ONE: STOP PLAYING EVERY RACE!
It doesn’t matter what your skill level is. It doesn’t matter what method you us. If you use software or if you scratch on the program with a pencil, this piece of advice will instantly help you start losing LESS and begin winning MORE!
When you play every race your advantage (or disadvantage) changes with every race. You are splitting your playing bankroll between races that you may have a high advantage in with races that you may have ZERO advantage in. STOP!
Let’s assume for example that you have a playing budget of $100. On an average 15 race card that gives you $6.66 per race. It’s my experience that you will rarely be able to get an advantage on more than 2 or 3 races per card. That’s my average and I am VERY GOOD at what I do. So let’s assume you have a near ZERO chance on 12 of those races (it may be even more but I’ll be generous in this example and assume you have an edge in 3 races). So you have 3 races you have an actually advantage in. These are races where you have a great lead on a winner. And you also have great prospects on some secondary runners which will allow you to play the exacta or trifecta for a reasonable price. Let’s compare a possible result.
Estimated advantage 25%. This is a fictional advantage but I think it’s reasonable and we need something to work with.
12 races played at $6.66 per race with NO advantage means you lose $79.92
3 races played at $6.66 totals $19.98 played. With a 25% advantage means $4.99 profit.
$19.98
+ 4.99
———
$24.97 winnings + original bet
-79.92
——–
-$54.95 for a losing day
Now let’s play MY way. Pick your BEST 3 races and play them. It doesn’t matter if you win 1,2 or all 3 races. You know that you have a 25% advantage on your best races if you ONLY play them
3 races played for a total of $100.
25% advantage means $25 profit.
$125 for a winning day
As you can see… the math does not lie. PLAY FEWER RACES!!! WIN MORE MONEY!!!
TWO: HAVE A PLAN
Do you have a plan? A plan based on your bankroll, ability, goals? Even people who play casino games where the house ALWAYS wins can often ‘stay in the game’ a very long time just by having a plan. In greyhound racing the house doesn’t always win. Players do. So having a plan will put you light years ahead of the other players. What types of things should be in your plan? Here are a few
Bankroll
How much can you afford to play per month? Break that down by week, day and race. Then stick with this plan. ONLY play that amount per race and do not change. At the beginning of the next month if your bankroll has increased, then evaluate again by month, week, day, race and stick to that plan again.
Method
Figure out what you do best. The stick with it. Don’t get really good at exacta’s then suddenly decide to play a superfecta one day. You have not proven your superfecta strategy yet. Work on it. And in the mean time keep playing what you know best.
The better your plan is, the better your results will be. Guaranteed.
THREE: PLAY ON PAPER
I’m a professional. Playing greyhounds is what I do. I still play on paper. I mainly play trifecta’s but I am always looking for ways to increase my profits. Currently I am looking into the profitability of playing exacta’s. So While I am playing with real money to make my living, I also keep a running track of exacta’s on paper. When and if I deem it profitable I will begin playing for real money. They one thing I have learned over the years… someone who doesn’t have the discipline to play on paper, doesn’t have the discipline to be a profitable player. What kind of player do you want to be?
FOUR: ONLY PLAY RACES WITH COMPLETE INFORMATION
So you come across a race with a monster key dog. You really want to play a trifecta and pocket a ton of cash!! There is one problem in this race. It is a route race and 4 of the other greyhounds in this race have never run the route distance. So you try every way to can to figure out how these 4 greyhounds will run in the race at this new distance. You make your play and your key wins by a mile! Great! But you didn’t have the trifecta. Not even close. Why? You played a race that you didn’t have enough information about to make a good decision. STOP DOING THIS!
FIVE: ONLY PLAY RACES WHEN YOU KNOW THE WINNER
Every time I tell a player this they laugh at me. “If I knew who the winners were going to be without any doubts I would be rich!” Obviously you can’t know with 100% certainty a greyhound will win. But you CAN know if you have a likely winner. And you should play that winner.
