad month. Whatever the case, please take
time to re-read as much of this course as you possibly can. It is not a case of
whether you know the stuff, it is a case of whether you actually do it.
More laughs next month so good luck and prosperous betting until then.
See you next month.
Lesson 10 Good Tipsters Only Make
Money If You Do
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
2
Hello again and welcome to Lesson 10.
This would seen an ideal opportunity to review both the success of this course and,
more importantly, how well you are doing.
Firstly, have you been able to follow the ground rules you’ve been given in this
course?
Secondly, is your tipster bringing home the bacon or should you consider a change?
And finally, have your profits meant you’ve been able to increase your stakes or has
your betting bank reduced in size - meaning a smaller stake now than when you
started?
By now you should feel confident that you are betting wisely and that you have a
professional team of people trying to help you make a healthy profit. If not we need
to consider making serious changes.
All of the top 10 tipsters are totally dedicated to their profession and of course they
will only make money in the long term if you make money as well.
It would be nice if we knew at the beginning of the season which tipster would be at
Number One, but since we don’t there still remains an element of luck as to which
one you choose.
Many readers hedge their bets by joining two or even three companies. Like stocks
and shares this is a great way to spread the risk but if this is your first year of betting
the chances are you are probably only using one service due to the costs involved in
subscribing to several at a time.
If your chosen company is doing well this season, and I know from my mail bag that
there are many happy readers out there, no doubt your decision to review your
subscription when it expires will not be a difficult one.
But what if your profits are not as good as you had hoped?
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Should you change your tipster or should you stick with him hoping for an
improvement? Preferably sooner rather than later.
The first thing to remember is that all tipsters have a bad run now and then and I’ve
told you many times before:
1. Take the long term view.
2. Protect yourself at all times with a twenty point bank.
But what if you’ve done those things and the situation doesn’t look like it’s going
to improve. What should you do then?
Well the first thing is to check how is the market doing generally before you even
consider changing companies.
If you already subscribe to the Racing Information Database check their latest
figures. (if you don’t subscribe just send off for one month's newsletter - it will cost
you less than £10).
Your first question should be: "How are the other tipsters doing at the moment?"
You may find that it’s not just your tipster having a bad time of it. Bad weather or
health problems at several stables often affect all tipsters and it would be a shame for
you to change only to find you were no better off than before.
The second thing you should do is to contact your existing tipster and raise your
concerns.
Make sure that whether you write or phone, you are constructive in your comments.
Shouting and balling will achieve nothing and of course if you are experiencing a
losing run - so is the rest of the membership as well. He hardly needs you to tell him
that he’s not performing!
4
In my opinion the true measure of a tipping company is how they respond to a losing
run - it’s also the true measure of the punter as well. Can you take your losses? If not,
you shouldn't really be gambling at all.
Heck, we can all cope when the money just pours in and we don’t seem able to
pick anything other than a winning horse.
In fact as I’ve said before, one of the factors that determines my choice of tipster is
how they respond to a losing run not just how much money they make in the good
times. You’ll soon get a feel for whether your chosen company really cares about the
results or not - and how well they appreciate that their selections affect the lives of
many people up and down the country. People like you and me.
Please don’t expect to get hold of the tipster straight away. It may take a day or two.
After all they don’t spend all day in the office just waiting to talk to clients who may
or may not phone in for a chinwag. Chances are they will be away at a race course or
nearby stable yard, trying to make you money.
Remember, the tipster will only make money if you make money so in most cases
you’ll find them only too keen to discuss any problems you may be having.
You may even get free extension to your subscription if they feel you have joined at
an unfortunate time, which is another good reason for not bawling down the phone if
things aren’t quite going your way. It’s not true to say that tipsters don’t care if you win or lose on the basis they’ll
just mug another punter into joining when you leave. Not the good ones anyway.
Word would very quickly get around if they acted in this irresponsible manner.
My experience of tipsters is that they take winning and losing far more seriously than
I do. After all, they do all the work and their entire livelihood often depends on their
success over the last six months. By comparison I merely sit on the sidelines
creaming off the best returns I can from those people who consistently out perform
the market.
5
In all of these comments, of course, I assume that you are not to blame in any
way by either missing bets or betting inconsistently.
I think it’s fair to say that when we first start betting on horses we have a very
distorted view of the horse racing industry - the very industry from which we hope to
elicit many thousands of pounds over the coming years.
It is obvious from the letters I receive, and from speaking to people generally, that the
punter's view of gambling is both diverse, and to some extent perverse at the same
time, particulary with respect to beginners in this field. I sometimes wonder where
they get their ideas from!
Now I know you shouldn’t generalise but there are some clearly identifiable groups
amongst the betting homosapien - you may or may not belong to one of the these
groups.
It is interesting to take a look at these different types of gamblers.
The System Seeker
Many people believe that they can make oodles of money simply by using a magic
formula. These ‘systems’ will absolutely guarantee the devotee instant success. All
they have to do is follow the step-by-step method, turn the handle and out pours a
never-ending supply of money...
People who believe in such things spend many years, and indeed many thousands of
pounds, in search of the ‘holy grail.’
They know that people make money from horse racing but they want the secret
formula compressed to fit on the back of a cigarette packet so they can carry it with
them wherever they go. This elusive formula is, of course, only available to a select
few, the "inner circle", or the "chosen ones". And yet these very same people
wouldn’t pay more than a few hundred pounds for this key to untold riches even if
such a thing really did exist - “Do you really think I’m gonna pay more than three
6
hundred quid for a poxy sheet of A4 with a bit of a formula on it? Do you think I’m a
mug or something?”
The Instant Winner
The instant winner is the most common of all the betting predators to be found on
these temperate shores. He falls into the ‘junkie’ category simply because he needs
instant gratification. If he doesn't win immediately, he's off in search of something
better. “Yeah, I bet with that lot last year - four bets and they all lost - what a bunch
of wallies - I could ‘ave told you they were all losers even before I put my money on,
y’know what I mean? I was well an’ truly stitched up with that bunch.”
