The ATR Interviews ~ Fintron

[BillyHills]

Time for the third in our series of interviews with members of the ATR, as you know we kicked off with Bowles chief moderator and then long standing poster and systems legend Ralphie, thought we would change direction slightly and have a chat with someone who hasnt been around as long as the two previous members but as made a fairly big impact in his time with us. Fintron, or Wayne to his mates joined the PL in August 2007, he has rattled up over 4,000 posts since then and now is a daily visitor to the ATR contributing to the daily threads, competitions and his own individual threads including the odd system. At the end of last year he was nominated as the 'Most Improved Punter' on the PL and duly won the award and he was also singled out by the owner Paul Ross for a special 'Heart Of The PL' award. Not bad for his first full year on the forum. At the moment he jointly owns the record (with Russ) of winning the BBOTD competition three seperate times, no mean acheivement, its becoming a very competative competition and a feather in the cap of anyone who nails it once! Its not easy at times to join a new established community, the ATR section has a lot of 'lurkers' who for whatever reason decide not to get involved. Fintron is a great example of someone who looked around the place, saw what was required and fully immersed himself in what the PL has to offer, as a result he his a very popular, respected poster and now himself helps the new posters when he can. I caught up with him just before he has a break for his holidays, hope you enjoy it. ____________________________________________ Prevous Issues in case anyone missed them 1. Bowles10 2. Ralphie7 BH

[BillyHills]

