Bill Peterson

Bill Peterson was lucky enough to have family members involved in horse racing and who knew a lot about horses. But even with that advantage, it took a long time before he ever showed a profit from playing the ponies. It made him realizes what the average person is up against when he or she decides to try to make a profit from the races.


Even though he got some knowledge and advice from the people on the backstretch, it still would have been nice to have a good handicapper tell me what he needed to know, whether or not he was wise enough to listen. Anyone who plays the races for a while, whether for fun or for a living, learns that there are a lot of life lessons to be learned from gambling and horse betting.


Take each suggestion and do what you will with it. No two lives are exactly the same, so the things he had learned may not mean much in your life, but you never know, you just may learn a few things from these tips that will help make life a little smoother.


The first thing he learned about gambling and playing the horses is that it is a tough way to make money. It looks glamorous at first, but when you actually do it to make the money to pay the bills, it can be very tough.


The second big lesson and the advice he would give to any beginning horse player is, don't expect anyone else to make you a good horse player. You may learn from other people but the final result, how you put all the information together and apply it in your life, is totally up to you.


Third on the list of lessons is that while things may work out fine on paper, they seldom go as smoothly in real life. You may keep records and do data studies til' the cows come home and think you have perfected the perfect horse racing system, only to lose your shirt when you start playing it. Therefore, here is a real good tip. Until you are rock solid sure of yourself and what you are doing, bet light.


Fourth on the list of things he has learned is that racing and gambling are insidious and can gradually take over your life and lead to losing your objectivity. After a while they seem more important than other people and the rest of your life. Don't let that happen. Most of our lives, the meaningful parts, takes place away from the race track.


Fifth of the lessons I has learned is that nothing works all the time. We handicappers tend to fall into ruts and when we find something that makes us money, we think it will last forever. Nothing could be farther from the truth. You must have a bag of tricks so you can try different things until you find what is happening at a particular meet at a particular time. Knowing when to zig and when to zag is probably the handicappers greatest gift.


Sixth and finally, keep records and notes and read them often so you can keep track of how you are doing and what you can do to improve yourself and your performance.


These six racing tips may seem simple, but they would have saved him many trips home with empty pockets and a heavy heart.