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How to Bet on the Melbourne Cup 2023

Betting on the Melbourne Cup online can feel like a minefield if you only bet once a year, but it really doesn’t have to be. Here you can discover the differences between all the betting terminology you’ll hear, but first let’s guide you through the process of how to bet on the 2023 Melbourne Cup.

Step 1 – Pick a Melbourne Cup horse

First up is the fun part of deciding which Melbourne Cup horses to bet on. Some enjoy spending hours studying the form but you can just as easily choose based on the colours a jockey is wearing or the name of the horse.

Step 2 – Choose your site

Choose the Melbourne Cup betting site that suits you best. You can find what we believe our best options here, based on strong reputations, easy-to-use websites, appealing odds and generous betting offers.

Step 3 – Sign up

Click through to sign-up with the bookmaker you’ve chosen, and deposit some money to bet with.

Step 4 – Find the Melbourne Cup

Find the Melbourne Cup on the betting site you’ve chosen – if you’re betting on raceday it should be clearly highlighted on the homepage.

Step 5 – Decide your bet type

Choose the type of bet you want to place. Stick to something simple like the race winner if it’s your first time betting.

Step 6 – Place your Melbourne Cup bet

Tap the Melbourne Cup odds of the horse you’ve chosen to bet on and enter the amount you want to stake. One you’re happy, select ‘place bet’ and to confirm your bet has been placed.

Step 7 – Watch the Melbourne Cup

Watch the race unfold. The site you’ve bet with will probably stream the Melbourne Cup for free, so you can follow the big race wherever you are.

Following the above steps will help you to create a betting account and place your Melbourne Cup bets. There can be slight differences depending on the betting site you choose to bet with though, so take a look at out site-by-site Melbourne Cup betting guides if you need more information.

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Melbourne Cup Betting Guide

Before trying your luck at betting on the Melbourne Cup, or even horse racing in general, you should know that there are different types of bet you can place on this event. This is one of the most useful Melbourne Cup tips, yet some people just jump straight into betting on the winner. Keep on reading to find out more about the different Melbourne Cup betting types, from simple win bets to quinellas and exactas.

Melbourne Cup Tips

Win Bet


This is the simplest and most popular bet. As the name says, you bet on the horse you think is going to win the Cup.

Place Bet


With place bet, you pick which horse(s) will finish among the top three runners

Quadrella Bet


This bet, also known as a quaddie, involves selecting the winners of four races during the same day, including the Melbourne Cup. You can select as many horses as you want, but your return will be greater the fewer you have.

Each-way Bet


An each-way bet is a combination of the previous two bets. Half your stake is placed on the winner and the other half is placed on the place. This means that if your horse wins, you’ll receive both the win and the place part of the bet. However, if the horse you placed your bet on comes second (third, fourth, etc.), you’ll receive the dividend for that place.

Live Betting


Without a doubt, the most exciting betting type is live betting. You can place your bets after the race has started and while it is still happening. As horses change positions and so do the odds, so you need to keep checking them regularly as the race rarely lasts longer than 3:25.0.

Please note that due to the Interactive Gambling Act in Australia, any form of live betting cannot be conducted online.

Head-to-Head


A head-to-head bet allows you to choose two horses participating in the Melbourne Cup and bet on which one of them will finish the race before the other. One of the best Melbourne Cup tips for this bet is to do research on the two runners of your choice, see how they compare across different categories, and pick the one you feel would perform better.

First Four


This type of bet is certainly one of the most difficult ones, which also means that odds work in your favour if you manage to win. You choose the four horses you believe are going to finish in first, second, third, and fourth place. A variation of this bet is box first four, by which you choose four or more horses that can finish in any order but need to be in the top four.

Exacta Bet


This bet is similar to quinella – you pick two horses you think will finish the race first and second, but now it has to be in that order. You can also select a horse you think will win, and a selection of others you believe can finish the race in second place. You can also place a box exacta, which means that you get to select a number of horses that will finish first and second. Beware that this bet will cost more, which also means the return will be greater if successful.

Trifecta Bet


With a trifecta bet, you pick which three horses will finish the race first, second, and third in that exact order. One of the most useful Melbourne Cup tips is that for this bet you can box your selection. This means that you leave the possibility of your chosen horses winning in any order, as long as they are still in the top three.

