making a living from betting(tu)

Ja you had me confused there...

Never bet anybody that could beat the races. I've met a lot of people. All around the world. NOBODY. EVER

Here's on obituary of the most succesful horse punter I've ever heard of...

Horse Racing Guru Alan Woods Dies
January 28, 2008

The world's most successful horse-racing gambler, Australian Alan Woods, died in Hong Kong on Saturday night.

Woods, 62, recently diagnosed with appendiceal cancer, is believed to have suffered a pulmonary embolism. He had begun chemotherapy treatment two weeks ago and passed away in the intensive care unit of the Sanitorium Hospital at Happy Valley in the presence of family and friends.

Born in 1945 in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Woods showed an early aptitude for mathematics at school but was a losing punter in his earliest days at university and gambling played little part in his life until his 30s.

Working as an actuary in the late 1970s, Woods learned to count cards at blackjack and became a serious gambler for the first time in his life, travelling the world for three years as a professional card counter and undertaking all kinds of disguises and subterfuge to avoid identification by the world's casinos.

But his earnings at blackjack were tiny compared with his subsequent career in racing. Woods turned to horseracing in New Zealand in 1982 then shifted his life and focus to Hong Kong, and its big pools, in 1984.

A founding partner in the earliest computer betting team in Hong Kong, which split after a dispute between the partners in the early 1990s, Woods established his own hugely successful betting operation, with employees based around the world and had built a fortune estimated at more than US$600 million before his death.

Even as Woods grew to the point of dominating the Hong Kong betting scene in recent years, even over and above other successful computer teams, he also enjoyed his wealth and was famed in Hong Kong racing circles for his bacchanalian parties and celebrations.

Once a regular in Wan Chai's bars and nightclubs, Woods had become more reclusive and relocated to Manila several years ago, but his operation continued to annually lay out between one and two per cent of Hong Kong's entire racing turnover (which totalled US$64 billion in the last completed season).

He is survived by two ex-wives, two sons and a daughter.

"My father achieved great success at something so many people dream of doing well and fail to achieve but, along the way, he also provided jobs and support for so many friends - he kept them close to him and brought so many people together," said his daughter, Victoria, yesterday.

The only people that I have known to make a "living from betting" have been my bookies

Barry,although hard there is some that do make a living through betting the horses,Facto Mundo

Zeljko Ranogajec Popularly known as “The Joker” is a Australian gambler, According to an estimate his annual betting turnover is above colossal $ 1 Billion; his greatest achievement was in 1994 ,when he won world-record $ 7.5 million Keno jackpot at North Ryde RSL Club; he is also a great expert in horse racing related betting.

Akio Kashiwagi was one of the biggest Gambler of Japan, he used to play regularly bets of large sums between $ 10000 and $ 200000; he was also the sole owner of “Kashiwagi Shoji Co” ,his real estate and investment business; he was killed on January 3, 1992, by some unknown men.


Not so keen on the last line.......................

There are a few on the forum,no names mentioned..

Sorry, but I remain skeptical.

Every punter I have known that claims to have made a living gambling on horses a) winds up having to go to a relative or friend for a "fresh start," b) becomes a tout because they have gone belly up or c) gets involved in the illegal securing and passing on of betting information. This is why Hong Kong sequesters its riders in one living complex. Making a living betting horses is a romantic notion everybody would love to embrace, which is why the myth persists. In my opinion, "human nature" is what makes it impossible to beat the races. Beating the races is ot like counting cards, because there are too many variables based on the facts that we are dealing with 1) animals, 2) jockeys, 3) weather, 4) different courses and 5) rival horses and riders. Winning horse races is the biggest challenge in sports, which is why it is so fascinating. Winning in racing without cheating is very difficult. If you can cheat and get away with it, you can beat the races.

In my opinion "gets involved in the illegal securing and passing on of betting information" is probably the reason why they go belly up? In my opinion you will be better off not listening to this "betting information" and follow the "system betting", stick to your rules, whichever they are and improve on them.

I am more than open to look at other peoples systems so would like to encourage Heinrich to keep at it. I totally agree with Barry that "Human Nature" is teh downfall and the only thing that can make you fail ... own self discipline, if you can keep that under control and limit yourself to play what the system provides you certainly will be making profits, me unfortunately is one of those still struggling with the discipline

My system currently has 8 Super Rules, 24 form Rules and 10 intent rules...only problem is that it takes me the best part of 8 hours to complete in a day (td) ...which with a normal job that pays me a very comfortable lifestyle I simply do not have the time...now if I could have automated those rules...I would not need to do a normal job within 12 months of "growing"...

I have a couple of my old subscribers that lives by it and I still get emails on a weekly basis thanking me for the "system" ...a couple of them also following this forum...I also had a blog site that I kept open for my old subscribers to take down the rules...after 7 days I had to close it since my 18 subscribers by that time has grown to 172 followers on the blog!

Heinrich if you would like to talk and "share rules' (not betting info) I am happy to have a look and a listen, unfortunately I am working in Singapore so being 6 hours ahead can only be reached during normal working hours.

Loopy Logic (sean@loopylogic.com)

Barry I have to disagree with you. Firstly just because you have never met a successful punter doesn't mean they don't exist. Secondly successful punters are very few and far between and the likelihood is you won't find the successful ones making a big song and dance about their successes. I reckon most of these guys are highly reclusive people who operate under a veil of secrecy using a variety of networks and agents to beat beat the bookies and betting markets by getting enough stakes on their selections.

Theres a guy in the UK named Patrick Veitch who has consistently made millions of pounds betting on the races. I've read his book and if I'm not mistaken Michael Tabor, the Coolmore breeder, used to use Veitch extensively to mark his card.

A tipster used by Attheraces website, Hugh Taylor has shown a consistent profit with selections over the last 2 years they've been using him.

Incidently Allan Wood's original business partner, Bill Benter also made an untold fortune scooping up massive amounts of the Hong Kong pools.

The common thread I have seen amongst all these guys is that they only bet where they believe they have an edge over the bookies/market. Obviously calculating that edge is the hard part but these guys all seem to be maths geniuses and are able to understand risk vs return better than most.

Veitch sums it perfectly in saying you need to have the precision of a brain surgeon coupled with the ruthlessness of a mad axeman as well being being able to have the perfect balance between those traits.

I would say trying to punt for a living in South Africa is a complete waste of time. The prices and liquidity in the market is simply not good enough and this new withholding tax is sure to murder the big punters...

I've read quite a bit about Allan Woods, and the thing that is most amazing to me was his determination to beat the horses. Once he went an ENTIRE YEAR breaking even. Most punters I know would have given up on a break even system and moved on to something else way before a year was up. I think amatuers like myself want intstant results and profits, whereas the true pros are very patient and are fully aware of the big swings they will encounter due to varience. Allan Woods, kept on fine tuning his computerised system until it became a goldmine for him.

Racing at all level is more art than science. I scoff at the use of systems and computers to aid in the process of beating the races.

Those people that have said they have beaten the races are the ones that make money writing books about it and selling their tips or their systems. If there really was anybody that could win consistently, do you honestly think they would let anybody in on their methods or winners?