How to Bet on Horse Racing

Guide Note

If you're sick of slot machines and poker just doesn't do it for you anymore, perhaps you can satisfy your need to gamble with a bit of equestrian grace and medieval nobility. This guide will introduce you to the rules of, and techniques for, betting on horse racing.

Table of Contents

Horse Racing Betting Tips

  1. Learn the lingo so the betting clerk can help you faster.
  2. Simple bets are drawn from a bigger pool of money, so payoffs could be worth more.
  3. Advanced bets wager on less likely outcomes, so you stand to win a lot of money at once.
  4. Some advanced bets let you wager on the outcomes of more than one race.
  5. "Box" your bets to make sure you cover all the possible outcomes.
  6. "Wheel" your bets if you're sure that a specific horse is a guaranteed winner.

Disclaimer

The content in this page is not a substitute for professional financial advice. Please make sure to follow your local laws when engaging in any form of gambling, and remember to gamble responsibly.

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Introduction

  • Watching horse races was once a pastime reserved only for the nobility,1 and from which the common man was barred. But now you get to do those snooty lords, dukes and barons one better. Not only can you watch horse races, you can gamble on the winning horses and, if you're lucky, win a king's ransom. But before you can start raking in the cash, you have to understand the somewhat complicated system in place for betting on horse racing.

Step 1: The Pari Mutuel System

  • Although licensed betting is administrated by each individual racetrack, they all operate under a universal betting system called Pari Mutuel, which is French for "Amongst Ourselves."2 In this system:
  1. The track takes a certain percentage—set at different levels at individual tracks—of the total amount of money being wagered.3
  2. The rest of the pool is distributed amongst winning bettors.2
  3. The system is designed to play bettors against one another, rather than against the track itself.3

Step 2: Place Simple Bets

(Creative Commons photo by Ian Ransley)
(Creative Commons photo by Ian Ransley)
  • The betting system for horse races accommodates some simple wager types. Also called "traditional wagers" or "straight bets," these are the most straightforward types of wagers. Their two main features are that:
  1. The percentage of the money that goes to the track, the track take, is much lower than in more advanced bets.4
  2. The winnings for simple bets are based on the odds at the the beginning of the race.4

Win Bets

  1. Place a wager on a single horse to win the race.
  2. If the horse wins, you win a set amount of money based on the odds at the beginning of the race.4

Place Bets

  1. Place a wager on a single horse to come in either first or second place.
  2. Whether the selected horse finishes first or second, you win the same amount of money.5

Show Bets

  1. Place a wager on a single horse to come in either first, second or third place.
  2. As with Place bets, you will win the same amount of money if the selected horse places in any of those three spots.5

Across the Board Bets

  1. Combines Win, Place and Show bets into a single wager.6
  2. Costs three times as much as the other simple bets, since you are simultaneously placing a Win bet, Place bet and Show bet.5
  3. You will win money from all applicable wagers6
    • - For example, if your horse comes in first place, you win the Win, Place and Show winnings.
    • - If your horse places second, you only win the Place and Show winnings, and only the Show if it places third.

How to Place Simple Bets

  1. The number of the race.
  2. The amount of money you want to wager.
  3. The type of wager to place (i.e. "win," "place," "show," or "across the board").4

Step 3: Place Advanced Bets in a Single Race

(Creative Commons photo by Roger Barker)
(Creative Commons photo by Roger Barker)
  • Also known as "exotic bets," these techniques are where the betting system gets a bit more complicated. These wagers differ from simple bets in a few notable ways:
  1. The track take is much higher than it is for simple bets.
  2. You are betting on multiple horses—and sometimes even multiple races—at once.2
  3. The odds are also much higher, meaning that you stand to win (or lose!) significantly more money.7

Exacta Bets

  1. Also referred to as Perfecta bets.7
  2. Place a wager on the first and second place horses.6
  3. You must pick the exact order of the horses (i.e. you win if horse A is first and horse B is second, but not the other way around).7
  4. Specific odds are posted for Exacta bets.7

