Category: FAQ

What are the Benefits of Using Betting Exchanges over Bookmakers?

What are the Benefits of Using Betting Exchanges over Bookmakers? In the good, old days of gambling you bet with bookmakers.

In fact, I can remember my Dad going to the local bookies up the road, Fred Scotney, and you placed your bet and had to listen to the commentary. They didn’t even have TV coverage. It wasn’t until 1986 when Satellite Information Services (SIS) broadcast live horse racing in bookmakers for the first time.

The first betting exchanges hit the headlines in 2001. Betfair changed the way of gambling opening up the betting industry so individuals could bet and lay in essence any individual could act like a bookmaker.

Betting exchanges has afforded bettors and layers some freedom which conventional boomakers didn’t offer. For example, a gambler can bet and lay. This means individuals could trade on the exchanges. Also, outsiders in any given races are generally considerably bigger odds. A 33/1 shot with the bookies could be 100/1 on the exchanges. It also allowed gamblers to cash out if they wishes. Bookmakers have added this to their platforms as it is a popular option.

Betting exchanges have led the way and helped transform the traditional bookmakers to offer more in the way of promotions.

One of the greatest advantages of using betting exchanges over bookmakers is that even if you win big money your account will never be closes.

Bookmakers do not give this guarantee. In fact, many have been criticised for their practices.

From a personal view, I would much prefer betting with exchanges although there are occasions when a traditional bookies can be used as an advantage just as taking early prices which may not be available elsewhere.

How Much Money do you Need to Buy a Racehorse?

I’m sure you have seen all these expensive racehorses bred from the most talented stallions and mares. They are the ones you hear about costing millions of pounds. It’s no wonder some of these foals and yearlings cost so much money. For example, the stallion fee for Frankel is £175,000. That’s what it costs irrespective of the horse having ability or not. There are no guarantees. In fact, many very expensive horses are so slow that they never race.

However, it is much more likely an expensive purchase will have ability than lets say a yearling which costs £500.

Stallion fees range from hundreds of pounds to the likes of super stallion Galileo, who is probably worth about £250,000. I say probably because you will only hear the price on application. It’s private.

From following two-year-old horse racing for thirty-plus years, I have seen many cheap purchases, often called bargain buys, win races. Some have proven themselves to be very talented and competing and winning at a high level.

Some have cost as little as £500.

That’s what you call a bargain buy.

You may be thinking that owning a racehorse is quite feasible. But don’t forget you will need someone to train your horse, feed, water and make sure it is kept in the best of health. All this comes at a price.

In fact, for many, the cost of training a horse far exceeds the cost of buying it in the first place.

With your average training bill of £20,000 per annum it’s an expensive hobby and you’ll be banking that your little star is a winner in waiting.

You’ll need that prize money and pay its way.

Very few horses make their owners a profit.

 

How much does the average race horse weigh?

When it comes to horses they literally come in all shapes and sizes. Among the smallest horses in world are the falabella, an Argentinian breed, which is just over two foot tall. The largest horses include the shire, Percheron and Belgian draft.

 

The Budweiser Clydesdale horses are known for their colossal size. King LeGear stands 20.5 hands high and weighs in at 164 stones.

However, the biggest horse in the world came from Bedfordshire, England. Sampson (also known as Mammoth) a shire horse gelding bred by Thomas Cleaver of Toddington Mills in 1850. He stood over 7-feet tall and weighed almost 240 stones.

A giant of a horse.

Race horses by comparison are a bred for speed but still big, strong horses. On average a race horse weighs half a tonne, which is 60 stones.

Most heavy horse breeds are used for their strength such as ploughing fields, drafts, or pulling logs in forestry. While racehorses are built for speed.

A shire horse which weights 150 stones can pull a total weight of over 4000 stones. While a race horse can run at a speed of over 40 miles per hour.

The world’s heaviest animals include the African elephant which is a giant 780 stones. However, this seems small fry when you consider the night of the blue whale which is the heaviest animal on the planet at almost 30,000 stones. In tonnes that’s 190.

How much do you weigh?

Are you as fast as a horse or heavy as a whale?

“If you are interested in watching horse racing and betting on horses you can visit 1xbet site to see current odds.”

Is It Worth Betting on the Outsider in a Horse Race?

Are you the type of punter who bets on favourites or outsiders?

Both have strength and weakness.

Each to their own, you might say. If your betting pays, you don’t need to listen to anyone’s opinion but your own. However, if you are losing hand over fist you need to question why. Gambling is about having answers to questions. They will never be one hundred percent correct but if you are betting with your emotions or knee-jerk reactions you will pay a hefty price.

Cold, hard cash.

If you are a favourite backer, you don’t need me to tell you, your win strike better be high. Even if you are a very successful gambler, you will be talking about a return on investment (ROI) of 10 or 20% (if you’re lucky). So many people bet on favourites but, on average, about 30% win. That number should be a sobering thought. It details that you are going to struggle to win without being selective. All gambling should be skill based. If you are betting on luck then you need to go watch TV and go do something less boring instead.

An important part of betting is your stake. There are books written on this subject so a short paragraph can only detail one or two thoughts. However, I would suggest whether you bet odds-on or 100/1 shot, you bet level stake. This may sound crazy but if you don’t you will find you bet less on the bigger priced winners when they are ones that make your season.

Ask my brother who bet £20 at 200/1 and won £4,000.

If you don’t bet on outsiders you don’t have to think about much more than the jolly.

But what are the true odds of a 50/1 horse winning, let’s day, a two-year-old race?

It very much depends on the horse. I’ve seen a number of rags (outsiders) win easily. Clearly, they should never have been such huge odds. It happens from time to time. In general, you don’t need to be a Professor of Mathematics to say most horses priced 50/1 should be double or triple those odds.

I’m sure you have seen a 250/1 shot with the bookmakers priced 999/1 on the exchanges.

I’ve recently concluded a study which shows the price of every winner for a 2yo Flat turf seasons. This gave me an opportunity to review the success or failure of horses at speculative-priced odds.

You would be surprised how few horses win at giant odds.

For example just 46 horse won at odds priced 20/1+. The biggest priced winner being priced 150/1.

Quite startling only 8 horses won at odds bigger than 33/1. This data didn’t include handicaps or plating class.

It shows the likelihood of a horse winning at big odds.

This doesn’t mean to say the horse at shorter starting odds hasn’t been substantially backed. My good friend, Eric Winner, tipped a horse at 100/1 and its starting price (SP) was 12/1. However, this insight leads most punters to think betting on outsiders isn’t a good bet. In fact, most bookmaker’s profit is made from these, often, luckless flutters.

It doesn’t mean you cannot win a fortune for a small bet.

It happens.

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