Why Horse Racing Is Better Than Most Forms Of Gambling

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
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Often people think of betting on horse racing as just another form of gambling, but in fact it is quite different from your average casino game. There is this difference – in casino games, you are playing against the house, but in horse racing, you are playing against the other bettors.

In horse racing, there is a certain percentage of every wager you make that the track takes off the top, usually somewhere around 16% for win bets and up to 25% on some of the so called “exotic” bets such as the pick 6. The take goes into operational expenses associated with running a track as well as purse money for the races which it features. Basically all bets of a particular type are led in a particular pool after which the track deducts the take percentage, and the rest is paid out to the winning bettors. This is called pari-mutuel betting. Lotteries are another example of pari-mutuel betting.

Casino games such as black jack or roulette do not take a percentage, but you are always at a disadvantage because the odds are mathematically skewed in their favor in almost all ...
... cases. The player can never hope to increase their bankroll in the long term. A concept from probability and statistics called Expected Value, which is a measure of how much a given unit, such as a dollar, is expected to increase or decrease after a particular event, such as the spin of a roulette wheel occurs. If the Expected Value for betting red on a roulette table is -$.05 for example, that means that for every dollar you wager, you are expected to come out of it with 95 cents. Of course, you will either lose your entire dollar, or you will get an additional dollar back as winnings. Expected Value is just a way to measure the favorability of a bet. It is simply a mathematical way of expressing that you will lose about 5% of your bet every time.

Unlike casino games, if the horseplayer is astute enough to spot winners where others do not, he may have enough of an advantage to actually consistently increase his bankroll. Assuming that the handicapper can consistently find “overlays”, which are horses whose odds are higher than he appears to merit, he can outplay the other bettors and net a positive rate of return. He must be good enough to overcome that track take– it is not good enough to just be “average” or the handicapper will find his bankroll slowly diminishing. If the handicapper takes the time to really study the game well, and can learn to see what others do not, at least he has a chance to turn a profit.

The best reason to play the horses is that the track does not care how much you win; it only cares about the flat percentage it takes off the top for each race that is run. Casinos on the other hand, will ban you from their casino if you start to do really well. A blackjack player has a slight negative edge when playing basic strategy, but if the player counts cards, an edge of up to 2% over the house can be attained. If a player is suspected of counting cards, the casino can at its discretion ban that player from their tables. The track will never ban you no matter how much you win playing the ponies.

Some of the key types of bets you should become familiar with are:
Straight Bets – This terminology is used when betting on a particular horse coming in a specific position, which usually incorporates winning the race, finishing second or placing and/or finishing third, which is popularly known as ‘show’. Some people when making a wager on an individual horse will bet the horse across the board, so if the horse wins, they will be compensated in all three positions – win, place and show.

The Exacta bet is when a person picks both the winner and the second horse to finish in that exact order. For many years Exacta bets were the most popular bets at the racetrack.

Trifecta bets, or more commonly known as ‘triples’, incorporate a player picking, in exact order, the three horses crossing the finish line first.

One of my most favorite bets is the ‘Pick 4’, particularly the one associated with the Southern California Racing Circuit. The Pick 4 is tied to the last four races on the card and in order to win a Pick 4 ticket, you must correctly pick the winners of all four races. Because of the size of the betting pools, the Pick 4 is considered one of the best bets when making wagers on horses.

There are many other types of bets in horse racing. They are all tied to a risk/reward factor. Some bets can pay over a million-to-one while with other bets you’re lucky if their pay-out is even money.

If you want to learn more about horse racing and you haven’t already downloaded Horse Racing Fantasy, the most exciting, interactive, 3D, horse racing game on the Net, I suggest you go to horseracegame.com, register and start playing this free virtual horse racing program. One of the many enjoyable aspects you will find is the ability to fictitiously wager on all types of races and test your betting and handicapping skills. In fact, there are constant betting tournaments where players can win real prizes when competing against each other. This is a free application, is very rewarding and a lot of fun. Whether you’re a novice or a professional race enthusiast, you will enjoy this horse racing program.