The prospect of collecting huge rewards with small outlays is what punting is all about for the vast majority of bettors in Australia. This is what makes All-Up betting so appealing.
Trifectas have the same lure. Get the first three in a race and you could walk off with thousands. The fact that it rarely, if ever, happens for small punters doesn't stop them wagering millions of dollars in trifecta bets every week.
The advent of All-Up betting has transformed the punting scene for small bettors. Used properly, All-Up betting can give you fantastic returns for small outlays. In the case of the Amazing Yankee method, the subject of this article, you can score thousands of dollars with an outlay of only $33 (using $1 betting units; it could be half as much as that on 0 cent units).
This is the beauty of taking the fullest advantage of All-Up betting by operating in linking all your selections into doubles, trebles and four-horse (or dog) accumulators. On the day you strike well, the money flows in.
We concentrate first on selecting four horses and coupling them up (which we discussed in some detail in the July issue of P.P.M.). This gives you six doubles, four trebles and one four-horse accumulator. You can play these four horses for a win or a place; it's up to you.
With the Amazing Yankee method, you go a step or two further than this. You select six horses on a programme and arrange them in three sets of four. The 'quartettes' are then arranged to enable you to cash in well when your selections are successful.
The sole drawback for TAB punters is that you have to fill in 33 tickets! That doesn't take too long once you get the hang of linking the horses together. Just label them A, B, C, D, E and F and you can't go wrong.
Now the first thing you have to do to operate the Amazing Yankee is to select SIX horses on the programme. We'll assume you have gone through the form thoroughly-as you always should-and that you have picked out the six top chances, irrespective of worrying about prices, although my advice is to steer clear of odds-on chances, as in the long-term they are a dead loss unless you are very, very selective in backing them.
Once you have your six horses you arrange them in race order into the categories of A, B, C, D, E and F. Now study the following pattern carefully:
- The first Yankee consists of horses A, B, C, D.
- The second Yankee consists of horses A, B, E, F.
- The third Yankee consists of horses C, D, E, F.
The way these three Yankees are set up ensures that if any FIVE of in then one of the your six horses w, three Yankees will contain four of the winners in the same Yankee. This will make it certain that you get a Yankee up and that you will strike your six doubles, four trebles and one accumulator. But the other Yankees also will come into the act if you struck five winners-with extra doubles and trebles.
Your Yankees actually look like this when laid out:
| | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| Horse A | o | o | |
| Horse B | o | o | |
| Horse C | o | | o |
| Horse D | o | | o |
| Horse E | | o | o |
| Horse F | | o | o |
This should provide you with a clear idea of what you are doing. You have linked up your Yankees so that there is an overlap on all three.
Naturally, it's too expensive to link up all six horses completely, but you can do it if you wish. It would provide you with 15 doubles, 20 trebles and 13 four-horse accumulators. This would be a total outlay of $48 using $1 units.
The three-legged Amazing Yankee cuts down the cost and still provides you with a broad range of wins should your selections do well. If you happened to strike with all six horses-as is likely if you bet for a place-you would end up with every bet landed, 18 doubles, 12 trebles and three accumulators.
Let's have a look at a possible day's results should you be successful with Horses A, B, C and F.
A is 3-1, B is 2-1, C is 3-1 and F is 3-1. The linkup of A, B and C gives you three doubles and one treble. You also have Horse C linked with Horse F in a double, and Horse A in a double with F, Horse B in a double with F, and a treble of A, B and F, plus another A and B double.
This is a total seven doubles and two trebles. Your return on $1 units would be as follows (based on SP prices):
DOUBLESA + B = $12 + $12 on 2nd Yankee
A+ C = $16
B + C = $12
A+ F = $16
B + F = $12
C + F = $16
TREBLESA+B+C = $48
A+B+F = $48
Your total return, then, is $192 on a stake of $33. Had you been betting in $2 units for a stake of $66 you would have been returned $284. A $10 investment on each for $330 stake would have returned you $1,920.
You can see the enormous value in striking with your selections with this Amazing Yankee method. I recommend it particularly if you are betting for a place, as it is well within any punter's reach to score with five place bets out of six, or even the complete lot. Even with the smaller prices on the tote, the returns can build up.
A friend of mine had a $10 All-Up bet on four horses for a place at a recent Gold Coast meeting and got a return of more than $590 (that's $59 for $1).
To aid you in sorting out how many doubles, trebles etc., there are with any number of horses, the chart attached with this article will greatly help you.
| HORSES | DOUBLES | TREBLES |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | 15 | 20 |
| 7 | 21 | 35 |
| 8 | 28 | 56 |
| 9 | 36 | 84 |
| 10 | 45 | 120 |
As with all forms of betting, All-Up punting requires a careful, considered approach. It demands thought and cohesion in framing your bets. A scattergun approach is doomed to fail. You must couple your selections as well as you can, and this is where the Amazing Yankee comes into the picture.
Follow its rules and you will be treading a profitable path, providing your selections are the right ones (remember that no staking plan will work unless the selections can get home for you!).
By Statsman
PRACTICAL PUNTING - AUGUST 1987