The Perfect Punter / Perfect Punter / 02 September 2009 /

With five weeks gone, and football taking an international break this weekend, it seems like a good time to take stock of just where this Perfect Punter experiment is and consider what it has taught us so far, writes Dave Farrar.

It's going to be a long journey to the World Cup next summer, and I want to be sure that as much of the detail as possible is burned into our tiny punting minds. Some of you will believe that you're already a long way down the road, but the rest of us need all the help that we can get. It's time to move up a level.

Firstly, there's no question that writing down your thoughts on gambling is a very good thing: I'm lucky enough to get paid for it, but now that I'm analysing every move I make in forensic detail, and publishing both here and on Twitter, I think far more about where I'm throwing my money.

I'd always been told that writing down every bet that you place and going back over your betting diary at least every week was a good thing to do. I'd never bothered, but trust me, everything that you do both right and wrong needs to be recorded. For me, that's in this column and elsewhere online; for you it should be somewhere only slightly more reliable than on the back of a wet fag packet.

It will make you wince when you do something particularly capricious, reckless or ill thought out, and also lead to an odd kind of betting remorse, which compares to that mixture of pain and shame you feel after you've been drunk at a party. It goes something like: Did I do that? Jesus. No. I did? Said that? To her? And then I? Oh God.

The next day you'll find yourself letting out an involuntary noise and then possibly punching yourself in the face. If you respond to social humiliation like that, then you should do exactly the same when you back a [1.2] shot and it loses. Write it down, snap a few pens in half, and then read it over and over. After you've recorded a few mistakes in black and white, you won't do it again.

If writing everything down is lesson number one at this early stage, then number two is covering every single angle that you can before placing a bet. I know this sounds obvious, but we all make the mistake of seeing things at face value and no further. Make sure you know the surroundings in which the event you're betting on is being played, and come as close as you possibly can to physically placing yourself pitchside or courtside. Ask yourself before placing the bet whether you know exactly what you think will happen, and why. If you can't answer that, leave well alone.

Betfair also gives us the chance to see which way the crowd is going and gives us the opportunity to go against it. When the crowd's opinion has driven a price a certain way, and you think that it's wrong, use your research to bet the other way and take advantage of everyone else's laziness. Don't sit there and think that because something is trading suspiciously short, then "someone must know something." It's your money, and you should stand or fall because of the courage of your own convictions.

So some good groundwork and some simple lessons so far. And next week's column needs your help. I've been canvassing every gambler, good and bad, that I know, and asking them to come up with three words which best sum up their mindset when they're punting well. You know the feeling. Those hours, days and weeks when you feel that you're seeing things clearly and that you're doing the right things more often than not. When you feel almost serene, and when you practically know that you'll end up in profit. Well we should aim to feel like that all of the time, and I want your input.

Tell me which three words best sum up those good punting days, and over the course of this week I'll work out which three are most popularly used to describe the mental and physical state in which you can be as perfect a punter as possible. I'll take those words to experts in their fields and get some advice on how we can all get into a perfect punting mindset. Physically, mentally, spiritually, whatever it takes.

So either get in touch by commenting at the bottom of this column, or send me a direct message via Twitter. All I need from you is three words, and from next week onwards we'll be lifting weights, burning candles, and doing whatever it is that sports psychologists get you to do, as the Perfect Punter starts to get serious.

You can follow the Perfect Punter on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/perfectpunter. Get hints, tips and advice on an hourly basis, all for free.

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