Punters’ Paradise:
What do you remember about your first bet?
RHIG:
I'd had lots of bets at school - I used to run books on things like Christmas no1, but the first bet I remember having on was on Torjoun in the Derby - I think it's still running. 1989 that was.
"The first bet I remember having on was on Torjoun in the Derby - I think it's still running."
Punters’ Paradise:
Approximately what age would have been?
RHIG:
I was 15. I had been revising for my GCSEs and was trying to avoid the revision, so was channel hopping (only 4 channels in those days) and chanced upon C4 racing. It was Dante day and Big Mac was quoting odds for the Derby. I thought it looked rather interesting and took an interest from then on.
Punters’ Paradise:
Was there an interest in racing in the family?
RHIG:
Everyone asks that, Doc - I must be the only guy around where there wasn't an interest. My dad worked for Mirror Group and printed The Sporting Life, so he brought me free copies of The Weekender home when I started taking an interest, but that's about the only leg-up I got familywise. When I started the 6th form the following year there were three of us who used to go down the local Laddies in our school uniforms placing our 50p bets.
"When I started the 6th form the following year there were three of us who used to go down the local Laddies in our school uniforms placing our 50p bets."
Punters’ Paradise:
Well you're in the same boat as our last interviewee - there was no interest in my family either, so I'm still holding out hope of being a late bloomer! So, aged 15, you take an interest in the races - how did you place a bet - surely your local bookie wouldn't have accepted money from such a callow youth?
RHIG:
I asked my mum - I don't know why, I'd been drinking in pubs from around 14.
Punters’ Paradise:
Shocking! That wouldn't happen over here. And she was happy to oblige?
RHIG:
She was reluctant but that was more to do with her being a clueless woman who didn't really want to enter a smoky betting shop. Actuallly, I might still have some of those slips at home. Icould probably claim refunds on them if I was feeling so inclined.
Punters’ Paradise:
Tell me about your first big win.
RHIG:
Crikey. That's got me thinking. I can remember my first near big win - a footy bet I had when I was 16. I don't know why I bet it as I had no interest in footy - it was a 20p 5fold that netted £5.60.
Punters’ Paradise:
What did you do with the winnings - lashings of ginger beer and hot scones?
RHIG:
My friend begged me to cash it so that he would get the kudos. Seems bizzare now. The cashier must have thought "who the feck is this schoolboy clown?" My first near win was on a Magnificent 7. It's a particularly muggish bet foisted on the clueless by Laddies: 7 selections with singles and upwards on adjacent selections.
Punters’ Paradise:
Yes, I have heard of it - magnificent for Laddies maybe.
RHIG:
So, for example, the second selction is in a single, a double with 1&3, trebles with 1&3/3&4, fourfold with 1-3-4/3-4,5 etc. In this type of bet the middle selection is the lynchpin
Punters’ Paradise:
Who let you down?
RHIG:
I picked out 7 certs during the study period prior to lunchtime and about a half dozen people chipped in for shares in the bet, though I had the lion's share. I went back home that night and checked the results on teletext: winner, winner, winner...
"I picked out 7 certs during the study period prior to lunchtime and about a half dozen people chipped in for shares in the bet."
Punters’ Paradise:
Ouch. All these bets were on horses?
RHIG:
6 winners and a 3rd placed middle selection called Annete's Venture. So instead of winning a few grand we picked up about £40 for our £6 outlay. We had a ball that night (don't ask!) and I was later found outside a garage forecourt dribbling incoherently
Punters’ Paradise:
Still a nice profit.
RHIG:
Well it got me hooked but that day I'd have probably preferred to have had 7 losers
Punters’ Paradise:
A curious comment - why do you say that? The near miss factor?
RHIG:
The same reason why you hate it when you want £100 on, hit the wrong key and have £10 on - you want the beast to lose, even though you profit if it wins.
Punters’ Paradise:
You talk about picking 7 'certs' - by what process did you make them certs - you were new to this game, no?
RHIG:
Oh, we just looked at the form figures next to the horses' names. We liked 1s, 2s were good, 3s were ok etc
Punters’ Paradise:
Ah yes, the 'Doc' method of horse selection.
RHIG:
Actually we might have even followed a few of Chief's tips as it was usually The Indie we looked at (my mate read it).
RHIG:
It sounds pathetic but in those days, before competitive racing, you actually stood a chance of picking a few winners doing that.
Punters’ Paradise:
How long was it before you felt "I'm good at this, I can make some money here"
RHIG:
I had delusions during my undergraduate days. Bradford was very competitive for bookies and you could back tax free and get all sorts of concessions, so you didn't have to be that good to break even.
Punters’ Paradise:
Sure. And what kind of success were you getting?
"I started subscring to John Whitley's formdata, which gave me what I thought was an edge, although it was probably just a lucky streak to begin with."
RHIG:
I started subscring to John Whitley's formdata, which gave me what I thought was an edge, although it was probably just a lucky streak to begin with
Punters’ Paradise:
And things just developed?
RHIG:
Yeah. In my second year at Uni I went to the UCD and had a lot of time on my hands. It was then that I spent time deveoping my prototype tissue compilation method. I started gambling full time that summer as a sort of summer job.
Punters’ Paradise:
In Dublin - or did you return home?
RHIG:
I left the delights of Dublin for the UK. It was vital to bet tax free and to take prices, so you had to go to the course in those days
Punters’ Paradise:
So somewhere in there you developed the confidence that you could be a winner versus the bookies - do you remember any moment of epiphany?
RHIG:
Not really. The closest was probably when I was on a long losing run - I had gambled away virtually all of my previous winnings and had a horse called Pospi's Legacy down at 9/2 on my tissue...it was 40/1 (returned 25/1 SP) and I had it right off by my then standards. There's nothing like being out for the count and then blasting your way out of trouble. But there was no epiphany, no quantum leap
Punters’ Paradise:
What were you studying at Uni and did it help you in your 'quest'?
RHIG:
For my undergrad I did Politics/History. The main help was that it gave me a lot of free time, especially in Dublin. I'd already done maths for A-Level and took a few stats side courses at Uni. It wasn't until my postgrad days when I really learnt things that stood me in good stead.
Punters’ Paradise:
There have been debates on the forum recently about 'stats' versus 'form' styles of punting - would you have said you were mainly the latter at this stage, or had you moved into the analysis/modelling arena?
RHIG:
Psycholgy's important, especially in the days of exchanges, as well as the more obvious stuff like science and statistics
Punters’ Paradise:
True, but some people take an analytical approach to estimation of fair odds etc, others go more for 'pick a winner'
"I take an analytical approach. The only time I would risk money on a hunch is for 'in-running' betting."
RHIG:
I take an analytical approach. The only time I would risk money on a hunch is for 'in-running' betting where you don't have the time to take a step back and quantify things
Punters’ Paradise:
And it would have been the same then too?
RHIG:Not when I was a schoolkid, but from about 20 year-old onwards it would be. I don't actually like gambling these days, so I have to believe I've got an edge or I don't bother...
Read other parts of this inteview: Part 2 | Part 3
BBC