Don’t look for long term investors amongst this lot.
Mister Inconsistent
Mister Inconsistent never sticks with anything for more than a week. Fickle by name
and fickle by nature he bets different amounts everytime, misses some weeks
altogether, and has more systems than ICL. He never sticks with anything long
enough to know whether it works or not and even if he does find a winning formula,
he’ll leave it after a while because “they’ve had a good run so I’ll get out now while
I’m on top.”
He’s usually a happy enough fellow though and goes through life with an optimistic
air (and probably a bloody annoying whistle as well!).
The Victim
The Victim comes in many guises but is instantly recognisable by the endless list of
reasons for why he always loses. A whingebag at best and a loud mouth at worst,
he’s to be found in just about every High Street Bookie telling anyone who’ll listen
why his horse would have won if it hadn’t been for that stupid jockey (or that ruddy
trainer, or that infringement at the last, or those stupid blinkers, or that cut in the
ground, and on and on and on).
7
The betting victim is usually a victim of life in general and the chances are even if
you did give him a winning tip, he’d probably lose his tenner walking down to the
bookies to place the bet.
Give him a wide berth at all times - just in case it rubs off!
By contrast I hope that after ten months on this course, (and around six months
betting experience), you’ve begun to see the reality of gambling and where the true
path to profitable betting lies.
I would like to think that by now you are a well versed and sanguine member of the betting fraternity and you know at
least some of the facts of life. In Summary
1. Yes there are (almost) guaranteed winners, at very good prices too, that only few
people know about. But they are much rarer beasts than you and I would like.
2. This business is full, and I mean full to the brim, of so called inside knowedge.
Absolutely everyone’s an expert and the only way you can judge is by looking at a
tipster's success over previous years. Success that can be proven by an independent
organisation.
3. Don’t listen to the media. The media makes money by talking about betting not by
doing it. It’s a circus that rolls out every day and its job is simply to entertain
you - its job is not to educate you. It’s just other people's opinions and nothing
more. Sometimes it’s right, most times it’s rubbish but at the end of the day who the
hell cares? It’s one race down and on to the next - the show must go on.
4. The variables in horse racing are huge - and as we’ve said many times before, you
are not playing on a level surface. You want to have an unfair advantage right? That
way you’ll make loads of money right? Hey guess what - that’s what everyone else
8
wants as well - in fact nobody is playing the game by the rules at all. We all think we
can find something that nobody else knows about. These days everyone thinks they’re
Indiana Jones for Christ's sake!
It’s against this back drop that humble little ol’ you (and I) tread our weary path in
search of the odd twelve thousand pounds. We don’t ask for much in life now do we?
So why am I telling you this?
Well by now you’ve probably started to receive the first in a whole raft of betting
junk mail. It’s guaranteed to pour through your letter box over the coming season.
Some seasons prove difficult and unprofitable mainly due to the extraordinary
weather but there’s one area that rarely suffers from soft going, and that’s the Direct
Mail industry.
Britain seems to be awash with a whole new breed of tipping services claiming
the most astonishing results I’ve ever seen. I’m sure you’ve seen at least one or
two of these already.
“A guaranteed winner this Saturday Mr Fairweather, just phone our girls on the
number below and you will be a thousand pounds richer by Saturday.”
“Last month we had seven winners, our best was 20-1, and we’re going to do exactly
the same this month, don’t miss out.”
“I’ve made so much money in the last 12 months, I’ve been banned by all the leading
bookmakers. Now I’ll show you how to make huge profits too.”
Most of these truly outstanding claims of success are followed by requests for
such paltry amounts of money to join that you wonder why people ever fall for it
in the first place.
I guess it’s because we want to believe it’s true - the ultimate fairy tale that will solve
all our problems and make all our dreams come true. Oh, if only ………..!
9
A Helping Hand
Over the last nine months I think I’ve put a very strong case for joining one of the
leading tipping services, but I know that many of you cannot afford this straight away
and need a way of building up your betting bank before you can get into the big time.
Others may simply like to add a second string to their bow.
For newcomers this approach can be quite appealing because it means you can start
small and ‘trade up’ later on when you’ve got more money in the kitty. Far less risky
if you don’t want to dive in at the deep end.
So what’s the best way of doing this? This month I’m going to show you two more
ways of getting started.
But before that, let’s look at a few things you shouldn’t do.
Two Golden Rules For Avoiding Scams
Anti-Scam Rule No.1:
If it appears too good to be true - it usually is. This is a wonderful rule. Now you
know what to do with all that rubbish that comes through your letter box promising
you the earth for only £25 quid and a money back guarantee as well.
Anti-Scam Rule No. 2:
If it ain't proofed - don’t touch it. I know this is a bit unfair because there are some
good companies out there who either don’t proof, or because they have very few bets
they do not fall into the Racing Information Database Top 10. That said, the number
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of rogues that don’t (can’t) proof, outweigh the good guys by 50-1, so make life easy
for yourself and stay with the tried and tested services.
By the way, proofing doesn’t mean just saying you're proofed either!
Many rogues will say they proof to the Sporting Life or whatever and work on the
basis that you’ll never check. To make sure you aren’t being conned always:
1. Check the address and phone number of any service you are considering
joining. Can you actually talk to these people directly for example?
Premium information lines and PO Box numbers are always suspicious in my
opinion.
2. Check how long they have been operating and how successful they have been
over the last 2 years (2 years minimum).
3. Always check out their claims. If you can’t get an independent third party
recommendation leave them alone.
4. Wherever possible verify their claims though the Racing Information Data base or
a similar independent body (more on this later).
