Everyone wants to make money from their betting. No one places a bet hoping they will lose their stake. But when you have truly made the decision to make your betting pay long term, then you need to stop betting for entertainment sake. You will pay for entertainment, but developing an income stream from betting requires discipline and demands that you start to live by a few rules.

Set Aside A Betting Bank
You should never – I repeat NEVER – bet with money you can ill-afford to lose. Not only will this put you under a great deal of emotional pressure, it may also lead you to make stupid decisions in order to recoup losses. The end result is that you will degenerate into becoming a gambling addict and the chances are that you will lose everything you currently possess in the process. Point made?

The professional way to bet is to set aside a ‘betting bank’. This is a sum of money which you could – if the worst happened – comfortably afford to lose. I started with a betting bank of £100, but you can start with whatever amount suits your personal situation.

It is far better to start with even a £20 bank and bet with very small stakes, comfortable in the knowledge that you can afford to lose it all should the worst happen, than it is to ‘borrow’ money which should be used to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head.

The best solution, in my opinion, is to take a sum of money – a sum you have decided to invest in your betting activities – and open a Betfair account, and place that money in the new account. This will serve as your separate betting account.

Ignore Your Emotions
In the world of professional betting, your emotions are your enemies. Emotions lead people to chase losses, or to stake more or less then they had originally planned, and ultimately they will ensure that you never succeed in making any real money.

If you don’t believe me here, just take a look at the people in any betting office. The vast majority of punters bet on what horse they ‘fancy’ or according to how they ‘feel’. As a result they go home with empty pockets and sour faces, no doubt wondering how they are going to pay the electricity bill the received that morning.

When you are formulating or placing bets, leave your emotions out in the cold. Don’t worry about whether you feel good, bad, or indifferent. Instead operate like a master surgeon – purposefully, clinically, and objectively.

Spread Your Risk With A Portfolio
Nearly all betting systems, methods, strategies and tipsters go through cycles of profit and loss. If you follow just one strategy, and that strategy is returning a loss, albeit temporarily, then this can put pressure on you. Just as with speculating on the stock market, it is the wise investor who spreads his risk rather than keeping all his nest eggs in one basket.

If you are pursuing more than one method, then the likelihood will be that even if one system is showing a current loss, the others will be profitable. Overall you are more likely to stay ahead if you have more than one string to your bow. You should be continually testing betting systems and tipsters, with a view to adding the good ones to your portfolio.

Have a plan – and stick to it
On any given day, you should formulate your bets, place them and then stop. Do not try to recoup any losses or achieve additional gains by deviating from your original planned bets. This is what the mug punters do, who bet for the thrill as opposed to the investment opportunity, and it is this that leads to their downfall. If your methods do not highlight any bets on a particular day, have the discipline to keep your money safe – and enjoy a day without betting.

The average punter places a bet. If he loses he places another bet which he really isn’t sure about so that he stands a chance of winning his money back. Most often this second bet loses too, so he places a third, and then a fourth, and is crying into his beer by the end of the day.

Even if the average punter wins, he still loses. He puts £5 on a horse and it wins at say 6/1 – he now has £35 in his pocket. Instead of calling it a day he gets greedy and puts the whole lot on a dead cert odds on favourite in the next race. It falls at the first fence and our punter wonders what the hell happened!

By having a plan and sticking to it, you protect yourself from making these kind of silly mistakes. Instead you begin acting like a seasoned professional and in doing so you set yourself up for long term financial success.

About the author: Flo Jordan's computer program highlights value bets that can make you a profit long term. He offers access to this computer program through his horse racing service Go With The Flo. Visit www.FloJoRacing.com for a ten day trial.

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