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How do I place a bet on the Melbourne Cup Trifecta?

Backing the winning Melbourne Cup horse isn’t easy, so predicting the Melbourne Cup Trifecta, where you need to forecast the first three runners home, is clearly even tougher. The potential winnings can be huge though, so many people still have a go at getting the Melbourne Cup Trifecta correct.

If choosing the right three horses is difficult, the actual process of placing the bet remains straightforward. Head to your chosen betting site and open an account by following the step-by-step guide at the top of this page. Then, instead of picking a horse to win, make sure your chosen bet type is a Trifecta and select the three Melbourne Cup runners you fancy.

Melbourne Cup 2023 Live Streaming

Since the Melbourne Cup keeps growing in popularity, it’s no surprise that audiences worldwide want the chance to watch it live.

With ongoing debate and confusion over which TV channel will have rights to the Melbourne Cup Carnival, the safest option is use the site you’ve placed your bet with. Simply head to the betting market before the race and you’ll be able to stream the Melbourne Cup live and for free.

Melbourne Cup 2023 Live Betting

One of the main perks of Melbourne Cup live streaming is the ability to bet on the horses or jockeys as the action unfolds. While betting early might let you be more organised with your bets, betting live allows you to assess how the horses are running and adapting to the Melbourne Cup weather and track conditions.

Note that due to the Interactive Gambling Act in Australia, any form of live betting cannot be conducted online.

How to Bet on the Melbourne Cup FAQ

If you’ve got any questions about how to bet on the Melbourne Cup in 2023 or Melbourne Cup Day in general, you can take a look at our FAQs.

This year, the Melbourne Cup will be on 7th November at 3pm local time. Traditionally, it is held every first Tuesday in November at Flemington Racecourse in Victoria, Australia.

As we have said, the Melbourne Cup is not an easy to predict event, so it is difficult to say. This year’s Melbourne Cup favourite is likely to be Vauban, while the 2022 Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip is also expected to be in contention.

Some of the most important things to look for while researching the Melbourne Cup horses are their age, their form, and the jockey on board.

You’ll be able to find Melbourne Cup betting promotional offers once you’ve signed up and logged in with your preferred betting site. Unfortunately, due to regulations, online bookmakers operating in Australia cannot show promotional offers to unregistered users.

If you had the impression that there’s only one race being held during the event, you’re in for a surprise. Part of what makes the race so big is the fact that there are four days of events surrounding what is known as the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Although each of the days is filled with races and events, the main race is held during Melbourne Cup Day. However, another popular race is the Caulfield Cup.

In total, there are 10 races held on Melbourne Cup Day. The first race starts at 11 am, while the last one is at 5:20 pm. There are 40-minute breaks between races, with the exception being the Melbourne Cup itself, with an hour break before and after due to additional formal preparations.

Due to the safety limit, the current maximum number of horses allowed to participate is 24. However, in the past, there have been races with more participants, the largest one having as many as 39 horses racing in 1890. Check here the odds for the 2023 Melbourne Cup horses

For those wanting to get an early start on betting on the 2024 Melbourne Cup, you can already start placing your bets today. There will be more bet types available as the big day approaches, but most bookmakers will already have future bets available online.

The only sensible answer when it comes to setting a Melbourne Cup betting budget is to bet an amount that you’d be happy losing. If your stake is so high that losing would affect your state of mind, you should reconsider the amounts involved.

Remember you can split your stake across more than one bet too, so consider betting each-way on more than one Melbourne Cup horse if you want a lower level of risk than a win only bet on a single runner.

Filling out a Melbourne Cup betslip correctly can be a worry if you don’t bet regularly, but that’s not such a concern if you’re betting online. Rather than have to write out your horse, bet type and stake manually, a great benefit of using an online account is that selecting your chosen horse will automatically populate the betslip, so reducing the worries of making an error.

Melbourne Cup betting will remain open for online bets right until the race begins. This means you’ll be able to bet until 3pm on Tuesday 7th November, or potentially even later if the race is delayed for any reason.

You can find our free guide with all our best betting tips in our Melbourne Cup tips article.

For more information on horse racing betting, you can read our complete horse racing betting guide and learn more about the famous horse races to bet on all over the worlds.

18+ | Please play responsibly | What are you really gambling with? | Terms and Conditions apply | Commercial content