To win the big money at horse racing online you need to know which bets to avoid. Some of the bets that are offered by online racebooks are very hard to hit. Others have a high takeout for the track. EZ Horse Betting has compiled a list of the 5 worst horse racing bets that you will want to stay away from. See our Bovada racebook review, Twinspires review or even our Betamerica review. All great choice if you are in the US. 5Dimes review for folks anywhere!
1 โ The Show Bet
No one can really explain why this bet remains so popular with the novice race bettor. Year after year those who make Show bets lose their money, and yet they come back for more. The Show bet is one of those that you should never make at an online racebook, with one exception that we will discuss.
Betting to Show is easy, and that may be why it has such a strong appeal. The horse you bet on only has to finish third or better for you to collect the bet. Making the bet may be easy, but making a profit on it is not. The reason for this is that the bet almost always returns mere pennies on your investment. With most tracks having a $2 minimum on Show bets, you could receive as little as $0.20 back when you win.
We don’t have to tell you that risking $2 to win $0.20 is a quick way to lose your bankroll. The only time that you should ever consider making a Show wager is when you are doing a Show parlay for fun. You begin by betting $2 to show on a horse, and you roll over the profits to make another Show bet on the next race. Keep going until you make a small profit or lose one bet in the sequence. Either way, you’re only risking two bucks.
2 โ The Quinella
In the history of horse racing bets there may have been none worse than the Quinella. Basically an exacta box, the Quinella produced terribly low payouts. The good news is that most horse race tracks have now dropped this bet from their menu. Only the uninitiated were making the bet.
To play the Quinella one had to select two horses in a race to finish first and second. This is precisely the same thing that one does for an exacta bet. The difference was that the Quinella paid if the horses you chose finished 1-2 despite their order. In other words, it was the same bet as an exacta box with one crucial difference. An exacta box is typically two tickets and therefore double the cost of the base wager. A Quinella was one bet, and most tracks offered it for a minimum of $2.
Those who were lucky enough to win their Quinella wager would often be disappointed with the payout. It could be as little as $4 for a $2 bet. Many times a win wager on one of the horses that was chosen would have returned more money than the Quinella. You will have a hard time finding this bet at North American tracks, but it is still available at some racing venues in the UK.
3 โ The Twin Trifecta
Andrew Beyer sings the praises of this bet in one of his books on horse race betting. He managed to make quite a score from it in his younger days. Nevertheless, the Twin Trifecta earns a spot as one of the 5 worst bets in horse racing. It lands on this list because it is a complicated wager to make, and it is even harder to win.
Bettors begin by making a Trifecta bet or several of them on a specified race. If the bettor wins the bet they are allowed to bet a second Trifecta on another race. They are permitted one bet for each winning Trifecta ticket they hold from the first race. To cash the bet the player must win the second Trifecta bet. Are you confused yet?
Even though it was a confusing bet to make, the payouts could be very generous. The reason for this is that the track would roll over the pool each day if no one cashed a ticket. The Twin Trifecta disappeared from horse racing a while ago. It never really caught on except in a few circuits like the one in Maryland.
4 โ The $0.10 Superfecta
This is the racing bet that earned the ire of racing columnist Dick Jerardi. Jeradi went so far as to say that all those who played the bet should be barred from the racetrack! His anger came because a woman in Texas managed to take down an entire Superfecta pool with a single $0.10 bet.
The Superfecta is a bet that requires the bettor to pick the first four finishers of a race in correct order. Not an easy feat by any means. The $0.10 version is the same bet offered for a smaller amount. There is even an option for bettors to get a $0.10 โquick pickโ ticket for this bet. Doing so is no different than getting a lottery ticket and letting the machine pick your numbers.
This bet is still offered at many race tracks today. It is very popular, and it can produce some large payouts. The issue that many people have with the bet is that few actual handicappers are playing it. There are those who say that if you don’t have an opinion on the race then you should not be betting it in the first place. At EZ Horse Betting we would tend to agree.
5 โ The Pick Six
There are going to be some people that disagree with the inclusion of the Pick Six on this list. Many people love this bet that can pay up to six figures. We are including it here because it is a costly bet to play and the chances of winning it are so slim.
The Pick Six requires you to pick the winner of six consecutive races. If no one wins the bet, the pool is carried over to the next racing day. On a few occasions there have been Pick Six pools that have topped $1 million. The problem is that when the pool gets this big, the syndicates come out to play. They will dump thousands of dollars in bets trying to cover as many winning combinations as possible. It is a big disadvantage to the player who can only afford to play $10 or $20 on the bet.
The Pick Six can be found every day at almost all race tracks throughout the world. Bettors keep chasing it hoping to make that life-changing score. Good luck to them, but we’ll pass.
Now that you know which horse racing bets to avoid, take a moment and sign up with one of our recommended online racebooks. Signing up takes just a few moments, and you may even be rewarded with bonus cash on your first wagering deposit.
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