how to bet on horse racing
how to bet on horse racing - horse racing basics
Every successful horse racing bettor started off as a rookie and had to learn the basics before everything else. No one is born with the ability to properly handicap races, not even with the basic knowledge it requires to place a simple bet. If you’re thinking about betting on the horses, with the objective to make money or just for fun’s sake, here’s what you need to know before everything else.
The race program assigns numbers to the various horses, numbers which you’ll have to use when placing your wagers. Some tracks number the horses according to post position, but regardless of how the horses are numbered, you can always use the race program as reference.
Sometimes, horses are withdrawn from a race. Withdrawn horses are called scratches, and of course, you won’t be able to bet on them. Sometimes, a horse is withdrawn late, which means that wagers could be placed on it before it became a scratch. In such situations, bets are usually refunded.
The first thing one needs to understand about horse racing betting is that it’s a pari-mutuel form of gambling. That means you do not actually go up against the house, but rather against the other bettors. The money that is collected from wagers is pooled by the track employees whose job it is to keep track of bets and out of that pool, the winners will be paid out. The pool is raked of course, because government taxes, racetrack employees and maintenance costs etc. need to be paid too. The remaining money is then distributed among the winners according to the odds they bet on.
This takes us to the next basic concept: odds. Horse racing odds are usually of a X/Y format. How do you calculate your share of the winnings? Reduce the X/Y ratio to a Z/1 one (simply divide X with Y to get it). Then use the following formula to calculate your winnings: Z*your wager + your wager.
This means that if you’re getting 2/1 odds, and you bet $2, you’ll cash out 2*2+2=$6.
In conclusion, in order to place your bet, you need to know the odds your pick carries (which tells you how much you risk and how much you stand to win), the horse’s number, the amount of money you wish to bet and the type of bet you want to place.
Here are the types of bets you can make:
- Win: you win if your pick finishes 1st.
- Place: you win if your pick finishes 1st or 2nd (the odds on such bets are usually worse than on “win” bets because of the higher likelihood of the event you’re betting on.
- Show: you collect your money if your pick finishes 1st, 2nd, or 3rd.
There are a variety of exotic bets as well. These require the gambler to predict the finishing order of several horses, and such bets may even be spread over several races. Obviously, the actual odds of getting such a bet right, take a huge hit here but the potential rewards sky-rocket as well.
- The perfecta, also known as an “exacta”, is a setup in which the bettor is required to predict the exact finishing order of the first two horses. The superperfecta takes things further requiring the bettor to get the exact finishing order of the first four horses right.
- The trifecta is obviously about guessing the finishing order of the first 3 horses across the line. The double trifecta is the same as the trifecta, but the bettor needs to guess the correct finishing orders in two separate races.
- Across the board is about placing 3 separate bets, on win, place and show.
- The daily double is one of he most popular bets. Bettors wager on the winners of the first and second races of the day.
- The pick three is basically the daily double taken one step further, that’s right, you’ve guessed it: you need to pick the winners of three consecutive races.
- Boxes and wheels allow you to place multiple bets and to combine them on the same ticket.
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