Sports have always had a tight relationship with sports betting. That relationship has been strained at some points, and at others, great. However, not everyone feels really good about sports betting being so closely tied to sports, because of fixing matches.
While that has been a persistent issue at the start of the 20th century, prior to formal organizations and severe penalties for those caught fixing matches, today, things are a lot different and we can safely enjoy placing bets online without worrying.
Sports betting is still a large part of many sports, particularly horse racing. Horse race betting has been a very popular pastime for many fans of betting in general, and not just horse racing.
Horse racing has its own quirks, particularly when it comes to betting. Here are some of the most important things you should know about horse racing if you want to bet on the sport.
Learn the Different Bet Types
In order to be good at sports betting, you need to know the bets particular for that sport. In horse racing, there are a few very popular bets that you should be aware of. The first one is Win, meaning which horse will take the race. It is the simplest bet, likely to be found in any sport.
The second bet is Place. This bet gives you the opportunity to select who will place first and second. Some countries allow you to select a third, but that change is called a Show bet in others. These two bets give you better odds of winning, provided that you actually guess the right two or three horses.
Pick bets are interesting, where you pick the winner for 3 or more consecutive races. It does not have to be the same horse. These bets are difficult to win but give you a great payout.
Study the Horses and Jockeys
There is nothing like a good old-fashioned study prior to placing a bet. Playing with names and your heart is not going to win you much money. Actually studying the statistics of horses and their prior races will give you a much better understanding of how they performed. You should pay attention to everything, from the track material to the horse’s age and their prior results. If a horse had plenty of photo finishes, the odds are that it could be a winner at some point, compared to a horse that consistently ended second without much competition.
As with other sports, research is key to a good, or rather, “safer” bet, if such a bet exists. Be mindful that there are no safe bets, but that you can only increase your odds, up to an extent.
Find Better Odds
This is a simple way of making sure that you get better odds, simply by finding more than one bookmaker. Look up different bookmakers online, which is the easiest way to go about it. You are likely to find better odds at another bookmaker, but for a particular race. This might be the way to go, but one should also research whether the bookmaker is reputable. After that, bookmarking reputable sites is recommended.
If one wants to become better at horse racing betting, one should know where to bet, who has the best odds, find the best bet for them and choose a horse and race accordingly, after doing rigorous research.
