So what's it all about?
Basically there are two ways to 'make money' on horses (well three if you include arbitage betting), they are Backing or Laying.
Everyone knows what backing is right? Well if you've just come from Mars,
or really are completely new to all this here's a very quick run down.
Backing is the traditional form of betting. You bet an amount of money
against a horse at specific odds determined by the bookie or whatever odds
people are prepared to offer. If the horse wins you get your money back
plus your stake multiplied by the odds.
So, if you 'Back' £10 on a horse at 2/1 (two to one) you get your initial £10
back plus your stake (£10) multiplied by the odds (2/1) - in this case £20.
So in total you get back £30
Simples. If you don't like the 2/1 notation most sites now show odds as
decimals. But it's basically the odds 'worked out' so 2/1 (two
divided by one) is 2. 6/4 (6 divided by 4) is 1.5
Be careful. Some sites add 1' to the returned odds so that it includes your
returned stake. So for example, on betfair 2/1 odds show as 3.0. 6/4
becomes 2.5
They do this to make it easier to know what you'll get back. So if you bet £10
you will get £10 x 3 = £30 returned.
The next form of betting is called lay betting or laying. Click here to
read about this