The challenge of betting
on horses is to collect and analyze information
and then make a sound judgment on what to
bet on, what type of bet to place and how
much. To create an opportunity to be a winner,
you need to take into account three main
factors, analyze them and act on your findings
accordingly. These are:
The odds offer (Price)
The value of the odds (overpriced or under
priced?)
The type of bet (single, multiple, combination,
etc.)
The odds offer should be at least 2:1 to
make it worthwhile. If necessary, choose
a selection with a slightly higher risk
to prop up the price.
The value of the odds must
be such that the sportsbook's commission
is to a minimum, if at all. Some selections
get 'steamed' unnecessarily. When this happens,
the 'favorite' price lengthens. Take advantage
of those situations.
Three types of bets seem
to stand out as a sensible combination to
use because they are simple, not too difficult
to win and have good winning potential:
the Straight bet, the Doubles and the Future.
Win,
Place, Show Parlays
Win, Place, Show Parlays
are simple to play and, if you have the
nerve you can make a great deal of money.
Let's use an example to make this easy.
When playing a parlay you must decide what
type you will play. We will use a Win Parlay
in this example. You look at the program
and think in the 1st race the # 3 horse
will win, in the 4th race you think the
# 5 horse will win, and in the 8th race
you think the # 9 horse will win. You are
now ready to take your chances.
Lets play a $10.00 win
Parlay in the example: 1st race $10.00
win on # 3. The # 3 wins the first race
and pays $8.00. so now we take the $40.00
ticket and place it all to win on the
# 5 horse in the 4th race. The # 5 horse
wins the 4th race and pays $6.00 to win.
We now have a $120.00 ticket. We now take
the $120.00 and place it all to win on
the # 9 horse in the 8th race. The # 9
horse wins and pays $5.00. We have just
WON $300.00!!! All of this for a $10.00
investment. You can play 2 races or 12
races the choice is yours.
Tip: Parlays
are great to play when the favorites are
at short prices. There is not much value
in a $4.00 horse but if you can find 3
or 4 it can payoff playing parlays.
Playing
the Exacta
The best way to bet exactas are to box combinations.
Boxing combinations is not only simple but
increases your odds at having a winning
ticket. We will use $1.00 examples.
Example: $1.00 exacta
box #1, #2, #3 cost $6.00. With this wager
any 3 of these horses must finish 1st and
2nd.
Example: $1.00 exacta
box #1, #2, #3, #4 cost $12.00. With this
wager any 4 of these horse must finish 1st
and 2nd.
Tip: not many people will
bet an exacta this way but in certain races
it will increase your odds significantly.
Example in a race with more than 8 horses,
more money is bet into the pools. Believe
it or not you can make a considerable amount
of return on this type of wager.
If you think a horse is
going to win, the way to play your exacta
would be, Example: $1.00 exacta key #1 with
/ # 2, #3, #4 cost $3.00.With this type
of wager the #1 must win. The #2,# 3,or
#4 must finish second.
or another way to play
would be if you think a horse is going to
win and you do not know who will finish
second, $1.00 exacta: #1 with / all cost
$7.00 (based on 8 horses in a race.) The
#1 must win, and any other horse in the
race must finish 2nd.
This would be a way to
play a back up ticket, Example $1.00 exacta
key #2, #3, #4 with/ #1 cost $3.00. With
this type of wager the #2, #3, or # 4 must
win, the #1 must finish 2nd.
If you are undecided on a couple of horses
another example would be $1.00 exacta wheel:
#1,#2 with / #1,#2,#3 cost $4.00 with this
type of wager #1 or #2 must win and either
#1,#2, or #3 must finish 2nd
Tip: Any serious bettor
bets back up tickets. If the main ticket
does not win it is possible the back up
ticket will cover some if not the entire
initial loss.
Playing
Triacta
Playing the triacta's
can be very tricky. The majority of the
time you will have the exacta, and not complete
the triacta. You are dealing with the top
3 finishers in a race. The more horses you
add into your ticket the price goes up in
a hurry. The best way to play triacta's
is to box horses.
Example: $1.00 tri box
#1, #2, #3 cost $6.00 all of these horses
must finish in the top 3 (it does not matter
in what order).
Example $1.00 tri box #1,
#2, #3, #4 cost $24.00 three of these horses
must finish in the top 3. Notice the price
of the ticket increase? This is because
there is more combinations.
Example $1.00 tri box #1,
#2, #3, #4, #5 cost $60.00 any3 of these
horses must finish in the top 3. Notice
the price of the ticket now?
Okay this is where you
can bet combinations that the price comes
down a little but the chance of losing increases.
You looked at your program and you think
the #1 is going to win but you are not sure
about second or third. Decisions, Decisions.
Here are a couple of examples that may help
you. One way that you can bet your ticket
is expensive but if you are confident your
horse will win would be:
Example: $1.00 tri #1 with / all with/ with
all. cost $42.00 (based on 8 horse race).
The #1 horse must win, any other horse may
finish 2nd or 3rd. A little too expensive?
I think so too.
The way that most people
play, if they like a horse, is $ 1.00 tri
key #1 with/ #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 cost $20.00.
The #1 horse must win and any of the other
five horses may finish 2nd and 3rd.
Another way you can play
your tri's is $1.00 tri #1, #2 with / #1,
#2, #3 with / #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 cost $
16.00. The #1 or # 2 must win. the #1, #2,
or #3 must finish 2nd. the #1, #2, #3, #4,
or # 5 must finish 3rd.
You can also play this
combination of bets a different way. example:
$1.00 tri #1, #2 with / #1, #2, #3 ,#4,
#5 with / #1, #2, #3 cost $16.00. The #1
or #2 must win, the #1, #2, #3, #4, or #5
must finish 2nd, and the #1, #2, or #3 must
finish 3rd.
Tip: a mistake a lot of bettors make is
not changing their betting patterns when
on a losing streak. If it seems like all
the horses your are betting are finishing
2nd and 3rd or in most cases 1st and 3rd
change your betting pattern you will be
amazed how your luck can change.
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