10 Other Strategies / Betfair Education / 26 September 2008 / Leave a comment

Dutching is a common betting strategy with punters, backing two or more selections to win a set profit. And there are variations on that with partial winners, savers and hedges. Reverse dutching is as it sounds, the same strategy in reverse - laying more than one selection for a set risk and set profit.

Reverse Dutching

Hopefully by now, we've all come to terms with laying and the risks and rewards involved. If not, then skip this article, and study up on this section.

A lot of punters like to lay short-priced favourites in horse racing, but shy away from getting involved in laying horses when the race is wide open. This is one of the reasons why the matched volume on a quality handicap race appears to be far less than a much weaker class race with an even-money jolly. Concerns are understandable - after all, laying a horse at 6 could blow your bank several times faster than laying them at 2.5. But why not lower the risk by spreading the liability over more than one selection?

If you can lay one runner at 2.5 and another at 3, you effectively have 5/1 for 'the field'.

If you can lay two selections at 6, you have effectively layed the pair of them at 2/1.

Confused? It's all about the percentages, and the features on the Betfair site will help you do this, even if you struggle with calculating percentages.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you have your 'What If?' function turned on. This is found in More Options, beneath the Refresh button on each market, to see your potential profit and risk before you submit your bets.

Here is an example of a race with a couple of fancied horses, then several others relatively close behind in the market.

You think the two favourites are a risk, but aren't sure exactly which horse will salute the judge. You decide to lay the favoured pair.

How much do you lay them for? The key part here is laying for the same amount, and that's NOT done via Liability, but the Payout option. Liability is important for a single selection only - it doesn't account for incoming stakes when you are laying more than one runner. When a bookie lays a book to 110%, the theory is for every £110 coming in, he only pays out £100 - getting the payout balanced is crucial. You must click on the word Payout, not the dot (radio circle). Up comes a box, we choose to enter £60 for the payout.

Now look at your position if both of these bets get matched. The Payout function sets the stakes for you, and your potential position, if both get matched, is shown on the right.

Hit Submit and that position is then realised.

But that's only half the strategy. What is your net position now on the race? It's just a comparison of your red and green figures. It's close enough to even money (risking £30 to win £30). You effectively have layed the two favourites at 2. Adding up the percentage of the two runners you have opposed (3.5 = 28.57% and 4.6 = 21.73%) shows you have layed close to 50% of the market.

This gives you a strong position to work from. You could lay another selection to improve your position further before the race, or wait until it goes in-running and try to lay any other runner at less than 2. Or several of them collectively at over 50% (three horses at 4.5 or 22%). The options are endless but like everything in life, remember it won't work every time and practice for small stakes first before progressing to your regular stakes.