Frequently Asked Questions About Betting
Find out the answers to the most commonly encountered questions on the topic of betting.
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What is a Starting Price?
The starting price (or SP) refers to the official price of a horse at which bets are settled in betting shops.
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What does Ante Post Betting mean?
These are bets made on an event well in advance of the day. This happens most often before major races or events, such as the Grand National or the FA Cup winner. However, if your selection is dropped before the event, or not entered, you lose your bet.
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What is the Tote?
The Tote is short for the Horserace Totalisator Board, and is a form of betting available at every dog track and horserace course. All the money bet on entrants in a race goes into a 'pot' or 'pool', and is shared out amongst the winners after the race is completed. All profits from the Tote go back into racing.
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How do I bet on more than one race?
You can place a Double bet if you have a bet on two different races, win or each way. The winnings from the first race are placed on the second race. Trebles are bets on three races and bets on four or more races are called Accumulators.
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Why do bookmakers change their odds?
Odds will change if the book is trying to balance out the money being laid on either side. For example, if the public favours one team in a football match too much, the odds will change to attract support to the other team.
If you see the odds change significantly, the public may be responding to a situation you are not aware of, like an injury. Or it might simply be one team, player or horse is overly popular.
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What does the expression 'Bar' mean?
This expression excludes horses for which a price is quoted. For example, '10/1 bar two' means that odds of 10/1 or better are available for all horses except the first two in the betting.
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What does Evens refer to?
Evens (or Even Money) means that the stake and the winnings are identical. For example, if your stake is £10 at evens you win a further £10 (a total of £20 return).
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What is an Odds on bet?
If, on winning a bet, your profit will be less than your stake, then it is termed an odds on bet. For example, if you bet £1 at 1/2 (two to one on), you would win a profit of 50p (a return of £1.50 in total).
