Driven by numbers...

Random Numbers.

What about the punter who can’t be bothered with the above? You know what I mean: the person who only wants a night out at the dogs where he or she can have a good drink and bet a few dogs using any way possible to choose the numbers.

I often do not have time to study form because we have booked a meal in the racetrack restaurant and find it difficult to eat and drink and bet dogs all at he same time; so we end up picking random numbers.

We all do this on occasions; don’t we? The problem with that is, often I can’t make up my mind which number to choose! So I started to take a dice with me but it was a nuisance as it always ended up under the table. One of my friends then brought an electronic dice that flashed a number up in red neon light; which was an improvement as it didn’t end up on the floor. But it wasn't the answer...

It was ok for single dog bets but betting forecasts and trios meant you needed more goes on the dice; we wanted something simpler.

Therefore I made some cards on my computer. Six single cards, with a yellow back, if you wanted to bet singles; 15 cards, with a blue back, with two numbers on each card (having all of the combinations of the six dogs) for betting forecasts and reversed forecasts; 20 silver backed cards, having three numbers on each for betting combination forecasts or combination trios.

We would decide what type of bet we wanted and shuffled the appropriate pack; picked one card; made a bet via the attendant on our table and carried on with our evening meal. Problem solved!

Now this will sound like heresy to students of form… Picking dogs by numbers ? Numbers!.. So?..

It’s a number driven society… The lottery; virtual dog racing; virtual horse racing; 49’s; roulette; and some people bet the same numbers in every dog race; it is all entertainment; isn’t it?

Anyway the cards work quite well and sometimes add to the fun of dog racing; especially if someone has picked a card, used for selecting a forecast or trio, and it has come up with a big payout.

It is illuminating to use cards because it brings home to you just how difficult it is to get a forecast or a trio up. Take the reversed forecast for instance: if I pick one card with two numbers on it and it comes up, there are 14 cards that lost! There’s your odds: 14/1 against.

If I choose one card having three numbers from the pack of twenty combination forecast and trio cards and it wins an ‘all ways’ forecast or an ‘all ways’ trio there are 16 cards that have lost! (Sixteen because two of the six dog numbers are on at least four of the combination cards).

I often see people putting on straight trio’s; and I shudder! I think of the odds on getting a straight trio up. It’s 16/1 on getting a combination trio up; so what are the odds of getting 3 numbers up in the correct order! It must be enormous.

I can only see one instance where it is feasible to put on a straight trio and that is when someone is convinced after reading through the form, and not wanting to lose 5 bets on a combination trio, decides to maximise the bet because they cannot see the race turning out any other way… Brave punter. Go for it!

Besides the cards I have made for greyhound betting (they are handy for Virtual Greyhound Racing, too) I have made cards for Virtual Horse Racing (it’s only numbers against numbers; isn’t it? And the dogs and horses never fall or bump into each other!

There are 20 cards in the Virtual Horse racing pack plus a couple of cards with ‘Favourite’ on them and one card with ‘2nd Favourite’ on it. Well, you have to balance it up with the computer that is picking the winners and it is programmed to bring up ‘Favourite’ or ‘2nd Favourite’ on occasions!

Note: If there were to be a large demand for these cards I’d get them manufactured for sale.

Come racing!!