How much extra profit can you generate by focusing on getting the best price? A whole lot!

As I do at regular intervals, I recently completed a review of my own selections, bets and results. Something which I thought was worthwhile sharing is the importance of working hard to get the best possible price for your selections.

Each persons betting and results are different, but based on my own betting for this calendar year I have generated an extra 12% profit on turnover purely through the price I have obtained for my bets against the official starting price (SP). The difference has meant an actual increase in profit dollards of just over 30% to what I would have otherwise obtained if betting at SP.

As a matter of interest, taking Mark Reads Divi+ for all of my bets would have resulted in an extra 2.9% profit on turnover compared to SP.

These figures are consistent with the difference in my results for the 2001 calendar year.

When I look at these results I just can't understand why some people continue to only bet with the tote or simply not put any effort into getting a better price for themselves. There is extra profit there for the taking and the 12% difference in POT I experienced could no doubt be the difference for many between winning and losing.

So if you only bet on the tote at the moment and manage to lose a few percent, you could cut your losses or even turn the same set of selections into a profit by doing the work to get a better price.

My own records are littered with major profit improvements from individual selections...some of the recent ones are:

Bulla Borghese $16.15 div + against SP of $13....Crop $15 with my phone bookmaker against SP of $13..the top fluctuation was $17 which I missed....Mizz Zoe $10 taken on course, firmed to start at $6....Clay Shaker available early afternoon at $7 on Mark Reads site, firmed to start at $3.50 on track. The list goes on.

This is not intended to highlight my own betting exploits but to point out how much you can cut your losses by or how much extra profit you can make by establishing a number of different betting options for yourself.

Personally, I have an account with 3 online bookmakers and a phone account with an on-course bookmaker who provides me with top fluctuation for all bets placed within a couple of minutes after the first call of opening odds (no win commission).

My own routine is that firstly I check prices posted by the various on-line bookmakers at about 11:30am to see if there is anything that stands out as exceptional value which might disappear later on. If there is I will bet straight away and take whats on offer. If I have some uncertainty, I may outlay half of my stake at this time and wait to see what happens later. On some occassions I think the price is excellent value and take it, only to see it get longer later on...thats how it goes. Overall though I am well in front on these type of decisions.

If I am attending the track that day I will leave after I have checked the early on-line odds, then wait for each race and hunt around for the best price on course. If you are on course, you will often get better than even the official top fluctuation registered. Again its all extra profit with exactly the same set of selections.

If at home for the day I wait for the opening of each race and after the first call of odds, make an assessment of firstly whether my horse is or likely to be value and whether I think it would be best to take top fluctuation with my on course bookmaker or wait to see what the Divi+ and fixed odds do with on-line bookmakers. You would be amazed at the variation in prices that exist between the main on-line bookmakers.

One of the challenges with this approach is that when it's a close call as to whether my horse will get to the value price I am seeking. Sometimes it may open a little shorter and I have to make a call whether I think top fluct will creep out to at least equal my price. Sometimes you make the wrong call, but thats life. With time and experience you get better at making those decisions.

If I am heavily supporting a horse I know is going to be the favourite or even 2nd favourite, 9 times out of 10 I am better off to take the top fluctuation. If the horse I am going to support is greater that $6-$7 and there hasn't been mentioned much in the early morning press and media, then experience tells that at least one of the totes will pay better than market odds available which makes Divi+ the best option.

The fact that I need to make some split second decisions about which betting path to take means that it's impossible to always get the absolute best price...sometimes I pull the right reign and other times the wrong one. However even with my win some / lose some decision making record, the profit above and beyond a single source betting approach is huge.

Personally I think anyone who doesn't broaden their betting options like this is mad. For the sake of setting up a few accounts and spending a bit of effort hunting around you can significantly improve your results. This cream on the cake is the easiest money you will make in racing. It's certainly easier than improving your strike rate or average winning price by a few points.

I hope my own experiences are of use to some of you and I would be interested if anyone else has some thoughts on this topic from their own betting experience?



[ This Message was edited by: osulldj on 2002-11-12 13:24 ]

You win the prize for the day on the most valuable posting.

Well done, never a truer word was spoken!

