G'day lads,

I'm not much of a punter, only bet around $10 every 2 weeks or so while down at the pub. I've been betting casual for about 2 years, mainly on trots and dogs, so I've learned things via observation. Took me while to figure out what NTD meant.
Anyway, I was just wondering about how the economics of the betting system works. Example: when there's 5 mins left till race, the place odds look very attractive, sometimes the place pays more than the win, but as it gets to the 2-1min mark till the race starts, the price on places crashes and the market seems to correct it's self making the place pay less than the win.
So, in short, is it people waiting close to race time to place their bets that lower the odds? And if so, does the extra cash they injected into the race help the lesser backed racers pay out more.
Hope that makes sense...

Cheers, Clint