Does the App I Bet With Take a Bigger Cut?

Quite possibly. Find your app in this list and see.

The overround column is how far past a fair book each firm's prices sit, measured across the races they all priced. If you want that number pulled apart properly, overround and takeout does it. The question here is narrower and more personal. Where does the one on your phone sit, and what is that costing you.

The honest headline is that the difference between the top of that table and the bottom is bigger than any selection method we have ever tested. We have run 24 ways of betting across 29,483 races and 0 of them make money. Where you bet is a larger and far more reliable lever than what you back.

What the gap is worth in money

Take the two ends of that table. A book near the top keeps roughly an eighth of what is staked into a race. One near the bottom keeps closer to a quarter.

Put that on a tenner a week for a year. The difference between the two, before any question of which horses you picked, runs to somewhere in the region of a good night out. On a hundred pounds a week it is a serious sum.

That is not a promise you will win. Every approach we have measured loses, and moving to a tighter book means losing more slowly rather than turning a profit. But it is one of very few levers that works whatever you back, requires no opinion about a horse, and can be pulled once and then forgotten.

Two things sharpen it further.

Field size matters more than the firm. Across every festival race we measured this summer, the biggest fields carried close to three times the charge of the smallest. Choosing a small-field race beats choosing a tight bookmaker, and doing both beats either. The field-size piece has the table.

A tight book is not the top price on every horse. The league says who takes least across a race. On any single runner the best price may sit with a firm well down the table, which is exactly why our racecards show the best price and name the book offering it.

Before you move anything

Three cautions, and we would rather give them than have you act on half the picture.

It is 23 days of data. The two ends of that table are far apart enough to trust. Two firms a fraction of a point apart are level, and we mark them that way rather than pretending otherwise.

Check it is not the same book twice. One pair of brands on our list posts identical prices on virtually every runner they both quote, and two more move together nearly as closely. Opening a second account on a feed you already have changes nothing at all. Why the same horse is a different price at each bookmaker names all three and shows the measurements.

Promotions are not the same as price. A free bet is a one-off; the charge in the prices applies to every bet you ever place with that firm. A sign-up offer from a book near the bottom of the table is very often worth less than the ordinary prices at one near the top, though that depends on how much you bet and how often.

We are not going to tell you which account to open. We are also not going to pretend we have no interest: some of the firms in that table pay us. That is precisely why the table is printed in the order the data produced, with the tightest book being one that pays us nothing.

A word on all of this

None of these pages is a tip, and none describes a way to win. They describe what betting costs, which is a different and more reliable subject. If your betting has stopped being fun, BeGambleAware has free, confidential help, and the National Gambling Helpline is on 0808 8020 133.

Common questions

How do I know if my bookmaker is expensive?

Find it in the table on this page. The overround column is how far past a fair book its prices sit; a higher number means more of your stake stays with them.

Which betting app has the best odds?

On our fortnight of data the tightest overall is the sportsbook run by Smarkets. That is a statement about whole races on average, not about any particular horse.

How much would switching actually save me?

The gap between the ends of the table is roughly an eighth of stakes against roughly a quarter. On a tenner a week that is a modest annual sum; on serious stakes it is not modest at all. It reduces what you lose; it does not make you a winner.

Should I have accounts with several bookmakers?

It is the only way to take the best price on a given horse, which is a separate gain from the average charge. Check first that two of them are not the same feed under different names, or two brands that move together anyway.

Is a big welcome offer worth more than better prices?

A welcome offer happens once. The charge inside the prices applies to every bet you place, for as long as you hold the account.

Do you make money if I switch?

Some of the firms in the table pay us through affiliate links and some do not. The tightest book on our numbers is one that pays us nothing, and we published it first anyway.