Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Open Bet strangles racing

David Thiselton
The “Open Bet” is defined as a tote bet that can be stood by bookmakers using the official tote dividend as the indicator of the payout.
Let it be made clear that any reference in this article to the "open bet" does not include "fixed odds" betting as part of its definition.
They are two different things as bookmakers themselves decide the dividend for fixed odds.
The open bet is regarded by the operators as the single most damaging practise to the health of horseracing, because the money that goes into the open bet is lost to the tote pools and is therefore also lost to potential stakes money for races.
However, in bookmaking shops that offer it, it is noticeable that the queue for the open bet till is longer than the one for the tote till.
The reason is that the punter believes that by not having his wins included as part of the divisor the dividend will be greater.
In this he might be correct, but what he fails to recognise is that all the other people in the open bet queue are detracting from the size of the pool.
If an agreement was reached between all punters in a particular tote that they will all bet on the tote and not on the open bet, the dividends are likely to be bigger rather than smaller as the losers, which are naturally going to be the larger section of betters per race, will be contributing to the size of the pool and therefore to the size of the dividend.
One only has to look at the strongest horseracing country's in the world, the likes of Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and France to realise this.
All of these countries have tote monopolies, the pools are huge and the bigger the pool the stronger the dividend.
Furthermore, the returns for racehorse owners in these countries are very strong due to the excellent stakes money derived from the tote turnover, and this leads to a winning situation for everybody involved in the game including punters, owners, trainers, breeders and jockeys.
Even pure racefans who simply love the sport benefit as good stakes attract good horses.
In local races like the Vodacom Durban July too, money is poured on to the tote in the knowledge that the huge pools will lead to healthy dividends.
A further detractor to the open bet for punters should be that their dividend is subject to bookmaker's betting tax.
Also, as one punter found to his cost on Dubai World Cup night, bookmakers have limits to their payouts.
In one particular bookmaker the limit for a quartet payout is displayed as 35 000-1.
One punter, who bet on the open bet at this bookmaker, was overjoyed when winning 10% of a quartet on Dubai World Cup night that paid a dividend in the region of R280, 000 on the tote.
He expected to receive a payout of roundabout R28, 000.
Alas, 10% of 35,000 is only R3,500 and that was all he was paid, much to his bemusement and anger.
The open bet was declared legal in a recent court case, but it is no doubt damaging to horseracing and if punters could band together and boycott it, it would also benefit the size of their dividend rather than detract from it.
In deciding whether to go this route, punters could also consider that bookmakers make a limited financial contribution to horseracing compared to the tote.

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