Horse racing is the third most renowned sport to bet on in America, which is very impressive given the number of people watching it as it comes in 26th. The reality is that horse racing is not appreciated for the excitement of the sport itself. The key reason people watch it is that they want to wager on it.
Almost anyone who watches a horse race makes a wager on it. But only a handful of those people are going to win. Some people use small bets as a means of social entertainment, so they just don’t care who wins.
But for those who are willing and ready to win, there are several ways you can use strategy to maximize the total payouts.
The following tips will not guarantee you an assured win every time you place a wager, but they will increase your chances of getting higher overall returns. No matter what kind of wager you make, it’s important always to bet responsibly.
Gambling is fun because it’s a risk, but you can only take the risk if you’re prepared to deal with the likelihood of a loss.
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Tip #1- Do Your Homework!
Many people bet huge amounts of money on horse races every year, but a few of them do some analysis before choosing which horse to bet on. Even a brief look at the racing program before you stake will greatly improve your likelihood of winning.
Racing forms will feed you in on all the information you need to know about the horses competing and the race. It won’t reveal to you which horse to bet on, but it would at least give you the specifics you need to make an informed decision.
Next, you need to get some information on the race itself. The top of the race will mention the time and place of the race and the distance of the race. It will clarify the conditions for joining the competition and the classification of the race.
You can do a fast internet search to find the type of track available at each location. If you bet on several races, you’ll quickly discover which places have dirt tracks, which one has grass, and which one has both.
The other aspects of the form guide will give you details about each of the horses running in the race. Horses are typically grouped by the number they bear during the race. There may be a number in brackets that shows the horse’s draw to the right of that number. The draw is their starting point at the stalls. Some places have benefits and drawbacks, so pay attention to that detail when you pick a horse to bet on.
Tip #2 – Make various types of bets
Suppose you’d like to take your horse race betting to the next tier, learn how to make various types of bets, and leverage them strategically. Horse racing is one of the most common sports in almost every country and has been around for quite some time. Over the years, each region has developed its wagering system and guidelines. In this article, I will concentrate on bets that are widely used in the United States.
Systems of Betting
Before we can get into all sorts of bets, you would need to learn about the systems used to determine the payouts for each type of bet. There are three main betting methods used for horse racing. The method used can vary from one location to another around the world and by track.
Fixed-odds betting is one of the most popular systems in various sports. When you place bets using fixed odds, you place a bet with a bookmaker who has fixed odds for that bet. Your payout is estimated by the amount you’ve staked, compounded by the odds. Odds are displayed as decimals, fractions, or Moneyline odds depending on the region. Often bookmakers will give a starting price, which ensures that the odds are not known until after the start of the race after the bets are taken.
It’s pretty simple to understand the fixed odds betting once you get underway. One of the advantages of fixed-odds is that you can almost always estimate the possible returns before making a bet. The second betting system that is especially common with horse races is tote or pari-mutuel betting.
Instead of estimating the payout using odds, they are determined based on the cumulative pool of all stakes made for that bet. The more people that bet, the bigger the pool is, and the higher the payout would be, but it is split based on how large your original stake was.
It isn’t easy to estimate the potential returns because you don’t know how many people put winning bets or how large the pool was. The latest betting method is called an exchange bet, and the leveraging of technology means that it is prevalent.
Instead of wagering against a bookmaker, you’re betting against someone else. Essentially, you’re selecting a horse, you’re setting your odds, and you’re offering a stake, and you’re hoping that someone else would bet the opposite of your option. Exchange betting helps people to make bets against a horse.
It’s always cheaper to pick a horse that won’t win instead of one that will, but bookmakers typically don’t give these kinds of bets. You won’t be able to pick your betting system in some situations.
Some racetracks only use pari-mutuel bets, while others only give fixed odds. If you’re betting online instead of in-person, you will often find a website that will give you what you’re searching for.
Tip #3 – Shop the odds
Shopping odds is a fairly easy way to maximize your average payoff, and it applies to almost all bets, not just horse races. However, pari-mutuel betting doesn’t work because there’s no way to regulate the pool size. But if you use fixed odds, you might as well get the best value for your money.
If you choose the horse or horse that you bet on and choose the type of bet you want to put, you can start buying the odds. Check with several online gaming sites and the online bookmaker to check out the odds on a particular bet. Then just go for any options that offer you the best chance to win.
Shopping odds may seem like it doesn’t make a huge difference at first. You can only make a few extra dollars for each bet. But if you bet constantly, the extra few bucks would accumulate quickly. It’s worth taking an extra couple of minutes to do a quick search, but it’s not worth obsessively checking every available website.
Understanding the difference between your potential payouts will help you actively use various bet strategies to get the highest returns. Adopting different betting ways is just as useful as using different forms of betting, as long as you’re wise about it.
