There are four major ways to place a bet: at the ‘boards’ or ‘rails’ at a racecourse, on the Tote, at a high street bookmakers, and via the internet or telephone.
1. Betting at the Boards or RailsThe betting ring at any racecourse is made up of two areas of bookmakers: the boards and the rails. The boards stand in the Grandstand section of the racecourse, whilst the rails are located against the rail between the Members and Grandstand enclosures. Most high street bookmakers such as Coral, Ladbrokes and William Hill will have representatives on the rails.
Wagers in the betting ring are mainly for win singles, although some ring bookmakers may accept each-way bets. There will be a minimum bet restriction, and some ring bookmakers may not accept bets less than 5 pounds. Once you have decided which horse (or dog) you think will win, simply make your selection and hand over your money. In return, you will be given a computerised print out to confirm your bet. If you win, wait until the weighed in signal has been sounded, as winning tickets will not usually be paid out until this confirmation has been received.
2. Betting on the ToteThe majority of race going novices choose to make their bets on the Tote (short for Totalisator), as they offer a slightly simpler way to place a bet, and are easy to find and access. They are often located near the bars and restaurants and so do not require a walk to the betting ring.
The major difference between placing a bet in the Betting Ring or with the Tote is that you know the odds in advance of the race starting when you use a bookmaker. This is not the case for the Tote, as it uses a pool betting system.
In this system, all the money wagered on a particular bet goes into a pool. After the Tote has taken out its percentage, the remainder of the money is divided between the winning tickets. The final dividend will only be known once the pool closes at the beginning of the race and no further bets can be taken.
The advantages of the Tote are that as well as offering win and each way bets, they will also offer more exotic bets such as forecasts and placepots, which have higher winning rewards. There is also less mystery surrounding the Tote than the betting ring, which makes it much more approachable to the novice punter.
However, as it is popular with novice bettors, those horses with interesting sounding names or connections, especially on big days, will receive much shorter odds than at the bookmakers.
3. High Street BookmakersAlthough the popular notion of the traditional betting shop is a smoke-filled, murky, slightly daunting place to visit, in real life, they are generally clean, friendly and welcoming. They offer a vast range of betting opportunities, allowing you to wager on sports, novelty bets, virtual horses and dogs as well as fruit machines.
4. Internet and Telephone BettingOver the last few years there has been a tremendous increase in the amount of telephone and online betting. Both methods offer a quick, convenient way of placing a bet, and allows you to do so from the comfort of your own home.
All of the major high street bookmakers offer telephone and internet betting, and there are a number of independent firms also keen to compete for your business.
Both methods will require you to have a debit or credit card, through which you will pay for any bets, and receive any winnings.
By: Edward Smith About the Author:
Edward has a huge amount of experience writing for the web and offline publications. His latest writings on wine glasses offer information on
riedel wine glasses and
port wine glasses.
