Melbourne Cup Betting

The Melbourne Cup attracts more betting turnover than any other horse racing event in Australia each year. Although in recent years betting turnover has been down by around 14 percent, this may be due to the global financial crisis.

Turnover on the Melbourne Cup alone can be in the vicinity of $100million dollars across all betting companies. The Melbourne Cup is accustom to paying big dividends for punters due to the large open field. View our Melbourne Cup odds page for more information on dividends and past winners odds.

We recommend if you are betting on the Melbourne Cup you use Ladbrokes or Neds. These three bookmakers we have found pay the biggest dividends on the race.

Betting types:

There are five main betting options that casual and regular punters will bet when betting on the Melbourne Cup we list these below:

Win Bet:

A win bet is a straight out bet on a runner in the Melbourne Cup to win the race. If the horse does not win the race then the bet is then lost and no money can be collected. Win bets pay more than place bets but only pay for first position in the race.

Place Bet:

A place bet is for a horse to run in the first three positions in the Melbourne Cup. A place bet usually pays one quarter of the odds of a win bet. Place betting on the Melbourne Cup is hugely popular for casual punters as the odds of collecting are much higher than that of a straight out win bet.

Each-Way Bet:

You will often hear people talking about backing a horse ‘each-way’. This terminology means they have bet on a horse to win or place in a race. If you place a $5 each way bet on a horse in the Melbourne Cup it will cost you $10 as you have in fact place $5 on the horse to win and $5 on the horse to place.

Example: If you placed a $10 each way bet on Makybe Diva who was paying $6 to win and $2.15 to place. If Makybe Diva wins you will collect 10 x 6 + 10 x 2.15 equalling $81.50. If Makybe Diva places you will receive 10 x 2.15 only equalling $21.50.

Quinella Bet:

A quinella bet is a bet placed on who you think will win and run second in the race. It does not matter in what order the two runners come in you will still receive the dividend. Quinella betting is the simplest of the multiple betting types on the Melbourne Cup.

Trifecta Bet:

The most common multiples bet on the Melbourne Cup is a Trifecta Bet. A trifecta bet is a bet placed on who you think will run in the first three positions of the race. A Trifecta bet is much harder to win on although the dividends are much better than that of a quinella bet. A trifecta can be placed for as little as 50cents and can be made as a Boxed bet (horses can run in any order) or a straight out trifecta (horses must run in picked order).