Can you tell me about your background in Horse Racing and using the Betting Exchanges?

I will not claim to have any knowledge on horse racing, as I still see myself as a complete novice, I have my favourite jockeys etc, but do not study horse racing on the television or anything like that.  I have been using Betfair for about 2 years now, I started using it to back and lay, but most of the time now, and I use it to lay favourites only.

Would you describe yourself as a Betting Exchange Trader or a Punter?

As I say, I started as a trader where I would look at the market of the favourite and predict which way it would go, 5 mins before a race, then back or lay several times to make a small profit if it won.  I then moved on to ‘placing’ the favourites, which was purely a punters game

Are there any basic trading strategies you use that you would be able to reveal in this interview to help my readers?

The biggest lesson I learned was the stake to betting bank ratio, I only try to win 1% of my bank per race when placing, as you can eat into it very quickly if you lose 3 or 4 on the trot and try to recover losses after each race.  On laying I only risk 5% of my bank if the horse wins, and never lay a horse that is over 3/1

Over the time you have been betting, would you say you have won more that you lost?

I have won more than I have lost, I started with £200 and tried to win £2 (1%) per race, when I had reached £20 (10%) I would stop for the day. I have built that up to £2k using that system.  I currently have £5k in my betting bank, which has mainly been from laying favourites through a couple of tipsters.

Do you use any Betting Bots and which ones would you advise using?

I haven’t used any Betting Bots but would like to know more about them.

What is the most costly lesson you have ever made when either betting or trading?

The biggest lesson is to never chase your loses, if you lose a lay for example do not be tempted to get it all back on the next bet, 2 out of 3 times you will get away with it, but when it hits you it really hurts, and your bank was not set up for those type of losses.

What would you say to anyone who is just starting to bet or trade?

Set your betting bank, set your starting stake and stick to it for a month or so, even paper trade until you are confident the system that you are using is robust enough, so many people lose their discipline during a losing run.  If you stick to a good staking plan and stick to the rules of your system, you won’t go far wrong.

Don’t try and win too much of your betting bank, this can result in having no bank left at all, we all know that we will have a losing run, a good system is one that can take a bad run and still have enough in the tank for when the good run comes in.

Have you followed any Horse Racing Tipsters in the past and what did you think of them?

I don’t follow tipsters to win, more tipsters that are offering horses to lay, never been into the phone line thing, I often visit the racing index to get an idea of what tipster is doing what, its in league table format so its easy to follow.  Currently I am with the bookie basher who offers horses to win and lay, this is a good service that pays well, the selections are posted early so you can get your bets on before work.  The other tipster who has done ok is lay all losers, who offers lays only, these come via email around lunch time, which is ok if you have access to your email at work, I access my email through my mobile now and also use Mobet for betfair access with my mobile.  Lay all losers has a good record, but the prices tend to be a little high sometimes, which does sometimes put people off.  I used to be a subscriber to losing winners also, but he went on a long losing run so I had to pull the plug before it was too late!!!

Do you have any further information or help you could give someone who has been betting or trading for a while or is just starting out?

I think I have mentioned it all above, but if I was just starting out, I wouldn’t be picking the horses that will win or lose myself, leave that to the professionals, subscribe to a lay tipster with good results over a year or so, work out what their worst run was and whether you would be able to stand it with your bank.   Sit back and follow their selections, (even if you don’t believe that an odds on favourite will not win!!) But at the end of the day, don’t bet what you cant afford to lose, don’t put your life savings forward, that’s getting too serious.

Enjoy it, have a flutter, but don’t let it rule your life or your finances