Successful Gamblers Horse Racing
Professional gambler – two words that typically conjure up images of a sexy lifestyle, wads of cash and few working hours. The reality however, is much different. We tracked down UK based professional gambler Alex King (featured in the Racing Post) to get his take on what it takes to be successful, what shape the industry is in at present, and where it is headed.
- Successful Gamblers Horse Racing Replays
- Successful Gamblers Horse Racing Handicapping
- Successful Horse Racing Gamblers
- Successful Gamblers Horse Racing Tracks
SBO:Hi Alex. How long have you been betting professionally?
The World's Greatest Gamblers is all about profiling the most succesful gamblers in the world. From horse racing legends like Bill Benter and Alan Woods, to poker superstars like Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson, also high rollers like Kerry Packer.Our goal for this website is to create an extensive database of the inspirational gamblers who have made millions doing what we all love! William Benter (Bill Benter), the wealthiest gambler in the world. Hong Kong Horse Racing Legend American gambler William Benter developed arguably the most successful computer software in the world to attack the giant Hong Kong horse racing market, where the pools routinely reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. This may be the most important skill of all. I can remember going to Monmouth Park with. How to be a successful horse racing gambler What is the best bet in horse racing? Types of Horse Racing Wagers (and Your Chances of Winning)Bet TypeYour Chances of WinningSuggested Plays (Based upon a $100 Bankroll)ShowVery good$6 per horsePlaceGood$5 per horseWinAverage$4 per horseQuinellaAverage$2 quinella box using three horses costs $6.
AK:About 7 years.
SBO:Which sports do you mainly focus on?
AK:I focus on 2 sports; boxing and racing. Predominantly horse racing and a little bit of boxing. I think it is a fatal mistake to try and bet on too many things. You should be an expert in one field rather than try and split your focus on too many things. I would say two sports at the absolute max. The only reason I bet on boxing and racing is because boxing is relatively easy to keep a focus on. Splitting your forces is a big mistake and work/life balance is important.
SBO:What does your daily routine look like?
AK:I try and get up early and I will focus on 2 meetings a day tops. Traditional pro-gamblers aim to find a value price, try and get 300 pounds on a horse, get told they can have 3 pence on, miss the price then drive themselves insane because they have missed the price. I look how horses trade from their Betfair SP compared to how they trade in running. In layman’s terms I’m looking to back a horse at say 3.00 on Betfair, in the expectation the horse will hit 2.00 and then either have a free bet, or take a guaranteed profit on the race. I’m treating horses like individual share prices now and what I am trying to do is to just predict how the market is going to go once the race goes in play. This saves me having to chase non-existent prices and call bookmakers who are unwilling to lay a bet because they are no longer confident that there pricing horse racing up correctly.
SBO:Where do you bet? Course/exchange shop/home etc.?
AK:I’m betting from home all the time now. I can concentrate and I don’t lose research time through travelling. I keep in contact with others pro’s over skype and email during the day. It’s a little solitary, which is why it is so important to have good social connections outside of this game.
SBO:As we know, most punters fail to turn a profit, what would you say your edge has been to win consistently for so long?
AK:First of all I wouldn’t recommend professional punting to too many people, unless you have a real flair and/or a huge desire to do it. As a very famous pro-punter told me once: ‘Gambling is the only business in the world where the better you get, the harder it is.’ It’s so true. Most punters fail to make a profit because of a number of factors. A lot of people are experts on racing, but ask them if they think a horse has a 50% chance or 30% chance of winning – they simply couldn’t tell you accurately. You have to be able to evaluate a price better than the people setting the odds. You must also have a solid staking plan in place. If you can’t get those two factors right, then you are in big trouble. You also need to be able to keep a cool head and not start gambling beyond your limits. If you really want to be a pro punter you have to be ready to put some serious, serious work into it. Success takes time. I have worked in the business for such a long time and have such a good grounding in it which has helped me more than anything. I also talk on a daily basis with pro-punters and that has helped to keep me in front. But I would honestly tell people to think very, very hard before embarking on this. If I had children and my son/daughter said they wanted to do this as a profession, I would do everything in my power to dissuade them.
