Horse racing is a sport that brings together people from all over the world, but it is also a great way to make money. There are different ways to go about winning, and sometimes it can be quite difficult to know which strategy is best suited to you. In this article, we will discuss what is meant by a good betting strategy for horse racing as well as some proven ways that you can use to improve your odds of winning.
The Importance of Position
One of the first things that you should do before placing a bet on a horse race is to study the form guide for the event. This will give you an idea of what to expect and allow you to place a bet with confidence. Knowing the form of the track is extremely important, as this will affect the outcome of your horse race. There are three key positions that you need to pay attention to, as these will either make or break your whole betting strategy.
- The top of the pyramid
- The middle of the pyramid
- The bottom of the pyramid
The top of the pyramid refers to the position at the top of the track, which is a position just behind the rail. If you place a bet from this position, you will always get the best view of the race as the horses will pass by you. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the bottom of the pyramid refers to the last position near the starting gate. As the name suggests, this is the worst position from which to bet, as the horses will be far away from you and therefore, it will be hard to discern what is going on. In most cases, this is the losing option.
The Most Popular Bets
There are several popular bets that you will encounter while placing bets on horse races. Some of these bets are quite risky, and you should only place them if you are confident that you can make the right call. These bets include:
- Who will be the first to cross the finish line?: This is essentially a one-horse race, where you pick the winner of the race. In most cases, this bet is quite simple to place, as all you have to do is bet on the horse that you believe will be the first to cross the finish line. If your pick comes in first, you win; if it comes in second, you lose. In some cases, there can be a backlog following closely behind the winner. In these situations, you might want to place a lay bet, which is a combination of the two previous bets. This bet will pay off if, at any point during the duration of the race, the other horse crosses the finish line before your selected horse. The popularity of this bet stems from the fact that, occasionally, the first horse to cross the finish line is not what you predicted and therefore, you want to hedge your bet by placing a lay bet on the second horse. This way, you will be compensated if your first choice does not win, but you will also earn a profit if your second choice does.
- Which horse will come in first?: Similarly to the previous bet, here you are picking the first horse across the finish line. The difference is that you have to pick a particular horse to come in first, so that if your pick comes in second, you will lose. This type of bet is a little bit more complex than the previous one, as it requires some research on your side. You will find many online resources that can help you research the right horse for the job. When choosing a horse, it is important to look at its past performances, studying the form guide, and watching live streams of the races.
- Which horse will finish in the top?: In a similar fashion to the two previous bets, here you are choosing a horse to finish in the top, so that if it comes in first, second or third, you will win. This bet is a little more complex than the previous ones, as you have to make a choice about how you want the race to play out. You can either choose to win by a large margin, finish second or third, or finish fifth or sixth. If you believe that the form guide will place your pick in the top three, you should go for it. But if you think that it will be closer, you might want to pass on this bet. The advantage of this bet is that if you do succeed in picking a horse that finishes in the top three, your returns will be significant.
- Which horse will lose?: Finally, we arrive at one of the more traditional bets where you are choosing a horse to lose. If you believe that the form guide will place your pick at the bottom of the pile, you should definitely go for it. The disadvantage, however, is that if your pick does come in last place, you will lose a massive amount of money. It is always a good idea to put a little bit of money down on each of these bets to ensure that you do not go bankrupt from one bad pick.
The Difference In Experience
While knowing the form of the track is extremely important, another factor that you need to take into consideration is your experience level in betting on horse races. If you are new to this game, it might be a good idea to start small and gradually increase your bets as you gain more and more experience. One great way to learn how to place bets successfully is by watching other peoples’ experiences. You can do this either through live sports betting websites or by joining a social media group where other betters share their tips and tricks. In most cases, you will not have much luck if you are betting against seasoned professionals.
Form Vs. Luck
These are two factors that affect the outcome of a horse race greatly, but one thing that you need to keep in mind is that they are not necessarily related to each other. You might have a horse with great form, but this may not necessarily translate into good luck for you. The key is to learn how to use these two factors effectively. Sometimes, you might have bad luck on a particular day and this can heavily influence the outcome of a race. In other cases, you might have a poor-looking horse, but due to some strange quirk of fate, it happens to be running really well and wins the race.
Bets On Multi-race Events
While it is generally a good idea to pick single-race events, due to the nature of the beast, these are not always the case. If you have a specific horse that you believe will win a certain race and you want to place a bet on this, there is no problem with this. But if you are choosing a horse to win a specific multi-race event, this is where things can get a little bit more complex. If you are not confident that your chosen horse will win any of the races in the multi-race event, it might be a bad idea to place a bet on this. There are cases where a horse has won a series of races that it did not actually win, as the results of the races were fixed by the owners. If you do decide to go ahead with this bet, make sure that you do your research and find out what happened in these previous races. In most cases, this is not something that will affect the outcome of the bet you are placing, as the races will be run fairly and the results will be legit, but it’s worth knowing.
More Than Meets The Eye
These are just some of the most important things that you need to keep in mind if you are planning to bet on horse races. Knowing how to place a bet effectively takes some experience and research, so do not expect to learn how to do this overnight. As we mentioned, there are different ways to go about winning and losing in this game, and sometimes it can be quite difficult to know which strategy is best suited to you. But if you do your research and develop a good understanding of the underlying theory, it will be well worth your while.