On Course Betting
This can be broken down into three types. Betting office, Bookmakers and Tote
The on course betting office's are the same as the high street bookmakers returns are at SP (Starting Price) with the exception that a deduction is made for all winning returns which is returned to racing.
Bookmakers offer odds to anybody wishing to take a bet from them. The odds offered here are fixed at the time of the bet and any subsequent moment of price is not relevant to the bet. The prices of these bookmakers are what are used to fix the starting price.
The Tote or the uk totalisator to give it it as proper name is a pool system where all the money bet is pooled and after a deduction the winnings are then shared out among all the winners and is called the Tote return dividend. More ...
Off course betting are bets made in the high street betting office. Here the betting office offers the full range of bets including bet on other sports as well as racing.
The meaning of ODDSOdds simply means the chance of a horse winning the race given past form as seen by a bookmaker offering the odds.
Bookmakers will offer odds to anybody wishing to place a bet with them.
Odds in the UK come in the form of fractional odds and these are the strange numbers that you see bookmakers offering in the UK
Although they look different they can be worked out as their fractional equivalent quite easily. The last figure is a ration to what you bet and the first figure is the ration returned if the bet is successful For example 5/1 or five to one as it is called means that if you wages £1 (the last figure) and the bet is successful then you will win £5 (the first figure). Any multiples of the bet results in the same multiples of winnings i.e. Betting £10 (10 x 1) returns in £50 winnings (10 x 5). Note you always get your stake back also.
Then same occurs for other odds i.e. 6/4 or six to four i.e. Bet £4 and win £6. This also occurs for odds on bets i.e. 4/6 means bet £6 and win £4, Don't forget you get your stake back as well.
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Betting Exchanges are still a very new way of betting and it gives the "punter" a chance to become a "bookmaker" where the punter can also offer odds on horse rather than trying to bet to pick horses that are going to win or be placed.
Many on-line services can now be found on this type of gambling.
You may just bet as a punter with this service getting better odds and often with the added bonus of being able to place bets In-Running or after the race has started. Or you may wish to offer odds to other punters on horses that you think will not win and by offering odds higher than anybody else you will get the bets on that horse.
Here are some of the rules when each-way betting.
1. Races must have at least 5 runners for each-way betting
2. All races of 5, 6 and 7 runners - 1/4 odds first 2 places
3. All other races of 8 or more runners - 1/5 odds first 3 place
4. Handicaps, Nursery and Rated Stakes Handicap races of 12 to 15 runners - 1/4 odds first 3 places
5. Handicaps, Nursery and Rated Stakes Handicap races of 16 or more runners - 1/4 odds first 4 places
Please note that these are general rules on each-way betting and many bookmakers will have their own rules and will often offer "special" rules for a particular race.
Where two horses finish in a dead heat the stakes for those horses are split, for instance if you bet on a horse at odds of 10/1 your returns will be settled at 5/1.
If more than two horses are dead heated then the odds are further split i.e. three horse dead heat the odds are one third of the starting price.. Or one quarter where there are four horses dead heated etc.
Rule 4 Deductions can often be seen as confusing but it is quite straight forward really.
Bookmakers make a book on the race and the odds they offer reflect the amount of money that they have taken on any particular horse.
If one horse is being well backed then the odds are shortened and is a horse is not well backed the odds are lengthened to temp punter s to bet it.
If a horse is withdrawn well before a race then the bookmaker will have to give any punter who has backed that horse his money back knowing this the bookmaker will reevaluate the odds on horses in his book to reflect the new market for the race.
However if a horse is pulled out shortly before the race the bookmaker will still have to pay the money back to the punters who have bet that non-runner but there may not be enough time to re-form the book. In this instance rule 4 will apply to compensate for the bookmaker being unable to re-form his book because of the short time between the withdrawal and the start of the race.
This is called the Rule 4 deduction and it is made on ALL willing bets and is set out in the Rule 4 Table os deductions and is based on the starting price os the withdrawn horse
S/P of withdrawn horse Deduction made from winnings
3/10 or shorter 75p in the £
2/5 to 1/3 70p in the £
8/15 to 4/9 65p in the £
4/5 to 4/6 55p in the £
20/21 to 5/6 50p in the £
Evens to 6/5 45p in the £
5/4 to 6/4 40p in the £
13/8 to 7/4 35p in the £
15/8 to 9/4 30p in the £
5/2 to 3/1 25p in the £
10/3 to 4/1 20p in the £
9/2 to 11/2 15p in the £
6/1 to 9/1 10p in the £
10/1 to 14/1 5p in the £
Over 14/1 No Deductions
This means that if you bet on the winning horse and the withdrawn horse's odds were 7/1 then you would have a deduction of 10P for every Pound that you would have won.
Accumulator A cumulative bet over several races where the winnings of the first bet become the bet on the next; and so on
Bar The bar price is the minimum odds for any of those selections not quoted.
Co-Favourites where three or more competitors share the status as favorite If only two then they are called joint-favorites.
Double A bet consisting of two selections, both of which must win for the wager to be successful.
Dual Forecast A tote bet operating in races of 3 or more runners. You must pick the first two to finish in either order.
Each-Way A bet which consists of two wagers. One win bet and One place bet.
Evens Odds of 1 to 1
Favorite (fav) The horse with the lowest odds in a race.
Goliath multiple consisting of 247 bets from eight selections(28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 4-folds, 56 5-folds, 28 6-folds, 8 7-folds and 1 8-fold).
Heinz A multiple bet consisting of 57 bets from six selections (15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 4-folds, 6 5-folds and 1 6-fold)
Jolly The favorite
Odds Odds are the bookmaker's view of the likely outcome of a race.
