Why Are We Doing It?

[Quevega]

My wife is relatively understanding, knows that I bet and that Cheltenham week is hugely important to me, but then again, I don’t go into detail about my staking / punting to her. I have been profitable in all bar a couple of years and will tell her if I have had a good or a bad day/week and treat her and the family with winnings, but to be honest, I think if I showed her my P&L and she saw the cumulative stakes (regardless of the profits) over the years, she would probably have a fit, and I am not a big stakes punter – albeit that it is all relative to one’s own situation.

exactly same here Knock.
And ditto again for what Saxon mentioned. - regards letting on to the Mrs.
Also been in Banking all my life, and now part own a very small financial advice company. You would think this would give me some credibility with the Mrs !!

During lockdown 2020 I took the majority of my bank out after Cheltenham as I thought the world was going to end and all the bookies were going to go bust, and the wife noticed it when we were preparing statements to get the mortgage sorted.
She Still doesn't know that my annual turnover is 6 figures though !
We then moved house and I let her have half my bank to help offset the mortgage. The Bank was inflated a fair bit to be fair after a very good couple of years, and it being immediately after Cheltenham 2020.

We have fully offset the mortgage balance with savings, as we are planning many renovations etc.

Summer 2020 was then a nightmare form wise, as is typical, so the Bank was getting tight.
However, a reasonable Winter and very decent Cheltenham, aintree and Punchestown has put me back on track.

Only for her to pointedly ask me the other day how much I now had across all my betting accounts .
Followed by - "Why do you need that much in your accounts etc"

Obviously the Bank has been reduced once again.

Coronavirus has a lot to answer for.


PS - she knows I watch porn as well, although not every time she leaves the house

[Saxon Warrior]

PS - she knows I watch porn as well, although not every time she leaves the house

Too tiring, every time.

[Kevloaf]

PS - she knows I watch porn as well, although not every time she leaves the house

I agree knockando that it shouldn't be an automatic flag that you are a "problem gambler" if you don't share it with the missus. I think it's correctly, a flag, but that doesn't mean it's a problem. I don't share with my wife what I gamble with any great detail, she knows the overall sums sporadically (usually as she's the first person I can boast too) which after 8 years she just learns to put out of her mind but essentially it's my money. I don't gamble anything from any joint accounts or risk anything that I haven't earned myself.... so I'd be quite comfortable explaining why I don't tell her every single penny.... and to be fair I would be certain she doesn't care.

She would certainly care more about the end of Quevega 's post than the end of yours

[Sprinter Sacre]

TL;DR – Watching your well-researched, longtime selection bowl along into first down the hill at Cheltenham with the jockey on the bridle, rounding the bend to face the hill and win in style is second-to-none in terms of combining tension, entertainment, and satisfaction.

Oh yeah, you can make some money on the side too.

[OverTheLast]

This is a fantastic thread, and having only joined recently, it’s just great to see the camaraderie on here between all members, and above all else, some of the most insightful research and angles from various threads. Previously a forum member on another site, the amount of slanging matches made it a venomous place to be and you had to wade through a lot of shit to get the good info from decent forum users.

I have felt very welcomed on here and certainly have already learnt a lot from reading through different threads and forums and it has given me a lot to ponder on my own strategy.

In terms of my punting, I’ve been betting on horses for about 9 years now in all likelihood, I got into it during Cheltenham week when went down to the pub with some mates, had a few winners and the buzz of the whole thing got me sucked in and never really looked back. I have developed a huge interest in the sport ever since. First and foremost for me, I love the sport and the animals – it is not called the ‘Sport of Kings’ for no reason. I love the richness of history behind the sport and moreover, what I always say to folk is that there is an angle for everyone. If you want to put 50p on wild outsiders – you can, if you want to back favourites by all means – and then of course, there are the thousands of different systems that people look at and develop new ones which form their betting strategies. Some of Andrew Mount’s qualifiers systems on gg.co.uk are just mindblowing as to how someone can find such niche angles.

My racing punting and interest is much more pointed to National Hunt, and every year I say that I will lay low through the flat season which I have not stuck to very well but fully intend to this year, bar a couple of bets at Ascot.

I feel over the course of my time betting, there have been times when I have certainly bet too much and too frequently and in years gone by when I lived by myself before my now wife moved in, I had more time to study and watch the racing – I would pretty much be looking to have a bet every day and got lost a little in the search for immediate profit. In the past couple of years, I have got married and now have a baby girl, so my stance has changed somewhat. Firstly, I don’t have the time I used to have to look over the cards daily so my approach has become much more focussed on Cheltenham antepost. Secondly, having a daughter has definitely changed my mentality to be more selective and limited with bets and in truth, a bit more cautious with my staking.

