Like anything else in life, if you want to take your horse race betting to the next level and start winning more often than you lose, then you need to improve your strategies, do lots and research and practice until you’ve really sharpened your wagering skills.
In this post we’ll take a look at some things you can do to improve your skillset to become more of a professional punter rather than a casual weekend amateur.
#1 – It All Starts With a Willingness To Do Research
Not just some research, but lots of it.
Anyone who is considered an expert at anything has invariably committed lots of time to study and learning their craft. Nobody is born an expert at something, which is a good thing, because it means we can all learn to become experts.
The big advantage of something like horse racing compared to some other forms of gambling is that it’s not all based on chance and pure luck. Every punter has information at their fingertips that tells you all you need to know about a horse’s form, the jockeys, trainers, track conditions, a racehorse’s record over certain distances and more.
The internet is your best friend when it comes to uncovering this information. You can now access everything you need to know to become a successful punter online, from the comfort of your own home.
As an example, for the latest up to date information on the 2020 Melbourne Cup, Racenet has a page dedicated to this race alone, as do many other online betting and tipping websites. They can provide punters with a wealth of useful information from industry experts, so it only makes sense to take advantage of this knowledge.
#2 – Develop Strategies and Test Them
When it comes to punting strategies, it’s best to start out simple and just stick to one or two strategies until you refine them and get them profitable.
Once again, a search online can uncover some pretty good punting strategies to try out. When you’ve settled on a couple, it’s now time to practice, play them out and see how you do.
Take notes regarding each strategy and bet you place. Include things like the odds of the horse you chose, race distance, track conditions, how much you wagered, and how you actually did. These notes will help you refine and improve your strategies.
When testing a brand new strategy, so there’s no real monetary risk, either just “pretend” to place money down on your strategy, or only put down the minimum bet and see how it pans out.
This way you won’t be risking losing any substantial cash while working out potential winning formulas.
#3 – Don’t Bet On Every Race On the Card
Genuine professional punters are usually extremely selective about the races they put their money on. Very rarely would you find a true professional betting on every single race on a Saturday afternoon. Essentially that’s just gambling rather than working off systems and planned strategies.
What you’ll develop as you refine your systems is a set of variables that you’re looking for, and you should only put money down once all those variables line up in a single race (or a selection of races in the case of doubles and trebles and so on).
#4 – Temper Your Emotions
As humans it’s very easy to get super excited after a win, or very despondent, even depressed, if we lose.
Emotions can seriously get in the way of becoming a profitable punter. The same goes for things like trading the Forex markets. Emotions need to be kept out of the equation or they’ll adversely affect your sound decision making skills and tempt you to do something impulsive.
An example would be laying down a big bet on the last race of the day to try and make up for your losses. That’s merely an impulsive bet based on how you’re feeling at the time.
It’s not a good thing and something that every serious punter should work on eradicating.
Successful punting largely depends on the amount of homework you’re willing to do, developing and practicing strategies, and having loads of self-discipline.
Master those three things and you’re well on your way towards success.