Odds-against Where the odds are greater than evens
Odds-on Where the odds are less than evens
Outsider (also known as "The Rag") A horse with big odds.
Pari-Mutuel A means of gambling on races in which all bets are pooled and winners are paid according to size of pool and the number of other winners. Equivalent to the UK Totalisator (Tote)
Punter UK term for someone who has a bet
Spread Betting a bet is won or lost according to whether you correctly predict the result of an event (also known as "action line" or "money line"). Returns or losses are calculated in proportion to how right or wrong the bettor is, and can lead to huge returns or losses
Tic-Tac The code of hand signals by which UK on course bookmakers' employees relay information on current odds and betting around the course
Tote The Horse race Totalisator Board' otherwise known as "The Tote". A body in the UK set up to operate pool-betting on all racecourses.
Turf Accountant The UK bookmaker
Win
A win bet is at straightforward bet.
A bet is placed on a horse to win a race. If the horse wins you win. If the horse does not win the race you loose the bet.
Place
Place betting is not normally offered by on-course bookmakers but it is now being seen more frequently in betting shops. Offered mainly as a Tote pool bet (see Tote Pool Betting) You are betting on a horse to finish either as a winner or a placed horse. The term "place" here can be different for different races for example: -
Up to 4 runners Place betting is not available
5, 6 or 7 runners 2 place dividends (1-2)
8+ runners non-handicaps 3 place dividends (1-2-3)
16+ runner handicaps 4 place dividends (1-2-3-4)
You should note that this is a general rule sometimes bookmakers will offer more place runners perhaps up to the first six horses to finish. This is normally offered as a special bet when there are big fields or difficult handicaps and where the person places an "each-way" bet (see below).
Also you should note here that the odds of the horse will be changed i.e. A Tote pool bet will return ONLY the place element of the pool if the horse finishes first or is placed. Likewise bookmakers who offer this bet will only offer a fraction of the starting price (perhaps a quarter or a fifth of the sp) and this will be the same fraction if the horse finishes first or placed.
Each-Way
The each-way bet is a combination of the two bets above. One part of the bet is a win bet and the second is a place bet.
This bet costs the punter double the stake i.e. £1 each way costs £2 (£1 to win and £1 to come placed.
If the horse wins then you will get paid on the win stake AND you will also get paid on the place stake. i.e. If the horse wins at 4/1 and the place is offered at 1/4 of the odds then you would win £4 plus your £1 stake for the win part of the bet and then for the place part of the bet you would win 1/4 of the odds that works out to even money and therefore the return would be £1 plus your £1 stake back so the total return would be £7.
In the above scenario if the horse did not win but came placed then the win part of the bet would be lost and you would only get the place part of the return i.e. £2 made up from your £1 win plus £1 stake.
Double
The double bet is a bet on two horses and can be made up as a win double or an each-way double.
In order to collect on the win double both horses would have to win and this is like having two bets with the winnings of the first being carried on to the second.
For example: If you bet 1 double on two horses that were returned with the starting Prices of 2/1 and 2/1 Then your return would be worked out like this:-
£1 win on the first horse at 2/1 returns £3 made up of £2 win and £1 stake return.
This £3 is then on the second horse at 2/1 returns £9 made up from £6 win and £3 stake return.
You Would get £9 return.
Beware if either horse does not win you have lost your bet!
An each way double would be two bets one on a win double and one on a place double.
Treble
The same as a double bet with three horses.
I.E a £1 treble where the horses finished 2/1 each the return would be £27.
Trebles can also be each-way.
Accumulator
An accumulator is regarded as betting on four or more horses in the same way as a double or single with each winnings from the previous leg going on to the next leg and like all the above if one horse fails to win then the whole bet is lost.
Again this is available as an each-way bet.
Forecast bets
This bet is further divided by Straight forcast or reverse forecast (Or sometimes called duel forecast)
Working out what the returns should be is complicated but the return a are usually quoted after the race.
These two bets are basically doubles but the two horses run in the same race and they have to finish first AND second. Also if the bet is a straight forecast you have to get the order of the finish correct also.
The Patent
The patent is the first of the Combination bets Here you have to select three horses and the amount of bets you have here is: - Three single bets, three double bets and one treble bet.
A £1 patent therefore costs £7.
If only one horse wins then you will get your win bet and the other bets are lost.
If two horses win then you have won one single bet and one double bet.
If all three win then all seven bets are won and paid out.
Another bet that is available each-way
Trixie
Very much like the Patent but without the single bet and therefore at least two horses have to win. Bets are made up of three doubles and one treble. Four bets in total therefore a £1 Trixie costs £4. Also Available as an each way bet.
A Yankee
Same basic bet as the Trixie but with four selections and 11 bets in total 4 doubles 6 trebles and 1 four horse accumulator.
Also Available as an each way bet.
The Super Yankee
A Yankee with five selection and twenty six bets. Ten doubles, ten trebles, five four accumulators and one five accumulator
Also Available as an each way bet.
The Heinz
Next one up in the order for six horse selections named after the famous Heinz brand as there are 57 bets here.
The bet is made up of fifteen doubles, twenty trebles, fifteen four Accumulators, six five Accumulators and one six Accumulator
Also Available as an each way bet.
The Goliath
Eight Selections and 247 bets mad up of twenty-eight doubles, fifty six trebles, seventy four accumulators, fifty six five accumulators, twenty eight six accumulators, eight seven accumulators and one eight accumulator
Also Available as an each way bet.