Quinella Bets

  1. Place a wager on the first and second place horses.6
  2. Unlike Exacta, the specific order of horses does not matter in Quinella bets.5
  3. Specifics odds are posted for Quinella bets.7

Trifecta Bets

  1. Also referred to as Triple bets.6
  2. Place a wager on the first, second and third place horses.6
  3. Like Exacta, you must pick the exact order of the horses in Trifecta bets.
  4. Winning Trifecta combinations are numerous, so odds may not be available until all the betting has finished.7

Superfecta Bets

  1. (You guessed it...) Places a bet on the first four horses in a race.6
  2. You must also pick the exact order of the horses.7
  3. Like Trifecta, specifics odds are posted for Superfecta bets because of the many possible combinations.7

How to Place Advanced Bets

  • As with simple bets, there is an established protocol for placing advanced bets at the clerk's window. Provide your wager information in the following order:7
  1. The amount of money to wager.
  2. The type of bet.
  3. The order of your selected horses, starting with first place.

Step 4: Place Advanced Bets in More Than One Race

Twin Trifecta Bets

  1. Operate just like Trifecta bets, except that you pick horses in two consecutive races.7
  2. You still collect winnings even if you only pick correctly in the first race.7

Daily Double

  1. Place a wager on the winners of two races.
  2. Can only be made before the first of the two races starts.
  3. The race track designates which races are eligible for Daily Double bets.2

Pick Three, Four or Six Bets

  1. Like Daily Double bets, except that the outcome depends on three, four or six consecutive races.
  2. Can only be made before the start of the first race.
  3. The lower probability of picking correctly means that the payout is much higher than in Daily Double bets.

How to Place Advanced Bets in Multiple Races

  • The protocol is exactly the same as with advanced bets in a single race except that you list the order of the horses in order of the multiple races.7
    • - For example, you would list your selected list of winning horses in race 1 before race 2, then 3 and so on.

Step 5: Techniques for Advanced Bets

  • Since advanced bets take statistical risks by betting on situations where there are numerous possible winning combinations, two major strategies have developed to for bettors to cover their bases somewhat. Although these techniques involve placing multiple wagers, they also help maximize the possibilities of a payoff (which would defray the higher initial cost.

Boxing Your Bets

  1. Used in bets where you must select the proper order of winning horses.7
  2. Place bets on every possible winning combination, so no matter what the outcome of the race is, you still win money.5
  3. Boxing is common enough of a practice that you can simply ask the clerk to box your bets, rather than make an individual wager for each combination.7

Wheeling Your Bets

  1. Also referred to as Keying.7
  2. Used in bets where you must select the proper order of multiple horses, and you feel sure about what place in which one of the horses will finish.
  3. Select a single horse that you are sure will finish in a specific place.8
  4. Make multiple advanced bets which include that specific horse in its specific place in the lineup.7
  5. Switch up all the other horses, for which you are unsure of the outcome, in different combinations as part of other advanced bets.7
  6. Technique can be used with Perfecta, Trifecta, Twin Trifecta and Superfecta bets.8

Conclusion

  • As with any sort of gambling, simply knowing the rules doesn't guarantee that you'll dominate the game. And since the outcome of the race depends on more than just your individual skill, betting on horse races can be a much more risky venture than other forms of gambling. So the next time you have a day at the races, remember to gamble responsibly and take it easy on the mint juleps!

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References for How to Bet on Horse Racing

  1. ↑ Quamut: Horse Race Betting: Horse Race Betting Basics
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Meadowlands Racetrack: How To Bet
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Quamut: Horse Race Betting: How to Bet on a Horse Race
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Quamut: Horse Race Betting: Straight Bets
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 About.com: How to bet Horse Races
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Call To The Derby Post: Call To The Derby Post's Betting How-To Page
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 Quamut: Horse Race Betting: Exotic Bets
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Rockingham Park: How To Bet
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