Horse racing is one of the most popular sports to bet on online, as millions wager their hard-earned money on some of the biggest events on the calendar. However, gaining returns when making wagers on the sport can often be challenging, especially when compared to sports such as soccer, American Football, and basketball.
There are many tips that bettors should follow to enhance their chances of gaining considerable returns when betting on the sport, and you can learn more about some of the most common methods to follow here.
Understand The Markets
While horse racing may offer fewer betting markets than some of the most popular sports online, there can often be value in siding with certain markets to enhance your chances of gaining returns. Therefore, you must understand all the different markets available when making a wager on racing before making your first bet.
Some of the markets available are easy to understand, as the win market revolves around the punter finding the winner of the race that they are betting on. However, if there is a short-priced favorite in a race, then it could be worth making a place or a show bet. Here, you will get paid out providing that your selection finishes in the top two or three, respectively.
Another popular type of betting on racing is through the exotics. Here, bettors can place an exacta, which means that bettors will need to find the first and second finishers in the correct order, or a trifecta, which sees bettors have to successfully find the horses that will finish first, second, and third.
Assess The Bet Types Available
Bettors must also assess the bet types that are available to them. This includes examining whether you should place a single bet on a selection, or include a runner as part of a longer-formed wager such as a parlay. If you’re looking to wager on a number of short-priced favourites, then a popular angle is to join them together in one longer bet to enhance the returns that you stand to win.
This is a popular betting option with experienced bettors, as they would opt to place a significant amount on a double or treble when it comes to a number of short-priced favourites at the top of the betting. However, this type of betting option does also come with its disadvantages, as the bet would be a loser if just one of your selections fails to win.
Therefore, it is only encouraged if you are sure that the selections will win after completing the research. Other multiple betting options include a Lucky 15, which is made up of four selections covering all possible singles, doubles, trebles, and the four-fold.
Using A Bet Calculator
A tip that many follow when it comes to longer-formed selections such as parlays and Lucky 15s is that of a bet calculator. This tool can often be found in many of the leading sportsbooks, and it will help bettors determine the payouts from their selections.
Calculators are fairly straightforward to use for all bettors, as you will enter the odds of your selections into the calculator, before adding the stake that you’re playing on the selections. You can try the box trifecta payout calculator by TwinSpires for example.
The bet calculator will then determine the returns from the selections and the potential profit that you stand to win. Furthermore, the calculator is also an excellent way to see your returns if there are deductions in the possible payout due to non-runners on the day.
You can set this setting on the calculator before confirming your selections to determine the profit and returns on the tool. It is a feature that is used by millions nowadays, as it helps avoid errors from the gambler when it comes to math.
Do Your Research
An important tip that all horse racing bettors must follow before making selections on the action is the research. Under no circumstances should bettors overlook this stage, as it will be a sure-fire way to make less educated bets on the action. The research stage ensures that bettors have weighed up all the positives pros and cons for each of the runners involved in the race, and will help identify the leading contender.
During research, bettors will examine the strength of the form for each runner involved, which includes looking at the horse’s win-loss record, the runners record over the distance, and their record at the track where they are competing. Furthermore, bettors should also weigh up the form of the stable, and whether the jockey is producing winners on a regular basis.
Even more research can be carried out by assessing each runner’s pedigree, for example whether their sire or dam has won over a certain distance. It is also important to assess whether the runner prefers a certain ground type, for example some runners will likely produce their best effort on soft ground, while other would want nothing worse than good.
Avoid Following Tips Online
Nowadays, there are hundreds of thousands of ‘experts’ online claiming that they will produce daily winners for their followers. This number is only increased by those accounts that offer a paid service to their followers. Under no circumstances should you follow these tipsters, and you should especially not pay for a tipping channel.
Following those that consider themselves to be experts is often a poor decision, as they will likely hand out poor tips in order to finance their own bets by shifting the markets in the way that aids them. The views of experts on recognised and trusted outlets should be taken into account, but only after you have done your own research. This is a popular method for some bettors, as they will want to know that their own findings are being supported by tipsters or experts that they can rely on.
However, it is important to rank your own knowledge above anybody else’s, which means that if you find a betting angle that you are happy with, then you shouldn’t sway your opinion because you have read a different betting approach on social media.