Jumping into horse handicapping can be daunting. Just reading the analysis provided by tipsters can be tough to read through because of the lingo most pundits use when writing race preview and betting tips.
While I’m not going to help you learn the lingo in this guide – I’m going to provide prospective punters with some tips to ensure you have the best chance at winning. These beginner tips will help set you on the right path.
Take Advantage of Bookie Offers
The most important offer to ensure is available at your bookie is “Best Odds Guaranteed” (BOG). Most UK bookmakers offer BOG on all UK horse races, so it shouldn’t be a problem finding a bookie with this betting offer.
What does best odds guaranteed mean? Let’s say we bet on a horse at 4/1 odds, but by the time the race goes off the odds on the horse I selected is up to 5/1. If you have BOG then the payout odds on your bet will move up to 5/1.
The #1 UK horse racing bookmaker is Bet365 and they offer a unique promotion during ITV races. If you back a 4/1 or better winner in any ITV race then the bookie will credit your account with an instant free bet to use.
Make sure you utilize the Bet365 bonus code when opening an account to get the best sign-up offer.
Horse racing is extremely popular in the UK and the bookies fight daily for our action. Look out for daily betting offers such as enhanced each-way places, moneyback specials, accumulator insurance and more.
Trading the Markets
If you haven’t heard of betting exchanges by now you must be new to sports betting. A betting exchange will allow a punter to get in and out of the market before a horse race is even raced and lock in profits.
Trading can be beneficial to those with time to study market changes in real-time throughout the day.
One strategy is to bet streamers early before casual punters take notice and the drops even further. If you can back a streamer early, it won’t be long before you can trade out of the position and lock in a profit.
There are countless horse racing trading strategies to utilize at betting exchanges. You could also utilize early cash out features at UK bookies, but they often don’t payout fair value and exchanges will prove more profitable for trading.
Study the Form
You may be able to wing it when you’re betting on the Premier League. If you watch enough football you’ll have an idea of who should defeat who, but with horse racing, the only chance of potentially winning long term is to study a lot.
There are lots of statistics and trends to study when betting on horse racing. You’ll want to study the market, how a horse has performed recently, how a horse performs under various conditions and much more.
There isn’t enough time in the day to research every horse or race, which is why you should specialize. Being able to win consistently betting one type of horse racing is a lot better than betting everything and never turning a profit.
If you have very little time to handicap horse races I recommend finding a tipster service. You’ll have to pay a monthly or annual fee, but there are some services that have turned profits for punters most years.
