You have to find value. There is no point in looking for the winner if the price you are going to get is bad

Professional Punter - Chris Broom

Professional punter Chris Broom has hit the headlines in recent times. Back in November on the last day of the flat he headed the 'Clean Sweep Syndicate' - a team of three who won more than £470,000 on the Tote Scoop6.

Last week he nearly added another £44,000 to his list of big wins by placing a Tote Jackpot bet at Lingfield. Going into the last race he held the only remaining ticket - a ticket which included the disqualified winner Dispol Evita.

Chris is a loyal user of Flatstats. He has used our statistics for over a year and always has good words to say about the site.

"I use your excellent site everyday, particularly for the breeding stats on the all weather and the draw analysis on the turf".

We called Chris to ask him a few questions, to try and find out what it is like to be a professional punter who knows how to win the at racing.

Q. When did you first start betting?
I started when I was 18, just betting to small stakes

Q. What was your biggest win before the monster Scoop6 win?
A jackpot win a few years earlier. It was a rollover during the Royal Ascot festival. We won about £165,000.

Q. What advice can you give to the small stakes Scoop6 / Jackpot punter
You have to include one or two outsiders. There is no point in going for all the favourites as you are not going to win much. But being realistic you are not going to win by choosing all outsiders. You just have to be different from the others and find just a few outsiders.

Q. Do you think the Scoop6 could be improved in some way?
The place part could be done away with and put onto the win pool. This should produce some bigger dividends but it is nice to have some consolation prize. What I would really like to see is a bet like the Double Trifecta in Hong Kong. This is a bet where you have to select the first, second and third in two races.

Q. How would you feel if you had actually chosen Battle Line instead of Dispol Evita?
Gifted, lucky. I have had no favour from the stewards in the past. You always seem to remember the worse decisions. You have to feel for the other smaller punters though who were on Dispol Evita. There is nothing worse than losing and feeling you have been robbed.

Q. Do you like to bet on other big payout bets like accumulators?
No. I just do singles and the jackpot or Scoop6 when there are big rollovers.

Q. Which races do you prefer to bet in?
Handicaps. There are so much more stats to go on. I like to look for statistical trends. I don't look at form because that is what the crowd will be doing and it will be hard to find value.

Q. When and why did you become a betting professional?
The Royal Ascot jackpot win started the ball rolling. I always wanted to make a living from betting. I enjoy it. I am very fortunate it has worked out.

Q. How long do you spend finding winners?
I spend a couple of hours each morning looking at the runners and that's it. I will look at each runners chances and work out the probabilities and then set a minimum price I would want so I can get value.

Q. What advice can you give to the small singles backer?
You have to find value. There is no point in looking for the winner if the price you are going to get is bad. You have to set your value price and choose if you should bet or not.

What I have learnt by being a professional is that you have to have the right mental approach. There is a fine line between winning and losing at this game. I used to be a hopeless punter, but I developed a technique to stay calm under pressure and survive the bad days. You have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.

Q. Do you prefer to bet with bookies or on the exchanges?
Most of my bookie accounts were closed down. I love betting on the exchanges. I can go on there and bet anonymously and find some good value bets. Betfair have really shaken things up. It is a real revolution. I am all for it.

Article created 14-Jan-2002.