5. Always assume the worst and then get them to prove otherwise.
One final point. Don’t get mugged into believing any ‘guarantees’ you may be
offered. If a company offers you a money-back guarantee how can you be sure
the company will even be there to honour that guarantee? If they offer a refund
should you lose, how on earth can they afford to refund every one of their
subscribers? Answer: They can't and they won't.
Unfortunately, at a time when consumer rights are perceived as being exactly that, i.e.
a consumer right, many people believe that a money-back guarantee actually has some
11
value. This isn’t the case if the company goes bust or more likely, they’ve taken the
money and done a runner.
So after all that, what’s left?
What should you do if you haven’t got the hard cash to invest in a decent tipping
service from the start?
The Newspaper Tipsters
In Lesson 7 I told you that Newspaper Tipsters have an extremely poor track record.
In fact it’s absolutely dreadful.
But why is this? Why would someone who professes to be a racing tipster have a
poorer success rate than your Aunt Flo on the bingo? Do these people get up each
morning, kiss the wife and say “bye darling, I’m just off to mislead another two
million readers with a three legged donkey at Ascot, snigger snigger, ha ha, see you at
6.00.”
Of course they don’t.
The truth is most Newspaper Tipsters are obliged to give a tip for every race every
day of the week (Sundays as well when there’s racing on the Sabbath).
Now with the best will in the world no-one, and I mean no-one, is that good.
That’s just too many races and too many horses. They haven’t got a chance.
That’s why their performance is so poor.
Remember you need a strike rate of 30% plus to make a profit and there isn’t a hope
in hell of them ever achieving that with the odds stacked so heavily against them.
But how does this help you?
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Well you’re probably already aware that the Newspaper Tipsters have a thing called a
Nap - which sounds like forty winks on a Sunday after lunch. It is in fact their best
bet of the day. Now this is a different kettle of fish altogether.
The Naps give you a way of getting reasonably high quality information at a very low
price.
The trouble is you need to know which Newspaper tipsters are doing well with their
naps and which are doing badly.
Unfortunately the Racing Information Database doesn’t cover Newspaper Tipsters,
but here’s the good news. If you look in the Racing Post they print a Naps table
every day. From this you can chose your favourite tipster (obviously based on current
form) and follow his advice.
What’s particularly good about this is it’s absolutely free so you can bet on ‘paper’
for the first few weeks to see how you would have done if you had bet for real. Since
it’s costing you nothing you don’t feel this passionate desire to recover your cost in
the first few days.
But remember, even when you’re starting small, having a system is still vital to
your long term profits.
1. Decide at the start what size betting bank you can afford and put that money to
one side or preferably in a separate bank account.
2. Always, always, always use the twenty point bank system. Divide your bank by
twenty to get your ‘one point value’ and either bet this every time or use the one
twentieth of your outstanding bank principle (see Lesson 7 if you can’t remember
how this works).
3. Bet consistently, not just on the days you feel like it.
4. Don’t get distracted - if you knew how to bet you would be giving out the Nap
each day not someone else.
5. Always try to get the best price you can, avoid SP unless you really are too busy.
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6. In the early days place an 'each way' bet if the prices is 5-1 or better (note - this
only applies to newcomers who are using the Nap service).
7. Give your chosen tipster a fair period to prove himself - don’t keep chopping and
changing too often.
8. Don’t spend your profits too quickly; remember - the idea is to build up your
betting account.
9. Make sure you keep accurate written records of every bet as well as up to date
record of your ongoing bank balance.
Now if you prefer the easy life, there’s a company called the Winners Agency that
may be of interest to you.
They monitor the Naps of all the Newspaper Tipsters and offer a daily phone
service giving details of the best Nap of the day. This is always based on the
current ‘star’ performer.
This is one of many services the company offers and I’ve had many good reports of
this company.
You can contact them at:
The Winners Agency
Freepost TN1659
Mayfield
East Sussex
TN20 6BR
Please note that the Winners Agency also monitor all the leading tipsters and offer a
monthly newsletter like the Racing Information Database showing who is currently
the best tipster to be with. At the time of writing, this costs £60 a year which is
excellent value for money.
The Odds-To Service
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I’ve had a lot of letters recently from people asking about ‘odds-to services’ which is
an indication of how popular they have become.
The odds-to service has always been popular for one very good reason - it’s
cheap in the short run.
This is how it works.
Instead of forking out between £300 and £2,000 at the beginning of the season to join
a tipping service, the odds-to service will let you join for a relatively small fee, often
as little as £25. This lets you become a member but nothing else. You merely get a
phone number to call for your tip or tips each week.
Some services will ask you to pay for each advice they give, but the majority will
simply ask you to place a bet for them at the same time as you place your own bet.
You, of course, will then be expected to forward the profits on the additional stake to
the company concerned.
The system requires a certain amount of trust but of course if you don’t send off your
cheque each week for the winning horses you’ll soon find the phone number doesn’t
work anymore and there’s a letter from a London solicitor on your door mat.
Obviously if the tips are good ones and you have plenty of winners then punters are
only too keen to send off their cheque to make sure they continue to get winning
advice.
Whilst these services are attractive because they are cheap to join - the real
running costs are extremely high and you’ll often find yourself paying far more
than if you had joined a reputable tipping company in the first place.
Odds-to services often boast - “You Only Pay When You Win.” Whilst it’s true to
say you only send off a cheque to the odds-to service when they give you a winning
tip, you have to remember that you are still betting money for them on every losing
selection as well. This can get extremely expensive.
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Whilst there are some good odds-to services out there, please bear in mind the
following:
1. Many odds-to services specify the price for the bet and whilst that price may have
been available on the day there’s no guarantee that you can get this price. Paying out
on a 5-2 winner when you only got 2-1 is seriously depressing. Clients will often end
up staking extra money simply because they didn’t get the price and need to make up
the difference.
2. Missing a bet is even worse because your tipster will still expect to be paid
irrespective of your mitigating circumstances. It’s bad enough missing a winning bet,
and God knows we’ve all done it, but when someone else is expecting to be paid
whether you won or not is another matter altogether.
