My two mentors, for whom I have enormous respect tell me "Systems" do not work.

So firstly, the word "Systems" appears to have a very different connotation/meaning in the racing world to that in the "other world"; as a "system" is one that is cherished.

For me, a relative newcomer with only 12 months exposure/experience, I am having difficulty distinguishing between the 2 in many instances - so the question is: WHAT IS A "SYSTEM" in the racing world.

My mentors assure me that my Laying system is not a "SYSTEM" as I look at every race on its merits and depending on a range of factors make a decision to bet or not to bet and how/what to bet - however I would say it is a "SYSTEM" with a very disciplined approach.

I am finding it very interesting (but a little confusing) and hopefully other forum members will as well.

Hopefully it will promote a robust discussion which will enlighten many of us new folk.

I figure that a System that 2 people follow will have both followers reproduce the exact same conclusion , otherwise it ain't a system , it is a method.

From my perspective, I feel a system has static rules which are designed not to be tampered with, which leaves minimal ambiguity.
Meaning that there is minimal chance of a different horse being chosen by different punters.

Method, I feel, tends to be more flexable where most punters could end up with a different selections, because its based more on personal opinion.

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Cheers.

A systematic approach is one thing, a dead set system is something else.
eg. even a "Rating" is a system in the sense that for example many pre-post markets are set by a computer.

Most systems are adulterated to suit the individual, eg take my PPM (Partypoopers Plum Movers) responsible for providing the 500-1 shot last Saturday (BF SP)

Original rules:
Sat Metro only 5 states
Take the first horse working up from the bottom weight that is a distance winner or course and distance winner.

Thats it! (the 500-1 shot fit perfect absolute bottom weight with a "D" after its form)

But that system has been tweaked by many since then to include all Metro meets, or even all meets, some even back the first 2 that have a D or C.

Some only bet when the selection IS bottom weight etc etc.

The point being is that most methods of betting are indeed a sophisticated (or not ) result of a systematic approach.

Apart from the dart or pin that is.

My contention is that most systems work, BUT they don't work all the time.....

the best you can hope is that it works while you are betting with real money!

I believe many systems are really a recipes, or more technically algorithms, which have a fixed set of steps to follow in order to arrive at a result (selections in a race). A system is more like the set of interrelated parts that work together to make up some whole thing that depends on all of the individual parts, eg, a stereo system or a cardiovascular system.

In punting I think we all agree that it is the procedure we follow to arrive at a selection whether it be a rigid set of rules or some other decision making process we use.

gunny72