UK Horse Racing Tips

I must admit I had never really thought about public relations with regard to bookmakers but it makes sense to imagine they are an integral part of business. In fact, I doubt I would have considered the subject at all if it hadn’t been for reading the late Ron Pollard’s biography Odds & Sods: My Life In The Betting Business, published in 1991 by Hodder & Staughton.

I’m over halfway through this book and it’s a terrific read. For those who are interested in hearing how Ladbrokes went from a minnow of a company to the giant it is today then it is worthy of your time. You won’t be disappointed. I found this copy on Amazon and it cost the princely sum of £3.34 including postage and packing. Originally priced at £14.99. The dust cover is a work of art and the 195 pages insightful and revealing from sports men and women, celebrities, professional gamblers and even royalty play their part in this world of betting and promotion.

I purchased this hardback from Goldstone Books.

There’s little doubt Ron Pollard was a man of the people. But not only your everyday punter but within the media a man who had friends in very high places. In fact, he was someone who had connections with most of Ministers of Parliament and on first name terms with Prime Ministers of the time. I’m pretty sure I can remember him back in the day. Ron Pollard was frequently quoted in TV, newspapers and radio about anything and everything when it came to betting odds.

It’s an interesting read because back in the early years of gambling 80% of betting surrounded horses racing, greyhounds and golf.

What Ron Pollard understood better than anyone else was that punters were keen to bet on ‘anything and everything’ and given the opportunity they did.

The staple of sporting action was limited until Pollard decided it was time to detail his thoughts and odds about the General Election after the Profumo Affair scandal which rocked Government at the time. Pollard realised that offering betting odds on all manner of news and media was not only a way to make money but gain global recognition for Ladbrokes.

His instinct for PR was an asset to Ladbrokes and Pollard was very much the man to go to for betting odds and quotes whether it was a price for Miss Uganda to win Miss World, the chances of a White Christmas or one of the Cabinet was actually an alien from outer space.

The book is very revealing about the bookmaking business of its time and how Ladbrokes went close to bankruptcy, how they saved the Grand National and sponsored many and varied sports bringing them to the prominence they hold today. He also was quite frank about how those early days of bookmaking (working for William Hill) sailed close to the wind.

Sadly Ron Pollard passed away in 2015 at he age of 89.

A truly fascinating read about a man who was trusted by so many and just respected by all he met.

If you want to know the truth about those early bookmaker days of William Hill and Ladbrokes you won’t find a better book.

Fascinating.

Betting as a profession is a very different occupation to betting for fun. I don’t encourage anyone to bet for fun because it can lead to bad habits. The ‘fun’ aspect is devoid of finding or having answers to questions and that is often the start to a big problem. We live in a world of cause and effect and that shouldn’t be forgotten. Philosophers like Plato didn’t sit thinking about answer to difficult question for no reason. They did so with the hope of the betterment of the human race. Those thoughts have been diluted down into the self help publication which litter the shelves at all good book shops.

As I have said lots of times, gambling is about having answers to questions. If you sit there with no answers to questions or never actually considered a question about your gambling or improvement then there’s something gone wrong.

You are a feather floating in the wind.

Gambling is about making money. However, even with vast knowledge it isn’t something you can push. You cannot force the issue or try too hard. Don’t keep looking at that same race thinking it is simply a matter of time (if I keep working) that I will find the winner. I hate looking at a race too much. It seems to distort the thinking of the most rational soul and you will find it does you know favours. You should be able to assess a race quite efficiently and identify possible value bets. That’s why I pass over short priced horses because they aren’t going to be a bet and I literally don’t care if they win or lose. Well, hopefully, if I bet against one I hope it loses but it goes as it goes. You have to look at the bigger picture which sees bigger profits. I’m not simply interested in finding the winner of every race. There are many and varied ways to make your betting pay. Some people will be trading, others betting on a number of horses in the same race, while someone may be laying the outsider on the exchanges at 999/1. If you asked any of these people which horse they fancied to win they would give an answer which makes no sense to you.

Betting and winning is about what makes sense for you. It’s your money on the line so you don’t need to give a flying fig about anyone else.

Gambling is about giving yourself a chance. But not at all cost. It has to be the right answer to the question. If not, you will lose. But you have to bet to win money. If you don’t bet you can’t win. You need to take action when you see a good bet. At times, you have to break the rules if there is an opportunity. These should be calculated decisions and you must appreciate you are walking into a minefield.

Betting on the two-year-old horse racing is, for most people, a difficult area to master. However, this isn’t a bad thing. It’s like business, you need to create something or have something which is a high barrier to entry. You don’t want to be walking with the masses. You need to set yourself apart from the crowd. You need to have something unique going on. It is possible with information or education.

In my opinion, the best gamblers are those who don’t really like to bet. They don’t do it for the next quick fix. They are skilful, knowledgable and look at the majority of the population of gamblers with the words: ‘I know more.’

These words aren’t said to be big head or cocky. It’s a fact. If any professional gambler doesn’t have that personality then they will struggle to win.

I’ve read my latest batch of professional gambler books.

