Horse racing is one of Australia's oldest and most loved sporting past times.
Unlike other sports which tend to attract specific and narrow socio-demographic classes, horse racing attracts people from all walks of life.
From the aristocrats who derive interest from investing parts of their vast fortunes in blood stock, to the working class punter who bets some of their spare change on a 'good thing'. You will see this diversity on any race day at an Australian race track, the glitz and glamour of the members and V.I.P areas to the more casually dressed people betting in the general public sections of the racecourse.
Although different in their needs and wants in general life, the common desire that this diverse racing audience shares is the contest to bet on a winner and to beat the bookmakers. To experience the feeling of your colours passing the winning post first before any other horse in the race.
Form Analysis
To show that you, the punter, has passed the ultimate test of form analysis, or that you are privy to the most accurate racing sources to glean the best information available on the race. It's this challenge that brings racing fans back week after week to the exciting 'Sport of Kings'.
Some punter's interest in racing relates to the challenge involved with analysing their racing form guide to eliminate the less hopeful horses and arrive at one or two selections that they will bet on. Other people who enjoy betting appreciate the test of skill involved with form analysis but don't mind checking in to see what some of the more astute betting public and racing form analysts in the media think about their horse's chance of winning the race.
The reliance placed on some media tipster's selections like Mark Hunter and Deane Lester, is quite significant for punters who are looking to elevate their confidence on their selections before they bet. Both of these form experts offer a range of information on race day including comments on every race on the major Melbourne metropolitan race card, information on every horse racing at the track, speed maps for every runner, quaddie numbers, their tips for each race and their best bets.
Other racing enthusiasts who find themselves short of a winner on race day or who are having a bad run with their betting choices are just looking for a tip in the race that they want to bet in. They don't have time to analyse the form, develop a betting system or price the market for each race on the program.
They are looking towards other people with superior knowledge of the form, including fellow punters, form analysts, tipsters and racing commentators for their tips. Their are many racing enthusiasts who post their tips on the web so finding the genuine ones who actually make a profit from their selections is the challenge. The best way to ensure the validity of the tips you buy or take from the public domain is to ensure they are verified by an independent source.
Any Tips
There is no better way to get the assurance that you need about the tips you take than to check the profitability of the person from whom you are getting the information. More and more professional racing form analysts and smart punters are posting their horse racing tips for others to access while making their results and profit history available for the public's reference.
Regardless of whether someone's tips are offered for free in the public domain or have a charge associated with them in the form of a tip package, racing fans need to ensure that the person posting the tips is making a profit from them otherwise it becomes a case of the blind following the blind. The other alternative for people looking for guidance on race day is to back bet the tipster by investing in their Daily Punters Club.
In this case the investor only forgoes a small percentage of the profit made from the bets placed by the tipster or the professional gambler running the club. This means if the tips don't make a profit then then the investor doesn't pay a cent more than the invested amount. Punters Clubs are becoming an ever more popular way for racing enthusiasts to benefit from other people's knowledge of racing while increasing the level of social enjoyment obtained from horse racing.
Typically the mechanics of an on-line Punters Clubs are such that each member of the club contributes a certain amount of money each week, fortnight or month into the Club Bank.
Racing Fans
One or more members are designated to do the betting for a round which usually goes for seven days. Some clubs chose to bank a proportion of the total funds collected while others chose to bet the lot. Racing fans who like the idea of betting with their mates prefer to set their punters club up on-line to eliminate the work required for the Club Manager. By setting up and running everything on the web, mates betting together have their payments automatically deducted from their credit card, or alternatively, pay from their bank account on-line.
All members are automatically notified as soon as bets are placed and when race results are released.
There's a detailed club financial statement so that everyone can understand exactly where their funds and betting returns have gone and more importantly to know the exact total of their own personal share which they can cash out at any time into their betting account. Betting with your mates on-line adds a degree of excitement that people don't get from betting on their own.
Fellow members can post friendly banter if someone is not pulling their weight or alternatively post a few lines to boast about their fantastic horse selection skills when they bet on a winner. The feeling of a winning bet is multiplied many times over when everyone in your club knows about it.
Punters Clubs can also be used for other purposes too. Rather than a social setting where mates can come together for a mutual beneficial goal, racing fans can start a Daily Punters Club where another person who reviews their betting history can invest in their club and only pay if bets turn a profit. Payment is taken as a small percentage of profit from the bets made with the investor's money, which means the investor doesn't have to put up any more cash other than the amount they want to bet with.
Buying Racing Tips
So instead of buying horse racing tip packages and then having to outlay your cash on each tip, the investor pays only if they win, which is a lot easier to swallow. Whatever way people choose to arrive at their bets, the excitement of having one or a few good things in a race and riding it home to the winning post will never go away.
As long as there is a challenge for punters to beat the bookmakers there will always be a punter, and while there's punters looking for a bet, horse racing will be always be alive and well.