1. Professional Horse Punter Training
2. Professional Horse Punter

Professional horse racing bettor. Rather than having a well-crafted plan at the track like many future successes, Holt was a total amateur with no concept of bankroll management. Through a stroke of luck, he managed to keep winning and turn his hobby into a lucrative career. But as much as Holt won on the tracks, he became an even bigger. Like all successful form punters, O’Sullivan acknowledges that you need an ‘edge’ or area of particular focus. One of his is the concentration on identifying, say, a stakes class horse before everybody else has. O’Sullivan’s approach is ratings driven but not exclusive to that. Pro punter alert is a tipping service for the people, we are a team of experts lead by the one and only key analyst “Pro” January 2018 we introduced our selections to the public via Facebook, our 7000 strong followers then allowed us to become a paid tipping service where Pro could focus on tipping & staking full time for members. High school mates Shane and Adam founders of Punting Baron bring you professional horse racing tips. Backed by years of experience and love of the sport, we specialise in Australian midweek and weekend race meetings. Follow us today and join in on the banter - We know horses!

The Punting Stars team recently caught up with a close friend and professional punter from Brisbane, QLD about how he handles his business in the wagering industry.

Trav does things a little differently to many other professionals out there choosing to outsource a lot of his handicapping information and follow a lot of other sources of sharp money.

Thanks for sitting down with us mate, let’s get right into it as I know you’re a very busy man!

When did you make the leap and start betting full-time, as a professional?

All good! I got going fully at the start of 2015. So I’ve been at it for a little over three years now. What a ride its been!

What’s your setup like at home – presuming that’s your ‘office’?

Yeah, I’ve got my office set up in a spare bedroom.

I have PC with two screens, a laptop, ipad and TV with Foxtel connected all in front of me.

All of the fundamentals! How many times have you questioned whether or not you were doing the right thing?

Definitely a few times during bad losing runs.

However, I have a strong belief that what I do will be profitable over the long term which I think is a very important mindset to have in this game.

Talk us through how many services you follow and the types of sports and racing jurisdictions that you are betting on…

I’m currently subscribed to seven horse racing tipping/mail services. It may seem a lot but most of them specialize per state so there isn’t much overlap and the ones I have now are a pretty good fit for me (I used to have a few more!).

Basically, I bet horse racing all around the country and in New Zealand too.

I also bet on a number of sports including NBA, NBL (thanks to you guys at Punting Stars!), NFL, AFL, NRL, Cricket and Golf.

You could say all of this keeps me pretty busy!

What process do you go through when deciding to follow a tipster?

Most of my current tipsters I’ve been following for a long time, even before taking up a full-time gig. The more recent ones that I’ve added have been recommended to me.

I think it goes without saying that you should always review a tipster’s results before jumping on board.

I also like to look at the consistency of the tipster profits and look for drawdown periods to see what to expect.

Then there is nothing like following a tipster with small stakes for a month or even longer just to get to know what the service is like and whether it will work for you.

Do you overlay any of your own filters to the raw tipster plays?

Yes absolutely. I’ve found that a lot of tipsters have areas where they continually lose or even are just breakeven at.

If you follow someone long enough and track the results you get to learn where their biggest edges lie and can then focus on the most profitable bets.

What’s the best lesson you’ve learned along the way thus far?

Always have a plan.

What I mean by that is decide who you are going to follow or what horses you are going to back for that day and stick to it.

I’ve found that whenever I don’t have a precise plan in place, I may end up betting some things that I normally would not.

Professional Horse Punter Training

Also – there is no last race, its just one big race day.

If you’re having a bad day on the punt, trying to “get out” in the last race isn’t the best idea.

What’s your favourite thing to bet on and what has been your most successful area?

I really enjoy the challenge of trying to make money on horse racing and so far that has also been my most profitable area to bet on.

How in-depth do you go in recording your results and vetting your tipsters?

Very in-depth. I track all kinds of data for each tipster.

This allows me to remain confident that each tipster or service will be profitable long-term and also allows me to make decisions to hopefully eliminate some losing areas like I talked about before.

