Personally I've always been wary of multiple bets in one race, partly from hearing people say you're betting against yourself, partly from thinking "If the TAB is taking 15% of one bet they are going to love taking 15% of two or three bets" that's almost half a bet gone in tax. But then arbitrage betting (if I understand it correctly) seems the ultimate form of covering your ******** with multiple bets and it obviously works OK. If betting on one horse is OK and betting on all the horses is OK logic suggests anywhere in between should be workable.

I can safely promote AusTOTE here because I investigated their operation on the recommendation of the owners of this site.

Their 5% takeout results in increased dividends for punters.Frequently the dividends are surprisingly good in comparison with what "used to be" State Government monopolies.

At the moment their pools are relatively small and I suspect the reason for that is that people feel less secure with offshore operations.Coupled with that there is a certain amount of paperwork that you have to navigate your way through.However, even without help from the friendly guy down at the TAB,it's a straightforward process.

I'm happy with them and dont feel threatened by a remote operation.I think principally because they working from an Australian Territory and still controlled by Australian Government regulations.

I'm particularly happy with the extra 10%.

I just felt the need to wrap this thread up and I've tried to attach my current dutching account to prove the authenticity of my betting activities.However the dutching program that I use resists all of my attempts to paste and copy etc.

So,comrades,you will have to accept my integrity on this one.

You will see from the included figures that I am a small time hobby punter.My bets rarely exceed $20,I'm well over 60yrs of age and quite frankly I'm just cruising down to the winning post,I dont need the pursuader applied to my ass at this stage of my life.

I'm a "target punter" and "rule off" and start again when I have achieved my current objective.
This current account started last friday 17th Dec 04.The account summary reads like this.........

No. of bets 36
No.of wins 22
Strike Rate 61%
Av Divs. $5.64
Starter Bank $500.00
CurrentBank $764.20
Amount Bet $727.00
Return $991.20
Profit $264.20
Return on Investment 36.34%

That is three days punting.I usually back three horses a race and manipulate saver and win bets to my best advantage.I might add, that from time to time I will back four horses,sometimes two,and frequently use the favourite as my saver bet.But not always.The 61% strike rate is similar to most punters expected rate for place betting,and for three horses a race it kinda makes sense that it would pan out along similar lines.

There is nothing unusual about the above results.Lolol it's not a "golden weekend" or anything like that.You do need a good commercial dutching program,the free ones just dont cut the mustard.You can also see that with 36 bets that I'm a busy old **************.

The above report is copied directly from the programs betting summary and the arithmetic doesnt really make a lot of sense until you consider that it takes into account the multiple betting nature of dutching.

I have messed around with dutching for years,but I found that trying to do the necessary calculations "quickly" on a pocket calculator continually frustrated me.The technology available today is a gift from heaven.

I'm not trying to sell anything.Just saying to new or young punters "don't dismiss this out of hand" it works. Good luck,, good punting....

Not knocking what you do kenchar but it is easier said then done to pick horses for a place...whats your strike rate like and your average divi....i was just running some tests over my ratings selections my strike rate for my top 3 for a win is 66% with an avearge divi of $5.37....now with those figures i have an 18% T.O.P i can double this if i drop my top pick and go with the 2nd/3rd selections on there own for a strike rate of 43%....yet i look at my best strike rate of the 3 selections for a place it was my second selection with a strike rate of 50% for the place with average price of $1.92....now with those figures i am facing a loss....so whats better a good profit of either 18%>36% T.O.P or a loss