Documenting your betting history, Part 1

by Frank Cotolo

In all the decades I spent time participating in pari-mutuel wagering, I recall scores of people who told me about their most recent betting victories. I never prompted them for the information nor asked them how much money they bet and made, but somehow, they found the time in general conversations to report their success. I always responded by saying, “Good for you,” but sometimes what they heard me say was, “What horse?” or “What race?” or “How did you come up with that one?” etcetera. Most of those times I remained polite by smiling and repeating, “Good for you,” in an attempt to discontinue the subject for many reasons.

I was and am always ready to applaud any bettor cashing on bets even if some of the money they won included my money in the same win pool. Still, I hesitate to go any deeper into their success because I am sure the details of their stories are not documented and therefore not evaluated in their wagering process. As an example of my claim, I offer the typical conversation:

“Was it a big score?”

“Best of the week.”

“So, you are ahead for the week?”

“A few bucks.”

“Having a good meet, then?”

“Not bad. I needed that win, though, ‘cause, you know, I was up and down like that. But I’m ahead now just a bit.”

These blokes are simply sloppy about their wagering. All they have to do is keep notes and a simple in-and-out record of their bets in order to know how much they won or lost; but no, keeping track of money is nowhere near as exciting as the action of cashing a ticket or two when playing 10 a day five or more days a week.
Even when I was not a professional pari-mutuel bettor, I could not help but keep records on my betting bankroll. I have recorded my wins and losses through the decades as well as kept a diary of statistics concerning my hits and misses, commenting on everything about it all. And I do not believe I ever made too many notes about anything concerning my experiences. Well once in a while I waxed poetic or comedic.

Recently while cleaning out my basement library I found three composition books from a trip to New York City in 1985 where I spent a month on personal business which included nightly wagering at Roosevelt Raceway through New York Off-Track Betting (OTB) parlors. Reviewing the pages were the likes of trotters and pacers gone from Earth some 40 years ago. Anyone reading remember Happy Pick, Lakewood Osborne, Kash Buster, Thomas Bells, and Slugger Almahurst? Every one of their foes are also recorded in the books. I am sparing you the rest of the list; a hefty lot of winners and losers.

There are also weather reports. It was a cold winter in ’85 Brooklyn. On Feb. 5 I wrote, “Snow at almost blizzard proportions. But the race must go on. Yes, I brought my hardly used boots from Los Angeles to walk the winter-storm streets to bet Roosevelt Raceway harness racing. And later I wrote, “My best bet, Ladies Choice, [paced] a rotten [mile]. Shut out in a race or two [the weather did not stop the small parlor from being packed with rowdy clients].Then Outrageous Kid won [but it was still a] losing night.

It was all documented. One night ahead $38.10. Another night cashing a $67 exacta two-and-a-half times. But the ledger report showed a loss for the week which included failures backing the likes of My Tom, Train Robber, Armbro Count N, and so on. As tired as I became from my personal business matters, I committed to keeping the books for my pari-mutuel play. Those contents included commentaries on my playing decisions and updating all of the money involved.

When I returned to Los Angeles, I filed the composition book and transferred much of the data to files on my Macintosh computer. Whether they would be helpful to me for future pari-mutuel wagering campaigns was unknown at that point; but I would have cursed myself if sometime in the future there were facts in those records that became valuable for one reason or another. Even sentimental reasons apply; like the joy of remembering races driven by Ben Webster, Russel Rash, the Filions, Merritt “Butch” Dokey and other regulars.

Of course, the finances are the most important entries if pari-mutuel wagering is more than just a hobby; even then a player needs to keep accounts on spending and earning. Yet the majority of players I meet do not find keeping records imperative or valuable as contributing to becoming a successful player. Most casual players carry a loser’s attitude from the start.

But playing pari-mutuels aiming for profits is more engaging and mentally beneficial than random plans for which horses to play when and how much to play; no less when not to play. More next time about how the records you keep are essential for success.