Betting 101
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Step 1: Decide How Much to Bet The minimum “basic” bet is $2. You can bet more if you want. It’s always up to you! Step 2: Pick Your Horse You can pick a horse because you like its name, number or colour. That’s the fun way. Another way is to pick a horse because of a jockey’s or driver’s record, or the horse’s past performance. A race program, available for a small fee, will give you this informaton for every horse and for every race being held. You don’t need a race program to pick a horse, but it does help! Step 3: Pick Your Basic Bet
Once you’ve mastered the basic bets, you’re ready to try other types of bets like the Daily Double, Exactor, Triactor, Superfecta, Pick 3, Pick 4 or Pick 6. They’re similar to making a basic bet, and a whole lot more fun. Because when you win a bet like these, you can win more money! To help make these bets, we have included some examples below. Choose a Betting Window to Place Your Bet Once you’ve decided on the dollar amount, horse and bet type, you’re ready to place your bet. When you get to the betting window here’s all that you have to say when you get there:
Put it all together and say: “Woodbine, race 1, two dollars on number 7 to win.” Your tell will collect your money and print out your ticket. Be sure to check your ticket to confirm it’s the bet you want. OR Choose a Self-Serve Terminal to Place Your Bet When you get to a Self-Serve Terminal here’s all you have to do when you get there:
Be sure to check your ticket to confirm it’s the bet you want. After the Race When the race is “official” take your ticket and check it against the official results to see if your ticket is a winner. Horse Track History Before the 1970s, only the state of Nevada allowed for off-track betting.It became allowed in New York ZCity in 1970, after years of unsuccessful attempts by the city to legalize it. Their success was such that by the 1970s there were a hundred betting parlors in New York City,and twice that number by the late 1980s.In New York City, the thought was that legal off-track betting would increase revenue while at the same time decreasing illegal gambling activity, but one effect of the legalization was the decrease of revenue at the race tracks. The 1978 Interstate Horseracing Act struck a compromise between the interests of horse tracks and owners, the state, and OTB parlors, and stipulated that OTB revenues were to be distributed among the tracks, the horse owners, and the state. Another stipulation was that no OTB parlor was allowed to operate within 60 miles of a track. Revenues at the track indeed lessened, but rather than fight off-track betting the industry sought to increase its income via new ways of gambling, betting on the OTB potential, and came up with “exotic wagers” such as exacta and trifecta. Thus the industry’s revenue increased even as the number of spectators at the track went down. |