Monday, 21 May 2012
While some governments make laws distinguishing betting on horse racing from wagering on other sports and some online sportbooks relegate horse betting to a separate area of their online gambling sites, horse betting isn’t really all that different from betting on football, basketball, or baseball. In fact, all JackpotFinder’s information on the fundamentals of sports betting is 100% applicable to horse betting.
Like sports betting, horse betting is really all about betting with the brain, a very different activity than playing roulette or slot games. While we can’t tell punters which horse to pick, we can offer some very good advice to help novice bettors get started.
Similar to any other competition, punters should not just barge into the bookies with a fist full of dollars (or into an online sportsbook with a MasterCard at the ready) and throw down money on the horse with the craziest name. Punters could, of course, do this, but they should expect to lose more often than not.
A better idea would be to take to time to investigate each horse, each jockey, the type and condition of track, the weather, and anything else which may seem relevant. Check online forums and social networks for betting tips from experts and authorities. The internet has placed a tremendous wealth of information at punters fingertips, so there is no excuse for not making use of it.
Look to see what other people are betting on. Both offline and online sportsbooks express this as “odds”. Readers not familiar with odds should learn how to understand fractional, decimal, and moneyline odds before continuing with our horse betting tutorial.
Online sportsbooks aren’t being capricious when they assign “Hayley Turner” odds of 50 to 1 against winning any 2011 English Classic. Someone – probably many people – knows something (or maybe many things).
As word gets around, people place their bets. As people place their bets, the bookies determine the odds to post, which goes hand-in-hand with what payouts they will give. Thus, unless you know something nobody else does, the wisest course may be to chase the action. The payout at 2 to 1 may not seem as inviting as it does at 50 to 1, but it is always better to win small than to lose big.
Obviously, if you have good information or have learned to trust in the force when it tells you to bet against the odds, you shouldn’t feel the need to be constrained to the “safest bet”.
Rather understated among horse betting enthusiasts is the importance of understanding the multiple methods of bets available when horse betting. Fundamentally, these aren’t so different than the types of sports bets available when wagering on football, basketball, or tennis. However, horse betting has some exotic terminology and the mechanics of placing the bets may vary at online sportsbooks which support horse betting.
The first thing a horse bettor must realize: When wagering on horses, punters are not just limited to betting on which horse will win (finish first). Punters can also wager on whether any give horse will place (finish first or second) or show (finish first, second, or third). This is can be a good strategy for a punter who feels confident in the horse, but not so certain that it will overcome all the competition.
In horse betting, a straight bet is still a straight bet and these are still the most popular types of wager. However, horse bettors looking to maximize their winnings should also know the following types of bets:
When punters are not positive about their ability to correctly order an exacta, trifecta, or a superfecta, they can “box the bet”. This means that the selected horses will all be the first horses to complete the race, but the order is no longer considered. Boxing an exacta is the same as a quinella.
Horse betting also has betting on propositions (props), futures, and even parlays.
