"How Do You Stop Chasing the Money You've Already Lost?"

Kingsley on SEN radio with racing.com. Segment courtesy of SEN x racing.com.

A punter wrote in with a problem I understand well. Four years of work and around 40,000 in losses, and now a system that returns a profit most weeks. The issue isn't the method anymore. It's the urge to win that 40,000 back at speed. My answer is simple, even if it isn't easy. The only useful direction is forward. The money you've already lost is behind you, and trying to drag it back fast is the quickest way to lose what you've just built.

Why looking forward is the only option

When I was coming through, I had one thought sitting in the back of my mind. I did not want to go back to where I was. That thought did a lot of work for me. It's so hard to build up to where you've got. Once you've done it, the last thing you want is to hand it back over a few impatient weekends.

So I look forward after a bad day and I look forward after a good day. Both of them are finished. It's about the next day. That's the same habit either way, which is the point. If you only reset after losses, you'll keep riding the good runs too hard.

One bad day can wipe out two good years

This is the part people underrate. You can be a good punter for a year, two years, and then have one bad day and wipe the whole thing out. It doesn't take a losing system to do that. It takes a single session where you decide to make it all back at once.

Greed is the risk on both sides. If you're behind, you push to catch up. If you're in front, you get overconfident, start chipping up and start thinking you've got the game whacked. It will whack you back in the face pretty hard. I've seen it and I've felt it. Consistency is what keeps you here, not one big swing.

Build up slowly and stay in the game

If you want to lift your stakes, lift them slowly. Increase by five per cent. Have a winning week, then increase by another five per cent. Slowly, slowly. Your bank grows with your results instead of ahead of them, and you're never betting at a level your system hasn't earned yet.

The other half of discipline is what happens before the jump. Sometimes I want to be on a horse and I don't actually think it's a good bet. That's a feeling, not a reason. Make sure every bet you have is one you're happy with come jump time. If it isn't, don't have it.

So be happy with where you're at. Keep your head, take your five per cent steps when you've earned them, and let the profit come at its own pace. Staying in the game is the whole job.

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

• "Which Punting Edge Have You Lost Over the Years?"
• "How Do You Analyse Your Losing Bets?"
• How Should You Stake a $1,000 Betting Bank?

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