Denton Jardine confirms his series on money management by taking a new look at the 6-Point Divisor Plan, a staking approach that some people say is fail save and others claim is financially perilous.

The 6-Point Divisor Plan has been around for the last 60 years. It is a form of target betting and, as we all know,  this type of staking is usually hotly attacked.

Supporters of target betting, however, claim it's a way of controlling your gambling. You know what your target is, and you can easily put in a 'safety brake' to prevent losses getting out of hand.

The 6-Point Divisor lends itself well to conservative betting. You can utilise a safety brake quite easily, so there never need be a cause for desperation should you strike a string of losses.

Fact is, of course, that any form of staking looks a bit sick and sorry after a losing run, doesn't it? With level stakes, or target betting, the stakes always rise, and you always need to win back a certain amount of lost dough!

The aim of the 6-Point Plan is to win 6 betting units every time you back a winner, or winners, whose odds total six. The target actually decides the betting unit size.

Let's take an example: If your target was $60, your divisor is six, so the first bet would be $10 (that is $60 divided by 6). If your target is $120, then the first bet would be $20 ($120 divided by 6).

The procedure really is just a simple matter of division - your divisor figure into the amount you want to win. Any win is deducted from the divisor and the total.

For the benefit of an example, I will assume that you have a target of $12. Your divisor is six (the units you want to actually gain). So what is your opening bet? That's right - $2.

If the opening bet loses, the target is increased to $14, to include the $2 you have just lost. Now you divide $14 by 6 to get your next bet. It works out at $2.30 but I suggest you round this off to $2.50, or even perhaps $3.

If your second bet wins at, say, 2/1, and you have $3 on it, you have won $6. This is deducted from the target. The new target, then, is $14 less $6 equalling $8. At the same time, your divisor is reduced by 2 units (the odds of your 2/1 winner). So it comes down to four.

Thus we have a new target of $8 and a divisor of four, meaning your next bet is $2. Simple, isn't it.

One point to make regarding the Safety Brake. Whenever the divisor reaches 2 it is best to bring in a new divisor and target figure - or rule off and start a completely new series.

Using the safety brake, you can bring in another divisor of six to add to the two you have outstanding. At the same time, raise your target by six as well.

Your new target might be 20 units and your divisor is now 8, making a next bet of $2.50 (or rounded off $3).

This is a key safety rule. One chap who has operated this plan for many years told me recently: "If you kept on dividing by two, the size of the bets during a losing run can mount very speedily and you could have a situation fraught with danger.

"The safety brake is a powerful weapon and it doesn't matter how many times you use it. You always have control of your capital."

The safety brake can be introduced if at any time you consider the stakes are rising too steeply. The divisor may be six when you strike a bad run and the objective may have risen to 60, calling for a bet of $10.

By adding a new divisor (6) and a new objective ($12) the new figures would be a divisor of 12 divided into a target of 72, calling for a bet of 6 units, not 10 as before.

What you have to remember to do after each win is to deduct from the divisor the total points you have won (i.e. 2/1 winner, deduct 2 points, 3/1 winner deduct 3 pts, 4/1 winner deduct 4 pts. When you have a 'half' involved (as in 5/2), always round off to the higher number (5/2 becomes 3/1, take off 3 etc). Also, after a win deduct your profit from the target total.

NEXT MONTH. Can we learn anything from the leading American professionals? How do they bet? Do they make sense? Is their exacta betting strategy transferable to Australia?

WORKING THE 6-POINT DIVISOR PLAN
 (*selections of Andrew Kassay, Globe, Feb 10)

HORSEDIVSRTARGETBETWINLOSS BALANCE
Our Cashel612 211 -+11
Series ends with 11 units gained. New series begins
Flavour 6 12 2 - 2 -2
Stalk 6 14 3 - 3 -5
Cushman 6 17 3 - 3 -8
Danasinga 6 20 4 20 - +12
Series ends with 12 units gained New series begins
Jeune 6 12 2 - 2 -2
Country Lane 6 14 3 - 3 -5
Mr Stanima 6 17 3 12 - +7

Divisor is reduced to 2, with a remaining target of 5. At this point you could rule off and start a new series, or add a new divisor of 6 and a new target of 12. This would give you a fresh starting point of DIVISOR 8 TARGET 17 BET $2 (rounded off).

As you can see the day's betting has seen you outlay a total of 22 units. Your profit for the day stands at $11, $12 and $7, a total of $30, which is well above 100 per cent on outlay.

The one thing always to be remembered with this approach is that there is every chance you could do just as well betting level stakes.

Make some tests yourselves, using the tips from various formguides and newspapers, to see whether the 6-Point plan works best, or whether plain old level stakes works out the same.

Click here to read Part 4.
Click here to read Part 2.
Click here to read Part 1.

By Denton Jardine

PRACTICAL PUNTING - APRIL 1996