Greyhound racing has become as popular as horse racing. It is part of the betting system of some English-speaking countries, like the UK, US, Ireland and Australia, but it is also regulated in Spain, Mexico and China. Other countries have these races only for enjoyment and races are taken on an amateur level. Although it appears this sport doesn’t have the same appeal as the traditional horse racing, it is still one of the favourite sports for mutual or tote betting “ when all bets are placed together and the payoff is shared by all winning bets, without having to pay taxes to the house hosting the race. It is also the second largest spectator sport in UK.
For those who are unfamiliar with this sport, greyhound racing uses this particular breed of sighthound dogs to chase a mechanical hare around a track. The animal that first reaches the end is the winner. Sometimes they finish the race so closely to each other that the winner is often the dog whose nose first crosses the winning line “ something that may have to be determined by a photo finish. The modern greyhound race is an evolution of the ancient coursing, where dogs would chase real animals like jack rabbits and hares in open field.
A wide range of bets can be placed on greyhound races, both on-course and off-course. Betting is done through physical or online bookmakers. In the UK, it is possible to open an account with several bookmakers so then people can bet on any racetrack in the country. There is also a race card that shows statistic for winning dogs, speed of the tracks due to weather conditions, amongst others. It is used to help bettors to pick a dog and increase their chances of winning some money.
Online betting on greyhound racing is easy and it has turned most of the spectators into bettors. According to specialists, it also helped to increase attendance at stadiums by making betting accessible to a wider public via phones with WAP and the internet. Bets can be placed in small or large amounts, 24/7 days, all year long, on any races in one of the 28 licensed greyhound stadia in UK. Some websites can go even further and allow bettors to pick a winner in any racetrack in the world.
Online you can even find Greyhound Racing casino games like Virtual Dogs. The game is based on greyhound racing and the players bet on either a 6-dog race or an 8-dog race and watch the race through high quality animations. There are 42 different bets available on the six-dog race and 72 for the eight-dog race.
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