To mark safer gambling week, the team at Irish Racing.com took some time to highlight which tools they prefer to use to maintain control over their own betting behaviour.
Speaking to host Joe Ryan – who many viewers will recognise from his presenting duties on bettingexpert’s football prediction and review series – professional gambler and horse racing expert Stephen Harris highlighted deposit limits as the most effective safer gambling tool,
“I think it’s a very important message,” Harris began, adding: “The whole battle with betting when you rely on it for your bills, is to keep the discipline to stay in first and second gear.
“I personally use a deposit limit. I play only on Betfair these days, but it means that I know each day what is the worst case scenario and I think that’s a very good motto for all punters to have.
“Whether your deposit limit is £10 or 10,000 pounds, I think you should always play within constraints that you’re happy with, and if all the worst things happen, you know, you know that you can still get up the next day, and pay the bills.
“Keeping in control and staying calm is an important thing. I would say the most important thing to take out of Safer Gambling Week is to impose deposit limits on yourself to suit your wallet and to suit what you can afford.”
Meanwhile, both Harris and his fellow guest Ed Quigley shared their views on upcoming races, in particular the forthcoming Wetherby and Ascot meetings, with Harris highlighting Mary’s Rock, a Nicky Henderson-trained horse, as being a potential pick for punters.
He explained: “I think she’s going to be a cracking mare this season if she stays sound and comes forward for that first run for 10 months. The other one from a lower end of the scale is a horse of Dan Skeletons called So You Think So Again, who landed a wholesale gamble in the final race of Wetherby on the Saturday, backed down to 11/8 favourite.”
Describing the Yorkshire Hurdle meeting on the Wetherby card as a ‘head scratcher’, Quigley turned his attention to Ascot, highlighting Soaring Glory as a contender to look out for in the future.