SBO:Do you think the betting exchanges have had a positive or negative effect on being able to turn a profit?
AK:It’s been a double edged sword. Firstly the idea of betting exchanges is a great one. Bookmakers hate them because they have made the market more competitive. Horse racing markets on Betfair are trading to 100.5% to 102%, which in terms of overround is a lot lower than fixed odds bookmakers. Bookmakers hypocritically bemoan the exchanges – I say hypocritically because you can’t have accounts with the exchanges and still moan about them – because exchanges have smashed the bookmakers’ monopoly somewhat. Exchanges have also given the punter the chance to be the layer, which is a service that only spread betting afforded you in the past. My criticism of Betfair, is that they have been allowed to monopolise the exchange market. This is completely against the interest of the consumer. There are several fixed odds bookmakers, if anyone of them decided they were going to impose a “premium charge” then you simply go to another one. Exchanges are good, we punters just need more of them.
SBO:In ten years’ time, what does the horse racing betting landscape look like for professional punters?
AK:I think it’s bleak to be honest for several reasons. Firstly the generation that are into horse racing are a dying breed. Bookmakers are taking less and less money on the sport because the younger generation want to bet on football, golf and other sports. Racing is just not bringing in the big money for the bookmakers now. It’ so hard to get bets on now, what will it be like in the future? If the government, correctly, takes the decision to heavily regulate the accursed fixed odds betting terminals – better still ban them, then the bookmakers will be forced to close shops. This will make it harder for the pro-punter as getting on in the shops is really the only way to get on nowadays. This is why I am taking my modus operandi away from the traditional methods.
SBO:What job would you liken being a professional punter to?
AK:I would say it is the poor man’s stock exchange. It can definitely be likened to financial trading.
SBO:What would you change about the game?
AK:Have you got 10 years?! Very simply I would nationalise the entire betting industry in this country. You can argue against the nationalisation of the railways or energy suppliers, but I see no valid reason why the betting industry could not be nationalised and run effectively, with the profits going back into the public purse and not in the hands of private shareholders. The whole business has become a zero sum game for the punter. If the punter wins his accounts are closed down, if he loses he can do whatever he wants. So the bookmakers are running a service whereby they can only win. This would not happen if UK gambling was run along the same lines as the Tote system in France. Why should private shareholders, many of whom are using offshore tax havens, get rich from the sport when the profits could be going directly back to the public? This would also make sure that pro-punters could get their bets on without being restricted. I would also ban FOBTs (fixed odds betting terminals)
SBO:Would you ever consider going on the other side and becoming a bookmaker?
AK:Yes. But I would want to be a really old school bookmaker. Not one who is sitting there laying 2.75 when I can back a horse back at 3.00 on the exchanges. If I was going to be a bookie I would like to be one of those who were made from different cloth. Like Stephen Little, Bill Chandler, William Hill or a Freddie Williams. Bookmakers who were willing to stick a price up and live or die by their judgement. That appeals to me, but realistically I can’t see myself with going that way.
SBO:How would you advise punters to improve their punting skills, specifically with horse racing?
AK:I believe in the validity of the saying: “There is none so wise as the experienced.” I believe you should try and learn from people who have trodden this path. It may well be that in the future I will run some seminars and I have also written a book which is currently being considered for publishing which will be called: Betting on horses in-running. This isn’t a self-serving plug on my behalf, but from my own experiences I learned first-hand from people who trod the path that I want to go down. If at all possible try and do the same. Talk to pro-punters and try to learn from them whether that be me, or someone else in the same business.
Successful Gamblers Horse Racing Replays
Successful Gamblers Horse Racing Handicapping
Successful Horse Racing Gamblers
Successful Gamblers Horse Racing Tracks
'I thought he was the wrong price at 5-1,' says Findlay, adding that 'a lot of the ones at the front of the market might not run.'
