How To Pick Winning Greyhounds
Top Tips for identifying potential winning greyhounds
by our own sports tipster Gary Bowler.
When it comes to betting on the greyhounds, chances are you like thousands of others, are relatively clueless. Unlike Horses, where major factors such as trainer, jockey and form are normally key issues on determining the outcome of a race, greyhound racing is known for playing it a little differently. For a start, the dogs have no rider unlike the horse and further more the dogs form and kennel seem to play a relatively insignificant part too in determining the outcome.
When it really boils down to it, the majority of greyhound race outcomes and results are nothing more than luck. This can be very frustrating for punters but the fact is greyhound racings is nothing more than six crazy animals tear-arsing after a mechanical hare like a pack of dogs round a track. Pretty much anything can happen during a race, such as dogs switching lanes, colliding, tumbling and all scrambling for their lives across the sand and in pursuit of the plastic bunny.
However, there are still 5 KEY ELEMENTS that should be observed if you plan or intend to get anything more strategic from greyhound betting other than random outcomes.
Firstly learn how to understand a typical greyhound racecard, they might look daunting at first but they can help build a picture of exactly what we are up against. Racecards for Greyhound Racing can be found here, a guide to understanding the race card is found here.
Five Key Elements
1. Forget the favorite
Everybody seems to do it, back the favorite in the next dog race, and why ?
Because it's the favorite !
It might well be, but let me tell you
that in my 13 years experience in greyhound racing that does not mean
jack. Greyhound Racing favorites have the worse winning percentage of
any favorite in any type of sports betting. Only ever back the favorite
if it meets the next 4 key elements.
2. Class
This is one of the most important
factors but yet it is so often
overlooked.
First find the class of the race, this is usually a letter
followed by a number on the race card, for example A1-A13 in the UK for
standard graded meetings. Once you know the class of the race, use the
race card to look at each dog in the race and find out what class the
dog has been running in over the last handful of races. Dogs that are
down in class for the first time should be noted, especially if running
against a number of other dogs that are up
in class for the first time.
3. Price / Odds
The price or odds of the
greyhound
is the figure used to determine any
winnings should your dog win, this can be displayed as a fractional or
decimal odd, ie, 5/2 = 3.5
The smaller or shorter the price, the
less you will win. Bookmakers for years have benefited from a win-win
type of system due to their own implemented over-round and because the
odds they offer
are always lower than the true logical chance. Each dog has a logical 1
in 6 chance, in a perfect world all dogs would be available at 6/1
and based on logic alone this could be very profitable, however the
bookmaker's rarely offer this kind of the
price even on the rank outsider. The simple answer is, ALWAYS use the
Betting Exchange for backing greyhounds and not the bookmaker.
Betting
Exchange prices for greyhounds can be VERY generous due to the
desperation of the 'Layers' who are waiting for their bets to match and
any dog priced higher than 6/1 is always worthy of further inspection.
Certainly do not be put off a greyhound because it is a large price
!