One of the fun things about doing this 363 days a year is managing a declining active bankroll.
See, for every wager I make I expect to lose at worse, 3% pre-rebate. So while rebates are accumulating and paid or redeeemed later, the active bankroll is ….actively decreasing.
This is a challenge because the money in your account is an in your face reminder of what kind of day you’re having.
A declining bankroll triggers chasing and playing races outside of your plan (both staking and race/wager selection). The worst is when both of these poor decisions happen at the same time: chasing and betting more on a race or runner you wouldn’t have otherwise bet on.
I wrote this post as a reminder to myself to not get worked up over short term swings in bankroll, or even slowly depleting bankroll. Stay steady.
If you’re going to chase, chase on something with a short price that you liked except maybe for the price. If your staking is going to increase (which is almost always a bad idea unless you are very, very sharp) be sure the odds are going down. Landing a Hail Mary in horse racing is a tough business, heck even landing a favorite t can be excruciatingly painful.