Denman goes to Cheltenham on Saturday for what is expected to be his last run for two months, before a final Festival prep at Newbury in February.
His proud owner is in very upbeat mood. 'Until he gets beat, he's a tank,' he says. 'I personally think that Paul Barber believes that he might have a horse he's always dreamt of.'
Barber, who is Nicholls' landlord and has the other half-share in Denman, seems an unlikely partner for Findlay. The Somerset dairy farmer is the older man by 20 years, generally wears a lot of green tweed at the races and is very reserved in his dealings with the media - in short, he is exactly the kind of old-school type that might be expected to bridle at the presence in his yard of a plain-speaking, high-rolling punter.
'I can honestly say that but for a chance meeting through a mutual friend with Paul Barber at Doncaster Sales about five years ago, I doubt if I ever would have owned a horse,' says Findlay. 'We've since become good friends and his advice and knowledge have been great.
'Some of the first horses I bought with Paul for a minimal outlay have turned out to be such good value. It was only after the success of those type of horses I decided to take a chance with Desert Quest.'
Even that £100,000 purchase now appears a bargain - Desert Quest has already won it back in prize money alone and there is little doubt that Findlay has made a substantial profit from his bets on the hurdler.
Almost all of his gambling is done through the leading betting exchange Betfair, for whom Findlay has given plenty of plugs in a string of interviews over the years, whilst referring to traditional bookmakers as 'vermin'.
'Most people believe I'm a walking advert for Betfair,' says the 44-year-old and his expensive home near Bath would indeed seem to be evidence for the proposition that there is serious money to be made from his favourite website.
But he is tired of all this unpaid PR work. In fact, he has a major reservation about the way the exchange works and now, for the first time, he is happy to say so in public.
'I believe that Betfair have a moral obligation to get everyone down to 2% commission,' he says, referring to the rake which the website takes from successful bets.
As a valued customer responsible for a consistently high turnover, Findlay himself pays just 2%, but the vast majority of users pay more, with most paying the standard rate of 5%. Betfair's principal selling point is that they offer better odds than can be found with the High Street bookmakers, but Findlay feels strongly that this is undermined by the high rate of commission that they charge.
'I talk about bookmakers not taking bets - well let me tell you now, on Betfair, no one can make a long-term profit paying 5% commission. I believe that it's nearly impossible to do it paying 4%.
'One of the main reasons why I'm pro exchanges is because of the moral argument. You can check how much you're losing, it stops the lies, there's no credit. But Betfair lets itself down by charging people between 5% and 2%, depending on how much they bet - which encourages them to bet more than they otherwise would.
'I have paid so far this year, to the start of this month, £714,000 commission, and I'm on 2%. I would rather pay 2.5% and have everyone pay 2.5% and give ordinary punters a chance.
'Betfair's been stagnant for years and they've lost the heart of what they were trying to do. They are starting to lose liquidity in many markets and they need to increase the percentage of people who win on the exchange. 'Bringing everyone down to 2% is the only option and eventually it will be to Betfair's financial advantage.'
Findlay's guide to winning and losing
On gambling
'If you look up gambling in the dictionary, it doesn't say 'this means a sure way to make a steady profit over a period of time', it says 'gambling: a form of interest that can either ruin you or make you a fortune', and that's the way it is.'
On backing odds-on
'There's no difference between getting 1-2 about a 1-4 chance and getting 4-1 about a 2-1 chance. People who say 'I won't bet odds-on', they're just idiots. When you want to bet an odds-on shot, you can get on - when you want to bet a big-priced one, you can't.'
On why you shouldn't hedge
'When you pick a 20-1 shot to win the Grand National, don't have £200 at 20's and then go and lay £600 at 5-2 and, when it wins, get £2,500. If you believe that 20-1 shot, have £200 at 20's and then go and have another £300 at 14's and then £400 at 10's and then, when it goes off 5-2 or 11-4, don't hedge if you still fancy it.'