A Q and A with Eddie Lloyd of UK Racing News

1. Hi and many thanks for joining us this month, would you start by telling us a little about yourself and your background?Thank you for having me!My name is Eddie Lloyd and I grew up in Wales. Son to an artist and an eccentric hippy, I had an interesting childhood! I left school with no qualifications but went onto college to gain my NVQ’s in joinery. I had a successful career as a joiner but always dreamed of following my Granddad’s profession of being a professional punter. I decided to pack in the building trade and took a position as a cashier in a betting shop. “I spent so much time in them, I might as well take a job with them,” my wife said!

   From cashier, I worked my way up into head office and ended up working in the Security department, clearing large bets and analysing them along with customer’s activity. It was an interesting job and I learned a lot but I was still dreaming about following in my Grandfather's footsteps.

   I put together some ideas and articles and approached a guy called Michael Wilding, founder of the Race Advisor, with the idea that I could contribute to his blog.

My betting was becoming more and more profitable and in August 2012, I was in a position to quit my job with the bookie and make a living working with various online companies and my own betting. I have to say, I love the lifestyle and being able to make a living from the betting industry is a dream come true. I’d like to think that my Grandfather would be proud, too 🙂

2. What attracted you to the horse racing world and what do you enjoy most about the sport?

I remember watching the racing with my Grandfather on the telly (I think it was on ITV back then!) as a little boy and watching in awe as he made various phone calls to get bets down. He taught me about what he called a telephone tree and would ring two people who would then continue to phone various other people so that 40 or so people would be getting bets down. He had a phone in the hallway; you know the ones with the circles to dial and a green leather seat to sit on. He had a blackboard on the wall above the phone and would write odds and notes on it for the day’s racing.

I was fascinated by the way it all worked and how he made money from these horses running around a track. As I got older, he would teach me how the odds worked and taught me the most important lesson, any punter should know about – value. It’s all he talked about and I still seek value in any bet I place now.

I love the sport now because it’s exciting and I know that I can make money from something that I love so much. It’s not just the thrill of making money from the horses but the industry as a whole. From the horses to the fashion to the Champagne, it’s loved by everyone and anyone that gets to go to the races for the day!

3. How would you describe a typical working day?

I’m really strict in my daily routine.

I get up at 6.30 am and start the day with a 2 mile run. I then meditate (that’s my mother's hippy influence in me!), shower and dress before taking my 2 year old daughter to Nursery. I have breakfast and then sit down and write out my schedule for the day.

I have an excel sheet, a pad and paper and a stopwatch.

From 0830 until 9 am every day, I write down and populate my excel with jobs that need to be done for the day. I try to slot everything into 15 minute time slots with some jobs taking up to a couple of hours. I then tick off each job as it’s done to gain a sense of achievement. By midday, I have typically finished all of my work and analysis of the day’s racing. I then go about setting various alarms for throughout the day when my betting races are going off. This allows me to carry on with other things that I enjoy.
I use the first show a lot in my racing so 10 minutes before the race; I sit down in my office and start trading. Sometimes, there will be afternoons where I’m in the office all afternoon and others where it’s one or two races and I’m done.

4. What style of approach do you take to your betting on a personal level? What do you think of staking plans, loss retrieval systems etc.?

I mainly trade nowadays but do have a few simple betting systems which require me to place back bets. I do compound my bank but am a big believer in keeping it simple and I’m not a fan of any kind of staking plans.

My Grandfather taught me the 2% rule and it’s something that’s worked for me well. I review everything at three month intervals and then compound the bank to either increase or decrease the stake. I then pay myself once a year. Almost like a dividend from a savings plan as opposed to a monthly salary.

5. What traits do you think a good racing tipster should possess and what do you think the average punter is looking for from a tipping service?

Tipping is a lot harder than people think and a lot of people bail at the proofing part of the process. Even those that are then successful at getting to the live process end up failing because the pressure of providing tips that people are actually backing can be too much of a heavy burden.

