Punters often find ways of punishing themselves, in the short term, even when they have the best of intentions for the long haul. Over the last few weeks I have made a concerted effort to add betting on First Four's to my weekly efforts on the punt and I can tell you it is a journey worth documenting. It is easy enough calculating the number of combinations when you take A to win as a standout with 5 other horses for 2nd 3rd and 4th as it is just a matter of multiplying 5x4x3 = $60 for $1 units.

Punters often find ways of punishing themselves, in the short term, even when they have the best of intentions for the long haul. Over the last few weeks I have made a concerted effort to add betting on First Four's to my weekly efforts on the punt and I can tell you it is a journey worth documenting. It is easy enough calculating the number of combinations when you take A to win as a standout with 5 other horses for 2nd 3rd and 4th as it is just a matter of multiplying 5x4x3 = $60 for $1 units. If you have a $6 Flexibet you receive 10% of the $1 dividend however how many combinations are there if you take AB to win, CDE for 2nd and 3rd and CDEFG for 4th? Thanks to the Betting Calculator at www.tab.com.au it is just a matter of getting to the First Four page, entering the selections, ticking the Flexibet option and typing in the amount you are prepared to outlay for the race. Instantly the percentage return you receive is shown and you can then decide whether that percentage suits you or if you wish a higher return you can tinker with the $ amount until a satisfactory percentage is reached.

On Friday night, in between the Moonee Valley races, I tested all sorts of combinations and dollar amounts and eventually decided there had to be some commonsense adhered to before I outlayed large sums of money in an area I am the equivalent of an innocent baby. The commonsense suggested a maximum amount per race in line with a minimum percentage return was the right approach. I eventually decided on $20 as the maximum outlay per race and 8.33% as the exact percentage, or as close as I could get to one twelfth of all the combinations taken.


In Race 3 at Caulfield I had Avenue as the standout with 7 other horses and had 2nd and 3rd and left out my 8th selection in the race and you would not believe it (well, yes you would) but selection 8 slotted in for fourth. How wide do you? Luckily I am resilient and not prone to crying in public so I let that race slide into the past asap. I liked Lucky Secret in the Schillaci Stakes but how can you discount Apache Cat in any sprint wfa race and the run of Wanted in the Manikato Stakes had me thinking he was a chance as well. I took the three to run the quinella and had Paprika for fourth as well so received a 27.75% share of the First Four for my $10 outlay. If you remember I mentioned punters and punishment in the first sentence of this blog and short and long term strategies. Long term I bet this race as it should have been, as far as I am concerned, but in the short term I selected the First Four in correct order and if I had the $10 on my ABCD combination somewhere around $1800 would have been sitting in my wallet. The question you all know the answer to is, "How many times do your ABCD selections actually run 1 2 3 4, even in the easier wfa races?".