Gambling

[illdecide]

Folks judging by a few of the threads on the board it's safe to say a good few of you here like to gamble, i like a punt on the football but i also would have a we flutter on the horses too. If I'm honest if i stuck to just football i believe i could make a small profit but the problem is when i bet on horses I'd lose. Also if i do get a half decent win then I'd scarper from the bookies with my winnings and would not stand there punting with my winnings, some friends of mine have said if they win they'd spend the day in the bookies until they were broke.

What type of gambler are you and what do you gamble on?

[lawnseed]

is that you oisin?

[illdecide]

is that you oisin?

Caught out FFS

[lawnseed]

is that you oisin?

Caught out FFS

your supposed to be quit      

[lurganblue]

Casual gambler. I like a wee football/Gaelic bet each week and then I do a little extra betting when I have some spare money floating about. Get the odd success and prob break about even most years. I only do the horses when Cheltenham is on, a big race is on or I'm actually at the races. Would never spend more than 15 mins in the bookies. Pick the bet and leave.

[Tony Baloney]

Haven't a clue about it. The chat on the various gambling threads may as well be Japanese. I'd be a very, very rare gambler and have seen it get its claws into some people.

[tbrick18]

Haven't a clue about it. The chat on the various gambling threads may as well be Japanese. I'd be a very, very rare gambler and have seen it get its claws into some people.

+1
I've no interest in it. Money is too hard to come by without giving it away again. As the saying goes, there's never a poor bookie.

[Smokin Joe]

As the saying goes, there's never a poor bookie.

That's because they refuse the bets of anyone who isn't a mug, not because they can't be beaten.

[Sea The Stars]

Folks - My younger brother knows a lot about racing and says to back a horse called Born To Sea next time he runs. Just so you know. 

As for this thread, Sports gambling certainly appears to have become popular in the last few years. I guess the idea of a football acca (high potential return for small outlay) appeals to a lot of people. Access to internet in almost every home has probably assisted the growth of sports gambling big time too.

Don't forget bookies are gamblers too, and there's been a few poor ones over the years - contrary to the cliche above. And a small handful of punters have succeeded too (probably easier than ever now thanks to the introduction of the exchanges where not only have you backers, but also layers, traders, arbers, etc). To be a good gambler, you need a combination of discipline, patience, nerve and a rare knowledge of what you punt on. Most people many of these qualities.

[Sea The Stars]

People not very good at Maths tend to make poor gamblers too.

[beer baron]

Back a good few horses and do few bets on the G.A.A and soccer as well,for a while there i found myself going into bookies to put on a horse i fancied and staying on and backing dogs and racing in south africa and other random countries where i knew nothing about any of the horses and was losing a bomb,i've since started using my online account for pretty much all of my bets because the mug punting i end up doing in the bookies would fairly swiftly land a man in the poor house!
The 1 bit of betting i simply can't fathom is the cartoon racing,id be sat in a bookies watching grown men shout at a cartoon that they've 50 e/w on and think holy god there can't be a recession going on at all  !

[Donnellys Hollow]

A punter has one key advantage over the bookmaker: the bookmaker lays on every race/match/fight etc whereas the punter can be selective on which races/matches/fights he plays in. The key to successful punting is to be as selective and disciplined as possible.

My own background is in national hunt racing so naturally it's my sport of choice from a betting point of view. I occasionally will have a bet on the local club matches and such but I struggle to find an edge in other sports. Finding an edge isn't easy but it can be done. Keep a record of all your bets (the more detailed a database the better) and try to identify the kind of events that you win money in and vice versa. I learned that I had most success in backing novice hurdlers and chasers so I will tend to focus on these races and I study them thoroughly - the more you watch the more you learn. I tend to avoid lower grade racing and handicaps. A grade 1 horse is far more likely to show consistent form rather than a moderately bred yak being ridden by some cowboy around one of the gaff tracks.

As STS says, an appreciation of the maths side of things is essential in order to maximise profits and minimise losses. For example, I rarely back multiples because the odds are stacked in the bookmaker's favour. The prospect of a big payout may be tempting but the better long term strategy is to play the percentages. I would estimate that two thirds of my bets are each way wagers with the other third being win singles. I will back each way at prices down to as low as 5/2. The logic behind it is simple - if I back a horse at 3/1 each way one quarter the odds and my horse is placed, I will still get 87.5% of my original stake back. If I'd backed the horse to win and it was placed, I'd have lost 100% of my stake rather than 12.5%. A decent form student should be backing enough winners at around the 3/1 mark to be making such a strategy profitable.

