Guys,
Does anyone on here bet on horse racing?
Horse racing represents some of the best value in sports betting because it has something called each-way bets where as well as betting on the win, you bet on the place (i.e. 2nd, 3rd).
So 5 pounds each way you are betting 5 on the win and 5 on the place.
Now here's the wonderful thing about an each-way bet - a bookmaker calculates the odds by applying a fraction to the win odds.
This represents a loophole in certain circumstances. For example, if there is a red hot favourite and the rest of the pack is evenly spread then someone HAS to come 2nd or 3rd but because the odds on the favourite are so low, there is value in the place.
Make sense? You can check this for yourself because the betting exchanges have succinctly different markets for the place market which will identify where the value is.
In case I haven't explained well - here is an article by famous sports trader Caan Berry on the topic:
Horse racing bets can indeed be a smart play, especially with each-way bets. You’re essentially hedging your bets by backing both the win and the place, and if you spot the right conditions, it can tilt the odds in your favor. When a favorite's odds are low, the place market often holds hidden value. Great tip; I'll definitely check out Caan Berry’s article to dive deeper! Thanks for sharing.
I've never made horse bets, but after a few conversations with @graham I've been keen on trying.
I used to make a lot of each way bets on horse racing and was reasonably successful at it. I used to look at the odds of the horse and ascertain whether I could get my money back if my win bet went down. To achieve this I would need place odds of around 2/1. So if a horse started out at 10/1 and the place odds were a fifth of that I would be in business if the horse finished second or third.
@dany horse race betting can be very exciting especially if you can watch the race live after placing the bet. Flat races over 5 furlongs are over very quickly with the longer national hunt races taking more time with distances of 2 miles or more.
@lewisw I think you explained everything well. I don't get involved with horse racing bets as much as I used to now. When I moved from the UK I lost a lot of valuable data on horse racing and useful contacts. These days I go for football bets more because I seem to be able to predict the outcomes of lower-league games pretty well.
That actually makes a lot of sense... each way betting seems like a smart way to hedge your bets, especially in those races where the favorite is clear. I’ve never really thought about horse racing like that before, but it sounds like there’s some real strategy involved.
@dany Betting on horse racing is a real blast my friend! Let us know how you get on with your bets...
@graham I'll keep you updated! For now I'm looking at the Matchweek 2 of the Premier League! 😀
Ive never really understood horse racing and how the odds work butvits nice to actually have some insight on how it works.
hmm interesting. can u please share the site to bet horse racing ?
This is pretty informative, thanks definitely I'll keep this in mind the next time my friends invite me with horse betting
Will definitely try to learn more about it, glad to see such informative posts here.
@dany It is very exciting - but this strategy is all about volume so sometimes it is easier on the heart not to watch 😆
@facebook-skibidirizz Depends where you are but here in the UK the best sites for horses were always Skybet, William Hill and PaddyPower.
This strategy can be doubled up where bookmakers are paying out on extra places too!
@graham So much value in it and I haven't even mentioned extra places or 'BOG' (Best Odds Guarenteed).
Originally I used the "each way matcher on Oddsmonkey" to identify races but then I started using a more sophisticated tool called Bookie bashing.
It would find many of these races which I would package up into each way lucky 15s.
It was like a +EV lottery ticket!
