ONE: STOP PLAYING EVERY RACE!
It doesn’t matter what your skill level is. It doesn’t matter which method you use. Whether you use software or scratch off the program with a pencil, this tip will instantly help you start losing LESS and start earning MORE!
When you play all the races, your advantage (or disadvantage) changes with each race. You are dividing your game budget between races where you can have a huge advantage with races where you can have ZERO advantage. STOP!
Let’s say, for example, that you have a game budget of $100. On an average race card of 15 that gives you $6.66 per race. In my experience you will rarely be able to get a lead on more than 2 or 3 runs per card. That’s my average and I’m VERY GOOD at what I do. So let’s assume you have a near ZERO chance in 12 of those races (it can be even more, but I’ll be generous in this example and assume you have a 3-race lead). So you have 3 races where you have a real advantage. These are races where you have a huge advantage over a winner. And you also have great prospects in some secondary corridors that will allow you to play the exact or the trifecta for a reasonable price. Let’s compare a possible outcome.
Estimated advantage 25%. This is a fictional advantage, but I think it’s reasonable and we need something to work with.
12 races played at $6.66 per race with NO advantage means you lose $79.92
3 races played at $6.66 total $19.98 played. With a 25% advantage it means a profit of $4.99.
$19.98
+4.99
———
$24.97 winnings + original bet
-79.92
——–
-$54.95 for a losing day
Now let’s play MY way. Choose your BEST 3 races and play them. It doesn’t matter if you win 1.2 or all 3 races. You know you have a 25% advantage in your best races if you ONLY play them
3 races played for a total of $100.
25% advantage means $25 profit.
$125 for a winning day
As you can see… the math doesn’t lie. PLAY LESS RACES!!! EARN MORE MONEY!!!
TWO: HAVE A PLAN
Do you have a plan? A plan based on your budget, ability, goals? Even people who play casino games where the house ALWAYS wins can often “stay in the game” for a long time just by having a plan. In greyhound racing, the house does not always win. The players do. So having a plan will put you light years ahead of the other players. What kinds of things should be in your plan? here are some
To finance
How much can you afford to play per month? Break that down by week, day, and breed. So go ahead with this plan. ONLY play that amount per run and don’t switch. At the beginning of the next month, if your budget has increased, evaluate again by month, week, day, race and follow that plan again.
method
Find out what you do best. The stick with it. If you don’t get very good with exacts, you suddenly decide to play a superfecta one day. You haven’t tried your grand strategy yet. Work on it. And meanwhile keep playing what you know best.
The better your plan, the better your results. Guaranteed.
THREE: PLAY ON PAPER
I am a professional. Playing greyhounds is what I do. I still play on paper. I mostly play trifecta, but I’m always looking for ways to increase my winnings. I am currently investigating the profitability of playing exact. So while I play for real money for a living, I also keep track of the exact ones on paper. When and if I find it profitable, I will start playing for real money. One thing I’ve learned over the years… someone who doesn’t have the discipline to play on paper doesn’t have the discipline to be a profitable player. What type of player do you want to be?
FOURTH: ONLY PLAY RACES WITH COMPLETE INFORMATION
So you come across a race with a monster key dog. You really want to play a trifecta and pocket a ton of cash! There is a problem in this breed. It is a road race and 4 of the other greyhounds in this race have never run the road distance. So try every possible way to find out how these 4 greyhounds will run the race at this new distance. You make your move and your key wins by a mile! Great! But you didn’t have the trifecta. Not even close. Why? You played a race where you didn’t have enough information to make a good decision. STOP DOING THIS!
FIVE: ONLY PLAY RACES WHEN YOU KNOW THE WINNER
Every time I say this to a player, they laugh at me. “If I knew who the winners were going to be without a doubt, I’d be rich!” Obviously, you cannot know with 100% certainty that a greyhound will win. But you CAN know if you have a likely winner. And you should play that winner.
