The Placepot – yes, it’s always trickier than it looks
By colin on Sunday, September 5th, 2010We said yesterday we’d see how raw top racecard ratings fared as a play in the Placepot – and we got the result we might have expected. Assuming a straight £1 line, no permutations, the top rated fared as follows:
Thirsk, placed leg 1, unplaced in leg 2…
Stratford, won leg 1, unplaced leg 2…
Kempton, won leg 1, won leg 2, unplaced leg 3…
Haydock, placed leg 1, unplaced leg 2
Wolverhampton, out first leg.
A few top rated were non-runners, so here we just allocated their selection to the next best in the ratings. We could also have allocated to the favourite (where we would have fared better, as it turns out).
Still, no winning lines and no continuation beyond race 3 on any card…
This is not an unusual experience for the placepot. The alluring draw of the Tote’s placepot is an interest in every race, with a potentially big payout at the end, for the simple task of selecting a placed horse in ever race. It works as a great interest bet for the races, for the price of a £1 line. But it’s always trickier than it looks. Some maths can tell us why, but so can the experience of playing it. No matter what the ratings used.