Horse Betting

Several important ingredients will guide you towards success at horse racing betting. While it is impossible to have the 100% exact recipe, patience and the will to learn and adapt will drastically increase your chances of a long-term profit at horse betting. The nature of pari-mutuel wagering forces you to constantly learn about advanced strategies and ways to become better at one of your favorite activities. 

This is where the significance of this particular site comes into effect. We will often do the homework for you by providing the links to the highly recommended online horse betting sites, advanced horse betting strategy, and all of the latest horse betting news. By staying as updated as possible, you instantly have the much-needed advantage against the vast majority of other horse betting aficionados who rely more on luck and who place wagers for the purpose of having good times. 

Keep reading to learn more about the most important horse betting terms, horse racing betting odds, and horse racing calculator. Bookmarking the page will by no means hurt you either as the content includes daily free betting tips horse racing.  

Tens of thousands of people wager millions of dollars on horse racing all over the planet. Only a small portion of them stay profitable in the long run. Where is the catch? Why is there such a small percentage of successful horse betting punters? 

First of all, the odds will always work in the favor of the horse betting operator. The bettors are handicapped right at the very start. However, it certainly does not exclude the possibility of long-term success. This is why any serious bettor needs to follow several important tips before even placing their wagers. The majority of horse betting wagers result in losses for the punters because they do little or no research at all. 

Take a deep look at the racing program for the day, check form guides, get to find as much information as possible about the horses running, the track condition, the jockeys, etc. Such info may not tell you which horse will win, but it will help you make much smarter decisions. A smarter decision will always beat a random call in a long run.

Make distinct kinds of bets – while beginners are generally advised to focus on the simplest betting types, the variety of options can benefit you significantly in a long run. The more you know about the race, the more confidence you will have about placing the exotic horse racing betting odds.

Other significant expert horse betting tips apply to all forms of gambling in general. These include bankroll management, shopping for lines, and attacking the specific races you are particularly optimistic about. We will talk more about these horse betting tips in the horse racing betting strategy paragraph (below in the article). 

How does Horse Betting Work?

In theory, horse betting is a very simple form of gambling. The reality is somewhat different, though, as you’d be surprised how much time does it take to learn everything you should need to know. 

Those who are new to the horse betting world will be interested in learning how the odds work. They will see 10/3 odds offered on a certain horse to win, but may not know how much money to expect in return in case of a positive scenario. 

Let’s say you are about to place a $3 bet on a horse with 10/3 odds to win. What you do is multiply the stake ($3) by the first number of the odds (10), divide that by the second number of the odds (3), and then just add your stake again ($3). 

• Stake $3
• Odds 10/3
• Wins: 3*10 = 30/3 = 10+3 = 13 – A $3 bet on a 10/3 odds horse would return $13 in total

While it is quite easy to understand and describe horse betting odds for a single win pick, it gets much trickier when it comes to place and show wagers, and even more complicated when you are dealing with exotic picks like an exacta, trifecta, quinella, superfecta, daily double, etc. We will speak more about these variants further below. 

How to Win at Horse Betting? 

Calculating the horse betting odds is much more difficult than figuring a payout for other forms of gambling (i.e. sports wagering). We spoke about the fractional odds for the straight bets above, but things become way trickier when you want to calculate the odds for the exotic lines. 

You’ve all probably heard of a pari-mutuel wagering term. Do you know what does it refer to? Pari-mutuel betting, or pool wagering, represents the fluctuation associated with horse racing betting. When you are placing a regular sports wager, you are betting against the house (operator). In horse betting, you bet against other players (punters).  This is why you will not have the exact information about the potential payout in most cases. 

A big number of variables prevent the house to show the potential payout for the exotic bets. Normally, the house claims its 15% (usually) cut out of all bets for the specific race. The remaining 85% is spread out across the winners (the bettors who got their predictions right). To count your potential payout, you should subtract the amount of winning money from the total horse betting pool (for that race), divide the remaining pool by the amount of money wagered on the winner, and then add the winning bet amount. 

It seems complicated even if you use round numbers, not to mention the actual odds that are rounded down to the nearest dime. This is why you should listen to the simulcast commentators as much as possible. They will do the tough job for you by publishing handicapping tip sheets.  

Horse betting is one most intense and most popular types of betting due to the broad range of options and strategies you can use. The effort you put in before placing a wager is thus more appreciated in such circumstances. It will guide you to more favorable tips and bets in a long run. 

There are numerous strategies you can go for, depending on your horse betting experience. We will list the most important steps you need to make before hitting the “Place a Bet” button (online horse betting) or parting ways with your money at a racetrack. 

• Learn as much as you can about a specific race
• Spread your funds wisely across races (pass on races where you don’t have the favorite runner on the card)
• Place wagers you feel comfortable with (straight, place, show bets for beginners & exotic picks for the more experienced players)
• Ignore the horse betting jackpot wagers
• Mind your bankroll
• Shop for the best odds

The basic wagers (win place show) have been the horse betting backbone for decades, but the sport has many more options to offer. A beginner might even get lost in the massive number of ways in which you can approach an individual race from the betting perspective. Stay tuned and find out everything about distinct wagering types used in horse betting. 

Win, Place, Show

Win place show represents the betting basics. These markets are pretty much straightforward and hence very easy to understand. A win bet requires your horse to win the race. A place bet requires your horse to finish first or second, while a show bet will pay out if your horse finishes inside the top-three (first, second, or third). 

Exotic Betting

While the straight bets come in together with a low-risk threshold, the possibility of only winning the equivalent of pocket change may not be quite appealing to wider audiences. They rather turn to exotic bets because they promise much higher payouts. However, we would warmly advise you to stick to the straight wagers if you are a beginner. Here are some of the most popular exotic bets: 

Quinella

Quinella is probably the easiest exotic bet to cash on. You get to pick the first and the second finisher in a race, regardless of the order. 

Exacta

With Exacta, you go and predict the top two finishers in a race, in an exact order 

Trifecta

If you want to increase your potential payout, go for the trifecta. A trifecta definition refers to the top three finishers in a race, in exact order. 

Superfecta

Superfecta requires you to successfully pick the exact order of the top four horses in a race. 

Daily Double

With a daily double bet, you get to predict the winners of two successive races. 

Wheel Betting

To increase your chances of getting the exotic picks right, you can turn to wheel betting. A key wheel allows you to select two or more horses in multiple combinations. For example, you can place an exacta wheel of horses 3 and 4 to finish first over the horses 1, 2, and 5 to come second at the end of the race. 

Pick 3

Finally, there are Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, etc. bets where you get to predict the winner of three, four, five, etc. consecutive races. You will rarely get them all right, but the potential payout will be out of this world.