The definition of a get rich quick scheme can basically be summed up in 3 simple points:
- Make BIG money
- Make money very quickly
- Little or no work required
In the online world you can find a get rich quick scheme promising you the world just about everywhere you look these days. And there are some who approach horse race punting in much the same way, and harbouring the same unrealistic ideals that the online gurus sell people on.
Inexperienced punters briefly glance over a form guide, see some horses paying astronomical odds and firmly believe they are going to get rich by throwing money down on a bunch of long shots.
They forget that there’s a very good reason all these horses might be at 100 to 1 or greater. It’s because they have very little hope at all of actually winning the race or even coming close to a place.
The reverse of this psychology is by only wagering on the race favourites. Sure, if a favourite comes in, the odds are way lower and it’s not going to pay out much for every dollar bet. So the answer to cashing in big is to bet really big on these race favourites.
The only problem here is, favourites win races less than 30% of the time, and when it comes to Melbourne Cup horses, that percentage is even lower still.
The horse racing world is comprised of many professional punters and professional bookmakers. These people make a living from the horse racing industry. But do you think they are successful at it by following the 3 components of the get rich quick mentality?
Far from it.
Professional punters and bookmakers alike do nothing but live and breathe horse racing. They study, study, study, and then do some more study. It’s all about research and the immense power of knowledge.
Horse racing isn’t like buying a lotto ticket where everything is based on random possibilities. Horses are real, the jockeys and trainers are real. There are loads of variables in the racing game and these need to be studied and learnt to have a chance of being successful, consistently, over the long term.
The bottom line is that there is no shortcut to riches when it comes to making money wagering on horse racing, harness racing, or any other form or horse race betting.
If you were to sit down and pick the brains of a successful professional punter, for example, you would soon learn that they likely spend years learning their craft before they became consistently profitable. It certainly wouldn’t have happened over night.
Sure, you can throw some money down on horse races rather randomly and get lucky, but it will be exactly that – getting lucky, and getting lucky is NOT a good or sustainable business model.
Forget the fantasy of instant and fabulous riches and opulence from horse race betting. If you really want to make good money in this industry – either as a regular punter or a bookie – then you really have to treat racehorse wagering as a business, not a hobby, and certainly not as a means of getting rich with no work required.
It’s entirely possible to make a good living from punting on the ponies, but only if you’re very serious about it and are willing to do the work to actually get good at picking winners and winning betting combinations.
This requires you to study form guides, get to know the horses, the jockeys and the trainers; not personally of course, but learn everything you can about them so you lower your odds of making money.
Another absolute must is to adopt a form of risk management. This means allowing a certain amount of money to be placed on racing each race meet, an amount that you won’t go over, no matter what, if things don’t go your way on the day.
Let’s say that amount in $100. If you happen to lose this, don’t pull out another $100 and put it down on some random long shot, hoping to recoup your losses in one fell swoop.
That’s the fastest and surest route to the poor farm.
