While the annual turnover for greyhound racing in the UK may have dwindled somewhat over the course of the last decade, this remains a deceptively lucrative pastime on these shores.

More specifically, greyhound racing generated an estimated £698.2 million ($988 million) in the year ending March 2020, with this having increased by 5% when compared with the previous year’s figures.

If you’re new to greyhound betting, however, there are several things to keep in mind before placing your wager. We’ve outlined a few of these below on your behalf!

Odds, Pricing and the Timing of Your Bet

Just as with horse racing, you’re able to place wagers on a specific race for an extended period of time prior to it commencing.

Historically, online sportsbooks would look to entice customers by offering them enhanced odds when they wagered early, but this would cause great consternation when prices drifted and you ended up with a dramatically diminished value proposition.

In the modern age, however, a growing number of operators now offer customers ‘best price’ or ‘best odds guaranteed’ deals, which means that they’ll honour the higher price for your wager even in instances where you bet early and the odds continue to lengthen prior to the beginning of the race.

This definitely takes the potential risk out of betting early, where you can often find slightly longer prices that may offer the best possible value overall. This is especially true when backing relative favourites, whose price is likely to shorten as a growing number of punters continue to back them.

So, if you’re well organised and looking to wager based on insight or knowledge pertaining to a fancied runner, we’d recommend being proactive and taking action as quickly as possible.

The Most Popular Greyhound Betting Wagers

There are also multiple types of wager that you can place when betting on greyhound races, and it’s important you understand these in detail so that you can make informed and rewarding decisions.

The most popular and simplistic bet is the outright winner, where you back a single runner to prevail and claim first place.

In this instance, you’ll back your chosen greyhound at a predetermined price and stake, while your wager will only be successful if the runner roars home in first place and ahead of the field.

For those of you who may be a little more risk-averse, you may want to consider betting each-way on selected dogs. In reality, this means placing two wagers on the same runner, with half of your money bet on the dog to win and the other half backing a so-called “placed” finish.

The ‘place’ requirement will vary depending on the precise number of runners, but in general terms this portion of the wager will come in if your selected runner finishes second, third or fourth.

In terms of the payout, you’ll win both parts of the bet if your greyhound comes first, guaranteeing the maximum return on your stake.

Conversely, the place portion of the wager will be paid out at a fraction of the win odds if successful, so it’s important to review the altered odds and potential return on your virtual betting slip before committing your cash. It’s also worth considering which are the best greyhound racing betting sites before depositing.

Each-way betting definitely provides a viable hedge for your bankroll, as you can cover a wider range of potential outcomes without having to increase your desired stake amount. It’s also an excellent way of betting in competitive fields, where there's no obvious favourite or clear winner.

Is Forecast Betting Right for You?

You can also place forecast bets as a greyhound punter, with this representing an extension of each-way wagering as it requires you to select dogs to finish first, second and third in the correct order ahead of a particular race.

This is a great option for risk-hungry punters, as the odds are typically slightly higher due to the difficulty of selecting the first three placements.

However, it’s not something that we’d necessarily recommend to beginners, unless you have a detailed knowledge of the sport and the individual runners who are competing in a particular race.

Ultimately, understanding the presentation of odds and the individual wagers on offer should help you to tread more carefully as a greyhound punter, and this can prove crucial when dealing with a relatively small bankroll.