Betting On Horse Racing - Help Wanted

http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/11519772/california-chrome-final-work-pa-derby

The PA Derby is this weekend and I would like to bet on it. I have only placed bets on horses like twice in my life and don't recall how to do it.

Help me not sound like a tool when I get to the window.

If I want to bet on one horse to win/place/show - do I just say that?

To do the superfecta and trifecta how do I word this to the ticket taker?

What are the minimums usually? $20? $100?

If I did a $100 trifecta does it really cost $100 or is it $100x3?

What does boxed mean and should I do it?

 

You can start with going to Daily Racing Form web site. The mainstay for horse racing across the county.

On the site home page there is drop down menu for "learn". Some of your question may be answered there or may refresh your memory.

Try www.drf.com.

Think it may be a lot like craps, all the terms and shouting is intimidating, but in the end, it's always easy to bet your money! Winning is the hard part.

 

Its been the same minimum ever since i started going to the track with my grandfather its still 2.00$

 

Horses are four legged hairy animals where you put money in the front end and get lousy garden fertilizer out the back. I know. I own five. Two horse farms too.

If you find the racing form (and I highly recommend the Daily Racing Form as well) confusing:

1) don't bet on a gray horse
2) don't bet on a horse with a fat jockey
3) use a solid state binary decision maker (flip a quarter!) when all else fails

I was at the track in Albuquerque last Saturday. My sister said her lucky number was 5 and made one $5 bet on number 5 in the second race. To win. Despite my handicapping I lost but she walked away with $127!

We had a blast. Horse racing can be fun, doesn't have to empty your wallet and if you get lucky you can walk away a winner.

My net winnings after nine races? Minus $9. Not bad for three hours. Between her and her boyfriend we ended up net over $50, after paying for drinks and popcorn.

Have fun! Sure better than pounding away at a penny machine!

 

Minimum for w-p-s is $2.
Min for exacta / trifecta is $1, some tracks offer 50 cent tri's.
Min for superfecta is a 10 cents ( 4 hours box on a 10 cent bet is $2.40)

Box means the they can come in any order, so if you have 1 and 2 boxed in an exacta it can come in 1-2 or 2-1.
3 horse exacta box is $6 on a 1 dollar bet
4 horse exacta box is $12 on a 1 dollar bet
3 horse tri box is $6 on a 1 dollar bet
4 horse tri box is $24 on a 1 dollar bet

The PA derby has 2 top caliber horses in California Chrome and Bayern so it might be tough to make money if they run first and second. Also be aware that California Chrome is using this a prep race for the breeders cup, sure they'd like to win but more importantly they want the horse to come out of the race healthy.

Usually on a big race day for a small track like Parx the undercard can get some big pools and big prices. Good luck

 

Thank you very much, everyone!

The craps analogy is good because I am a huge craps player now but was intimidated when I first started. I love watching the horse racing but have never really bet on it. I like the fact that Parx, which is close to my home, is going to host a major race with some big name ponies.

I will definitely read up on it. Maybe I will get lucky and I can walk around passing out hundreds like Wes Welker at The Kentucky?!

 

Minimums vary from track to track. You can bet 10 cent superfectas for example at most tracks. It would only cost ten cents IF you just bet one horse in each position. Most times you would do multiple horses in each position. Some tracks have one dollar win, place and show bets now. DO NOT be afraid to tell the teller that you aren't familiar with betting the horses. They are glad to help you. I play the horses almost everyday and have been for many years. You ask if I'm ahead, hell no, but I have fun.

 

Thanks, Don!

Do you have any feel for the PA Derby? I was reading a bit last night and saw that Chrome has drawn the 1 spot and that he apparently doesn't do well there.

 

just wanted to elaborate on a couple things in case you didn't know.

 

Excellent - thank you!!

Let me ask this...lets say that I want to do a boxed trifecta for $10 - is that a $90 bet?

 

If your talking a 3 horse box it would be $60 dollars. a 4 horse box would be $240 bucks.

 

The odds should look like this:

California Chrome 3-5
Bayern 7/2
Tapiture 12-1
Candy boy 14-1

From a value standpoint the bet is Bayern to win, the horse to play underneath to hit the board is Tapiture. This is his Breeders Cup essentially. California Chrome is using this race as a prep so he is vulnerable. Remember the goal is the BC not the Penn Derby

 

Thank you, guys...much appreciated.

I will probably do a boxed tri and super and hope that I can have some beginners luck on the horses lol

 

You can find race sheets at most of the race books. They're almost always sitting right on the counter for you to come in and pick up. They usually have three or four tracks together for one day. You don't have to ask anyone for them (but you can if you can't find them). Just look for a bunch of white paper books on top of the countertop somewhere. If not, ask one of the ticket writers for a race sheet and tell them the track.

Also, I was reading the response on how to bet... I usually say the track, race number, bet type, and horses. Not saying that's the way it's supposed to be done, but that's the way I've always done it. I'll be at the Mirage tomorrow evening through the weekend.

 

ok, i hope this post is not going too far.
you are not betting against the track. you are betting against the other bettors.

i like to use wheel's (to get more horses on the ticket, or save $), but in a different way. i rarely play on horse on top.
mostly i pick one horse ("spot horse") in a tri or super to finish either 1/2, 2/3 (or 3/4) and build my ticket from there.
trifecta example:
lets say it's a 10 horse field and I like horse 1.
so I put him as our 1/2 horse (he needs to finish 1st or 2nd).
next i'm looking for 3 horses that can beat this horse. (lets say it's 2,3,4)
and then 2 more horse to complete the tri. (lets say it's 5,6)
my bet would look like this:
tri 1 with 2 3 4 with 2 3 4 5 6
and another bet
tri 2 3 4 with 1 with 2 3 4 5 6
so you get 6 horses - 4 possible winners - for 24 bets.

there is also one other strategy, when somebody likes 2 horses. one more then the other (no 1 and no 2).
one horse has to finish 1st or 2nd with the other horse finishing 1st 2nd or 3rd.
with 4 other horses.
4 bets:
1 with 2 with 3,4,5,6
1 with 3,4,5,6 with 2
2 with 1 with 3,4,5,6
3,4,5,6 with 1 with 2
4x 4 bets= 16 bets total

 

Something that hasn't been mentioned, the cost of the bet is simply the number of combinations you are betting.

A $1 3 horse exacta box costs $6. You need 2 of your 3 horses to finish first and second. The bets are:
1-2
1-3
2-1
2-3
3-1

Same idea with trifectas. A $1 four horse trifecta box costs $24. The combos are:
1-2-3
1-2-4
1-3-2
1-3-4
1-4-2
1-4-3
2-1-3
2-1-4
etc.etc

I don't think that had been made clear. This helps explain the cost of "wheels", where you don't necessarily bet all horses in all spots. One of my favorite cheap bets is a 10c Superfecta that costs $7.20. 72 separate bets. Sounds like a lot, but it's really only 3 horses over 5 over 5. (123 with 12345 with 12345) There are 72 combos and if you catch a price on top, it can payout a decent amount.

Dont be afraid to mix it up. I like to box, but have friends who wheel strange combinations to save money. 12 with 34 with 1234 is an $8 tri bet that one of my buddies plays all the time. A bit non-sensical for me, but whatever floats your boat.
3-2

 

I gave you the winner and the tri. Home you hit it