Category: FAQ

There are many types of multi bets from the simple to truly extravagant. The most basic could be a win treble consisting of 3 selections while a Super Heinz has 7 and an amazing 120 bets with 21 doubles, 35 trebles, 35 four-folds, 21 five-folds, 7 six-folds and one 7 horse accumulator.

There is literally something for everyone.

These types of bets are the bread and butter of bookmakers and those who wager are sometimes called mug punters.

It’s worth noting that even professional gambler Jack Ramsden made use of this bet type winning hundreds of thousands.

The pro side of any accumulator is that you can win a large sum of money for small change.

Stories of a lucky punters winning six-figure payouts come from such bets. Who could forget back in 1996 when Frankie Dettori rode seven winners going through the card at Ascot. In fact, the odds of that accumulator were 25,051/1.

A bet of £40 would have won over £1M.

The downside is that most punters lose.

The trouble with multi bets is that one loser means your bet is almost obliterated. For example, a Canadian bet consisting of 5 selections and 26 bets would result in 15 bets going astray with a solitary loser.

This point really shows the difficulty of winning with these bets.

The paradox of multi bets is they give the illusion you have more chance of winning. Giving the impression you can afford to make a risky selection. In truth, you simply cannot afford one loser. Trying to pick 4 winning favourites is hard work let alone a the rag (outsider).

How often have you including one big-priced selection to achieve that elusive big win?

In my opinion, a four-fold each-way accumulator is a bet that gives you the chance of winning big but also has an aspect of safety involved, which is no bad thing when you consider the implications of one loss with an exotic wagers.

With the four-fold accumulator you need only to have your horses placed to get your stake money back if not win a few quid. It’s true such bets are all or nothing and the win side of the bet you need all four to make the big cash. However, you always have the option of laying off some of the potential win if you have three winners and fearful the last selection will fall short.

From experience, I would suggest you just bite the bullet and let them run and go for gold.

My advice for making multi bets pay is to only bet when you are confident you have very strong selections. A weak link will see your betting slip crash and burn. Safety first are the keywords to see a return on your stake.

It’s been 25-years since one lucky punter won £500,000 on Frankie Dettori’s Magnificent Seven and you could well be waiting another quarter of a century for the next to happen.

Don’t push your luck too far.

An excellent question, but one to which there appears to be no definitive answer. In common with other colloquial betting terms, ‘monkey’ is believed to be derived from Cockney slang, rhyming or otherwise, but more than that is difficult to say. Still anyone interested in horse tips, or betting should try to get familar with the meaning racing terminology.

One hypothesis suggests that during the days of the British Raj – that is, British colonial rule of India between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries – the 500-rupee banknote bore a depiction of a monkey. Thus, ‘monkey’ was adopted as a slang term for 500 rupees and, hence, for £500 when occupying soldiers returned to Britain.

However, the term was known to be in use in Britain several decades before the British Raj and, while coins bearing religious motifs – possibly including Hanuman, the monkey commander of Hindu mythology – were minted in the pre-colonial era, no legitimate coins or banknotes from the suggested period really fit the bill. So-called ‘temple tokens’ did exist, but they were not legal tender and, more often than not, were devoid of any denomination.

More likely, perhaps, is that ‘monkey’ is derived from the phrase ‘to have a monkey up the chimney’ which, in late-nineteenth century Britain, was a slang term for having a mortgage. At the turn of the twentieth century, the vast majority of properties in Britain were rented rather than bought, but a three-bedroom terraced house in London could be bought for around £300; £500 would, at least, be in the right ball park as the amount required to buy a house of some distinction. In either case, even today if the end results of a race was winning a ‘monkey’ you’d not be too unhappy with your day!

Basically, there are two reasons a jockey uses a whip: to steer and make the horse go faster.

In bygone days of horse racing, you may well have seen a jockey use the whip much more vigorously than today.

Animal welfare was in its infancy and the desire to win come at all costs. The whip was used as a ‘tool’ to encourage a horse to go faster. In essence, punished to run faster, the goal to win.

The whip has been associated with animal cruelty.

These days, the spectacle of a horse being hit countless times is a less common sight.

In 2011, the British Horse Racing Association changed the whip rules nearly halving the number of times a horse can be struck to 7 strokes for the Flat and 8 for the National Hunt. And a maximum of 5 strokes in the final furlong or after the last obstacle.

Whip rules include:

1) The manner in which the whip was used, including the degree of force

2) The purpose for which the whip was used

3) The distance over which the whip was used and whether the number of times it was used was reasonable and necessary

4) Whether the horse was continuing to respond

If a jockey is in breach of the rules the stewards will give a penalty for the offence resulting in suspension of days racing and/or monetary fine.

These rules are updated on a regular basis.

Thankfully, the days gross abuse of the whip are a thing of the past but animal welfare is an important subject for the protection of horses within racing and the how the use of the whip is viewed and perceived.

There are races which do not allow the use of the whip called ‘hands and heels’ and even if a whip is carried it may only be used in cases where a horse is out of control.

There is scientific evidence that whipping a horse doesn’t make it run faster although others considered the data biased. (It was funded by the RSPCA)

Perhaps the day will come when the use of the whip is abolished.