They Race Again Tomorrow: Tips to prevent gambling becoming a problem

General / Jack Houghton / 13 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

Jack Houghton discusses some of the safeguards and strategies you can use to make sure gambling doesn't become a problem; and what to do if it already has.

Problem gamblers do all the things winning gamblers don't. So even if you think you haven't a problem - and never would have - it doesn't mean it's not useful to reflect on the behaviours and practices of the problem gambler.

Take a friend, Toby, whose name I have changed to save him the embarrassment of his real name. Parents who spent the '60s on protest marches, in between smoking dope and making free-love, can be extremely cruel in how they name their children. Anyway, Toby makes around £2,000 a month from punting, mainly from relatively low-value trading on minority sports. He has returned consistent profits of around that level for over five years. There is nothing about Toby that would make you think he is a problem gambler (and he isn't), and yet the exposure limit on his account is set at £1,000, rather than the default £5,000.

He told me he had once laid a team for £4,444, instead of the intended £44. Although he was able to trade out of the position for only a small loss, it highlighted to him the dangers of fat-fingered typing and, ever risk-averse, he called the Betfair Helpdesk and reduced his exposure limit. He reasons that all his betting is relatively immediate (he doesn't have money tied up in ante-post markets for months on end), so why take the risk?

You might think such precautions are unnecessary, but as an ex-trader, Toby knows the dangers of errant key-strokes. Check out an extreme example of what can go wrong here.

Your exposure limit can only be changed by calling the Helpdesk, but other tools are available immediately online in the Responsible Gambling section of your profile; found in My Account.

One option is to limit the deposits you can make into your account. Be honest with yourself. If gambling is a hobby for you, how much are you prepared to spend on it in any month? £10? £100? £5,000? The amounts will differ massively depending on your means and financial commitments, but we should all be able to determine what that level is and limit our accounts accordingly.

Another option is to limit your losses in a time period. As soon as you have lost, say £50 in a week, the system stops you placing any more bets. With this, and the limit deposits option, any requested decrease is immediately applied to your account. Any increase takes 24 hours to take effect.

Most punters will have experienced the situation where, having spent hours studying a race, felt they had identified a solid, value bet; only for it to lose. In frustration they find themselves looking for recompense in the bumper at Fakenham. Our better angels convince most of us, at that point, to close the paper and wait for another day but, let's be honest: how many of us have found ourselves still punting, three hours later, on some dire American racing; about which we know nothing?

There's a story about JP McManus. I have no idea if it's true, but it provides a great punting lesson. Allegedly, having lost a significant bet early on a Cheltenham card, he was asked if he would try to recoup losses that day. "No, they race again tomorrow" was his reply. If anyone frequently finds themselves chasing losses, write those words in big capital letters and stick it on your computer screen: THEY RACE AGAIN TOMORROW. Whether the great man said it or not, it's sage advice.

But what if gambling is no longer a positive and pleasant pastime for you? What if it's adversely affecting your life and you feel you have no control over it? First, go to the Responsible Gambling section of your profile and self-exclude. This prevents you from placing any more bets with Betfair. If you have any other bookmaker accounts, close them down. Second, get help. Listed below are a number of online resources you can go to for free advice. Gamcare, for one, offers a free counselling service.

In the meantime, here are my top tips for ensuring gambling remains a positive (and hopefully profitable) part of your life:

1. Have a betting bank account, completely separate from your day-to-day finances. Only deposit money into this account if it is genuinely disposable.
2. Set exposure, deposit and loss limits that accurately reflect your punting means.
3. Write a list of your punting rules and pin it up, prominently, next to your computer. This might include rules about stake size, what races to bet on and what races not to bet on. A pro-punter I know has a picture of his two kids stuck to his screen: "If I ever feel like chasing a lost bet, it's a pretty good reminder of why it's a bad idea."
4. Record all your bets.
5. Relentlessly analyse your performance and change your rules accordingly.
6. If you have even the slightest inkling that it's getting on top of you, get help.

Websites to check-out:

www.gamcare.org.uk
www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk
www.gambleaware.co.uk