The four legged game: the R3 Forum racing thread

[EdgeleyRob]

Wow, well done Rob - that £70 will buy the grandkids a lot of treats!

Thanks Alison. I was probably trying to make it more complicated than it already is! I might even, for the first time in my life, venture into the bookies for a look round and see what a betting slip looks like (I presume there is some sort of box you tick for Lucky 15) We have two shops here, BetFred and Ladbrokes, I presume there is no difference or preference in which one to use?

William Hill have a special lucky 15 betting slip,not sure about other bookies Anna.

[Petrushka]

Wow, well done Rob - that £70 will buy the grandkids a lot of treats!

Thanks Alison. I was probably trying to make it more complicated than it already is! I might even, for the first time in my life, venture into the bookies for a look round and see what a betting slip looks like (I presume there is some sort of box you tick for Lucky 15) We have two shops here, BetFred and Ladbrokes, I presume there is no difference or preference in which one to use?

I use our local Betfred and they have a slip headed 'Lucky 15', presume Ladbrokes do the same but we haven't got one here. Staff are pretty helpful on the whole and they will answer any questions you may have. The days of bookies shops being smoke-filled sawdust-floored male dominated havens are long gone and they are far more welcoming and less intimidating than once was the case.

Probably preaching to the converted but try to keep your betting, as I do (the odd festival like Cheltenham apart), for Saturday only, don't take it too seriously and never bet anything that you are not prepared to lose. Above all, have fun. It's a great feeling punching the air as your 10/1 fancy romps past the winning post.

[Anna]

Probably preaching to the converted but try to keep your betting, as I do (the odd festival like Cheltenham apart), for Saturday only, don't take it too seriously and never bet anything that you are not prepared to lose. Above all, have fun. It's a great feeling punching the air as your 10/1 fancy romps past the winning post.

Oh no, I know how addictive gambling is and have no wish to get sucked in, I was indeed thinking of a little bit of Saturday fun and doing as Rob does, 50p a go. There's an elderly lady here (late 80s) who goes to the bookies every Saturday and wagers lots of small bets, spending a max of £5, she sometimes does quite well. I'll have to run your selections by her!!

[teamsaint]

my first experience of a bookies was my first day at Ladbrokes in Millbrook, Southampton.
Boy was I naive.

First punter in I remember as if it was yesterday. £20 to win, horse named Schuss.
£20 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this was 1983 !!!!!! my rent was £12.50 a week. I just couldn't believe it.

he took the price 4/1 , and later that day walked away with £100, (paid tax on the stake). Millbrook is NOT in the wealthier part of town.

I had no idea that this sort of thing happened.A lesson learned.

[Petrushka]

Oh no, I know how addictive gambling is and have no wish to get sucked in, I was indeed thinking of a little bit of Saturday fun and doing as Rob does, 50p a go. There's an elderly lady here (late 80s) who goes to the bookies every Saturday and wagers lots of small bets, spending a max of £5, she sometimes does quite well. I'll have to run your selections by her!!

That's good to know, Anna, as the last thing I would want to do is to encourage someone to get sucked into the misery of addiction. It is addictive and it's why I am strict with myself. It's a great way to supplement the salary or as a means to buying those boxed sets (I bought my Samsung smart TV with winnings) but I never take it seriously.

[EdgeleyRob]

Oh no, I know how addictive gambling is and have no wish to get sucked in, I was indeed thinking of a little bit of Saturday fun and doing as Rob does, 50p a go. There's an elderly lady here (late 80s) who goes to the bookies every Saturday and wagers lots of small bets, spending a max of £5, she sometimes does quite well. I'll have to run your selections by her!!

That's what it's all about and if you win anything it's a bonus.

[Anna]

That's what it's all about and if you win anything it's a bonus.

Statistically, I guess you have slightly more chance of winning on the horses than buying a couple of lottery tickets or two scratch cards a week?

[Petrushka]

Statistically, I guess you have slightly more chance of winning on the horses than buying a couple of lottery tickets or two scratch cards a week?

Much better chance. In a 16 horse race you have a 1 in 16 chance of getting the winner and hopefully of making a small profit out of it. Horse racing will never give you multi-million sized jackpots but as you follow the sport you can whittle the field down and hopefully make a consistent profit out of your knowledge. Something like today gives me a lot of satisfaction because I know it wasn't just chance but a combination of luck, knowledge and an indefinable instinct. It won't happen every week and I now feel under pressure to come up with the goods!

[Nick Armstrong]

Petrushka gave us 4 tips and there are 15 possible combinations of bets on 4 selections Cali.
4 individual stakes on each one,plus there are 6 possible doubles,4 possible trebles and the 1 x 4 horse accumulator.
So to cover every permutation you need to stake 15 bets,which in my example was 15 x 50p = £7.50.

The penny's dropped, ER Mucharse grassyarse.

[amateur51]

The penny's dropped, ER Mucharse grassyarse.

This is a bit like the old days, advanced maths lectures from the Open University in the wee small hours

[Petrushka]

This is a bit like the old days, advanced maths lectures from the Open University in the wee small hours

The Lucky 15 is easy enough to grasp; just wait until someone tries to explain the Lucky 63! I can just about see the principle but it's far too complicated to take in.

The whole betting thing can be pretty intimidating for anyone dipping a toe in the water and I wish the whole mystique surrounding it could be done away with.

[Anna]

The Lucky 15 is easy enough to grasp

BUT, you can do a Lucky 15 each way (of course that means you double your stake) and then there is also a Lucky 31, and a Heinz 57 if you feel full of beanz!!
Betting shops now have have windows that you can see into. This was done to encourage women to set foot in them; previously betting shops were seen as dens of inequity, populated by wall-eyed men with wild hair and flashers' macs seen dimly through a fug of black shag tobacco!

[EdgeleyRob]

The Lucky 15 is easy enough to grasp; just wait until someone tries to explain the Lucky 63! I can just about see the principle but it's far too complicated to take in.

The whole betting thing can be pretty intimidating for anyone dipping a toe in the water and I wish the whole mystique surrounding it could be done away with.

Ah Pet,it's basically 6 singles,15 doubles,20 trebles,15 four timers,6 five timers and 1 six horse accumulator,I think
Hard enough picking one winner though.

[teamsaint]

This is a bit like the old days, advanced maths lectures from the Open University in the wee small hours

did you know you get different returns on the place part of your each way bet depending on the number of runners? and whether you get paid on the place part depends on whether you finish in the first 2, 3 or 4 depending on the number of runners?
or sometimes it is done at the bookies discretion?

[Alison]

did you know you get different returns on the place part of your each way bet depending on the number of runners? and whether you get paid on the place part depends on whether you finish in the first 2, 3 or 4 depending on the number of runners?
or sometimes it is done at the bookies discretion?

And also the type of race. First four in a handicap race of 16 or more runners.

A non handicap race such as the Derby or 2000 guineas pay out on first three only !