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Top 10 Tips for More Profitable Horse Betting

Have you ever wished that you could get your hands on all the best horse racing tips at the touch of a button? Well, now you can!

We've put our heads together and asked our experts what types of things our readers would want in one easy to digest list. They provided us with the answers and so here they are.

#1 Get a Good Welcome Bonus

They are as the name implies, bonuses that are offered to new players in exchange for giving the site your business. It's amazing to think how certain sites would fail to offer their customers welcome bonuses at all.

So, why are these welcome bonuses so important? The key thing about these welcome bonuses is the fact that these sites are offering free money. If you're going to bet on horses, whether it's recreationally or more seriously, then the free money offered to you through welcome bonuses is a big leg up.

Many professional horse racing bettors utilise welcome bonuses. In fact, some of them go from site to site hoovering up every single bonus in sight.

Quite often the difference between winning and losing money in horse race betting is in whether or not you get your hands on welcome bonuses.

#2 Play at a Trusted Site

Our experts analyse every single horse racing site on the internet. We know that playing on trusted sites is perhaps the single biggest and most important factor when it comes to betting online. You could be the best horse racing analyst in the world but yet you could lose money betting on horses if you deposited with scam sites or sites that didn’t have the proper security measures installed.

There are more online betting sites in 2017 than ever before. It's vital that each site is properly checked out in several key areas.

  • Number of banking options
  • Level of banking security
  • Business ethics
  • Honesty & integrity
  • Effectiveness of customer support
  • Rapid access to funds
  • Checked by professional auditors

A site should pass all of the relevant checks and come out smelling of roses before you decide to deposit any money. Our team of top experts does all of the necessary checks so that you don't have to. Combine our tests with looking for the approval of online professional watchdogs like e-COGRA and you really can't go wrong.

#3 Don't Chase Losses

Gambling and betting responsibly is all about one thing, discipline! This is how professional gamblers make money. If you lose £10 on a bet and you're betting in £10 units then you don't need to double your stakes to get the £10 back. Imagine that it's no different to buying something at a shop. If you bought an item for £10, that money is gone forever.

Even though you have a product or services for your money, it still doesn’t alter the fact that your money has gone. When you place a bet for £10 then you are buying entertainment for your money. So if it loses then don't think that you need to make the money back. Chasing losses is what leads to ruin.

There is no need to chase losses in horse racing if you are disciplined with your betting. If you lose three bets in a row and your unit stake is £10 then you are only down £30. You could win your next two races and then be ahead.

The key lesson here is not to panic when you lose.

#4 Learn How to Read Form

If you're going to start betting on horses then you need to learn how to analyse horse races. You can do this by reading our site and listening to the experts. We have ten golden rules for selecting good horses that could win the race or come close enough so that an each way bet becomes profitable.

  • Stay clear of really competitive races (too many horses with a chance)
  • Avoid horses that haven't raced in more than 200 days
  • Stay clear of horses that haven't won in numerous attempts
  • Look at what type of going a horse prefers
  • Look to see if the draw has any relevance in flat races
  • Analyse what types of races a certain horse does well in
  • Look to see if the horse is being supported in the ring
  • Has the horse got a good record for placing
  • Avoid horses that are stepping up in class
  • Is the stable out of form

Analysing horse races is a tricky business. For example, looking to see how long it's been since a stable produced a winner can be indicative of several things. If a stable only has mediocre or poor horses then they aren't likely to produce winners. If a previously successful stable has hit a dry run then this is often indicative that something is happening behind the scenes.

Likewise, if a jockey hasn't rode a winner in a long time. This could be down to luck but there could also be other factors at work too. Trainers may not trust the jockey's ability and this means they only get offered mediocre rides. It's also possible that the jockey isn't aggressive enough at key stages of the race or the jockey himself may be suffering from an injury. Whether it's horse, jockey, or stable, always look to avoid them if they are out of form.

#5 Start off with Simple Bets

When it comes to betting on horses simple is very often best. Betting simply means either backing horses to win, to place, or in accumulators looking for the big money. Simply analyse the form the best you can, make your selection and back the horse to win or to come close with an each-way bet.

