Be realistic.
When you’re betting on races, you need to be honest with yourself about what you’re going to get out of it. If you want to win every time and make a lot of money, it’s probably not going to happen. In fact, most horse racing gamblers lose money over the course of a year’s worth of betting.
That being said, if you’re willing and able to do some research and learn how the game works (or at least how it works in your area), then there are ways that you can increase your chances of winning. So while it might not be possible for everyone who plays the game, there are some things that anyone can do to increase their chances at success when they bet on horses:
- Be realistic about what kind of person/player/bettor or whatever term fits best here
Receiving big payouts every so often is exciting, but it also doesn’t happen as often as you would like (hence why they’re such big payouts!)
Receiving big payouts every so often is exciting, but it also doesn’t happen as often as you would like (hence why they’re such big payouts!). So in order to get the most out of horse betting, it’s important to set realistic expectations for payouts.
For example, let’s say you have $1,000 dollars in your account and you place a bet of $100 on a horse winning at odds of 5/1. Assuming everything goes according to plan and your horse wins by at least 2 lengths (i.e., a clear margin), then the payout will be calculated as follows:
- Your stake ($100) x odds ($5) = $500
- Plus winnings earned from placing more bets = $500+$500+$500+$500+$500=$4k total!
With that in mind, it’s important to understand the basics before placing any bets.
With that in mind, it’s important to understand the basics before placing any bets.
- The odds: In horse racing, the odds are determined by how many people are betting on each horse and what they think their chances of winning are. In other words, if there’s one person who thinks a horse will win and another who thinks it won’t win at all (or at least not as much), then the odds will be closer together than if most people think that this particular horse has high chances of victory but some don’t believe so at all.
- Types of bets: There are many types of bet involved in horse racing. Here is a brief list of just some: Win/Place/Show/Exacta/Trifecta/Daily Double/Pari-Mutuel Box Betting etcetera!
- Types of horses: Different types or “types” refer to different categories or groups under which horses can be organized according to various criteria such as age group (yearlings vs non-yearlings), gender (stallion vs mare), color (bay vs chestnut) etcetera! These categories help us make educated decisions when selecting our wagers based on factors like experience level and breeding background so we can find ourselves more successful over time while minimizing losses due mistakes made during gambling sessions through trial-and-error practice sessions involving various aspects related directly linked together – including luck itself!
Once you get a feel for the odds and ways to bet, you can start playing around with larger wagers.
- Start with small wagers.
- Gradually increase your wagers as you learn the ropes.
- Don’t bet more money than you can afford to lose.
- Don’t rely on gambling to make money.
Understand the favorites (they win most) and long-shots (they rarely win)
Favorites and long-shots are the two main types of horse bets. Favorites are considered to have the best chance of winning, while long-shots have been predicted by experts to have the worst chance of winning.
Favorites tend to win around 60% of races, while long-shots win less than 10%.
Just because a horse is a favorite doesn’t mean it’s going to win.
Even though a horse is the favorite, it still could lose.
For example: Bob knows a lot about horses, so he’s been betting on them for years. When he looks at the odds for this race, he sees that a certain horse is going to win because it has great track record and consistently places high in races. So Bob bets $100 on this horse to win.
Bob’s friend Jim also knows a lot about horses and has been betting on them too; but unlike Bob, Jim doesn’t think this particular horse will win because of its past performance. Instead, Jim thinks another horse will take first place—so Jim bets $50 that it’ll happen instead.
So which one do you think won? In this case (and many other cases like this), both men were wrong! The favorite did not win; instead it placed third out of four runners as an underdog—meaning it didn’t even get any money from its owners!
Favorites are favored for a reason, though. They typically have greater than 50% chance of winning.
Favorites are favored for a reason, though. They typically have greater than 50% chance of winning. That doesn’t mean they always win, though! Sometimes the odds are wrong and the favorite doesn’t win. But in general, favorites tend to win more often than other horses in any given race.
Take advantage of specials at your local track. A lot of tracks will offer $2 doble-popcorn day or ½ ice cream cone days where you can get their concessions on the cheap!
You’re on a roll and winning is easy. You’ve hit the jackpot in a few races, so you decide to spend some of your winnings. You go out for dinner at a fancy restaurant, buy yourself some new clothes, and treat yourself to one of those fancy coffee drinks with the whip cream on top.
If you take advantage of specials at your local track, it can help save money while enjoying your favorite pastime! For example, some tracks offer $2 doble-popcorn day or ½ ice cream cone days where you can get their concessions on the cheap!
Horse racing betting can be fun, but you need to know what you’re doing first.
- Have a budget
- Be realistic
- Understand the basics
- Understand the favorites, long-shots, and odds
- Take advantage of specials at your local track