Betting
Lesson to self: don’t put a bet on in autumn
When things went wrong in his days running the Daily Mirror, the scoundrel Robert Maxwell used to shout: ‘Which effing…
Has gambling become the great British addiction?
When I was 14 my father took me to a bookmaker’s and encouraged me to place a bet. He wanted…
The new Tote is a ray of hope for British racing
There is nothing like visiting a stud early in the foaling season. As amiable mums-to-be saunter up to the paddock…
The coup that nearly cost the bookies £10 million
Since coup conspirators nearly won £10 million from the bookies, the sport has divided into two camps. Some grinned and…
In defence of gambling
Doing good doesn’t always work out as expected. A regular entering his local pub takes pity on an old lady…
Why racing is not a ‘posh’ sport
Why hasn’t Bristol De Mai become as beloved by the racing public as his fellow greys Desert Orchid and One…
How I won €160 by mistake
My French friend André speaks perfect English and is the kindest of men. After reading last week about my futile…
While some bookies behave admirably, the BetBright debacle is a disgrace
Encountering a generous-hearted bookmaker is normally as rare an occurrence as finding a picture of the Duchess of Sussex without…
‘Concussion doesn’t count’: memories of a racing dynasty
The Scudamores are one of the bedrock families of jump racing. After being shot down and spending two years as…
How one man took on the French betting system — and kept winning against the odds
About a third of the way through this book I worked out that I had an unbeatable system for winning…
The rich literature of the game of poker
According to the subtitle, this is a collection of ‘short stories of long nights at the poker table’. Were that…
The turf
Racing is an expensive sport to stage. Courses and grandstands have to be maintained, health and safety regulations have to…
Cheltenham has no brothels – I wonder why
I shared a taxi from Cheltenham station to the house party in an outlying village with a stripper. Finding a…
You don’t need a nose-tapping tipster to maximise your winnings
Master golfer Gary Player had the perfect retort when a 19th-hole pundit on his fourth G&T declared, ‘It’s all down…
My afternoon in a Gallic version of Betfred
For the Cheltenham Festival I received the customary tipster circular from my pal Soapy Joe. Soapy’s most convincing credential as…
How to beat a robot bookie
What does it mean these days to beat the bookie? Many of us like to imagine that winning a bet…
A FOBT ban could be terminal for high-street bookies – and great for a Labour donor
Hands up: who knows what a FOBT is? It stands for fixed odds betting terminal. No? Well, you should, because…
The Speculator: Why I get so excited at goalless football matches
A successful gambler once told me: ‘Never bet on football, never bet on multipliers, and never ever bet on football…
