FAQ

1. What are lay betting systems?

If lay betting is a new concept for you then don’t be put of as it is a relatively simple concept.  Look at it like this… if you go to the bookies and put a ten pound bet on a horse at odds of 3/1, then you know that if you win you get three times your stake, or in this case, thirty pounds; and if you lose, that dastardly bookie gets to keep your well-earned ten quid. 

Well, with the advent of betting exchanges (such as Betfair or Betdaq) – lay betting now allows YOU to be the bookie by matching other people’s bets.  The down side of course, if the horse wins, you have to pay out the thirty pounds.  But if it loses, you get to keep the ten pounds (minus a small commission fee).  Simple as that.  This is how we make our money – we in effect, become the bookie.  However, it is not quite as simple as that or else everybody would be doing it.  We still have to find consistent losers or we lose money.  This is where Long Term Lays comes in.  We supply the selections for you to ‘bet to lose’ as it were; and over the long term, it is a method that is proven to provide consistent profits.

2.  What time are the bets sent out?

All bets are emailed to subscribers approximately one hour before the first UK race of the day.

3. Will there be an email every day?

There will be an email everyday except for Saturdays, when we don’t bet using our selection process, and of course there will be no emails on any non-racing days on the annual calendar.   The email will be entitled, “horse racing for today”, along with the relevant date; and the body of the email will include your horse racing lay or lays for that particular day along with any comments we might have.

4.  How many bets will be sent out?

Over the last 6 years, the average has been about one selection per day.  However, some days will have several bets and other days might have none.  It really depends whether the horses running on any particular days meets our selection criteria.  We feel it is important when tipping horse racing not to allow our clients to over bet and we only send out selections when they absolutely meet our system requirements.  This is an important element of lay betting systems as it can be tempting to play ‘catch up’ after a losing spell (which are inevitable and part of the process).

5. How do I make the bets?

The betting lay or lays have to be placed via a betting exchange.  Betfair (www.betfair.com) or Betdaq (www.betdaq.co.uk) provide the best liquidity, but there are others.  If you need any help with this and placing your first bets in this way, please contact us and we’ll be happy to talk you through it.

6.  How much should I bet?

This is really up to you.  Our worst year in the past six years of records show a profit of just over 25 points.  This means that if you’d staked one pound per bet, you would have made twenty five pound.  However, this would not have even covered the cost of your subscription fees.  If you’d staked ten pounds, then in a worst case scenario like this, you would have at least have covered your costs and a bit more, making 250 pounds.  Of course, this is a worst case scenario historically and you might well make a profit with small bets.  So ultimately, it’s your call.  Anything upward of fifteen pound stakes should be making you decent profits over any one year.

7.  What is your largest drawdown?

The worst drawdown was around 26 points way back in 2004 (see the graph).  There have been no real significant drawdowns since then.

8.  What is the recommended betting bank?

Based on the largest drawdown being 26 points, we recommend a 50 point betting bank as being sufficient at this time.  If you want an extra level of safety, then by all mean operate with a 75 point or even 100 point bank, but 50 really should be good enough.  So as an example, with a 50 point bank, if you are staking ten pound bets, then you need a bank of 500 pounds (50x10).

9.  How do you make the selections?

We have a tried and tested hypothesis with logical conditions set in place that have to be met in order for the selection to be made.  Tipping horse racing is not easy, and if a horse doesn’t meet the criteria that we are looking for, we do NOT make the bet.  One of the criteria that you will learn about upon subscribing, is that we only take the selections emailed as bets if they fall within a certain price range – this being over 1.5 and under 6.0 on the betting exchanges (lay price).  There is no emotion or subjectivity involved, this is all about making profits.  We stick to the rules.  If you are looking for excitement, then we suggest putting a pin in the race card or buying a lottery ticket!

10.  How do I know this is genuine and not some kind of scam?

We feel it is important when tipping horse racing to provide independent proof of our daily selections. 

Along with many other lay betting systems and tipsters, we are currently proofing our selections independently via the Secret Betting Club (www.racingproofing.com), Racing Index (www.racing-index.com) and Tip Exchange (www.tipexchange.co.uk)  We also hope to also get some independent reviews some time in the near future so watch this space—

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