The Royal Ascot festival is one of the most popular horse racing events on the calendar and offers numerous betting opportunities. One style of betting that can be used is value betting, and this is all about finding positive expected value from available markets. By comparing bookmakers and finding odd discrepancies, Royal Ascot is a great opportunity to use value betting, and here, we are going to look at how this festival can be used for this process.
Whether you have used value betting before or you are unfamiliar with what this process is, this guide will go through how this betting strategy can be used to potentially create a profit at Royal Ascot.
What is Royal Ascot Value Betting?
Value betting is a technique that bettors can use to maximise profits when betting across the Royal Ascot festival, and this is done by looking for expected value. For those who are unfamiliar with this, we have an expected value guide that explains how both positive and negative expected value can work.
In essence, value betting is all about looking for selections that offer higher odds than they should. By choosing these selections, they can theoretically find selections that have increased odds, offering a higher return if the bet is successful.
The main thing to consider when placing value bets is that this process is very different to matched betting, as it does not minimise losses and value bets can be unsuccessful. If you want to take part in value betting, it is important to start with smaller stakes, to reduce the risks and give yourself a chance to understand how these types of bets work.
How To Find Royal Ascot Value Bets
Similar to what we have mentioned in our horse racing value betting guide, a value bet occurs when the odds of a selection are higher than the likelihood of the event happening. This means that you believe the bookmakers think the outcome is less likely to happen, therefore pricing it higher. These value bets can be found anywhere, and they can definitely appear in horse racing.
One way to find out if a selection is considered a value bet is by working out the implied probability of the bet. To work this out, bettors can divide 1 by the decimal odds to determine how likely the bookmaker believes the selection will become successful. Let’s look at how we can apply this in horse racing:
Here, we have the horse So Regal at the odds of 3/1. This is 4 in decimal odds, and this means the bookmaker believes there is a 25% chance that the horse wins the race. However, using research and data, bettors can judge whether the selection actually has a 25% chance of winning the race.
The main thing to consider when value betting is that these bets can lose, and the aim of the strategy is to continuously find bets which you think have positive expected value. This is because the potential profit lies in the long term, rather than the short term. As this is a sport, not every bet will be successful, and there is the possibility for losses, but there can be profit found in consistent, positive expected value bets.
How do you determine a Royal Ascot bet?
If you are looking to find Royal Ascot value bets, there are a couple of factors you can use to determine which bets have positive expected value. The main thing to do is to research the event, looking at how the horses perform and any other factors that could affect the race. Let’s take a look at some things that could affect Royal Ascot value bets.
- Recent Races – Check out how the horses have performed in their recent runs, as a horse in good form might have a better chance of finishing first compared to a horse in a slump.
- Course Conditions – Track conditions, such as weather, can affect how a horse performs; rain can alter the running surface. Some horses might perform better in these conditions, whereas others prefer a dry track.
- Course and Distance – Some horses might have won at the course or at a race of the same distance before, or even both. This experience could potentially lead to the horse performing well.
- Competitors – It is also important to consider the competition when looking at these horse races. For example, if the horse has won races before, but it was against low-level competition, it might struggle when it comes up against higher-level opponents.
If you are looking for more ways to decide on value bets in horse racing, you can check out our horse racing betting guide, which discusses some of these topics.
Royal Ascot Value Betting Vs Matched Betting
As already mentioned, there is a huge difference between value betting and matched betting when it comes to Royal Ascot, as one can lock in returns, and the other is used for value. With matched betting, users can place a back and lay bet on the same race, therefore allowing for a return no matter what happens. However, value betting is specifically about finding the best value from bookmakers and does not rely on finding bookmaker promotions.
Horse racing is not the only sport that includes value betting, as it is also seen in football. We have a football value betting guide available, which goes through all of the relevant details surrounding the betting strategy.
Royal Ascot Value Betting at OddsMonkey
For those who are interested in value betting, there is no better place to be than OddsMonkey, as we have plenty of tools that you can take advantage of. If you are interested in learning more about betting strategies in general, our matched betting blog is full of detailed insights and tips that can be used throughout a variety of sports betting.
