BETDAQ TRADER INTERVIEW: In the latest of our series of interviews with BETDAQ traders Stephen Maher catches up with blogger, tipster and punter BEN AITKEN to find out how he approaches trading on BETDAQ.
Stephen Maher: So for anyone that doesn’t know you, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Ben Aitken: I’m Ben Aitken and I own and run the horse racing websites Narrowing The Field (National Hunt) & Badly Drawn Horse (Flat). Narrowing The Field started out life as a racing trends publication in 2009/10. To support the book I set up Narrowing The Field the Blog before moving to the full website version in 2011/12. Badly Drawn Horse started in the summer of 2013.
Stephen Maher: How did you get into Horse Racing?
Ben Aitken: It was the Grand National that first hooked me on the racing game from an early age and then as I became older (around 15 or 16) I found myself sneaking into the betting shops of my local town to place my own bets. I quickly became fascinated with the trends and stats associated with horse racing as well as looking for patterns in a horses form or in the runners from certain stables. When I left home and moved to further education and gained regular access to the internet I stepped my study up a level (racing study, not academic study!!) and essentially I haven’t looked back since.
Stephen Maher: What is your general betting approach?
Ben Aitken: I have a few approaches although they would all mostly centre on trends and stats and patterns, specifically patterns in a horses form.
I concentrate mainly on the top level of racing and analyse the top National Hunt & flat races using the dual method of Dosage analysis (an angle that delves into the breeding side of the game) and Race Trends. Both these angle look at previous winners of races, finding relating patterns and then applying them to this year’s renewal to see who holds the strongest profiles.
I also looks for horses that ran well under less than ideal conditions (without winning) and are well-handicapped (either lightly raced or below their last winning mark). I then get to know those horses as in-depthly as possible, looking for their ideal conditions and follow them until they are running under their ideal conditions. A patient approach but one that does reward handsomely if I’ve done the work correctly.
As well as the above I also have a number of angles loaded into a database (Proform) that I bet on throughout the season. Some rumble along in the background picking up small profits throughout the year whilst others are purely used as a starting point or a way in to a race (positive & negative stats).
I also keep exhaustive personal notes on a large number of horses, noting everything from individual runs to overall patterns and potential future targets (and everything in-between!).
All of the above are used for my own personal betting and in the member’s areas of both of my websites.
Stephen Maher: Great to have ProForm now available on Betdaq! So, how long do you spend going through the stats and trends?
Ben Aitken: It can vary, depending on what I’m looking at. For the big race analysis I’m basically updating the trends and stats that I researched previously and then applying that to this year’s contenders. That can take a number of hours, depending on the number of runners in this year’s race. The initial research has been done previously although I do review and refresh (if necessary) in the off season.
As trends and stats make up a large part of my approach it does naturally consume a lot of my time. If something catches my attention whilst watching racing I will then go and dig about in databases looking for hard evidence to back up my thinking, this could lead me down many paths so again this can take many hours, depending on exactly what I’m looking at.
Stephen Maher: During these interviews I’ve been asking people what was their biggest loss is, because no one likes an aftertimer! So what is your biggest loss? How do you cope with losing mentally in general?
Ben Aitken: I honestly have no idea what my biggest loss is! My approach is pretty much level stakes betting, apart from a few minor deviations here and there. It took me a few years to settle on the level stakes approach but it is the method that suits my mentality best. As such all losses are generally the same.
I don’t like to leave a question unanswered, however, so digging into my memory banks I would suspect my biggest loss was most likely Flagship Uberalles in the 2000 Queen Mother Champion Chase. I’m not much of an ante-post punter these days but I was big into that side of things in my younger days and I did top up on him a number of times throughout that season and I had also placed a rather large treble on Flagship Uberalles, Monsignor and Istabraq. Was all going so well when the first two went in but Flagship finishing third meant I went from looking at a rather tasty windfall to a significant hole in my pocket! I was a bit wilder with my staking in those days, it was a costly lesson.
Nowadays I’m much more comfortable with losing runs, it’s something that you simply have to learn to deal with. I’ve been using the same methods for a number of years and I’m extremely comfortable and confident in my methods so although I do get a bit more grumpy during the losing runs I am comfortable with the fact they are part and parcel of betting on the horses and I essentially just keep plugging on with my methods, knowing that I’ve done the hard work and it will pay dividends in the long term. (The real person to ask about how I deal with losing runs is probably my wife to be fair, she may give a different answer! She would probably say I get very grumpy!).
Stephen Maher: How many bets would you have on average per week? Do you mainly bet in the morning or the afternoon?
Ben Aitken: I wouldn’t say I have an average as it can fluctuate, it all depends on the meetings taking place that week. I take quite a targeted approach to my betting so there can be days where there are no bets as no parameters are met. Generally my betting does increase at the weekend, however, as the higher grade of racing mainly takes place then.
Again I have no hard or fast rules when my bets are placed although it would lean more towards the evening before racing (early prices) and the morning of race day. There are occasions, however, when I will bet closer to race time as well. I like to be flexible with my approach.
Stephen Maher: What do you think of the new Betdaq website and Betdaq liquidity in general?
Ben Aitken: I like it, it’s clean and easy to navigate. It’s also uncluttered, again making it easy to navigate. Plenty of white-space and, although this may sound strange, it’s quite a calming website, not overly busy, it’s stressful enough in the betting world so it’s refreshing to have the final port of call (where your bets are placed) a bit calmer.
As for liquidity it’s definitely improving although it still has a bit to go. That, however, will only come when people put their money where their mouth is. If everyone says they will use it when the liquidity improves but are waiting for the liquidity to improve before making the switch it will never improve! People need to be part of the liquidity themselves. One person won’t make the difference by themselves but it all adds to the pot and the more individuals that start using the exchange the more the liquidity grows, simple.
Stephen Maher: What do you think Betdaq can do better to create more competition?
Ben Aitken: Look at what their competitors do wrong and make sure they don’t replicate the same errors!
Keep commission rates low for all customers should also create plenty of competition.
Free bet incentives should also attract plenty of people to the site.
Stephen Maher: What advice would you give you newcomers to horse racing looking to get into betting?
Ben Aitken: Take your time and be prepared to lose money at the beginning (if you are starting out on your own). Also make sure you learn from your mistakes, there will be plenty of them at the start but that’s not a bad thing it’s just part of the process, some of my best habits have come from my worst mistakes. Joining a service that gives you more than just tips will definitely enhance your betting and approach and will, to a certain extent, speed up your learning process. It’s also advisable to read as much as you can on the betting and analysis front, whether that’s going the old school route of picking up books or indeed the more modern method of reading online blogs. There are plenty of free online resources that will enhance your learning and betting. Most of all make sure you enjoy it, find the angles that interest you and the methods that best suit your own way of working, it can be a very enjoyable experience if you want it to be.
You can follow Ben on Twitter at @Narrowthefield
£25 IN FREE BETS
