Patience & Discipline

We have had a pretty quiet time since our last post. There have only been 6 selections for our members, 3 of which have won. Currently our winning strike rate is 48.57% with an average winning price of $2.76, giving us a profit on invesment at level stakes of 34.02%.

Yesterday PASS members were treated to information regarding a very good 5yo mare who we predicted would win a Group 3 race at Caulfield. Her name was Coniston Gem, and she didn't let followers down and won impressively at the excellent odds of $4.10.

It is appropriate at this time to raise a very important issue when it comes to punting, and trying keep on the positive side of the leger. Over the past two weeks, there have been some very tough meetings, large and even fields, making it very tough for punters.

Now one of the biggest mistakes punters make, is having too many bets. It would have been very easy over the past couple of weeks for us to back a couple of horses every day, just for the sake of having a bet. And what would then happen, is that these bets, which would not have been good things, just hopeful bets, these horses would lose. And what happens when you hit a losing streak? Most punters will chase their money and have more bets. And that leads to backing even more losers. The more losers you back, the more money you lose, and the more the punter wants to chase his money and try to regain the losses. In the end, the punter is so far behind, not even a 50/1 winner will get him out of the hole he has dug for himself.

We have all been in similar situations. Down the pub on a Saturday afternoon. We had 3 good things for the afternoon, and only intended backing those 3 horses. The first one got trapped wide from an awkward barrier, and was beaten a nostril after hitting the front with 100m to go. Gee that was unlucky. The second one had a beautiful run in transit, third on the fence, but as the runs came around the outside, he was stuck on the fence an didn't get clear running until the final 50m. He flashed home to finish 3rd, a certainty beaten. Oh well, the third bet will get us out of trouble. Well, that is until, the 3kg claiming apprentice who was riding him, took off before acceptances dashed well clear before the field got into the straight, and was left a sitting duck for the run on horses and dropped out to finish a dismal 5th. Now we are dirty on the world. Bloody jockeys, they don't have a clue do they. And we have a quick sup of our 5th schooner and then grab for the form guide for a get out bet. And when the first get out bet we plucked from our semi drunken stupor runs second, we grab the beer in one hand, and the form guide in the other searching desparately for a winner. With wall to wall racing these days, ability to bet on anything until after midnight every day, we could lose the house by the time we stagger out of the pub. It doesn't seem to matter that the hours of form study the night before only came up with the original 3 horses, and we didn't actually like any other horses winning chances on the day. But hey, that was then when we had all the information at our finger tips, and had been concentrating totally on finding a winner. Now we are half tanked, have to appear to our mates we know what we are doing, we'll show them who the best punter is, won't we?

Okay, so how can we avoid this ever spiralling flood of money streaming out of our wallets?

Firstly, don't drink and punt. Not even on social occasions. Either go to the races or the pub to drink, or go there to punt. If you are drinking and socialising, and you only like 3 horses on the day, place your bets before you get to the venue, and make sure you have no more money to punt with for the afternoon after the three horses have raced. And if they do all lose, make sure you are with a group of mates who will not lend you any money. Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Even if you are not at the pub or the races, and under the influence of alcohol, there is still always a burning desire inside us all to recoup any losses late in the day. And this is where patience & discipline comes into play. They are ambiguous objects you have to learn, and teach yourself to perform every day you are on the punt. You have to keep asking yourself, "Do you really want to win punting"? If the answer is no, I just want to have an interest and a bit of fun, then stop reading now, as nothing I write here will ever be of any use to you. If the answer is "Yes, I want to be a winning punter, I am sick of losing all the time", then we may be able to assist.

Patience & discipline is something you learn and teach your brain to react the right way in certain circumstances. For example, you see a horse with outstanding form, head and shoulders above the rest of the field in a 1550m race at Canterbury. You think, you bloody beauty, a good thing, how much do I have in my wallet. You check the barrier draw, and you see 11 next to the horses name. Now that in itself should top you wasting your money, but then you see the jockey, A Nobody (claiming 4kg). Surely that will stop you wasting you hard earned? Apprentice, unknown jockey, outside barrier from the worst starting point in Australian horse racing? Stop, move on there are other races. Make it a habit, every time you see a horse drawn in a double figure barrier, stop, move on to another race. Make it so much of a habit, your brain does not even stop and think about it in a months time. They don't win from out that wide, and if they do, you need double figure odds to justify you having a bet for value. Try this, try it for a week or so, and you will see the difference it makes. You won't even look at anything drawn wide, and this alone will assist your punting to profit.

After you eliminate backing horses from wide draws, start on jockeys. Write a list of jockeys you like, and ones you don't. When you come across a horse you like with A. Nobody on board, move on immediately, don't even think about it. Again, after a week or so, it will become habit that you will never again consider a horse with A. Nobody riding it.

Then try something else, say races of distances under 1200. Look at the distance of the race, if it is an 800m race at Ipswich, move on, forget it, plenty of other races to look at. Again, after a week or so, it will become habit, and we assure you it will assist you in becoming a more profitable punter.

Being the professional punter that you are, regularly research your staistics. Seek out the losers and work out why they lost. Find a pattern, say, every horse you backed last month in races longer than 1600m all lost. So, this month, don't even consider races with a distance longer than 1600m. Don't even look at them. You will find that in time, it will become a basic instinct not to look at them seriously, and not to bet in them. This will certainly assist you to become a more profitable punter.

The other important fact here is that you don't have to answer to anyone except yourself, how good or bad a punter you really are. Keeping your strict records as you do, you know how much you win or lose every day, week, month or year. 99% of people you talk to, will not believe you consistently win anyway, so why spruik the fact, and try to show them you are a profitable punter? Those 99% believe you lose, so trying to prove to them you win every week, will only make you try to hard, have too many bets, causing you to back more losers. Winning punters have fewer bets. FACT !! Keep telling yourself that, and it will indelibly be etched in your brain forever. And show the people you are with that youa re patient and disciplined, and that alone will sow a seed in their mind, that you are indeed a profitable punter.

It is extremely difficult to teach your brain patience & discipline in punting. However, what you can teach your brain is habit. Make rules, make them habitual, and you won't even think twice about them. You will then teach your brain and in turn yourself, to be patient and disciplined. Most punters are weak, especially those who have a drink while they punt. And the image of a big win, especially when on the drink, looks an ever exciting prospect.

You can teach your brain and yourself patience and discipline. Make it a habit, and it will come naturally. Don't be influenced by others or what they think. Allow them to be influenced by you, the patient and disciplined one.

We have a good thing for today at Colac. If you are interested in receiving our information daily, then please contact us here at profselections@austarnet.com.au

Good luck and profitable punting to all.