This forum isn't big enough to handle the size of my post, as it's quite some journey
But here goes, parts will be boring, and parts will be hilarious.
As a kid I remember watching the Penthouse Club where they crossed to the trots at the showgrounds in black and white.
I never knew about betting, or horses, but I loved looking at how the horses ran and how majestic a horse circling the field looked.
Wasn't til I was in my first job after I left school that we would have a beer on a Friday night at work and the guys would talk horses racing on the Saturday.
So Off to te TAB I went knowing nothing but backing Hyperno, the lady had to fill out the card for me!
Watched the race on Nine's Wide World Of Sports and I was hooked!
This started some kind of newbie lucky streak.
I knew nothing of form, didn't know even what the numbers next to a horse meant.
Next I backed Sir Dapper in Sydney and then Emancipation and it seemed like I couldn't lose. Every week one of them would win.
Then I got posted to another branch of the business and the lady I worked with, her son worked for a country trainer who had various city class horses.
(name escapes me). She also worked part time as a TAB operator.
She used to give me the heads up on horses "with a chance".
Week after week she'd give me three tips at decent odds, and all three would place. Some weeks just the placings, other weeks three winners.
Mostly one or two winners.
This went on for some months and then the worst thing imaginable happened.
She left!
And so the journey begins....
I was already hooked, and didn't know where to start.
I bought magazines, formguides, racing papers, you name it I bought it.
I remember trying to work out systems by placing the Sportsman on the floor of my bedroom, and placing past results from the Sun all around it.
There I was with my pencil, trying to write notes and make selections with my pencil going straight though to the 70's plush pile carpet and tearing the all important formguide.
Next came the excercise book I started which was a stable of favourite horses. It failed badly, I got some very good wins out of it, but too many losses.
I bought the very first edition of PPM, and in it was a computer calculation for rating horses. I then got a Commodore 64 I think it was, which had a tape recorder, so I could run the program.
The only good thing to come out of that mess, was the hours I spent playing frogger
I once went into the TAB and with $10.00 looked at the next race to jump without looking at the odds, and boxed the top three jockeys in a box trifecta.
Trifecta landed at enormous odds and walked out with the best part of $5,000 in a cheque.
Following that I was on holidays and it was a Tuesday afternoon either at Cessnock or Hawkesbury. Back then the tote closed 5 minutes before the jump and the prices were read out really early.
There was really no money in the pool looking back so it was a pointless excercise. But this day, I took another box trifecta on the three favourites (as read out prior).
After the race was over, I was stoked as I'd bagged the Tri.
Then they announced the dividends.
The winner was 25/1, second was around 17/1 and third was about 8/1.
A $6,000 trifecta was snagged because I didn't realise there was no money in the pool when they read out the early prices.
There endeth any hint of newbie luck, it went downhill rapidly and seemed to gather pace, the more I knew, the more I lost it seemed.
I followed horses, followed jockeys, followed trainers, followed tips, followed mates, followed other punters.
It added up to complete disaster which took years.
Back then I used to go to the races regularly and often did the double header, Moonee Valley races on the day and the trots at night, after they switched to Saturday from Friday.
This went on until I discovered other things in life, namely partying, which I dedicated myself to for the best part of 10 years, with only the occasional bet unless I was on holidays.
Years later I returned to the punt and it wasn't til I started to record everything that the concept of value finally set off a light bulb moment.
In those early days I often wished I had more data, if only I had a bigger sample size.
Well the rest is kind of history, my punting turned a corner.
I didn't win, but I lost a lot less.
It's funny, I think I actually threw out a lot of good methods along the way.
For example I remember looking at a Bart Cummings horse behind the barriers one day, and had a lazy $20 on it because it looked really good.
The horse was called Worth, and it won at double figure odds that day.
But my expectations were to say the least ridiculous, I expected to win each day, and threw out anything after a bad day.
Fast forward to today and basically my punting is much more boring.
I find little to get excited about, it's rare to snag a moment of excitement.
Usually it's mundane, but long term little fish are sweet.
Sometimes, I wish I was 18 again and knew nothing, I'd probably fluke a straight 6 or better, because sometimes the more you know, the more others also know and the value is sucked right out of your approach.
These days I run a couple of backing systems which are mechanical, but my main source comes from laying on Betfair.
I'd love to hear other people's journeys.