A few days into the journey and it’s not going too badly, Saturday night winners at Wolverhampton can be hard to come by, but Reeves (4/1) and Enmeshing (11/2), both found from the race times research idea, helped get me off to a flyer. It could even have been better, but for Mojambo being mown down near the line by the fast finishing Fair Power. All in all though, I can’t complain with a decent profit from the All Weather Card.
However, this was the first Saturday of the new career and as such the first real time that I had a test of the discipline that was required. With an afternoon packed with racing from Cheltenham and Doncaster, plus the lure of 40 plus domestic football matches to peruse, the temptation to have a bit of a punt outside the parameters set was there from the off. Several of my “Cliff horses” loitered the card at Cheltenham, like the proverbial Christmas chocolates, sitting there in the cupboard on 15th December, luring us in. I did my best to resist, but Ballyandy at 20/1 for the international was too much, luckily he powered up the Cheltenham hill to finish second and I was able to come out unscathed. This was an eye-opening experience.
What sets the successful professionals apart from the average punter is discipline. The ability to follow a process, research endlessly to find a bet, but then to stick to only that process. Not to be lured in by the millions of available bets across every imaginable sport and otherwise. This is where the change will hit hardest.
An interesting phrase that I have picked up from my research is ” if you win you’re a professional, if you lose you are an addict”. Perhaps an extreme view of the game, but by being a pro, or attempting to, this has changed betting from a pastime to a career. As such, it needs to be viewed as work, the days of throwing a lucky 31 at a Saturday card, even if just for interest, need to be abandoned. Accountability is the hardest part of the choice I have made, going from a punter to an investor, where my choices and actions will, in the long run affect how successful this will be. For that reason, the skill will perhaps be more knowing when not to bet, when not to get involved. Today is Tuesday, there is no all weather racing today (my chosen specialist subject), so there is no need to even consider betting.
Time away to review and reflect is just as important as the actual betting process itself.
The Novice Punters Diary 