Bet on the Greyhound Races
Author: Joe Kizlauskas
Last Updated: 8th January 2021
Table of Contents
Bet on the Greyhound Races
Greyhound racing is a form of racing that has been around since 1926. Many horse racing betting strategies also apply to greyhound racing. The first race being held at the Belle Vue in Manchester. Since then, Greyhound racing has been a good excuse to socialise with family and friends. Now, punters can go watch greyhound racing live, whilst placing bets and having meals! But for the true, experienced greyhound bettors, the betting is also done online. Greyhound racing is like any sort of racing, in the sense that there’s a running track and anything can happen, just like Horse Racing. Greyhound racing is a regular occurrence and can be bet on weekly, which means the next opportunity to win some money off greyhound betting is just around the corner.
Categories
To really master the world of greyhound betting, it is really important to know the different categories that exist within greyhound betting. The cash prizes for these categories differ, so you can image the most money is to be won with the more competitive races in the top categories. The Greyhound Derby is the top category with the best racers, the prize money for this equates to £50,000. There are 6 rounds in the derbies and approximately 180 greyhounds. The greyhound derbies are split into 2 different derbies: the Scottish Greyhound Derby and the English Greyhound Derby.
Other types of races include Category 1, Category 2 and Category 3 races, along with Minor Open Races and Invitation Races.
Traps & Colour Schemes
Each trap has a colour assigned to it. This makes it a lot easier for betting systems and strategies to be mapped out for the punter. It works similar to the way handicap systems do and it is very important not only for betting but for the whole racing. The traps and their colour schemes are as follows:
| Traps | Colour Scheme |
| Trap 1 | Red with white number |
| Trap 2 | Blue with white number |
| Trap 3 | White with black number |
| Trap 4 | Black with white number |
| Trap 5 | Orange with black number |
| Trap 6 | Black & White stripes with red numbers |
| Trap 7 | Green with red number |
| Trap 8 | Yellow & Black with white number |
Betting Strategies
It is important to know the Greyhound you are betting on. Yes, if you are betting for fun you might just want to pick the one with the nicest fur coat, or your lucky number etc, however, if you are serious about Greyhound betting and are there to win some serious money, you will need to know a bit of background about your horses to increase your winning chances. It is as simple as if your dog is in amazing form, it is likely to run well. The following topics are all things to consider in order to bet strategically like you would with similar markets like horse racing.
The Trainer: It is important to know who is training the dog and how many times that trainer has been successful in their racing career, whether they are experienced or new to the racing environment.
The Weight: The weight of the dog is important, realistically, the heavier the dog, the slower it will be/the harder it will have to run to win. So, it is not the case that it can’t win, it is just a bit of a disadvantage to be heavier than the other opponents.
Recent Form: The recent results of the Greyhound can have some effect on the choices you make. A greyhound in good form is more likely to be backed than a greyhound in awful form. Pretty straight forward thing to consider. When choosing a Greyhound to back, its recent form will be given to you somewhere in the bet before you place it.
Career Results: This is where you will establish who is the king of the greyhounds and the most notorious racers. This is where things can also get tricky, you could have a race that includes a greyhound that’s new to the scene, only raced around 4 times, but has either won or come second in every race, then you have an opponent who has raced around 10 times, for the first 7 races of its career its either won or come second, but the previous 3 times it has come 3rd. Which one do you back? This is an important factor to consider.
Categories Raced: Knowing the categories and competitions its raced in/ won is important because then you have a more accurate description of the racers. If it has raced in the top derbies but has finished around 3rd place, and it is up against greyhounds that raced in lower prize money competitions and finished either 1st or 2nd, it does not necessarily mean that the greyhound that has been finishing 3rd place will not win, it has raced against more competitive racers and therefore those racers have been harder to win.
Beginner Guide
There are different types of markets that you can bet on within greyhound racing and therefore if you are a beginner, start off simple and work your way up. The first bet you might want to start betting on is called a straight bet, this is where you bet on a dog to either win the race, to place (1st or 2nd), to show (top 3 finish) or to board.
Complex/Exotic Bets
Now that you have got a grasp of the beginner bets and are comfortable with how they operate, we can look at the more complex bets. The complex bets are also known as exotic bets. A “Daily Double” is a form of complex bet where you predict 2 horses to finish first and second in a race. A Quinella is the name given when a punter wins a daily double bet. Then if you are feeling really confident, you might try a Perfecta bet, which is when you predict the first 4 horses in the correct order. A Trifecta is a bet that means you predict the top 3 finishing places. Punters can also place Pick Six bets that mean they predict the winner of 6 consecutive races. Half of that, a Pick Three bet, is when you predict the winner of 3 consecutive races.
