subject: Gambling On Greyhounds: How To Win Every Race [print this page] Gambling On Greyhounds: How To Win Every Race
Do you know how to win almost every race you play? Well, I know a guy who used to do it. He'd even show us his winning ticket after the race was over. Were we impressed? Not really, because he lost more money at the races than all of us put together.
Steve would stand in front of a monitor, watching the races with us. All during the race, he'd be rooting for first one dog and then the other. It seemed like - no matter which dog was out in front - Steve wanted it to win. The 4 would get out in front and Steve would yell, "Come on 4! I've got that one in the tri." Then the 1 would pass the 4 and Steve would yell, "There's the 1. That's my exacta. Come on 1." He'd do this all through the race, no matter which dog got ahead, even if all 8 of them did at some point. We didn't know what to think at first.
Then, after the race, Steve would be yelling, "I've got it. I've got the tri and I think I got the super too." He'd be pulling tickets out of his pockets like crazy and going through them like he was thumbing through a phone book. Heck, the wad of tickets was almost as thick as a phone book. That's the way Steve won almost every race. He bet almost every dog and combination. And that's why Steve always went home broke.
I guess it was more important to him to be able to show everybody that he had the winning ticket, than it was for him to make money. I guess he thought it made him look smart or lucky, but I doubt anyone was impressed by him for long. You don't have to be smart to know that anyone can hit trifectas if they buy every combination or almost every one. Winning doesn't make you money though, unless you win more than you spend.
I don't hit every bet I make. Far from it. However, my goal isn't to hit every race I play. It's to make more money than I spend. Before I risk my money on a race, I figure out whether I'm liable to get back more than I'm risking with the combinations I'm playing. No way will I cover so many combinations that I win the race and lose money. That's a mug's game.
Steve may have convinced himself that he was a good handicapper, but everyone knew he was a lousy money manager. If you find yourself losing money consistently, but yet you have a thick stack of tickets on every race, you might want to revise your methods. The idea isn't to cover so many combinations that you can't lose. The idea is to get good enough at handicapping so that you can narrow down your bet enough to minimize the risk.