I’ve seen some great tipsters starting out and then as soon as they hit a losing run, they move onto tipping short priced favourites, as they try to recoup losses. It doesn’t work like that I’m afraid and if the tipster can continue with the original system that worked and stick with it the winners will come.

I think people want to have consistency and the general punter would rather have more winners and a smaller ROI than less winners but a higher ROI. Again, this is all part of the psychology of betting. People feel like they’re making money when there are more winners but personally I prefer fewer winners but a higher ROI. My UKRN is evident of this and we don’t get a tonne of winners. However, we’re betting at odds of 8/1 and above, generally and this sees a great ROI over the year.

6. New and old punters alike can struggle to make a success of their betting. If you could give them just one piece of advice to improve their profitability what would it be?

Beat the SP.

Nowadays; it’s more about beating the BSP as this is more accurate.

When recording your bets (we should all be doing this!) you need to be consistently beating the BSP with the price you’ve taken before the race. If I can get 10/1 about a horse winning that goes off at 6.5 BSP, then whether it wins or loses, I know that long term, I’ll make a profit. A lot of people look at me strangely when they ask the above question and I reply “Don’t look for the winner!” I’m always looking for something that is overpriced in the market.

For example, a horse likes soft ground but in the morning it’s been declared as good. I look at the weather and it’s damn certain the heavens are going to open, way before the race is due off. I’ll get my bet on and sure enough as the heavens do open, the market reacts because the ground will be declared soft after the first race. Our horse now loves soft ground and shortens up in price. We’ll beat the BSP. It’s about trying to see how a price in the morning will be wrong come race time.

7. What would you consider to be a highlight of your racing experience to date? Do you have any personal racing / betting experiences which when reflecting back brings a smile, or for that matter any which bring a grimace; you can share with our readers?

My worst ever betting experience was back in 2006 at the Ebor meeting at York. I’d opened a new betting account with Betfair the September before and my betting was starting to become more and more profitable. I’d taken the starting balance of just £200 up to £2,500 in 11 months. It was my wife and I’s first ever date and I was being a show off!

I’d decided that I knew the winner of the Ebor and showed her my £2,500 betting slip. I’d placed my whole balance of that Betfair account on Young Mick at around 14/1. On the nose as well as I didn’t bet each way then. I stood to win £35,000 from just one bet! The result? Young Mick was beaten a short head by a 100/1 shot! I was devastated. I still wonder how my wife came to marry me after that incident! I’ve never done that again but it’s a lesson learnt and now I keep my stakes in proportion to my betting bank, no matter how much I fancy the horse!

8. What about the gambling industry, is there anything you like to see changed there? Many website forums are full of criticisms of the bookmakers and their treatment of their customers? Is this something you have an opinion on?

I understand why bookmakers restrict accounts as it was part of my old job with Hills. Personally, I never really agreed with the way it was done and some of the reasons. However, I do think that there should be some leeway and better management of how it’s done.

I like Blacktype Bets’ business model and standing bets to win £500.

The punter knows where they stand and the amount they can bet and that level of understanding from the beginning is how things used to be done. Having said that, I have now heard of them even closing some accounts now, so maybe it was too good to true? I think clearer guidelines and a better communication method from the bookies would earn them back some respect but I can’t see this happening anytime soon, sadly.

9. What do you do to relax and unwind? What interests have you outside the world of horse racing?

Spending time with my daughter, even if she is in her terrible twos!

I’m a keen sailor but don’t get out as much as I would like. Living in Leeds, means I’m a bit landlocked! I go climbing twice a week, which I enjoy and it keeps me fit. I do Park Runs on Saturday mornings when time allows and try to keep fit. I ruin all of that hard work with too much wine, though!!

My biggest passion is music though and I own a music studio, which I try to get into as much as I can but hate the limelight so don’t go gigging or anything. I just love to record and write songs and have many influences. Always looking out for new talent in the music world but today’s music will never beat the 90’s Grunge movement 😀

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