Winning By the Book

What do you have in your hand when you walk into the dog track? Maybe the program you bought at the gas station down the road? A coffee? Your sunglasses? Cell phone? Well, there’s something else you should have on you, but most people never think to bring it to the track. You should have a book or if you’re not a reader, you should have something else that you can do between races and also during races when there’s nothing worth betting.

That might sound silly. There are tons of things to do at the track, Eb, I can hear you saying. I can get some food. I can talk to my friends. Hey, if my wife is with me, I can argue with her about the 4 she bet on in the last race that bumped my 8 and ruined my quiniela. I can watch the races, fer gawd’s sake, and see how the dogs run so I can bet on them another time. I can call my friends and see if they want me to put any bets on for them. Bring a book? What are you, crazy?

No, I’m not. See, if you don’t have something to do – a book to read or one of those little handheld poker games to play or something like that – you’ll end up betting races you don’t want to bet. Look, I’ve been going to the dogs for 30 yrs now (ask my Significant Other) and I’ve learned that one of the biggest reasons people bet on stuff that they don’t intend to bet on is boredom.

You get yourself a hot dog and a cola and you sit down to eat it and what do you do while you’re eating? You read your program. And you see a dog that looks a little better at second glance than it did at first glance, so you talk yourself into betting it. The dog runs out of the money and now you’ve spent money you were going to spend on a good dog in the last race. And you’ve got heartburn because you gulped your food.

Or you see a friend, so you start talking to him and he tells you about a dog the kennel people say is going to win for fun in the fourth race, so you put ten bucks on him to win and he gets bumped by a longshot and trails the field. You would have been better off reading a nice murder mystery, but instead you want to murder your friend for talking you into losing.

If you’d had something to do, you wouldn’t have been so eager to bet those dogs and your money would still be in your pocket. I bring a crossword puzzle book with me, even when my (SO) Significant Other goes with me. I can still talk, but if SO doesn’t want to, I can amuse myself. (If you’re like me and you’ve been married longer than you’ve been going to the track, you’ll understand why we sometimes run out of things to say to each other.)

So, don’t let boredom make you bet just for something to do. Bring a book. Bring a handheld game or something. Hey, do what my ex-fisherman friend from Maine does. Bring your knittin’. (He’s so big, no one makes fun of him.) But save your money and go home a winner by using your hands to do something other than throw money away.

If you’re not a winner, maybe you should invest in The Marks Method or the Two Key Trifecta System and turn your luck around.