Not all odds-to services are bad, far from it and if you’re looking to build a betting
bank without much financial resource then this is a cheap way in. But be careful
choosing the right company. Again the Racing Information Database publishes
results of all the best odds-to service for the sake of a tenner don’t join a service until
you’ve checked them out.
One thing you will be guaranteed, irrespective of the quality of the bets, is the
quality of the letters you will receive.
“Why didn’t you phone us Mr Fairweather, you missed a fantastic winner. Call us
this Thursday and we’ve got another sure fire thing from the same stable.”
Boy these people can certainly spin a line and we fall for it every time simply because
we want to believe it.
I hope that this also answers the many letters I’ve had asking how an odds-to service
works.
In summary the odds-to service can be an excellent way to build up your betting bank
if you can’t afford a good tipster when you first start. But you have to choose
carefully and the following points should help you narrow the field:
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1. Only use a service with a track record.
2. Never place more than £25 per bet for the odds to service.
3. Avoid companies that you cannot contact directly to discuss membership or any
problems you may have.
I hope this helps.
Rough With the Smooth
Winning at his game is all about taking the long-term view, having a strategy and
sticking to it. I cannot tell when you joined this course - it might be during a fantastic
winning period, or during one of those frequent losing runs. The point is - it shouldn't
matter if you are playing the game long-term.
Don’t be too put off by bad runs, simply stick to your 20 point bank and reduce your
stakes to an affordable, but consistent level until things start to recover. It could have
been worse - you could have put your money into the stockmarket!
Personally I made very little profit over those three months but things could have
been a lot worse - I could have put my money into the stock market!
Keep smiling and I’ll do all I can to help you through any bad patches that come your
way.
David Fairweather
Lesson 11 New Opportunities
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
2
Welcome to lesson 11
Congratulations, you have now completed 10 lessons in the Racing For Cash
course. Whether you are now an experienced punter, or still waiting to place
your very first bet, I sincerely hope that you have found this course to be both
rewarding and entertaining.
When I first sat down to write Racing For Cash it was always planned to be a
10 part course, but recent changes to the industry mean that there are now
some fantastic opportunities. Opportunities that never even existed when I
wrote Lesson 1! So I have created two extra lessons to make this into a 12-part
course.
I would particularly like to thank everyone who has taken the time and trouble
to write in, and in many cases the feedback you have given has helped to steer
the direction of the course itself. Many thanks to all of you.
As you might expect, the post I receive is usually from people who are either
getting absolutely nowhere or who have made fantastic gains in the first few
weeks. Of course neither of these events are always under my control, since
the choice of betting service plays a major factor.
For two or three years, one of the easiest ways of saving money was by using
offshore bookmakers. By not paying the 9% betting tax, punters could save an
absolute fortune. For a typical reader who had grown his betting account
sufficiently to place £200 per bet, the saving in tax was a whopping £4,680.00
a year.
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Of course times have changed yet again, and with effect from October 2001,
UK betting tax has been abolished altogether. Excellent news for everyone,
and of course a re-write of lesson 11 for me as it used to cover this subject.
So in this lesson I want to look at the issue of Internet betting, and in particular
whether it is of value to you.
Internet Betting
Can we get one thing straight from the start? I am not the greatest lover of the
Internet on the planet and I do realise that you will fall into one of two very
clear and distinct groups – you’re either already on line or you are not. For
those of you who are, I suspect that you may have already looked at some of
the opportunities available to you already. If you are not, please bear with me
because I really think it's something you should look at.
The Internet is great for some things (I think e-mail is just brilliant) but if ever
you wanted to waste your time endlessly surfing and wasting away those quiet
hours (your life in other words) then nothing will pass the time quicker
between now and the grim reaper, than an Internet connection.
Don’t get me wrong here. If you visited my offices you would find that I am
surrounded by the latest PC’s and the best Macs that money can buy. We
connect to the Internet by the fastest possible means and we have the latest
software on the market.
But, and it's big but, we have a very clear focus on what we are trying to
achieve. We know exactly what we want from this technology.
Can you remember how in an earlier lesson I wanted to make sure you didn’t
get side tracked? No sneaky bets on the side and all that sort of thing? Well in
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this lesson I am going to expose you to more distractions than you ever
thought possible. Now there’s a twist! Discipline is everything if you want to
get the most out of the web (and get a life!)
For those who do not have Internet access I hope to be able to convince
you that you are missing out on a tremendous opportunity.
Internet Cafés
Of course if you haven’t already invested in the technology, or indeed don’t
want to, there are Internet cafés springing up all over the place. For some of
you this is probably not an acceptable alternative to having your own
computer; the principle of ‘instant access’ is lost if you have to walk a mile to
use it – but it’s worth a mention for those of you who live or work near to such
facilities and it costs no more than the price of the Racing Post anyway.
The Web for Better Prices
For those of you already making good profits from ‘Racing for Cash’, I know
you will welcome absolutely any opportunity to find an alternative bookmaker
to the ones you already have.
I’m not suggesting for one moment there is anything wrong with the ones you
already have, far from it, it is simply a case of the more the better.
More bookmakers mean more opportunities to get a better price.
Independent bookmakers will nearly always offer better prices than the High
Street Four anyway and of course your chances of finding someone with early
prices will now be greatly improved.
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I’ve no doubt that if you haven’t yet started betting you’re probably not totally
convinced when I talk about prices being shortened by bookmakers and
“obstructions” put in your way the more successful and the more profitable
you become.
Well believe me it's true.
Internet betting isn’t just good at giving you access to better early prices
though, it's great for two other reasons;
You can spread your betting across a wider group of bookmakers.
It's easier to get early prices before they get shortened.
I’m sure that you’ve already discovered just how quickly the price of a horse is
shortened once one of the successful tipping firms recommends it. Sometimes
just being a couple of minutes late can make all the difference between 6 - 1
and 4 - 1 and that makes a huge difference to your profits.
