SD's Racing Ramble: The shambolic state of the gambling world

Waking up this morning (Tuesday) we see yet another example of a monstrous imposition imparted on our gambling freedoms. A punter with a net loss of £16.22 was subjected to affordability checks, consisting of KYC (know your client checks). 

For those not familiar with these, they are proof of ID, address, income and now an affordability credit score. The gambling commission's checks are finally coming home to roost. Gambling has successfully become a dirty word in the clutches of meaningless quangos that festoon Whitehall. 

Dogooders, with no idea how the product works, are single-handily trying to take freedoms away. Welcome to 1984. Many gambling companies are using this as a feeble excuse to restrict those who win. The starting price mechanism is a total shambles. 

Punters can’t get on to any great levels without needless checks. The ambulance chasing consortium of problem gambling councillors has exploded, for a fee of course. Civil liberties are at stake. So where to now?

The betting ring offers some solace, thankfully. Look hard enough and you can find value to good money. Friends of the channel Tim Brown, Paul Garritty, BDC , Pinno and BK Racing amongst others offer competitive odds. Critically, they are without gimmes, so pricing can be more flexible. By without gimme I mean these offers of extra places squashing the win price, the misnomer of best odds guaranteed, money back if you’re beaten a head etc.

Plenty of value can be found in the betting rings on-course. (Photo credit: Alamy Images)

It would be useful if ITV racing made more of the ring, as its vibrancy and uniqueness is a sight to behold. There are so many characters . For those old enough to remember Freddie Williams, he would stand there with iron-clad vigour and back his opinion. It would be remiss of me not to say there are a cohort of on-course books nowadays who follow the tracker (a set percentage under Betfair price and changing constantly) or are just measly tossers, but many are there to entertain the public at competitive odds and to good money.

And critically, you can use cash. Cash is king. The feel of being paid out in readies rivals no other. Perhaps most pertinently your bank will not know. Just last night Tim Brown, leading northern bookmaker, scurge of the commission agent, defender of cash was stood in the ring at Wolverhampton with a horse at 2.9/1 on Betfair at 3/1, available to good money. Needless to say it won. You can be on on-course.

There will be no column next week, so get drunk, be merry and enjoy your Christmas. Make sure you go racing on Boxing Day. On that very day, O Connell I presume will be laid out for the Lincolnshire National at Market Rasen. Successful at Carlisle last time, I presume sadly Gavin Sheehan will not be in Lincolnshire. He needs to be ridden with balls of steel and produced at the last possible moment. He’s a horse of some force right-handed.