International Horse Race Betting
- Horse Racing is a prestigious sport enjoyed in most parts of the world. Large numbers people of all nationalities, race groups, ages and genders look forward to the thrill of pounding hooves on the.
- Horse racing betting is a whole different animal compared to all other sports. However, as with all sports gambling, if you have the winner, you are ahead of the game. Picking straight winners is a good place to start. You can even aim ‘lower’ than that and pick a horse to either win, place, show.
- Horse racing is one of the most popular and exciting sports worldwide, in part because of its rich history as a pastime across many countries and cultures. One of the reasons why it is also among the most popular sports to bet is because it delivers results immediately.
Hollywood Races is an online horse betting site. Bet online, on our app, by phone or at the track. View live races, replays, results, schedules and more. Betting online is a convenient way to bet on horse racing. It can be done anywhere, and at any time. If you schedule doesn't allow you to make a trip to the track, online is perfect. Betting online can earn you bonuses and rewards not offered at the race track.
International horse racing is a sport of regal majesty with finely-trained competitors working as hard as they can for themselves and their team. It’s a sport of pageantry that looks great for being over 6,500 years old.
Even better, it’s a sport that’s played around the world with the same basic fundamentals no matter where it’s taking place. (Not to be too reductive, but the sport is about horses running fast… That’s pretty much a universal activity.) It’s also because it can be run around the world that you can usually find a race somewhere to bet at any time.
That makes it one type of betting that you can get action on whenever you need the action. With that said, horse racing has had a long time to develop its own terminology and ways to bet.
To that end, we’re going to unravel how to bet horse racing, both from where you can place the actual bets to how to determine which pony deserves your money. From there, how you bet the races is up to you. Fortunately, watching the races is a good time and usually a reward in and of itself even if you don’t win money.
It’s Not a Sure Bet
The first thing to keep in mind with international horse racing is that it’s an ever-evolving game. New events pop up and existing events go away. International rules change and what was once a popular bet to race suddenly throws up an obstacle and you might not get to bet it.
At the end of the day, this is really a problem only if you want to bet on one particular international horse race.
There could be complications with that one race. However, if you just want to bet on a race, the good news is that there’s one out there for you.
Where Is Horse Betting Legal?
Unfortunately, before we get to how to bet on horse races, I do want to make the slight legal disclaimer that betting on horses isn’t legal everywhere. But that shouldn’t stop you. Just don’t expect to be able to go to your local hometown casino and throw down some cash on the ponies. You may have to do some digging.
Please NoteGambling laws vary from state to state and country to country, and horse racing may not be allowed in your state or region. Head on over to our gambling laws page to check out up-to-date gambling laws from all across the globe.
Horse Betting Is Usually Legal at the Racetrack
With those two roadblocks out of the way, now, we can talk about where to place horse bets. For me, the most obvious place to bet on horses is at the horse track.
This is clearly the easiest way to bet on domestic horse racing, but a lot of horse tracks will have books that can accept other types of bets. It’s worth researching to see if you can bet other types of races while at the track. That way, you get the thrill of betting on multiple races at once.
Find a Good Sportsbook or an Online Horse Racing Site
If you don’t have a local horse track near you (and that’s probably a lot of people reading this), hopefully, Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, or New Jersey are close because those are your best bets (pun intended) for putting money on the ponies legally.
In fact, some statistics show that these casinos dedicate as much as 50% of their total screens to showing horse racing over more common sports. Clearly, they want you to bet on horse racing because it’s good for business.
Even if the hour is too early or late for sports to be played in the US, the sportsbook can always take money on horse races because there’s probably one happening somewhere throughout the world.
With that said, the big drawback to international horse betting is that, even if your local casino allows sports betting (which not all do), they may not let you bet on horses. Therefore, your newfound hobby of horse betting is probably going to be limited by geography.
Still, I hope that doesn’t stop you because it can be thrilling and a good way to make a profit. There is always the options of joining a great horse racing betting site, where you can find horse racing odds on any race your heart desires.
Reading the Basic Odds and Winnings
So, let’s say that you have a place to legally place international horse racing bets and you have a bankroll to start, what’s next? Simple, fill out a racing form, place your $2 (or more) wager, and watch the money roll in.
No, really, that’s all there is to it. At its most basic, horse racing is a simple exercise of picking a single horse to win the race at a given set of odds. Odds don’t follow any sort of strange pattern. If a horse is going off at 4/1 and you bet it, you will make four times your original bet (and get your original bet back).
You might see something really strange like 3/2 odds, but for the most part, it’s a straight up bet. You pick the winner of the field or you don’t.
Different Types of Bets
Of course, if you prefer, there can be a little more to it than that. There are different types of horse racing bets you can place that will make it easier or harder for you to win (and consequently, to give you more or less money).
The most common of these bets are bets to place or show. When you bet that a horse will place, you are saying that the horse will finish in first or second place. If you bet the horse will show, you’re wagering that the horse will be in the top three.
These bets are easier to hit and therefore, pay less. There are also exacta bets when you wager on who will finish first and second, or quinellas which mean you’re betting which horses finish top two in any order. Trifectas are like quinellas, but with three horses. These bets are harder to hit and pay more.
If you’re just starting out, don’t do anything more risky than betting to win. That way, you should see some money.
International Horse Race Betting Sites
Factors to Consider When Betting
Now that you know where to bet and the different types of bets, how are you going to pick a horse?
We’ve all heard the story about the gambler who lets his daughter pick a horse or who bets his grandfather’s name and wins a bajillion dollars. While those stories could be true, they are hardly foolproof betting schemes. (If they’re not, can your daughter pick my horses, too?)
Anyway, when picking a horse, there are lots of factors to consider other than their name. The relative value of each factor varies from gambler to gambler and horse to horse, but a good place to start is form.
- The horse’s form is how well it has been doing. A horse that has placed or showed in its last races is a safer bet to place or show in this race than one that finished dead last the previous time it took to the track.
- Like Franklin Mint coins, prior performance is no guarantee of future gains, but if this were fantasy football, you’re better off picking Patrick Mahomes as your QB based off form than say Andy Dalton or Josh Rosen.
- You can also look up statistics on horses to see how they do over certain distances (not all tracks are the same length) and turf type (not all tracks are made of the same material). It may be that your horse does well on turf, but not on sand. If the track you’re at is sand, that’s really good to know.
- If you’re unable to find out anything about the horse’s past races, at the very least, you should be able to figure out its owner and trainer. If you have nothing else to go on, bet on a horse with a more successful jockey or owner.
- In football terms, it’s better to go with the team coached by Bill Belichick than Freddie Kitchens.
Of course, that’s fairly brief, but hopefully, it gets you started in determining how best to bet your horses so that you have some idea of where to place your hard-earned cash. Also, it helps that the things that aid in international horse betting also work for domestic horses and vice versa.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now feel ready to tackle the exciting world of always-on, always-ready international horse betting. As long as you can find a place to legally bet the ponies, it’s a great way to wager some money.
All you need to do is understand how to make your bet. Are you betting a straight win, a place, or a show? Are you going to risk an exacta?
International Horse Race Betting
After you figure out what type of bet you want to make, then you need to pick your horse(s). Pay attention to their form, their preferred track and distance, and make your wagers. With a little practice, you will see the money come rolling in.