Some players look at a race and their logic goes something like this…
IF the 1 breaks he could win. IF the 8 gets to the rail he could win. IF the 5 gets behind the 1 before the turn he will pass in the stretch and win. SO I should play a 185 on top with blah blah blah. THEY DON”T know what dog will win in this scenario! They SHOULD not be playing this race.
SIX: KEEP RECORDS… ALWAYS
How much money did you lose playing greyhounds last year? How much did you win? You don’t know?
I DO.
And every player who wins knows EXACTLY how much they won or lost last week, last month, last year and 5 years ago.
Without records you CAN NOT know if you are getting better, worse or the same.
Document every race you play in a spreadsheet. Document how you played it, for how much and what the result was. Do this every time you play.
The ONLY way you will every know what works for you and what doesn’t work is by having records.
KEEP RECORDS!
SEVEN: PLAY WHERE YOU GET A REBATE
There are several places to play greyhounds online. Some of them give you a rebate on every dollar you wager. Some of them do not. In fact, the largest online ADW site doesn’t give you anything for your business.
I get 14% of every dollar I wager back! They deposit it directly into my account the next day… every day.
If I have a month where I have a 60% ROI on my wagers… it is actually a 74% ROI because of the rebate.
If you are a break even player… you could actually be a winning player. Just by breaking even on your wagers, you could actually be making 14% on your action. That’s better than any CD rate you will get by putting your money in a bank.
PLAY WHERE YOU WILL GET A REBATE!
EIGHT: DON’T CHASE LOSSES
So you lost all of your money by race 12. But if you deposit another $50 or go to the ATM at the track and get another $40, you could bet it on race 14 and WIN!
WRONG!
You lost today. You played the races you had the best advantage in because you had a plan (remember tip #2?)
If you have a plan and you go broke today, stop. Your day is over. The only thing you will do by chasing losses is dig a deeper hole to get out of. Keep the hole shallow. That is your best shot to win.
NINE: STOP LYING TO YOURSELF
Every gambler (including myself) has said this, “I came out about even.” When I first started gambling it seems I broke even every week, every year for about 5 years. Truth is, when I look back and try to add up my actual results I lost tens of thousands of dollars.
If you are a winning player but you have a spouse that doesn’t understand variance and swings then it may be OK to tell him/her that you broke even just to keep the peace. But when you convince yourself that you are always breaking even then you are cheating yourself out of reality. This reality will drive you to improve, learn more, study, try harder and become determined to win.
I attribute my success to nothing more than determination. Over the years I have worked with many people to help them become winners. The main thing they need to understand is that you can’t become a winning player in a week. Sorry! It ain’t gonna happen.
The “best” of anything requires work. And becoming a winning gambler requires much more than most professions. Not only do you have to acquire the skill needed to win, you have a host of psychological issues to over come. After nearly two decades of being a winning player I still have to battle the psychological aspect of the game. Streaks happen in both directions. Winning and losing. I’m not some kind of gambling god when I’m on an unreal winning streak and I’m not a losing player on an extended losing streak.
The thing that I am… always… is honest with myself. I keep records and review my play. Am I the reason I am losing more than expectation or is this simple variation? These things I must always know as a player.
Be honest with yourself about how good you are playing. Strive to improve.
TEN: LEARN FROM WINNERS
One of the biggest steps I took on my path to becoming a winning player was getting to know someone who already was a winner. LJ was his name. He taught me so much about the game. I will forever remember him. LJ went on to his reward in 2006 but the impact he made on my life is on going.
If you go to the track, everyone there is a winner. Just ask them. It is odd how everyone can win though when it is a zero sum game. In a mutual system like greyhound racing, someone must lose for someone else to win. So I’m not telling you to watch the flashy, loud mouth braggarts at the track for guidance. I’m telling you to find an actual winning player to help mentor you. It will save you so much money, time and aggravation in the long run.
We help people become winning players at Greyhound Track Tips. If I can help you please don’t hesitate to ask!