The best way to avoid unwelcome bets is to assess the races at overnight decs stage.  Get a shortlist of races you are interested in due to your specialism(s). By the evening before racing you home in on the races that you are interested in - no rules but average of 1 or 2 on any card.  More ok but very rare.  By 9am of the morning of the meeting(s) then you don't back on any race other than your selected races.  If they win great, if they lose then there's always the next day. No need to try and get your money back before you put the head on the pillow - take the longer view.

correct stu,great post,success is on the other side of fear.or so they say.

Yep, like the old Kipling poem indeed....

Steve Voltage 12 Oct 22 12:43 

Surely the option to bet using 3rd party software connected to excel largely takes away the need for discipline? I've been trying a system for a couple of months now but if I check up on the system and after 10 or so consecutive losing days is hard to take.

Sitting tight and waiting weeks for a good-run is the only way it seems.
Also I suspect many lose heart if their bank drops by 20-30% No point in having a bank if you are not prepared to used 70% of it.
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Steve Voltage 12 Oct 22 11:45 

One of the problems with systems that folk just stick with it start to finish rather then only jumping in when the system dips? Anyone do this? I have a system that 9/10 makes a small profit at the start of the days racing but by the end of the day 4/10 makes a loss.
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Steve Voltage 12 Oct 22 14:30 

Middle races tend to have more runners. This seems to be an obvious ploy by the bookies.
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Steve Voltage -

You appear to have a rather Robotic approach to Punting on Horse Racing -
- and to not even understand fully the concept/context of the Racing Programme, when you say ...

"Middle races tend to have more runners. This seems to be an obvious ploy by the bookies."

The 'Bookies' do NOT decide on, nor dictate, the Running Order of the Racecards

It is much more of a traditional format  -

For years - Meetings would start with a 2-yr-olds Race, followed by a Seller, then the Highest Prize-Money Handicap on the card, followed by a 3-yr-old Maiden, then another couple of Handicaps.

That order got re-allocated somewhat when meetings began to be Televised terrestrially - to put the better/Higher_Prize-Money races together for the BBC or Channel4 coverage.

Your statement - "A days racing/betting has been calculated so that the middle order will more often than not mess you up"
- followed by - "I have a system that 9/10 makes a small profit at the start of the days racing but by the end of the day 4/10 makes a loss."

Intimates that you are (Robotically) Betting in every race, or almost so - and NOT differentiating your approach - be it a field of lightly or unraced 2-yr-olds, or Novice Hurdlers over Jumps - from fields of Seasoned older Handicappers.

Personally - I much prefer the Seasoned Handicappers races- (that "mess you up")  - as there is far more Form to judge from, and consequently far more angles to exploit ...

However - you have to put in the work - and also have to 'know what you are doing'

Systematic Approaches do NOT - and CANNOT - do all that FOR You.

I find there are two gremlins in my mindset.
Fear of backing a loser at a big price and fear of missing a winner at a big price.

There can be absolutely no doubt that winning consistently is an almost impossible task for the majority of punters, for many of the reasons already mentioned on the thread, two facts that greatly assist are discipline and the comfort of knowing that you have funds behind you, however it is easy to lose those funds if you do not have the right level of discipline to ensure you retain it.
Punting for a living is fraught with danger and makes for a very stressful lifestyle and is not something I would ever recommend to anyone, the mindset becomes totally different when you are able to play knowing that your punting is an additional income, as it allows you to play without fear of losing, winning then becomes a bonus rather than a necessity that is required to sustain your existence.

You have an opinion…..you stick to the opinion….

All the discipline in the world won’t help if you’re choosing the wrong horses.

This little matter of selections is what is never discussed. 
And those who can do it will never tell you how it's done.

Discipline should always play a part in a persons thinking, as used correctly it limits the selections you play and probability dictates that at some stage however poor the criteria you use to make said selections, a dart will land for you, it is imperative to learn when is the right time to play, and in over 50 years of punting and watching others that is the factor that most people fail to learn.
Taking emotion out of your modus operandi, is important, a bet should be struck with sound reasoning and when price dictates that it is worthwhile not because it is one of your favourite horses or has been tipped up by the "experts" or someone has whispered it to you (unless they have a proven track record of course), the bottom line is that far too many punters are lazy and not prepared to put the work in or not intelligent enough to attempt to put the necessary effort in.

I  think alan potts summed it up . lots of different strategies , depends upon how you like to punt

Very pleasing thread this, the forum at it's best.

It sort of confirms what we already know, there are many ways to achieve a goal. My own preference is NH and on the flat mostly concentrate on a few festivals and the G1 races. Less is more when it comes to number of bets (although I do enjoy racing so accept some small amount betting is for the sake of enjoyment). Discipline and not chasing losses when in a bad run is probably the biggest difference between success and failure. I'm very sceptical about gamblers that profess to make a living from betting compared to earning a decent wage through working. The turnover would be enormous to match even a moderate salary and very difficult nowadays the way bookmakers restrict and close accounts.

The excellently run competition threads give a good guide to the more successful posters and it doesn't take long to work out who is worth reading on here for helpful info and who the bluffers/idiots are.

Regarding the difference between playing when you have another job and for a living.

Pressure. It's a lot like top level individual sports like golf or tennis.

Here's how I think of it: If I laid a 12ft x 1ft plank on the floor and said 'walk along this

without falling off and I'll give you a tenner' You'd stroll along say thanks and collect.

If, on the other hand, I place the plank over a cravasse with a 500ft fall to certain death and said

'I'll give you ten thousand to walk across it' now that would be a totally different proposition.

Your heart rate and blood pressure would soar, you'd probably feel a bit giddy and sick to the

stomach and the plank would suddenly seem 4 inches wide and very wobbly!

Rico….is the only person who can provide his profit/Loss as he does….opinions are the thing in racing since time began..most of the punters in the game will tell you just in front or holding on…

Check the ‘opinion’ on here….

Rog, have you ever heard the saying "Scared money never wins"

I agree with the discipline part. I have a lay system that finds favs at 2.5-3.9 that lose 80% of the time, but sometimes there are 0 qualifiers for days. If I could only wait for those mega clown favs.

You can only lay odds on….you can’t make a book on here laying…..place lay is the most profitable on here for me by far…l

Classic for me tonight for example (not a tip..opinion) is Man Utd any other home win….6/4 ish….

why would you lay only odds on? If a 4/1 shot should be 5/1, lay it.

What was your choice of racing paper Anorak ..?….life…chronicle…or Post….mind you there wasn’t any choice when the dreaded post arrived….

Most professional gamblers will tell you how they do for the year.So do bookmakers.gambling for professionals is treated as a process not a get rich quick scheme.But surprise surprise the average gambler tries to win every day and thinks there is such a thin g as a last race.While the professional never heard of a last race until the end of HIS year.