If you want a short and fast rule for succeeding in betting on horses as an investment, it is this: find out what the majority of people do and then do the exact opposite! The majority of punters are simply there to kick money onto the pot for the professionals to take home at the end of each race day.

I'm going to outline the major characteristics of long term losing punters. Take careful note and do the opposite:

1. They don't have a plan

There is a well known saying: "fail to plan and you plan to fail". A punter without a plan is like a ship without a rudder. In racing a good plan means identifying the amount of money you would like to make over a pre-determined period of time and then breaking that goal down into monthly or weekly targets. Without a plan you have no way of measuring your success and lay yourself open to a loss of betting discipline and the likely losses that that will bring.

2. They don't have enough patience

Losing punters are looking to make a killing in one day. This can happen every now and again but it won't happen consistently. Adopting this approach using whatever spurious criteria - lucky numbers, betting only on horses with astronomical dividends - is a guaranteed way to empty your pockets. Disciplined investors look for smaller daily returns which they compound (by gradually increasing the size of their betting bank) over a number of months and then years.

3. They aren't consistent

Losing runs are part of every profitable betting system. Successful betting investors will work through these because they know a winning run will be just around the corner. A losing punter however may abandon a profitable system after a few losing days, robbing himself of an income stream that could go well into the future. This point is closely related to point 1: work the plan and be secure in the knowledge that losing runs will be part of that plan. Consistent and constant action is the hallmark of long term profitability.

4. They are too greedy

Have positive expectations of high returns but don't confuse this with getting greedy. There are two common scenarios for the losing punter: he will be having a successful day but then abandons his plan to go for the big score which can often erode or completely eliminate his gains made earlier in the day OR he's having a losing day and tries to recoup his losses on the same day. This "throwing good money after bad" is the single worst trait of a losing punter. As a professional investor you need to stay away from it at all costs.

5. They are ill disciplined

Having a plan, patience, being consistent and keeping your greed in check all amount to nothing unless you adhere to each of these facets strictly. The professional investment better will stick strictly to is rules and not stray from them. The law is simple: if it works, do not change it! The temptation will come to have a flutter on a horse with positive media coverage or surrounded by favourable rumours and betting a few dollars on such horses is OK but don't lose sight of your main objective - making consistent profits using the rules outlined in your betting plan.

That's all of them. Irrespective of which betting plan you end up adopting, make sure you avoid the pitfalls outlined above. As a final word, grant a small blessing to the habitual losing punters: the more there is of them, the easier it is for the rest of us to make more money!