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Laying Horses In Play

Being able to lay horses in play is a revolutionary feat in horse racing betting. It adds another dimension to the experience and enables bettors to take on the bookmaker.

In this article we take a look at laying horse racing bets, racing traders and some of the best strategies. Punters are now surfacing and are laying horses for a living, it’s a huge market and one we explore in further detail right here.

Do you know just how many In Play Lay Horse Betting sites are online in 2024?

Best Sites to Lay Horse Bets In Play

We have put together a researched list of the best websites where you can lay horse bets In Play:

How Do You Lay a Horse Bet?

Laying a horse is often associated with Betfair, because they’re synonymous with betting exchanges. They essentially give customers the chance to become the bookmaker, sell their bets and to interact with other bettors.

It is a great way to give yourself more chance of winning. It isn’t easy and it’s something that takes research, enthusiasm and discipline.

An example of lay betting is that you may lay on one horse, if anybody but that horse wins the race, then your bet will return.

As you can imagine, there are instances when customers take advantage of this with a punt that backs a winner pre-race and then lay horses in-play. We’ll talk more about the potential strategies and techniques in just a moment.

In short, a lay bet is when you back an event or outcome not to happen.

How do you lay on a horse?

1. Find a betting exchange website such as 888, Betfair or Betdaq for different markets.
2. Use a laying bet option and choose an event that you expect not to happen.
3. You can then act as the bookmaker but be aware that you can lay in no-win situations, it’s important you understand the lay strategies.
4. Input your stake and choose the odds you wish to bet on.

There are various techniques and strategies when it comes to lay betting, but you may know it as matched betting or betting exchanges.

In Play Laying Horses Strategy

It’s integral that you grasp an understanding of this type of gambling before you attempt to trade.

That’s because there are downsides to it. If you are laying on a 2/1 then you are placing yourself in a no-win situation, if it loses you’ll get £20 back and if it wins, you will owe £40. It’s the opposite to betting, but when used together, they can provide the perfect fusion for punters with a keen eye.

There are various strategies that can be adhered to, but the best kind can be used throughout. They are often simple in concept but also very effective.

Find weaknesses in the market and look to exploit them, you may want to lay on a favourite that you feel is overpriced.

Other tactics include rigorous research that others aren’t willing to do and you can also use other strategies such as lay the field.

Quick Tips

In brief, here are some of the strategies that we prefer:

• Lay on a false favourite that you feel is overpriced and not good value
• Lay on the field, although you will need to check the potential return
• Use various lay and back strategies that cover lots of outcomes

Don’t worry, we expand on all of the above, They’re not a simple as the first appear, be sure to continue your research and use many of the well-known strategies to ensure you reap lots of profit. In running and in play are great lay options too.

Do Your Research

It goes without saying that you’ll have to carry out research beforehand but you will find that many tipsters do not have the time to thoroughly delve into every race and every horse.

That’s one of many weak spots that you take advantage of. Most of the tipsters talk about the price, form, jockey and history but you can take an in-depth look at other factors.

Have a look at horse racing tips online prior to selling bets.

Trainers

The information about trainers is readily available, yet most don’t dig deeper than the surface. They may show a losing streak, but as you delve into the trainer’s last performances, you could find that he under-performs for one particular track or that they perform well for the upcoming race.

Pace Scores

A hugely underappreciated form of statistics. In the UK, we are still seeing most disregard this data and that may be because the best information costs money. If you use RaceAdvisor.com then you could gain access to this information. How do you use the pace scores? When betting or laying in play, you can time the horse to understand the progress and make quick, accurate decisions.

More Detail on Form

Similar to the research on trainers, there’s more in-depth studying that can be enjoyed on a horse and jockeys latest results. Rather than taking it at “face-value” you can see what types of races they perform well in and ones they don’t.

Some horses prefer certain fields, tracks and the form book may not be telling the entire story. Check the times and who they were up against in the race. If a horse finishes forth but achieves a super-fast time and is not penalised by the handicap, you can could be onto a profit.

Research extensively, it doesn’t take much time and the real strategies take lots of effort.

Seasonal

This is an extension to checking their recent results, again more research is needed. But is the horse affected by the season? It may sound crazy but we have often found this to be a factor.

When looking for horses to lay, remember to be mindful of these elements.

Age & Condition

An obvious one. Take a look at the age and whether or not a horse has had its day.

Field

Where have the horses performed in the past? There are horses that do well in a race with a field that has less than seven competitors. Take a look at the field you wish to wager on and then check their past performance in similar events.

Lay on an a Favourite InPlay

Moving on from research, what other techniques can be used. A well-known strategy is to try and pick up on a false favourite.

We have seen this in a lot of sports, once the media picks up on a particular performer and starts a band-wagon, we begin to see a change in the odds. This coverage enables us to capitalise on a weakness.

Find favourites that you feel bettors will blindly follow and then lay on it. You will obviously need to do your due diligence, because although only 1 in 3 favourites win a race, you would be at a loss if you lay on every favourite.