Although the Internet is supposed to travel at the speed of light, in reality it
seems to take the bookies longer to get a price changed on the web site than it
does in the offices, and this gives you and me a great opportunity.
Many times when I have tried to place a bet on the phone I am told it is
now at SP only, despite having asked for a price and been offered one.
Complaining and bullying the operator sometimes gets the bet accepted. It’s
arguable of course that bookies who offer a price and then withdraw it are
operating outside their own terms and conditions but there doesn’t seem a lot
you can do about – especially when you are trying to stay low profile and not
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attract undue attention to yourself. but once an Internet price is offered and
accepted it can’t then be taken away from you. When you accept a price on the
Internet that’s the deal done.
Keeping on Track
It would be tedious of me to try and talk you through how to use each of the
web sites that I’m going to recommend to you. By the time you get this lesson
they will have probably changed a dozen times anyway. However I would like
you to find the time to look at some of the more significant sites but with two
very clear objectives:
Will this site help me to get better prices.
Will this site give me information quicker and cheaper than any other means.
As I said earlier, I’m not a great friend of the web unless it is either faster or
better than other available forms of communication (phone, racing press,
teletext etc). At the end of the day I’m a busy man and I don’t have time to
cruise aimlessly around badly designed or slow loading web sites. I’m sure
that you’re exactly the same.
The Web for Better Information
There’s one thing the web is great for and that’s information. If you know
what you are looking for, and have a clear specific objective in mind then
nothing can touch it.
And of course the greatest thing about it is that the information is free -
and that is what has made it so successful.
7
The downside of this is that the site owners have to make their money in other
ways – principally advertising and/or attracting you to other things that you
never went to the site for in the first place.
It’s a bit like your credit card – pay it off at the end of the month and it's free.
With the web, if you don’t get distracted then it is free as well, both in
terms of your time and your money.
I’m sure that most of you are already making good use of the teletext services
on your television mentioned in earlier lessons and you are aware of the detail
they cover. Remember for basic race information, odds and results, teletext
will give you the answer long before your computer is even up and
running.
Okay here are some key sites I think are well worth adding to your betting
arsenal. It goes without saying that the big companies offer a slick,
professional and totally secure service, so I’ll start with those first.
FIRST THE OBVIOUS ONES:
williamhill.co.uk
William Hill is desperate not to lose market share to the “new kids on the
block” and they have spent a lot of time and money in making their site as
attractive and user friendly as possible. (You can also access it on WAP
telephones and Digital Interface TV for the real techies amongst you).
ladbrokes.com
8
One of my regular sites and always kept on my ‘favourites’ list for quick
access. Like William Hill they are desperate not to lose market share and this
is starting to show in the early prices they offer. They have to be competitive,
or punters will simply click onto another site.
coraleurobet.com
Another top drawer site from a company determined to make their presence
felt in the market place although I did find the navigation rather confusing at
first. Free £5.00 bet when you place your first bet.
sportinglife.com
Another of my ‘favourites’ and I use it all the time. Unfortunately it does have
a habit of blanking out while it updates the content which is slightly annoying,
but apart from that it’s well designed and very fast. Winner of Best Sports Site
in the Yell.com / Awards 2001 which can’t be bad.
AND NOW THE NOT SO OBVIOUS:
sportingbet.com
I have to admit to having a soft spot for Sporting Bet. The owner, Mark
Blandford, originally operated a chain of betting shops in Herefordshire which
he sold to the Tote in 1998. He then set up (what I believe was) the first
offshore tax free betting services in Alderney. It was Mark and his
contemporaries that forced the UK government to rethink their entire strategy
on betting tax in the UK. As a result we now pay 9% less than we did.
Brilliant, and I’ve supported Mark ever since.
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ukbetting.com
UK Betting was the very first Internet bookmaker in this country. A clear, fast
and well focused site for the horse racing enthusiast. Unlike many sites it does
not get side tracked. You can very quickly find exactly what you want and that
counts for a lot in my book.
bluesq.com
Blue Square is bright, fun and has a mission to make betting simple and jargon
free. An excellent site that will appeal to everyone whether professional or
first time punter.
paddypower.com
Clearly Paddy Power is keen to attract new customers and this is reflected in
the early prices which are consistently better than most. Well worth a visit
before you take an early price from anyone else.
totalbet.com
Part owned by the Tote this is the only Internet site that offers a choice of tote
pool markets. It is very clear, very fast and well laid out.
bet24hrs.co.uk
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Owned by the Mannie Bernstein team. This site is liked by many because of its
willingness to pay out on a winning horse even if a steward's enquiry
subsequently overturns the result.
betsmart.co.uk
Not obvious but click on ‘enter’ to access the site from the home page. A very
fast site with excellent navigation and functionality.
Reader's Letters
I’ve been asked to keep this lesson short otherwise it will never fit into your
Racing For Cash folder! but despite pressure from the editor there are two
other things I would like to cover this month.
I’ve had many letters from readers regarding mistakes being made by the big
four and some of the independants on telephone betting accounts.
Now I have touched on this briefly before but there’s serious money at stake
here so I want to make sure that there isn’t one reader out there who isn’t
profiting from the errors that the betting companies regularly make.
It is clear from the letters I’ve received that many of you honestly believe that
huge companies like William Hill or Ladbroke, with all their complicated
recording equipment and fully computerised operation, are incapable of
making a mistake.
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
11
At the end of the day they are only as good as their weakest link, and
without doubt, their weakest link is their telephone operators.
Telephone operators regularly make mistakes and that’s why whenever you
make a telephone call to place a bet you must be absolutely crystal clear about
your bet.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that you should be crystal clear in
order to stop the person taking your bet from making a mistake - God forbid. I
want them to make lots of mistakes (in my favour) but I want to make
absolutely sure that when they play back the recorded message, after I’ve
complained of course, that there is no doubt about what I asked for.
