A Guide To Laying
What type of layer?
Once again this is a highly subjective question, which only you the layer yourself can answer. Given the relationship of the likely reader with the Daily Donkey service, I am going to assume for the most part, that the reader would like to lay the horses selected by that service. The importance to ground rules when one starts laying horses is absolutely imperative. The fundamentals in any form of speculation, be it pot belly commodities or laying horses are research, patience and discipline.
Why the importance of research?
The market will always form itself based on liquidity, your job as a layer is to use your own market intelligence, from personal research or using tools such as the Daily Donkey for example to assist you. In effect, you are trying to find examples when the market is wrong and out of sync with your research/information. This could be underlined in an example were there is a substantial draw bias against low drawn sprinters at a certain track, but the even money favourite is drawn 2, in that instance the price of the horse is wrong and has to be laid accordingly.
Patience.
There has never been so much racing, lets face it there has never been so much sport, there have never been so many opportunities to be a layer.? I know we talk about horseracing substantially on the Daily Donkey to the exclusion of all else, but now we have weekend racing, all weather racing, evening racing and racing from the US and around the globe freely available on our tv screens and of course on our Internet monitors. The point I am trying to make here is that it will pay to be selective in the events that you want to play in. If the odds aren’t necessarily as you like them, well you can sit this event out, because there will be another event along in a just a few minutes.
Discipline.
This may be linked to the whole concept of patience, but discipline is the single most important virtue, regardless of what type of layer that you are. Any layer has a staking plan that they are comfortable with and the important thing is to stick with it. Regardless of how the results go, there is no point in chasing losses, there are at least 20 races again tomorrow. Be ruthless with yourself and if needs be – turn the machine off and walk around the block and come back to it. If you are not breathing normally and seeing laying as a clinical function, then you are punting on the other side. Stay in control always.