I’m not sure how quickly your average reader digests a book but my speedometer is about one a week. The last being Patrick Veitch’s Enemy Number One. It has a longer title but I’m too lazy to write it fully.

So what’s the next book you ask?

Ron Pollard’s Odds And Sods: My Life in the Betting Business. I’ve purchased it from Amazon via Goldstone books at a cost of £3.34 (free postage and packing). It’s second hand but in ‘good’ condition. The book displayed on Amazon doesn’t have a cover, just a navy blue background saying: ‘Cover coming soon!’ I hope the volume is more entertaining. In my imagination, which is vivid, I see Ronald standing in front his pitch on a windswept Folkestone, legs akimbo due to the weight of all the gold in his pockets, a Ferrari in the background and in the passenger seat some psychic lady smoking a cigar! This is a dust cover in the style of Wasgij where you have to use your imagination to put the jigsaw puzzle together.

In this case an imaginary dust jacket.

Some of you may say: ‘Who needs a book when you have an imagination like that!’

The only reference I have to Big Ron is from Harry Findlay’s publication Gambling For Life. He mentioned Ron Pollard, who is a bookmaker, with a half scathing ‘attack’ about something to do with William Hill.

One book leads to another, hey. I’m pretty sure at some point there will be a reference to Barbara Cartland and I will be consumed by Mills & Boon and consequently die a death of a thousand paper cuts.

She wrote A Hazard of Hearts published in 1949. It’s about a compulsive gambler who lost his house! Odds on there’s a romantic element, featuring the Lady in Pink.

Anyway, I will get stuck into this book when it arrives within the week.

The blurb says: ‘This is the story of Ron Pollard, the Ladbrokes bookmaker who set out by opening a ‘book’ on the contest for the Tory leadership following the Christine Keeler affair.’

Sounds interesting.

The book was published in 1991 by Hodder And Stoughton Ltd.

This hard cover has 195 pages of exuberance.

Customer reviews give 3.5 stars out of 5.

Ian McDonald says: ‘Interesting insight into bookmaker corruption…’

Paul W says: ‘Ron Pollard a true gentleman.’

It will be interesting to hear the views from a bookmaker contrasting with the professional gambler perspective. I get a feeling this will detail the funny but also the darker side of racing.

Who knows?

When the book arrives, pages watermarked by the tears of a losing punter, I will be giving you The Full Monty.

Looking forward to seeing the dust jacket let alone reading the book.

I will get some value out of my £3.34.

We should be able to get four or five decent articles out of this one.

Could this be the best £3.34 I have ever spent?

[Originally priced £14,99]

I say this in humour but also in fact as today the book arrived! I’m already loving Ron Pollard’s Odds & Sods betting industry related book. It was like an unboxing – unwrapping – as the book was pushed through the letterbox and the next thing I’m tearing off the black plastic wrapper to reveal the book.

I must thank Goldstone Books for an exemplary service.

The dust cover is brilliant with a cartoon style black ink depiction of Pollard as a caricature resplendent in his hat, trench coat and binoculars standing in front of the Houses of Parliament, specifically Big Ben. It looks like there are a few Ministers of Parliament huffing and puffing, no doubt reeling from the Tory leadership battle after the Christine Keeler affair. They must have seen Ron chalking-up the odds.

Ron Pollard’s book details his career which started working as a clerk for William Hill. However, he made a name for himself when employed by Ladbrokes and the prominent position of PR Director. Pollard captured the imagination of bookmaking by pricing up what could be said novel betting opportunities which found favour not only with punters but the press alike. Those who today will be looking for free bets uk, would love the zany take of Pollard’s pricing.

He realised there was more to betting than horse racing, greyhounds, football and golf.

Without question, he was a hit and known as ‘the most famous odds-maker in the world’ bringing national and international success to his business as a ‘merchant of chance’.

If you have ever wondered who was behind so many novel bets then look no further than Pollard:

Which party will win the next election?

Which novel will win the Booker Prize?

What are the odds of a white Christmas?

Or even finding the Loch Ness monster?

If you wanted a price for aliens taking over the Government then Pollard was your man.

As Ron Pollard said: ‘From bookmaker to book writer’. With stories from triumph and tribulation at the racecourse to the casino with anecdotes about politicians, royalty, sportspeople and celebrities we have insight by a man from very humble beginnings.

With 14 chapters and 195 pages about Odds And Sods I’m very much looking forward to hearing about these stories to be told. I first heard of Ron Pollard after reading Harry Findlay’s Gambling For Life: The Man Who Won Millions And Spent Every Penny, published by Trinity Mirror Sport Media 2017 (a very good read). He mentioned Pollard with reference to working at William Hill about bookmaking practices at the time.

To be fair, I had never heard about Ron Pollard although at the time of publication I was aged 21 and had an interest in horse racing and gambling so perhaps I just forgot about the man himself. Anyway, I am very much looking forward to reading this publication as I can tell it will be both entertaining and insightful.

In an article written by Bruce Webber the journalist said: ‘Mr. Pollard, a British odds-maker who recognised a human craving to gamble on anything and everything…’

Never a truer word said.

Ron Pollard passed away in 2015 at the age of 89. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and three children.