Some players watch a race and their logic goes something like this…
IF the 1 breaks he could win. If the 8 hits the rail, he could win. If the 5 gets behind the 1 before the turn it will pass on the leg and win. So I should play a 185 on top with blah blah blah. THEY DO NOT know which dog will win in this scenario! They SHOULD not be playing this race.
SIX: KEEP RECORDS…ALWAYS
How much money did you lose playing greyhounds last year? How much did you earn? You do not know?
DO.
And every winning player knows EXACTLY how much they won or lost last week, last month, last year and 5 years ago.
Without records you CANNOT know if you are getting better, worse or the same.
Document every race you play in a spreadsheet. Document how you played it, for how long, and what the outcome was. Do this every time you play.
The ONLY way you will know what works for you and what doesn’t is by having records.
KEEP RECORDS!
SEVEN: PLAY WHERE YOU GET A REFUND
There are several places to play greyhounds online. Some of them give you a refund for every dollar you wager. Some of them don’t. In fact, the largest online ADW site gives you nothing for your business.
I get 14% of every dollar I wager! They deposit it directly into my account the next day…every day.
If I have a month where I have a 60% ROI on my bets… it’s actually a 74% ROI because of the cashback.
If you’re a balance player… you could actually be a winning player. Just by breaking even on your bets, you could actually be earning 14% of your action. That’s better than any CD rate you’ll get by putting your money in a bank.
PLAY WHERE YOU WILL GET A REFUND!
EIGHT: DON’T CHASE LOSSES
So you lost all your money on race 12. But if you deposit another $50 or go to the ATM on the track and get another $40, you could bet it on race 14 and WIN!
INCORRECT!
You lost today. You played the races where you had the best advantage because you had a plan (remember tip #2?)
If you have a plan and it messes up today, stop. Your day is over. The only thing you will do when chasing losses is dig a deeper hole to get out. Keep the hole shallow. That’s your best chance to win.
NINE: STOP LYING TO YOURSELF
Every player (including me) has said this: “I went out tied.” When I first started gambling, it seemed like I broke even every week, every year for about 5 years. The truth is that when I look back and try to add up my actual results, I lost tens of thousands of dollars.
If you’re a winning player but have a spouse who doesn’t understand variance and swings, then it may be okay to tell them you broke expenses just to keep the peace. But when you convince yourself that you are always breaking even, then you are cheating yourself out of reality. This reality will drive you to improve, learn more, study, try harder, and be determined to win.
I attribute my success to nothing but determination. Over the years I have worked with many people to help them become winners. The main thing to understand is that you cannot become a winning player in a week. Sorry! It’s not going to happen.
The “best” of anything takes work. And becoming a winning player takes a lot more than most professions. Not only do you have to acquire the necessary skill to win, but you also have a series of psychological problems to overcome. After nearly two decades of being a winning player, I still have to wrestle with the psychological aspect of the game. The stripes occur in both directions. Win and lose. I’m not some kind of god of the game when I’m on an unrealistic winning streak and I’m not a losing player on a long losing streak.
What I am… always… is honest with myself. I keep records and review my game. Am I the reason I’m losing more than expected or is it just a variation? These things I must always know as a player.
Be honest with yourself about how well you’re playing. Strive to improve.
TEN: LEARN FROM THE WINNERS
One of the biggest steps I took on my way to becoming a winning player was meeting someone who was already a winner. LJ was his name. He taught me a lot about the game. I will always remember it. LJ got the reward from him in 2006, but the impact he had on my life continues.
If you go to the track, everyone there is a winner. Just ask them. It’s weird how everyone can win when it’s a zero sum game. In a mutual system like greyhound racing, someone must lose for someone else to win. So I’m not telling you to look to the flashy, loud braggarts on the track for guidance. I’m telling you to find a real winning player to help mentor you. It will save you a lot of money, time, and hassle in the long run.
We help people become winning players on Greyhound Track Tips. If I can help you please don’t hesitate to ask!
