To track betting results, you record every bet in one table as you place it, with the bookmaker, market, price taken, stake, closing price and result. Each month you work out profit, yield and closing line value (CLV) from that table. The record means something only when every bet is in it, and only once a few hundred bets sit behind it.
Your bookmakers keep a second record, the monthly activity statement, which shows your net result with each of them. Together the two show what you made, how you made it, and whether the method or luck did the work, which is the test any betting strategy has to pass.
The fields to record for every bet
Enter one row per bet when you place it, not hours later. With an illustrative row:
| Field | Example | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time placed | 4 October, 2:41 pm | Shows when the price was taken |
| Bookmaker or exchange | Bookmaker A | Matches the row to that account's statement |
| Sport or code, and event | Thoroughbreds, Race 5 | Splits results by where you bet |
| Market and selection | Win, Runner 6 | Says what the price was for |
| Bet type | Win | Win, place, each way half, line, total or multi: each way is two rows, a multi is one |
| Price taken | $5.50 | The price that pays, not the best price you saw |
| Stake | $20 | Turnover is the sum of these |
| Stake type | Cash | Cash, bonus bet or promotion: a bonus bet is not cash and goes on its own line |
| Promotion, if any | Money back if 2nd | A refund changes the return |
| Closing price | $5.00, the Betfair Starting Price | Gives closing line value; record it on the day |
| Result | Lost | Won, lost, void, dead heat or deduction: it decides the return |
| Return | $0 | Everything paid back, stake included |
| Profit | -$20.00 | Return minus stake, after commission |
| Method tag | Racing value | Shows which method made or lost the money |
| Your fair price | $4.80 | Shows whether you bet above your own number |
Two cases need a rule of their own. A tote dividend is declared after the result, so there is no price at the time of the bet to set against a close: record the dividend per $1 as the price and leave CLV blank. Exchange bets need the commission recorded, because it comes out of net winnings in each market.
Profit, yield and CLV from one table
Each row needs three small sums:
- profit = return - stake, where a winning back bet returns stake x price, a loser returns nothing and a void returns the stake
- CLV = price taken / closing price - 1, with the Betfair Starting Price (BSP) as the close in racing and a margin-free close (the closing price with the bookmaker margin taken out) in sport
- for a bonus bet, profit = stake x (price - 1) when it wins and nothing when it loses, because a bonus bet's stake is normally not returned (the bookmaker's terms decide)
Over any period, yield (the ROI most betting records quote) = total profit / total cash staked, and average CLV = the CLVs added together / the number of bets. Five illustrative rows:
| Bet | Price taken | Close | Stake | Result | Return | Profit | CLV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner 6, win | $5.50 | $5.00 BSP | $20 | Lost | $0 | -$20.00 | +10.0% |
| Runner 2, win | $3.40 | $3.55 BSP | $20 | Won | $68.00 | +$48.00 | -4.2% |
| Game total, over 41.5 | $1.95 | $1.88 margin-free | $50 | Won | $97.50 | +$47.50 | +3.7% |
| Team B, line +6.5 | $1.90 | $1.93 margin-free | $50 | Lost | $0 | -$50.00 | -1.6% |
| Runner 4, win, bonus bet | $3.10 | $3.00 BSP | $20 bonus | Won | $42.00 | +$42.00 | +3.3% |
The four cash rows turn over $140, return $165.50 and make $25.50, a yield of 25.50 / 140 = 18.2%. Their average CLV is (10.0 - 4.2 + 3.7 - 1.6) / 4 = +2.0%. Runner 6 lost while beating the close by 10%, which is the point of recording both. The bonus bet's $42 goes on its own line, and ROI vs yield sets out what counts as turnover, from voids to dead heats.
A worked monthly summary
At the end of each month, total the rows by method tag. This hypothetical month holds 62 cash bets and three bonus bets:
| Line | Bets | Winners | Turnover | Profit | Yield | Average CLV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Racing win bets, $20 each | 38 | 9 | $760.00 | +$52.40 | +6.9% | +2.1% |
| Sport line and total bets, $50 each | 24 | 12 | $1,200.00 | -$37.00 | -3.1% | +1.4% |
| All cash bets | 62 | 21 | $1,960.00 | +$15.40 | +0.8% | +1.8% |
| Bonus bets, $20 face value each | 3 | 1 | $60.00 face value | +$42.00 | 70% of face value kept | Not counted |
The working: racing 52.40 / 760 = 6.9%; sport -37.00 / 1,200 = -3.1%; all cash bets 15.40 / 1,960 = 0.8%; average CLV (38 x 2.1 + 24 x 1.4) / 62 = 1.8%; bonus bets 42 / 60 = 70%. Reading it:
- Racing made money and sport lost it, yet both beat the close on average. The sport bets were taken at good prices and lost on results, which one month cannot tell apart from bad luck.
