Tissue man cleans up

Therefore, instead of pricing it as a rag at 33-1, bookies would put it in at, say, 2-1, letting supply and demand with money decide if it went off at that price or drifted out.

The tissue got its name from the flimsy pieces of paper that Jack supplied with his suggested prices on them and it soon gained the confidence of the bookmakers who used his service. In the Eighties, a number of companies began to do it on a professional basis, not only for the course "layers" (bookies at the track) but for off-course ones as well, who are responsible for the morning prices advertised by all the major firms.

These compilers work on a consultancy basis whereby they send their prices as soon as the declarations are up for the next day's racing. A tissue man works from an invaluable knowledge of racehorse form coupled with experience of another magic word - 'percentages'. Such a one is the revered Ken Post, who, for many years, was The Wizard tipster on the Evening Standard's sister paper, the Daily Mail. In fact, he is still a wizard - the wizard of odds - and is in the Which Guide to Gambling for his remarkable record of 24 winning seasons out of 26.

His column in the Daily Mail had an elite following and he was part of the team at the newspaper that revealed the Gay Future and Flockton Grey attempted betting coups.

He admits: "I left the paper in 1985 because I won a few quid myself punting and the bookies made me an offer to provide a tissue." Post, who rings Ladbrokes, Corals and Hills with his figures, has used his talent to good effect and now lives in the Regent's Park area.

He says: "The only chance a bookmaker has to improve his margins is to improve his percentage.

"I have to keep up with the results all the time and it involves nearly every minute of the day.

"Sometimes, the newspaper-suggested starting prices under a race can be totally wrong, which is understandable as they haven't got enough time to sacrifice to that particular department. I look at a horse and say 'that's the price it should be,' taking into account form and other things I know."

Post comes up against difficulties in pricing at times, especially in the jumping season and with three National Hunt trainers.

He said: "Just lately one of these three has landed big gambles with two horses that have improved a stone on their previous running, and another has done it with a horse that's improved even more than that - the stewards should've had him in.

"If it was a completely straight game I would be 99 per cent sure I'd got it right with my prices, but the sport is still not watertight."