LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When Derby rolls around there are a few things that you can count on: bourbon, hats, and plenty of money being bet on the horses. It’s a staple feature of horse racing, and if you’re new to the game it can be a little bit intimidating.
“When you’re betting on horse racing there is a huge menu you can order off of,” Joe Kristufek, lead racing analyst for Churchill Downs, said. “There’s the real simple, appetizer-type wagers and then there’s the real intricate, complicated wagers and then there’s everything in between.”
Kristufek says for beginners, the best thing to focus on is knowing about “Win, Place, and Show.”
“You’re betting a horse to win, that horse must win. If you’re betting a horse to place, they can run either first or second and your payout isn’t going to be nearly as high because you’re paying out on two different horses. If you bet to show your horse can run first, second, or third,” Kristufek said.
The amount of money you make on a bet is based off two things, the amount you put down and the odds you bet at. When you take a look at your betting app or your race program, you’re going to see all the horses involved in the race, their stats, and then their odds.
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“If you bet two dollars to win on a 2-1 shot you get three times your payout, so it would be 2-1 plus your original $2 that you bet. Four plus two would be a $6 payoff,” Kristufek said. “If you bet a 20-1 shot and it wins that would be two times your 20 which is 40, plus your original two so you would get at least $42 back.”
Kristufek does suggest that you set a limit and gamble responsibly. He also says that you should determine what kind of better you want to be before you start putting money down. That could you mean that you want to playthings more conservatively and go for modest payouts with better chances to win, or it could mean you play aggressively and go for bigger odds and higher payouts.
He also suggested that you have fun with it. You can always dive into the stats if that’s what you like, or you can go a little bit more out of the box.
“You bet your favorite name, you bet your favorite number, your favorite colors, birth dates, family birth dates and sometimes those random numbers come in and they could be life-changing scores.”
The gates open up on Derby Day, Saturday May 4, at 9 a.m. with the first post time at 10:30 a.m.
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