We first had Nick Pinkerton on the show in July 2013 and he talked about how his experience in financial markets helped shape his approach to punting. He also gave some solid tips on how to find value as a punter and how to keep the odds in your favour by managing risk. Nick learned the trade with Ferncourt, Mark Read and Con Kafataris to hone his form analysis and risk management skills.

So we've got him back on the show to find out exactly how he's been going over the last 18 months and he is honest enough to explain why it hasn't all been plain sailing.

Punting Insights You'll Find:

Why punting is like an extreme sport

The key lesson he learned from successes and failures in the last year

Why excellent form analysts can still be very poor punters

The profile of horse he is looking for when doing video replays

How he deals with losing runs

A link to the case study mentioned: Lessons From The Brain-Damaged Investor

Today’s Guest:

Nick Pinkerton

Get the Transcript:

David Duffield: Good day, Nick, and welcome back to the show.

Nick Pinkerton: Hi, David, how are you?

David Duffield: Going very well, thanks and looking forward to having another chat with you. We had you on right about 18 months ago and have followed you up until that time as well. Yeah, just wanted to check in with you, see how things have been going, and also we've taken some questions from our members on some of the most pressing issues and what they would like to ask of someone that's been in this game for quite a while. We'll run through those in just a moment, if that's OK?

Nick Pinkerton: Yep, no problems at all.

David Duffield: All right, the first range of topics that came up was just to do with getting started, and one of the common questions was: How do you gain the confidence when you're starting out?

Nick Pinkerton: I think in regards to confidence, I see punting as a bit of an extreme sport. If you use skiing as an analogy, lots of people can enjoy green runs and have fun. Some can go down a green run and tumble, and others don't like to tumble. Yet, there's plenty of people who with a bit of practice can go and tackle a black diamond run, but it takes a completely different type of attitude and application to get to representative level or whatever it is you're doing.

Betting is all about confidence. If you've got skills and a plan, you'll get there, but nothing builds confidence more than having that intimate knowledge of what factors provide you with the edge that you've got and helping you make that money. The most important thing is just trying to identify what your edge is.

I'm not all things to all punters, but I manage to find out what works for me.

Although it hasn't always been that way. Since we last spoke, I've actually just got back from a long break from racing, only in September of this year. I come back from Caulfield Cup Day in 2013, and one of the reasons I took that break from racing was I actually had a dent in my own confidence. We're not immune to it, even after 20 years of successful punting. I had my first extended losing period in sort of middle of 2013 through to Caulfield Cup. Then at the time, it seemed inexplicable, but funnily enough, when I stepped away, as most things do, when you get out of the heat, you can see the trees for the forest.

I realised a few things.

Basically, I got away from the things I used to do and do well. I got confused between what my strengths were, and I tried to incorporate a lot of things that were just not my natural way of doing things. I got further and further away from the things that I was confident about. Even to the point that I started to question whether I even had an edge in what I thought I did.

David Duffield: We might expand on that a little bit later, just to get you to see the journey that you've been on, but in terms of getting started for a lot of guys that would dream about going from what they're doing right now,