How to Select a Daily NAP

When looking at the horse racing section of a newspaper or on a sports betting tips website, you may have noticed the word NAP used next to a certain selection.

Those who are new to the world of sports betting may not understand this term and even those who do know what it means may not know how to select a NAP from the several betting selections they make.

What is a NAP in Sports Betting?

The word NAP in sports betting apparently derives from a card game called Napolean, which is a five-card trick taking game.

Traditionally used in horse racing but now can be used in any form of sports betting, a NAP basically means the best bet of the day. Some tipsters give NAPS for each race meeting but generally they will give one NAP a day from across all meetings.

A tipster will take many factors into consideration before selecting their NAP and will give it once they are confident is is the selection with the best chance of winning than all of their other selections that day.

Obviously, not every NAP from every tipster is going to win but if a respected, reputable, and successful tipster gives a nap then it should be taken into consideration when placing a bet.

Another term to look out for is “NB”, which means “Next Best” and is the tipsters second best bet of the day.

How to Select a Daily NAP

Now you know what a NAP is, and where the word comes from, you may be wondering how you would select your own daily NAP from among the several selections you may make every day. Well, it’s not an easy task and requires a lot of research and betting knowledge to be able to do it correctly.

Eliminate Some Races

First of all, you need to narrow the field so to speak. This means you eliminate certain races from your list of possibilities.

Do this by looking at:

• Number of Runners – In a race of five runners, you have a one in five or 20% chance of selecting the winner. In a race of twenty runners, your chances of success are shortened to 5%. So, it is probably best to strike races with big fields off the list.
• Quality of Race – It is never a good idea to select a daily NAP from races such as the Grand National, Gold Cup, or other top group 1 races. The horses are far too evenly matched and it is impossible to say for certain who will win. So, when looking for a daily NAP, it’s probably best to look at less prestigious races such as a group 3 hurdles race or something similar.

Research

As mentioned, a NAP can be selected from any sport. But, as it is traditionally used in the world of horse racing, we are going to stick to horse racing for the benefits of this article.

Research is important in all sports betting but it is especially important when trying to select that one bet of the day you believe has the best chance of winning. You cannot just close your eyes and stick a pin into your list of selections, you must have the knowledge to be able to make that one selection with confidence.

If you have narrowed your list of races to select a possible NAP from, your research will be made a lot easier and a lot less time consuming.

Things to consider when doing your research are:

• Form – This is obvious but the form of a horse is extremely important. Only consider horses with winning form. It doesn’t have to be a win in their last race but they have to have winning form to be considered a NAP of the day. Looking deeper into that form, you need to also consider the courses they’ve won at, distance, ground conditions, the class of races won in, and the quality of the field when winning.
• Trainer/Jockey Booking – Top trainers place their horses methodically into lower grade races to give them a run out and get into a winning habit. So look for those types of horses and also look at who’s on board. If a top jockey and travelled to a race meeting for just one ride, there’s a big chance that horse is going to win.
• Weather Conditions – Take a look at the weather forecast and what affect that will have on the ground. If a horse has only ever won on good to firm ground and it has been raining for days, meaning the ground has now gone soft or even heavy, their chances of winning would decrease and therefore they would need to be taken off the list of possible NAPS. They may still win, but the certainty and confidence needed to NAP them has gone.