Expert: Jim Johnson - 10/19/2009

Question
I was considering gambling online.  My knowledge of horse racing is limited.  Do you know if there are any mentors/teachers out there who could coach me privately for a month or so via email/phone calls?  I  know there is a lot to learn and want to go slowly.
thanks!

Answer
Good morning Michael:

Thanks for your question - and let me say that you are going about this the correct manner.  There is so much that you need to learn prior to ever making a wager.  

Most people just jump in with both feet and before they know it they have hopelessly lost so much money that they cannot ever recover.  Not only do you need to know about handicapping the horse races, you need to learn how and when to wager.

I do not know of any particular person that does private tutoring, but I can direct you in the correct path.

There are a lot of books out about horse racing and most of them can be found at your nearest library.  Go look and see if you can find some good books - read them and then try to get some more.  There is one book that I would recommend "Winning At The Track" by David Christopher.

I am going to give you a link to all of the thoroughbred, harness racing, and greyhound tracks in the US - it is www.trackinfo.com.  Each track has a little bit of ifree nformation about handicapping and/or wagering.  Spend some time just reviewing their websites.

What makes any kind of racing so complicated?  Each State has a Racing Commission whose job is to try to make each and every race as equal as possible in the ability of the participants.  You can go to any track and just look at the pick sheets for sale - for instance, I work at Oaklawn and we offer about 20 pick sheets for sale daily - I would venture to say that for some races, there are not any two sheets which pick the same horses.  

There is one website, that has over 200 videos (free) for you to watch that describe how their pick sheets work in certain instances - www.fullcardreports.com - and their specialty is long shots or horses that pay a premium when they win; horses that pay at least 8 to 1 on your wagers.

I would try to find as much free information as possible prior to actual placing a wager - there is a lot to learn.  But if and when you decide to purchase a book or a system, I think that my book on handicapping "The Perfect Speed Handicapping System" - $29.95, is one of the best that exists because it describes the sport of horse racing, gives you insight as far as what goes on at a track behind the scenes, discloses a lot of stuff that you won't read anywhere else, and indicates or teaches wagering techniques of a professional gambler.  My website is www.puppies-or-ponies.com and I offer racing books on both greyhounds and thoroughbreds - check it out.

Finally, after you feel you know enough to venture some wagers, and you specifically mentioned "online gambling", there are a lot of sites to choose from.  I like the Greyhound Channel (www.paydog.com) out of Oregon that has a lot of tracks from which to choose, greyhound, harness or thoroughbreds.  Brisnet also has a wagering site - www.brisbet.com.

Feel free to check out my website - there is a link on the home page that will give you my email address, and give me a shout if I can help you with any further information.

Again, thanks for your question and I hope I have given you some information you can use.  Also, please submit a rating for me if you feel like I have helped you.

Jim