Follow HRTC on...
facebook   twitter

Back and lay bet the same horse

You can either back a horse to win the race or you can have an each way bet. An each way means that if the horse comes first or second, or sometimes even third or fourth, you will still win something. You win slightly less than a standard bet, but there are two advantages. One is that you win something even if the horse doesn't come first and the other is that it minimises your losses.

For example, suppose you have an each way bet on a horse at 4/1. It comes third, but the bookmaker offers 1/5 odds for a placed horse. If the bet cost you �2, you will receive �1.80. Therefore you have only lost 20p. Had you backed it to win, you would have been �2 out of pocket. You have minimised your loss.

Lay betting is like being a bookmaker and you bet on a horse and hope it loses. If it does, you get to keep the backer's stake, just like a bookmaker. If it wins though, you have to pay out. If you �10 lay bet a horse at 20/1 and it actually wins, you're �200 out of pocket, just as a bookmaker would be if you'd backed it to win. So how do we minimise losses when lay betting?

One way is to lay bet multiple horses. If you lay bet three horses then all three could lose and some other horse could win. In which case, you get to keep the three backers' bets and end up with a big smile on your face. The worse case scenario is if one of your three horses wins the race, in which case you have to pay out. However, only one horse can win and two of your horses must lose. This means you lose one bet and win two. The two horses that didn't win will offset the loss on the horse that did. So your losses are minimised.

Another technique is to bet and lay bet the same horse. So you bet on it to win and you also bet on it to lose. Is this madness? Take a look at this:

I have put �2 on Nicholascopericus to win at odds of 11.5 and put a �3 lay bet on it at odds of 11. (Betfair uses decimal odds.)

Suppose the horse wins. With a �3 lay bet I lose �30, but the �2 normal bet would return �21, so my net loss is only �9. Suppose the horse loses. I lose my �2 bet to win, but I win my �3 lay bet. A net profit of �1. Although I don't win as much, I don't lose as much if my lay bet horse wins.

This technique is most useful with horses with long odds. Suppose you lay bet Meet Joe Black at odds of 350. It's a minimum bet of �2 at Betfair, so you stand to lose somewhere around �600-�700 if by some quirk of fate it finds itself out in front and wins the race. Do you really want to risk that? You could also back it to win at the same time and so reduce your loss to a more acceptable level. The one thing you need to remember is to bet less than your lay bet. In the example, I bet �2, but lay bet �3, so I made a �1 profit when the horse lost.

 Privacy | Contact | Gambling advice | Copyright | About