Money Management Tips to Make Horse Racing Handicapping Profits

Horse racing is a demanding sport and requires great skill and discipline to be a winner whether you are a jockey, trainer, or handicapper. The horses also work very hard but they are disciplined by the grooms and trainers, so we will give them credit for their efforts on the track, but not for being disciplined.

One of the problems about betting on horse races is that it becomes an emotional experience. It is almost impossible to work hard at handicapping a race and to believe that a horse or horses will perform well and then to back up that opinion with your own hard earned cash, and then not to have strong feelings about the race. It just isn't human nature. In many respects, discipline in almost any endeavor goes against the free spirit and human nature, but the people who manage to rise above those feelings and to control themselves are the ones who usually do the best in the end.

You see it in other sports as well as in horse racing and gambling. For instance, while a football player has to be passionate and emotionally charged to give his best on the field, he also has to be disciplined enough to work hard at training and to control his thoughts and focus on the game and task at hand. Poker players have to be passionate to be really great players, but must also control their emotions, especially after a bad beat, or they will lose it all.

In horse racing handicapping, money management is of paramount importance. It isn't just about using a good system and routinely picking winning bets that pay well, but also about managing your money to get the most from it. Here are two tips that will help you to be a more profitable player whether you do it just for fun or as a profession.

1. Keep accurate notes about your bets and the reason(s) you made each bet. Then refer to those notes to see where you are strong and weak, and then, most importantly, make changes to improve your performance.

2. Bet a percentage of your bankroll and keep it the same whether winning or losing. For instance, let's say you are using a bankroll of $1,000. If you bet in increments of $50 bets, you will be able to make 20 bets before going broke, right? But if you wager a certain percentage of your bankroll you will always have the same number of bets ahead of you and your cushion will never change. For instance, if you bet 5% of your bankroll and lose, your bankroll is now $950. 20% of $950 is $47.50. If you lose again your bankroll balance is now $45.13. Naturally you can round off the numbers to the nearest whole number.

As you can see, as you lose you lose less and less so that you keep your bankroll. On the other hand, when you win your bankroll increases and you will have larger bets. In horse racing handicapping it is not uncommon to have winning and losing streaks and this kind of wagering will keep you solvent. The first rule of horse racing betting is to protect your bankroll.

The key to controlling your emotions is to think in terms of bets and to realize that while each bet is important, no bet is the beginning or the end. Each is just one of a series and part of a group of bets that you are making. That logic will help you to keep things in perspective and avoid going on tilt when you lose or getting wild and careless when you win. Combined with a good system, this form of money management and note keeping will make you a winner.

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