Different Methods Of Betting

There are a number of different types of betting.
The most common are:

• Standard Betting
• Spread Betting
• Tote Betting

Standard Betting
This type of betting is the method of betting that most customers know and love. If you back at the racecourse then you will place a bet of this nature with a bookmaker. The bookmaker will quote odds on his board for each horse. You then select the horse that you wish to back and as long as the odds are agreeable with you then you will place a bet at the stated odds. You will then be given a ticket that shows you the amount bet, the odds that the bet was struck at and the amount that you stand to win.

You know exactly where you stand with this bet. You know how much you stand to lose and you also know how much you stand to win. What's more the odds can't be altered after the bet has been struck.

Spread Betting
This method of betting has significantly increased in popularity in the last few years and is used more to buy and sell shares on a stock market. The best way to try to explain spread betting is to look at some of the bets that are on offer.

Favourites Index
If you bet on the favourites index you are betting on the number of favourites that will win at a particular meeting. Favourites are awarded points for where they finish in a race. A winning favourite will pick up 25 points, a favourite that is place second 10 points and a favourite coming third will earn five points.

Jockey Index
The jockey index works in the same way as the favourites index with the spread betting company quoting a spread for a jockey. You then need to decide whether or not you think that the jockey will have a better day then expected or not.

Winning Distances
The winning distance index is slightly different, but only in the way that the points are counted. Points are awarded as follows:
Short Head = 0.1 of a length
Head = 0.2 of a length
Neck = 0.3 of a length
Half a length = 0.5 of a length
3/4 of a length = 0.75 of a length

For all distances of a length and over one point per length is awarded. In this market whole points are divided into tenths. If you 'go high' (buy) with £10 a point then it will be £1 a tenth. At the end of the meeting all winning distances are accumulated and compared against the index.

As you can see, spread betting is very different to standard betting and offers a variety of different bets.

Tote Betting
A different type of betting is Tote betting. All of the bets placed on a race are pooled, a deduction is made to cover costs and the Tote's contribution to racing. A winning dividend is then calculated by dividing the remainder of the pool by the number of winning units. The dividend declared inclusive of a £1 stake. In other words, pool customers bet against each other, whereas with Standard Betting they bet against the bookmaker. This means that you don't know the odds that you will get when you place the bet. The odds can change all the way up to the start of the race.