I recall many many years ago reading about making a betting market, and the key thing to look for to see if you were getting value for money as a punter was the overround (I think!).
Essentially the bookies margin (profit), and it (in theory) means that whichever runner wins the bookies make that much profit (and never take a bath, if they get it right). It should be based on how much money is being staked on each runner rather than on who the bookies think is going to win.
So some little race at Fakenham might have an total of 112% which would be 12% profit for the bookies, whereas something big like the National might have 140% where their 40% margin would hoover up the once a year punters money.
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