The Midnight Plumbers Guide to Betting
Types of Bet
There are many types of bet for you to make your fortune. From the massively complex Goliath to the plain and simple single win-only bet we've outlined the main ones here so you now have no excuse for not going racing, going to the bookies or betting online. The bets start off as fairly simple but get progressively complex towards the foot of the page.
Once you've worked out what type of bet you want to lay then you can also see how much your winning bet will make you in our Calculate Your Winnings section.
Single Bet
The simplest bet of them all. One selection from one race. It has to win or you get no money back.
Double
One bet. Choose a horse from 2 different races. Both have to win before you get any money back.
Treble
One bet. Choose a horse from 3 different races. All three have to win before you get any money back.
Accumulator
One bet. Choose a horse from 4 or more races. All of them have to win before you get any money back. Often called fourfold, fivefold, sixfold etc. etc. depending on the number of selections in your accumulator. Probably better to buy a lottery ticket unless you know what you're doing. And if you do, you're unlikely to be reading this.
Placepots/Quadpots etc.
blurb about placepots
Combination Bets
This is where it starts to get a bit tricky so you will need to pay attention. Bets from now on are a combination of some of the bets above. They can all seem a bit confusing at first but once you get the hang of it you'll find it quite easy to follow. The thing to remember is that each 'bet' is actually a series of bets and your stake will reflect that. So you might select 4 horses, for example, and combine those 4 selections into various doubles, trebles and so on. Each different combination counts as a separate bet with a separate stake. So in the list below a Yankee, for example, is a combination of 6 doubles, 4 trebles and 1 fourfold accumulator. This makes 11 bets in total. So if you want to put on a £1 Yankee it will actually cost you 11 x £1 or £11 in total. Got that? Good. Now let's get on to the interesting bit.
These combination bets can provide significant returns but rely on a few of your selections coming up though. In the 11-bet Yankee we have already looked at you would get paid on 1 double if 2 of your selections won, 1 treble and 3 doubles if 3 of your selections won and 1 fourfold, 4 trebles and 6 doubles if all 4 selections won.
Patent
The first one we'll look at is the Patent. It consists of 3 selections from different races and is a combination of 3 singles, 3 doubles and a treble making 7 bets in total. You will get some money back (probably not a lot...) if one of your selections wins.
Yankee
The Yankee is a particular favourite of the Midnight Plumbers. Indeed, McMurdo's offspring owe their shoes, holidays, skateboards, roller blades, guitar and sometimes their food to their father's Yankee skill. It consists of 4 selections from different races and is a combination of 6 doubles, 4 trebles and 1 accumulator making 11 bets in total. You need to get at least 2 selections right i.e. 1 double before you will get any money back.
Yankee Patent (YAP)
The Yankee Patent is a bit of a Yankee and a bit of a Patent. It consists of 4 selections from different races and is a combination of 4 singles, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and 1 accumulator making 15 bets in total. You only need to get 1 selection right to get some money back.
Super Yankee or Canadian
Similar to the Yankee but more of it. This bet consists of 5 selections in different races: 10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 fourfolds and 1 fivefold accumulator, making 26 bets in all. Again, you need to get at least 2 winners before you get any money back.
Heinz
You can see where this one is going...6 selections in different races giving you 57 bets in total: 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 fourfolds, 6 fivefolds and 1 sixfold accumulator. You need to get at least 2 winners before you get any money back.
Goliath
Even bigger. 8 selections from different races giving you a massive 247 bets in total: 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 fourfolds, 56 fivefolds, 28 sixfolds, 8 sevenfolds and 1 eightfold accumulator. You need to get at least 2 winners before you get any money back.
Scoop 6
Channel 4 (UK TV station) provides excellent racing coverage. Every Saturday they select 6 races for the Scoop 6. At the most basic level, you simply select 1 horse from each of the 6 featured races. If they all win then you share the prize fund along with everyone else who successfully picked 6 winners. If there is no winner, then the prize fund is rolled over to the next week. Certainly worth a bet at a flat 2 quid. There are obviously umpteen permutations that you can also indulge in if the fancy takes you.
Forecast Bets
These bets allow you to predict the first and second in a race rather than the outright winner.
Straight Forecast
One bet. 2 selections from one race. Your selections must finish first and second and you must predict the order in which they finish. A straight forecast dividend is payable based on the starting prices of all the horses running in the race. This type of bet is often called an Exacta in other non-UK countries.
Tricast
Similar to a straight forecast except this time we are predicting the first, second and third home in the correct order. In other non-UK countries this bet is known as a Trifecta or Tierce.
Combination Forecast
This bet is an extension of the forecast bet. You select 3 or more horses from a single race with any 2 of them to finish 1st and 2nd in any order. To calculate the number of bets - we're back in combination bet territory here - simply multiply the number of selections by the number of selections minus 1. So if you selected 4 horses then your number of bets would be 4 x 3 = 12. If you selected 5 horses then your number of bets would be 5 x 4 = 20 etc.
Reverse Forecast
One bet. Select 2 horses from 1 single race. Your selections must finish 1st and 2nd in any order.
Each-Way Bets
Ah the mystery of the each-way bet. Just really a simple combination bet which is split into two parts: a win and a place. You bet on both. If your horse wins then you receive some money. If your horse doesn't win but is placed within the first 2,3 or 4 (depends on how many horses are running - we cover that under betting rules) then you also win some money. So how much would you win? Well we'll cover that in our Winnings section.