Punting Basics

As we progress along the course of finding some winners, we will publish some articles to assist our members to enjoy their punting even more.

Punting is a relaxing entertainment and is made enjoyable by winning money. It is not pure luck or guesswork like lotteries, $1 scratchie tickets, poker machines or the roulette wheel at the local casino. You can make it like that if you wish, but you have no earthly chance of wining in the long term if you do.

The first basic philosophy of punting, is to only bet what you can afford to lose.


If you have $100 to play with every week, then stand to lose that and no more. If you get a collect, or even come out in front, it is a bonus. Never borrow money to punt with, and never use credit cards to supplement punting accounts. Even if you lose your $100, you will feel much more at ease with the world as you have only lost what is affordable. I assure you if you borrow money and lose, or deposit another $100 from your credit card and lose that as well, you will feel extremely sick in the stomach. This will have an adverse impacy on other areas of your life like your family and work, which are far more important than your leisure time. Your leisure time is time for enjoyment, not angst. If you leisure time uspets you, then this will negatively affect your entire life.

I have seen a miriad of people ploughing money into poker machines. They are evil. You cannot win consistently on them, they will alwys take your money in the long term. Every time I walk into a Club, I see dozens of people sitting mindlessly staring at the reels roll around and around, putting more money through. I see them running backwards and forwards from the change counter, getting more money, running to the nearest ATM to extract extra funds and so on and so on until the bank is empty. Most clubs make their ATMs inaccessible to Credit Cards, and some people even leave the premises to find an ATM that does accept their credit card only to return to lose more money. Poker Machines are blight on our society. I cannot understand how some people find it enjoyable to lose money.

There is also your mate in the pub. You know the one, you see him every Saturday afternoon. Drunk as a skunk and stone broke. He has been drinking since midday, and lost his money on the horses. So he comes over to you and snips for a loan. "I'll repay on Thursday when I get paid, just call in here, and I'll give it back to you". Then off he goes to the bar, buys another beer and heads straight to the TAB to continue to lose.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be.


No one ever approaches me for a loan, because they know I won't give them one. Plenty have asked, and eventually they get embarrassed enough about getting knocked back, and eventually stop asking me, and go off and harrass some other poor sucker. These blokes are parasites, avoid them, they will get the message soon enough, and when they do, you will embrace a good friendship with them. Allow them to use you, and they will take advatage of you all the time.

So, now you have your $100 to play with, you are not going to be bothered by others, and you are comfortable in the knowledge that if you can snag a collect from the $100, you can shout the wife or girlfriend Chinese for dinner.

There are two other basic rules to consider before you even start to work out what horse you are going to punt on.

Firstly, you must start with a specific bank. It may be $100 a week, or it may be $100 a month. But start with a specific amount, and use it only for punting and nothing else. I personally prefer to have an account with bookmakers or agenices, that way I know I am punting with my own money, and know exactly how much is in my bank at any time. You can throw $100 in the back of your wallet if you prefer, and use this only to punt with. I always find with this idea, you tend to spend it on other things if it is so readily accessible, or the missus finds it and buys a new set of towels with it! At least if the money is in an account with an agency, it is difficult to get out immediately, so you will tend to leave it there. And it is far easier to keep track of whether you are winning or losing, which brings us to point two.

Record Every Bet.

The reason for this is that you will know exactly to the cent whether you are winning or losing. This is important for a number of reasons. If you don't record every bet, how do you really know if you are winning or losing? You don't, you're guessing.


How often do you see people tell you how much they won last Saturday? Very often. And how often do they tell you when they lose? Almost never !! Do not be afraid to tell people you lost on the punt. Feel free to tell them about the wins, but never be ashamned of telling them you had a loss. Why? Because if you do admit to losing occasionally, you will have plenty of credibility. People get sick and tired of hearing about the wins you had, and not about the losses. It is a well known fact to everyone that you cannot win every time you have a bet. So keep stringent records, so you know at a glance where you are. Include in these records, every bet, how much you bet, where the horse ran, what it paid, what was the return, and whether you won or lost on each indiviual bet. Then have a running total to tell you your current profit or loss, what your winning strike rate is, and your average winning price. You know after every bet you have how you are travelling.

Have a look at our Results page, and use something similar if you are not sure what to do. It is simple to follow and if you have any questions, feel free to send us an email. You can go into as much detail as you like. Split the bets up into states, or tracks, distances, track conditions, whatever you feel comfortable with.

Personally I record every bet, and close off at the end of every month with a running total. At the end of the racing year, August to July, I tally up a total for that racing year, as a profit or loss. So if you have a losing month, your stats should be able to tell you in what area you are falling down, and where to improve to get back into profit. Alternatively, a good profitable month will emphasise in what area you are punting well in.

So, four simple rules to get you started before you even have a bet:-

Only bet what you can afford to lose

Neither a borrower nor a mender be

Use a specific bank to punt with

Keep stringent records of every bet

If you start off your punting with these four goals, you will enjoy your punting much more and you will feel comfortable that you are betting within your means and know exactly whether you are winning or losing.


Good luck to our members with the selection for today. If you have any questions or would like further input in regards to this article, please dont hesitate to contact us by email on profselections@austarnet.com.au or mobile number: 0439 540538

Good Luck and Profitable Punting!