"How Do You Actually Get the Top Price?"

Recorded September 2025 for Why You’re Losing on the Punt (Even When You Pick Winners). Any figures mentioned are from that time.

The price you take matters as much as the horse you pick. Most punters find a selection and then just have the bet wherever their money happens to sit. That is money left behind. Markets are tighter than they used to be and a lot of bookies bet the same odds, but they do not all bet the same odds, and the difference between them adds up over a season. Getting the top price is a habit, not a one off effort.

Not every bookie bets the same odds

Have a look across the market and you will see it. One bookie is $2.20, another is $2.10 on the same horse. Pericles was $10.20 with one and $9.50 with another. On its own that does not seem like much. Over hundreds of bets it is a very different story. Betfair is part of that picture too. So there is still shopping to be done, even in a market that looks uniform at first glance.

Use more than one account

If you can hold more than one account, do it. That is the simplest way to make sure you are not stuck taking the shortest price in the market. On top of that, there are boosts, bonus bets, bonus deposits and money backs for seconds and thirds. I do not get a lot of that myself, so I cannot tell you much about it, but if you are lucky enough to have access to them then use them. There are a hundred bookmakers out there and they all want business, particularly coming into the spring. If you are half serious about winning on the punt, open up ten accounts if you can, put whatever you are comfortable with in each, and spread your bets around. Two bets here, two bets there, taking the best of what is on offer each time.

Watch the fluctuations

The other half of getting a good price is timing. Private Eye is a good example. Early in the week the horse was $2.40 and $2.50, then drifted all the way out to $3.20. It stabilised around $3.30. Then it went $3.30 into $3, which is often a good guide that the money is coming. It eased back out to $3.30, then $3.40. So across those few days it settled in around that $3.20 to $3.40 mark. That is a horse that has found its price.

That is what you are looking for. A horse that stabilises and finds its level, and then firms a little. When it went $3.30 into $3, that is your cue to shop around. Maybe you can boost it back up to $3.30. Maybe another bookie is still holding $3.20. That might be the time to have the bet.

You are not always going to get it right. That is not the point. The point is to have it at the forefront of your mind that odds move, and that where and when you bet is a decision in itself. Do the shopping, watch the flucs, and take the best price available to you.

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More from Kingsley

• How to Tell When Smart Money Has Hit a Horse
• "Why Isn't Backing More Winners Making Me Money?"
• How to Lay a Horse Shorter by Putting Up a Back Bet

From the full video: Why You’re Losing on the Punt (Even When You Pick Winners)

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