There are two key points here;
First of all I don’t believe for one moment that the mistakes are made on
purpose - they are genuine operator errors.
Across your entire betting career the mistakes in your favour would probably
balance out the mistakes in the bookies’ favour. BUT THIS ISN’T TRUE IF
YOU KEEP ACCURATE RECORDS AND ONLY COMPLAIN ABOUT
THE MISTAKES NOT IN YOUR FAVOUR.
If you do this, you can skew the odds in your favour.
I always spot the errors and I only ever complain when the error is not in my
favour. I hope this is clear.
I don’t want to go into specific details about my account here, for very obvious
reasons, but believe me there’s quite a lot of money at stake when the
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bored/harassed/overworked/annoyed/can’t cope-girl at the end of the phone
gets it wrong. (Recently ‘qualified’ operators who are no longer being
supervised are usually most prone to making errors and offer the most
potential - I love ‘em!).
In essence, the big four do make mistakes and it’s up to you to make sure that
you profit from this situation rather than being a victim. Don’t rely on the
bookie to keep your records for you - you must keep your own.
More Telephone Accounts
Finally this month I’ve had many readers ask for details of independent
bookies other than the big four. These are telephone accounts rather than the
Internet accounts that we covered earlier.
Many of you have quickly been identified as belonging to successful tipping
services and are having trouble getting a decent price or getting your bets
accepted, so I’ve listed below a few useful contacts. Even if you are quite
happy with your existing bookie, I would still recommend that you open up at
least two independent betting accounts.
Independents will often give good early prices on races where the big four do
not, and if you do have trouble one day with your main account, it’s always
useful to have an independent in reserve. In my experience, the independents
nearly always offer the best prices anyway.
It costs absolutely nothing to set up an additional account and you may
not have the time to do it when you really need it most.
Three Telephone Accounts
1. Stan James
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126b Milton Park Estate Abingdon Oxon OX14 4SA
To open an account, call 0500 341134 2. Watsons 45a Queen Anne Street Dunfermline Fife KY12 7BA To open an account, call 01383 733881 3. Surrey Racing Surrey House 2 The Green Hersham Walton on Thames Surrey KT12 3SQ To open an account, call 01932 888333
Anyway, that’s all for now.
Speak to you next month in the final lesson! Happy betting.
Lesson 12 More Opportunities &
Fond Farewells
Disclaimer: The information contained in this course is given for entertainment
purposes only. Whilst it is accurate to the best of our knowledge, neither the author, nor the publisher accept responsibility for the way in which this information is used, or
the accuracy of such information. This is a course on gambling. It is up to the individual always to ensure that they do not wager more money than they can
comfortably afford to lose. All gambling is risky.
2
Hello, and welcome to Lesson 12, the final lesson in Racing For Cash.
Last month, you will recall, we looked at Internet betting and whether it is a
worthwhile proposition.
From the subsequent mail I’ve received it’s pretty clear that you have divided
yourself into two distinct camps – the users and the "no way José" non-users.
Whether the first category turns out to be users and abusers though still
remains to be seen.
For the dyed in the wool, “I wouldn’t touch that thing with a barge pole”
brigade, try and open up as many telephone accounts as possible so you still
have access to a wide range of early prices. Meanwhile it's obvious that those
of you who do have Internet access are finding it extremely useful. You are
able to get better prices and the price is available for a much longer period of
time. Excellent News!
I can assure you that over the year this will make a huge difference to
your overall profits.
The Changing Face of Racing
I try to keep lesson 12 as topical and up to date as possible to make sure you
benefit from new opportunities as they arise.
As I mentioned last month, for the last two years we have fully exploited the
huge savings that could be made by betting tax free.
At this point I would normally say that as one door closes another one opens,
but of course in this case the tax door has been completely blown away and tax
free betting is now available to everyone. A tremendous victory over the tax
3
man. So instead this months epitaph is “As one door opens so does another
one”
Competition is Good for You
Over the last 12 months there has been an explosion in the number of betting
companies that have opened shop. The dominance of the High Street Four as
they came to be known (Ladbrokes, Hill, Coral and Tote) may well be over as
offshore companies and Internet sites appear almost overnight.
The companies that I mentioned last week are merely the tip of the iceberg and
the choice for the average punter is now incredible. And that’s even before
interactive television starts to have an impact on the market place.
You can imagine the efforts that these new companies are now putting in
to attract, and more importantly to keep, your business.
At first the benefits of this competition were obvious and to some extent fairly
predictable.
We have already seen greater choice, and better prices being offered on a daily
basis.
It's also pretty obvious that if all of the companies offered the same prices then
there would be no incentive for you or I to change the company we use. This
used to work well for the mainstream bookies back in the old days – they had
the market completely sewn up, and the poor punter found most early prices
very similar. If one bookmaker found they were offering over the odds it was
very quickly corrected.
But these days that’s all changed.
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The new kids on the block are after your custom and early prices are now
getting better and better. Some television stations and some teletext sites are
starting to show price comparisons between the different bookmakers and this
is starting to have an effect as well.
A bookmaker now only has to give a better early price compared to their rivals
in order to see a significant increase in market share.
Let’s be honest, who is going to take 4-1 with William Hill if Better Bet
are offering 6-1?
The great news is that in response to this, the High Street Four are having to
offer better prices as well for fear of losing the customer base they have spent
many years building up.
This is only half the story though – and the best is yet to come.
How Compiler's Mistakes Can Make You up to 1,600% Gains
As the number and choice of sporting bets gets greater and greater,
bookmakers cannot possibly hope to provide accurate early prices for every
event. The result of this is that many prices for sporting bets are either
inaccurate or even wild guesses!
You see, as the competition hots up, bookmakers are having to reduce their
costs in order to compete.
