Just had a look at some results for today from IAS. Looking at first four races at MR, BR & SR gives the following (I realise this is a small sample but it seems to agree with my previous observations and other peoples comments):

In only 2 races has SP been better than the best TAB div. Another 3 races you would have done better with Top Fluct. than with TAB. The remaining 7 races the best TAB div beat both the SP and TF price.

As I mentioned previously the short priced winners were better with SP/TF (eg. MR2 - SP=$2.63, TF=$3.00, TAB=$2.40) while the longer odds winners were much better on TAB (eg. BR4 SP/TF=$13, TAB=$20.8, MR3 SP/TF=$21, TAB=$56.5).

As others have said the Divi+ option offered by IAS is one of the best options in general as it always beats the best TAB div - unfortunately you must bet at least 1 minute before sched. jump which doesn't suit me - I like to see how they are behaving when loading before I place my bet.

So in summary it looks like SP/TF is probably best if you like betting short priced runners - otherwise use IAS if you place bets in advance or TAB for last minute bets.

Any comments anyone?

IAS fluctuations are not official fluctuations and are regularly inaccurate and "under" what the official top fluc is. There is a bookie in Melbourne called Rod Cleary who wrote an article about Top Flucs Vs SP Vs Tote prices. His research apparently covered about 1300 Melbourne Metro meetings and relate to 10450 races. Quite a decent sample and very interesting reading. It's at http://www.vicbet.com/articles/default.cfm?id=9

I've only been betting with bookmakers for about 2 years but I could count on one hand the number of times the TAB has paid more than top fluc.

Sportingbet (formerly No 1 Betting Shop) allows you to place your bet at best odds which means you get the higher price out of SP or Supertab.

For me, nothing beats top fluctuation betting. The only disadvantage is having to bet at least 30 minutes before the jump.

Cheers

Becareful,

You are wrong about Div+. You can place bets at any time before the race via the internet, as long as its on race day. Div+ is higher than the final dividends on NSWTAB, SuperTAB and UniTAB for all metro meetings.

You must be confused with fixed odds betting, which they also offer. Div+ is nearly always higher than the fixed odds they offer.

Beta Div applies to place dividends and non-metro meetings - here they only guarantee to beat NSWTAB Div. So the place div on STAB or UniTAB may be higher.

There are detailed weekly updated tables comparing top fluctuation, starting price and SuperTab odds for Saturday racing in Melbourne and Sydney for all horses starting at $5.50 or shorter in the bookmaker betting ring at http://www.propun.com.au/bookmakers.html

Reenster - thanks for that link. Seems to confirm that SP/TF is definitely better than TAB for shorter priced winners but TAB is better than SP for winners of 7/1 or over. As I said I don't like betting until jump time so TF is not an option for me.

Chief - This is the info on Divi+ from the rules section on the IAS site:

"DIVIplus is available over the Telephone and the Internet. Telephone bets must be placed at least 4 minutes prior to the advertised start time of the race. Internet bets will be accepted up to 1 minute prior to the advertised start time"

Do you have other information? I would like to use the service but I generally bet with TAB when the horses have all loaded (so only a few seconds before jump).

[ This Message was edited by: becareful on 2002-06-11 16:59 ]

Becareful,

Can I ask why you wait until so late to place your bets? Is it based on price or how your selection looks? I'm curious to know what you see as the advantage of waiting til just before they jump.

Cheers

Reenster,

The main reason is the price - because I am betting on longer odds horses I can usually get better prices on TAB than bookies. Unfortunately as you would know the TAB prices can change dramatically in last few minutes before a race so I wait until last possible moment to make sure the odds are still over my bet price - I never bet if the price falls below my cutoff. Also I can pick which TAB to place my bet with depending on which one is offering best price on my selection.

Another benefit is that I have avoided quite a few losing bets by observing my selection behind the barrier and as it loads and deciding it wasn't a good bet!