"How Do You Handle a Long Losing Run as a Professional Punter?"

Recorded August 2025 for The Grind Ep 4. Any figures mentioned are from that time.

Every punter hits a run where nothing lands. I'm in one now, and it's been six weeks. The way I handle it is the same way I've handled it for twenty-five years. I don't stop analysing my own results. I don't stop trying to make the model better. I don't stop trying to make my selection process better. The work doesn't pause because the results have gone against me. If anything, that's when the work matters most.

Never think you have it worked out

The biggest trap in this game is thinking you've got it sorted. As soon as you believe you have it all figured out, it slaps you in the face pretty hard. So I don't allow myself to sit there satisfied. I keep pulling the results apart. I keep testing. And if it means bringing in something from the outside, any piece of data I don't already have, I'm always on the lookout for it. I want to add different things in and see if they improve what I'm doing.

That's not panic. That's just the job. The model is never finished. My selection process is never finished. There's always another angle, another bit of information, another way to tighten it up.

What a bad run actually looks like

I want to be honest about the shape of it, because people only ever see the good months. I started with the new model and I won in March. I won in April. I won in May. Then there were two weeks that were great. And then it turned, straight in the face. That's how quickly it goes.

I didn't think I had the game beaten during those three months. I never do. But the swing from that to six weeks of nothing is still a punch. The emotional side is real. Anyone who tells you they feel nothing during a losing run isn't being straight with you.

The difference now is that you're watching it happen. You're seeing the ups and the downs firsthand. That's the life of a professional punter. It isn't a smooth line going up. It's months that work, then a stretch that doesn't, then the work you do in between.

Why I refuse to be defeated

This isn't my first bad run. I've had a hundred bad runs. That's what twenty-five years gives you. Every one of them felt like the current one feels. And every time, the answer was the same. Put your head down and keep going.

I've made up my mind that I won't stop. I'll keep moving forward and do everything it takes to make this thing work. I'll put every bit of effort I can into it. Keep running at me, because in the end I won't stop until I've got it right.

I know exactly what to do. The plan doesn't change because the last six weeks hurt. I won't be defeated by it, and that mindset is the only thing that's carried me through the other ninety-nine runs like it.

If you're in a bad patch yourself, the useful move is to go back to your own numbers rather than away from them. Look at what your process is actually doing, test it, and look for something you're missing. Then keep going.

Every race on the card, rated, with Kingsley's selections and the speed maps behind them. Your first day is free, no card needed.

More from Kingsley

• Why Betting Against Top Weights Pays in Group Races
• "What Should I Do When My Punting Gets Out of Control?"
• Why Is a Horse $2 When the Ratings Don't Support It?

From the full video: The Grind Ep 4 | Turning Ratings Into Profits – Real Betting Analysis & Mindset in Action

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