Mind Tricks

[Pell Mell]

Most players here harp on the value of record keeping but, being lazy, I never bother and just go on my merry way.

Since betting with Bris, now Twin Spires, I have had a real eye opener. They have a neat feature that tracks all of your bets which includes all the different exotics, win bets etc. at each track played and gives the win % for each type of bet, profit or loss and ROI.

I just looked at my record since betting with them and found that I have bet just under $20,000. in the last 4 months and showed a profit of $4,700. I've made several thousand bets which include a lot of exotic bets. I have hit several signers and a lot of exactas but found, to my amazement, that the only bets that showed a profit were my win bets. Not only that, but found that most of my winners were at tracks I don't really like to play like WO. There were many days that I didn't even download WO because I felt like it was too inconsistent.

Evidently my mind is playing tricks on me for some reason or other. So, thanks to all of you I finally woke up to the record keeping aspect.:ThmbUp:

[Fastracehorse]

So U've made $4700 on win plays?? In a short period of time to boot - congrats.

Do U have an affinity for a certain type of price and how many plays was that??

Also, what do U think of win/place as opposed to just flat betting??

fffastt

[spilparc]

Most players here harp on the value of record keeping but, being lazy, I never bother and just go on my merry way.



It's inconceivable to me that someone who bet 20K in four months doesn't even keep records. I have to know where every dollar goes.

That being said, it's better late than never.

By the way, I'm not the least bit surprised with your results.

[Pell Mell]

So U've made $4700 on win plays?? In a short period of time to boot - congrats.

Do U have an affinity for a certain type of price and how many plays was that??

Also, what do U think of win/place as opposed to just flat betting??

fffastt

There were 570 win bets made but I would have to go through them all to know what I bet on each one. I was betting exotics of all kinds and then throwing a win bet on my key horse. I also took a lot of flyers on longshots. I was betting various amounts to win from 2-40 dollars. I know that a large % of my key horses ran 2nd but I lost money on my exacta plays which tells me that I should bet w/p rather than exactas.

I don't bet anything under 3/1 to win but I'm going to start betting w/p with 3 times the win bet in the place hole. I lost a lot of money on tris and a small amount on supers. Another thing that tells me to just bet win is that I showed a profit on P-3s and 4s. At any rate it was an eye opener because all I kept track of was what was in my account.

[Pell Mell]

It's inconceivable to me that someone who bet 20K in four months doesn't even keep records. I have to know where every dollar goes.

That being said, it's better late than never.

By the way, I'm not the least bit surprised with your results.

When I was young I use to kind of keep track of things but after 60 yrs at this it is just such a drag. If I had to make a deposit I knew I had lost otherwise I just check my balance. Now it's easy to keep track of most things but there are still areas that need attention.

PS-Why are you not suprised with my results? I figured most would say I was full of s**t.

[joeyspicks]

Most players here harp on the value of record keeping but, being lazy, I never bother and just go on my merry way.

Since betting with Bris, now Twin Spires, I have had a real eye opener. They have a neat feature that tracks all of your bets which includes all the different exotics, win bets etc. at each track played and gives the win % for each type of bet, profit or loss and ROI.

I just looked at my record since betting with them and found that I have bet just under $20,000. in the last 4 months and showed a profit of $4,700. I've made several thousand bets which include a lot of exotic bets. I have hit several signers and a lot of exactas but found, to my amazement, that the only bets that showed a profit were my win bets. Not only that, but found that most of my winners were at tracks I don't really like to play like WO. There were many days that I didn't even download WO because I felt like it was too inconsistent.

Evidently my mind is playing tricks on me for some reason or other. So, thanks to all of you I finally woke up to the record keeping aspect.:ThmbUp:

Man! YOU just learned a valuable lesson! People really RESIST keeping records....without it you are "flying blind". You have to know what you are doing and where you have been. The mind does play tricks and keeps some players making the same cycle of mistakes over and over again and yet they continue to play on and "wonder" why they cannot or do not win, un-AWARE of why they keep losing.

Good lesson!

[spilparc]

When I was young I use to kind of keep track of things but after 60 yrs at this it is just such a drag. If I had to make a deposit I knew I had lost otherwise I just check my balance. Now it's easy to keep track of most things but there are still areas that need attention.

Believe me, I understand this. It's just that in the gambling business you have to know where you're money is going in order to make informed decisions. You should do even better now going forward.

