Sport is made for betting

Haven't found much to rant about today, so I thought I'd reprint some very useful betting philosophies I've found on different sites. This batch were originally found on the Slipperytoad blog. Mistakes are the portals of discovery. James Joyce - Irish author (1882 - 1941) When everybody thinks alike, everyone is likely to be wrong. Losers think of selecting the winner and beating a race. Professionals think of betting for value and beating the races. Never succumb to anyone who just wants to let you know what you are doing will never work. Don't fall foul of the favourite/longshot bias i.e. Horses with short odds (i.e., favourites) tend to win even more frequently than indicated by the final market odds, while horses with long odds (i.e., longshots) win less So, during tissue compilation, don't underestimate the chances of preferred contenders and overestimate the changes of marginal contenders. The best handicapping literature in the world are your own...

Following on from the previous post... Kempton's not a track I get many results at laying the field, the camera angle seems to be too good (you want people to think horses are further ahead than they really are, running direct at the camera is great for that) and all-weather tracks don't seem to throw up the jackpots too often. But today we got lucky :D

One of the most popular search phrases for this blog is 'lay the field' which was one of the fun strategies we used to demonstrate regularly at our Betfair Education sessions. It's been a while since I've made a post about it so today I've decided to have a go and post an example of how it works. Quite simply, we are looking for at least two horses to trade short in-running, with a jackpot occurring if even more do (there have been races where four horses have traded at 1.15 or shorter, my favourite was the day at Worcester when I had three matched at 1.34 and not the winner because it was never in front until the line). In this example I have gone for the double lay - laying £20 at 1.45 on all runners (worst-case scenario -£9 if one horse hits the front and isn't challenged) and then again for £88 at 1.07 (risking another £6.16). Worst-case scenario of -£15.16. The second lay at 1.07 is for the jackpot, when one trades really short, but also not risking enough ...

Brilliant! Folkestone is quite undulating and horses often run down both sides of the straight track. I usually find six furlongs a little short to get many matched, but this time, I got one matched at the 1.07 which brought the big result :) This link explains the strategy with a video clip as well, I've just repeated it several times over in the same race. Much better to use software to do it as well, rather than typing them all ineach time.

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...

Check out the latest Betfair INPLAY newsletter , and be sure to read the Strategy of the Month section. It's the most popular feature in each edition, and this month's new system is a great one, even if I say so myself....

I've just added some more articles to the Betfair Education site, and am always looking to add more content particularly for the punter who wants to take his trading up to the next level. Here's an article about Price Leveraging . There'll be more to come on the site, and keep an eye on the monthly newsletter which is sent out to UK customers. We have a section in there called Strategy of the Month which throws up a few new ideas for you to ponder. Not saying they'll all work for you, just sowing some seeds that might turn into success for you.