Hi Everyone,
I'm sure that someone else has the same problem I do and maybe they've found an answer. After a deal of research of the S-Tab results I came up with a nice little "tweak" to my investment decision. I only have about five to eight races per Saturday or public holiday and I might have one to five candidates per race. The final decision on which horse to pick AND THE AMOUNT TO BE INVESTED depends on the TAB price. The problem is that the TAB price showing at 5 seconds to start time can be vastly different (in percentage terms at least) from the actual divi.
The result that prompted this lament occurred a few moments ago in Bris. where Burdekin Blues was showing $1.70 with seconds to go yet paid $1.60. Not a lot in dollar terms but 14% difference in terms of POI and I would have plonked had I known the eventual div.
Is there a way round this problem or have I just found another way not to win?
Cheers
Ron

G'day Foxwood, I know the problem, theres not a lot you can do as it's hard to get fixed odds about every race but there are some availavble. But betting BEST TOTE usually makes a difference as it did in this case i.e. NSW paid $1.70c. But personally, when they're this short I find that Top Fluc nearly always beats the totes , (rule of thumb if its fav or less than 3-1 ($4) then bet top fluc,) as it also did in this case though only by 5c ($1.75c) but that's still 15c or 25% better than you got. Also consider that you don't have to wait till the last second you can put your bet on the night b4 and still know that you will get the best price bet in the ring.

TAB totes at the jump or a couple of minutes before the jump are notoriously inaccurate. If TAB betting, go Stab for the best overall prices. Go fixed odds or best tote otherwise.

Thanks Partypooper and Crash,
I appreciate your replies but I obviously didn't make whinge clear in my original ramblings. Please put it down to tears of frustration. My aim was not to try to find the best odds, if it were I would adopt your strategies or even check Betfair. Rather, my aim was to determine the strength of support for the favourite as indicated by the shortness of its price compared with its p/p price.
The research I have done on previous race results and divs can obviously only be with final divs but it shows an amazingly high strike rate where my selection's final div was less than 66.66% of the p/p as published in the Sportsman. These are the ones on which I plonk. My spreadsheet is set up to highlight the selections that meet this criterion. All I need to do is keep typing in the div as it changes. Yesterday's result that caused the angst, Burdekin Blues, did not trigger the highlight at $1.70 but would have at its eventual div of $1.60.
Hey, it's one race. I'm sure there will be another next weekend.
Cheers and Thanks again
Ron

The problem i can see here is you are using 1 tote to get your results but favs can be subject to interstate fluctuations.

You may be looking at a horse that is listed at $4 pp and come race time may be $3 Stab but $2.50 NSW so it is a bet in one state but not the other.

Try importing VFG real time prices in to your excel sheet this will provide you with all 3 tabs plus betfair place prices.

You need to decide what horses have firmed but then place your bets at the best price.