Re: The ATR Interviews ~ Fintron The Punters Lounge 1. You joined the PL in August 2007, how did you come across the site in the first place? I was posting tips on a Bradford City forum and Mowgli, who also posts on both sites, pointed me this way. I was a little intimidated at first when I saw some of the detail going into the tips, when I could barely put together one sentence, so although I signed up back in 2007, I didn't start posting properly until sixth months or so later - when I'd developed a system based around CD winners on the AW that gave me more confidence as it was finding regular winners. 2. What does your username stand for and why did you choose it? One of my mates at school used to call me Fintron. The 'fint' bit comes from my surname. 3. Is there a story or a reason why you chose your avatar, I know its used to be of Borderlescott? Myavatar at the minute is of Billie Joe Armstrong of Greenday, as I can't get their new album out of my CD player at the moment, but yes, it used to be Borderlescott, as he is my favourite horse and the one that got me into racing, having backed him at large odds on one of my first racecourse visits a few years ago. I think I'll reinstate Border to my avatar when I'm back off my hols and I've played Greenday to death! 4. I seem to remember you went to the last PL meet up at Musselburgh, how did you feel meeting other members? I felt a bit awkward at first because I didn't know whether to introduce myself by my real name or my username, but everyone was quick to help us (me and my girlfriend) settle in. Mowgli (Phil) and Donna travelled up with us on the train which helped as they were so easy to get along with. I already knew Phil from a few chats at Bradford City, but hadn't met any of the other members before. However, everyone was very welcoming, I think we'd only been in the Sports Bar 5 minutes before Russ and Jackie had bought us drinks which was appreciated and it was just a super do all in all. When you get that many gamblers together its not hard to find stuff to talk about, I mean, we'd all bet on raindrops running down the window given the chance wouldn't we :lol But seriously, I can't recommend the meet ups highly enough, we had a great time in Edinburgh, hats off to Paul as it must take a lot of organising. :clap 5. You are a member of the PL Racehorse syndicate, is this your first experience of racehorse ownership? Yes. I had inquired with Kevin Ryan about getting a share in one of his horses through Hambleton previously, but the costs were too high for me to go in by myself. The PL Syndicate was much more affordable though and more inline with my betting bank which made sense. I bought two shares but that was on behalf of three other mates as well, including Wizzkid Walter who posts on here. We were all delighted with his first run at Ascot, and I hope to meet several of the other syndicate members at a future meeting. I now have a soft spot for Dhaular Dhar's trainer, Jim Goldie. 6. You won two awards in the PL Oscars 2008, how did it feel to be nominated by fellow members? I felt really proud when people were nominating me as I think the standard of tipping on here is much better than any other betting forum, and to be considered for the awards felt very rewarding. To win two awards was even better. I was also glad that people had seen past my tips in December which had been pretty poor to be honest, and had taken into account some of my better ones in the preceding months. 7. Last year you won the BBOTD title 3 times, what do you put your success down to? Good question, and if I knew the answer for sure then I think I would be much higher in the overall table for 2009. I don't think it was any coincidence that I won those three titles during the turf season, and the minute November ended, my BBOTD performance tailed off dramatically. I think back then I was more settled with my betting, and had a clear strategy of sticking to small field handicaps and trying to back within a certain price bracket, whereas now my strategy has become a bit more jumbled. I will be taking a bit of time out soon to try put my finger on where things have gone wrong, and I think when nursery handicaps start again that will be a big help as I often napped from those last season. 8. You have had a couple of threads in the systems section, do you enjoy working with systems and are you working on anything at the moment? I like the simplicity of systems in a way, they take away the need for thought at times, which can be a help in a bad run, and they can help you focus your attention on a particular type of race. I've got two systems on the backburner at the moment - one which looks at backing CD winners to place on the AW, and another than attempts to identify short priced bankers in maidens. Neither system has generated much profit but I see them as pretty low risk systems if backed to level stakes, that can be picked up at any point to find winners for a confidence boost. The CD system especially was showing a bit of promise with regards to forecast betting, and when the All-weather season kicks off over the winter I'll look to pick that back up and possible try tweak a few things to improve profit. 9. You always seem to support the competitions on the PL, do you think these are an important part of a forum? Yes, I think BBOTD is a great competition, well run and it is the focal point of the ATR section for me. 10. Is there anything that annoys you on the PL or improvements that you would make? I don't like it when people clap themselves or use the bowdown smiley in response to their own post. I am personally of the opinion that the nana and cow etc should be used in such instances of celebration and of course you want to highlight your own winning bets at times, but I dunno, it just seems weird to me for people to clap and bow down to themselves. I can't think of any improvements I would make to be honest, if it ain't broke..... Horse Racing & Betting 1. What got you interested in Horse Racing? Boredom. It was inbetween exams during my studies and used betting as a way of killing time. I started out betting on football, doing accumulators on the weekend and one day clicked onto horse racing to see what it was about. I didn't have the foggiest, so just backed one that had a '1' last time out, but I was then curious as to the rest of the formbook, and with plenty of time on my hands, gradually stepped up my form study. 2. How long have you been a serious punter? In terms of betting every day, maybe two years 3. What type of racing do you enjoy the most and why, flat, NH, Big races, sprints, classics, AW? Overall I prefer the flat from a betting perspective as I have always found that easier to find winners on than the jumps, however, I actually think NH is much more exciting as a spectacle and I prefer Cheltenham to Royal Ascot and the Derby and Guineas meetings etc. I've recently gained more of an interest in NH racing through studying handicap chases of 3m or more, and am quite excited about the winter jumps kicking off again actually. 4. If you could change one thing in Racing or Betting overnight, what would that be? Remove Jamie Spencer's riding licence. 5. Can you remember your first bet, how old were you and where did you put it on? The first time I remember walking into a bookies was in 2005, to place a bet on the Grand National a few weeks before the race. It was in Ladbrokes, and although I can't remember who I backed. 6. Can you reveal your biggest win to date, you dont have to be specific about the amount but what was it on? The most I've ever won was a 50p each-way double on Hallings Overture and Rowe Park at Lingfield Park in 2006. I won about £200 back, as the odds for the win part were about 400/1 - that is where the inspiration for my CD system began acutally, as both of those were backed because of recent CD wins. 7. What was the 'bet' that got away, the nearly bet that still haunts you? Seeing Noah Jameel, who I had supernapped on the nose at 12/1, finish a neck second at Kempton in February was not a particularly enjoyable result, as I had also backed it fairly heavily (for my standards) in real-life. 8. What was the last horse race meeting you attended? The Dante meeting at York on Dante day. Fellow PL'ers Mowgli, Kevshat and Wizzkid Walter were also there. 9. Do you bet on other sports, if so which ones? Just football, although I did break that to have a one off punt on the greyhound derby the other week. Even then, I rarely bet on football though, usually just the odd treble on a weekend, but 95 % of my betting is horses. 10. Do you bet online or still visit the high street? Which do you prefer? 90 % of my betting is done online but I don't have RUK or ATR at home so usually pop into my local Coral to watch the odd race on a night and when in there I bet a small amount, just so they don't think I'm a plank for rolling in to watch the race without spending anything. 11. Do you think Horse Racing is 'clean' at the moment and does this effect the way you bet? No, yeah it does effect the way I bet. There are a couple of trainers and jockeys I refuse to back now and I now treat certain race types with particular caution after a few moments on the AW over the winter. 12. I hear that you like the reality TV shows, have you had a bet on Big Brother yet this series? Ha, I'll hold my hands up, I watch Big Brother! I am usually trawling through the form for the following day so watch quite a lot of trash TV on a night actually, but its easy watching over the top of the laptop. I had a little bet on Marcus to win the current BB series, I don't know why exactly as his sideburns annoy me and he confessed to eating cat biscuits, but I hope he does better than my bet on Mohammad last year. Quick Questions 1. What is your homepage at the moment? Google 2. Name a site on your favourites that may surprise us? Akbars (best curry house in Bradford) 3. Favourite Music, song, band? Viva La Gloria off Greenday's new album my current fav 4. Favourite TV show, not sport related? Apprentice 5. What was the last book you read? The Last Testament - Sam Bourne 6. What do you do for a living? Scientist. In a nutshell, I culture cells in a lab and expose them to various drugs that could potentially be used to alleviate certain diseases/conditions. This gives me plenty of spare time which is spent on PL/the RP :). I'd gladly pack in my job to work in Racing at the drop of a hat though. 7. What Car do you drive or would like to own one day? I drive a clapped out old Clio. I have no interest at all in cars and view a new car as a pile of money, with notes flying off in the breeze as you drive down the road. It is especially true in Bradford where the standard of driving is notoriously bad and you run the gaunlet driving home from work every day when they take off your wing mirror or bash your door and sod off because they have no license or insurance :@ 8. Do you have any hobbies away from sport? I play 5-a-side every week and reluctantly work out in the gym from time to time in an attempt to justify the membership fee 9. How long have you followed Bradford City? 1993 10. What gadgets do you own, Ipod, Mobile, Xbox, etc... My mobile is a Nokia N73 waiting to be upgraded. Still on a PS2 as I love Gallop Racer. My laptop is a freebie Toshiba we got with a phone contract, so I'm not very gadgety. 11. Do you prefer Racing UK, ATR or Channel 4? Channel 4 - simply because I don't have the other two. 12. Biggest personal achievement? 2:1 Degree in Ecology - University of York. Any other comments you would like to add here? Just a couple of sayings/points that reflect my outlook on life..... I regularly say this to people but I could get mowed down by a bus on my way home tonight so I'm gonna enjoy what money I do earn whilst I'm here. A bad day of betting is better than a good day at work. I do not believe in failure, only negative feedback. A photo of Fintron and his partner at York Racecourse