Lescoach,

The difference between $5 and $5.50 is huge when the aim of the game is to gain a long term advantage over a) bookmakers or b) the TAB. Any advantage is going to be marginal so an extra 10% makes a big difference long term.

Fact 1: No matter which way you look at it, the TAB cannot and will not lose on any race, EVER. Bookies on the other hand, can and do lose on individual races. You can therefore gain an edge over bookmakers.

Fact 2: There is no such thing as overs or unders on the TAB because you're never guaranteed the price you see at the time you place your bet. If you see $6 about a horse in the betting ring and you rate that a fair price you can lock it in with a bookmaker. Thousands of tote punters see the same horse at $6.60 and rush to get on the "overs". The horse starts at $5.60 on the TAB because the money has to be shared equally among punters but only after the TAB has taken it's unequal share.

Contrarian punters like Becareful are the only ones who have a realistic chance of winning long term on the TAB because they don't follow the crowd and are trying to cash in on the value created by herd mentality.