Horse Race Betting: Getting Started

What is horse race betting and how can one learn how to bet on horse races? Horse race betting is one of the most common betting sports around. People who start horse race betting often get hooked to the adrenaline rush that they get from either winning a race or from the shouts of the crowds as the horses race by. If you want to try your hand at horse racing, you need not go to the tracks to do so. You can do horse race betting online but you will need to know the basics of the sport and how to bet before you can try and win your first horse race bet. Here are a few basics on horse race betting.

Horse Racing Basic Terms

When you start horse race betting, you will need to know how to place your bets and how you can win from your bets. You will also need to know how much you can win and why. Horse race betting has its own language. You need to understand it before placing your bets. You also need to learn the kinds of bets you can make. Here are some of the terms you might come across when you try your hand at horse race betting.

▪ Straight Wagers. These are the bets you make in a horse race betting. This kind of wager is divided into three kinds and these can all win you money, depending on what combinations you put in. Straight wagers consist of three kinds of bets and these are Win, Place, and Show.

▪ Win. You only win money when the horse you bet on wins the race that you bet for it to win in.
▪ Place. This is a bet that has your horse in either first or second place for you to win the bet. What you win with a place bet is slightly lower than when you bet on win for your horse. This is because of the bigger chances that you are giving your horse.
▪ Show. This is another straight wager you can make when you try horse race betting. When you bet on your chosen horse to show, you are betting that it will finish in any of the three top positions in the race - first, second, or third place. The winnings you may get from a show bet will also be lower than a win or a place bet since the odds of your horse placing in the top three positions is higher than any of the two kinds of bets.

▪ Across the Board. This is one way to try and win big when you try horse race betting. When you say across the board, you are betting on all three kinds of straight wagers. This means that if your horse wins the race, you get to win on all three bets, the win, the place, and the show. If your horse places second, you win the two bets.