Sharing Advice With Part Time Punters Trying To Make A Profit

Wanted to start a thread that might prove useful to punters on here that try like me to earn a bit of extra cash on betfair. 

Initially to share my thoughts and for others to add their constructive advice.

My advice is centred on betting rather than trading although some of it almost certainly applies to both. Like a lot of people I have a job that provides a sufficient level of income to have a reasonable standard of living so the aim from my punting is to earn a bit of extra cash.

My advice comes mainly from years of experience learning the hard way!

I am what I term a 'session' punter which means I divide my punting into periods of time where I set time aside for exclusively for my punting of which  95% is on horse racing (UK, USA and SA). The absolute minimum time period I need to set aside for a session is 3 hours (most sessions are between 4 and 6 hours but I may quit earlier even though I’ve set the time aside). I might have more the one session in the day, for example UK afternoon racing, USA evening racing. In a normal week I can do anywhere between 2 and 10 sessions, depending on other commitments.

1.    Devise a Set of Rules - that must be followed before you start your punting, that work for you , if you can't meet all the criteria then don't start a session

Example of My Rules 

A. Plan punting sessions - once you have your time periods set aside, look what events are available to punt on to see if you feel there could be some profitable opportunities.

B. Never punt when having consumed alcohol, are tired or hungover

C. Only punt when your emotions are stable (i.e. don't start punting when angry or upset over something) - being in the right frame of mind will negatively affect your judgement

D. Treat it like work, be serious put the effort in and you will still enjoy it especially when you are making money

E. Ensure your punting environment is right - no distractions, you have all the tools for the job and all are working well (broadband, form, live feeds etc etc) Not having things will only frustrate you and affect your frame of mind

2. Bank, Staking and Liability

Set your bank at a comfortable level in relation to your available finances. A level that if all goes wrong and you blow it all you went be left distraught and if you do need to reload (see point 3) then you still have sufficient funds available.

Adopt staking that you feel comfortable with in relation to the size of your bank.  A lot of people will use percentages to calculate their staking, I am a backer and a layer and I may have multiple backs and lays on a particular market. So the liability between markets does fluctuate a lot. After staking I try to sit back and decide how I am going to feel if the worst outcome for me happens on a particular race. You will soon realise if you feel comfortable or not and have over staked. 

2.    Control Measures

I punt exclusively on betfair so this advice only applies to those that do that.  I have found it is the only way to keep a handle on all my betting finances.  I have excluded from all my other betting accounts.  Once I have my bank in place I have my deposit limit set to £1 per week so if I blow my bank then I can change my weely deposit limit to the size of my original bank but I have to take a week off before my new limit kicks in. By that time my head is where it should be and I won’t be chasing my losses.
Note – I have all my possible funding sources tied into betfair accounts that are subject to these control measures (i.e. credit / debit cards, paypal etc) so there is no temptation to instantly start a new Betfair account with a credit card for example.

3.    Targets, Profit and Loss

I don’t start a session with a target in mind. I bet on horse racing so certain days of the week, tracks and times of the year provide better opportunities for me. I have a good idea of the opportunities available at the start of a sessions and would advise people to be bold and maximise any good opportunities.  The worst a session can end with is a bank of £0 but rare really good opportunity sessions could easily mean 50% profit for me.  I also often pack up a session early with a 1% - 5% profit if I have already out performed my perceived expectations. It’s a difficult one really, you need to constantly work on what’s right for you.  Quitting while you're ahead is something the laymen always quote as far as gambling, in my style of punting a variation of this applies. Having a decent start to a session and not timing the exit can have a negative effect on your mentality and end in disaster! I personally do struggle leaving a session with a loss which is probably why I do blow the odd bank.  It is something I am working on constantly and knowing when things aren’t going well you’ll be having a week off if you blow your bank is a good persuader for walking away and accepting a loss. Thankfully the periods between blowing banks I can amass enough profit to outweigh the loss.

Any profit I make from a session I withdraw at the end of a session.

When embarking out on this forget about all your previous losses, how much you need to make back etc etc . Just focus on each session with a positive attitude. Making a small annual profit from punting is a huge achievement.  However, if you feel that for your efforts you are not getting sufficient reward then you need to make the judgement on whether or not it is worthwhile continuing.

Enjoy the fruits of your labour. Put your profits to good use. (buy stuff, go on holidays, invest for the future)

Tip – I use PayPal to hide my gambling transactions from my HSBC.  I keep at least a reserve bank in PayPal so if after a blowing my bank I need to reload a week later HSBC are non the wiser. I let profits accumulate in PayPal until they reach a certain level then transfer them to my bank account. As they have come from PayPal there is no evidence of gambling transactions on my statement. This is great if you are looking for a mortgage etc. The only charges you incur are on the (hopefully) rare occasions when you reload your betfair bank from PayPal.  You can transfer money from HSBC to PayPal instantly if you don’t want to hold your reserve bank in your PayPal account, taking this route also means there is no evidence with your bank of a gambling transaction.

4. Selections

Not going into detail of how to pick winners that is something you have to sort out yourself. however, my advice is as follows and some of it is specific to horse racing

A.    Specialise – I punt almost exclusively on horse racing, people might say I’m not specialising because I bet on a variety of horse racing but I have found it works for my style of session punting.  I generally bet on lots of races in a session but not all of them available.  Some races I leave entirely, some I leave because I can’t get a strong view on.

B.    Allocate time to form study – I generally scan the cards before starting a session, if possible I’ll try to do this well in advance as there may be replays that I need to watch or information I need to gather.  I use the time between races to do my more detailed study. I understand this approach doesn’t work for everyone but it does for me. It keeps me occupied during a session which means I’m less likely to make plays that I really shouldn’t be making.

C.    Invest in your edge – there is a wealth of information available to use in studying form, a lot of which is free. There is also a lot of very useful information statics etc that you can subscribe to for a fee. It is down to you to make the judgement of whether you get a worthwhile ROI.

D.    Always Learn – I find the best way to learn is post race analysis. This will develop your experience on market judgement and form study. Always learn and always look to adapt and improve.  You will develop an appreciation for value through experience.

5. Controlling Your Emotions During While Punting

OK so you've followed your initial rules and you are embarking on some punting. Perhaps the most important thing for most punters in being successul is to control their emotions while punting. Keeping a clear head at all times is vital to ensure you make the right judgements.

Punting is littered with pitfalls that can happen while you are doing it that will have an impact on your state of mind - making a costly mistake, kicking yourself for missing an opportunity, having a 'bad beat' (you're counting your winnings and that 1.01 gubbing type situation happens). These can all conspire into losing focus and control.

It would be easy for me to say when something out of the ordinary happens then take a break, go for a walk, get some fresh air but it is sometimes easier said than done. I'm sure there are people out there with some great tips with regard to dealing with the ups and downs of punting. Being in the right frame of mind in the first place helps immensely during such situations.



There is probably stuff I’ve missed that I was going to put down originally and I really hope others have advice that they can add.