Be Disciplined Like A Professional Gambler  Most successful people have a high level of expertise. True, some may get lucky but that moment of serendipity won’t last long. In fact, believe it or not, you need to turn your working process from something complex to very simple else you are doomed.

If you don’t understand why you will when you start gambling.

It’s something like The Dummies Guide to Professional Gambling. I don’t think that book exists but it should for all those budding gamblers who have ambitions of making their betting pay.

You may ask: ‘Why do I need everything to be simple?’

Because the more complex something is, the more likely you will make mistakes. Not only do mistakes drive you to distraction but they cost you money. All working practices or processes need to be well thought out and refined so they run smoothly. They are built on understanding and work on positives.

You can either have an approach which works on positives or negatives. It’s obvious which of those two you are aiming for.

For example, every aspect of gambling needs an answer to a question. This takes a lot of time and experience. It isn’t something that comes easily. It’s usually a product of mistakes and money lost. That motivates you (or should do) to find the answer to a particular question. Not just any old answer, but the best answer.

When you look at a business which functions to a very high level you will notice every single part has been considered. It has simplified the complex to be worked in a standardised, simplistic, fashion. This helps every individual know what is expected and how the job is to be carried out. It’s a like a sales call which follows a script. The script has been refined to the point it closes sales. It works to a very high level because there has been time, energy and lots of money to make it profitable.

Successful gambling is very much the same. If you have a well oiled process, you don’t wake up each day and do something different. You have created the best answers to the most difficult questions. You keep them and use them until you have a better solution. This may come one day but if you are making money you may well be pleased with your lot. Push too hard and you may destroy what you nurtured.

There is no way you can be a professional gambler without making the complex routinely simplistic. With each race, the clock is ticking down. If you are searching for the best answer to the question seconds before the off you have lost. I can guarantee you will make a knee jerk reaction (it will be based on emotions) and it’s the wrong decision.

This is why to succeed as a professional gambler it is more complex than many may imagine.

It is a routine. It’s a method and process which you follow with discipline even when you feel you should do something different based on your emotions. You have to hold your nerve and stare loss in the face. You have to hold firm on what you know is the answer to the question. It has been learned by trial and error, winners and losers, time and effort, and endless frustration.

If you divert from the process you have no answer.

That option should terrify you.

Simplicity equals profit. Complexity leads to mistakes.

Today, I had a bet on a horse. What I would call a pre-emptive gamble. I bet and I hope the horse is backed to shorter odds. I have no way of knowing whether this horse will be backed or not. If it is, then I have the potential to make good money. If not, I may well have to lay the bet to lose part of my stake. But what is the best answer to this question? What should I do to give myself the best chance of winning? That is winning long term. One result doesn’t mean much on the grand scale of a season. But still, there is a best answer to the question.

Here is the answer to the question: ‘I have to wait until the horses are going behind the stalls and then make the decision to keep the bet or not.’

This may seem something and nothing. However, the process doesn’t work like that at all. I have to stick to the process whatever the betting looks like. Whether the odds are shorter or longer. The answer to the question is carved in stone. It is the best answer to the question and it cannot be changed whatever the situation or scenario. It’s the equivalent to seeing a red flashing button and someone saying: ‘Don’t press that button!’

If you press it, you have lost.

Why have you lost?

Because it is part of the process.

If you don’t have the discipline to follow the process, you have lost.

When Bets Go Right & Wrong  I guess we all have a story to tell when it comes to betting.

Over the years, I’ve had personal experiences of winning and losing big bets. Many of these stories come from betting online, at the track in bookmaker’s shops. However, the following bets were placed online. Moments of great joy and conflicting disappointment.

My Learned Friend

Considering most of my betting is done online I could pick umpteen moments featuring both highs and lows. I’ve had a few decent wins. One that sticks in the mind is a while back, a horse called My Learned Friend, trained by Andrew Balding. The horse won in a photo-finish beating a previous winner who had to carry a win penalty. John Gosden mentioned that his, second, was unlucky and thought the win penalties were unfair. Speaking from my pocket I was very happy the burden of the penalty hindered the runner-up as it won me £1,600. I bought an Omega watch (1970s style) as a memento.

One Lay Bet Too Many

The worst lay bet of my life could have won me £20. The loss much greater. To be fair, I had been flying along and laid so many horses to lose I £4,000 in profit from an initial betting bank of £20. It was truly incredible. I laid well over 100 losers on the trot. However, most of the horses were priced 10/1+. Some were priced 200/1 on the betting exchanges. I generally laid horses at odds of 100/1 and less.

There is something very unnerving about laying a horse to lose £2,000. Obviously, there is good reason to lay the horse.

However, anything can happen when betting.

Horses can defy the odds. If the favourite disappoints, then I’m one step closer to losing. If the second and third favourite under perform I’m looking at the horse I laid to lose like a hawk. I’m hoping and preying the horse is struggling. When it is not, I start to worry. I’ve had horses at giant odds run well and finish fourth or fifth. I’ve had others finish second, pressing hard. When two horses are astride you fear the lay bet will take advantage. If it does you desperately hope the chasing horse responds.

