Betfair Official Blog

A day in the life of an in-play place bettor

Simon Rowlands spends a Wednesday afternoon backing and laying in the new in-play place markets

A few weeks back I wrote in my weekly blog about in-running place betting, which was reintroduced by Betfair on November 5th for all British and Irish jumps fixtures. Some bright spark at Betfair suggested I put my money where my mouth is and spend an afternoon trading the markets and putting some of the principles into practice. The following is how things unfolded...

"Know your horses and know your courses" was one thing that I preached back then. Hexham survived an early-morning inspection, and the ground was changed from "good to soft" to "heavy", with the last flight in hurdle races being omitted. Hexham may not be especially testing overall, but its finish sure is, and it seemed reasonable to anticipate plenty of horses "hitting the wall" in the circumstances. Here's how it went...

12:40 HEXHAM. A juvenile hurdle with plenty of runners and a number of doubtful stayers. It seemed to me that the leaders were going too quickly in the circumstances and I place laid Kentucky Boy at 1.66 and Chip N Pin at 1.60 just before the last flight. Oh, joy! As they both dropped away out of the placings. Oh, misery! I also place laid La Vecchia Scuola at 3.5 when it came under the cosh, but it then found unexpected reserves of stamina to finish a clear second. Still, I was only a few quid down on the deal overall.

2:10 HEXHAM. A four-mile slog over fences and the chance to get with some dyed-in-the-wool sluggards and against doubtful stayers or those with question marks about their fitness. Snowy was a doubtful stayer, but I thought he would show up well for a long way and backed him at around 10 for a place pre-race with a view to getting out at shorter. In the race he went as low as 1.98 before fading out of the three, but I got nervy and offloaded at average odds of just over 3.0 for a guaranteed profit either way. I also laid See You There for a place at 2.62 in the belief that he might "blow up", as he had done on his only previous start this term. He went as low as 1.04 (by which time I was convinced he'd either win or be placed) before disappearing from the picture as two others pulled clear. Sweaty palms time as the camera finally panned back to show See You There crossing the line in a weary fifth. Phew!

2:35 FAIRYHOUSE. A maiden chase and there seemed a reasonable chance of plenty of mishaps along the way. For place betting you need something that's shown itself a sound jumper, not something - like the second favourite Line Ball - making its debut over larger obstacles. I got matched in-running on the battle-hardened Four Chimneys at 2.10. He went as low as 1.24 (which I failed to lay off at) before jumping like a bag of spanners over the last few and finishing fourth...to the impressive Line Ball. Great game this, isn't it?!

3:05 FAIRYHOUSE. Not daunted, I place-laid the two market leaders, Outlaw Princess and Grapevine Sally, both before (at around 1.40 each of them) and during the novice chase, figuring that if one or both of them failed to make the three then I would be in profit. Grapevine Sally, a newcomer to chasing, departed at halfway, whereas Outlaw Princess, who had been known to turn in the odd "stinker" had a going day and made all. It could have been worse.

There were a few other little bets along the way, but to my pleasant surprise I emerged slightly ahead on the afternoon.

What had I learned? To be selective - there is far too much going on to bet in every race with any confidence - and to prepare thoroughly. But, above all, to respond to events as they unfold, and to respond quickly. As with all in-running betting, it can be a white-knuckle ride at times. But it sure can be good fun, and there are some amazing bargains to be had by those with good judgement and quick reflexes!

>> Click here for Betfair.com