- Racing's 9 winners from 38 is a 23.7% strike rate. Those winners returned $760 + $52.40 = $812.40 on the 9 x $20 = $180 staked on them, an average price of 812.40 / 180 = $4.51. Break-even is 1 / the winners' average price, so racing needed 180 / 812.40 = 22.2%. Sport's 12 from 24 is 50.0% against the 600 / 1,163 = 51.6% it needed, its winners having returned $1,200 - $37 = $1,163 on $600. Strike rate betting explains why strike rate and price must be read together.
- The bonus bets turned $60 of face value into $42 of cash, a result kept apart from the betting itself.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Past results are no guarantee of future results, and a month in profit says little about the next one. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
How long before results mean anything
Not one month. Luck's typical swing on a level-stake yield, one standard error, is about the square root of (average price - 1) / the square root of the bet count. For the racing line, at an average price of $4.75, that is the square root of 3.75 / the square root of 38 = 31.4 percentage points. For sport, at $1.92, it is the square root of 0.92 / the square root of 24 = 19.6 points, so both yields sit well inside one standard error of zero.
Sample size in betting works out how many bets it takes before profit says more than luck, and why average CLV gets there sooner. Keep the monthly table, but judge the method on running totals.
Checking your record against activity statements
Under measure 7 of the National Consumer Protection Framework, in place since 31 July 2022, Australian online bookmakers must email active customers a monthly activity statement and make it available online at any time. It shows the amount spent, wins and losses, the number of bets, the net result, opening and closing balances, deposits and withdrawals, and a graph of the last 6 months. Your transaction record must be available in your online account, and under the framework you should be able to access at least the past 7 years of it, even after an account closes. Betting activity statements explains each line.
Use the statement to cross-check one account: filter your table to that bookmaker and month, total the net result, and set it beside the statement's. With hypothetical figures:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Your table: cash bets at Bookmaker A in October, net | -$46.00 |
| Bookmaker A's October statement: net result | -$4.00 |
| Gap | $42.00 |
| Found: the bonus bet win your table keeps on its own line | $42.00 |
Once every gap has a reason, the two records agree. A gap you cannot explain points to a missing bet, a bet entered twice or a wrong result, and for money the bookmaker's record is the one to trust. Keep deposits and withdrawals in a list of their own, never in the bet table: a deposit is not a stake.
Spreadsheet or tracking software
| Spreadsheet | Tracking app or website | Your betting software's own log | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How bets get in | You type each one | Typed, imported or read from your accounts | Recorded as the software places them, with bets placed elsewhere added by hand |
| Australian details | Whatever columns you build | Check bonus bets, each way halves, deductions and commission before trusting its totals | Check the same |
| Closing prices | You record them | Check where they come from, if any | Check where they come from, if any |
| Privacy | Stays with you | Some ask for your bookmaker logins | Holds the logins it uses |
| Getting your data out | Already yours | Check for a CSV export | Check for a CSV export |
A spreadsheet's weak point is you: it is complete only if you enter every bet. Set it up as one sheet of bets, one row each, one sheet of deposits and withdrawals, and a summary sheet that totals the bets by month and method tag with SUMIFS or a pivot table. That way no total is ever typed in by hand.
Before giving an app access to a bookmaker account, read that bookmaker's terms, because many restrict third-party access, and many restrict automated betting too. Under them, a bookmaker can limit stakes, void bets or close an account. If bets go on through automation software, its log is a record too. B337's bot, for example, records each placement, price and settlement in your dashboard, as automated betting describes. It runs on your own computer, which has to be on, awake, online and running B337 for a bet to go on. Export the log into your own table rather than keeping two records that drift apart. Bookmaker and exchange names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
Record-keeping mistakes and what they cost
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Filling the table in from memory | Bets drop out, and nothing tells you which ones, so the record cannot be trusted either way |
| Recording the best price you saw, not the one taken | Winners are overstated: $20 noted at $5.50 but taken at $5.20 overstates the return by $6 |
| No closing price | CLV, the measure that settles soonest, is gone for that bet |
| One row for an each way bet | The place half settles on its own terms, so the result cannot be split |
| Bonus bet winnings counted as cash profit | The hypothetical month's cash yield jumps from 0.8% to (15.40 + 42) / 1,960 = 2.9% |
| Deleting a bad month | What is left is a highlight reel, not a record |
Using your record to keep betting in check
The same table tracks spending as well as skill. Compare each month's turnover and net result with what you planned to bet, and treat turnover that rises after losses as a warning, not a plan. Online bookmakers must offer deposit limits, and a decrease applies at once, while the statement's 6-month graph shows the trend at a glance.
If the record shows you betting more often, for longer or with more money than you meant to, signs of a gambling problem lists what to look for. Gambling Help Online offers free, confidential counselling on 1800 858 858 or online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A record describes bets already settled, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.