Natal Betting

There was a complaint on Tellytrack last saturday by an irate punter with regards to natal betting,and rightly so.Why bother pricing up at all.There are 3 out of the 10 races on the card where they are betting to over 160%,and the 5th race is 171,68%.

How is this possible?Surely it is about time bookmakers were regulated to a maximum betting % in a market.I mean race 5 is a race with established form,there is in fact not a single 1st timer in this race.

Just as Mr Adams laid a complaint with the competitions commission with regards to vet fees,so too should bookmakers have to face their wrath.

171% is simply ridiculous!

Were these percentages early betting or starting prices?

Hard to make a book when there is no money in a race?

There's no two ways about it - the Natal bookmakers seem to believe that they are a law unto themselves.
Firstly - full marks to Mr Finder for doing a great job with the Tvl and Cpt betting.BUT he dodged the question on tellytrack - he should have told the public what the betting guidelines are.(i believe there are guidelines in place that are being ignored) I suppose that would have conclusively incriminated the Natal bookmakers.

As I understand it the National boomakers committee has agreed to 140% as the norm in the antepost market.

How is it possible that this does not apply to Natal then?

hibernia Wrote:

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> Hard to make a book when there is no money in a
> race?


in order to make a book you've got to attract some money. gotta offer what the customer wants, or the customer doesn't buy.

Gatvol, what do you mean when you say: "where they are betting to over 160%,and the 5th race is 171,68%.?"

I must apologize,Interbet has made an error in the 5th and included Don't Tell Titch at 9-2 twice in their field,so the betting for that race is in fact just under 150%.

That still doesn't change the fact that the betting % for races 1-2-8 are all bigger than 160%.

Welcome Punter 1, if you want to read about percentages, click on search and type betting percentages all dates and enter and you will see many posts on the subject, best one is possibly race 2 at the Vaal, and have a read.

In a nutshell the percetage above 100% is regarded as the bookies profit margin and consider any business needs to make a profit after its paid all its overheads etc, and the point being made is that anything over 140% is greedy and the "fair" number is 116%, but with exchanges(no risk) the closer you get to 100% the better for the punter and worse for the turf accountant.

hope this helps

scotia

there's a 100% chance that one of the horses in a race will win. the betting price in theory ought to reflect the horse's chances (10% chance = 9/1), but typically the bookie will offer you a price that is a little bit less than the horse truly merits (say 8/1), so that he can make a profit in the long run.

it's the same as paying 35/1 on a roulette wheel when you only have 1 chance in 37 of winning.

so 8/1 is basically saying he's only going to pay you on the basis that the horse has an 11.1% chance, even if it's true chance might be 10%. the beauty of bookmaking is, when you add up all these little price chips, if the bookmaker takes bets on the whole field, he doesn't need to worry about making money over the long run, because he will guarantee himself a profit on every race.

the size of that profit is the income the bookie earns from punters, and you measure it as the overround - the % over 100% that his book adds up to.

The other MAJOR point is for a local bookie to have a full book in a race is very rare, with the exception of the July or big races.

If not mistaken probably lays the top 4 or 5 in betting in most cases, and hopes for a result?

Would appreciate other inputs, what happened to AndreW?

agreed, scotia, that is an important factor for your sponsors.

but let's be honest: from the punter's perspective whether the bookie fills his book or not the bet is still costing him the overround that is carried in the price offered.

it is the bookmaker's job to make sure his book is filled, not the punter's. offering 50/1 instead of 25/1 on a no-hoper might feel a bit brave, but it costs you all of 2% on the overround and as a result the money will come in on the horse. you have balanced your book making the race turn a profit, and your punter thinks he has a good deal and will come back even if the horse runs last as it probably deserves to.

Fair comment, but not sure we have enough punters to fill a book or enough interest on all the numerous races we have, Ngong might be an exception?