In much the same way that Tiger Woods manages to eke out a 73 or 74 despite not hitting a fairway punters must also find a way to salvage something from the inevitable bad days.
Its easy to preach that punters should never bet more than they can afford to lose or that staking levels should remain consistent to balance out the peaks and troughs but that is easier said than done for a lot of people and I find the easiest way is to minimise losses and maximise returns. Its especially hard to get your head around mentally so I thought I might share a few strategies that assist me in doing this.
Like the majority of serious punters, I keep track of my bets in a simple spreadsheet format which really helps me get around what was a major issue with me early on - that issue was chasing my losses. By keeping these records, it allows me to look at the big picture instead of taking an insular view of that particular day so if I am down $..... for the day, I will still keep my head with the knowledge that I am up by $..... over the course of the year and therefore resist the urge to break square on the day. I have just taught myself to look at the big picture.
Another huge advantage of spreadsheets is the ability to identify trends by analysing the data in a number of ways, you can via simple formulae identify exactly what bet types, venues, bet amounts, barrier positions, prices, etc work for you and what doesn't. For example, I was able to identify that betting EW just didn't allow me to maximise my returns in the same manner that a couple of alternate bet types do.
Therefore, I now don't bet each way (apart from one special circumstance that I will elaborate upon later) and back all horses on a win only basis regardless of price and then take them in a standout quinella with what I deem to be the other fancies in a race. I generally only bet in races where I think there are 4-5 chances maximum so this technique really works for me and whilst it annoys me if I back a $30 pop that runs 3rd, the data shows me that over the long run it is far more advantageous for me to stand it out in a quinella than back it each way as the quinella return generally nets me 3-4 times the EW return. I will back horses EW however IF - a race is paying 1,2 only as the quinella return in 6-7 horse fields just don't match up to the each way bet and the place dividend holds up a lot better with only the 2 divs. I will also bet EW if I like a horse a bit at value and am unsure of the race.
Another way to maximise returns is to spread the load across differing avenues, if I am having a large bet on a horse at the Tasmanian trots with smaller pools I will split the bet 5 different ways and have the same amount with SuperTab, NSW TAB, UNiTAB, Betfair and mid tote with a corp. I would actually recommend this technique for anybody betting into smaller pools as there are some amazing discrepencies between dividends.
Exotics betting used to be somewhat of a no-no with the exorbitant take out rates of the TABs for those bet types but since the introduction of Flexi Betting and Corporate Bookies the landscape has changed a lot on that front. Quite simply the value is there nowadays - punters will throw the field in regularly with flexis and reduce their percentage despite a couple of horses having absolutely no hope and this inflates the final dividend for standard results (some bigger ones where bolters get up now pay unders but I rarely take that type anyway) and by taking your exotic bet with a corp its just common sense that your return is higher as your collect isn't being reflected in the dividend. For example, if you snare a $500 trifecta in a $6000 pool your return is about 5% higher by not having that bet on the TAB and reducing their dividend. Multiply that over numerous collects and its a hell of a difference!
These are just a couple of things and therere is no right or wrong way with this as we all bet differently but I would encourage everybody to analyse their data and endeavour to maximise profits as it certainly adds up over time.
