The time has come....

Hey All,

I'm surprised it's been a month since I last posted, time sure does go quickly.

It's a special day for Australian racing fans, the horses birthday - the day they all get a year older. It's also the first day of the new racing season - the perfect point to draw a line in the sand and change approaches to ones that can work.

The other thing that comes into play is a personal one - I turn 40 a week from today. It's a pretty safe bet that around half my life is done and dusted and while there have been plenty of positives and I wouldn't be where I am without having travelled the journey I have, I do have one thing I really need to fix. That one thing is my punting and the flow on from that to my finances.

So from today and into the future a couple of new things come into play. My punting this year will be fully budgeted for, structured and recorded. I am determined to make money this season / year and set up a solid base to build off. The other is putting a personal budget into place - money allocated for different parts of my life, I want to have fun still - and will do - but it will be within my means for a change. These things should have been in place all along, but hey - they haven't been so it's about time that changes.

In terms of punting - my betting will have 6 parts

Part 1 - Betfair - Play / Lay / Dutch

Starting with a bank of $100 I'll risk 10% of my bank with each bet to try and build a bank of $1000. I realise that 10% of the bank is high BUT that will add pressure to limit my bets to more solid prospects.

The 3 bets types are

Play - either 10% to win or 5% each way (win and place) on the my selection

Lay - laying to risk 10% of my bank - with a maximum price of $5 or 4/1 in the old

Dutch - to a maximum of 2 runners - once again betting to risk 10% of my bank

Minimum return I will accept on a bet is $1.25 before commission - so I will be backing some short ones provided I believe they are value at the short odds.

Part 2 - The Exotics

Once again starting with $100 bank and aiming for $1000 I'll play the quaddies and Big 6's across the gallops, trots and greyhounds in Sydney and Melbourne. Initially my focus will be on the Friday night trots, Saturday gallops and Saturday night greyhounds.

Bets will be $6 quaddies and Big 6's on the trots and greyhounds and $12 on the gallops. I expect to have to top this bank up a few times before I hit a result but fingers crossed it isn't long before I crack something worthwhile.

Minimum percentage taken will be 10% on quaddies and 1% on Big 6's

Part 3 - Sports

Watch this space but I'm hoping to get together with a mate and run something around sports.

Part 4 - Casino

This one is down the track a little - I'll save a bank to take to the casino to hit the tables with

Part 5 - Poker

Once again, down the track a little but I'll fund a poker account or two and play some live poker to see how I go.

Part 6 - The Lotteries

Every so often I'll get a ticket in the lottery to try for a big jackpot - I wasn't originally going to record these but it makes sense to complete the picture.

There will be a few bets outside the system but these will be limited.

The first of these will be bets on my own horses - i.e. Soul Diva and Etolie Vitesse - both of who won their last starts - GO YOU GOOD THINGS!!!

The second is race days with mates which will contain a mix of official bets - fully recorded and accounted for - and shared bets with mates that will come out of my social budget rather than my betting one - i.e. out of my budget for the day out.

The third and last is nights out with mates that may involve a few dollars in the pokies, through the TAB or on the tables - once again out of my social budget

For me, this is all about taking control and seeing what happens. I'll post bets before hand where possible, where not possible I'll post results and updates on a frequent basis.

It's all a bit exciting and to be honest a little scary, but the time has come.....

All the best everyone