Horse Racing Odds | Horse Racing
Betting by John Harris
An interesting thing to consider is what would happen to
the sport of horse racing if there were no horse racing odds. Without horse
racing odds it would be almost impossible to bet. If a heavily favored horse
were involved in the race it would nearly impossible to find a bet from someone
going against the favorite without and odds. And even if you could find someone
to bet with you using horse racing odds, what kind of odds would he give your?
From this over-simplified example we can see just how important horse racing
odds are to the sport.
Many people will argue that handicapping is a dying art
and that horse racing odds aren't to what they used to be. And they may be
right. But questionable horse racing odds are certainly preferable to no
established horse racing odds. However, the biggest complaint against horse
racing odds is not so much the odds themselves, but rather the large quantities
of ignorant money being thrown at arbitrary horses by ignorant bettors. And
unfortunately there's not much that can be done to remedy this trend short of
requiring all bettors take and pass a mandatory betting class before being
admitted to the track. This will never happen. Instead, any bettor worth his
salt knows to stay from the heavily favored horses as the line always ends up
flat before the gate drops. Look for the horses that receive little attention
but look like they might have a chance of finishing in the top three. Horse
racing odds are against you if you only bet winners in races. Try betting on
simply a top-three finish with one of these long shots and see if it isn't a
more profitable endeavor than competing with uniformed money going wherever the handicappers
tells the careless bettor to throw it.
So next time you're frustrated with the line or angry at
the handicapper, just imagine what the sport would be like with out horse racing
odds. And also remember that it isn't so much the person making the horse racing odds,
but rather the uniformed bettor who ruins the odds.
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