We have had a variety of professional punters on the podcast over the last 12 months, but in this edition we have someone who is working hard to get to that level.

Trent Orwin has given up his full-time accounting career so that he can develop his betting skills and experience to the point where he can be a professional punter. He is currently spending 30-40 hours each week in pursuit of that goal.

We will hear from him again at the end of 2014 to see how far he's progressed on that journey.

Punting Insights You'll Find

How he plans to beat the market

The form analysis tools he is using

Where to start when analysing a race

The skills required to frame a 100% market

What Trent has learned from mentors

Today's Guest:

Trent Orwin @themightytrent3

Get the Transcript:

David Duffield: Hi everyone, it's Dave here. I've got Trent on the line, and I'm looking forward to having a chat.

Trent Orwin: Thanks for having me Dave, and hopefully a few up-and-coming punters can learn something from this.

David Duffield: Yeah, that's the plan. We've had a few professional punters on the show over the last year, but I thought it was time to get someone on who is aspiring to get to that level, and just keep in touch with them, as they go on that journey. You've put your hand up to be that person.

Trent Orwin: Yes, I have.

David Duffield: You may know, there's a documentary series ... it might be a little bit old for yourself ... the Seven Up! documentary series. What they do, they focus on a bunch of kids at aged 7, then again at 14 and 21 and so on and just keep an eye on them, and assess how they've developed throughout their lives. This will be similar in a way. I'll check in with you once or twice a year, and see how you're going in achieving that goal of being full-time. How does that sound?

Trent Orwin: It sounds good Dave. It's definitely something I haven't heard of, so it's probably something I can look into.

David Duffield: Tell us about your background as a punter and also professionally?

Trent Orwin: I'm just like everyone else out there. Started off watching a couple of races, and you fall in love with it over time. Although, for me it was more harness racing that took my interest. I did grow up ... You watch the Melbourne Cup, the race that stops a nation, but for me it's just harness racing.

David Duffield: What is it about harness racing that particularly attracts your interest, because it's not really a growth sport amongst the younger crowd. More people enjoy and there’s just a lot more interest in thoroughbred racing.

Trent Orwin: That's right. For me, it's the driving tactics that I find very intriguing. It's always interesting to see how drivers will drive their horse. Some horses can do it from the front. They like to roll along at a very good speed, while others like to play the enforcer role, and they'll grind the opposition into the ground from the death's seat. Then there's the likes of say a sprinter, who'll just sit back, watch it unfold, and then unleash a devastating sprint that'll hopefully run over the top of them. For me, that's the most intriguing part about harness racing. But I also enjoy the consistency. I've found when I'm doing the form analysis prior to a meeting, it's pretty consistent with the speed maps. You know the horses that will go forward, the horses that will go back, and the one's that'll be driven on the pegs for luck.

David Duffield: We'll talk more about harness racing in a moment. Before we do that, what was your background, university or professionally, what have you been doing? Again, how has that transferred or translated into what you want to do in the punting side of things?

Trent Orwin: I'm actually a former accountant so I went to university, Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in accounting, worked as an accountant for a couple of years, for a couple of firms. It just wasn't for me. I found it pretty boring, to be honest,