bet wagering

In greyhound and horse racing, wagering is conducted under the pari-mutuel system, a term that comes from the French phrase “among ourselves.” The constantly changing odds for each race are set by the betting public, meaning that unlike certain casino games, patrons wager against one another and not against “the house.” In fact, the house (in this case Hinsdale Park) has no stake or interest in the actual outcome of the race. Its profit is derived from a small percentage extracted from each wager, similar to a stockbroker’s commission. Every dollar bet at the racetrack, minus the small percentage of “takeout” that gets split between the track and state government, is returned right back to the members of the betting public who hold winning tickets after each race.
Think of the betting process as one of risk vs. reward: Bet on “favorites” who have a solid shot of winning based on their published race records and you’ll cash more tickets—but the return on investment will be lower, because many other handicappers will have also backed the same winners (ie the total amount bet on the race must be distributed equally amongst a large number of people). Conversely, when you wager on “longshots”—finishers whose records indicate they have a remote, outside chance of winning—you’ll cash fewer tickets but the return on investment will be much greater, because only a small fraction of the public will share equally in the total amount of money bet on the race.
It is important to remember that the odds for each runner are not meant to represent an entrant’s actual chances of winning the race. The betting public speaks with money, and the odds for each race simply stand for the betting public’s opinion of who will win. Over many years, documented pari-mutuel analysis shows that favorites (entrants with the most money bet on them) win at a amazingly consistent 33 percent of the time. That figure is one of the few universal betting standards. However, some bettors turn that same statistic upside down to show that favorites lose at an equally consistent 66 percent! So do you jump on the “smart money” bandwagon or bet “bombs away” hoping to make a really big score? Just like playing the stock market, wagering strategy is a function of whether you want a small, steady return on your investment or are willing to withstand a fair amount of losing before you attain a more occasional, but potentially explosive, bang for your buck.