Bookmakers Horse Racing Bets

How to bet on horse racing and win! The first thing to understand is that in traditional horse race betting, you are in direct competition with the bookmaker - the person, company or organisation that lays the odds. They want your money, and you want theirs!

Most online bookmakers have an 'oddsmaker' - a person, team or system that creates their 'book'. In theory a book is structured so that online bookmakers can't lose - whoever wins the race, the odds are so structured as to guarantee a profit to the online bookmaker.

Bookmakers Horse Racing Bets

In the UK, online bookmakers take horse racing bets slightly differently. If you want to place an each way bet, you need to know that with 2 to 4 runners you can't do place betting.

With 5 to 7 runners you can bet on the 1st and 2nd and will win one quarter of the original odds.

With 8 or more runners, you can go all the way to show and will win one fifth odds.

To complicate matters, handicap races have different horse racing bets - with 12 to 15 runners you can go all the way to show at one quarter of the original odds.

With 16 or more runners you can bet on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th at one quarter odds. Don't ever be afraid to ask for advice - the online bookmaker wants you to bet and so will explain any term you don't understand. Horse racing betting strategies can certainly help.

The most common types of horse racing bets are:

Straight Bets

This is a bet that a certain horse will win. For this, you are given definite odds. If your selection wins, so do you, receiving back the amount specified by the odds you accepted.

Place Bets

This is a bet that your horse will finish either first or second in the race they take part in, and of course has worse odds than a straight bet.

Show Bets

This is a bet that your horse will finish 1st, 2nd or 3rd and has worse odds than a place bet.

Combination Bets

This bet allows you to choose between two and four horses to win in a specified order. The cumulative odds on this can multiply rapidly if you get it right.

Pick 3 Bets

You must pick the winners of three consecutive races. This is surprisingly hard to do, as you have to choose all 3 before the first one kicks off.

Pick 6 Bets

Pick the winners of six consecutive races, choosing all 6 before the first one kicks off.

Reverse Forecast Bets

You can bet on two horses to finish first and second in a single race where the order doesn't matter - either horse A is first and Horse B is second, or vice versa. To bet you say "£10 quiniela, numbers 3 and 7". If the results of the first two horses are either 3-7 or 7-3, you win.

Perfecta / Exacta / Straight Forecast Bets

You bet on two horses to cross the finish line in exactly your chosen order. To bet you say " £5 Perfecta, 4-7." Only if the horses finish 4-7 you win.

Trifecta / Tricast / Treble Forecast Bets

Like a Perfecta, but betting on three horses to cross the finish line in exactly your chosen order. To bet you say "£10 trifecta numbers 3,2 and 5." Only if they finish 3-2-5 you win.

Superfecta Bets

That's right, bet on four horses crossing the finish line in the exact order you specify.

Daily Double Bets

Allows you to select the winners of the first and second races of the day, placing your bet before the start of the very first race. To bet you say something like "£5 daily double on 6 (your pick to win in the first race) and 2 (your pick to win in the second race)".

Jackpot Bets

Like the lottery, you pick six winners in six races. Prizes vary, but because the odds are so extreme, they tend to be very large and hard to win but can be very rewarding.

Accumulator Bets

A sequence of bets of your choice, where you 'let it ride'. You bet on multiple races, and the winnings are passed along to the next bet in the sequence. If you get it right, this can multiply up to very large sums quite rapidly, although even one wrong call means you lose everything!

Future Bets

At the start of each horse racing season, you will be able to get odds on a horse to win a certain event at a future race which you specify. The odds are fixed, so even if they shorten for everyone else as the race approaches, you still get the original odds you were offered.