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Horse Racing Betting Strategy

Winning on the Tote - It is not easy to make money betting on horses. That is why you can have two people both armed with the same quality information. One of them makes money over the long term. The other loses and after a while gives up.

Here are some points you need to consider

• The aim of betting is to beat the races, not your home state tote. If you are relying on tote odds only from your home state, you are putting yourself at a huge disadvantage. You are effectively trying to beat your home state tote, not the races. You are more often than not missing the best tote odds available.
• You are also betting into markets of around 120%+ compared to significantly less for most Saturday metropolitan bookmaker markets and usually well less at top official betting ring price (TF or top fluctuation).
• You will find it very difficult to get good odds about the best selections. If there is support for your horse in the betting ring you will often back it at the worst price - worse even than its official plunged starting price in the betting ring.
• You will invariably miss out on backing winners because the price on your tote is too short. Were you able to obtain best tote odds or best betting ring odds you would have been betting on a winner.
• When you do back winners you will invariably get way under the odds available. That will also cost you money.
• To win long term at racing you need good selections and you need to get good prices about them. That means you must shop around between totes from across the country and the betting ring prices.
• Well over 90% of bettors are long-term losers. They lose for many reasons such as poor bets, poor staking and lack of discipline.
• You can be the most disciplined bettor around, but if you restrict your win betting to prices available on only one tote you will regularly miss out on backing value winners because the price is not available in your little part of the betting world. The price will often be available on other totes and in the betting ring. Don't kid yourself. If you put yourself at such a huge disadvantage it is practically impossible for you to make a profit at the punt. We do not know any professional who would even dream of operating under such a handicap.

The Challenge

The challenge of betting on horses is to collect and analyze information and then to make a sound judgment on what to bet, what type of bet to place and how much to wager. In order to create an opportunity to be a winner, you need to take three main factors into account, analyze each and act on your findings accordingly.

These factors are:

• The odds offer (price)
• The value of the odds (overpriced or underpriced?)
• The type of bet (single, multiple, combination, etc.)

The odds offer should be at least 2:1 to make it worthwhile. If necessary, choose a selection with a slightly higher risk to prop up the price.

The value of the odds must be such that the sportsbook's commission is to a minimum, if at all. Some selections get 'steamed' unnecessarily. When this happens, the 'favorite' price lengthens. Take advantage of those situations.

Three types of bets seem to stand out as a sensible combination to use because they are simple, not too difficult to win and have good winning potential: the Straight bet, the Doubles and the Future.