The concept of value is one that is often talked about by tipsters and pundits. However, I don't agree with many of the common interpretations of 'value'. I have heard a lot of punters say that they will never back at odds on because there's no value in it but that is nonsense as far as I'm concerned. A horse could be available to back at 4/6 when it should be a 1/3 shot on all known form - Sea The Stars in the Irish Campion Stakes being a prime example. It's easy to say it in hindsight (though I'm sure if someone fished out the page on the Horse Racing Thread I was saying the same before the race!) but 4/6 was a cracking value bet.

A punter should study as much as possible because he will learn something watching each race whether he has had a bet or not. Be patient and selective and wait for the right punting opportunity to come around. Too many lads are inclined to have a bet just because it's a big Saturday race or whatever. Always trust your own judgement and always try to bet to level stakes which is probably the one rule that I find difficult to adhere to.

[ONeill]

A punter has one key advantage over the bookmaker: the bookmaker lays on every race/match/fight etc whereas the punter can be selective on which races/matches/fights he plays in. The key to successful punting is to be as selective and disciplined as possible.

My own background is in national hunt racing so naturally it's my sport of choice from a betting point of view. I occasionally will have a bet on the local club matches and such but I struggle to find an edge in other sports. Finding an edge isn't easy but it can be done. Keep a record of all your bets (the more detailed a database the better) and try to identify the kind of events that you win money in and vice versa. I learned that I had most success in backing novice hurdlers and chasers so I will tend to focus on these races and I study them thoroughly - the more you watch the more you learn. I tend to avoid lower grade racing and handicaps. A grade 1 horse is far more likely to show consistent form rather than a moderately bred yak being ridden by some cowboy around one of the gaff tracks.

As STS says, an appreciation of the maths side of things is essential in order to maximise profits and minimise losses. For example, I rarely back multiples because the odds are stacked in the bookmaker's favour. The prospect of a big payout may be tempting but the better long term strategy is to play the percentages. I would estimate that two thirds of my bets are each way wagers with the other third being win singles. I will back each way at prices down to as low as 5/2. The logic behind it is simple - if I back a horse at 3/1 each way one quarter the odds and my horse is placed, I will still get 87.5% of my original stake back. If I'd backed the horse to win and it was placed, I'd have lost 100% of my stake rather than 12.5%. A decent form student should be backing enough winners at around the 3/1 mark to be making such a strategy profitable.

The concept of value is one that is often talked about by tipsters and pundits. However, I don't agree with many of the common interpretations of 'value'. I have heard a lot of punters say that they will never back at odds on because there's no value in it but that is nonsense as far as I'm concerned. A horse could be available to back at 4/6 when it should be a 1/3 shot on all known form - Sea The Stars in the Irish Campion Stakes being a prime example. It's easy to say it in hindsight (though I'm sure if someone fished out the page on the Horse Racing Thread I was saying the same before the race!) but 4/6 was a cracking value bet.

A punter should study as much as possible because he will learn something watching each race whether he has had a bet or not. Be patient and selective and wait for the right punting opportunity to come around. Too many lads are inclined to have a bet just because it's a big Saturday race or whatever. Always trust your own judgement and always try to bet to level stakes which is probably the one rule that I find difficult to adhere to.

You could do that. Or do what I do. Close yer eyes. Stick a pin in it. Place £1.

[bridge fan]

 totally agree about the e/w down to 5/2 if ur having a decent bet on it.  discipline is a big thing you have to have  in betting to make a profit ya have 2 put the study in imo

[illdecide]

DH you logic there is well and good for you and prob a few with a brain but if you spend a couple of hours in the bookies on a sat afternoon and watch the same guys wearing the same clothes betting on every single race and afterwards their horse is beaten they turn to the paper on the wall and look at the winner and then they'll shout over to Paddy..."hey Paddy that was O'Briens horse there and look Jimmy Joe was riding it. He's a Bastard that...How'd we miss that"...lol.

I've a PP account on-line but have a weekly limit on it to £10 as i wouldn't trust myself, i believe on-line gambling is def the worst. I recently heard of a friend of mine who was in debt big time due to gambling (talking near £50k) and I've never seen him inside of a bookie shop in my life. In fact i never knew he gambled, i believe when you're handing over a card instead of cash it doesn't feel as bad.

P.S. would you agree that if you've suffered a loss the worst thing you can do is chase it by placing bigger bets to try and get your cash back? and why do you not get the same buzz when your football's winning than you do when your horse is  ahead at the finish line