The Cheltenham Festival is one of the most lucrative horse racing events that you can bet on as long as you know what you’re doing. For that reason, many people both experienced and inexperienced will be betting on the festival in hopes of landing a big winner.
However, there are many different ways for people to bet on the Cheltenham Festival. We’ve taken a look at each of the different methods that you can use to place your horse racing bets when the festival comes around.
If you’re not making your way to the festival itself then one of the best ways that you can get involved is via online betting. Online bookmakers such as Sky Bet, Bet365, Paddy Power & Betfair will all be offering promotions through the festival such as enhanced prices and promotions.
One of the main benefits of online betting during the Cheltenham Festival is the option to compare the prices offered by different bookmakers. The reason you would do this is to ensure that you’re getting the best price for your bet. If you want to compare prices for any race at the festival head over to our odds page, select a race and you’ll be able to see the odds fluctuating in real-time.
Betting online allows users to bet on multiples bets such as trebles or lucky 15 bets. This is a huge benefit to online betting and gives you more scope to get value out of your bets. If you’re interested in seeing different multiples bets check out these pages like our lucky 15 tips or Request A Bets. Alternatively, if you’re looking to create your own online then by visiting out horse odds pages you can see the variation in the price of each horse in the run-up and during the festival.
If you’re going to the event itself, betting on-course is probably the best way to bet during the festival and is enjoyed by hundreds of people each year. With around 200 bookmakers present on course on any day during the Festival there is certainly no shortage of choice. This allows you to compare prices from bookmaker to bookmaker although they will generally be pretty consistent across the course.
One thing to keep in mind with on-course betting is the fact that you’re only able to bet on singles selections as the bookie will usually only price up the race in question. This means that you won’t be able to place an accumulator or Lucky 15 bet when using the on-course bookmakers.
Regardless betting on course is still an enjoyable method of betting at the Cheltenham Festival as there's something incredibly satisfying about placing a cash bet, getting your ticket printed and then returning after the race to collect your winnings if your chosen horse has prevailed.
One thing to keep in mind is the fact that you will only be able to bet with the main on course bookmakers using cash. Card payments will generally not be accepted so it may be advisable to take cash out before attending the festival. There will be cash machines on-site to use but there will be a fee per withdrawal.
Tote betting is another on-course way you can get involved with betting at the Cheltenham Festival. With tote betting, you don’t get odds like the other racecourse bookmakers, by betting you’ll be entered into a pool. Then if a horse wins the pool is then shared among the winners like a lottery would be.
At Cheltenham, you’re able to bet on the tote with cash or card as long as you place the minimum stake of £2. As an added benefit, the majority of the revenue made from losing bets will flow back into the Cheltenham racecourse so by choosing the tote you know you’re benefiting the course also.
Ante-post betting is an extremely popular way of betting at Cheltenham Festival due to the exceptional value you can get on horses if they are backed in the run-up to the festival. This is generally because as we get closer to the festival horses will generally get backed into a shorter price meaning you’ll get fewer returns. You also won’t have to worry about the odds drifting further either as you’ll be protected by best odds guaranteed meaning you’ll get the best price if the horse goes off at odds higher than you backed it. It’s important to check with the bookmaker you used to make sure they offer this feature.
When betting ante-post for the Cheltenham Festival there is always the potential that your chosen horse may drop out of the festival early. This will cause your bet to be voided as the horse never actually started the race. In this case, the bookmaker will refund your stake meaning you’ll get all the money you placed on the horse refunded in full.
The main negative of betting ante-post is that you may bet on a horse early that you fancy for the festival. The horse may then lose some races on the run-up to the festival causing the price to change considerably. This is an issue for multiples bets as the overall returns may be lower.
For ante-post hints and tips check out our Cheltenham News section to see our thoughts on some of the most promising prospects on the run-up to the festival.
Although becoming increasingly more difficult to get involved with, betting exchanges can be a good way to place your Cheltenham Festival bets. Betting on the exchange markets will allow you to bet against other punters via an exchange market such as the Betfair exchange.
Some of the advantages of using the betting exchange is the ability to lay bet on horses. This means if you lay on a horse not to win and it doesn’t, your bet will payout. You can’t do this with standard sportsbooks.
Another advantage for users looking to place their Cheltenham Bets through an exchange will be better odds. Without the bookmaker’s profit margin being included in the price, the odds of selections often look a lot better. Commission will still be taken from your bet but different exchanges will offer different amounts of this so you’ll usually do better than with a standard bookmaker.
The original method of betting in the betting shops themselves is still one of the best types of betting. You can bet on Cheltenham by going into any highstreet betting shop and placing a bet on your chosen horse. By doing this you are able to place single or other types of multiples bets on the horses. There is no real advantage of a betting shop as you’ll get similar odds that you’d get online and you’ll have to go back into the shop to collect your winnings. That being said it is still a popular choice for many Cheltenham punters.
No matter how you plan on betting at the Cheltenham Festival whether it be online or on course it’s still important to select horses that you feel have the best chance of winning. Our team provides Cheltenham tips for every single day at the festival meaning you’ll always have one or two of our horse predictions just before the event starts. In addition to this you can look at our tips for each of the days at Cheltenham allowing you to place some ante-post bets before the day comes around. You can see all of our Cheltenham betting tips here:
