Bookmakers have been putting laying bets on horses to lose ever since the sport began. As gamblers having a bet on a horse, we are actually involved with laying horses each time we make a bet. We are merely on the opposite end of the wager. To back a horse, there will always be somebody who must cover the other side of the bet. Yet so many punters think they are not familiar with placing lay bets on horses, so they veer away from it entirely.

This article will not show you how to make a profit by putting lay bets on horses. It will not even explain exactly how you lay a bet on a horse to lose. My intention when writing this article is merely to demonstrate that lay betting on a betting exchange isnt some sort of ‘black art’ and there is nothing ‘smoke and mirrors’ about it.

Normally the bookmaker covers the side of the lay bet. This role is something we are all used to. But let’s examine the mechanic of placing a bet:

In this example, let’s assume we are going to back a horse called General Account at a price of 3/1 and for a stake of £10

We approach a bookmaker and this is what we are offering: we are looking to gamble our stake of £10 on the chance of this horse General Account winning the race. The price we are happy to accept is 3/1 If the horse does not win, we will give the bookie our stake money. However, if the horse wins we shall take our stake back, and what is more, we demand that the bookmaker gives us three times our wager as profit.

In placing this bet, we are putting money on our opinion that the horse will come first – it should be obvious, if we didn’t think it would come first, we would not risk our stake money.

Now remember, in order for a stake to be placed, the bookie must also agree to the terms on the table. To lay the bet at the price of 3/1, a bookie is happy to risk three times our bet. To take our bet, the bookmaker is of the opinion that General Account will NOT win the race. If he thought the horse was going to win, he would not accept our wager, or at least he very certainly would not wish to risk so much money, so would offer lower odds

As you can see that the difference between a punter and the bookie is their side of who will win the race – we think General Account will come first, and the bookie thinks it wont, and we are BOTH prepared to put a wager on the fact.

In effect, where a punter is wagering that a horse will win, a book maker is simply betting that the horse will not win. It is no more sophisticated than that.

Since 1999 and the introduction of betting exchanges, we can all have the chance to play the role of a bookmaker. Betting exchanges are put simply a means where you can find another gambler who has the opposite opinion to you, and match their stake.

If you turn out to have the better judgement, then you will win your bet. If your ‘opposite number’ on the exchange turns out to be right, then you will lose, and you will have to pay the man/woman at the odds confirmed when the wager was placed.

At the end of the day, laying horses to lose may still not your betting style. But hopefully this article will have given you the confidence to learn more. Despite what you may read, making money by laying horses is no more easy than attempting to profit by backing horses. In fact there is no real difference in terms of risk.

As a punter, if you are happy to put some money behind your opinion that a horse will win, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t also give yourself the chance to profit, if you feel a certain horse will not win a given race.