Primer: Pretending You’re Not A Rookie At The Track

READ MORE: Horse Racing

Unless you’re a savvy thoroughbred playing veteran like we are, you might be a little intimidated to walk into the track to gamble your afternoon away. After all, there are dozens of ways to structure a bet and even more reasons why certain bets are worth your dollars, while others are ridiculous crapshoots a hundred monkeys picking a hundred different combinations wouldn’t hit in a hundred years.

Yes, if you’re reading this, you’re probably a monkey. But with our help, you’ll understand a little more about how to gamble at the track, and down the road we’ll also help with how to pick a horse effectively. For now, let’s just worry about where to put your money when you get to the teller windows.

After the jump, naturally.

SO WHOSE MONEY AM I WINNING HERE ANYWAY?

Thoroughbred and harness racing gambling is all based on the pari-mutuel system. Yeah, we aren’t big fans of the French either, so let’s summarize this system by acknowledging that it’s a split-the-pool amongst the winners environment. Every type of bet at the track (see below) has its own separate pool, and after the house takes their cut (20% off the top in most areas), the entire pool is split by those who are holding winning tickets from that pool.

Since the house’s cut is a constant, you’re not gambling against them like you would be by playing craps at the casino. You’re actually gambling against every other bettor playing in that pool. And for you math nerds out there, since the house takes 20% of every dollar you bet automatically, you need to become 20% better than the average horseplayer just to break even in the long run. Don’t worry, we’ll help you there too - but that’s another post.

For now, let’s look at the betting menu, ranking the possible bets you can make from least risky to might-as-well-play-the-lottery.

FOR THOSE THAT GAMBLE LIKE A 70 YEAR OLD WOMAN, WE SALUTE YOU

Nickel slots your thing? Can’t stand blowing through $20 in an afternoon? Well, you can keep the expenses down at the track by making cheap bets in the least risky form possible. Hey, you’re just there to enjoy the sunshine and majesty of the equine athlete, right? Just make your choices and get the hell out of our way at the windows Nancy.

· SHOW: If you don’t want to go broke, grab the favorite and play him $2 to show. You’ll see a return - a miniscule return, but a payoff - should your horse finish first (Win), second (Place), or third (Show). Since the pool is split amongst bettors holding winning tickets on three horses, you can usually count on getting your money back plus ten to eighty cents. Longshots mixed into the pool can increase those payouts, but usually you’ll need to cash two or three of these things just to buy a taco. Viva Del Taco!

· PLACE: Just like the Show bet, you’re not betting your horse will win. You’ll take first or second, and take a payoff split with only one other horse’s place tickets if you cash. If you bet a heavy favorite to place, real gamblers will look at you and roll their eyes. That being said, sometimes it’s a good strategy to find a high-odds horse you think has a chance to factor - but not win - and bet him on the place. If he wins, you’ll kick yourself in the ass, but if he comes in second you’ll feel like a genius. Just don’t rankle the grizzled veterans around you by rooting too hard on that $2 ticket there Chuckles. Your nag may have just upset a thousand dollar combination they were pulling for.

· WIN: The quickest way to feel like a self-conscious asshole at the track is to be the guy screaming and clapping for “Poppa’s Mustache” to eke his way into third place so you can cash your $2 show bet. Don’t be that guy. Seriously. Grab your balls, an opinion, and your wallet and at least bet to win. The win odds are the ones you see on the tote board or TV screen, and are an up-to-the-minute indicator of which horses are getting the betting public’s support, and to what degree. If you don’t know a freaking thing about horse racing, watch that board. Take an interest in one of the three or four lowest odds numbers on the board, and buy yourself a win ticket. You’ll be wrong more than right, but you’ll at least have a fighting chance at cashing a ticket.

EXOTIC LIKE SUNG HI LEE EXOTIC? YES PLEASE!

Win, place, and show wagers are called “straight” wagers. Anytime you are factoring the results of more than one horse into your wager, that’s called an “exotic.” Here is where you can often roll the dice for the big payouts.

· QUINELLAS: You like the three horse and the five horse to win and place in either order. For $2 you can jump in the quinella pool. Quinellas are basically exactas (see below) without the complication of selecting multiple combinations. When you say, “$2 quinella, three and five,” you’re able to cash that ticket if the result comes in either 3/5 or 5/3 at the wire.

