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Having understood the ins and outs of Fractional Odds (traditionally used by UK bookmakers), we think it will be a useful exercise for you to understand the Decimal Odds system as well. Decimal Odds show how many times your original stake (INCLUDING your original stake) you will get back if your bet wins. Obviously, this number should always be more than 1.0 as you should always get back your original stake if you win, plus some profit. Compare that to Fractional Odds which only show the potential profit you will get back if you win (of course regardless of the odds system, you will always get your original stake back if you win).

Let’s look at some Decimal Odds examples:
6.0 – for every £1 bet you will get £6 back, if your bet wins (i.e. you make £5 profit, per £1 staked). 5/1 (Fractional Odds), and 6.0 (Decimal Odds) are equivalent.
1.2 – for every £1 bet you will get £1.20 back, if your bet wins (i.e. you make £0.20 profit, per £1 staked). 1/5 (Fractional Odds), and 1.2 (Decimal Odds) are equivalent.

Fractional Odds are popular in the UK & Ireland. Decimal Odds are popular in Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.… Read the rest

Bookmakers in the United Kingdom (and Ireland) usually quote prices using fractional odds (i.e. 5/1, 1/2, etc). How much do you really know about Fractional odds? Fractional odds show how much the bettor can profit, relative to their stake, IF their bet wins. In this article ‘Fractional Odds explained in detail’ we explain everything you will need to know about fractional odds.

• Fractional odds show the payoff:stake ratio. The left hand number of the fractional odds is the amount of profit you will make IF your bet wins (PAYOFF), and the right hand number is the amount you will have to gamble (STAKE). IF your bet loses, you forfeit the stake. If your bet wins, you get your stake back AND the payoff.
• 5/1 odds mean that if you bet £1, you will make £5 profit if your bet wins (i.e. if your bet wins the bookmaker will return you original stake of £1 AND pay you £5 profit). Remember, the odds just show a ratio – you don’t have to bet exactly £1. If you bet £2, you make £10 profit if your bet wins. If you bet £60, you make £300 profit if your bet wins.

There are many variations of this scam. Hopefully you will fully understand this betting tip scam explanation, and so will be able to avoid such scams. If you didn’t spot this betting tip scam, you were a victim of survival bias (you were only thinking of the people who made it through a selection process, and ignored those that didn’t). Don’t worry, here’s the betting tip scam explanation:

• What has happened here is the ‘tipster’ sent say 10,000s of e-mails – some of which backed all the possible outcomes in the first event. You just happened to be in the group that the correct tip was sent to the first time.
• The second time, the ‘tipster’ e-mails only the group that he had previously sent the 1st winning tip to, and divides them into new groups backing each of the outcomes in the 2nd event.
• Again and again, this process is repeated.
• Provided the ‘tipster’ started out with a sufficiently large number of recipients to begin with, to a certain number of people it will look like the ‘tipster’ got a large number of tips in a row correct from the start.
• The people who received a wrong tip at any time were no longer e-mailed, and they probably didn’t think much of it.

Although there are many tipsters who attempt to provide genuine tips, there are some scams out there you need to avoid! Can you spot this well known betting tip scam – variations of which still catch people out?

• Let’s say you are sent an e-mail purporting to contain a betting tip that’s certain to come in on an event tonight? You don’t pay much attention to the e-mail, as it seems like a piece of spam. Later when you are watching TV you catch the end of the event the tipster predicted. In the back of your head you seem to remember the outcome might have been the same as the tip. You go back and check your e-mail, and the tipster got it right, but you don’t think much of it.
• The same day the following week, again you get an e-mail from the same sender with another betting tip. You still don’t think much of it, but this time decide to remember the tip to check it later. You check the result later, and the tip came in. He just got lucky, you say!
• The following week, another e-mail with another betting tip drops in your inbox – this time you are intrigued, and decide to tune in to the event the tipster bet on, and it wins!

The most standard bet you could make is a win bet. You will only make a profit if your selection wins. So, if you make a £5 bet at 7/1 at your favourite bookmaker you will make a £35 profit if your selection wins (and get your £5 stake back, if you win). Another common bet, is an Each-Way Bet. If you place an each-way bet on a single event, you are effectively making two separate bets. One bet is on a win only basis, and one is on a place basis.