Talk us through briefly a usual Saturday for you…

I’m usually on the computer by 7:30 am armed with a coffee. I live in QLD so at 8 am I need to be ready for any mail that drops after the minimum bet laws start.

I have Dynamic Odds open on one screen and then I’ve got my spreadsheet and browser on the other screen which I log into all my bookies (I never bet directly though Dynamic).

Emails on another screen and my phone for any services with app/text notifications.

Usually between 8 am and 9 am ill get a bunch of mail come through – some bets ill take straight away if the market is already moving on that runner and others I’ll monitor using Dynamic Odds.

As we know its massively important to get the best possible odds you can. I prefer to leave betting as late as I can if possible and have a look at the parade/track conditions but that isn’t always possible.

Mid-morning is usually a bit of a lull, I might have a race or two in New Zealand but otherwise, I’ll spend this time looking at any sports bets I have that day.

I also write down all my racing bets in a notepad so I can keep a track of where I’m at during the day, write notes on how each horse ran to put in my spreadsheet later and also make sure I don’t miss any races.

I find writing everything down is pretty helpful when following multiple services and betting all over the country.

By around 11:30 am the Aussie race meets are underway and then its pretty full on for the rest of the day… getting bets on, watching races and hopefully counting a few winners!

Like I said its all about setting myself up to get the best possible odds on each runner and also keeping an eye on betting moves, track conditions etc to make the best trading decisions throughout the day.

Once the racing is winding up, ill update my spreadsheet which takes some time so Saturdays, look at any night sports and possibly have a look at any early mail for Sunday racing. It never ends!

Who do you believe to be the fairest bookies in Australia and who do you bet with the most?

I find UBET to be pretty fair in terms of odds, markets and letting me on for a bet.

Topsport as well, they have always been easy to deal with – they’ll take a decent bet too.

I probably do about half my betting on the Betfair Exchange and the other half through the corporate bookies.

When it comes to corporates the books ill use whoever has the best odds if they’ll let me on but will always try and use UBET, TAB or Crown where possible as they have rewards points programs.

What’s your most memorable win or series of wins since you started betting full-time as a professional punter?

There have been a few $100 plus winners – they are always very memorable.

The biggest win was when I had $250 at 80-1 on a horse called Nayeli in the last at Randwick back in March 2015 for a 20K plus collect – was having a shocking day up until that point too!

and of course…. biggest loss or downswing?

Well I’ve been through tw0 big downswings over the 3 years and the first occurred right at the very start. What an introduction to full time punting.

Would you believe that in the first couple of months I lost around 50% of my betting bank!

I was definitely questioning whether i was doing the right thing right about then. Luckily i stuck to my processes and made it all back very quickly.

The next big downswing occurred during the early/middle part of 2017 where again I lost around 50% of my betting bank.

Once again I was able to recover those losses and importantly this latest downswing forced me into a full review of my previous 2.5 years of betting.

This review made apparent a number of losing areas that I have since cut from my betting along with other findings that I believe have made me a much more consistent and profitable punter.

What about the current wagering landscape in Australia would you change and why?

Obviously, it would be nice if bookies actually had to take the bets/odds that they advertise.

I believe that there should be minimum bet laws for all markets that bookies list and that they shouldn’t be able to just pick and choose who they take bets from.

What are you looking forward to most about 2018? Do you have any punting goals?

As I touched on above, I’ve spent a lot of time during the last six months or so working on getting more consistency to my results. I know its impossible to avoid downswings or bad variance but I believe that I can manage my betting better so to avoid the really bad downswings like I’ve experienced a couple of times.

I’m really happy with the current tipsters and strategies I’m following and after seeing some pretty good results during the back part of 2017, I’m hoping for a great 2018.

Thanks for your time mate, much appreciated!

No worries at all, look forward to following your NBL, AFL and Golf plays in 2018!

Feel free to follow Trav on Twitter: @TravisCarberry and also let Punting Stars know any questions you’d like us to ask Trav in Part 2 of the series coming soon!

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The late Clive Holt has one of the most interesting backstories of any
professional horse racing bettor.

Rather than having a well-crafted plan at the track like many future
successes, Holt was a total amateur with no concept of bankroll management.