· EXACTAS AND TRIFECTAS: We’ll lump these together even though the exacta is based on the win and place horses, while the trifecta adds the show horse to that mix. Reason being, unlike the quinella, you need to understand how to structure these bets properly in order to either maximize your combinations or preserve your bankroll properly. With trifectas especially, it’s easy to keep adding horses to your ticket. But without being careful, the more horses you add, the higher the price of the ticket. There are three ways to put these tickets together:

· Straight - This is a single ticket wager. For example, on an exacta you order “$2 exacta, three with five.” The word “with” tells the ticket agent you’re separating the three in first, five in second. Same goes for trifectas. “$2 trifecta, three with five with nine” would require those three horses, in that specific order, to be the first to cross the wire.

· Box - Like the three and the five in either order in that exacta? Now you’re “boxing” the two together. This effectively creates two exacta tickets - 3/5 and 5/3 - by saying, “$2 exacta box, three and five.” On the trifecta side this really has the potential to run away from you when you start mixing extra horses in. A 3/5/9 boxed trifecta is actually six tickets: 3/5/9, 3/9/5, 9/3/5, 9/5/3, 5/3/9, and 5/9/3. Add just one more horse into the box, and you turn six ticket possibilities into twenty-four. That’s where “the wheel” bet can help keep dollars in your pocket.

· Wheel - Wheels are a great method of bankroll preservation if you’re playing multiple horses in the exotics. Problem is, you have to have the stomach to watch an uncovered possibility sneak in at the window. Let’s say you like the three, five, nine, twelve, and thirteen horses in the exacta. If you boxed them together you’d create a $20 ticket (20 possibilities x $1). A wheel bet can lock the three all by himself in the win column, and let you play those other four underneath. Same on the trifecta side. If you like five horses for three spots, that ends up being 120 different possible tickets. Form an opinion and stick with it. Let’s say you’re locking the three into first place, and you feel strongly the five or nine will finish second, and want to cover everyone else in third. You’d order “$2 trifecta wheel, three with five, nine with five, nine, twelve, thirteen.” You’ve effectively taken 120 possibilities and reduced them to six in this scenario. Just don’t beat yourself up when the twelve takes second, giving you that woulda/shoulda/coulda mentality.

· DAILY DOUBLE, PICK 3/4/5/6 - Picking winners of consecutive races sounds easy, but the track always likes to throw you a curveball on the program. You’ll always have at least one race on this menu that is nearly a crapshoot, making your picks as effective as blind dart throwing. That being said, the Double isn’t a real hard one to hit, you just need to form an opinion, make your bet, and hope you’re still alive on your ticket after that first leg is run. The larger multi-race wagers increase in difficulty the more races you’re picking, but so do the payouts. On some of the big race weekends, the tracks will sometimes stake the pool with guaranteed money, so a Breeders’ Cup pick six has the potential to return a million or more if you’re lucky. You’re not though, so don’t blow too much of your dough trying to hit these. Seasoned handicappers chase these white whales their whole career and never hit. Don’t waste your cash.

· SUPERFECTA - For our money, the biggest pain in the ass to try and hit out of every bet you can make is the superfecta. Boxing four horses here is a 24 combination bet, so it’s been a pricey gamble for those trying to guess which horses can finish in the first four positions. Well, until lately. In February, Sam Houston Race Park in Texas rolled out ten cent superfectas on their wagering menu. Now, instead of wasting $24 trying to box up a superfecta ticket, four horses can be gambled for $2.40. Regardless, it’s still a blatant crapshoot. Don’t waste your time with these, you’ll drive yourself crazy.

Hopefully, you’ll feel a little more confident walking up to the windows to lay a few bucks down on Hoof Hearted in the sixth at your local track. Knowing what these wagers mean is only a small part of what you need to know to go from “gambler” to “horseplayer” though, and in upcoming weeks we’ll take a look at some tips and techniques that can help you read a program and pick a horse effectively.

For now, just don’t be the guy who bets on the horse who takes a dump before he runs. He is not “running lighter” and “more likely to win.”

New wagers giving the public more choices [ESPN]
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Betting on Horses [Amazon]
Previously: You’re dead money at the track [Oddjack]