What Is a Forecast Bet?
A forecast bet in greyhound racing requires you to predict which dog will finish first and which will finish second. Unlike a simple win bet — where you need only one correct call — a forecast demands accuracy on two selections simultaneously, in a field where six dogs are running and the margins separating them can be measured in fractions of a second. That additional difficulty is, of course, the point. The payouts on forecast bets reflect the complexity of the task, which is why they attract punters who find flat win markets too unforgiving on the downside when you’ve read the race correctly but backed the wrong dog.
Forecast betting is one of the genuinely distinctive features of British greyhound racing — it occupies a much larger share of total greyhound handle than it does in horse racing, partly because the six-runner format makes second-place prediction manageable, and partly because the market structure on dogs suits combination betting better than most other sports. Understanding the three main types — straight forecast, reverse forecast, and computer straight forecast — is foundational knowledge for anyone who bets on greyhounds with any regularity. All forecast bets on UK greyhound racing are placed on GBGB-licensed tracks regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
Straight Forecast
A straight forecast requires you to name the first and second-placed dog in the correct order. You choose Dog A to win and Dog B to finish second, and both conditions must be met for the bet to pay out. If Dog B wins and Dog A finishes second, the bet is a loser. If your first selection wins but a different dog comes second, it is also a loser. The precision required is what separates the straight forecast from any other two-selection bet in greyhound racing.
The payout for a straight forecast is typically calculated using a fixed dividend formula, though the methodology varies by bookmaker. Some firms offer a fixed-odds price for the straight forecast combination before the race, similar to how they would price an each-way bet. Others settle at the Computer Straight Forecast dividend, which is calculated after the race using the starting prices of the dogs involved. It is worth knowing which method your bookmaker uses before placing a straight forecast, because the difference in payout can be significant — particularly in fields where the winner was dominant but the second-placed dog was a longer-priced runner.
Straight forecasts tend to offer best value when you are highly confident in the identity of the first two finishers but have a strong conviction about the order. If your view is that Trap 1 will dominate from the hare and Trap 3, an early-paced wide runner, will hold off a late challenge, a straight forecast at 1/3 wins through Trap 1 is the precise way to express that view at the best available price.
Reverse Forecast
A reverse forecast covers both possible orderings of your two selected dogs. You are saying that one of your two selections will finish first, and the other will finish second, but you are not specifying which is which. The cost of the bet is double the unit stake — effectively two straight forecasts running simultaneously — and the return is the dividend on whichever order the race actually produces.
The reverse forecast is the most commonly placed forecast bet in UK greyhound betting, and for good reason. In a six-runner race, correctly identifying the first two home in any order is already a meaningful edge — insisting on the exact order as well adds a constraint that costs a significant portion of the potential edge. If you believe Trap 2 and Trap 5 will fight out the finish between them but you’re genuinely uncertain which will lead at the line, the reverse forecast is the correct vehicle. You pay twice the stake, but you collect regardless of which of your two selections crosses first.
One practical note: a reverse forecast on two selections is sometimes confused with a combination forecast, which covers more than two selections. They are not the same thing. A reverse forecast is specifically two dogs, both possible orderings, double the unit stake. If your analysis extends to three contenders, you would need a combination forecast — which is covered separately.
Computer Straight Forecast (CSF)
The Computer Straight Forecast is the most widely used forecast dividend in UK greyhound betting, and also the most frequently misunderstood. Rather than offering a fixed price before the race, CSF calculates the forecast payout after the event using the starting prices of the two dogs involved, weighted by a formula that accounts for the number of runners in the race and the relative probabilities implied by their SPs.
The CSF formula was developed to produce a fair consensus dividend rather than a bookmaker-set price. The key mechanic is that it uses the SP of the winner and the SP of the second-placed dog to derive the return. In practical terms, this means that a race where a short-priced favourite wins and a long-priced outsider finishes second will produce a higher CSF dividend than the equivalent straight forecast at a fixed-odds price, because the formula reflects the improbability of that second-placed runner’s finishing position. Conversely, when two short-priced runners fill the first two spots, the CSF will often pay less than many punters expect.
