There’s not many achievements that Richard Johnson hasn’t bagged during his long and illustrious career in racing. From becoming Champion Jockey at just age eighteen in the 1995/6 season, to being awarded an OBE in the new year’s honours for his services to horse racing, he’s done it all. A Grand National win still eludes him though. Here, speaking to Betway, Johnson steers us through the highs and lows of some of his previous Grand National experiences and lays out the hopes and dreams that are part and parcel of his 2019 Grand National ride on Rock The Kasbah.
Perhaps the first lesson to be learned from betting, especially on horse racing, is that, no matter how encyclopedic your knowledge or how sharp your betting skills, you cannot hope to win every bet. Of course, you may experience periods when your judgement appears nigh on perfect and you back winner after winner but, equally, you will almost certainly experience periods when, as the result of ill-judged selections, or just plain bad luck, you cannot ‘buy a winner’. So being realistic, and perhaps combining your picks with free bet opportunities on YesBets and the like is step one.
The subject of losing runs, which are an ‘occupational hazard’ for any punter, leads quite nicely to the second lesson, which involves the establishment of a betting bank, or ‘tank’. A betting tank is, quite simply, an adequate sum of money set aside solely for the purpose of betting on horses. Calculating the size of your betting tank, based on your strike rate and average winning odds, is a straightforward process. Establishing a betting tank guarantees that you always bet within your means and, consequently, are less likely to experience the negative emotions, such as anger, despair or guilt, associated with losing money, which can lead to chasing losses and, potentially, financial disaster.
Lesson three is that any staking plan that advocates increasing or decreasing stakes in response to a series of results simply perpetuates the so-called ‘Gambler’s Fallacy’ and is bound to fail in its objective. A previous series of results, good or bad, has no effect, whatsoever, on the probability of a win or loss occurring in the future, and no juggling of stakes can produce any beneficial effect on profit or loss when compared with level stakes.
The fourth, and final, lesson in this short ‘parable’ on the dangers of betting faced by the recreational punter starts with a quote from the venerable Barrington William ‘Barry’ Hills. The former Lambourn trainer, who reached the top of his profession largely through astute punting, once said, ‘If you could buy money they would sell it in a shop down the road’. Of course, ‘buying money’ refers to betting odds-on, where winnings are a fraction of the initial stake. As Hills quite rightly pointed out, a punter who places a bet of £700 on a winning selection at odds of 4/7 is more likely to experience relief at not losing £700 than euphoria at winning £400.
When people talk of gambling, most of the time they refer to online casino games and sports betting. This is because these are the two most common things that you can gamble on. However, there are also other things that people can gamble on that do not include sports and casino games. But you can visit best Canadian sports betting sites to see what else you can gamble on. And the best part is that even with these strange things that people can gamble on, they still stand a chance to win real money.
Odd Things that People Gamble On
End of the World
As odd as it may sound, people do almost every year gamble on the day that the world will end. Though the exact reason behind this we do not know. Because according to us, only the losers of this bet stand to benefit more. And if you do happen to win this bet, we are not sure how you enjoy your prize money in a world that has ended.
Wife-Carrying
While others bet on horse racing, there are some who would rather the strength of man as he carries his wife. This is actually a sport in Ireland that involves a man carrying his wife down a 253-meter obstacle course. And like any other sport, gamblers can bet on which couple wins and which couple will lose.
Proof of Intelligent Life Out There
We have all at some heard and even watched movies about aliens. But as we said, these are just movies and there is no proof that there may exist or not. This, however, does not stop people from betting on whether there is intelligent life or any life at all out there.
Celebrity Deaths
The life of a celebrity is never an easy one, especially if you have people betting on their deaths. According to ausportsbetting, gambling on celebrity deaths is one thing that both fans and anti-fans place bets on. And if you do win, well that’s a whole lot of real money in your pocket.