Tag: bets

How do I place a bet?

To place a bet, legally, on horse racing in Britain, you must do so with a licensed bookmaker. Some licensed bookmakers, including the so-called ‘Big Three’ – William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral – are household names, but there are plenty of others plying their trade on the High Street, on racecourses up and down the country and online.

Placing a bet in a betting shop involves writing the name of your selection, the time and meeting at which it is running, the type of bet you wish to place and the amount you wish to stake on a betting slip and handing it to a cashier behind the counter. In return, you will receive a receipt – nowadays, typically a duplicate of your original betting slip – which you must hand back to the cashier, after the race, for payment in the event that your bet is a winner.

On-course bookmakers display the odds available on the next race on a electronic display board, so placing a bet simply involves approaching the bookmaker and stating, clearly, the racecard number of your selection, the type of bet you wish to place – that is, win or each-way – and the amount you wish to stake. In return, you will receive a printed receipt bearing the details of your bet, which you must present to the bookmaker after the race – after the horses have ‘weighed in’ – to receive any winnings.

Placing a bet online involves opening an account with the bookmaker of your choice and registering an appropriate credit or debit card, by means of which you will fund the account. Terms and conditions, including minimum deposit and withdrawal amounts, maximum payouts and so on, vary from one online bookmaker to another, so make sure that they are acceptable before committing to opening an account. Thereafter, placing a bet is as simple as clicking on the name of your selection – which will be added to an electronic betting slip – clicking the type of bet you wish to place, entering your stake amount and clicking another button to confirm your bet. You will be able to view your list of ‘open’ bets at any time and any winnings will automatically be credited to your account when each bet is settled.

What is a flag bet?

A flag bet is a full cover, combination bet akin to the ubiquitous ‘Yankee’ insofar as it covers four selections, participating in four different events, in six doubles, four trebles and one four-fold accumulator. However, while a Yankee consists of eleven bets, a flag also bundles together six pairs of ‘if cash’ or ‘any-to-come’ wagers, known as ‘single stakes about’ or ‘up-and-down’ bets, to make a total of twenty-three bets.

Of course nowadays Online Bookies, not just ‘bricks and mortar’ establishments offer a myriad of ways to place a bet, be it single, multiple and so on. Also options such as ‘cash out’ are sometimes available actually during a live event allowing you to take the money and run, as they say. Or alternatively see the bet out if you have enough confidence in your selection.

Each single stake about bet is a wager on two selections, in two different events, and consists of two single bets. Thus, for four selections, A, B, C and D, a flag bet includes single stakes about bets on AB, AC, AD, BC, BD and CD. For the sake of simplicity, consider just the selections A and B; if selection A wins, the return on the single bet is used to fund an additional single bet, up to the original stake, on selection B, and vice versa. Of course, if either selection loses, the return on the original single bet is zero, so the additional single bet on the other cannot be funded, and both original stakes are lost. If both selections A and B lose, the return from the single stakes about bet is zero.

What types of bet are there in horse racing?

Horse racing offers a plethora of different types of bet, ranging from the simple to the fiercely complex. The simplest bet is a straight win single, where you place a bet on a horse to finish first in a race; if it does, you win and, if not, you lose. Slightly more complex is a win and place, or each-way, bet, where you place a bet on a horse either to win or to finish placed, according to the ‘place terms’ of the race in question. An each-way bet is effectively two bets in one, so requires double the stake of a straight win single. The place portion of the bet is paid out at a fraction of the win odds, typically 1/5 or 1/4, if your selection finishes in the first two, three or four places, depending on the type of race and the number of runners.

Of course, it is also possible to combine your selections in ‘multiple’ bets, such as doubles, trebles and accumulators, which require two, three or four or more to win or, at least, be placed, in the case of each-way multiple bets, to guarantee. Bookmakers offer a selection of multiple bets, which are known by names such as ‘Yankee’, ‘Canadian’, ‘Heinz’ and so on, depending on the number of selections and the total number of bets required to cover those selections. Other, slightly more exotic, horse racing bets include forecast and tricast betting, in which you attempt to predict the first two, or three, horses home in any race, in the correct order or any order.

Knowing the likelihood of winning is just one factor of why people enjoy gambling, but a relevant one. The likes of The Casino DB offer countless casino games, with bonuses on offer in many instances. These bonuses, alongside pure enjoyment of play factor into where many decide to spend their betting buck!

What is a multiple bet?

In the context of horse racing, a multiple bet is a bet in which a single stake is placed on two or more selections, win or each-way, in two or more different races. Any returns from the first selection are staked on the second selection – in the case of an each-way multiple bet, on a win-to-win and place-to-place basis – and so on.

A multiple bet involving two selections in two different events is known as a ‘double’, a multiple bet involving three selections in three different events is known as a ‘treble’ and a multiple bet involving four, or more, selections in four, or more, different events is known as an ‘accumulator’. In each case, all of the selections must win – or, in the case of an each-way multiple bet, at least be placed – in order to generate a return on the race results.

However, it is also possible to place a ‘full cover’ combination or permutation bet which, as the name suggests, combines all the multiple bets – that is, doubles, trebles and accas – for a certain number of selections. Popular bets of this type include the ‘Yankee’, which combines four selections in six doubles, four trebles and one fourfold accumulator, making 11 bets in total, and the ‘Super Yankee’, or ‘Canadian’, which combines five selections in ten doubles, ten trebles, five fourfold accumulators and one fivefold accumulator, making 26 bets in total.

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