Guide to UK Sports Betting

Betting is trying to predict whether a certain event will happen or not. More importantly, it’s backing your opinion up by risking money on the outcome.

Any bet needs someone to oppose your opinion, and this is where the bookmakers come in. Whether you fancy Man Utd to win the Premiership, or Leicester, the bookies are there to oppose you.

Obviously, Man Utd, in recent years, are more likely to win the Premiership and this is reflected in the “odds” or “price”. This is a ratio that represents the percentage probability that an event will happen.

The odds/prices for any event are only ever displayed as a decimal or a fraction. A decimal shows the returns (winnings) inclusive of stake. A fraction shows the returns exclusive of stake.

e.g. £10 on Montjeu at 3/1

The Bookmaker is offering you £3 for every £1 that you want to bet. So in this example think of it as you putting £10 in the pot , and the bookie putting in £30. If Montjeu loses, the bookie keeps the pot (including your tenner obviously!). But if Montjeu wins you take the pot (£40).

£10 @ 3/1 =£40

Even money (Evs) is also expressed as 1/1. This is the situation where the selection is regarded as having as much chance of winning as it has of losing, like the tossing of a coin.

A price such as 8/11,4/5,1/3 etc (any price where the first number is smaller than the second) is an “odds-on” price. In this case the selection is more likely to win than not. With the price 1/3, you are putting in £30 to the bookmaker’s £10.

e.g £10 on QPR at 2.30

This is the way the majority of online bookies display their prices. The odds are shown inclusive of stake, hence,

£10 @ 2.30 returns £23

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Placing a Bet: Betting Shop

Placing a bet with bookmaker has never been easier. With the relaxing of British Licensing Laws, bookies are now allowed to advertise in the press and their shops are bright welcoming places compared to those of yesteryear.

Unfortunately, the betting-shop is still stereotypically seen as a dingy, inhospitable and seedy place and many people will never set foot in one. For those that do venture into a shop, they are often unneccesarily daunted by the occasion. The days of your bet being a loser if you slightly misspelt a horse’s name, are long gone.

Unfortunately, you can also no longer write your bet out on the back of an envelope or any other scrap of paper lying around, it must be written on a betting slip. Depending on what kind of shop, these will either be in the form of a two-part slip that produces a carbon receipt or a single slip that is passed through a new system called Bet Capture.

Writing out a betting slip really should be as easy as telling someone what you intend to bet.

e.g.
Jones Racing Ltd.
3.20 @ Newbury
£10 win Rubhahunish
Stake: £10.00
Tax: £0.90
Total: £10.90

Placing a Bet: By Phone

Nearly all the bookies have telephone betting these days. Placing the same bet over the phone is just as easy provided you have a Credit/Debit card. Once connected (depending on the bookie), you must decide if you want to open a deposit account where you actually put money into an account specifically created for betting from. Or a debit account, where money is simply debited from your card every time you place a bet. After that, placing the bet is merely a case of telling the operator your bet - “I would like £20 on Rubhahunish in the 3.20 at Newbury, please”.

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Placing a Bet: On the Internet

Finally, placing the bet over the internet is the easiest of all. Once you have selected the bookie that is offering the best price from our “odds comparison” section, click on that particular bookie and you will be taken straight to their site. Here you must once again decide between a Debit account and a Deposit account. When you have completed your details, highlighted your selection and stake, the bet is processed instantly.