Pickswise’s online horse racing betting guide has everything you need to know about how and where to bet on horse racing the US. We take a look at the best online horse racing sportsbooks. Explain all of the ways in which you can wager on a horse race. And our own horse racing experts round up the guide with five horse racing betting tips and strategies to help you to bet better on horse racing.
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How To Bet On Horse Racing
When it comes to placing a wager on the horses, the majority of bettors will look to place either a simple Win bet, Place bet or Show bet. These three types of wager are betting in the simplest form. A Win bet is simply placing a wager on a horse to finish first, a Place bet, a horse to finish first or second and a Show bet for a horse to finish in the first three. Other popular betting methods on horse racing include multiple bets, parlays, and exotics, all of which will be explained in our betting markets section below.
Horse Racing Picks
Our industry expert tipsters will give out free horse racing picks and horse racing selections on all of the top domestic and international equine action. With horse racing taking place almost every day, there is always plenty of action for our tipster to analyze and for horse racing fans to place wagers on. Check out our Horse Racing Picks and Horse Racing Predictions pages for all of today’s top plays.
Where To Bet on Horse Racing
Betting on horse racing has a long and illustrious history in the US, and is a much wider accessible form of gambling that the majority of other sports.
It is currently legal to place a wager on horse racing online in 41 states across America.
The nine states where you cannot legally place an online bet on horse racing are:
The online bookmakers available will vary from state to state, with some online sportsbooks unavailable in certain states.
One of the industry leaders in horse racing betting is TVG. TVG is one of the most reputable names in the business and part of the TVG horse and greyhound racing tv network. With a sole focus on all things racing, be it greyhounds or horses, TVG’s industry expertise is clear to see, and they cover all of the top action from around the world.
While most online sportsbooks offer domestic horse racing odds, those that offer odds on international horse racing typically only cover flagship days like the Epsom Derby, Royal Ascot, or the Prix de l’arc de Triomphe. At TVG, international racing fans can place wagers on racing throughout the week, with a myriad of tracks from Dubai, Australia, Great Britain, China, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa available, there are countless races to place a wager on each day.
As well as extensive horse racing coverage, TVG offers competitive odds with regular price boosts, Money-back specials, daily cash giveaways, and unrivaled streaming services for all of the action.
TVG is a particularly good option for those new to the horse racing betting or sports betting in general as they have 11 in-depth tutorial videos available to walk a bettor through all of the account options, how to navigate the website, and explaining all of the betting jargon.
BetAmerica, part of the Churchill Downs incorporation also has a long history within horse racing and their own separate, designated horse racing section to their sportsbook.
BetAmerica offers much the same at TVG with regular offers and comprehensive coverage of both domestic and international racing with an even greater selection of horse racing, with up to 300 tracks shown from North America, Ireland, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Japan, France, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia, and Argentina.
BetAmerica is also a great option for fans of greyhound racing, where their coverage is unrivaled, showing approximately 1000 races each week.
Horse Racing Betting Markets
The simplest form of betting on a horse race, a bet on a horse to win the race. Your horse must finish first for your wager to payout.
A Place bet is a bet on a horse to finish in the first two. You’ll receive the same payout regardless if your horse finishes first or second.
Similar to a Place bet, but instead of the first two, you’re betting on a horse to finish in the first three. You’ll receive the same payout regardless if your horse finishes first, second, or third.
A Win/Place bet is simply a combination of a Win bet and Place bet on the same horse, one to win, one to place. As its two bets, the total wager will cost twice the amount of your bet.
For example, a $10 Win/Place will be $10 Win bet and $10 Place bet costing $20 in total.
If your horse wins you will collect on both parts of the ticket, the Win bet, and Place bet. If your horse finishes second you will only collect the winnings from the Place bet. If your selection finishes worse than second, the wager is a loser.
A combination of a place and a show bet. Similarly to a Win/Place bet, it’s two bets so the total wager will cost twice the amount of your bet.
If your horse finishes first or second you’ll cash on both the Place and Show bets. If your horse finishes third, you’ll only cash the show part of the wager. A horse finishing outside of the top-3 will result in a losing wager.
An Across The Board bet is a combination of all three wagers above, so if you bet a horse Across The Board, you are taking it to win place and show. If the horse wins, you collect on all three bets. If it is second, you collect on Place and Show bets, and if it is third you collect on only the Show part of the bet.
An Exacta bet is a bet whereby you pick the horses to finish first and second horses in the correct order.
A Quinella bet is the same as an exacta bet except the horses can finish in either order. As such the total wager will cost double your bet stake – see it as two separate wagers on combinations 1×2 or 2×1 in finishing order.
A Trifecta is a bet whereby you select the first, second, and third horses. Each horse will need to finish in the exact order that you picked to win your bet.
A Superfecta is even tougher. A Superfecta is a bet on the first four horses home. With each of the first, second, third, and fourth horses needing to finish in the exact order you picked for your bet to win.
Exotic Multiple bets are a great way to have a bet on multiple races, whereby you have to pick the winner of consecutive races.
The Daily Double is a bet where you have to select the winner of two races consecutive races, Pick 3, on three races, Pick 4 on four races and Pick 6 on six races. The races included in today’s exotic multiples will be highlighted at your favorite online bookmaker. New to betting online or unsure where to bet? Check out our latest promo codes and sportsbook reviews.
Exotic combination bets are bets that allow you to select multiple horses into the exotic bets listed above such as exacta, trifecta, and superfecta. There are multiple different types of exotic combination bets, with the most common types being Box and Key bets
Boxing a bet means covering all available combinations, so in an Exacta, there are 2 possibilities, a Trifecta has 6, and so on. You multiply the cost of your unit stake appropriately.
For example, a $2 box trifecta on three horses has 6 possibilities 1x2x3, 1x3x2, 2x1x3, 2x3x1, 3x1x2 & 3x2x1. A Box bet places your stake on each of these combinations, so a $2 bet on each will cost $12. If the three horses you select to finish in the first three, you’ll have the combination and will be paid out in line with the odds of that combination.
Keying a horse means taking it to win by itself and adding others to finish in behind it.
For example, a Trifecta Key would be choosing one horse you definitely think will win and then any combination of other horses to fill second and third place behind it.
The cost of the Trifecta Key will depend on how many horses you select in behind the horse to win.
A 3-box trifecta, meaning three selections to finish either 2nd or 3rd behind your selection for 1st place would cost 6x your stake as there are 6 possible combinations.
Horse Racing Betting Tips: 5 Ways To Bet Smarter On Horse Racing