Best Horse Racing Betting Sites

Placing bets on horse racing is one of the oldest forms of gambling, and in the late 1800s, over 300 tracks were operating across the country. It was, without doubt, a very popular pastime in the United States. Due to the money provided to several jurisdictions, pari-mutuel betting was introduced in 1908 and immediately authorized.

Unlike significant sporting activities such as the NBA, Football, Basketball and Tennis, horse racing relies heavily on the sponsorship and prize money that it receives from the gaming industry to survive. Some significant events happen worldwide every year, with high stakes. 

This article will assist in identifying a horse betting site that works for us. We will discuss choosing a horse betting site, what services to expect from a sportsbook, as well as what types of basic wagers could be available on the sites.

Legality and Fair Play

Many fans find excitement in the racing simply because of the wagers they can place on the outcome of the events. 

It is only natural that this sport, also known as the “Sport of Kings,” would draw the attention of sportsbooks. 

Legalized Online Gambling

At first, all of the wagers on the races had to take place at real racetracks. Off-track betting, which allows horse racing bookies to accept bets at various locations, was first authorized in 1978. In 2000, the government amended The Interstate Horse Racing Act to allow horse racing bets to be taken over the phone or the internet.

In 2006, Congress approved the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, including an exception for horse racing betting. The first US horse racing betting sites appeared only a few months later.

Online sports gambling has been legalized in many US states over the last few years. A few counties have also granted licenses to several sportsbooks to operate legally in their territory, offering fans a bigger platform to place bets on the horse tracks.

Many more states are expected to follow suit. They want access to the profits this lucrative market is generating, and legalizing sports betting allows them more control and mentorship over the industry, keeping it fair and above board.

Online Sportsbooks

Finding horse racing real money betting sites in our county is relatively easy if it is a legalized sports betting region. Doing an online search for registered betting sites will offer yus many options in the county which we could read up on before selecting a betting platform to use.

Legal horse betting should be registered with the local gaming commissions. Some will have proper licenses to work in many American states. A registration seal will be on the sportsbook homepage, indicating that they are registered and controlled by local governance and law enforcement. 

The Service We Should Expect from a Horse Racing Betting Site

Read our online review about these sites in full, as it will provide an idea of what kind of service to expect. As a rule of thumb, a good horse racing betting site will offer some or all of the services below.

Creating an Online Account

It should be possible for us to create an account within a few minutes. Depending on the site we choose, we will have to submit the information below to register as a user on the site. It may differ slightly from on different websites.

• Full Names
• Residential Address
• Phone Number
• Date of Birth
• Our Social Security Number’s last four digits (SSN)
• Email address
• A Username (Some sites automatically assign one or use our email)
• A solid password to secure our account (Use a mix of numbers, small and capital letters, and symbols, and do not use personal information)
• Promo codes we should enter to qualify for sign-up bonuses.

After registering an account, most platforms will send us an email to verify our email address. Once the verification is complete, new subscribers should be able to log in, choose a payment platform and bet away.

Payment Platforms

It is wise to look at the different payment platforms available on the site we want to use. We want our wagering to be hassle-free without costing us too much on service fees or having to abide by unreasonably high deposit and withdrawal limits.

Withdrawing  funds from the site should not cost us half our winnings or take seven to eleven days to appear in our bank account. See if the site offers any payment options we trust and are comfortable with before signing up.

Many of the older and more trusted sites will offer us plenty of different options to use, each with benefits to consider. Find a few of the more common payment options below.

• Visa
• MasterCard
• Maestro
• Debit Cards
• PayPal
• ACH eCheck
• Wire Transfer
• Bitcoin
• Play+ Prepaid Cards
• Cash at the Casino Cage
• Skrill
• Neteller

In an attempt to combat fraud, do consider that legal betting sites will require proof of our identity before they will allow us to withdraw any funds from our account. The site will ask us for certain documents when we register or when we wish to transfer funds between our betting account and our payment platform.

Recognized proof of identity is more often than not a color copy of the front and back of the social security card that we need to mail to the betting site after we sign up or submit during sign-up. Some areas may also accept the front and back of our passport or driver’s license.

Sign-Up Incentives and Bonus Offers

Almost all betting sites have bonus offers that they offer potential subscribers to prompt them into becoming members of the platform. Compare the bonus offers and different sign-up incentives that the various sites offer up against each other.

Many offers will have terms and conditions attached to the incentives. Please read it carefully. Below are some of the more common welcome bonuses.