One way they do this is by copying other bookmaker's early prices or by
simply making up (guessing) their own. The cost of a specialist odds compiler
5
for two or three odd specialist sporting events in a year means it is cheaper to
do this than to employ an expert to do it for them.
In some cases many bookmakers are even happy to have “loss leaders” on
some events in order to attract new customers.
(I am obliged to Dave Gibson of Fleet Street Publications in London for the
following examples:)
Multisports offered Tiger Woods in the 2000 British Open at 50-1 when he
was obviously the favourite (and yes he did win!).
Ladbrokes offered Gladiator to win Best Film Oscar at 4-5 when everyone else
was giving 1-3. (Just the 240% extra profit there!)
December 1999, Tote were offering Westlife at 13-8 as the Christmas number
one whilst everyone else had them as odds on favourite. (150% profit on a
dead cert.).
In many events you could back every horse in the race and still make a profit
simply because the compiler had got the maths wrong!
What’s so amazing about these errors is that the bookies are happy to let
a few slip through because it's great for business. They even get free
advertising from it.
There’s no doubt that as the competition for your business hots up the
opportunities for you are getting better and better all the time.
This is why you should ideally have at least three web site accounts as well as
the traditional phone accounts we set up many months ago.
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(Note: If you are particularly interested in the opportunities that are arising out
of compiler errors as detailed above, contact FSP on 020 7447 4000 and ask
for information on “The Insider”. At the time of writing it is being it given
away in my opinion at a ridiculous £97 per annum. Alternatively you can write
to them at Fleet Street Publications, 103 New Oxford Street, London WC1A
1QQ).
There’s no doubt that there has never been a better time to be a punter in the
UK than right now!
Questions Questions Questions
Okay, it’s time to have one last look at Reader's Questions (I suppose it’s too late to
introduce Reader's wives – okay, okay – just a thought!)
Question One - “What is the Tote and how does it work? I’ve managed to figure out
most aspects of racing but this one’s a complete mystery."
The Tote is an abbreviation for the Horse Race Totalisator Board. It is
fundamentally different from betting with a bookmaker in that you don’t know until
after the race exactly how much you will win.
In simple terms this is roughly how it works.
All the money which is placed on a particular race is divided out amongst all
those punters who have placed winning bets.
After 12 lessons I’m sure you’re as cynical as I am and you’ve probably
already guessed that someone’s got their fingers in the honey jar. So as you
might expect, not all the money comes back to the punters, (“I’ve told you
before Terence I’ve got overheads, big overheads”).
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Suffice to say there are various deductions to cover payments to the track and
also to the Betting Levy, and these are deducted before the ‘return’ is
calculated.
What’s left is then divided out according to a predetermined percentage rate
and the ‘return’ or ‘dividend’ is declared to a £1 stake.
So, next time you are in the bookies and you hear that the Tote has returned
£5.60, this means that for each £1 bet on the winning horse, you would receive
£5.60 back, (note this figure includes your £1 stake).
Not only does the Tote have its own way of working out its returns, it also has
its own screens to show the odds. The odds you get from the Tote often bear
no relationship to the odds you will get from your High Street bookie.
Sometimes they are hugely better, sometimes they are significantly worse and
sometimes there is no difference.
Always keep an eye on the odds that the Tote are offering since they can often be
extremely attractive. There are often big opportunities here if you keep a look out for
them. Don’t think that the Tote is just for old ladies betting 50p each way.
As I said earlier, the main difference between betting on the Tote and any
other bookmaker is the fact that with the Tote you never know exactly what
your return will be until after the race.
Note: the Tote also offers fixed odds and SP like any other bookie for those
that want it, and if you go into a Tote betting shop you will see screens
displaying these odds as well.
Question Two - “My tipping service keeps referring to the ‘tissue price’. What
exactly does this mean?”
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The 'tissue' is a forecast of what the odds are likely to be when betting opens
on the course. It is calculated by experts employed by the main bookmakers
and can sometimes vary wildly from the actual opening prices.
Question Three - “If I bet at SP how is the starting price calculated? Also,
why does it sometimes change after the horses are off? Surely there can be no
more bets once the race has started?”
The declared SP for any particular race is determined by two officials who use
the typical odds in the betting ring at the time of the ‘off’ to establish the SP.
Usually there is a fair amount of agreement between the bookies on what the
prices should be (heck, who wants to be taken to the cleaners for offering
better odds than everyone else) but when there is a variation, the SP is often
determined by splitting the difference between the prices given.
Remember that bets are being placed right up to the very last second so you
often get a variation in SP after the off when the total money has been added
up.
Question Four - “How do bookies work out the prices for each race in order
to ensure a profit? I’ve been told that in some races if you back every horse
you make a profit whichever horse wins.”
The bookmaker constructs the odds (or book) for each race in order to ensure
he makes a profit in any race.
If the chances of each horse winning is expressed as a percentage e.g. 5-1 =
16.67%, 20-1 = 4.76%, the total of all the odds should equal 100%. (If you
want to work out these percentages yourself, say for odds of 3-1, the formula
is 3+1=4, 100 divided by 4=25%.)
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In reality the bookie will make sure that the total exceeds 100% (this is known
as an over-round book) in order to guarantee him a profit, not on every race,
but over the long term you can see the odds are stacked in his favour.
It should be obvious that if a book is over-round and you back every horse you
will make a loss.
‘Cherry picking’ horses from different bookies at better odds does enable you
to improve your chances considerably and you can create your own ‘book’
with an under-round, i.e. guaranteed win. Bookmakers call this ‘over-broke’
and you can see why.
Okay, here’s a few more definitions and racing terms that we’ve not covered
up to now in this course.
Dual forecast Pick two horses in a race to finish first and second in any order (not
surprisingly there has to be 3 or more horses running).
Placepot
The Placepot is available at all race meetings. Simplicity itself – pick a horse
in each of the first six races that gets placed. (If a race has less than five
runners, you have to pick the winner).
