Horse racing has been a form of gambling for decades. In fact, it’s one of the oldest forms of gambling that has simply become an exciting event to try your luck. In the past, horse racing attracted thousands of gamblers who filled the tracks and gathered around television and radio stations. Today, however, you have an incredible opportunity to bet online and follow the race in real time. All you need to do is open any sportsbook and find the horse racing section. In comparison to the past, now you’re presented with tons of races to choose from and have unique betting options with higher odds and tasty payouts. So let’s take a look at what such racing looks like today with the help of Betting Africa knowledgeable experts.
Types of Horse Racing Bets
Many of today’s betting options have evolved from the oddsmaker. And whether you’re a veteran who remembers the early days of betting on ponies, or a newbie who wants to try something other than betting on football teams, you’ve come to the right place. Here we’ll guide you through the peculiarities of modern betting in general, how to place a wager, and what are the common betting practices in racing. First, we’ll look at the traditional types of bets, and then we’ll move on to the modern variations of betting on ponies.
- Win Bet. The easiest type of wager to explain is the win bet. It does not require too much knowledge of horse racing, and it refers to simply picking the horse to win. If you believe in a horse, just pick it and see if you’ve made the right choice or not. If the horse you picked finishes first, you get paid. Otherwise, you lose the bet. It’s similar to the 12-betting market in football.
- Place Bet. This bet is similar to the double chance market in football, where you can pick two outcomes, whether your horse finishes first or second. You win if your chosen animal finishes first or second and lose if it finishes third, fourth, fifth, and so on. This bet is recommended for beginners as the odds of winning are higher. However, the payouts are obviously lower.
- Show Bet. The third type of betting on horse races requires you to pick the animal that can finish in the top 3. If it finishes in the first, second, or third place, you win the bet. Otherwise, you lose the bet and don’t receive any payout. The condition for such a bet is that there must be at least 8 horses in the race.
- Accumulator of Bets. The last stake, which refers to the traditional category, has the principles of the accumulator bet, where you pick the horse that will finish first, second, and third. If it finishes first, you win all three bets. If it finishes second, you win the second and third-place bets. And if it finishes third, you only win the last wager, and the other bets lose. For example, to be eligible for this type of wager, you must select all three events at once and wager on each of them separately.
Unusual Bet Types
Many sports today attract players with their variety of betting types. Placing a single stake on one horse is not always fun and can get boring. That’s why modern sportsbooks offer exotic bets that can significantly increase your odds and payouts. However, keep in mind that it’s harder to predict the outcome. As a result, they will be more interesting and beneficial to experienced bettors than newbies. How to make betting more challenging? Stick to these exotic betting types.
- Exacta Bet. This type is a bit more challenging to win money, but the payouts usually are significantly higher. Here, you need to pick two horses instead of one, and they have to finish in the top 2 positions. But you also must take into account their order on the podium, which of the horses finishes first and which finishes second. If you correctly pick the horses and places for them, you win the bet.
- This wager is a little less risky than the exacta because you have to pick two horses, but the order in which they finish is unimportant. Instead of having to make two hard guesses by picking the top 2 horses and placing them exactly, they can finish in any order, and you still win the bet. This is easier to win, so the payouts are lower.
- Now we move on to an even more challenging type of wager that many players stay away from because the difficulty level is extremely high. Remember the Exacta bet where you picked two horses and determined their position? Here, you have to pick three horses instead of two and put them in their places. Guessing all three horses and their top 3 positions will bring a huge payout.
- Double Bet. Earlier, we talked about betting during a single race. Here, however, two unrelated races are taking place, and you have to pick the outcome of each race separately. Basically, you pick one horse to win the first race and another horse to win the second race. These two games are linked together, creating a small chain of two bets. The tricky part is that if one of them loses, you lose the second stake as well.
How to Bet on Horse Races
The first step is to find a platform that offers horse betting. This isn’t complicated, as numerous Nigerian sportsbooks have plenty of options for betting on ponies. Ensure you find a bookmaker that’s reputable and licensed by the Nigerian regulatory authorities. Also, consider the following parameters:
- Responsive customer service.
- Generous welcome packages.
- Convenient payment options.
- User-friendly interface.
- Available app for your device.
- Payout speed.
Conclusion
Horse racing is one of the oldest sports you can bet on. Here we’ve mentioned the most popular types of bets, which ones are easier to bet on, and which ones pay the most. So, if these guides have been useful to you, don’t hesitate to register at one of the local bookmakers and open the horse betting section to see the upcoming or live events. But be aware that not all bookmakers offer horse racing events, and not many of them offer live streaming of such events. However, almost all bookmakers have a virtual horse racing section that takes place in a virtual gaming community.
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