That said, previously I have started my book around October time and focussed mainly on singles for Cheltenham. This year, my book has started along with a lot of you straight after the festival, and I am in new antepost territory with the number of multiples I have done. In effect, my profit from Aintree and Cheltenham have covered my outlay with some profit to spare and I will build up my bank through the Summer. Previously, I would be greedy and bet through non cash out / NRNB firms for an extra few points – this is something I am changing this year and have a lot of my bets through B365 or betfair for 2022.

On the whole, I have on the whole managed to stay disciplined with my staking over my time. I have never lost sleep over amounts lost or staked, but certainly at points have started to feel the pressure when on a losing run, of which there have been many. That said, my frequency of betting is much lower than what it used to be, and so I don’t envisage this being an issue too much again.

In terms of ‘why do I it?’ – same as many on here:

1. I love the sport and the animals, find them majestic and the buzz of being near them on track, and being at the races generally just insatiable. I took my family to Cartmel a few years back, and my sister in law’s face when the horses rumbled by right on the rail was something to behold. She had never been racing before and loved it. It’s just a superb sport and one which I want to get more of my friends to after lockdown.

1. I get a huge kick out of reading the stats / form right and landing one – particularly at a big price antepost. Can’t beat it – particularly when you’ve given out a tip to family / friends. I am an accountant, so the statistical side of things and analysis – I just love. I am at my happiest on the morning of a meeting, bloody maries in front of me and a good pal who is similar to me with his punting angles, not having looked at the odds of the card when studying – and debating the form of each horse and coming down on selections for the day, some often at much larger prices than expected.

1. I don’t put massive emphasis on huge returns, so long as I break even in the year I am happy.

It’s a question I get asked by my friends and family quite a lot, and more specifically - why I am into horse racing, as none of my family come from the industry or have ever really taken an interest in the sport.

One thing though that I would like to address in this forum. There (rightly so) has been a lot of coverage about getting help for gambling addition, and I am incredibly lucky that I do feel in control of my strategy, stakes and volume of bets and never chase losses (have done in early days but learnt lessons from then) – and I do worry about folk who do have such addiction.

However, there is always one question / statement which comes up around 'problem gambling', being ‘do you ever hide the amounts you gambled from friends or family?, suggesting that in doing so – this is a sign of problem gambling.

In truth, I feel often that those who don’t gamble a lot or have an interest in racing per se look down on racing as problematic and I feel even though I am very much in control of my staking, am running a good profit on a yearly basis – it is hard to convince them otherwise. I am incredibly strict with my P&L and track every bet on there religiously.

My wife is relatively understanding, knows that I bet and that Cheltenham week is hugely important to me, but then again, I don’t go into detail about my staking / punting to her. I have been profitable in all bar a couple of years and will tell her if I have had a good or a bad day/week and treat her and the family with winnings, but to be honest, I think if I showed her my P&L and she saw the cumulative stakes (regardless of the profits) over the years, she would probably have a fit, and I am not a big stakes punter – albeit that it is all relative to one’s own situation.

The final point on the matter, I do find it irritating / rude when I give a tip to someone and am asked ‘how much did you put on it?’. My brother for example would put ?1 or ?2 on a tip, and if I were to tell him I had a score on something, he would be taken aback. As such, I am quite private with my betting and tend to only discuss staking and profitability with the few friends that share the love for horses. In the past, I would give out tips to mates but have largely stopped now, as those not in the game – expect every bet to be a winner.

When looking at my P&L, I have had 1,072 bets since October 1^st 2019 – of which 320 have landed – so a 30% strike rate. I am sure if you told someone that only 1 in 3 or 4 bets landed, they’d probably laugh – but over the same period my P&L shows a 19% ROI. Guess it's all perspective and for me anyway, I live by advice my old man brought me up with 'don't worry about what other people think of you - so long as you and your family are happy'

Apologies – this has grown somewhat and probably a load of drivel but thought to just jot down my thoughts to a community clearly with the same focus and would be interested in anyone’s thoughts, certainly on the latter parts of this post.

Couldn't agree more. The buzz on the morning of a meeting can't be topped.

[RufusFlynn]

Excellent post knockando

As an aside, Cartmel is an excellent track. The laid back nature of the whole place and the proximity to the horses is like no other course and on a warm summers day i don't think their race days can be matched! Would recommend to all

The village Sticky Toffee Pudding also goes down a treat.

[Spectre]

Thanks for sharing Knockando. I enjoyed reading it.

Great post Knockando. knockando
I'm fortunate not to be too fussed about betting on much, other than antepost horse races. Certainly not a big fan of other sports betting, I feel my advantage is when I'm betting antepost on horse racing, and therefore if betting on any other sport I would largely surrender that advantage, so why bother?

I could have written exactly this SW. Other than having a bet when I go racing, or acting on a specific piece of information, this is precisely my overall approach to betting. I regard Cheltenham as an annual dividend, that I work for all year.