It’s not all bad.

When you’re four grand in front you can suffer a loss. You don’t want it but you can afford. You definitely don’t need it. But it happens. If you bet long enough you realise anything can happen.

And one day it did happen.

I’d been to my aunts funeral. I should have taken that as a bad sign. However, I thought I could win an easy £20 laying a horse at 36/1 for a potential loss of £720. I was confident I had the odds in my favour. However, this debutante travelled ominously well. When I see the favourite struggling I had a bad feeling. The horse I’d laid cruised up and shot clear of the field. I never felt I had a hope of fighting back. It was over. I watched the horse win easily costing £720. To be fair, losing that amount of money wasn’t good news. But you win some you lose some. You should always expect a bad day even though you don’t want it because you have to brace yourself for disappointment. I was still winning £4,000 so the profits were astounding. But I didn’t enjoy the feeling and stress levels of laying a horse to lose hundreds if not thousands. It felt more natural to bet on horses to win. I’ve often wondered where I would be if I had continued laying big priced horses. When I see one or two win I am pretty sure that would have cost me. But what about all the wins too. We will simply never know. Although I can guarantee I’d have never laid more than my betting bank so it wouldn’t have cost me a penny.

A Terrible Day

One of the best and worst days of my betting life. It should have been so different. How many times have you heard that before? However, I do feel aggrieved. I’m not sure what is the opposite of Lady Luck but she must be some vicious old witch who spits in your tea when you’re not looking. Cinderella and the two ugly S@*gs. This evil beast pulled my pants down and stole my money. Yes, you can tell I’m still suffering from that day as it really was a life-changing moment. I had a bet to win £10,000. Worse still, my bet looked like a certainty. I know you are saying: ‘Yes, of course it did. Keep telling yourself that!’ However, if you watched the race you would feel pretty much the same. I had little to nothing to lose. My bet to win £10,000 cost £45. The price on Betfair – 300/1.

Entering the final furlong my horse ran on well and got to the lead. I was ready to see it go clear but noticed the jockey sitting very still. For the life of me I couldn’t understand what he was doing. It was like he daren’t move. It made no sense. But then it did make sense. I see him lean slightly to one side and the next thing he was on the floor. The saddle had slipped with less than 100 metres to go. Honestly, I felt sick. I couldn’t believe how such a thing had happened. Not on the Flat. It can happen but usually on the National Hunt. It happened. That was the final result. What a kick in the stomach. What could have been. I had laid £400 in running at even money. A small consolation prize but something. That’s how close I come to winning a five-figure sum for pennies. A stride or two more I would have won £10,000.

My brother had a fiver to win a couple of grand.

What can you say?

That’s racing.

The Lifeboat Horse Is Just Swell At Wells-next-the-sea  I know what you are thinking, didn’t three-times Grand National winner Red Rum used to gallop in the sea at Southport Beach. His wise, old trainer, Ginger McCain realised that salt water was like the elixir of life when it come to healing tired legs and aching bones. He went on to win the ‘greatest race in the world’ three times in 1973, 1974 & 1977.

Perhaps you’ve seen horses galloping on the beach. It looks so natural and a beautiful sight.

Another location where racing takes place on the beach is Laytown, Strand Road, Ninch, County Meath, in Ireland. This spectacle has taken place since 1868. Racing takes place on just one day each year in September. This seven-furlong straight course sees all races run over six or seven furlongs and watched by a crowd in excess of 5,000.

I don’t know if you have enjoyed a holiday or a day out in Norfolk. It’s a lovely location with a beautiful coastline and villages of flint-stone buildings and thatched roofs. Wells-next-the-sea is a port town a stone’s throw from Burham Market and Holkham Hall. I’ve been to Wells-next-the-sea on a number of occasions but the last time I went there for a day out I notice something in the sea. It was a horse standing on the sand looking proudly out to sea. As the tide turned it remained in situ and the water rose until it lapped against its neck. Still it stood motionless. The Lifeboat Horse as it’s known is a sculpture made from steel bars and whisky barrels and created by Rachael Long as a tribute to the horses that once pulled the town’s lifeboat more than two miles from the quay to Holkham Gap. The Lifeboat Horse had a brief spell at Wells-next-the-sea in 2018. However, locals and visitors missed the horse so much that £15,000 was raised to make it a permanent feature of this beautiful location in 2019.

To protect the horse from winter weather it is kept in storage from October to May. Thankfully the harbour commissioners have agreed to cover all future maintenance costs.

Harbour Master Robert Smith MBE said: ‘It was important to buy the sculpture because ‘so many people loved it. People have already come from ll over the country to see the horse – it’s good for tourism, it’s good for Wells and it’s good for Norfolk.

The next time you visit Norfolk, go to see this beautiful sculpture.

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