Greyhound markets are fascinating. They are fast and furious in the minutes leading up to the off, and you have to be ready to act at any moment.
Greyhound markets aren’t as liquid as Horse Racing markets, and the action always happens in last five minutes before the off. However, there are many times more races per day than Horse Racing, and although your stakes will be smaller on greyhound markets – profitable strategies can make you more profit because there are more races to trade.
Greyhound markets will be more volatile, however that presents great opportunity if you know what you’re doing. With this in mind, we have three tips that will help you when trading greyhound markets..
Have A Plan And Patience
There are a tonne of greyhound races every day. Selecting the right opportunities will be key to making a profit. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by all the action. Naturally, there will be more liquidity on higher graded races. If you’re new to trading greyhounds, it might be easier for you to trade these type of races. You can find the higher graded races on the Racing Post and plan around the race times.
The other ‘P’ is patience. Remember, all the real action takes place in the final three minutes to the off. Sometimes even less. Money only starts to come into the markets five minutes before the off. Don’t pull the trigger too early – let the market develop so you can fully understand what way you feel the odds are going to move. A minute makes a huge difference when greyhound trading.
Focus On Market Volume
Because the money arrives so late into the greyhound markets, it can be hard to spot the early moves. It can be hard to even know what is the favourite. Prices on the outsiders will obviously be more volatile but the market volume will help you spot what dogs are going to be supported.
As we said in the above point, have patience and let the market guide you. If a favourite has big volume and you can see it getting backed, you can open a momentum trade on the favourite. With larger gaps and more drifts on outsiders, it can be more profitable to wait and see bigger volume on the favourites and trade their prices rather than the bigger priced dogs.
Limit Risk And Trading Out
The aim of trading on an exchange is to limit risk as much as possible. Some greyhound races can be a lot more risky than others. Waiting a little longer for market volume to confirm moves can be a shrewd move rather than jumping in too early. Most greyhound markets don’t go in-play, so you need to trade out just as quick as you enter the market because the money arrives so late.
As the market doesn’t pick up until three minutes before the off, you need to time your trades correctly. Giving away a tick or two can be worth it in the long run if you get market confirmation that your dog has market momentum behind it. The same applies to trading out; trading a tick or two early is a lot better than leaving it too late and getting stuck with your position. You can get away with being stubborn while trading horse racing markets and letting trades go in-play, but you need to be quick trading greyhounds!
