There are tips and tricks to spot a winning horse that you could take to heart. Regardless if you’re betting for pure amusement or a serious career, you should always take heed of your betting flaws and miscalculations.
Being guilty of a manageable mistake is fine, but being distressed over a routine of slips and lapses might lead you to end up with a crappy bankroll. Ruminating on mistakes is normal for newbies in horse race betting. It’s essential to further improve your skills in betting to know which mistakes to ultimately avoid.
Brief Beginner’s Guide
There are a myriad of betting games you can choose from. While it’s not necessary to try all of these, it’s important to at least be familiar with the categories.
As a beginner, it’s best to start with the cheapest and simplest type. Thus, sticking to straight wagers is the most reasonable choice. The majority of tracks extend a minimum of $2. Besides that, it’s also easy and fun. With as little as this resource, you can pick one horse that will come first, second, or third in the race.
On the other hand, there are exotic bets where you can set multiple bets in a single wager. Compared to straight wagers, exotic wagers are complicated. Also, it’s expensive and demanding of the bettor’s skill. If you are willing to engage in this type of betting, you need to possess exceptional horse picking abilities.
Horse racing isn’t called the “most exciting two-minute sports” for nothing. With a minimum capital of $2, you’ll be able to place a bet in multiple races. Indeed, you’ll want to earn the profit you have estimated.
Still, aside from knowing basic pointers on wagering, you also need to recognize the frequent mistakes committed by newbie bettors in horse racing.
Overestimating the Horse’s Breed
The pedigree of the horse is important, but overstating its significance can get you off the track. While it’s crucial to look at the horse’s family tree, it’s not an indication of a horse’s winning probability.
It’s true that there are pedigrees with a successful career in the track. While such pedigrees have become celebrities, they don’t guarantee a winning breed. A horse’s training regimen, the trainer, the jockey, and the amount of rest they have between races are the most important factors a bettor like you should look into.
Going with the Favorites
When you place your bet on a favorite, you’ll likely earn small. This is because, in most decent wagering sites, heavy favorites offer low odds. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider wagering on heavy favorites. It’s just that it’s not beneficial to always bet based on which horse is popular. Betting should always be founded on value.
This means that if the favorites offer a striking value compared to the odds, you need to secure your bet right away. However, if it goes the other way around, don’t even consider placing your be.
Disregarding the Jockey’s Reputation
All of the famous jockeys today we’re once a rookie in their field. We can’t deny that outstanding jockeys are seasoned and ripened by experience. But being excellent isn’t always about the raw skills. It could be about the time invested in buffing these skills.
Horse racing isn’t always about the horse. The jockeys are significant factors in this sport, too. There could be instances when a seasoned jockey is paired with a lousy pony. Or it could be that a vigorous horse is coupled with a novice jockey. You must weigh such circumstances to make a good bet.
Getting Desperate for Losses
Typically, one of the most evident gambling behaviors is loss-chasing. Having the urge to regain previous losses is normal but doing it as a ritual is a bad habit.
Bookmakers are the sole beneficiaries when bettors become emotional over losses. Betting in horse racing is identical to any existing sports betting activity. No matter how favorable the bet and odds are, you’ll undoubtedly encounter losses despite a series of educated guesses.
Newbie punters are prone to becoming obsessive in regaining the money they’ve lost. Poor luck is out of your control, so you better not let your mischances influence your decisions and damage your bankroll.
Wagering Before Even Knowing the Bet Type
As often emphasized, it’s never practical to place a bet without knowing about the category you’re signing up for. Remember that there are many types of bets—straight bets, exactas, superfectas, Pick 3s, Pick 6s, daily doubles, Fortune 6s, Rainbow 6s, and a lot more.
You should be aware of your skill level before placing a bet. Dumb luck isn’t always on your side, so you better learn until you can fully read the results of the race.
Takeaway
Casual or professional bettors are anxious about the results of every race they wagered on. While the excitement feeds our appetite for horse racing, it’s best if we learn realistic and positive strategies that we can apply to become mature bettors. At the same time, while grinding to advance as a pro, we should learn from our betting mistakes to avoid them in the future.
