Happy New Year - Welcome to 2012 :)

Hey All,

Yes, I'm still about :)

2011 in summary, a year like so many others especially in terms of the punt. Made the traditional mistakes of betting on too many races and chasing loses. In terms of the bigger picture - same old same old - a lack of focus and meaning but hey - I've got a roof over my head, clothes on back, food to eat, am relatively healthy, have a decent job and most importantly great family and friends so not much to complain about really.

The things that can make things better are things I control - well should control - and simplest of those is budgeting - money management. So as a result, I'm giving up the punt.....

Just joking LOL

I probably should but after this long trying to find a way to beat the game, and all the lessons I've learned along the way, why stop now :)

That doesn't mean not changing though, I need to change and I have a few new things I'll be trying this year as a result.

The first is money management - this is not only in terms of the punt but overall, new budget goes into place as of today that will hopefully make everything run a bit smoother. This new budget has a set allocation for the punt, so it's taken into account as well - although if I'm winning the cash flow will be into the budget rather than out of it - that's the hope anyway!!!

In terms of betting - a few new things to try this year.

The first is getting my account structure right - I will open a TAB account in Victoria to go with the one I have in NSW - the idea behind this is that I can have more accurate figures of where I'm at. Sure I could keep the records myself. and probably should (and will to a degree), but this is an easier way. The bigger driver here is losing the cash bet side of things, bets will be through the accounts or not at all. Well almost, the exception here is social betting with friends, i.e. at the pub or races which will come out of my day to day budget rather than my punting budget. I know this sounds a bit weird but it makes sense in my head - so the $20 I throw into a quaddie with mates at the races, that we never seem to hit, is not part of my more "professional" punting.

The next is a bit bigger focus on the greyhounds. After meeting around 1/2 a dozen professional greyhound punters now, I can see the sense in what they do. Now I'm not talking becoming one of them, these guys are full time and know things inside out. I just want to skirt around the edges and apply some things I've picked up to see if I can turn a profit. Part of this is some work I've done on adapting my earlier racing ratings to the dogs - I'm still in paper trial mode but early figures are promising - watch this space.

In the meantime, Monday and Thursday nights will become Doggy Nights :)

I'll be looking to make a profit playing on Betfair - laying some and backing some, to see if I can make money. I'm pretty confident I can IF I focus and only bet when the outcome looks relatively obvious - e.g. a slow starting railer drawn the 8 box that's under the odds and worth a lay.

Saturdays will still be my horses day - they are the ones I really enjoy and want to stay involved with. Once again a small change in focus on what I was doing in the past - I do like the idea of sticking to Sydney and Melbourne racing in the main, but always being alert for opportunities in the other states and at lesser meetings. Betting here will be pretty diverse with win and lay bets on Betfair, exotics in most races and an attempt to see if I can turn a profit on quaddies and Big 6's. It won't be easy but I'm looking forward to the challenge :)

So there it is, a plan of attack for 2012 - well at least the start of it - I've set myself a 3 month time frame to see how things are going - if everything is on target at the end of March. I'll continue on - if not, it will be time for a tweak - either way, I'll be adding footy to the betting mix around that time.

New Years Day is always a good day to start afresh, with a clean slate and see if things can change - so that's what I'll do - wish me luck :)

I'll leave you with something that's driving part of this change, the quote from a shopping center billboard - believe it or not

"Life is not a dress rehearsal"

Spot on, I'd suggest

Thanks for looking in, I'll try and do at least a weekly update again so you can see how I'm traveling

All the best