:wink:

Agree with Equine Investor, case well put, Daniel :wink:

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Ta me go maith

osulldj,

i suppose the reason many punters back exclusively on the tote is they are small punters and it is either not worth the trouble shopping around or too difficult for the amounts they bet....e.g. if you were a 2 or 5 dollar punter would you be able to access these services???

cheers,
noel

hi all, would there be any sites out there that would provide a morning pre post market . im only a penny punter and use the morning pre post markets as a guide but i do find them inaccurate so i would like to have something to compare with them ..if they are out there ....cheers nevets

Hi Noel,

When it comes to phone betting with bookmakers on track, you do need to be betting in amounts that meet the ridiculous legislation that exists (different in each state). This option is clearly not viable for all punters.

However, the minimum bet with on-line bookmakers can be as low as $1 depending on who you use. Mark Read's IAS Bet has the highest minimum (does that make sense?) which is $5.

Such low minimums means that the use of on-line bookmakers is available to any punters that have a PC and internet connection.

In my view, if a punters goal is to make money or at least break even through win betting, they will never do it if they restrict themselves to betting on the tote.

I also believe that the reason most people only bet on the tote is because:

a) It's the traditional way and we don't like to change
b) They don't really how much they are getting ripped off and how much extra profit is available by using multiple sources
c) They think their bet sizes mean they can't use a bookmaker or its not worthwhile
d) They couldn't be bothered faxing off a form to set up an account.

If the goal is to make money, there are no excises to only bet through a single avenue i.e. the Tote.

osulldj,
Great post - the difference getting the right price can make a huge difference to your bottom line. I recently did an analysis on a new selection method for Saturday Metro meetings and the difference between using tote and DiviPlus was amazing. For those that didn't see the original post the profit figures were:
NSW TAB: $243.90
Unitab: $274.10
Supertab: $287.40
DiviPlus: $342.90
Thats nearly $100 extra profit simply by using DiviPlus instead of the NSW TAB.

Noel - The minimum bet for Mark Read is $5 so you don't need to be a big punter to take advantage of their service. If you are betting on Saturday racing I would suggest that you open an account with them and use the DiviPlus service at least - depending on what type of selections you back you will probably get at least 10% to 20% more profit than with the TAB. Obviously if you are only betting small amounts it is probably not worth having an account with multiple bookies but having an account with a single TAB is the absolute worst option! I do have TAB accounts for my midweek betting but I have an account with each one and place the bet with the one offering the best odds or with the bookie if the fixed odds are better.

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"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson

osulldj,

There is probably one other reason for a lot of people and that is the TAB seems "safer" because you can go to the local branch and withdraw your winnings (if you have any!) in cash and you know the TAB will always be there. I think a lot of people still view bookmakers as "a bit dodgy" or are concerned they may lose their money. Of course with the legislation that governs the bookmakers, particularly online ones, this is not an issue these days. It's probably a bit like when the home loan industry was deregulated - lots of people still got their loan from the bank even though they were charging a lot more in interest than the new lenders simply because they were unsure about the alternatives.

__________________
"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson

hi all

i noticed in the uk they have sites whereby they give the odds of many online bookies and then you compare and take the best price.

Do we have anything like that here. I noticed a site called bookies but it is fairly limited.

I generally bet horses to win over 10/1 and i find the tote quite good with these animals.

Out of curiosity if anyone knows i bet ascot race 6 (9/11/02) no.3..this won and paid $29.60 the win what did this pay on divi+.

My experience is that horses at odds greater than 10/1 with no obvious reason to be backed are better value on the tote especially in the last few minutes when money comes for the fancied brigade you can see your selection go from $15.00 to $26.00.

regards
ubetido

It would have paid $35.05 on Divi+ or about 18% better for you - that sort of difference is fairly typical and makes a huge difference to your profit in the long term. If you are betting mainly Saturdays on 10/1 or longer odds then you should definitely close your TAB account and get an account with Mark Reid and bet with Divi+

The only combined bookmakers site in Australia that I know of is bookies.com.au but this is still not taking bets. I am still hoping they get it off the ground but it is not looking very promising as it has been active for several months but without much apparant progress.
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"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson


[ This Message was edited by: becareful on 2002-11-13 15:24 ]