Hi everyone,
I'm Lee, 27 and although I'm not as regular as I'd like to be (on ATR - not in the bowels!) but I thought i'd stick my two penneth in as i love contributing here when I have time (seem to have a distinct lack of at the moment, despite my best efforts!) and have done OK . . .
My first bet was Wimbledon v Liverpool in the 88' cup final!! Obvioulsy Liverpool were strong faves but with me being only 8 i didn't really have a clue and I had a £1 bet with my Uncle that the dons would win!! When they did I can remember having this WHOLE pound in my hand and thinking "WOW - This is easy!".
Despite my early (misplaced!) optimism I didn't have another bet until 5th October 1999 when I was at Uni. It was my birthday and me and my mate went into
Ladbrokes bookies on Percy Street in Newcastle as we had some time to kill before meeting people for drinks (no idea why we went into the bookies) anyway, we had £10 each on
Red Guard and it won @ 5/1!! I was over the moon and got into horse racing and football betting pretty heavily. . . . and things have just progressed from there.
Learning a little more with each bet (and massively due to this place) I think I have become a "sensible" gambler and solely bet ONLY on the horses and football.
Ideally I would like a pot of £1000 to use to gamble, making it a nice (hopefulyl profitable) hobby but as I have alluded to in many of my posts, i just don't have the time (and the money actually!) anymore . . . one day, one day.
I try to get to as many racecourses as I can and have probably been to about a dozen - my favourite by a long way is Hexham. A wonderful, wonderful course!! My local track (1/2 a mile away!) York is great too but i can't be doing with all the people and the a$$holes.
I much prefer the jumps and I love doing the placepot, a daft bet perhaps but I only play with small stakes and i've had a few nice returns. There's nothing like cheering a couple of horses home on the 6th leg after you've had a placer in each race!
I firmly believe that one of the best tools for a new punter is
YESTERDAY'S Racing post and an inquisitive mind. Looking back at the results of the day with the RP in hand and figuring out
HOW and
WHY a horse is invaluable for picking winners (and losers for that matter) and something i should still be spending more time on than I do.