When should you lay on a favourite? That’s a common question and usually it comes down to seeing if there is a horse that is overhyped and overpriced.

If you believe there are two or three other horses with just as much chance to win, then that’s a good chance to lay inplay.

When looking at the horses that are running remember to decipher an overhyped favourite. You may want to look at ones that are overly celebrated in the media and backed by recreational punters.

Use Lay and Back Strategies

When enjoying a trade you’ll want to ensure that you find a gambling strategy that you will remain disciplined with, it can be hard to stick to a tactic but if you thoroughly study it and research, you will be in good stead.

Laying on an event means being able to take advantage of runners in-play. You will be able to make profit if the horse lost the race.

When set to use lay and back strategies, you will need to know that they take lots of preparation for the chance of profit.

What is a lay and back strategy?

It’s when you may lay before a race and wager during the race. Alternatively you can do it the opposite way around, back a horse pre-race and then lay during the race.

These trades could garner some tasty profit, find a race that suits you and take advantage of the in-play market and generous odds.

There are ways to manipulate the odds with these types of wagers. You can back before the race and then enjoy an open-lay when you expect the odds to half.

This works when you spot a horse that you believe will keep a good pace and lead throughout. You can back them and place an open lay at lower odds. If you feel a horse will start fast, then find this strategy and incorporate it.

Lay the Place Horse Racing System

This particular horse racing system involves lays on horses to place. It can help you enjoy a healthy profit and many tipsters have claimed to make a living from such techniques.

You can find runners and wager against them placing, it is an interesting strategy that’s been known to provide a fantastic way to trade.

Here are some rules to this particular strategy:

• Only lay in the place markets
• Only 5 to 7 runners declared, this makes a big difference as paid places can vary
• Do not lay on horses or interact with trades, where both horses have a liability of over £180
• Use UK markets
• You don’t necessarily need to wager in-play but punt as near to the race as possible
• If there are two 2nd favourites, lay on the one that was 2nd favourite first

Should you lay £100 on two horses, one at 1.35 and one at 2.15, it’d have a liability of £150. If the first horse places and the second does not you will lose £35 on the horse that was 1.35 and win £100 on the second. This gives you a profit of £65. If both horses do not place, you could enjoy £200 in winnings.

If the price was different, then you may not choose to lay at all. For instance if the price was 1.70 and 2.20 then there’s a liability of £190, we don’t believe there to be any value in this type of trade.

The lays we like to relish may not offer fast profits, but they are educated stakes right before the race starts or in-play.

Favourites running that you believe will not live up to their hype work well in conjunction with this strategy, use this system alongside our advice on favourites.

Gambling on lays, should be done wisely and it isn’t something you can do on every race. Find trades with great value that aren’t as hard to predict.

Laying Horses for a Living

If it was simple, everybody would do it. Yet, it is more than possible to make a living by laying either before a race or . in-play. It doesn’t take much to work out that gambling comes with its obvious risks, but the lay style punts can be hard to handle.

You can end up paying out a lot of money and that’s why we prefer short-priced wagers. We use the strategy above, laying on horses to place rather than to win.

Check out the horses that are racing. You will find days of events and big races, all of them are an opportunity to set the bar and begin to make small profits each day.

Horse racing isn’t easy to win on, whether you back or lay on a horse that’s running.

Play your tactics and ensure that you thoroughly research and you’ll be in with a chance, you could have a number of days where you receive a generous return.

It comes down to checking the prices, thoroughly researching and timing the stake correctly. Lots of studying is involved and that includes the price. Many lays are not worth the hassle as the price is not good enough.

Laying horses for a living is certainly possible but we’d recommend that you smart small and get to grips with exactly what’s involved, enjoy the in-play, in running and pre-race lays. You may spend days just researching when first starting out.

In horse racing, nothing is a ‘dead-cert’ but with the use of these systems and techniques you could be in the money before you know it. Be disciplined, prepared and become well-versed in the entire laying game before staking lots of cash.

How Often Do 50/1 Horses Win?

You may be wondering how the longshot prices work. In previous years we were subject to what we could get from bookmakers but since then the market has opened up. We owe much of that to Betfair and other betting exchange services. This means that we get fair prices in bookies.

How often does a 50/1 horse win? There are various ways to try and analyse this, the strike rate is one that many utilise. That in itself isn’t always accurate and there are factors such as flat turf to account for.

If you find a horse at this price, it’s likely that it’s overbet. Essentially, recreational punters will look for huge returns and subsequently opt for a larger price.

We prefer a smaller price as it enables us to gain small profit over days of laying. When trying to capitalise on horses running with a big price it can be difficult to predict correctly.

Full List of InPlay Betting Websites

If you are interested in more in-play sports betting in 2024, have a look at the list below to see what other sports are available:

Lay a Horse Bet

If you would like to lay a horse bet, make sure to have a look at our list of favourite sites at the top of this page now.