Ah, it seems every few months, bookmakers are coming up with a new betting feature – many of which seem as confusing as the former.
One of the latest I’ve seen is from Bet365 who have introduced a ‘position payout’ for horse racing.
If you are a horse racing connoisseur I can see the appeal of this. The concept is that if you pick an each way selection on selected races then you get a fixed odds payout based on the finishing position of your horse.
With these races, extra places will be offered, which means that you can still add to your account balance which will give you an edge.
It Could Be An Interesting One
Where I could see this coming in useful (for me at least), is during big festivals, such as Cheltenham, where bookies generally offer more generous odds anyway. Though, sometimes, I’ve actually ‘lost’ through an each way bet, even if my horse actually places.
I can see the appeal though – it’s just a lot to get your head around – I don’t know why bookies don’t explain the benefits of new concepts in their marketing material, but, this at least is how I’ve interpreted this. The fact that it is being implemented in the UK and Ireland first and then Australia tells me that Bet 365 have confidence in the idea.
Could This Be A Popular Market?
In many ways, I think Bet 365 might have somewhat of a ‘golden goose’ here and I can see a few bookies coming up with a similar idea – if they can balance the risk and mitigate the possible losses well enough.
Obviously with most ‘too good to be true, there seems to be a catch or two. Firstly, this is only available on selected races, which means that there is a possibility to take advantage of it.
The way I see it as well, is that it’s probably not worth it in smaller races, because these generally have smaller odds overall so a standard each way selection may be better value for you.
Another catch to probably be aware of is, like usual for a place, 1/5 or 1/4 the win odds would still apply, so I’m not sure the returns overall could be worth it.
Though, if you spot any races in big festivals where the Position Payout applies I think this is where you could probably gain a small advantage.
I’m interested to see how punters react to this – certainly the most eagle-eyed would probably find a way to maximise their returns as much as possible, though like I said, for now at least, the jury is still out for me.