Do you lose money on the track? A lot? Too much? Well, as far as I’m concerned, losing any amount is too much. The idea of going to the dog track, whether for business or pleasure, is to come home with more money than you brought in.
However, most people, nine out of ten, lose money every time they go to the races. This is not fun and it is not good business. This is how they lose and what you have to do to come home a winner.
First of all, you have to know how much you can afford to spend on bets. Pay your mortgage or rent, pay your bills, buy some groceries, take care of all your other obligations, and what’s left over is what you have to risk at the greyhound track.
If you don’t do all of that first, you’ll worry about how you’ll pay your bills instead of concentrating on disability and money management. Put this amount of money, and no more, in your pocket or wallet.
If you can leave them somewhere safe, don’t take your debit or credit cards onto the track with you. When you run out of money, it’s very tempting to convince yourself to take a little more money from the bank or put it on a credit card. don’t do it. That’s a losing game.
Go through your schedule, pick your races (the ones you really feel safe betting on) and plan how much you’re going to spend on them. Write that amount and what you are going to bet at the top of the race page for each one.
If you’re very impulsive, place all those bets before the first race, so you can’t change your mind and convince yourself to bet something else. If you are the type of person who can resist the temptation, then bet before each race, but I recommend the first method to ensure you don’t side bet.
Then sit there and watch the races, knowing that you bet what you intended to bet and nothing more. You’ll be one of the few people on the track to do that, trust me. Most of the crowd will bet things that they decide to bet on in the heat of the moment.
You will be betting smart on the dogs you chose using a good handicap system and good money management. That’s a combination only 10% of track people use to win big at the dog track.