Tips on laying

[Madhouse]

Only recently set up an account on Betfair as I wanted to dabble in the old laying business. I've been looking on sites for tips about laying, but I didn't really come across any solid writing on the topic. So I was just wondering, has anyone got some basic advice to offer a newbie to laying ? What should I look out for in particular? The main problem I've come across so far is the staking strategy as I've been so used to backing using a percentage staking plan (1-10, max is 5% of bank). Regards, Madhouse.

[Stu77]

Re: Tips on laying Hi Madhouse. I don't lay over odds of 5/1 and always look to find value when laying. The higher the odds you lay at the more difficult it is to find value. If you are looking to lay an 8/1 shot from the racingpost the horse might be trading at 10/1 or higher on betfair. The extra 20% profit that betfair talk about is normally found on the outsiders with the % decreasing as you come in to 5/1 4/1 and lower. If you have a good selection system for selecting outsiders that lose the vast majority of time you could use a stoploss but that involves using trading software which is another story. Back to laying under 5/1. I tend to lay just before the race starts. Quite often 1 horse will be backed hravily before the start of a race but as he gets backed down he then can become a value bet. A horse that should be say 3/1 can often end up 2/1 because of a high profile jockey/trainer combo but if the horse is not running to form then he is at a false price and a lay. Over time this approach has worked very well for me but then it takes practise and experience to find value. Learn everything you can about all aspects of the racingpost and over time you will get a feel for finding value. You will have losing days but over time you will win much more. This is only my approach. There are many more which will be interesting to hear about from other forum members.