Betting Spreadsheet Download: How To Track Your Bets

Author

Matt Taylor

Keeping track of your bets in a betting spreadsheet is one of the most important parts of becoming a successful bettor. We’ve teamed up with pro punter Matt Taylor to share a simple sheet for you to download.

From the absolute basics, to the selection you bet, your stake and the odds, to the finer details such as the track condition, personal rating and the angle you used to bet on it, this spreadsheet has all you need to help understand the strengths and weaknesses of your betting activity.

Below we run through some of the more advanced terms you might see in the spreadsheet.

Stay on top of your betting and find your edge. Download our betting spreadsheet here.

What do the columns in the spreadsheet mean?

Column Title on Spreadsheet Explanation
Bet Type Was this bet fixed odds, Betfair SP or tote?
Area Is the track you’re betting at in a metropolitan, provincial or country area? For guidance, this guide from Racing Australia has all tracks’ area classifications.
Going What is the rating of the track in the race you’re betting on? The Betfair results page has track ratings for every race in Australia.
My Rating What is your rated price for this horse/selection? If you are unsure of your rated price, you can calculate it if you have a percentage chance of this selection winning [1/percentage chance of winning = rated price]. E.g. 1/0.8 (80% chance) = $1.25.
Angle How did you find this bet? Is it a runner you have blackbooked, did you find it in a trial or a jump out, did its recent sectionals catch your eye, are you betting it based off your speed map, does it have the best form going into the race? Recording this information will help you decipher how profitable each of your angles are.
Price Taken % The probability of the selection winning based on the odds you have taken. Calculated by [1/odds].
Rated % The probability of the selection winning based on your own rated price. Calculated by [1/your rated price].
R Edge v Taken A calculation using the Price Taken % and the Rated % to show how much edge (as a percentage) was in your bet based on the odds you took versus your rated price. Calculated by [Rated % – Price Taken %].
BSP % The percentage chance of the selection winning according to the Betfair Starting Price.
Taken v BSP An indicator of whether or not the price you took beat the BSP. If you are regularly beating the BSP, you are more likely to be a profitable bettor.

The importance of the Betfair Starting Price

Even if you’re not betting using the Betfair Starting Price (BSP) for your bets, it’s imperative that you use it when tracking your bets and assessing your edge. The BSP is the best measuring stick to assess a horse’s chance of winning in every race around Australia. It is a much more accurate market assessment than SP which has margin built into it. Because the BSP is an Exchange product, there is no margin on the price.

How accurate is the BSP?

Below is a plot to show how “accurate” the Betfair Starting Price (BSP) is.

The data in the graph and table below shows the BSP in win markets across all racing codes on all ANZ racing events since 2015.

Included in the data is 381,776 races, entailing 3,235,630 runners.

As you can see, the BSP’s implied chance of winning (to the nearest percentage point) is very accurate when compared against the actual chance.

BSP Implied Chance Wins Runners Actual Chance
$10.00 10% 10832 111143 9.75%
$5.00 20% 9817 49888 19.68%
$4.00 25% 7839 31867 24.60%
$3.03 33% 5904 17734 33.29%
$2.50 40% 4137 10132 40.83%
$2.00 50% 3435 6939 49.50%
$1.25 80% 435 538 80.86%

How to use BSP data

The final 10 minutes leading into a race in the Australian betting market see a lot of fluctuations. The final few minutes are particularly volatile in a time that many pros call ‘the moment of truth’ where all the big syndicates that dictate markets in Australia start betting up on Betfair, causing some solid firms and alarming drifts.

These changes happen so late that particular runners’ SPs will not catch up to the BSP (particularly on horses easing in the market). For example, a runner’s SP is $8 but on Betfair, that same runner could be $11. That’s why I like to use the BSP as a measuring stick because you could be tricked into thinking that you are making better bets using the SP as a measuring tool.

After all this you also may find that you still back winners and make profits by NOT beating the market. This is possible.

Generally, people who specialise on certain areas of racing or certain types of horses can still make a profit while not beating the SP or BSP. This too will be measured in your betting spreadsheet. What it means is that you can be more confident with your marked assessment of a runner, you can ‘top-up’ on Betfair with confidence if your horse is now longer than the price you have taken and after the race you can gloat to yourself with a “they didn’t know”.

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