'Betting small stakes is just as much fun as making big bets'

Monday marked the start of Safer Gambling Week and Racing Post readers have shared how they keep their betting under control. You can share your betting approach at editor@racingpost.com.

I keep a record of every bet, broken down by race distance and, unlike many, I think sprint handicaps are a very good betting medium.

If I bet each-way I also measure how the win part versus the place part of the bet performs. Betting to win is almost always more profitable than betting each-way but the latter softens the effect of losing runs. I bet to small, equal stakes and place all my bets well before racing starts.

I learned a long time ago that betting small stakes is just as much fun as making big bets. As a young man I had £3,000 on Mike Tyson beating Frank Bruno. Incredibly, Frank hadn’t read the script and actually hit Tyson early on in the fight. Iron Mike of course won but I can live without the tension.

I sometimes bet on football – usually on my team to lose so it softens the blow. But, given my team is Manchester City, these are virtually all losing bets . . . and I’m happy to lose!

It’s wonderfully ironic that with debt to GDP of more than 100 per cent the government is looking to introduce affordability checks. Perhaps they should apply them to themselves first; HS2 anyone?

I also think we need to talk more about the National Lottery. I’ve stood behind people who buy £10 of scratchcards and then ask the assistant to scratch the numbers off and tell them if they’ve won or not. There is absolutely no comparison with horseracing, where a key part of the enjoyment is the analysis that leads to the selection.
Ged Shields

Keep a daily tally of your betting

I don’t consider my betting has ever been out of control or is ever likely to be but I do think a degree of control is helped by record keeping.

I keep a daily record of my betting account balances and, added to the net withdrawals/deposits figure, I can see what my aggregated net profit/loss is at any point since I started online betting. I heartily recommend this approach.

There’s no danger of deluding yourself about losses and if you’re lucky enough to be in front it’s quite a boost seeing that plus figure. It’s really not an onerous task.

Sometimes I’ve refrained from having a bet to protect a day’s profit or minimise a loss and missed out on a winner, but there have been plenty of other times when an extra bet would have lost.
Neil

Read more . . .

'Write down your reasons for placing a bet and it will make you think twice' 

Safer gambling: how do you stay safe while enjoying a betting habit? 

Racing Post takes seriously its commitment to Safer Gambling and encourages people to stay within their limits and stay in control. If you would like to know more visit our dedicated Safer Gambling page here.