What Does Ante-Post Mean In Betting?
When talking about ante-post betting, this refers to bets that are placed before the event. You can place ante-post bets across pretty much any sport, though the term comes from horse racing betting, which is where you will hear it used.
The terms isn’t as strongly used now because many bookmakers use the term ‘outright betting’ or ‘futures betting’ to display their markets, rather than calling them ante-post betting markets, with the exception of horse racing.
Bets such as choosing which football club will win the Champions League, which team will win the cricket World Cup, who wins the golf Ryder Cup and others like this, are all technically ante-post betting markets, even though they are rarely called that.
There are both positives and negatives to ante-post betting, which are important to understand before you place a bet on this kind of market, especially the negatives. Here we will look through those, plus look at horse racing ante-post betting, which is where the term is most popular.
The Positives of Ante-Post Betting
When you hear tales of punters getting big odds on a selection to win and backing that to happen months in advance, they are doing so on the ante-post betting markets. This is the main reason why people use these markets because there is a vast opportunity to land big odds, much bigger than you will see on the day.
This allows you to approach betting slightly differently if you want to. You can add a second bet to give yourself more chance of winning, or even turn to the betting exchanges and lay off your big price for some guaranteed profit.
The key to take from this though is that ante-post betting is all about the odds you get. Again, this is something that is more specific for horse racing because the odds will change dramatically after wins and losses during the season.
A rule to remember here is that the further away from the event you place the bet, the more chance of something happening to affect the odds. A bet placed 12 months in advance could see you land huge odds if your selection makes it through, whereas a bet two weeks before has less time to see fluctuation.
The Negatives of Ante-Post Betting
The negatives around ante-post betting all focus around one point, similar to the positives. The negative point is not getting your money back if you do not get a run for your money. This covers all sports, for example, if you bet on a player to win The Masters golf tournament and he doesn’t play due to injury, you will lose your bet without getting your stake back.
Place a bet nearer the time, and you’ll get your money back if this happens, or you will know he is injured and not bet on the same player. When you are placing your bets months in advance, you don’t get this luxury.
In terms of horse racing, obviously, you are dealing with animals potentially getting injured, running in other races means that could happen, but there is also the chance that the trainer will just change their mind and switch to a different race target. If this happens, you will not get your money back if the horse doesn’t run in the race you want it to.
One of the biggest aspects of ante-post betting is that you understand the various ways in which you could lose your stake and not even get a run for your money. Make sure you know this before you start placing ante-post bets, and if you are betting on horse racing, try and really make sure you know the plans for the horse and that they include the race you’re betting on.
Ante-Post Betting in Horse Racing
Ante-post betting is a term commonly used in horse racing, more so than with any other sport. It is still very popular with punters, even though bookmakers have tried very hard to cut down on the value they could give, they are certainly not as generous as they have previously been and often cut prices considerably after one good run.
But despite that, many punters still like to take on the ante-post betting markets with the hope of winning. The big pull with ante-post betting is that you often put yourself in a position where you could win twice. Firstly, with the bet being a winner, and then secondly, by getting a far bigger price than on the day.
It’s not easy to win with ante-post betting, you are guessing in terms of race plans, ground, jockey bookings and form, which is why the main focus for ante-post betting is the big events, and the biggest of those is the Cheltenham Festival. Here, plans are made months in advance, the ground is often kept on the soft side of good, jockeys are available to ride, and horses are trained with this day in mind more than any other.
The Cheltenham novice races are often where the best ante-post value can be found. These horses are taking their first steps into racing, and if you find one that has really impressed you, a horse you think can go onto bigger and better things, then there could be value in betting on a Cheltenham win.
With this type of betting, you are trying to stay ahead of the bookmakers or try to spot something on the track that they haven’t seen or haven’t valued as highly as you. This makes it more of a battle between you and them, something that many people like. You are testing your racing knowledge and ability, as well as placing the bet and hoping to find a winner.
In any sport, there are opportunities to get involved and place ante-post bets, but this is certainly more open with horse racing. Whatever you choose, understand the risks and try to find the big prices, and get ahead of the game before the bookmakers latch onto what you are seeing.
