Advice

From Betting System To Analysis

I’ve got something different for you today. This is something I was inspired to write about after a pro-betting friend of mine was talking about how he uses this approach to find his selections. It is actually something that I used to do as well before moving to database handicapping. The approach I am about to share with you is very effective.

I would strongly suggest you read the rest of this article carefully, maybe even take a print out for reference and then implement it. You won’t be disappointed!

Today I am writing all about how you can use a betting system as a starting point. In order to understand why this is so effective we need to understand how betting systems work. I don’t mean their general process, but what it really is that drives their profit.

Betting systems look at micro-segments of racing to find profitable angles. They are very specific and usually, by necessity, focus on one area of racing such as Trainers.  The ROI are usually also small due to using commonly available information. There is always a danger that the small angle that has been found will become more widely known and the edge (and therefore the profits) will disappear.

With this knowledge of betting systems, we have learned one very important thing that is going to contribute significantly to our betting. We’ve learned that…

  • Betting systems target one factor in a very niche segment of racing to make profits

Read that sentence again, because this is the key to what we are about to do!

What this means is that a betting system is finding selections that offer value in a very niche area of the betting market. The downside is that the edge is only small but…

…we’re only considering one or two basic factors!

That’s actually an incredible achievement. With just one or two basic factors in a specific niche of racing we can make a profit.

Imagine what we could achieve if we considered all aspects of the race?

So why don’t people do it!

Well they do, but not many and there’s two common reasons:

  1. They don’t know about it (which you now do)
  2. It takes too much time

If the reason you don’t do this is number two, then unfortunately I can’t help you. To make significant profits from racing you have to put in some work. Even when using tipsters you have to monitor your selections and keep records of the results. If you’re finding selections yourself, through systems or another way, then you will find the amount of time you can commit directly affects your learning and profits.

I understand that it can be difficult to find the time around other commitments. In order to do this you should be focusing on just a few races every day. You don’t need to analyse every race at every meeting every day. Choose the races to specialise in and focus on those.

Using this approach you will start with a betting system that is profitable or at least break-even.

This system is going to determine the niche races that you will be focusing on.

Your next step is to make a big list of all the factors that you believe are going to be important in these races, excluding what the system itself uses. For example if your system focuses on all -weather sprint races and uses trainers to find selections then you’re going to be righting this list for all-weather sprint races but, ignoring trainers as a factor because they have already been accounted for in the system itself.

When you’ve finished you’re going to have a list of the most important factors for this race.

Next you need to go through these and determine how you’re going to measure how good a horse is for them. This can be anything from form reading to ratings, it doesn’t matter just go through and mark down how you’re going to measure each one.

Don’t spend a lot of time on this. You don’t want to get bogged down in thinking. This is a take action step. If you can’t think of a way to measure a particular factor then leave it for now and move on.

Finishing this you are now in a very strong position. You have…

  • A betting system which generates profit in a small niche of horse racing
  • A list of all the things that this system DOES NOT take into account
  • A list of how to measure all of the things this system DOES NOT take into account

Now we just have to spend a little bit of time analysing the race. And this is how we do it:

  1. Find your betting systems selections for the day using the system rules
  2. In each race there is a selection look at the selection for the factors the system doesn’t take into account and see how strong it is in each
  3. Then look at the other horses in the race and consider how strong they are in the other factors
  4. How many potential threats to your selection are there in this race? If there are more than three then ignore the selection and move to another race
  5. If there are three or less, then this could be a good bet
  6. Look at how strong the threats are compared to your horse and determine if the odds are high enough to warrant a bet

In just six simple steps you have taken a small betting system and made it into a powerful analysis tool that will significantly boost your profits. Do this and you are doing more than over 90% of punters. This extra time spent on analysis is going to make such a difference to your bottom line that you are unlikely to ever go back.

The key to this is to put it into practice. Print this page out, choose a betting system and implement this before the end of the week. Take action and you will be rewarded.

Michael Wilding

Michael started the Race Advisor in 2009 to help bettors become long-term profitable. After writing hundreds of articles I started to build software that contained my personal ratings. The Race Advisor has more factors for UK horse racing than any other site, and we pride ourselves on creating tools and strategies that are unique, and allow you to make a long-term profit without the need for tipsters. You can also check out my personal blog or my personal Instagram account.

2 Comments

  1. very very interesting especially in light of the fact that like a lot of people its an area that I have neglected ,not totally but I am sure to my detriment.I have a copy to refer to and study thanks

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