Forecast bets

Forecast betting is most common in horse and greyhound racing, although it’s sometimes used for other sports too.

Pros and cons of forecast betting

The advantage of forecast bets is that payouts tend to be high. The risks are high too though, because all selections have to finish the race in the order specified in your forecast.

Despite the risks, forecast bets are extremely popular with punters. Because the rewards are big, just one win may compensate you for several losses.

The return on a winning forecast bet will depend partly on the size of the field. For example, your chances of winning are much higher if there are fewer horses in a race than if the field is larger, with more horses running – and this will be reflected in the payout you can earn.

One complication with forecast bets is that you can’t tell exactly how much you’ll be paid out on a winning forecast if the entries are listed by starting price (SP). In these cases specialised industry software is used to compute the returns payable on winning forecast bets, based on the starting price (SP) for each selection and on factors like the size of the field.

Often bookmakers accept very small stakes on forecast bets, so you can play around with this type of bet without risking significant losses – and even with a small stake, you just might win a sizeable payout.