The Complexity of Horse Racing Betting
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009When you begin going to a race track and placing bets, you’ll have fun playing the horse racing odds and occasionally trying to win a big payout by betting on a long shot. You’ll need to remember that betting here is rather different from other places, like a casino, though. Learning the process of horse racing betting will help you understand what to expect. Rather than taking the whole pot, as you might do in other gambling situations, you’re sharing your winnings with everyone else who made the same bet as you.
That sounds easy, but it gets complicated when the race entries chosen are in more than just the “win” category. Bettors can choose not just one horse, but also combinations of first, second or third place winners. For example, if someone bets on a first-second-third combination, then this bet is called a trifecta. They will only win if all three horses place in the order the person bet on. The simplest betting involves choosing a horse either to win the race, to “place,” meaning it finishes first or second, or to “show,” where it must be somewhere among the top three finishers.
Check the horse racing board for the odds, and then place your bet. The minimum bet at a track is usually two dollars, though you can certainly place larger wagers. At the betting window, you’ll be expected to be able to list several things quickly. When it comes to horse racing betting, you need to be swift, as all bettors in line behind you must place their bets before the race starts. State the race track number, the race number itself, how much you’re betting, what type of bet it is (win, place, show, combination bet, etc), and of course the horse number.
Making your horse racing selections is only part of the story, of course. Picking a horse is relatively easy, especially if you’ve got some statistics, but making the right sort of bet requires other calculations. You can pick a horse to “show,” which is the safest sort of bet, and be content with fairly regular modest payouts. But now and then you might want to add just a bit of spice to your horse racing betting by going for the long shot. The point is to educate yourself and go slowly, to gain a feel for what you’re doing. As you gain confidence and knowledge, you can vary your bets and expand your racing horizons.
Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed end panic attacks as well as tips on the various anxiety disorder medications available at anxietydisordercure.com.
