Judging by the comments and emails I have received over the last 24 hours it would appear that you quite like reading about my punting exploits. And seeing as how I enjoy writing about them I’d like to make it a regular feature here at Nag3. So, time permitting, every Monday I’ll give you all a full recap of how the week went for me (for better or for worse, for richer or poorer).
Luckily for me the missus never reads the Blog, as she’s too busy buying stuff on Ebay or watching the soaps, so my punting wins and losses should remain a secret between you and I.
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In the comments Gordon asked how I stake my bets and whether there was any logic to it. To which I have to admit, not really!
Before I do explain my bet staking though I have to hold my hands up and say that I don’t have the discipline of a pro-punter. You’ve probably worked that out anyway reading through my bets but it’s the one thing I’ve never had and can’t seem to master. I’ve tried logging my bets, using a staking plan and betting only when I truly fancied something but it never lasts for long and I always end up back where I started, betting horses because I like them (Well Chief) or because they’ve done me a favour before (Straw Bear) or even because of their name (Priestley!). I’m certainly no Dave Nevison or Patrick Veitch and I definitely don’t have the bottle, or the funds, to be like Harry Findlay and punt thousands of pounds on odds on favourites but I like to think I do alright while betting at a level that I can afford. Of course like everyone else I have my losing runs (they always seem to last longer than winning runs don’t they?) but I’ve also had the good fortune to experience some big wins in my time (and some very near misses).
In fact if I can get the scanner on my printer to work I’ll show you my biggest ever win later in the week, which incidentally was on the Hennessey card 4 years ago. It will give hope to all of you out there backing in multiple bets and probably explain why I keep backing Straw Bear!
Anyway, back to my staking. Basically the amount depends solely on how much I fancy it, simple as that. An average bet for me is £50 or £25ew but it can go as low as £5ew and as high as £500. If I do a multiple bet I usually stake at £1 units although I sometimes do £5 Lucky 15’s or on the odd occassion even higher. Placepot unit stakes depend on the size of the Perm but tend to have a total stake of £50-£100.
If I go racing I stake my bets depending on the odds I can get which probably isn’t a good way of betting but makes life a lot easier. So if it’s 15/8 I’ll have £120 on, if it’s 2/1 I’ll have £100 and if it’s 9/4 it’s usually £80.
And finally, the price very rarely affects my stake. If I really fancy it I’ll have a £100 ew on it whether it’s 8/1, 12/1 or 50/1.
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Next, in answer to Colin’s comments.
You are more than welcome to post your comments or send me an email if you agree or disagree with anything I write, in fact I positively encourage it.
BUT, just like Colin has done, I would prefer them to be politely and intelligently constructed. We’re all adults here (I think) and debating these issues is healthy for the blog if done in a sensible fashion. I know that not everyone is going to agree with everything I write and often there is more than one side to any issue but to just insult me and tell me to **** off is something I can do without.
On that particular Wetherby post I personally don’t think that what I wrote was going too far and I stand by my comments. The other examples of course mis-management Colin quoted are valid points but on both of these occasions the courses were able to learn from their mistakes and rectify matters. Wetherby haven’t and they, along with the horses that lost their lives there, have paid the penalty. Keeping things in perspective, let’s remember that we are after all only talking about an average racecourse that only stages a handful of meaningful races each season. It’s not as if I said let’s turn Cheltenham into an all-weather track…..
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Good luck,
Gavin.