Punter Interviews

Andy M

The betting shops were the next port of call. It could be a very entertaining afternoon out, and these places abounded with characters. I watched plenty of people do their wages in, and thankfully that helped me to realise that a betting bank, and its protection was paramount if you were to mount any sort of assault against the bookies..........

Chris E

Having been quite successful with occasional intuitive horse racing bets, I began betting regularly in the late 80's, my interest in systems arising from having been given a few free by someone I was working for. I have had to realise that there is no such thing as a dead cert (like most of us, I imagine)!

Chris Jones

The biggest lesson is to never chase your loses, if you lose a lay for example do not be tempted to get it all back on the next bet, 2 out of 3 times you will get away with it, but when it hits you it really hurts, and your bank was not set up for those type of losses.

Chris P

About 10 years ago I fell into the trap of sending my hard-earned money to some Tipster telling me that it really was possible to make money from betting on Horse Racing. Even though he failed, it didn't stop me from being mesmerised by the next (and the next, and the next...) glossy mailshot to come through the door promising the same.

David Webb

It all started at school actually. One of the guys in our class had a bookie for a father, and this rather encouraged the class to indulge in a weekly bet. This became a successful part-time way to make some extra pocket money!! For some reason, one of the guys was lucky. He had no inside knowledge whatsoever, but was a whiz at handicaps.....

Gary L

I have been betting on the horses for 20 years now and using the betting exchanges for the last two. The thing that interests me the most about horse racing is trends and I am greatly interested in systems.

Gus

My costliest lesson was a horse that my brother had received info about. He gave me some money and I was to go to the bookies and get what I thought he said was the first price, he claims however that he said the best price. I listened for the prices and heard 11/4 and so I went up to the counter and asked for the price. The lady looked a little surprised and asked if I was sure?

Joseph Buchdahl

I expect the name Joseph Buchdahl, is familiar to many of you. Not only is he the author of the highly regarded book ‘Fixed Odds Sports Betting: Statistical Forecasting and Risk Management’, heavy, yet essential, reading for people looking to take their betting to the next level, he is also webmaster of football-data.co.uk, a site which charges a minimal fee for a plethora of football statistics over a wide database and owner of his own very successful football betting system (1x2betting.co.uk). I bought it when it only cost £10 (it’s now £25), and it was the best £10 I ever spent!

Les Parkin

I first became interested in racing about 15 years ago when I obtained a part-time job working for the William Hill chain of bookmakers. My father had seen an advert in their local shop advertising for staff and I thought it would be a good way to earn some extra cash during the summer.

Mike Thompson

I initially put in a couple of hundred pounds just to play about with, and bought some more systems (a lesson I should have learned), and spent seven or eight months on a roller-coaster of winning and losing. Now I see where the possibilities are in Betfair and have a structured approach that is close to being boring...

Peter

I have been interested in horse racing since my teens, and can remember my first bet. I had just watched an interview on the TV, I think it was ‘grandstand’, and the commentator interviewed a professional gambler, who in the course of the conversation said he had come to the racetrack to see one horse in the first race, and that was all he was interested in....

Slapdash - Uk Horse Racing

Later on, I tried out a few ideas, mostly mathematically based, since I don't know much about studying form and so on. I think I discovered for myself a form of the "favourite longshot bias" (long odds on shots tend to be more favourably priced), but in those days there was betting tax, and it was very hard to make money from betting ... I didn't make any, anyway, though I only bet tiny amounts.

Steve Like

I have played the ponies for about 30 years off & on. I just started to use the betting exchanges last year, but quickly found out that unless one had a fast response alerting tool running, the full potential of the exchanges would not be realized. So since I have not done that yet, my exposure to the betting exchanges is somewhat limited.

Velawan

Well, I came into Horse Racing by accident about 9 months ago while searching for opportunities to make money on the net. I was desperately looking for opportunities when I bumped into a system being sold on eBay that promised a lot. It was a loss recovery system that promised at least 2% per day. I got the system and tested for a couple of weeks and it proved to be working well...