Greyhound betting is a tough sport to be successful at due to its fast nature. Often races are done within 30 seconds with the dogs reaching some ferocious speeds in that time. But, like all shrewd punters, people do find ways in which you can seek out value from your bets.
We highly advise that the best practice for greyhound betting is just that, practice. You need to know what you’re looking for with each dog and with so many that are associated to the sport, this is never easy.
Throughout this article, we will be looking at tactics that you can adopt to help you pick your greyhound bets. It’s imperative that you have a good base to choose from and also avoid some of the common mistakes that so many casual punters already make. The fact that you are even reading this article puts you at an advantage over most greyhound bettors!
Track Conditions
Track conditions might not be the most obvious thing to search out, but we think it’s the most important. As most races are run on all-weather tracks these days, the majority of races are going to be fairly even. But, you will likely find a bias within the track that seems to be favouring some traps over others.
The best way to find out what is working and what isn’t is to simply check past results. Look to see where the majority of winners are coming from and then start to form a pattern. The next thing to do is to then check the price of the winner compared with the rest of the field. This is a crucial point as whilst Trap 3 might be doing well for one night of racing, if all dogs in that trap were massive favourites pre-race, then this will likely be the reason, rather than just the trap.
You could also tie weather conditions into this, as well. Often what you will find from courses that have seen a lot of rain is that one side of the track will dry out faster than the other. Obviously, a wetter track means its going to be harder for the dogs to gain tracking than the drier side, which can have a huge affect on how each race is run.
The Draw
The draw can be as big a variant in greyhound racing as the ability of each dog. Due to the length of each race, the time it takes for the dogs to get round is likely going to be sub 30 seconds for most, so each tiny advantage that the dog can get is going to be huge.
You should be looking to target dogs in the middle traps. The reasoning behind this is that this often allows them to keep away from the rail and getting boxed in, but also have a good sight of the hare to pursue.
But, bear in mind that not all tracks will be the same and the inside or even outside traps could still be beneficial. Just like in the point above, try and gauge from the opening couple of races or even past meetings which traps will likely be most favourable, and then target your research towards dogs in these traps.
Balancing Age & Experience
One thing that many new punters to the sport are often drawn to is backing the dogs who have the most experience. Greyhounds can run hundreds of races in their career, which means that they’ve seen a lot. But, it also means that they likely aren’t as strong as they used to be.
The trick is to find a good balance between age and experience, and if anything, you should be looking at the younger dogs over the older dogs. The younger dogs will often be a bit more of a risky bet than the safe, older dogs, who you know exactly what you’re going to get from. But, with each race, the younger dogs are gaining experience and likely have the pace, but not the race knowledge just yet.
Finding the Value Bet
Value betting is the key to sports betting. Period. The key to being successful with any sport is taking advantage of what you think is the bookmaker’s downfall. This isn’t easy as they often have crack teams for each race, studying form and coming up potential outcomes for each race.
Once you feel confident to study form and then form opinions on each race or dog for yourself, it’s now time to almost start to draw up your own book. Before looking at the odds on offer each dog, look at what percentage you think they have of winning the race. Using 100% as your goal, give each dog a percentage and then compare the price you can get for each.
By assessing each dog, you are able to see a much bigger picture rather than just comparing the top couple of dogs in the field based on odds. You can do this by visualising how that race might be run and the possible outcomes given all the data you have available.
Once you have a percentage and have looked at the odds, you can then see any discrepancies that the bookmaker may have overseen and place your bets accordingly.
Reducing Where You Bet
By simply logging in to any bookmaker, you will quickly see that each have dozens of races to bet on everyday. It can actually be quite overwhelming, especially if you are new to the sport. That’s why we recommend that you narrow your research down to that of just one or maybe two tracks based around the country.
Once you’ve done this, you will know exactly what the track conditions mean for each meeting and also what type of dogs are going to be successful. Make sure you take notes on previous races and highlight previous winners. Highlight any outstanding traits they have and then try and merge together a pattern between successful dogs.
By allowing yourself to work within a confided marketplace, you are going to be getting a huge boost over pretty much any punter who is betting at the same track as you. It also allows you to quickly become an expert in your field, which is always a positive when it comes to greyhound betting.