Jackpot
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This is not available at every meeting, instead a meeting will be designated for
the purpose. This time you have to pick every winner in the first six races. The
prize money gets even bigger when there is no Jackpot winner and the pool of
money is rolled over to the next meeting.
Jackpots are quite good fun and for a few quid you can have a go at winning a
share in half a million pounds or more. You might want to try it at least once
just for the excitement.
Guaranteed Price
Sometimes when you ask for a price you will be told 9-1 guaranteed (for
example). This means that if the SP is better than 9-1 you get the higher price,
but if the SP shorter, you still get 9-1. Stan James (and others) have at least
one race a day when the price is guaranteed.
Monkey A Monkey is a bet of £500. It was probably named after the Indian 500 Rupee
note, which I’m told on good authority had a picture of a monkey on the front.
A Sad Farewell to all my Readers
Well, after 12 action-packed lessons, that brings me to the final chapter in the
Racing for Cash course. I would like to extend a very warm "thank you" to
everyone who took the time and trouble to write in and I’m glad to hear that
for the majority of readers at least, you have found the course to be both
informative and entertaining.
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In many respects the course is as much about what you shouldn’t do, as what
you should do, but since betting on the horses is like crossing a minefield at
times, I make no apologies for pointing out some of the pitfalls you are likely
to encounter on the way.
Before I go I would like to leave you with three final thoughts.
1. Check Your Information.
You are only ever as good as the tipping information you receive. And can I
please remind you that you are NOT an expert at picking horses. In fact,
you are likely to have almost zero ability in this area, despite any illusions you
might hold to the contrary. If you were to devote your life to racing, 12 hours a
day, six days a week, then maybe, just maybe after five or ten years you would
start to get some ability, but this is not the route you have chosen. You want to
make some quick money, without devoting the time and energy required for
you to become an expert. Right?
So, if you do nothing else in your betting career, please spend at least some
of your hard-earned cash on tipster monitoring serves like the Racing
Information Database and the Winners Agency. For less than the price of
one measly bet you will be able to follow the fortunes of all the leading
tipsters.
In addition they will keep you up to date on the rogue tipsters, so you will also
be aware of all the latest scam merchants and know exactly which services to
avoid.
It was interesting to note that the Racing Post has finally run an article
discrediting the claims of one particular tipping service.
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Why should this be significant?
Well the Racing Post has been carrying large-scale adverts by the very
same company for a very long time. Talk about putting advertising profits
ahead of everything else!
Meanwhile The Racing Information Database had been warning its readers
about this company for several years.
So please, please, please spend at least some of your betting bank in
ensuring you are with the best tipping service around, and that you know
who to avoid at all cost. It really is money well spent.
2. Bet within your means.
The 20 point betting bank.
Yes, I know we’ve been over this a zillion times but do you actually do it?
Okay, let’s put you to the test.
If your next bet is £100 do you have £2,000 in your betting bank? If your next
bet is £200 do you have £4,000 in your betting bank? Never cheat the system
because at the end of the day the only person you’ll be cheating is yourself.
This system is all about making steady profits long-term, even if you lose on
several races in a row. The 20-point bank system ensures that you 'live' long
enough to lock yourself into these long-term profits.
Remember – if a losing bet is that painful to you, you must have staked more
than you should, and certainly more than the 20-point back allowed. The main
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reason people stake bets which hurt is because they get cute and think they
know how to pick winners - which they don't.
Can I please remind you one final time. You don't know anything about
picking winners. Any winners you have are courtesy of your tipping service
and do not reflect at all on your abilities - which are close to zero. Do you care
about the glory? No. You just take the money. If you ignore the tipping service
and place your own bets, the worst thing that can happen to you is that you
win! This might make you think that you have some talent to spot winners,
when all that happened is that you got lucky. I can absolutely promise you
that if you go your own way, then within a very short period you will be
out of the game and nursing big losses.
3. Keep accurate records.
Yes, I know it’s a drag, but you can’t judge your betting fortunes by how
much is in your back pocket at the end of the month. I don’t care whether
you’ve got an A4 pad and a biro, or a Pentium IV, make sure you always know
exactly how much money you are really making from horse racing.
It is a characteristic of losers that they 'forget' about their losses and only
selectively recall the winners. Such a 'head in the sand' attitude is impossible if
your betting log shows you the unvarnished truth, there in black and white.
Still Waiting to Take the Plunge?
If there is one question I am asked more that any other, it’s: "Which service
would you recommend for the coming season?"
If you have learned nothing else from this course I hope you have learned that
there is no short answer – this season's hot favorite is next season's damp
squid.
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But that’s something of a cop out, and for those of you still to place your first
bet, here’s a few tipsters that I would urge you to investigate further.
THE CLEVELANDER
The Ashes,
18 Newstead Avenue,
Whitehouse Farm,
Stockton on Tees,
TS19 0QS
Tel – 0870 1213060
Cost – approximately £850 per annum. or £260 per annum for their 'odds to'
service.
No. of bets – approximately 2 or 3 per day.
TIME LINE
Tel – 020 8989 8983 – enquiries.
Cost – approximately £700 per annum.
No. of Bets – approximately 2 per day
Profits - consistent at £12,000 - £15,000 per annum.
TIME LINE (maximum bets)
Tel – 020 8989 8983 for subscription.
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Cost - £50 per month.
No. of bets – approximately 1 per week
And Finally...
I sincerely wish you every success in your future betting career. May you be
blessed with many winners in the years ahead.
All the very best from
David Fairweather
I’ll leave you with some parting words:
“Racing is a great leveler. The day you think you have
mastered the game, you will be made to pay for it the
following day. What you must do is build up a bank of
experience that allows you to reduce and eliminate as far as
possible the factors that make for foolish betting. In a word,
you act to strict ground rules always and you endeavor to
become an investor rather than a pure addictive gambler.”
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J.P.McManus