Last updated Betting on the Favorite, an 1870 engraving
Betting on horse racing or horse betting[1] commonly occurs at many horse races. Modern horse betting started in Great Britain in the early 1600s during the reign of King James I.[2][3] Gamblers can stake money on the final placement of the horses taking part in a race. Gambling on horses is, however, prohibited at some racetracks. For example, because of a law passed in 1951, betting is illegal in Springdale Race Course, home of the nationally renowned Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank) Carolina Cup and Colonial Cup Steeplechase in Camden, South Carolina.
Where gambling is allowed, most tracks offer parimutuel betting where gamblers' money is pooled and shared proportionally among the winners once a deduction has been made from the pool. Parimutuel betting also provides purse money to participants and a considerable amount of tax revenue, with over $100 billion being wagered annually in 53 countries.[4][5][6]
In some countries – notably the UK, Ireland, and Australia – an alternative and more popular facility is provided by bookmakers who effectively make a market in odds. This allows the gambler to 'lock in' odds on a horse at a particular time (known as 'taking the price' in the UK).
In North American racing, the three most common ways to bet money are to win, to place, and to show. A bet to win, sometimes called a "straight" bet, means staking money on the horse, and if it comes in first place, the bet is a winner. In a bet to place, you are betting on your horse to finish either first or second. A bet to show wins if the horse finishes first, second or third. Since it is much easier to select a horse to finish first, second, or third than it is to select a horse just for first, the show payoffs will be much lower on average than win payoffs. If there are a small number of horses in the race, show or place bets may not be offered (or if bets have already been made, they are cancelled and the wagered amounts refunded).[citation needed]
In Europe, Australia, and Asia, betting to place is different since the number of "payout places" varies depending on the size of the field that takes part in the race. For example, in a race with seven or less runners in the UK, only the first two finishers would be considered winning bets with most bookmakers. Three places are paid for eight or more runners, whilst a handicap race with 16 runners or more will see the first four places being classed as "placed". (A show bet in the North American sense does not exist in these locations.)
The term each-way (E/W) bet is used everywhere but North America, and has a different meaning depending on the location. An each-way bet sees the total bet being split in two, with half being placed on the win, and half on the place. Bettors receive a payout if the horse either wins, and/or is placed based on the place criteria as stated above. The full odds are paid if the horse wins, (plus the place portion), with a quarter or a fifth of the odds (depending on the race-type and the number of runners) if only the place section of the bet is successful. In the UK some bookmakers will pay for the first five (some independent firms have even paid the first six) for a place on the Grand National. This additional concession is offered because of the large number of runners in the race (maximum 40). Occasionally other handicap races with large fields (numbers of runners) receive the same treatment from various bookmakers, especially if they are sponsoring the race.
The rough equivalent of the each-way in North America is the across the board (win/place/show) or win/place bet, where equal bets on a horse are made to win, place, and show (or just win and place). Each portion is treated by the totalizator as a separate bet, so an across-the-board bet is merely a convenience for bettors and parimutuel clerks. For instance, if a $2 across-the-board bet (total outlay of $6) were staked on a horse which finished second, paying $4.20 to place and $3.00 to show, the bettor would receive $7.20 on what is essentially a $6 wager.
In addition to straight wagers, "exotic" wagers offer bettors an opportunity to incorporate the placement of different horses in one or multiple races. The two broad types of exotic wagers are horizontal and vertical. Horizontal exotic wagers are bets on multiple horses in one particular race, while vertical exotic wagers involve predicting results across multiple races. Both have specific options for which bets are available and are detailed below.
In the most basic horizontal wager, an exacta, the bettor selects the first and second place horses in the exact order. Picking the first three finishers in exact order is called a trifecta and a superfecta refers to the specific finishing order of the top four horses.
Boxing is a tactic that increases the odds of winning an exotic wager by removing the need to choose the exact order. A quinella, which boxes an exacta (allowing the first two finishers to come in any order and still win), is the basic box, but boxing can be applied to the trifecta and superfecta as well.
