Amzing Punters Guide

Get the best from your betting in Ireland.

At APG we aim to bring you the best guide to betting in Ireland.

Best Betting Sites
1
5 / 5
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Great racing selection

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2
5 / 5
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Huge selection of UK racing

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3
5 / 5
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New Horse Racing Betting Site

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4
4.9 / 5
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Great European Racing Selection

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Review
5
4.8 / 5
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Oldest UK Racing bookmaker

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tbc
Review
6
4.7 / 5
TOTAL SCORE

Excellent odds on Racing

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Review
7
4.7 / 5
TOTAL SCORE

Excellent New Racing Bookmaker

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tbc
Review

How to bet on Horse Racing in Ireland

Horse racing is one of the oldest betting institutions in the world, and in Ireland this is just the same as anywhere else. According to legend, horse racing in Ireland goes back to the farthest reaches of the nation’s history, and today it is just as popular as it ever was. Betting on the horse racing is a beloved pastime of so many, and yet at the same time it can be daunting and confusing to keen newcomers. Today, we’re going to look at some fundamental tips for betting on horse racing, so let’s dive into it.

  1. Understanding odds

Naturally, one of the biggest points about betting on the horses in Ireland is understanding the odds. Odds are what the bookies believe to be the likelihood of a particular outcome in a race. This most commonly refers to a given horse’s chances of winning, but there are also other options to bet on like which horses will place in the top three—you can even bet against a horse.

You want to target odds that are long enough that a winning bet would be a significant win, while not being so long that the outcome is so unlikely as to make it a bet doomed to fail. Different bookies will offer different odds, so always be sure to shop around.

  • Picking a winner

Following on from that, then, is how exactly you can pick a winner to bet on in a race. There are a few different ways to do this. One is to do so by eye, by watching the horse run a few races before you decide to bet on them. This gives you an idea of how well the horse is performing on a particular day and the odds that they might win. You can never be sure, but equally, don’t just pick a horse at random.

  • Online vs off-track betting

One of the biggest questions is about how you actually bet: whether online or via a physical bookmaker. Both do offer advantages of their own, but in general you are going to get better deals through online betting than you will at land-based bookmakers. There are more than 40 horse racing betting sites in Ireland with significant traffic, and so competition is fierce. The land-based bookmakers aren’t really bound by this level of competition.

Furthermore, by using a betting app, you can bet through your phone live at the event without any delay.

  • Promotions and offers

Bookmakers, both land-based and online, will typically make use of a range of offers and promotions, and it’s a good habit to keep abreast of these. Most of them, and certainly all the best offers, will only be available for new customers—so make use of these when signing up. But for big horse racing events, like the Punchestown Festival, there may also be lucrative promotions for existing customers.

These could be free bets on initial deposits or boosted odds in a big event. These promotions have become an integral part of betting on the horse racing in Ireland.

  • Budgeting

Finally, while not a direct aspect of horse racing betting, it’s always really important that you keep to a strict budget in any kind of betting. Betting is fraught with potential risks, and you never want to spend more on it than you can afford to lose. Chasing your losses can lead to debt and you’ll do it when emotional at losses.

Set yourself a monthly or weekly budget, if you intend to bet on horse racing as often as that, and be sure to stick to it to the last cent. You can’t continue betting if you run out of money within the first week!

Betting on horses can seem complicated at first, but once you’ve gotten hold of the basics it will all become much clearer. The first thing to understand is odds—once you’ve got to g rips with that you will find picking a winner much simpler. Then you can decide where and how you want to bet, and how you make use of things like promotions and offers. Underlying all of this, though, is the importance of budgeting and responsible betting.