Basket Bets

[Brianh]

Well I've just broke the first £100 and starting to feel more confident. I'm starting my first basket which is Totesport. I have had the first free £25 bet from them (very kind) and now have to do 5 qualifiers for each extra £25 freebie. I assume I just pick the lowest odds over 2 with the closest match (or arbs if I can find them) and try to minimise my losses that way so the free bet's value doesn't get eroded by the qualifiers.

If anybody has any specialist advice to make this as efficient as possible then I'm all ears.
Brian (big ears)

[bull]

I think you have covered all the bases there Brian. Totesport have good odds so you will be fine with this. The free bet is added as soon as you have placed the fifth bet, which helps.

[SharpeShooter]

A good way to minimise losses is to either dutch with another bookie, paying no commision or to combine Liabilites at Betfair so if you do 2 offers at once you may choose to back Man U at one & Liverpool at the other, then if either team wins you will make a net loss at Betfar but pay no commision on the bet that wins at Betfair

[Admin]

Prob best to not back both teams at the same bookie though. Good tip though Steve - if you can find close odds for both teams - which generally I can't (or don't look for )

[SharpeShooter]

Horses is usually best for combining liabilities.

I once back 7 out of 9 horses in a race all at different bookies at different times as odss changed through the day. Still didn't get the winner

[Admin]

combine Liabilites at Betfair so if you do 2 offers at once you may choose to back Man U at one & Liverpool at the other, then if either team wins you will make a net loss at Betfar but pay no commision on the bet that wins at Betfair

You will have to work this out yourself beforehand though as the calculator takes exchange commission into account to ensure equal profit regardless of the result. If you found good odds for both teams and knew you were going to do this (as Steve suggests) you could set the calc for 0% exchange commssion in the knowledge that a net loss (or smaller profit) will occur, as you have layed both teams at BF.

[Brianh]

Thanks guys, I need to get my head around Steve's suggestion and think it through. Why will I pay no commission on the bet that wins at Betfair?

[SharpeShooter]

Simple example with very simple (Un-realistic) figures. Assume a Tennis match or Baseball, a game with only 2 outcomes

Bet on Team A £20 at odds of 2.0
Bet on Team B £20 at odds of 2.0

Lay Team A £20 at odds of 2.0
Lay Team B £20 at odds of 2.0

Whichever team wins you win £20 at one book and lose £20 at the other.
Whichever team wins you win £20 and lose £20 at Betfair so net winnings £0 = No Commision

In this example you would simply dutch Team A against Team B and forget betfair but this illustrates why you pay no commision

A More realistic set of figures would be

At the beginning of the week I back team A at odds of 2.2 and lay at 2.1.
Mid Week I back Team B at odds of 3.5 and Lay at 3.35
At the weekend I back the draw a 3 and lay at 2.9

So if I have 3 qualifiers to place and I can find these odds

Back Team A £25 @ 2.2 Lay £26.80 @ 2.1
Back Team B £20 @ 3.5 Lay £21.20 @ 3.35
Back Draw £50 @ 3 Lay £52.59 @ 2.9

If Result is a :

Draw = Win £100 at Book C, Lose £45 at othes + £51.92 at Betfair = £3.08
A Win = Win £30 at Book A + £42.09 at Betfair - £70 at others = £2.09
B Win = Win £50 at Book B + £28.09 at Betfair - £75 at others = £3.09

+ 3 free bets I've earned for qualifiers.

This method can also turn narbs into arbs

[Brianh]

Thanks for clarifyng that Steve. Sorry to have taken so long to thank you but been away. You really seem to have this cracked.