Both the veteran Neal Wilkins, head of PR for Victor Chandler for the last 10 years, and David Hood of William Hill, one of the most recognisable PR faces in the business, have parted company with their respective employers in moves that strongly hint that the focus of the betting industry is now moving away from horse racing and onto general sports betting.

Those who enjoy betting online should note that Wilkins was unavailable for comment, but Hood, in a revealing interview with the Racing Post, made it clear that the budgets being set aside to support the sponsorship and promotion of horse racing have been, and will continue to be reduced year on year as firms feel their money is better spent on more high profile sports like, football, rugby, cricket and golf.

Speaking of his decision to part company with Hill’s, Hood tellingly said: “I love racing and betting, but the non-racing element is taking increasing precedence. It’s a sign of the times, the resources that can be spent on promoting racing are increasingly limited – and racing has to come to terms with this and the pressure it is under.”

Following on from the news in the last seven days that high profile sponsor Stan James (Newmarket Guineas meeting) and Boylesports (The Cheltenham International fixture) will not renew their sponsorship agreements, and the more than £24 million in cuts in prize money and other reductions proposed by the Levy Board for 2011, the future is looking somewhat bleak for the long-term health of horse racing in Britain.

1. Read the race card, look down the list of horses, and choose what you think is the best bet in the field.
2. Write down your stake Write the amount of money you wish to bet.
3. Write the name of your horse under the stake.
4. Write down when and where your horse is running.
5. At the bottom of the betting slip, enter the total amount of your bets on the slip. Take your completed slip to the cashier.

Remember that bookmakers want your money, so if you need help filling in a slip then always ask at the counter. Generally the counter staff at high street bookmakers are very keen to help. You can also view a correctly filled in betting slip for a simple ‘Win’ bet by click on the small thumbnail in this paragraph. If you want to make an ‘each way’ bet then check out our guide to eachway betting ~ click here.

The idea is that you don’t just back winners but you also ‘Lay’ losers. For example, if you decide to lay a horse in a race you are, in theory, backing that horse to lose the race. Statistically this makes far more sense, in a six horse race there can only be one winner so the chances of picking a loser are far great than your chances of backing a winner.

Here’s an example: You look in the sporting post and see that a real donkey is running in the 3.30 at Newmarket, you login to Betfair, click the tab for Horse Racing, find the Newmarket race, you then see all the runners in the 3.30, next to the horse that you think has got no chance of winning you’ll see two buttons, one to back and one to lay (bet against it winning) you click the lay button, enter your stake and Betfair automatically matches you with another person who thinks this donkey is gonna romp home in style.

If that donkey goes onto win ;-( you pay out his winnings at the odds you’ve agreed and if the horse loses you get to keep the other guys original stake. Simple! You can do the same with football matches also, If you think your team are going to beat Arsenal, then why not ‘Lay’ Arsenal instead of backing your team. By laying Arsenal you’ll still win your bet even if the match ends in a draw!

Free £25 Bet Offer From Betfair
Sign up with Betfair, deposit cash and make a bet up to the value of £25, if the result of your first bet is a loss, your Betfair account will be credited with the free bet up to a value of £25.

Betfair is a brilliant site and if you can get your head around it then you are most definitely on to a winner. The site is clear and easy to navigate around and registration for an account won’t take more than a few minutes. And if you thought Betfair only catered for the horses then you’d be wrong. There is a whole host of games that can have a bet on including Cricket, Rugby, Baseball and Greyhound racing to name but a few.

Betfair has a number of sections designed to help new players along including demo’s and free practise screens so you can really try it out before risking any funds. The site is fun and more importantly very profitable if you give it a try!