How much should we be betting

chicken n chips wrote: thankfully I am not a huge punter but it still annoys me when you take an each way bet in an 8 runner field and a horse gets withdrawn at the start. So now your horse has to run in the first two in order to win. Also in a 16 runner handicap where they pay 4 places and one gets taken out at the start. You then only have the first three paying but what really gets to me is 20 plus runners and its not a handicap and you get paid only for the first three.

To me taking bets is a hobby and to pass the time (hopefully it applies to most who play the horses) as I know that I will never ever be rich by punting horses with the miniscule amounts that I play. So it has to be a hobby.

Winning_Post wrote: I agree too with D-17, Titch has assesed the criteria very nicely iro risk versus reward. Objective for most of us here is simply to turn a profit, for me personally a small profit on a bad day is just as good as a big profit on good day, sometimes breaking evens feels just as good. The industry exists simply because there are many more losers than winners, it's like a BIG wheel and eventually we all get our turn... If all info was good and we all won all the time racing would be a distant memory very quickly.

So to answer your question, how much should we be betting? The simple answer is rather how much we shouldn't be betting and if you can afford to lose your stake with a smile on your face then that's pricely the right amount...

Rules of Betting for me personally - 1. study form, it pays big time more often than not 2. Bet on places from time to time, you'll find yourself collecting more often than not 3. Win doubles are fine but trebiles are for dummies, most punters can remember every treble they caught 4. Trust your instinct, if something doesn't feel right, keep your dough in your pocket! You'll be a winner either way 5. Infomation is for idiots!!!! Trainers/jockeys/agents and owners can sing the blues about how good their horse is and how he/she cannot be beaten, you should stand in the mirror and kick your own ass if you've had a bet on assumptions, I've spoken and spent many hours with all the top trainers/jockeys and the honest one's, lol... They will tell you that their runner has a chance etc etc... But they just can't with any certainty state their horse will defintely win! It's a trainers assessment of the competition versus how the runner is handicapped and their work back home 6. Avoid juvenile races 7. Unless necessary, try and avoid maiden winners, very rarely they win two on the trot unless they are special sorts 8. Never, Never, Never back horses that have been backed a day or two before, they just don't win, the horses backed 5 minutes before off are usually the right ones, i.e. Look at Urgent Fury today, very good example and he didn't have a prayer against the winner, bookies claims are also calculated into turnover and some punters actually fall for this betting scandal 9. Never exceed your budget and last but not least 10. Be disciplined, stop after your win, tomorrow is another day, assess the remainder of the meeting with your predictions and make notes on runners for next time, these yield big profits when they run again.