Betting on The Grand National

If you've never placed a bet online before then don't worry its actually very simple. All you need is a credit or debit card with which to open an account and about 5 minutes to fill out an application form and then you're ready to bet.

Opening an account

From a bookmakers home page look for the link for the new accounts page.
This may be called "join" or "register" or something similar. Once you find it you will be presented with a form, much like if you were buying something online, where you have to supply your name and address and a few other details such as a username and password so you can login each time you visit.

SkyBet

Easy registration process
Well known brand you can trust
£20 Free when you open an account

Making a Deposit

With some bookmakers you need to make a deposit to open an account, others let you open the account without putting any money in and then you have to find the "account" section to deposit funds.

Typically the minimum deposit is about £10 although it can be a little higher with some bookmakers. This money is then taken from your bank account (if you used a switch card) or credit card and shown in your betting account balance.

No more money is taken from your account so its easy to limit your losses, and of course you are free to withdraw your money whenever you want back to your bank account or credit card much in the same way as you deposited it.

Making a bet

Once you have money in your bookmaker account you are free to bet up to that amount on any of their markets. There is unusually a minimum amount for a bet but this is never more than £2 and usually a lot less.

To place the bet simply select the horse you want to bet on and then enter a stake.

You will then be presented with a confirmation page.

If the horse loses then you lose the amount you staked. If it wins then you get a multiple of your stake back dependent on the odds.

Win Bet Example

Lets say you bet £10 on a horse to Win at 12/1.
With odds of "twelve to one" this means if the horse wins, you WIN 12x your stake + you get your original stake back too.
So you end up with 10x12 + 10 = £130
However if the horse doesn't win then you lose your £10.

Ok that's the easy one - but the problem is that you will only make money if the horse actually wins.

Some people prefer to bet Each-Way which means that you can also win some money if the horse "places". Typically for the Grand National this means finish in the first 4 although some bookmakers may pay on 5th (or even 6th) as well on a special promotion so its worth checking.

Each Way Betting Example

An Each Way (EW) bet is essentially 2 bets: A win bet AND a place bet.

So a £10EW bet is actually a £20 bet - £10 win and £10 place.

The odds you get on the win are the same as the quoted odds, but the odds you get on the place are lower, usually either 1/4 or 1/5 of the quoted odds.

So lets say you bet £10EW (a £20 bet) on a horse at 20-1 with place terms of 1/4 1,2,3,4 . Lets look at the two bets separately.

The Win £10 will pay £10 x 20 + £10 stake back = £210 if the horse wins, but nothing if it doesn't win.

The Place £10 will pay £10 x 20 x 1/4 + £10 stake back = £60 if the horse finishes 1,2,3 or 4.

So in combination your £20 bet will pay £210 + £60 (both parts of the bet) if the horse wins and £60 if it finished 2nd, 3rd, or 4th. There's no difference in payout between any of these places.

Your Betting Account

All online bookmakers have an "accounts" section where you can add money, withdraw money, check your account balance and see your betting history.
This is very useful for keeping track of your bets.