ROI Talk...Again...!
 

After reading about how to calculate ROI, I learned it wasn’t an especially useful device or term...what seems important to know is my profit amounts relative to my initial bankroll.

So for every $1 that I wager with...How much PROFIT is considered to be “good”...

Isn’t a 0.0 figure is a “break-even” “rate”....So does that mean that a figure of 1.2 means that I’m making a dollar and 20 cents on top of every dollar I wager...plus my original wager?

Or if I have a 4.5 rate, then I am getting back an additional $4.50 for every dollar I wager...?

Isn’t your profit rate the same as the odds you get when you bet one race at, say 9-2 odds...?

If I wager $100 dollars at 1-1 odds, I get a $4.00 mutuel back for every $2 component....50 tickets at $4.00 equals $200.

Then I subtract my original wager amount of $100 from that $200 return and see a$100 profit...I see this as a 100 percent profit on my wager, or 1.0 return.

If my $2 wager returned $2.10, then my profit would be 0.10

It is further confusing because this doesn’t really address “absolute dollars won”

...so really, If I were to bring, say $1000 to the track to wager with, how much, on average (just for the sake of argument, cause I know that many of us go through dry spells followed hopefully by some larger scores)...

....on average, how much should I expect to bring home on top of my original $1000 bankroll that day to be considered “relatively successful” in the game...?

When betting on the exchange I consider a gain of 20% of original bankroll “a good day” And a loss of 10% “ a bad day”

Allan

You typed a lot but didn't really say anything.

Let's be honest. If you're turning a 20% or 30% profit every year on horse race wagering, then you only have an 8% ROI but you bet three times as much money so it's actually better, THEN you can start worrying about profit rate vs. ROI vs. blah blah blah. For 99.7% of us, figuring out if a 40% ROI vs. a 25% ROI for the year is "good" won't be a concern.

For the casual player, if you're ahead at the end of the year, you had a good year. Talking about bringing $1000 to the track and what you make that DAY...is irrelevant because a) it's not how most bet in 2018 and b) it's the long term that counts. The only thing you want to do is not chase losses. The rest is one entry on the calendar.

If you come home with the $1000 you are doing better than most. :D

Just got onto my account and looked at my results for the year so far. To figure ROI I always took it to mean I divide my total dollars won by total dollars wagered. Any number over 1.0 is showing profit and below 1.0 is a loss. It's a useful tool to me because it shows me long term if what I'm doing is working. A few months ago when a thread like this was posted I think my ROI was .81 or something close to that. Seeing that number made me do some self reflection on my wagering.

In the past couple months I've made it a point to wager on more selectively on turf routes and to pass dirt sprints I don't see value in. Also quit trying to guess on so many maiden races. Just calculated my ROI as of today and I'm at .93. Still not showing a profit for the year but certainly an improvement.

Of course as you alluded too, it's not a useful tool to tell you "absolute dollars won" although you should be able to figure thought out if you're figuring your ROI anyway.

It is interesting because a .93 ROI like myself might only mean that I'm about $1,000 in the hole, whereas someone who wagers $100,000 dollars with a .99ROI is still $1000 in the hole too, they've just spend more money to get to the same absolute dollars won/lost!

By that standard, a ‘good day’ is simply one where one loses less than most...but really a ‘good day’ must begin by first overcoming the rake, which can be as high as 25% if you play exotics....after that is overcome, then you have to get back all your other expenses like forms, admissions, etc, which over time can add up to some real coin.

So, say I have a $10,000 bankroll devoted to Wagering on Jan 1st, then at the end of that year my bankroll is at $12,500...did I have a good year..? Or maybe even a ‘great year’...?

I suppose it all depends on what you want out of racing...I think there are very many fans that lose money, some a lot of money, and still participate because they still enjoy the Sport in its totality, apart from its monetary aspects

...in a very real sense, many of us ‘pay to play and be entertained’ and a very real measure is ‘are we having fun, or still having fun’...

If you don't have Bad Days and probably many in a row why not?

The advantage is that doesn't mean you're broke.

Take it from somebody that's getting SLAUGHTERED this year. ROI don't mean jack. If you don't see any red ink on your ledgers, it doesn't matter how big the numbers are. Just keep them black.

Since I found you here, I've been meaning to ask you a question.

When you're laying an odds-on fav on the exchange, where do you usually need to start to generate some action? Do you have to offer 2/1 to start getting action? 8/5? Where do you start if the horse is 4/5 and you're ready to cover, say, $250?

Nope. The bots usually battle it out on odds on horse (robotic trading programs trading in and out of positions to make a profit). I just wait until about 5 minutes
You start monitoring the price then (97-99 market). Sometimes I will dollar cost average, sometime the whole thing at what I think is a good price. Depends. Lots of hard work.

As my friend in the uk states becuase he knows I am a layer.

A tough way to make an easy living.

Allan