[Saxon Warrior]

Thanks for sharing Knockando. I enjoyed reading it.



I could have written exactly this SW. Other than having a bet when I go racing, or acting on a specific piece of information, this is precisely my overall approach to betting. I regard Cheltenham as an annual dividend, that I work for all year.

Hopefully that makes us both target punters - the sort the bookies fear

as we are not susceptible to the other crap they peddle on their websites.

[That Horse]

Enjoyable reading through these pages and see some similarities I have with a few of you.

Horseracing has become my number one sport interest over the past year, now that I've finally gotten to see Liverpool win the league again, I can barely remember the last one in 1990. I've lost a bit of interest in football since that happened and can only see it reducing further with the way the game is being run by FIFA, uefa and the premier league nevermind the individual club owners.

I'm more clued up on horseracing than the few friends I have who also have an interest but I'm definitely part-mug punter as well.

I was serious about studying form for a few years in the 2010s and did improve my win rate and it's hard to beat the satisfaction of seeing Highland Colori easily win the Ayr gold cup at 20/1 after spending the entire Saturday morning going through the form, similar for Tanasoq in the Epsom dash and arctic fire in the county hurdle.

Like some of you, I don't seem to find the time to do that research as much these days given other priorities like wife, house, dog, (the dog would argue I've listed priorities in the wrong order there) and work.

I do this mainly as an interest, I expect to back my judgement to get a few winners at the big festivals and likes of royal Ascot but I'm a bit shit at finding a winner on a typical itv Saturday racecard.
I don't expect my life to change as a result of any bet I do, though I have admittedly staked a few more Trixie's in hope for Cheltenham and Ascot following faugheens big win in march. Have been basing a few of these with the likes of Run Wild Fred (NHC) Honeysuckle (CH), Chantry House (King George), Cadamosto (Coventry stakes), Galopin Des Champs (BA).

I suppose my aim is I'd like to reeducate myself on form research again which this forum has really helped with already, and I'm hoping to better this year's Cheltenham results with a full year ahead of discussion on here that I didn't have before (only discovered this place in march).
And being a member on here has already helped me have my best punchestown results by a significant margin.

Also hoping to enjoy a bit of normality soon and get back out to a bar again in time for Ascot this year, as definitely miss the buzz of being out for a days racing at the bar and bookies even though I've stopped drinking since just before covid.

Strange fact - I've never had a winner at my nearest track, down royal, I suppose it'd be nice to tick that off the list at some point!

[nortonscoin200]

Hopefully that makes us both target punters - the sort the bookies fear

as we are not susceptible to the other crap they peddle on their websites.

Also, if you are lucky enough to at least get your stakes back and break even for the year it is a great way of saving.

Though this angle might be a difficult sell to non-racing wives/partners etc.

[Saxon Warrior]

Also, if you are lucky enough to at least get your stakes back and break even for the year it is a great way of saving.

Though this angle might be a difficult sell to non-racing wives/partners etc.

Nice One. Won't try the savings angle.

[Another Value Loser]

Some great posts on this thread, I have had similar feelings to many of you since the Festival finished. 2020 was the first year I analysed my strategies/bets post-festival and I definitely will be doing the same this year as it proved to be a very useful exercise (will post my conclusions on here, like I did last year). However, I just haven't found the motivation to sit down and run through it all since the Festival finished (possibly due to restrictions easing and finally having an opportunity to get back on the golf course and catch up with family and friends).

As much as I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the Festival week, I definitely felt more drained than usual when it finished (could have done with another week off work!) Where the usual Festival week is broken up by actually going to Pretbury Park or watching some of the racing in a pub, the COVID restrictions meant I spent much more time on my laptop than a usual year.

As others have commented, the long build up to the Festival has been a superb project to focus on through a grim, COVID winter. Thanks once again to all members for their excellent contributions throughout.

Like many others, 2021 was my most successful Cheltenham. This was extremely satisfying considering I had put in more work than any Festival previously and consequently staked more than any previous festival. This was down to a combination of factors - my own knowledge being much better than previous years, COVID restrictions meaning more time for research and also using this wonderful place as an invaluable resource for a full calendar year for the first time.

There were definitely a few points along the way where I did stop to think, is this really worth the time and (at times) mental stress? COVID, the Gordon Elliott situation etc adding a few more (significant) bumps to the rollercoaster that is Cheltenham antepost betting...

Bookies do seem to be stingier with prices for 2022 than they have in previous years and bookie accounts seem to be getting restricted quicker than ever, hopefully these don't become too much of an issue moving forward.

On reflection, I will definitely be building my antepost portfolio ahead of the 2022 Festival. I feel very fortunate to be able to profit from a "project" which I thoroughly enjoy and am more than happy to allocate some of my spare time to and as long as it continues to be profitable and enjoyable, I will continue betting antepost throughout the year.

Heres to another great season