Make your stakes small and keep it simple. If you want to back an accumulator then that's a simple bet too. All you're doing is betting on a series of horses to win rather than just one or two horses. Believe it or not but the majority of professional gamblers keep their betting simple. They know that it isn't the complexity of the bets that they place that gains them an edge, it's in the attention to detail regarding the odds.

For example, if two bettors both have ten winners at £10 per bet, the bettor that seeks out the highest odds will win more money. This is the advantage to having a betting bank and placing bets. If one punter bets and wins ten bets at £10 per bet at an average winning price of 6-4 then his profit comes to £150. If the other punter has an average winning profit of 2-1 then his profit is £200.

Always try to bet at the best possible odds to give yourself every available chance of winning.

#6 Don't Drink and Gamble

This tip should be rather obvious. Betting for profit is all about logical thinking processes and analysing data. These are pretty difficult to do if you are under the influence of drink. To gamble responsibly means to gamble with a clear head. However, it isn't just drinking that you should avoid. The fact of the matter is that you need to avoid anything that will impair your ability to make good selections.

On the list of things not to do would be to talk on your mobile phone while analysing horse race data, watch TV, have an argument, or anything else that would have an impact on simply making good decisions.

#7 Manage your Bankroll

Many people take horse racing gambling seriously, some take it so seriously that they become full-time professional gamblers. Even if that's not your plan you should ideally begin by having a bankroll. A bankroll by its sheer presence will create a sense of responsibility.

It will give you something to measure your wins and losses against. If you start with a bankroll of £1000 and after six months you have £500 then you can see that you are £500 behind. So you need to improve your betting. Keeping notes is a great way to find out where you are strong with your bets and where you are weak. This is all part and parcel of good bankroll management. If you manage your bankroll then your bankroll will look after you.

#8 Be Aware of Systems

There are numerous horse racing systems around and some are good while others are not so good. A good betting system can be very important for many reasons. Firstly, we need to examine what a good horse racing system actually does. It analyses parameters in a heuristic way and formulates a plan for your betting based on known data.

Any good system should have been tested and the boundaries of the system should have been tried out.

The system should be based on solid horse racing philosophy and fundamental horse racing knowledge. If you don't know how to analyse form and the thought of doing so fills you with dread then fear not because a system could be just what you've been waiting for.

Some of the best systems out there have stood the test of time. Other systems are seasonal while others have aged with the changing of the horse racing environment. The best systems often get the better of the bookies and so it pays to keep an eye out for which systems are the top performers.

Some people find conventional form analysis tedious while others find it downright tough. Don't forget that the bookmakers and professional odds compilers know this stuff too.

#9 Know about Tips

One of the surest ways to make money in horse racing when you don't have the necessary expertise is to look for tips. Just like with betting systems, some tipsters are good and some are not so good.

So what exactly will a good tipster do for you? Firstly a good tipster won't be stating the obvious. If you constantly see a tipster tipping the favourites then beware. This tipster is probably being paid for tips by some website, betting firm, or tabloid and is simply taking a shortcut process to choosing tips. Look for tipsters that are finding reasons for horses to win that are outside of the field of vision for the masses.

Some tipsters do have stable contacts and following their advice can be very profitable. If you're going to use a tipster then do some research first! Find out some background about the tipster; who they write for, what their history is like if they have contacts.

Find yourself a good tipster and you can often find yourself easy money.

#10 Make Sure You Have Fun

It's amazing just how many people ignore this last tip. Simply have fun and have a great time. Betting on horses isn't just about making money.

Remember that the betting firms are not easy to beat, but their weakness is that they want your money. So take their welcome bonuses and take their free bets and punish them for their desire to get your money.

However, this doesn’t mean that betting is the be all and end all. If you only bet with money that you can afford to lose then life gets a whole lot easier. There's little point betting if every bet seems like an ordeal. If making £100 bets is giving you sleepless nights then try making £50 bets or lower until you feel comfortable. Remember this, horse race betting is a pastime and a leisure activity, so treat it as such.