• A place bet, allows you to make a profit if your selection finishes not just first, but also in a certain number of other places (e.g. 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. depending on what the bookmaker is offering). Usually, you will receive a proportion of the win odds.
• So, if you have £5 to bet with in total on an Each-Way Bet, you could place a £2.50 each-way bet – this means £2.50 goes on the Win part, and £2.50 goes on the each-way part. Let’s say you bet on an outcome offering 7/1 odds if its wins, and 1/3 the win odds (in this case 7/3) if it places in the top 2.

7 races are scheduled on the opening day of the 4 day Cheltenham Festival. In 2020, Cheltenham Tuesday (Day 1 of 4) falls on 10th March. The feature race of Cheltenham Tuesday, the Champion Hurdle, starts at 15:30.

Cheltenham Tuesday tips

Tips for Cheltenham Tuesday can be found here.

Racecard

1. 13:30 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (8 Hurdles, 2 miles 1/2 furlong) – Horses must be at least 4 years old. Takes place on the Old Course. You will hear the traditional Cheltenham Roar, from the assembled crowd, at the start of this race as it is the first event of the festival. Jockey Ruby Walsh has won this race a record 6 times since 2006 – including Klassical Dream in 2019. Each of his wins was on a different horse.
2. 14:10 Arkle Chase (13 Fences, 2 miles) – Horses must be at least 5 years old. This race is run on the Old Course. The famous Ruby Walsh-Willie Mullins jockey-trainer combination had 2 consecutive wins in 2015 and 2016 with Un de Sceaux and Douvan, and they also won in 2018 with Footpad. Willie Mullins was the winning trainer in 2019, with jockey Paul Townend riding Duc des Genievres.
3. 14:50 Ultima Handicap Chase (20 Fences, 3 miles 1 furlong)
4. 15:30 CHAMPION HURDLE (8 HURDLES, 2 MILES 1/2 FURLONG) – This is the most well regarded National Hunt hurdles race of the year.

Cheltenham Wednesday tips

Tips for Cheltenham Wednesday can be found here.

Racecard

7 races take place on Cheltenham Wednesday (the 2nd day of 4 of the Cheltenham Festival) under the current schedule. In 2020, the 2nd day falls on 11th March. The feature race of Cheltenham Wednesday, the Champion Chase, starts at 15:30. All of the races below will be run on the Old Course, with the exception of the Cross Country Chase which will be run on the Cross Country Course.

• 13:30 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle (10 Hurdles, 2 miles 5 furlongs) – This race features novice hurdlers, aged at least four years. Jockey Ruby Walsh has had 4 wins since 2008 in this race (Fiveforthree, Mikael d’Haguenet, Faugheen, and Yorkhill), making him the race’s leading jockey. Willie Mullins was the trainer on all these 4 occasions, making him the race’s leading trainer. In 2019, City Island (jockey: Mark Walsh) won.
• 14:10 RSA Chase (19 Fences, 3 miles 1/2 furlong) – You will see novice chasers in this race, aged at least 5 years old. It is not unusual for winners of this race to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup the following year – e.g. Denman, Bobs Worth, and Lord Windermere.

Cheltenham Friday tips

Tips for Cheltenham Friday can be found here.

7 races will take place on Cheltenham Friday – the final day of the current 4 day Cheltenham Festival calendar. In 2020, Cheltenham Friday falls on 13th March. The Cheltenham Gold Cup, which is the feature race of Cheltenham Friday, starts at 15:30. All these races will take place on the New Course.

• 13:30 Triumph Hurdle (8 Hurdles, 2 miles 1 furlong) – For Novice hurdlers. This is the leading National Hunt race, for juveniles only. Barry Geraghty’s 5 wins make him the race’s leading jockey. Nicky Henderson’s 7 wins make him the race’s leading trainer (including Pentland Hills in 2019). 4 horses who have won the Triumph Hurdle, have later gone on to win the Champion Hurdle, including Katchit (2007 Triumph Hurdle winner, 2008 Champion Hurdle winner).
• 14:10 County Hurdle (8 Hurdles, 2 miles 1 furlong)
• 14:50 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (12 Hurdles, 3 miles) – Novice hurdlers, at least 4 years old, take part. Tony McCoy is the leading jockey in this race with 3 wins – Black Jack Ketchum in 2006, Wichita Lineman in 2007, and At Fishers Cross in 2013. Minella Indo won in 2019 (j: Rachael Blackmore, t: Henry de Bromhead).