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How do you place a horse racing bet?

Opinion & Analysis
Horse racing is a popular sport that involves horses who compete in a race accompanied by jockeys. This sport is incredibly popular because people like to bet on horse racing and there is a lot of money to win here. If you want to get involved with horse betting, you need to equip yourself with […]

Horse racing is a popular sport that involves horses who compete in a race accompanied by jockeys. This sport is incredibly popular because people like to bet on horse racing and there is a lot of money to win here. If you want to get involved with horse betting, you need to equip yourself with knowledge and the necessary data on the horses, jockeys, and trainers amongst many things. One of the first things you will need to learn to do is place a bet which will open the gates to a lot of fun that comes with wagering on horses. You must understand the basics and this article will provide some winning betting tips so keep reading if you’re keen to start horse race betting.

Look for a reputable online betting site

Before you begin, you will need to find a reputable online betting site that you will use. There are many fraudulent sites on the internet which makes it vital for you to do your research to prevent getting scammed. A few ways to ensure a site is reputable is to check if they are licensed and regulated. This information should be displayed on their website. You also need to take the time to read online reviews left by others who have used the site to get an idea of the reputation that the betting site has. Guides such as British Racecourses can help you to find a great online betting site while providing extensive information on different events, racecourses and offering useful festival tips. Another thing is to look at their deposit and withdrawal options and you must assess the quality of their customer service.

Decide which type of bet you want to make

There are many different types of bets you can make with horse racing, some of them include:

  1. Win bets: With win bets, you bet on the horse you think will be the first to cross the finish line.
  2. Place bets: This is a bet on who you predict will finish first or second.
  3. Show bets: This is a bet placed on the horse you think will finish first, second or third.
  4. Horizontal exotic bets: This bet requires you to select who you think will win consecutive races before the series of races begins.
  5. Vertical horizontal bets: This type of bet requires you to predict the correct order of the race.

If you are a newcomer, it is recommended that you choose the win bet as your key bet. It is important that you do not bet on more than two horses to win in the very same race and you should avoid exotic bets. Calculating your odds is also important and to calculate the odds on your horse exactly, you need to subtract the take from the combined pool and subtract the amount bet on your horse. This will tell you the amount of money that can be paid out of the bet.

Choose your horse(s)

The horse that you select is very important and will ultimately determine whether you walk home a winner or not. When analyzing a horse, you need to look at different things including the breed and bloodline history, you need to look at the horse finishing place from all the previous races as well as the jockey and trainer data. The official ranking is also something to look at as well as the horse itself.

Place your bet and wait for the race to begin

You must be aware of the fact that the house will take a cut of your winnings, on average 15% to be exact. The rest of the winnings get divided between the bet winners and your payout gets calculated by subtracting the total amount of winnings in whatever currency from the total pool. This number then gets divided by the amount of money bet on the winner and then that total gets added back to the winning bet amount. Many people prefer to bet on their favorite which is always a good idea however, you should sometimes try something different like betting on a newcomer for instance.

Horse racing is a lot of fun to watch and even more fun to bet on. It’s filled with adrenalin and you stand a chance to potentially win some good money.