Online bookmakers Ladbrokes and Tom Waterhouse are both offering monster prize pools to punters that can pick the correct finishing order of the 2014 Melbourne Cup, but which Megafecta should you play on the first Tuesday of November?

On face value the $25,000,000 on offer with Tom Waterhouse to pick the first ten horses across the line in the Melbourne Cup looks more impressive than the $10,000,000 available with Ladbrokes to correctly select the first seven finishes in ‘the race that stops a nation’, but after closer analysis it is quite clear that Ladbrokes is offering punters a much better deal.

The Ladbrokes Megafecta gives you the chance to win $10,000,000 on the Melbourne Cup

The Ladbrokes Megafecta gives you the chance to win $10,000,000 on the Melbourne Cup from a $1 bet.

  • Ladbrokes Megafecta (Pick 7): $10,000,000
  • Tom Waterhouse Pick Ten: $25,000,000

Tom Waterhouse’s Pick 10 for $25 Million requires punters to cough up $10 to successfully predict the first ten horses across the line in the Melbourne Cup. The chances of doing this with 10 horses are an astronomical 7117 billion to one, and he’s only offering punters an effective dividend of $2,500,000:1

  • Ladbrokes dividend: 10,000,000:1
  • Tom Waterhouse dividend: 2,500,000:1 (effective due to $10 entry)

While you still need to be very lucky (if you are choosing at random) or an extremely good judge to pick the first seven horses across the line with the Ladbrokes Megafecta, the chances of winning by selecting 7 random horses is amazingly 4000x easier to win and entries are just $1.

  • Ladbrokes pick first 7 in finishing order
  • Tom Waterhouse pick first 10 in finishing order

In actual fact, your chances of winning the Ladbrokes Megafecta are more than 3x greater than winning the lottery (6 from 45 balls) which usually offers dividends of around $2,000,000:1. With Ladbrokes Megafecta you have the added advantage of being able to analyse the form of the horses in the Melbourne Cup which means by removing horses that you believe have no chance your odds increase dramatically – and the dividend is enormous – $10,000,000:1.

Another factor that gives the Ladbrokes Megafecta an edge over the Tom Waterhouse Pick 10 is the cost of each individual ticket.

Tom Waterhouse is asking punters to fork over $10 for every ticket, while at Ladbrokes customers can place a Megafecta for just $1 and still be in with the chance to walk away with the $10 million Megafecta prize pool.

  • Ladbrokes $1 entry, unlimited entries
  • Tom Waterhouse $10 entry, max limit 10 entries

On top of this, Ladbrokes are letting punters take advantage of Flexi betting with their Megafecta’s and this means that they can give themselves a much greater chance of winning and change the stake per combination to suit their budget.

This means that punters who place Ladbrokes Megafecta bets using flexi betting can win $100,000 with just a one cent bet (1% flexi), but the Tom Waterhouse Pick Ten does not allow flexi betting so the chances of a punter winning anything is extremely unlikely.

  • Ladbrokes allows flexi betting, as low as 1c per combination
  • Tom Waterhouse does not allow flexi betting

Tom Waterhouse has also placed a limit on the amount of entries each individual punter can have in the Pick Ten, with each individual account holder restricted to ten entries, while Ladbrokes allows customers to buy as many combinations as they want, for as little as 1c per combo.

For most of us it’s hard enough to pick a winner, let alone 7 – and it will certainly take some good luck or academic-level form analysis to successfully pick the first seven horses across the line in this year’s 2014 Melbourne Cup, but for the chance to win $10,000,000 for just $1 – how can you afford not to?

Give yourself the best chance of being a mega winner this Melbourne Cup by taking a [ladbrokes] Megafecta – it is better than buying a lotto ticket!

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.