You will encounter losing streaks in any system you decide to follow, whether it’s just plain old form study, paid for information, or selections given by computer programs.

The secret to enduring losing streaks is to stake correctly according to your bankroll size and always have a mentality that you will stick it out. If you are fully prepared to lose your kitty when you start then you must have the balls to see it through to the end.

There is no such thing as a system without losing runs. It’s going to happen and there is nothing you can do about it.

We have seen staking plans take kitties down to the last couple of bets only to turn around and end up profitable at the end of the season. If you have staked an amount you are fully prepared to lose in the first place and this worst-case scenario happens you can always start again!

How Can I Reduce My Losing Streaks?

This is not an easy question to answer. It is all about comfort and allowing your head to “detach” itself from losing. It will happen regularly and you must be able to cope. If not, then I am afraid this game is probably not for you.

Your estimated longest losing streak can be roughly estimated based on you strike rate and this information is available to you if you use the bet tracking system in your myTrackMate page.

Just add the odds and your stake size and TrackMate will do the rest.

It’s All About Comfort

If you feel comfortable making your bets, everything else gets easier.

Do not get complacent though. Do not get tempted to start “chasing losses” when in the middle of a losing run. This is a BAD thing to do.

Stick to your staking plan and you should be ok.

If you are using a method similar to us, which is 1% of bankroll per bet, you will have at least 100bets before your kitty runs out.

With careful selection processes, this should be more than enough.

The “Odds” of your selections.

Generally speaking the higher the odds of the selections you are backing, the less often they will win.

There is a lot of knowledge in the market and the odds offered are normally a fairly good indicator of the chances your selection has to win.

The secret is to find selections that the market look to have priced in your favour and offer good value should your horse win or place.

“Place Only” Bets

One way to reduce the length of losing runs is to start your journey with “place” only bets.

By using a betting exchange you have the ability to back your selections to place only. Although the profits take longer to accumulate, your losing streaks will definitely be shorter and your strike rate higher.

“Win / Place” Bets

Another good way of reducing “variance” is to place bets in both the “win” and “place” market. One of the many benefits of the betting exchanges is the ability to back your selections with “weighted” stakes.

For example: If your selection is trading at 5/1 or 6.0 on the exchange.

With a bookmaker, generally you would have to back the horse each way in order to get a return for the horse placing and bookmakers are not known for their generosity when it comes to pricing horses with firm place claims

You should be getting at least 4/1 when betting each way or your return on the place side of the bet is poor value. The minimum return on an e/w bet should be as close to break-even as possible.

On a betting exchange you would be able to split your stakes and back the horse in the “Place only” market. You would probably be able to achieve anything from 5/4-7/4 place only.

In this scenario if you placed what we call a 70/30 or 80/20 bet.

If you split your stake and placed 70% to place and 30% to win. You decrease the variance significantly and as long as your selection places your bet will be profitable.

You should always be looking for long term slow and steady profits. This is not a get rich quick scheme.