Getting Started

The most serious and successful players in the game follow a simple and disciplined strategy.

1. Do the homework. That is :

• a.Collect all of the pertinent information and data you can about the game, race or contest of your choice. For example, get the facts regarding the horses, the track, the odds, the jockeys, the trainers and the owners. To play a hunch based on a horse's number, size or color simply is not sound wagering.
   
  
• b. Analyze your data and information. Evaluate the horses/teams/contestants, their records/standings, their momentum, the circumstances surrounding the venue/locale of the event, and the many other critical factors which may give one, or the other, the edge. Check your calculations, terms (glossary) and the related facts.

• Weigh all of the facts derived from your homework.
• Compare your findings and picks with those of the pertinent handicapper/odds makers.
• Make your wager. Make the best decision and you will win.

Successful wagering on the outcome of real events is a highly developed skill. It is acquired only by way of being analytical, consistent and disciplined in your approach to your hobby. If you follow a sound and consistent strategy in your wagering, your percentage of wins will increase. And you should understand that you need only a small edge to become a winner.

Remember too that luck, which is often the major deciding factor in the art of wagering, will run against your best effort, from time to time. Have no fear, for in the longer term even your luck will tend to balance out.

Much of your success will depend on understanding that you only have to outwit the oddsmaker/handicapper to get the edge. That other guy, the bookmaker, is simply a middleman who operates on a small profit margin and, ideally, likes to see half the money wagered on one team, and half on the other, assuring him of a profit. If too much money is wagered on one team, the bookmaker will move the line, or point spread, to encourage bets on the other team thus enabling him to balance his book.

 The actual person you are aiming to defeat is the oddsmaker/handicapper, and his calculated views on each team's/contestant's chances. For example, by flipping a coin for heads or tails, you will be right 50 percent of the time. This means that at odds of 10/11 only 52.4 percent of your bets have to win in order for you to overcome the bookmaker's profit and break even.

 So, you can see you only need a very small edge to become a winner. To establish your edge, you will have to stick to a sound strategy, do your homework, and bet selectively. When you take this approach you will discover that 55 percent winnings are achievable, and 60-65 percent a realistic target. At these winning levels you will enjoy an extremely profitable hobby.

The would-be successful player should, over time, develop effective wagering tactics in order to achieve and maintain an edge. For example, he/she might consider buying points to obtain more favorable odds.

 By buying points the player can move a point spread up to three, one-half points in favor. The player will have to pay an extra ten percent for each half point that the line is moved.

 Keep in mind, that when buying points on or off the point spread of 3, there is an additional ten percent vigorish (bookmaker's commission). Also note that points cannot be bought on money lines or half - time point spreads.

 To assist you in developing winning tactics you should also take time to read several of the many excellent books published on the subject, which are available in most libraries, or simply browse the internet to get answers to your questions.