Betting to Win: A Professional Guide to Profitable Betting

Author: Leighton Vaughan Williams
Publisher: High Stakes
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BETTING TO WIN

to be gained from placing a double on two horses over placing two single bets, except perhaps in terms of time saved and convenience. To convert two single bets into a double, one need simply bet on the first horse. If it wins, stake all the winnings on the second horse. This is exactly what the double does automatically However, by placing two singles you are able to control when and how much you bet on the second horse.

The same logic applies to a treble (all three selections have to be successful) or indeed any multiple bet.

Sometimes, however, the bookmaker will try to encourage multiple bets, by adding a bonus to any that win. The bookmaker's reasoning is that any advantage over the punter is multiplied in multiple bets, and so these bets tend to be especially profitable from the bookmaker's point of view. Unless you are confident that the advantage is actually in your favour at each stage of the bet, therefore, think very hard before placing a multiple. After all, the great flexibility of choosing when and how much to bet, and at what odds, is dirninished once you lock your money in early.

Forecast Bets

Forecast bets are similar to multiple bets, except that the bet involves more than one horse in the same race rather than different races.

The best-known example of a forecast bet in the UK is the bookmakers' Computer Straight Forecast. This involves selection of the first two horses to pass the post in the correct order. Unfortunately, there is no simple way of working out in advance how much you will win if you are right. Instead, the payout is calculated according to a complex formula devised by the bookmakers. Need one say more?

The Tote's competitor to the Computer Straight Forecast used to take the form of the Dual Forecast. In the Dual Forecast punters would specify the first two home in either order (rather than the correct order), and the pool of winning bets was shared (after a 24% deduction).

Most independent analysis suggested that the Dual Forecast offered better value, in most circumstances, than the Computer Straight Forecast. The Dual Forecast has now been replaced by the Tote Exacta. This is the Tote's direct competitor to the Computer Straight Forecast.

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