A wheel is a bet on a single horse is to finish in a specific position, with multiple horses finishing ahead and/or behind it. In a sense, a win bet can be thought of as a specific type of wheel bet.
Vertical bets are spread over different races. A daily double is an exotic wager placed on the winner of two consecutive races. Picking the winner of three, four, five or six straight races is referred to as a pick-3, pick-4, pick-5 and pick-6 respectively.
Betting exchanges
In addition to traditional betting with a bookmaker, punters (bettors) are able to both back and lay money on an online betting exchange. Punters who lay the odds are in effect acting as a bookmaker. The odds of a horse are set by the market conditions of the betting exchange which is dictated to by the activity of the members.[7]
United States
In the United States, the states with the largest pools are California, New York, Kentucky, Florida, Maryland and Illinois in no particular order.[8] Betting on horse racing in the United States varies from state to state. By the late 19th century over 300 tracks were in operation in the country but those opposed to gambling caused the banning of bookmakers and horse racing at the beginning of the next century. In 1908 pari-mutuel (tote) betting was introduced, helping the industry to prosper and that has continued to be the case to the present day. Pari-mutuel betting is currently legal in 32 US states. Due to new legislation horse race betting in the US could change significantly in the near future. The legal market handle on horse racing in the United States in 2018 was $11.26 billion while experts predict the illegal sports betting market could be anywhere from $100 billion to $150 billion annually.[9]
Kentucky Derby
Run on the first Saturday in May the most famous horse race in the United States, the Kentucky Derby, takes place at Churchill Downs and is known as ‘The Run For The Roses.’ The one mile two furlong contest dates back to 1875. $149.9 million was wagered on the race in 2019, beating the previous record amount of $139.2 set 12 months earlier. $24.6 million of that total was gambled online.[10]
Hong Kong
Hong Kong generates the largest horse racing revenue in the world and is home to some of the largest horse betting circles including the Hong Kong Jockey Club founded in 1884. In 2009, Hong Kong generated an average US$12.7 million in gambling turnover per race 6 times larger than its closest rival France at US$2 million while the United States only generated $250,000. Betting on horse racing is ingrained in local culture and is seen as an investment.[11]
During the 2014-2015 racing season the Hong Kong Jockey Club gained per race about HK$138.8 million (US$17.86 million), which is more than any other track worldwide. The revenue the club generate from various wagers makes it the largest taxpayer for the government.[12] Hong Kong Jockey Club broke its own record during the 2016-2017 season with a turnover of HK$216.5 billion and paid the government HK$21.7 billion in duty and profits tax, an all-time high.[13]
Australia
A government survey in 2015 found that nearly one million Australians (5.6% of Australian adults) gambled on dog or horse racing in Australia. Most were men aged between 30 and 64 who had a typical yearly expenditure of $1,300 on race betting. Nationally, typical annual race-betting expenditure amounted to roughly $1.27 billion.[14]
Horse race betting in New South Wales (NSW) is conducted by bookmakers (at race meetings and via telephone) and Tabcorp (tote betting at racecourses and through various retail outlets including the internet). In 2014 it was estimated that $300 million alone was bet on Australia’s most famous race - the Melbourne Cup.[15]
United Kingdom
Horse race betting is wide and varied in the UK. Unlike most other countries, the pari-mutual market in the UK is small compared to fixed odds wagering, accounting for only about 5% of the total betting turnover. Between April 2017 and March 2018, off-course horse racing betting turnover in Great Britain amounted to £4.3 billion.[16] The majority of the money wagered on horse racing in the UK is with bookmakers, either in betting shops or online. In 2018, there were 8,500 betting shops in Great Britain. This figure is expected to decrease significantly in 2019 when government restrictions on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT’s) comes into force.[citation needed]
Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets. In some countries it is known as the tote after the totalisator, which calculates and displays bets already made. In short, the word parimutuel implies tiered winnings/earnings.