I think it was Dick Mitchell who said, "losers don't keep records."

PS-Why are you not suprised with my results? I figured most would say I was full of s**t.

I am not surprised that your exotic play lost money, and that your win betting was the most profitable wager. This is because the overwhelming majority of exotic players lose money.

When I was playing the horses seriously 25 years ago I focused on exactas, quinellas and daily doubles. Had I just focused on win betting I would have done so much better.

Not only is the rake higher in exotics, making it much harder to win, but the difficultiy level is greater, and the run outs are much longer.

What do you think is the most popular bet at the race track? I believed I knew the answer without doing any research, but I decided to research it anyway. After I made my bets I would hang out at the window and listen to people call in their bets. I did this for a week or so. It wasn't even close. The exacta box won hands down.

Since most people lose at the track, and since this seems to be the most popular bet is it any wonder that this is probably one of the worst bets you can make? Especially multiple horse exacta boxes. Two-horse boxes I can make a small case for, but three and four horse boxes and multi-combination boxes--no.

Let us know how you're doing three or four months from now and if there is any improvement. I'd be curious to know.

[Pell Mell]

I decided to bet w/p only and started today. I had one play today and would you believe that without even realizing it I started making exotic bets. I had to catch myself in time. I did bet the horse w/p only and it won by 10 @7/2 but man, old habits die hard.:bang: :bang:

[spilparc]

I decided to bet w/p only and started today. I had one play today and would you believe that without even realizing it I started making exotic bets. I had to catch myself in time. I did bet the horse w/p only and it won by 10 @7/2 but man, old habits die hard.:bang: :bang:

...and I assume you would have lost the exacta.

[JustRalph]

This same thing happen to me a few years back. This was available on Winticket and Brisbet for the last few years.

FYI, I did change my betting ways and it has paid off some.

Btw, Printing out all of your bets from that window or tossing it into an excel spreadsheet was acceptable to IRS a few years back.........they looked at it and canceled my audit. Sent me a letter saying that the spreadsheet satisfied them..........

[Pell Mell]

EXACTLY! :jump:

[joeyspicks]

I decided to bet w/p only and started today. I had one play today and would you believe that without even realizing it I started making exotic bets. I had to catch myself in time. I did bet the horse w/p only and it won by 10 @7/2 but man, old habits die hard.:bang: :bang:

ANOTHER great lesson Pell Mell: People operate on AUTO-PILOT most of the time. Its easy to fall into bad habits. I did exactly as you...."I HAD TO CATCH MYSELF" Old habits do DIE HARD.....but you are miles ahead right now just being AWARE of your situation. Most blissfully (until they are broke again) continue unaware of their patterns of behavior. Keeping records can help but as you just learned you still MUST STAY AWARE at the moment you are making your bet! (Many many times I would resolve to stay with my win, win-place bets and then a half dozen plays later realize I once again was betting more on exotics than my actual main bet....INCREDABLE!).

Way to be aware. Keep it up! I think you are on your way to a whole new level of profitability!! Good job

[joeyspicks]

...and I assume you would have lost the exacta.

the point IS
it does NOT matter. He actually acted as he intended to. Short term can show a loss of profitabilty.....LONG term he made the correct play (for him)

[point given]

I too got onto the Brisbet record keeping a few years ago. It is a very useful feature for me . I am not a win bettor, but a horizontal bettor, who seeks to bet a little to make alot. What i found was that I am successful in the p3, but not the p4, and with tri's ,but not exacta's. Of course the extra leg of the p4, and cutting and/or adding to a ticket cost me alot of times. The exacta is a loser for me, as i found i use the bet as a hedge for the p3/4 plays, a bad play. OTOH, the tri is good for me, as i pick the winner and then massage the under horses. I havenot played the supers much, but fooled around with the new 10 cent bets and have been successful there too, but just having fun fooling around. Record keeping has been helpful in the exacta , p4 area, but more so for the p4 , as one often recalls the few big successful ones hit, but not the many unsuccessful ones, which sure mount up. However, some of them were on track and not in my online records, thereby helping me fool myself by rationalizing it. :rolleyes: :bang:

[WJ47]

I don't bet much anymore, but when I kept records I was suprised to see that the races I did the best in were turf races. :) This was quite a revelation to me as those are my least favorite to handicap.