Deposit Match

A sportsbook confident in its service will often offer to match any deposits new subscribers put into their account dollar to dollar up to a maximum amount they chose. Although it will sometimes be automatically applied to new subscribers, many sites will give us a promo code that we will have to enter during the sign-up process to qualify.

Bonuses may only kick in if we deposit over the minimum amount the sportsbook has set in their terms and conditions. Any deposit amount under that does not qualify for the bonus. They will also only match the first deposit to the maximum amount indicated when we signed up with the promo code.

Bettors cannot cash out the deposit match but can place bets with the extra credit until depleted. Any winnings they make on their wagers, they can cash out. Using the offer wisely can mean we can try the site out without costing us a dime.

Risk-Free Bet

When a sign-up offer includes a risk-free bet, the sportsbook will cover us if our first bet loses up to the amount they specified. They will refund our losses to us. It does not kick in if our first bet is a win.

Free Bets

Certain betting sites will give us free bets when we place our first bet on their platform. What it means is simply that the site will provide us with some extra credit to place bets with, as long as our first wager exceeds a certain amount. 

The extra credit often needs to be used within seven to thirty dates after being allocated to us or losing it. We may have to play through any additional credit given to us several times before being able to pay out any winnings we made from the bets we wagered with it. 

The good news is that many of these sites will offer their subscribers plenty more promotions once the onboarding bonuses run out. These offers will give us access to specific types of bets for different races and tournaments or open up brand new extras and betting pools if we place bets for particular kinds of events or within particular time frames.

User Interface

A good user interface can determine how much we enjoy using a sportsbook to place our horse racing bets.

Look for clean, modern, simple to use and fast to load sites. Many sportsbooks have internet access and mobile sites online, which offer us a choice in where, and how we would like to play the games.

There should be easy access to all the events we can bet on at the racetracks and several different wagers we can place, with clear instructions on how to do it and how it works. 

Our account functions should be marked and easy to access from the UI, not hidden in the back allies of the site where we would not have ever considered looking for them.

Variety is the Spice of Life

In the United States, horse racing betting has a distinct history. In a nutshell, horse racing betting is based on the pari-mutuel system.

By implication, all of the money is contributed by individual players when their bets are pooled together. The combined pool is then depleted of taxes and the house charge (also known as the vigorish). 

A good sportsbook site will usually offer bets of different kinds and an opportunity to bet on many races throughout the year worldwide, not just in the USA, with a range of additional wagers available to us. 

Different Types of Bets

A person would think placing a bet on a race is as easy as betting on which horse will win, but there is more to it than that. Here are some of the primary wagers we will encounter, but some horse betting sites offer different types of additional bets.

Single Horse Bets

The bets here are on the results of a single horse.

• We bet on winning outright by our favorite horse in “Win Wagers.” 
• In “Place Wagers,” we bet that our horse will come in the first or second position when the race ends.
• We bet that our horse comes in first, second or third place in “Show Wagers.”

Multi-Horse Bets

In this scenario, punters can place bets on more than one horse, increasing their chances of winning. Players can also ‘box’ their bets, placing multiple bets on the results, covering multiple finishing orders. 

• “Exacta Bets” require us to choose two horses. For us to win, both of our horses must finish first and second in the order we anticipated.
• “Trifecta Bets” are similar to exacta bets, except they require us to pick three horses instead of two.
• We must choose four horses for a “Superfecta Bet.” Each horse must finish in the specified order (first, second, third, or fourth).

Multi-Race Bets

The bettor may wager on the outcome or where the horses will finish in the race. He places the wager over several races.

• “Futures Bets” are made by combining the results of future horse races. Horse race sports gamblers frequently place futures wagers on the results of specific events or tournaments.
• In “Choose 5/6 Bets”, sports bettors will choose the winner of many races in a particular track during the day with these wagers.

Exotic Bets

Exotic Bets are more challenging to understand than straight bets. They require that we select numerous parameters, such as various horses or race outcomes, and correctly predict all of them to win. The above-mentioned multi-horse bets are examples, as are the ones below.

• “Pick Three Bets” requires us to pick the first winner of three consecutive races.
• “Daily Double Bets” is when we bet on the first place finishers in two different races on the same day.
• “Multiple Bets” are combined into a massive stake with higher combination bets.

Conclusion

Plenty of registered horse racing betting sites are available online. Legalized sports betting in many US counties has led to numerous online sportsbooks offering access to the tracks. Sportsbooks will provide bettors with many welcome bonuses and excellent stakes when betting. 

Although sites from neighboring states are easily accessible, it is probably best to check on local governance to ensure we are not breaking regional laws when putting on these sites from within your county. We may have to visit one where it is legal to do so.