Betting In Running on Horse Racing: Pros and Cons
First of all what is betting in running? Well betting in running is simply placing a bet after the race has started. In other sports, this can also be called in-play betting or live betting.
Most bookmakers now offer a betting in-running service for horse racing but the most common betting site to place an in-running bet on horse racing is a betting exchange such as Betfair.
We will start with some of the pros of betting in running on horse racing.
Bigger back prices or shorter lay prices
The first advantage is one of the biggest reasons that many people bet on running. Depending on the type of horse you want to back or lay you can often get a substantially bigger price on your selection in running than you would before the off. Why is this? Well as there is a proven advantage to racing up with the pace, front runners will often shorten in price during the race. If you want to lay a horse and you know it is a front runner or races up with the pace then you can lay them at a shorter price than before the race has started. Alternatively, if your horse is a hold-up horse or one that doesn’t travel very well through their races then you should be able to get a bigger price about them in running.
There may also be occasions where you believe a horse has a fair chance but their price in running becomes very short and does not represent their true chance of winning. This presents a good opportunity to challenge your opinion against the market. The same can be said for if you think a horse has gone very fast in front and you think they will come back to the field.
You can judge how your horse is traveling and jumping
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? The horse you’ve backed is slowly away from the stalls or makes mistakes over the first few jumps and you know your chance is gone.
Well betting in running gives you the opportunity to take stock of how your horse is going throughout the race before you part with your money. If you know that your horse is an out and out front runner and if they are to have a good chance of winning then they will need to be in front, however, they are slowly away from the stalls and stuck in behind then you won’t have done your money.
The same if your horse has gone very fast in front, made jumping errors, or is stuck in behind at a slow pace. You can decide when you have seen how the race is panning out if you still want to place your bet.
A fancied horse may have fallen or may not be going well
Markets, especially in maidens on the flat or novice races over jumps, can be dominated by one or two horses who have very short prices, and very good chances of winning. You may think that your selection has it all to do to beat the one at the head of the market and you don’t want to bet against it. However, if the favourite is having trouble running or not jumping or traveling well then you may be willing to back your selection. Running betting gives you the opportunity to evaluate how the horses are going in the race and bet accordingly.
As with everything to do with betting there are some cons to betting in running.
Less liquidity
One of the problems with betting in running is the lack of liquidity available on exchanges when the race has started versus that available before the off.
No admittedly this will only come into play when you are betting to larger stakes, but if you wish to bet at big prices then you may struggle to get all of your bet matched, especially if your horse is going well.
Prices move very fast
If you are an in-running punter then you need to be lightning-fast on the computer or smartphone. The prices do move very fast as it’s a competitive market place and if a horse is going well in the race or jumping poorly then nearly everyone will want to back or lay it, and there is a heavy stream of one-way traffic. If you find yourself entering a price on Betfair and it doesn’t immediately get matched, then you can often find yourself having to take a much shorter price than the one you had requested.
You can download software, such as Bet Angel, which allows you to place bets with one click rather than the traditional way on the Betfair platform. If you are going to be a regular in running punter this is something I would recommend.
Pictures behind normal time
Just like financial markets having a time lag on real-time information, horse racing is no different. The pictures we see on our televisions are a long way behind the actual live images. This can sometimes be up to 7 to 10 seconds behind the live images shown at the course. We have even recently noticed that the At The Races images are faster in Ireland than they are in the UK!
What can be done? Some streaming services such as Betfair will have faster pictures than on the TV and this can certainly help with betting in running. The other option is to go to the course or pay thousands for the live SIS streaming service. To do this you would nearly need to be betting in running full time to make it pay.
In conclusion, betting in running can be a great way to maximise your chances of backing a winner. Be sure to know everything about how the horses in the race normally race in their races and how your selection needs to be ridden. Get some practice with Betfair demo accounts and consider software like Bet Angel to help you to get on in time. I would certainly recommend giving it a go as when you get the hang of things it can be extremely profitable.
Can You Make Money Betting In-Running on The Betting Exchanges?
It’s now possible to bet in-running on the betting exchanges on a variety of popular sports such as horse racing and golf, and some punters must be making money betting this way, or else the in-running markets wouldn’t be as strong as they are. The big question is – can you?
If you’re trying to pick the winner of a horse race or golf tournament whilst watching it on your TV at home, whilst also trying to place your bets using an average broadband speed, the truth is you probably won’t make money. That’s because many professional in-running punters, armed with super-fast broadband, actually attend these sporting events and can see what is happening several seconds before you do it on TV.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use your knowledge and judgment to make a profit by placing well-thought-out in-running back and lay bets. That’s because you don’t even have to pick the winner of a sporting event to win money, as you also have the option of sports trading in the in-running markets to make a profit.
Sports Trading In-Running on Horse Racing
When faced with a horse race with a field of 20 runners, most punters will immediately try and find the winner. However, whilst that’s possible, it may be easier to work out how a certain horse in the field will run and make a profit from that knowledge by trading in running, meaning you can make a profit whether the horse wins or loses.
For example, if there’s a popular horse in the race who consistently wins small-field races by adopting front-running tactics, he could be one to take on. This is especially true when there are other horses who like to adopt similar front-running tactics in the field, as they are likely to take each other on and force each other to expend too much energy too early, leaving themselves no energy for the finish. However, it’s amazing how often this type of popular horse trades at shorter odds than their SP as they approach the latter stages of the race. Therefore, it’s possible to make a profit by backing the horse before the race starts and then instantly requesting a lay bet at the type of lower in-running odds you’re convinced the horse will hit. If the horse then hits those odds, you’ll profit whether the horse wins or loses.
Sports Trading In-Running in Golf Tournaments
There are thousands of statistics when it comes to golf, and professional punters have designed computer programs to predict what odds a player who is leading by one-stroke with three holes to go should be. However, what computer programs don’t always factor in is how the difficulty of those final three holes may differ from course to course. This is where doing your homework should pay off. Of course, you can also expand this theory to different sections of any golf course. It may be that the middle six-holes of a golf course are the most difficult. Therefore, you may choose to lay, players, as they approach the 7th hole, with a view of backing them back at bigger prices after the 12th hole to make a profit.
These are just a few examples of how you can make a profit from betting in-running on the exchanges. Just remember, whatever tactics you adopt, you just need to be right more than you’re wrong – and backing your own judgment against the other in-running exchange punters out there has never been more exciting than it is right now.
