At it's simplest DOBBING is about betting on price movement rather than the actual race result - i.e. trading. What DOBBING does is to simplify the concept into a pair of transactions which has the potential to change any runner in a race into an even money chance.
Changing any runner into an even money chance wouldn't be a very good move is we were talking about WINNING the race, but we aren't - we talking about making any runner an even money chance to hit a particular price In Running. As long as our runner trades low enough In Running (IR) we WIN irrespective of the result.
So where does the term DOB come from - well it comes from the phrase Double Or Bust. We either double our stake or lose the lot i.e. bust.
OK, What make up a DOB. - There are two bets which make up a DOB:
A BACK bet which is placed before the race begins, and
A LAY bet which is usually matched In Running but can be matched pre-race if the selection is heavily supported.
This is how it works: - where you back a runner at say 7.0 for a tenner pre-race. You then lay it back IR at half the price (3.5) for double the stake £20. So if the 3.5 lay is matched IR then you win £10 no matter what the result. (i.e. £10 back at 7.0 - potential profit £60, Lay at 3.5 at £20 gives a potential loss of £50).
This works for any priced runner as long as the price is 2.02 or greater.
Back at 30 for £5 - Lay at 15 for £10 - £5 profit if it DOBS
Back at 2.6 for £20 - Lay at 1.3 for £40 - £20 profit if it DOBS
Back at 4.8 for £2 - Lay at 2.4 for £4 - £2 profit if it DOBS etc.....
So how do we go about selecting a runner we expect to DOB?
One approach is the pace angle. The longer a runners keeps the lead the more likely it is to DOB. Pace information can be found on the pace page for each race.
The other main approach I use is the form approach, but this time rather than looking at the finishing position a runner has achieved in the past I look at how low it has traded and whether it managed to DOB from it's BFsp. The Betfair/Timeform page http://form.horseracing.betfair.com/timeform.
In the same way that I use patternform to filter out previous race I've modified Patternform to show how well a runner has performed in it's previous by In Running Price which I call Moneyform - i.e. using price movement as a form descriptor.
When we study form there are a multitude of tools available to help us with out selection process. Hcap ratings, Speed figures, draw analysis etc etc. When we study a race we utilise these tools to try to understand the quality and preferences for each runner. There isn't the same abundance of tools available for In Running analysis. Timeform have an approach and betfair publish the In Running Low prices with limited filtering. To help with this aspect of DOBBING study I've developed a couple of tools - an Overview Table, and Moneyform
This table Holds for each runner in each race a line of moneyform figures for it's last 10 runs and the percentage of time it has DOBBED in those 10 races. If for any reason I don't have a moneyform figure for a previous run (foreign race, BFsp less the 2.02) I include enough previous race such that I have valid moneyform figures for 10 previous runs.
A Moneyform figure indicated two things - firstly whether a runner has DOBBED in a particular race (i.e. has it's In Running price Fallen to 50% or less than it's BFsp approximation) and how low an IR price was matched (to at least £100).
The MONEYFORM values are as follows
* is a 1.01 which usually means a win
1 is 1.99 to 1.02
2 is 2.99 to 2.0
3 is 3.99 to 3.0
4 is 4.99 to 4.0
9 is 5.0 or over IR but less than half it's BFsp price i.e. DOB
- A blank value means I don't have the data available (I might change this to another character)
This though is only a rough indication of how a runner has performed from a DOBBING perspective since it doesn't take into account the type or race etc, and a much fuller and more versatile tool is described in the next section
The patternform card has been amended to include the Moneyform figure rather then the formfigure for each runner.
The win% column is really a DOB% column (and will be modified when I get time). So you can perform all the usual
patternform analysis but this time you'll be able to see how the IR price has performed
For races earlier then 31-May-2004 the moneyform figure is replaced with the actual form figure (under review).
The Moneyform tool should allow you to look for DOBBING candidates with ease, but remember the final selection is still your own choice and just bacause a runner has dobbed in the past is no guarantee to how it will perform today.
Have Fun