The implication for betting strategy is important. If your forecast combines a short-priced favourite with a long-priced selection in second, the CSF settlement may actually favour you compared to a fixed-odds forecast price taken before the race — because the formula rewards the outsider’s unexpectedly high SP. Conversely, if you’re backing two market leaders in forecast, you may find a pre-race fixed-odds forecast price more attractive than waiting for CSF settlement. Checking which method your bookmaker defaults to — and whether they offer both — is worth the 30 seconds it takes before you place the bet.
Most major UK licensed bookmakers settle greyhound forecasts at CSF by default unless you have explicitly requested and been given a fixed forecast price. If in doubt, the settling method will be stated in the bookmaker’s rules and on the bet slip confirmation. The Racing Post greyhound section displays CSF dividends alongside results for all GBGB-licensed meetings.
When to Use Each Forecast Type
The practical decision between straight forecast, reverse forecast, and CSF settlement comes down to two questions: how confident are you about the order, and what does the market say about the relative prices of your selections?
If you have a strong directional view — your selection to win is clearly faster from the traps, and the second selection is a rail runner who will be trapped behind a wide runner early but has the best closing pace — then a straight forecast makes sense. You are effectively adding the order to your edge, and the payout should reflect that precision. Use it when the sequence of the race is as clear to you as the identity of the first two home.
When you are confident about which two dogs will fill the top two spots but genuinely uncertain about the finishing order — perhaps two similar-paced rail runners are drawn in adjacent traps — the reverse forecast is the appropriate choice. The double stake is the cost of the flexibility, and over a significant sample of bets it is usually worth paying, because the occasions where you back the wrong order in a straight forecast will compound your losses in a way that the reverse forecast entirely avoids.
CSF is less a choice and more a default settlement method offered by bookmakers on races where no fixed forecast price has been taken. Understanding how it pays is important so you are not surprised by the dividend — particularly in races where an outsider finishes second at a large SP, which will inflate the CSF payout significantly above a standard fixed-odds forecast on the same combination.
Forecast Bet Examples with Calculations
Consider a six-runner race where you select Trap 3 to win and Trap 6 to finish second as a straight forecast, staking £5 at a fixed forecast price of 8/1. If the race finishes exactly as predicted — Trap 3 first, Trap 6 second — your return is £5 × 8 = £40 plus the £5 stake returned, giving £45 total. If Trap 6 wins and Trap 3 finishes second, you receive nothing.
Now take the same race as a reverse forecast at the same 8/1 price for both orderings. Your total stake is £10 (two £5 bets). If Trap 3 wins and Trap 6 finishes second, you collect on one of the two bets — £45 return, minus the £10 total staked, for a net profit of £35. The same happens if Trap 6 wins and Trap 3 finishes second. You have slightly reduced your effective net return per winning scenario compared to the straight forecast, but you have completely eliminated the order risk.
For a CSF example: the same race finishes Trap 3 first at SP 3/1, Trap 6 second at SP 8/1. The CSF dividend in a six-runner race, using the standard formula, would typically produce a return in the range of £18–£22 to a £1 stake depending on the SPs of the other runners. The precise figure is calculated by the settling system at the track — this is why you see the CSF dividend displayed alongside the result on the board rather than known in advance.
Forecasts Are a Precision Tool
The appeal of forecast betting is real, but it comes with a structural warning: the additional complexity that generates higher payouts also generates more losing bets. A straight forecast on six dogs is asking you to be right twice simultaneously, and the hit rate will reflect that. Punters who use forecast bets most effectively treat them as tools for specific race scenarios — a sprint distance race with a clear trapper in Trap 1 and an obvious second favourite drawn next to the rail, for instance — rather than as a substitute for win betting across the card.
Used selectively, forecast bets reward analytical precision in a way that simple win markets do not. The key is knowing when you genuinely have a view on the order of the first two, rather than reaching for a forecast simply because the price looks larger than the win market. Larger payouts compensate for lower hit rates. That compensation only works in your favour if the larger price genuinely reflects the difficulty of the prediction — not if you have inflated your complexity to justify a bet your analysis doesn’t fully support.