When Mr Bookie meets his match
IKRAM KHAN

TIMES INTERNET NETWORK[ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2000 12:01:10 PM ]

Lady luck and gambler's instincts might help you win a few skirmishes with the bookie; but not the battle.

The bookie knows that when luck runs out, as it always does, there will be just one winner: Him with loads of cash for company. Initial gains invariably lure the unwary punter into risking ever more until he is looking down the barrel. That's when the bookie shoots.
This happens because most punters get their economics wrong while wagering in what was once a princely pursuit but is now a dog-eat-dog sport. Outsmarting a bookie is tough but it can be done if the punters play it right and tight.
The advice straight from the horse's mouth is: "One good bet a day keeps the punter happy and gay." On the racecourse, safety is a vital survival strategy. Decide first on the unit of your bet, which should not be more than half the investment you are willing to make on a race day. In addition, cover your to-win bet with a place bet so that you at least recover your investment even if the horse you backed to win finishes second or third.
In racing patience pays, and hit-and-run tactics fetch you the moolah. Punters must act like the pros and bide their time before going for the kill. Betting on every race on every race day is a no-win exercise, unless you want to play straight into the bookmaker's hands.
Your best bet will be a horse in form in the care of a good trainer and straddled by a leading jockey. Lesser known stables have neither the experience nor, on many occasions, the will to see their horses win, specially when they are carrying the public purse on them.
Remember also that the smartest punters stay off both the highest- and the lowest-class of horses; picking winners from these is an exacting exercise, not worth a penny. A good bet should ride on a horse which is on its way up.
Finally, punters must treat betting strictly as business and carefully monitor their profits and losses from racing. Not more than two bets a day. The punter should understand that he needs to live to fight another day and resist the temptation of playing for broke in an attempt to get rich overnight.