Through a stroke of luck, he managed to keep winning and turn his hobby into
a lucrative career.

But as much as Holt won on the tracks, he became an even bigger success as an
author and betting expert.

That being said, let’s discuss Holt’s story further, beginning with his early
life, how he became a pro gambler, his legendary Fineform system, and the
various books he wrote.

Clive Holt’s Early Life

Little is known about Clive Holt’s early life. But before becoming a
professional gambler, he worked at the Electricity Board in England.

He was introduced to gambling by his father, who used to bet on greyhounds in
the 1960s. Intrigued, Holt started visiting racetracks in the early 1960s and
experienced moderate success for a beginner.

Unlike more tactical gamblers like Phil Bull, Holt was looser with his
bankroll management and didn’t even keep track of his records. Later on, Holt
would admit that he initially had no strategy and instead bet whatever was in
his pocket.

Nevertheless, Holt continued winning – including sums worth as much as
£1,000.

Learning Bankroll Management

While Lady Luck may have been on Holt’s side in the first few years, he began
developing acumen for horse racing betting.

But the same bad habits that plagued Holt in his early betting continued to
surface in the 1970s. Namely, he refused to keep proper records on his betting,
with his only tracking method being how much he came to and left the race course
with.

After a string of mediocre results, Holt decided to start keeping better
track of how he was doing.

“It probably had the greatest influence on my future success,” he recalled.
“As the figures and the percentages built up before me, it was clear that I was
becoming more and more analytical.”

Thanks to his analytics, Holt was able to determine what types of bets were
most profitable for him. This allowed him to better manage his bankroll, survive
losing streaks, and eventually become a long term winner.

Clive Holt Becomes a Pro Gambler

No longer coming to the track without a plan and betting whatever was in his
pocket, Holt started feeling more confident in his skills.

By the mid-1970s, he experienced a strong run over several weeks that earned
him more money than he could make in two years working at the Electricity Board.

This convinced Holt to quit his day job and pursue a professional gambling
career. Years after first walking into Merseyside’s Haydock Park as an amateur,
he was now betting for a living.

“I set off for Chester on the 6th May 1975 in a new Ford Ghia Capri, in a new
suit and in a new job,” he recalled. “My first bet was £67 to £30 on Western
Jewel with Roy Christie on the rails down to a ticket number. The horse won by
two lengths and was never in any danger.”

Long gone was the man who would bet everything he had at once in pursuit of
big scores. In fact, even as a professional, Holt never won more than £1,000 at
a time, thanks to his disciplined approach and moderate bets.

Unfortunately for Holt, he became too successful at wagering on horses, and
both William Hill and Coral closed his accounts in 1978.

It wasn’t uncommon for UK betting shops to close the accounts of successful
bettors. But this made it harder for Holt to find action and forced him to do
the majority of his betting at race tracks.

A Life of Luxury Cars and Vacations

Perhaps more than any other bettor, Holt enjoyed talking about all the
material possessions that professional betting afforded him.

He claimed to have purchased luxury and classic cars like a BMW, De Tomaso
Pantera, Jaguar, and Lotus.

Holt also boasted of taking his wife and four children on holidays to Africa,
America, Australia, the Canaries, Caribbean, Hong Kong, Israel, Mediterranean
Coast Singapore, and the United States.

He also purchased a family home in the country that featured stables,
numerous acres, and quick access to a training center for his horses.

Holt was quick to state that had he still been working his job with the
Electricity Board, he never would’ve been able to live this lifestyle. He also
claimed that he could’ve quit betting on horses at any time if a more lucrative
opportunity arose.

Considering that Holt sold books, it’s unclear whether or not he boasted of
his luxury cars, exotic vacations, and large house as a means of driving up
sales. But given his success as an author, Holt’s image of driving Jaguars and
vacationing in the Caribbean didn’t hurt his cause.

General Betting Advice from Holt

Holt was well known for making at least four visits to the track personally
every week, usually from midweek until Saturday. This differs from some
successful bettors, who send others to the track to place wagers for them.

Holt not only felt that these personal visits made it easier for him to see
the horses’ form, but he also enjoyed the atmosphere while betting.

