Money Management

[fred4now]

Anybody have any ideas on money management? Specifically, have you been using any methods for a period of time that have helped your bottom line?

I just hate it when I get up %50 for the day and then end up with the same amount I started with.

[Carl]

Fred,

Since I play everyday, I just treat all the races like one big card that goes on for a week or so, then I review.

This way "locking up profits" or "avoiding losing streaks" don't really enter into my thinking too much. The phrases don't have much long term significance.

Don't know if this helps. I find that when I am picking winners any old money management system will do, when I am picking losers 16 mathematically correct supersystems couldn't help at all.

[MtKen]

F4N:

I have the same problem. Agree with Carl. I don't have a big bankroll but I get bored with less than than about 5% of my bank in a race. I'd do much better with 1-2% in or with a bigger bank so my 1-2% would keep me interested.

[tomcat]

You don't have to bet big to win big. I see a lot of those big betters get their heads handed to them. As you know, I teach and practice $1 betting. It's not how much you bet, it's how well you bet.

This is game, enjoy it !

[Ron]

Fred4now;

What type of money management plan to you use currently?


Ron

[fred4now]

Ron, none other than trying to get some value when I bet. I've been curious about setting a certain goal for day and if reached call it quits.

[JimG]

Originally posted by fred4now
Ron, none other than trying to get some value when I bet. I've been curious about setting a certain goal for day and if reached call it quits.


I have adhered to the philosophy that you set an amount you are willing to lose on a given day (cash only...no ATM's Cedit cards etc), but do not set an amount that you are willing to win on a given day. Racing is very cyclical and winning and losing tends to be streaky. Do not cut it short if you are having a good day. You are doing something right if you can win 10 times what you would ever lose in a given day (not including pick 6). This is not my original philosophy but one learned many years ago that I try to adhere to.


JimG

[MtKen]

I agree with Jim--why quit when things are going well?

[Ron]

Fred4now;

Since you mentioned that you are interested in working with a money management plan that is geared toward setting and reaching a $ goal for the day, I thought you may find the attached excerpt from a Ray Talbot article to be of interest to you.

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MONEY MANAGEMENT FUNDAMENTALS
By Ray Taulbot


We are keenly aware that what one player considers a good winning percentage may not appear very good to another player. Likewise, what one bettor considers good odds may be regarded by another bettor as something less than satisfactory.

In proposing the use of two or more spot play methods for making selections, we have made an effort to strike a middle ground between winning percentages and prices.

Some players prefer a high winning percentage; others strongly favor high prices. Of one thing we may be sure:it is next to impossible to maintain a high percentage of winners at what are generally considered high prices.

Personally, we prefer a compromise. That is, we favor a reasonably good winning percentage with profits that range from moderate to substantial.

Perhaps we should define more clearly what we mean by "moderate" and "substantial" as these terms apply to mutuel prices. In our opinion, a price of 3-1 is an acceptable or moderate price.

We know that some handicappers consider anything lower than 10-1 as less than satisfactory. However, in this business we can't have our cake and eat it too. Therefore, the most logical procedure is to try for a reasonably good winning percentage and good average prices.

Professional horseplayers usually have a set profit goal for the day, and when they attain that goal, they call it a day and leave the track. The recreational player is advised to adopt the same method of play. A logical procedure is to set a daily profit goal of an amount commensurate with the amount of operating capital available to the individual and then to stop play when the first cashing wager attains the desired daily margin of profit.

It is foolish for a person with, say, $100 to shoot for a daily profit of $50. If $100 is all that is available for wagering, then his daily profit objective should be no more than $15 a day. That is because he or she simply does not have sufficient operating capital at their disposal to safely enable them to shoot for a higher daily profit.
In fact, they might be wise to select an even more moderate daily profit objective if $100 is all they have available for wagering purposes.

If in this day of inflated costs, $15 dollars profit a day seems too low, then the individual should wait until more operating capital is available which will enable him to safely attempt a greater amount of daily profit.

How should he manage his playing capital in order to sustain the greatest possible margin of safety and at the same time attain his profit objective? In our opinion, close attention should be paid to the relationship between bankroll size, a contender's odds and the size of the target profit objective.

For example, suppose your first selection for the day is going off at 3-1. If your daily profit objective is $30 a day, you can arrive at the correct amount to wager at odds of 3-1 in order to attain a net profit of $30 by dividing 30by three. The answer is 10 and $10 is the logical amount to wager.

Or suppose your selection is held at 5-1. Since your profit goal is $30, you arrive at the correct amount to wager by dividing 30 by five. The answer is six and the wager is, therefore, $6.

What does one do if the first selection loses? The amount wagered on the loser becomes part of the original profit goal. So if the daily profit objective was $30 and the lost wager was $6, the profit goal becomes $36, the original $30 profit goal plus the six dollars lost on the previous selection. The amount of the next wager hinges upon the odds at which your selection is held.

If the second selection was held at 3-1, you arrive at the correct amount to wager by dividing 36 by three and the wager is $12. On the other hand if this second selection was held at, say, 6-1 then the wager would be only $6.

Many professionals back their selections on the 1-3 scale win and place. For every dollar wagered to win they bet three dollars to place. Remember, however, that if a player chooses to use the win and place method of wagering, he must have available four times the amount of capital he needs for win bets only.

If you employ the money management plan explained above, remember that the one sure way to keep the wagers within reasonable limits is to avoid excessively short-priced selections. In our own play, we seldom back a horse at less than 3-1. This is because in over 50 years of experience, we have learned that a short-priced horse can lose just as easily as a good-priced selection. There is no such thing as a sure thing in this business,so why take the worst of the odds?

[fred4now]

Thanks for the feedback guys.