Wednesday, June 13, 2012

What is a False Favorite at the Greyhound Track


Greyhound Dog Racing Tips.

There's one on almost every program. It's the dog who looks like it should come in, but doesn't. The crowd is crazy about the dog. The odds are low. It's a foregone conclusion that this dog will beat the rest of the pack by a mile. But it doesn't.

What's false is not the dog. Dogs aren't false or bogus or phonies or any of the other terms that bettors give to them when they don't do what they expect them to. Dogs are dogs. They chase things. Period.

So, what makes a dog a false favorite is the crowd. For some reason, a majority of the bettors decide that a dog is better than the other dogs and worth betting down to ridiculous odds. Sometimes, it's because the dog has early speed or has won a previous race by a mile.

Sometimes, it's impossible to tell why it is that the crowd thinks this dog is such hot stuff. I've seen a dog that showed absolutely nothing better than the rest of the dogs become a huge favorite and then lose. Even after the race, I had no clue why the crowd picked this particular dog to favor.

Sometimes, I think it's just a fluke as a few factors come together to create a false favorite. Someone bets heavily on a dog. Other bettors see the drop on the toteboard and figure they'd better get in on the action, because someone knows something. And so it snowballs for no good reason.

If you don't know why a dog is a big favorite, don't bet on it. Unless you have handicapped the race and decided that this dog has good reasons for being a contender, you shouldn't even consider it. Depending on the crowd's ability to pick winners is a recipe for disaster. The crowd is wrong 9 out of 10 times.

If you do like a favorite, bet it. If your system of handicapping tells you that it's worthy of being at low odds, don't throw it out just because the crowd likes it too. Letting the crowd's opinions affect what you pick is a slippery slope that you don't want to set foot on.

Have confidence in your system of picking winners. Bet no matter whether the crowd agrees with you or not. If you're a careful handicapper, you're guaranteed to be better at picking true favorites than the crowd is.

Greyhound Dog Racing.