The Perfect Punter - Week 30: The first lesson any bookmaker learns

The Perfect Punter / Dave Farrar / 03 March 2010 / Leave a Comment

Don Ameche (left), star of Cocoon

"I’m now convinced that I’m going to have a dream in the week before Cheltenham which will throw up the names of four horses, and that, my friends, will be the life-changing Yankee to end all life-changing Yankees."

The Perfect Punter receives a spooky e-mail from a long-lost friend and recalls a valuable lesson that any punter worth his salt should never forget.

February was odd, what with the whole Barreto thing (keen eyed readers will have noticed that he missed another penalty at the weekend), and March has started in similarly spooky fashion. Sometimes you just want to run naked through a ghost train and be done with it. Here's what happened: on my flight back from Italy on Monday (the timeline is crucial here, so bear with me) I decided to ignore the sweaty man next to me who was asking about whether English girls are dirty (mate, trust me, I have NO idea anymore), and write this week's Perfect Punter.

I wanted to talk about value, and best price, and so thought about a friend of mine, an ex Racing Post journalist, who I haven't seen for seven or eight years. The piece was based around him, and I thought that it would be quite weird for him if he happened to read it, and that maybe he would get in touch. Anyway, here's the spooky bit. I wrote it on Monday, was going to file it on Wednesday, and on TUESDAY I received an email out of the blue from Betfair, forwarded from someone who was trying to track me down. And it was him. Another coincidence, another million to one shot, another indication that someone is messing with my head. I'm now convinced that I'm going to have a dream in the week before Cheltenham which will throw up the names of four horses, and that, my friends, will be the life-changing Yankee to end all life-changing Yankees.

So, back to my friend, who by the way I'm delighted to be in touch with again. In the old days of university he was the only other person I knew who was interested in betting, and unlike me, he could really punt. One of his obsessions was getting best price, and I can always remember him, in a Brummie accent, saying: "gotta get best proice mate, I 'ate not getting best proice." I never really got it. Obviously, I can tell the difference between 12-1 and 5-1, but he would shop around for a half point, not to a different website, but to another bookies half a mile down Kilburn High Road. All to get best price.

And it's only when you start to bet semi seriously that you really get it. The mantra of many Betfair punters is "be a price maker, not a price taker" and only now, when I realise how many people panic, and are prepared to dive in and take any price that's going ([1.43] for over 2.5 goals in Valencia v Club Brugge last week, anyone?) that I can see the value in value. One thing that I would strongly advise you all to do is to go on Betfair on a big football night and not have a bet but just watch the markets, and see what gets matched. Sometimes it's staggering, and the long term bonus of getting best price becomes clear very quickly. It's a lesson that bookmakers learn before any other, and that those who have been punting for years have burned on their soul, but it's one that the rest of us need to get used to sharpish. It's not just about picking winners, it's about making sure that you get full value from them.

On Sunday in Naples, I was in a back street shop run by a smiling, wrinkle faced old criminal, and my bill came to 9 Euros. I handed over a 10 Euro note and instead of giving me a Euro change, this character from Cocoon gave me a small packet of cashew nuts, and said: "take these instead, they're on the house." I bounced out of the shop, marvelled at the smiling generosity of the Neapolitans, and then saw a small sticker on the packet which said: "50 cents". And my bubble burst, and I was unaccountably annoyed, despite the tiny amount of money involved. Maybe the message is getting through. Best price, always best price.

By the way, my Brummie friend was always frighteningly good at predicting the winners at the Oscars, and now that we're back in touch I'll mine his knowledge. The last time that I saw him he'd tipped the Best Actor winner for something like 19 years in a row, so if he comes up with anything this week, then you'll find it on Twitter. Shame Don Ameche isn't nominated this year, then somehow the whole thing would have come full circle.

You can follow the Perfect Punter on Twitter, which is free, so you don't need to worry about best price. Just go to www.twitter.com/perfectpunter and sign up.