Fixed-odds betting is a form of wagering against odds offered by a bookmaker or an individual or on a bet exchange. It involves betting on an event in which there is no fluctuation on the payout. In Australia, the practice is usually known as "SP betting".
A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds.
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic premise – to identify which of two or more horses is the fastest over a set course or distance – has been mostly unchanged since at least classical antiquity.
A tote board is a numeric or alphanumeric display used to convey information, typically at a race track or at a telethon.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1960, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (英皇御准香港賽馬會). The institution reverted to its original name in 1996 due to the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997. Membership of the club is by nomination and election.
A trifecta is a parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Australia, this is known as a tricast in the UK, a tierce in Hong Kong, a triactor in Canada and a tiercé in France. A trio, offered in Hong Kong and France, is a variation in which the order of the horses is not relevant.
Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels. Sports betting can also extend to non-athletic events, such as reality show contests and political elections, and non-human contests such as horse racing, greyhound racing, and cockfighting. It is not uncommon for sports betting websites to offer wagers for entertainment events such as the Grammy Awards, the Oscars, and the Emmy Awards.
The superfecta is a type of wager in USA and Canada parimutuel betting in which the bettor, in order to win, must pick the first four finishers of a race in the correct sequence. This is even more unlikely than a successful wager in the trifecta, which requires correctly picking the first three finishers in order, and as such will have a correspondingly higher payoff.
The Australian and New Zealand punting glossary explains some of the terms, jargon and slang which are commonly used and heard on Australian and New Zealand racecourses, in TABs, on radio, and in the horse racing media. Some terms are peculiar to Australia, such as references to bookmakers, but most are used in both countries.
In the United States, a sportsbook or a race and sports book is a place where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, including golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, greyhound racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies with the sport and the type of game. In the US, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 allowed only Nevada, Oregon, Montana, and Delaware to legally wager on sports other than horse racing, greyhound racing, and jai alai; the law was ruled unconstitutional on May 14, 2018, freeing states to legalize sports betting at their discretion.
Off-track betting is sanctioned gambling on greyhound racing or horse racing outside a race track.
A tipster is someone who regularly provides information (tips) on the likely outcomes of sporting events on internet sites or special betting places.
Tote Ireland is an Irish gambling company headquartered in The Curragh, County Kildare which is the largest pool betting operator in Ireland. Its main product is sports betting. Founded in 1932, it has responsibility for the operation of Tote retail outlets across all 26 racecourses in Ireland. Since 1945, it has been owned by Horse Racing Ireland, formerly known as the Racing Board. In April 2020, Tote Ireland entered into a seven-year strategic partnership with British gambling company, The Tote.
The Gambling Ordinance was enacted in 1977 to regulate gambling in Hong Kong. People are allowed gamble for leisure and entertainment within these regulations at a limited number of authorized outlets. Social gambling is still allowed.
'Due-column Betting' is a type of fixed-profit betting strategy whereby a bettor increases the amount he wagers on a single proposition after each successive loss. According to this system, the bettor determines a target profit before he begins betting. Then he increases his bet on propositions following a loss in such a way that a win will recover the sum of all amounts he lost from his preceding bets plus gain him his predetermined profit.
Glossary of North American horse racing:
Longitude LLC is the inventor and distributor of the Longitude Enhanced Pari-Mutuel System™, a pool betting technology platform.
Instant Racing, known generically as historical race wagering, is an electronic gambling system that allows players to bet on replays of horse races or dog races that have already been run. Some Instant Racing terminals resemble slot machines.
Advance-deposit wagering (ADW) is a form of gambling on the outcome of greyhound races and horse races in which bettors must fund their account before being allowed to place bets. ADW is often conducted online or by phone. In contrast to ADW, credit shops allow wagers without advance funding; accounts are settled at month-end. Racetrack owners, horse trainers and state governments sometimes receive a share of ADW revenues.
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