He was adamant that you know the recent form of a horse and only bet on ones
who are running at their peak.

“One vital ingredient for successful punting is that you’ve got to be
confident that your selection can win,” Holt explained. “Horses with good recent
form, preferably winning form, running against limited opposition within their
class, when at their peak, progressing or improving – do win the majority of
races, all year round.”

He added, “They are a constant source of winners for anyone to exploit.
Almost every winner worth backing falls into this category which is broadened
even further by the four pros: proven, progressive, promising, and profitable.”

Holt’s Fineform Ratings System

Holt’s most famous betting strategy is the Fineform Ratings system. This
system was originally sold as a small book with 28 pages, this work deals in
both general advice and how to effectively use the system.

The first part of the book discusses the lofty expectations that many bettors
set for themselves when starting out. Later, Holt dives into how one can
effectively use his system to rate horses on both flat and hurdle courses.

To begin discussing Fineform Ratings, let’s start by looking at the scoring
system that Holt used to rate horses:

Professional Horse Punter

All horses are assigned points based on their last two races, with the
maximum possible score being 12 points. The horse that finishes with the most
points is the one that you’re supposed to bet on.

If two runners tie for the top spot, then you should award an extra point to
a distance winner.

In the book, Holt stresses that this is a proven system that will produce
winners when done right. He supports this theory with stats and results showing
the importance of good form, the course, and distance.

Points to consider with the Fineform Ratings strategy is that there was no
all-weather category when this strategy was published, and the flat and national
Hunt seasons have off seasons.

For all weather racing, January represents the off season, meaning a horse
could go a couple of months or more between races. If you see a situation like
this, it’s harder to use the Fineform Ratings system to predict good form.

Although considered a unique and valuable system when it was released over
two decades ago, Fineform is considered an antique strategy by today’s
standards.

First off, it lacks the complex statistics that are made available to bettors
today through databases and software programs. These days, there are much more
analytical and refined betting systems for horse racing.

Another problem is that virtually anybody can use Fineform because it’s such
an easy method. As is the case with any betting strategy, it’s hard to find a
winning angle when any amateur can use the same system.

But given the age of Fineform, it’s possible that many overlook it today,
meaning you could revisit it and perhaps add your own twist to experience
success.

Clive Holt Books

Holt wrote several books, including the following:

• Profitable Betting Strategies – Published in 1993
• Be a Successful Punter: Win with Fineform as Your Guide – Published in
  1998
• Profitable Winners Always Back Value Winners – Published in 1994
• Fineform Winners Guide – Published in 1997

As you can see, Holt’s author career spread out over decades. Given that he
was just getting started in the early 1960s, it’s unlikely that he had any
profound gambling advice back then.

But Holt’s later works are / were highly regarded for both their general
betting advice and unique systems.

The Fineform Winners Guide would serve as his latest and most famous work.
But Be a Successful Punter and Profitable Winners Always Back Value Winners were
also big sellers too.

Despite Holt’s books and advice being decades old, many still read and
discuss his advice on forums.

Conclusion

Many people dream of quitting their day jobs to pursue a gambling career
because it offers the ability to earn a substantial income while betting on
races / games. But few ever achieve this dream because it takes considerable
time and skill.

This makes Clive Holt a rare breed since he eventually made enough money to
quit his day job and chase a dream.

Holt originally suffered from common beginner’s mistakes, such as having no
bankroll management plan and betting whatever amount he felt like in the
beginning. But after becoming fed up with mediocrity, he finally decided to take
things more seriously and develop a bankroll management plan.

The result was a success, as he identified what bets were most profitable and
put his money towards singles wagers, rather than multi bets.

According to Holt, his betting success allowed him to live a comfortable life
that also included the finer things like luxury cars and exotic vacations. But
it also got him banned at prominent betting shops like Coral and William Hill.

His combination of betting success and a lavish lifestyle served him well in
the publishing industry as he sold numerous books over the years.

By the time Holt died in the mid-2000s, he’d established himself as a legend
whose advice was worth following. As a testament to his visionary strategies,
Holt’s Fineform Ratings system is still used by gamblers today.