I was a “mug punter”!  Had access to a good system, I thought.  Had a few good selection systems actually, I thought!  

Wasn’t having a large number of bets, or staking big amounts on each horse.  Backing around 7 to 10 (occasionally more) selections on a Saturday and backed them all on the same betting account.  Was Sporting Bet Australia at the time.  

They added up though, as was punting $5, $10 or $20 on a horse, occasionally more if backing each way.   Had no real strategy, all bets placed in the morning, then off to do Saturday family stuff.  

Was losing $ a lot more Saturdays than I was winning.  Too many.  Got disillusioned and stopped punting, cancelled subscriptions and except for the Melbourne Cup, didn’t have a bet for 10 years.

I backed Cross Counter in the great race in 2018 and followed that up by backing Vow and Declare in the 2019 Melbourne Cup.  Then coincidently a week or two later, I received an invitation from Larry Taylor to re-subscribe to the Elite Racing selections.  I was a previous client.

I had got the punting urge back!  So, I re-joined Elite Racing in late 2019.  

Rules!

But – I set myself some “rules”.  If I was going to start on the punt again, I wanted to have a serious crack at it and to do that I needed to do things differently and importantly, strategically.  As they say – “continue to do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got”!!!  

And I made myself be disciplined and stick to these “rules”, and I have.  Here they are!  My 7 Rules: –

1. Treat Backing Racehorses as an “Investment Strategy”
2. Be Disciplined and stay Disciplined
3. Accept that you can’t win every race, that’s simply unrealistic
4. Accept that you can’t win every weekend/race day, again that’s unrealistic
5. Accept that there will be the inevitable run of successive losses over days and weeks and occasionally a losing month, it’s horse racing with so many variables!
6. Research, research and more research then settle on a long-term successful selection/s system/s
7. Keep good records and keep them up to date (Excel spreadsheets)
8. And – Reinforce Rule no 2 – Be Disciplined!!!!

Background Notes to the 7 Rules

Three key areas to keep an eye on over the long term, so data of six months minimum (12 months is better). Numbers similar or better than these below (all three, not one or two of them), if so, you are on track to make a long-term profit

1. number of winning bets to races (healthy at minimum 35%),
2. average winning odds (healthy at minimum $3-75 to $4-00), and
3. number of winning days (needs to be minimum of 50%)

Set up a separate bookmaker account for the main strategy or strategies – I had accounts for each of the Elite strategies (there are 4).  I have one other for the “fun bets”.  

Note: April and August 2022 update – Elite have tweaked these 4 to combine them into a “one bank” selection strategy using a recalibrated algorithm called Elite Suite (April).  Then in August a further upgrade to now be the E4 Suite selection strategy.  I now just back these race day selections (Saturdays) in one account instead of 4 separate systems.

If you use the one betting account for multiple strategies/tips, like I used to do, and the overwhelming majority of “mug” punters do, a winning system will get dragged down by one or multiple side bets that have losing days.  

When using Elite Racing as the strategy/strategies, I use the selected staking provided on race day and do not amend.  It is ok to proportionally scale back each selection.  E.g. A 1% or $100 bet is based on a $10,000 bank, if you have a $1,000 back it’s a $10 bet, a $2,000 bank is $20 etc, etc.

It can be a large outlay so one option is to start with a smaller bank and stakes and build the bank.  That’s what I did and I now back at the recommended stake for each selection after building the bank significantly.  

If you are going to have “fun bets” outside the strategies, use a separate bookie account.

If you have a good system that has long term data that backs it up in real time, it will bounce back.  That’s when you really need to hold your nerve and stay disciplined for when the consistent winners start coming again!

Three Point Summary of the above rules

• The key (for me) was to separate the systems into different bookie accounts and run them completely autonomously.  
• Stay with the staking plan during a run of outs if you have confidence in the system/s– they will bounce back.
• Be Disciplined, very, very Disciplined!

It’s really disheartening to have losing or barely break-even days end on end as the norm, with a winning day here and there but not as consistent as one would like.  At the end of the day, backing race horses should be enjoyable!  I would like to think I can also make some money while having fun punting on the thoroughbreds.  

So, I stick to these “rules” as they work for me and have re-found the enjoyment of having a bet on the horses.  I would even say I found a renewed passion in doing so and really, really look forward to having a bet on Saturday!!  Something I lost for many years because I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have and was always playing catch-up, but never did.  

And now I am confident that I have access to a long term very, very good system that selects regular winners and I apply a strict discipline to match!  The proof is in my betting accounts as in real time I have made a very tidy profit.  And am now a part owner in a thoroughbred, paid for from nett racing profits.

I’m no expert, and not a big punter by any stretch.  But I did make the decision to take it seriously, treat it as an investment strategy, set some parameters’ around race day, and thought through a logical way to approach multiple selections or rather “systems” that I receive from Elite Racing.

I’m happy to share my thoughts and my spreadsheet records, it’s a personal decision if any of this will work for you.  There are thousands of opinions and strategies that punters use, I’m sure some very, very good ones.  And that’s great!  

But the majority of punters are just like I was, bundling bets all together with no plan, no strategy, no long term goal, frankly no idea and ultimately, no profit.

This “system” works for me, I treat it like an investment strategy, have applied strict discipline, learnt from past mistakes and I’m very comfortable and confident sticking to my plan.  

Much more enjoyable and profitable, than being the “mug punter” that I used to be!

Happy Punting! 🐎

Lochy 😎