Greyhound betting is typically divided into two types of betting styles: money lines and spread bets. Each type of betting is somewhat different from the other, and which you choose depends on your past experience, how much you want to risk, and how seriously you want to gamble. Money lines tend to be higher risk, higher reward, and are the traditional way of greyhound betting. The way money lines work is by having a list of a given number of dogs from which to choose. Odds that a given dog will win the race are created by bookmakers before each match, and a gambler chooses a dog on which to bet based on the odds they want to gamble. Dogs that bookmakers think are likely to win a given race are given better odds (which pay out less), while dogs that are less likely are given worse odds (which pay out more).
Greyhound betting is, in fact, the source of the term “underdog” in the gambling world, as the dog expected to lose is termed as such. Betting on the underdog will typically result in a loss, but in the event that a bet is placed on an underdog that wins, the payout can be quite large. A typical money line for greyhound betting will look something like this:
Fido: -400
Sparky: -250
Jones: -150
Rex: 125
Spot: 250
Lucky: 500
The dogs with negative ratings are actually those thought more likely to win. For example, a winning bet on Fido pays out one hundred dollars for every four hundred dollars bet. A winning bet on Jones pays out one hundred for every hundred and fifty dollars bet. The dogs with positive numbers have worse odds, so for every hundred dollars bet on Rex, a win would result in a payout of one hundred twenty-five, while a winning hundred dollar bet on Lucky would pay out five hundred dollars.
Greyhound spread betting, on the other hand, is designed to even the odds significantly. Instead of betting on whether a dog will win, gamblers bet on the relative finishing position of a given dog. Bookmakers estimate the finishing position of each dog, and gamblers then guess whether the dog will finish higher or lower than that position. For example, suppose the bookmakers estimate that for a given race, Rex is ranked at 4.5. The decimal point is to indicate that bets will either be placed on Rex placing fourth or better, or placing fifth or worse. The payout for spread bets is typically slightly less than twice the bet placed, as bookmakers and the arena take a commission out of the payout. The type of greyhound betting you enjoy is entirely up to your personal taste.
