A Weeks Punting Overview: Discipline Over Emotion

Horse Racing Emotions

We are all guilty of being human, we are all guilty of our emotions getting the better of us. 

This was portrayed to me this week on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares where even chef top dog Ramsay attacks a customer for saying that the new menu he had prepared for a restaurant was terrible and disgusting.

Indeed Ramsay had to get the criticism which he deemed to be unfair out of the way, and tackle the situation head-on.

Needless to say the whole situation ended up with all parties aggravated by what has just occurred.

Now turn this methodology to bookmaking and lets put it under the microscope. 

Have you ever spoken to a guy at the racetrack or a mate of yours that is supposedly "good at gambling" 

He will list to you all the times he won this amount and won that amount. Yet he never talks about his losses. 

Now let's critique that phrase. I think there are two characters clearly identified by the bookmaking industry. 

The gamblers and the punters.

On OLBG there are a host of resources to assist you especially articles within the betting school including:

Understanding bookmakers.

Horse racing form made easy.

How to find winners.

The gamblers are those that fire wild pins out into the open and whatever that pin will land on they then back with a frenzy.

They are people that tend to make ill-informed decisions and may lose control. 

These my amigos are pure and simple, emotionally controlled people when it comes to parting with their money.

The hard-earned cash in your bank account is an asset. 

Once emotion comes involved in any walk of life, betting included any work you have done on that race or all those statistics you've just researched on Arsenal winning this particular football match has gone out of the window. 

Bookmakers thrive on emotion. 

The loss you deal with when there is emotion is gravely dangerous.

A punter however is someone that does their research and comes to an outcome with hard backed up analysis. 

If they are someone that can go into detail about why they think a certain selection will win, it is clear to me that they have the knowledge to beat the bookmaker. 

Knowledge is power. 

To form an opinion and stick to that opinion despite market moves and emotional sentiment is a difficult thing to do, and can be only managed by few.

However, when it is managed efficiently and done correctly, it is highly likely that the individual will become profitable long term and limited with several bookmakers.

Cheltenham Weekend

This was hit home to me in the usual fashion when I attended Cheltenham this weekend and there was a punter their who was drunk and in tears as he could not understand why results weren't going his way, and stated he had lost his whole wage packet on a runner. 

This is someone whose emotions had clearly hit him. So the lesson is discipline is the best way to punt, with your head and not with your heart.

As I've mentioned Cheltenham its probably best to do my review of what I deemed to be an informative weekend of action.

Defi Du Seuil did his thing again, and I am convinced this horse is top class, once again although this time had nothing to beat, the style with which he is beating horses is pure class.

His form is standing up and I think he would have given Charli Parcs a race had he remained in the contest. 

I will be keen to see which festival race he ends up in but having taken some fancy prices for the triumph, I really do hope he ends up there.

Saphir De Rheu clearly did enjoy the drop back in trip and a strongly run affair. His jumping was mostly solid, and if the handicapper isn't too harsh on him he could run a nice race at the festival, however i would prefer to see him in a decent handicap chase at Aintree having a good record over the track. He really did look like a horse on his way back at Cheltenham and it will be interesting to see how he performs next time out.

Thistlecrack had his colours lowered by Many Clouds. 

Many Clouds was an out and out top-class performer and will be missed dearly. 

Winning a national and so many other top-quality races shows him to be an absolute powerhouse and one horse that the sport will never forget. 

Thistlecracks performance left something to be desired, his jumping was erratic at times, and he did not look natural at any stage, I actually think that his season may be up. 

I know that is strange given the form he has, but I will be surprised were he to improve from that run, I think that's where he is right now. He just looked a tired horse, and the way he was ridden on the day suggested to me to preserve a little energy rather than a lot. He looks a lay now at 2/1.

Uknowwhatimeanharry is, without doubt, the one to beat in the world hurdle at this stage with it looking a relatively weak division, I am surprised there is still decent prices to be had, he is head and shoulders above the rest of his opponents. 

West Approach was the horse to also take out of the race, he came flying late, but again lacked the class in the closing stages. Intriguing to see if the Albert Bartlett novice might be the target now, and he could prove a contender in that.

Cantlow still rates a top contender in the cross country division.

I cannot believe he got beaten on Saturday but I do think the ground and momentum he lost when being nearly carried off the track by the loose horse may have cost him the race. 

Taking nothing away from the winner, but I do think the best horse finished second and we may see that show at Cheltenham.

 I am surprised at all the intrigue in Melon in winning a very weak maiden hurdle stylishly, and now being the 5/1 favourite for the supreme.

I think it is a wide-open affair the supreme novices this season. 

The fact we have a favourite that has only raced on good ground maybe showing that he is one dimensional, and has beat a horse that was notorious for throwing his races away in the closing stages in broken soul, it is bonkers. It just shows that the bookmakers nowadays tend to run scared of a stylish winner.

There was no return of the machine and he will need to be at his very best now to prove good enough to win the champion hurdle from that sort of the lay off. I don't think we will see him till Punchestown personally but i may be proven wrong.

Min and Altior still look at the head of the novice division after a farcical 2m novice chase in Ireland where Some Plan came home alone.

All in all an interesting weekend and looking forward to the sport ahead, most of all the super bowl, where I do think the Atlanta Falcons can really shine.