The 80/20 principle is the brainchild of Italian Vilfredo Pareto. He claimed 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.

In betting terms, we can view the Pareto principle as: 80% of your betting profits come from 20% of your bets.

This is probably about right. Picking a winning horse is never easy, especially if the favourite has odds higher than Evens (1/1 in UK odds, or 2.0 in decimal odds). The odds are literally stacked against you, which is why many punters plump for Each Way bets rather than going for the win every time.

However, the 80/20 betting strategy can be more profitable than Each Way bets.

In this guide we’ll take you through the 80/20 strategy for horse racing and explain two ways of implementing it.

If we go by the assumption that 80% of our profits from horse racing betting stem from 20% of our bets, then we can begin to think about our profit potential.

Consider you’re betting £10 on a horse to win at odds of 4/1. A win lands you £40 profit, while any other result means a £10 loss.

So, you consider the Each Way markets. Here, a £5 EW bet on your horse yields a profit of £5 plus your stake back if it places, and £34 if it wins.

Is there a way of squeezing more money out of that place?

This is where the 80/20 comes in.

80/20 win and place

Bookmakers or Betfair permit you to bet on a horse to finish second, or third, or wherever, as well as first. This is highly useful for the 80/20 rule.

Here, you bet 80% of your stake on the horse finishing second (or within the places) and 20% of your stake on it winning the race.

The idea is that you’ll win a decent profit regardless of where the horse finishes. Here’s the 80/20 Win Place rule in action with a £10 stake:

· £2 on Monsterrunner to win at 5/1 = £10 profit

· £8 on Monsterrunner to place at 2/1 = £16 profit

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So long as Monsterrunner wins or places, you win. Obviously if Monsterrunner proves to be a dud and loses then your £10 stake is gone. However, what happens if you’d backed Monsterrunner £5 Each Way? You’d have won £31.25 for the race win, but only £5 for the place.

The 80/20 Win Place strategy therefore enhances your odds on the place and reduces your odds on the win, compared to an Each Way bet.

So for every selection when we advise E/W place 80% of your stake on the horse to be placed and 20% on the horse to win as per below:

£10 Stake = £8 Placed £2 Win

£100 Stake= £80 Placed £2 Win.

If you prefer traditional E/W Bets the percentage of profits is reduced slightly but you can do this.

This staking plan is to be used with the main bet only each day only each day.

The plan calls for an increase in stakes after winners. Winners rather than prices are the most important rule.

The rules are summarised thus:

1.Write down a series of consecutive numbers from 1 upwards. For this service main bets only 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 is recommended. This `line' will be the initial arbiter of stakes and adjusted after each bet.

2.Always stake the sum of the first and last numbers in the line. Cross these off after a loser, but add the winning stake to the end of the line after a winner.

3. If all the numbers in a line are eventually crossed off, start a new line of 1 to 7.

The effect of these rules is that stakes rise very Sharpley on a run of winners, but are cut back fairly gradually when losers are encountered. A high level of staking throughout is a characteristic of the plan.

A very handsome gain can be amassed very quickly on those occasions when we hit a good run of winners.

The staking plan must be operated with a pre-determined `check out' point. On a opening stake of £8, a gain of £100 should be your goal. This should be set aside for accumulative gain and the stake put back immediately to the original £8 as the starting point of a fresh coup again with a target of £100.

Provided the check out procedure is strictly observed using this plan with our main bets daily this is one of the best staking systems I have encountered.

STAKING EXAMPLE

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 )     £8.00 Won 2/1        +£16.00

 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8)     £9.00  Won 3/1         +£43.00

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)   £10   Won 4/6         +£49.70

(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)   £11 Lost               +£38.70

(2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)        £11 Lost                + £27.70

(3 4 5 6 7 8)               £11 Lost                +£16.70

(4 5 6 7)                £11 Won 6/4           +£33.20

( 4 5 6 7 11)           £15 Won 2/1           + £63..20

(4 5 6 7 11 15)        £19 Won 11/10              +£84.10

(4 5 6 7 11 15 19)     £23 Lost                   + £61.10 

( 5 6 7 11 15)              £20 Won 1/2               +£71.10

(5 6 7 11 15 20)      £25 Won 4/7          + £85.35

(5 5 7 11 15 20 25)  £30 Won 4/6         + £105.45

As you can see by the above sequence we reached a our pre determined check out of £100 and we now start again with a new line of 1 to 7 

T 

• First Bet: Wager 1 unit.
• Second Bet: If the first bet wins, wager 3 units.
• Third Bet: If the second bet wins, wager 2 units.
• Fourth Bet: If the third bet wins, wager 6 units.

 If any bet in the sequence loses, you revert to the beginning, starting again with a 1-unit stake. Successfully completing the sequence with four consecutive wins can yield a significant profit.